December 18, 2024 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 18.12.2024, 20:00
Council – Romania’s President, Klaus Iohannis, who is participating in the EU Summit – Western Balkans and the European Council meeting, argued, on Wednesday, that an integrated approach and finding tools and solutions are needed, because this is what the people are awaiting from the EU leadership and from the national leaderships. The head of state, who had a first meeting with the new president of the European Council, António Costa, discussed with him “the importance of resilience and a strategic orientation, to be able to manage all the challenges”. Klaus Iohannis stated that efforts are needed to combat Russia’s “malignant” interference, to reduce exposure to these treacherous attacks. “Romania had an enormous problem and it coped with it”, the president declared on Wednesday, referring to foreign interference in the electoral process. On Thursday, the agenda of the European Council will include topics such as Ukraine, migration, the situation in the Middle East, the EU’s preparation in the civil and military fields and the response to crises, the role of the EU in the world and the EU enlargement, the Republic of Moldova, Georgia and issues related to freedom, security and justice.
Rating – Fitch confirmed Romania’s long-term foreign currency rating at ‘BBB minus’, but worsened the assigned outlook from stable to negative, which means that a further downgrade is possible – the financial rating agency said in a statement. According to Fitch, the rating reflects the major risks facing Romania due to additional political tensions emerging on the political scene following the cancelation of the presidential election due to external interference, as well as to the parliamentary elections that resulted in a more divided Parliament, with an increase in extreme right-wing, anti-EU parties, reflecting the increased polarization of Romanian society. Added to these causes are fiscal imbalances and the increase in public debt. The rating granted by Fitch, which measures the ability of a Government to honor its financial obligations, could lead to an increase in interest rates for the loans that the Executive intends to take out from the foreign market.
Parliament – A reception center for the newly elected senators and deputies is open as of Wednesday until Friday at the Parliament Palace in Bucharest. The new MPs are being guided, these days, through the formalities needed in order to take over their mandates. The new Parliament resulting from the legislative elections of December 1 was convened, on Friday, for the setting-up session. On Wednesday, the representatives of the PSD, PNL, UDMR and the group of national minorities other than the Hungarian one continued the discussions to finalize the governing program and the structure of the new executive. The leaders of USR left the meeting, after they conditioned their entry into the government on the approval of some measures, including the urgent adoption of the state budget for next year and the establishment in the coalition of a commission of inquiry regarding the conditions for organizing the elections and preventing foreign influences. The intention of the pro-European parties is for the future government to be endorsed by Parliament by the holidays. If USR decides not to be part of the future executive – PSD, PNL, UDMR and the group of national minorities have a total of 244 mandates of senators and deputies. 233 votes are needed to invest the government in Parliament.
Timişoara – In Timişoara (western Romania), manifestations dedicated to the anti-communist revolution of December 1989 continued on Wednesday. Tuesday, in the city in western Romania, was a day of mourning in memory of those killed at the outbreak of the Revolution. After the bloody repression of the revolt on December 17, the big factories went on strike and the workers lined up and gathered in the city center. On December 20, Timişoara became the first city free from communism in Romania, and from here the flame of the Revolution spread throughout the country, to culminate, on the 22nd, in Bucharest, with the escape of dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu and his wife, Elena.
Handball – Romania will host the European Men’s Youth Handball Championship in 2026, the Romanian Handball Federation announced on Wednesday. The championship will take place in Cluj-Napoca and Turda. This is the second European competition that Romania will organize in 2026, when the country will host the European Women’s Handball Championship, along with the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Turkey.
National minorities – Romania is a model of good coexistence between citizens, whether they belong to the majority or to national minorities, and a model of promoting identity rights – the Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said, on Wednesday in a message on the occasion of the Day of National Minorities in Romania, December 18. “Through dialogue, respect and understanding, the Romanian citizens, belonging both to the majority and the minority, have managed to coexist harmoniously in their communities, as well as at the national level” the head of Romania’s government also said. Several events dedicated to the Day of National Minorities were organized, also on Wednesday, by the Department for Interethnic Relations within the General Secretariat of the Government, in collaboration with the “Dimitrie Gusti” National Village Museum. The 19 minorities, other than the Hungarian one, recognized by the Romanian state are represented, practically, ex officio, in the Romanian Chamber of Deputies. UDMR, the main political party of the Hungarian minority, the most numerous in the country, has been present without interruption, since 1990, in post-communist Romania’s Parliament. As of 1996, UDMR has been part of numerous coalition governments in Bucharest, whether right-wing or left-wing. (LS)
