November 23, 2018 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 23.11.2018, 20:18

EUROPEAN COUNCIL – On Sunday,
Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis will attend the special meeting of the
European Council in Brussels. The EU leaders will meet to endorse the draft
Brexit withdrawal agreement and to approve the draft declaration on future
EU-UK relations. The declaration covers the future common objectives in the
fields of trade, security and political cooperation. Once endorsed by the
leaders of the countries members of the European Council, UK’s withdrawal from
the EU is to be officially approved by the Council of the European Union and
the European Parliament and ratified by the British Parliament.

BUDGET – On Friday, the Romanian
Government approved the second budget adjustment this year. The Finance
Minister Eugen Teodorovici has stated that the budget deficit has been maintained
under 3% of the GDP. Also, he has said that the adjustment has brought 2
billion Euro more to the revenues chapter, and added 2.2 billion for spending,
as compared to the previous budget. According to Teodorovici, Romania will
maintain the government debt at 35% of the GDP, which is the fourth lowest rate
in the EU. The transport, research and education ministries have lost the most
as a result of this budget adjustment. On the other hand, the finance, labour and health ministries
will get more money.

VISIT – The Romanian Foreign
Minister Teodor Melescanu is on a visit to Seoul, to mark 10 years since the setting
up of the strategic partnership between Romania and South Korea. Melescanu is
accompanied by the minister for business, trade and entrepreneurship Stefan
Radu Oprea. The two officials have met with the Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak Yon
and the foreign minister Kang Kyung-wha and discussed topics such as political
and diplomatic dialogue, economic cooperation, cooperation in culture,
education and health, as well as issues relating to the relations between the
EU and South Korea, in the run-up to Romania’s taking over the presidency of
the EU Council. Teodor Melescanu has stressed Romania’s interest in
capitalizing on the strategic partnership between the two countries, at each
and every level. Also, he has reasserted Romania’s firm commitment to the
process of denuclearization and the consolidation of sustainable peace in the
Korean Peninsula. The Romanian officials have also met with representatives of
big South Korean conglomerates, to discuss potential investments in Romania.
Melescanu’s visit to South Korea is the first leg of a tour of the region that
will end on November 27th .

HEALTH REPORT – The European Commission’s report on health in the
EU has been made public this month. According to the report, Romanians’ life
expectancy rate is among the lowest in the EU, with cardiovascular diseases and
cancer reported as the main causes of death, and infectious diseases, TB in
particular, as major health risks. The report also reads that Romania has the
lowest spending rate among all EU’s health systems, and the amounts that
patients have to spend out of their own pockets are very high as compared with the EU average.
Staff shortage, especially in the underprivileged areas, and the lack of proper
infrastructure are also problems facing the Romanian health-care system. The
report stresses, however, that authorities have taken a series of measures to
improve the situation.

HANDBALL – The Russian Olympic champions
were surprisingly defeated by Romania’s
second division team on Friday in Bucharest, in the first match of the 50th
Carpati Women’s Handball Trophy. In the second match of the day, Romania’s first
division team defeated Serbia 29-26. The finals are to be played on Saturday.
The tournament in Bucharest is one last check for Romania before the European Championship
in France in December, where it will play against the Czech Republic, Germany
and Norway. Romania’s best performance was in 2010, when it won the bronze
medal.

FOOTBALL – According
to the draw held in Bologna on Friday, at the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship,
the Romanian team will be part of Group C, and will play against England,
Croatia and France. Group A is made up of Italy, Spain, Poland and Belgium, and
group B of Germany, Denmark, Serbia and Austria. Only the winners of each group
and the best second will go to the semi-finals. The final will be played in
Udine.