December 19, 2023 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 19.12.2023, 19:45

BUDGET. The budget-finance committees of the Bucharest Parliament resumed on Tuesday the debates on the draft budget for next year. The Liberals’ proposal, who are part of the ruling coalition alongside the Social Democrats, that the law should clearly stipulate that no new taxes and duties would be applied in 2024 was passed unanimously. The opposition submitted over 4,000 amendments, but so far only a few proposals for the reallocation of funds have been accepted. Finance minister Marcel Boloş said that next year’s draft budget bill provides for amounts needed to raise pensions and salaries of the teaching staff, to continue investment programs and modernize sectors like healthcare and education. The opposition says, instead, that the bill submitted to Parliament is based on false figures and unrealistic forecasts. It is expected that the final vote on the state budget and the social insurance budget will be given on Wednesday.

NAVY. The
Romanian Navy on Tuesday hosted a ceremony in the Constanta military port to
mark the arrival of a minehunter, the first of two vessels of this kind
purchased by Romania from the UK. The vessels is compatible with NATO
structures. Following Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine, the Romanian army has
revised plans to equip its troops. This is the first battleship to be purchased
by the Romanian Navy in the last 18 years.

MOLDOVA. The Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova Dorin Recean said his country needs a modern air defence system to counter threats from Russia, amplified by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, its eastern neighbour, Reuters reports. Recean made the statement three days after the Chisinau Parliament approved a new security strategy that identifies Moscow as the biggest threat to the security of the country and to the pro-European Moldovan government. The European Union agreed, last week, to start EU accession talks with both Moldova and Ukraine. But, unlike Ukraine, Moldova has a neutral status written in its Constitution and does not seek to join NATO. Chisinau, Prime Minister Recean said, plans instead, with EU and NATO support, to purchase a modern anti-aircraft defence system. Moldova, one of the poorest countries in Europe, has at present a rudimentary anti-aircraft system, dating from the Soviet period.

COMMEMORATION. In
Timișoara (western Romania), events marking the 34th anniversary of the
anti-communist revolution of December 1989 continue. On Tuesday, the 43 people
killed by the repression forces were commemorated. The victims’ bodies were
taken from Timisoara to Bucharest, cremated, and the ashes thrown into a canal,
in an attempt to hide the atrocities. A pilgrimage was held in their memory.
Having broken out in Timisoara, the people’s revolt against the regime led by
dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu spread across the country. In the violence that
followed, over 1,000 people lost their lives and around 3,000 were injured.

MIGRATION. In
2022, Romanian citizens accounted for the largest number of EU citizens living
in other EU member states, namely 3.1 million, accounting for 23.3% of the
total number of EU citizens living in other EU member states, according to a
survey published on Tuesday by the National Institute for Statistics. According
to the General Inspectorate for Immigration, over 200,000 foreign nationals
currently live in Romania. Almost 70% come from outside the European Union and
the European Economic Area.