January 3, 2023

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 03.01.2023, 14:47

NATO — NATO allies will discuss, in the upcoming months, about the share earmarked for defense, given that some of them have requested that the current 2% share of national output to be the minimum target spent on defense, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told the German news agency DPA. The chief of the Alliance also said he will chair a number of meetings on this topic, and that his goal is to reach an agreement ahead of the next summit in Vilnius in July 2023.

STUDY — 2023 starts for most Romanians on a pessimistic note, according to a study conducted by the Romanian Institute for Evaluation and Strategy. More than half of the participants in the poll say that 2023 will be worse for Romania than the year before. Active people aged 36 to 65 are the most pessimistic, while the less educated respondents are more optimistic in this respect. In terms of living standards, half of respondents have little expectations from the year that has just started. People aged over 51, with monthly revenues below 400 euros, have the darkest vision of the future. Unlike them, those with revenues of more than 800 euros a month say 2023 will be the same as 2022. However, the most optimistic category in terms of financial future is the young people aged below 35. As for the changes they would like to see in their country, most respondents indicated the politicians, the political class or the country leaders, followed by the Government and the ruling parties.

FOOTBALL – FIFA will ask every country in the world to name a stadium in honour of Pelé, said FIFA president Gianni Infantino. Edson Arantes do Nascimento by his real name, Pelé, the only footballer who won three world titles, died aged 82. Throughout his career he scored almost 1,300 goals. He was designated footballer of the 20th century by the International Olympic Committee in 1999, Player of the Century by FIFA in 2000 and won the Golden Ball.

IMF — The IMF expects 2023 to be tougher than 2022 for most of the global economy. The main economic growth engines, namely the United States, the European Union and China will have their economic activity slow down, so that 2023 will be difficult for the global GDP, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, told the American TV station CBS. In October, the IMF downgraded its global economic outlook for 2023, following the war in Ukraine, sharply rising interest rates and inflationist pressure. Georgieva said that China, which sees a surge in COVID-19 cases following the dismantling of its strict “zero-COVID” policy, may have its economy affected. Meanwhile, the EU has been especially hard hit by the war in Ukraine, with half of the bloc expected to be in recession this year, Georgieva said. Also, the global growth rate will slow down from 3.2% in 2022 to 2.75 this year, while governments will have to make sure they have sufficient revenues for expenditure, as they will no longer be able to borrow money in advantageous conditions. As regards Romania, the economic growth rate will slow down from 2.8% this year to more than 5% in 2022.

EP – The European Parliament has launched an urgent procedure for the waiver of immunity of two members of the European Parliament — Italian Andrea Cozzolino and Belgian Marc Tarabella, following a request from the Belgian judicial authorities. A number of current and former European officials or employees are investigated in this case. The scandal began in December, with the arrest of Greek MEP Eva Kaili, who is accused of accepting large sums of money to peddle influence for Qatar and Morocco at the European Parliament. (EE)