July 11, 2024 UPDATE
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 11.07.2024, 19:47
Agreement. The presidents of Romania and Ukraine, Klaus Iohannis and Volodymr Zelensky, on Thursday signed a bilateral security agreement, on the sidelines of the NATO summit marking the alliance’s 75 anniversary. This is Ukraine’s 23rd bilateral agreement with its partners and provides for Romania’s transfer of its Patriot system to neighbouring Ukraine and its continued support for this state. Romania pledges to facilitate the quick transit of the needed equipment through its territory. The agreement also provides for cooperation in the area of intelligence, counterintelligence, cyber security and information security. Also, Romania will support Ukraine’s defence industry and will help with the reconstruction of the country. The agreement forms part of the implementation of the G7 joint declaration of support for Ukraine from July last year.
Defence. On the sidelines of the Washington summit, Romania’s defence minister Angel Tîlvăr on Wednesday signed a letter of intent for the creation of a military mobility corridor between Romania, Bulgaria and Greece, the defence ministry said in a statement on Thursday. According to the statement, “this initiative marks significant progress in strengthening NATO’s defence and deterrence capabilities in the region”. The project aims to optimise transport corridors to meet military mobility needs by creating road and railroad supply routes between the participating countries, cutting bureaucracy in peacetime and maximising efficiency in emergency and crisis situations.
Friendship. The foreign ministry in Bucharest hailed the celebration of Romania-US Friendship Day on 11th July. The recent top level meetings, including the visits by president Klaus Iohannis to Washington in May and July this year, confirmed the determination of both states to develop the partnership built on common democratic values, close cooperation in the field of security and defence and diversified economic and commercial relations. 11th July 1997 saw an important event in the relationship between the two countries, namely the visit by president Bill Clinton to Bucharest and his speech given on that occasion, which paved the way for a strategic partnership between Romania and the US.
Inflation. The annual inflation rate dropped in Romania to 4.9% in June from 5.1% in May, according to data published on Thursday by the National Institute for Statistics. Over the period studied, the price of food products rose by 1%, that of non-food products by a little over 6% and that of services by over 9%. Compared with June 2023, the annual inflation rate in June 2024, calculated based on the harmonised index of consumer prices, stood at 5.3%. The National Bank of Romania revised its inflation forecast for the end of this year up to 4.9% from 4.7% and expects it to reach 3.5% at the end of 2025.
Weather. A yellow code warning was issued in Romania for Friday, with temperatures expected to reach 36 degrees in counties in the centre, north and south-eastern Romania. An orange code warning is also in place on Friday in the rest of the country, where temperatures are expected to range from 36 to 40 degrees Celsius. On Saturday and Sunday, an orange code will be in place in the centre, north and south-east, while the rest of the country will be under a red code alert. This is the most extensive warning of its kind ever issued in Romania, where highs of 37 to 41 degrees Celsius are expected over the coming days. National and local authorities are preparing to manage the effects of the extreme heat wave that will be intensifying across the country.
