January 27, 2023 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 27.01.2023, 19:45

Economy. Romania saw a record-high GDP increase last year, from 240 billion euros
in 2021 to nearly 290 in 2022, according to the National Strategy and Forecast
Commission. For this year, however, the institution estimates a slowdown of
economic growth from 4.9% in 2022 to 2.8%. The inflation rate is also expected
to drop significantly by the end of this year, from 16.4% in 2022 to 8%, and
consumption growth is also predicted to drop to 2.4%, compared to 4.6% last
year. The figures in the winter forecast, made public on Thursday, are not
different from those in the autumn report, published in October.

NATO. The foreign ministers of France
and The Netherlands, Catherine Colonna and Wopke Hoekstra,
on Friday travelled to Cincu, in central Romania, together with their Romanian
counterpart Bogdan Aurescu, to visit the training centre where French and Dutch
troops are stationed as part of a NATO battlegroup. The visit again
demonstrates the very good cooperation between Romanian and both of these
states at a bilateral, European and NATO level, as well as the efficient three-party
interaction between Bucharest, Paris and The Hague, said the Romanian minister.
At a joint press conference held by the three foreign ministers, the Dutch
official said his country would support Romania with respect to Schengen
accession and spoke about the country’s remarkable progress in this regard;
while the French minister spoke about the challenges faced by Europe and about
intensifying support for Ukraine. The foreign officials also held talks with
president Klaus Iohannis and prime minister Nicolae Ciucă.

Holocaust.
Romanian president Klaus Iohannis has reiterated the commitment of the
Bucharest administration to keep alive the memory of the victims of the
Holocaust and to remain firmly attached to the fundamental democratic values.
He said Romania has made important steps towards combating extremism,
xenophobia, anti-Semitism and hatred by adopting modern legislation, while the
remembrance of the Holocaust is passed down to the younger generations. The Romanian
education minister Ligia Deca said that beginning next autumn, Jewish history
and the Holocaust will be taught in high school as an independent subject. She
explained that the move was part of a national strategy to prevent and combat
anti-Semitism and to educate children in the spirit of dignity and tolerance. International Holocaust Remembrance Day is marked every year on January 27,
under a resolution endorsed by the United Nations in 2005.

Mines. The Chief of Staff of the
Romanian Naval Forces urged navigators in the Black Sea or near the coast to
notify the authorities if they spot suspicious floating objects. The call was
launched as sea storms are expected in the coming days and after the discovery
of a sea mine on the Romanian beach on Thursday. Navy divers said it was the
first time this type of mine was washed ashore the Romanian coast. The device
in question was a YaM-type blast mine used by both Ukrainian and Russian navies
and the fifth to be discovered since the start of the war in Ukraine in the
area of responsibility of the Romanian Navy. (CM)