January 14, 2019 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 14.01.2019, 19:46

ROMANIA AND THE EU – Romanian PM Viorica Dancila
will be presenting the priorities of Romania’s presidency of the Council of the
European Union during Parliament’s plenary session scheduled for Tuesday in
Strasbourg. Brexit is one of top issues to be handled by Romania, with Viorica
Dancila repeatedly saying that Bucharest is interested in protecting the rights
of Romanians working in the UK. The upcoming EU budget is another delicate
issue on Romania’s agenda. Viorica Dancila wants to build towards drafting the
budget, so as to give more funding to common European policies, such as the
Common Agricultural Policy and the Cohesion Policy.

PRESIDENCY – Romanian President Klaus Iohannis is
receiving on Tuesday in Bucharest his Slovenian counterpart, Borut Pahor, who
pays a two-day official visit to Romania. The visit takes place in the context
of the celebration, last year, of 25 years of diplomatic ties between Romania
and Slovenia and of Romania’s taking over the EU Council presidency. In terms
of regional cooperation, special emphasis will be laid on perspectives for
developing the Three Seas Initiative, with Slovenia due to organize the new
summit in 2019.

INFLATION – The annual inflation rate was 3.27% in
December 2018, the National Statistics Institute reports. Last year potatoes
reported the largest price hike, by nearly 40%, in addition to air transport,
post services and other categories of vegetables and canned vegetables, with
20% price hikes and natural gas, with a 16% increase. Prices for eggs, sugar
and fresh fruit went down by as much as 20%. The inflation rate is estimated to
drop to 2.9% this year, the National Bank has announced.

STRIKE
– Trade unions and
the board of the Oltenia Energy Complex in southern Romania on Monday had talks
at the Energy Ministry over the demands of the miners, who have been on strike
since Friday night. Employees want the minimum salary to be 850 euros, holiday
vouchers, the payment of extra hours for weekend days and improved working
conditions. In turn, the Energy Minister announced holiday vouchers can be
awarded starting May 1, while a 12% increase in salaries of employees in the
production line is possible, with an analysis of spending to allow further
salary increases. The measures could be implemented once trade unions start
negotiations officially and resume work. Officials say the situation in the
energy sector is normal, with the coal-based energy share standing at over
23%

BREXIT – British PM Theresa May on
Monday called on MPs to vote in favor of the Brexit agreement with the European
Union. Moreover, PM May warned that voting against the deal could eventually
lead to having Brexit cancelled. Also on Monday, European Council President
Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Junker sent a letter
to Theresa May saying that the withdrawal agreement is the right compromise and
is not open to renegotiation. The letter also points out the EU wants close
relations with Great Britain in the future, saying the contingency solution for
the Irish border is merely temporary. A final vote on Brexit is scheduled on
Tuesday.

NATO – Romanian Chief of General Staff General Nicolae Ciuca on
Tuesday and Wednesday is attending the NATO Military Committee session taking
place in Brussels. The agenda includes hot topics on the military agenda regarding
strategic challenges of NATO, the NATO military strategy, the Resolute Support
mission in Afghanistan as well as the regional security context. Talks will
also focus on topics related to the development of military capability using
own funds, NATO-Georgia partnership and the security context in the Western
Balkans and the Kosovo Force mission.

(Translated by E. Enache & V. Palcu)