September 3, 2019 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 03.09.2019, 19:48
POLITICS – The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, a
former ruling coalition partner, on Tuesday decided to exclude all members who
accept positions in Parliament and the Government without the party’s consent.
One such example could be Vice-president Teodor Melescanu, who said he would
run for the position of Senate Speaker. The Alliance expressed their support
for Ion Popa, after the outgoing Speaker Calin Popescu-Tarcieanu resigned on
Monday. Previously, three Alliance ministers stepped down, Environment Minister
Gratiela Gavrilescu, Minister for Liaison with Parliament Viorel Ilie and
Energy Minister Anton Anton. Foreign Minister Ramona Manescu preferred to
resign from the party in order to preserve her ministry portfolio. Prime
Minister Viorica Dancila said the Social-Democratic Party will remain in power
in order to implement the governing program that won the party the election in
2016. President Klaus Iohannis has called on the Government to seek
Parliament’s vote of confidence.
RATING -
Political turmoil in Romania has increased the risks targeting public finance,
Fitch Ratings agency reports. The break of the ruling coalition in an election
year as well as growing macroeconomic imbalances have reduced the efforts to
keep the rising budget deficit in check. Fitch Ratings also believes that the
Government’s budget adjustment measures operated in August are not enough to
reduce the deficit within the 2.76% mark. Fitch experts expect Romania’s
deficit to stand at 3.4% of the GDP in 2019.
EARTHQUAKE – A 4.5 Richter-scale earthquake shook
Romania on Tuesday, the biggest in Romania this year. We recall that on March
4, 1977 a 7.2 Richter-scale earthquake killed 1,570 people, mostly from
Bucharest, and caused material damage estimated at the time at 2 billion
dollars. 230 thousand residential buildings were destroyed or seriously
damaged. The quake caused an economic and social crisis which, according to
historians, the Communist dictatorship could no longer cope with, until it was
toppled in December 1989. Experts warn that hundreds of buildings might
collapse in Bucharest in the event of a similar quake.
EXERCISE The
Romanian Navy organizes as of Tuesday the Romanian-Ukrainian exercise Riverine
2019, on the River Danube, the segment between Tulcea (Romania) and Izmail
(Ukraine), with approx. 300 marines from the 2 countries taking part. The
exercise is designed to improve cross-border cooperation between Romania and Ukraine
in the naval field on the River Danube. Until September 7, inspection and
towing exercises as well as emergency intervention drills will be organized.
TABLE TENNIS – The Romanian men’s table tennis team
defeated neighboring Hungary 3-1 in the opening match in Group 2 at the
European Table Tennis Championships hosted by Nantes, France. On Wednesday, in
the same Group, Sweden will play Hungary while on Thursday Romania will play
Sweden. The winners of each group will advance to the quarterfinals. In the
women’s competition, Romania, the defending European champion, has been drawn
in Group A alongside Spain and Slovakia.
FOOTBALL – Romania’s national football team is
preparing the matches against Spain and Malta this week, both counting towards
the European Football Championship held next year. After four matches Spain is
top of the group tables with 12 points, followed by Sweden and Romania, each
with 7 points, Norway with 5 points, Malta with 3 points and the Faeroe Islands
with zero points. The top two teams will advance to the final championship. The
draw for the 2020 European Championship will take place in Bucharest on
November 30. Romania’s capital city will host four games at the European
Championship, of which three in the group phase and one in the round of
16.
(Translated by V.
Palcu)
