January 14, 2025 UPDATE

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Newsroom, 14.01.2025, 20:13

Meeting – The Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu on Tuesday had talks in Bucharest with the US Deputy Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia, James O’Brien, about the progress made in deepening the bilateral strategic partnership in the fields of security, economy and the Visa Waiver. During the meeting with the Foreign Minister, Emil Hurezeanu, the American official showed confidence in the solidity of the Romania – US Strategic Partnership and in its capacity for further development based on ongoing bilateral projects. In turn, the Romanian minister appreciated the US contribution to the security and defense of NATO’s Eastern Flank, as well as to the development of the strategic approach regarding the Black Sea region. The Defense Minister, Angel Tîlvăr, also highlighted, during the meeting with the US official, the crucial role of the Black Sea region in ensuring European and transatlantic security, in the context of the continuation of the Russian Federation’s war of aggression in Ukraine. Angel Tîlvăr emphasized Romania’s firm commitment to NATO’s collective security and appreciated the substantial contribution of the US in ensuring the security of the Alliance’s Eastern Flank. On Monday, James O’Brien was in Chisinau, where he declared that the development of the transport infrastructure in Romania, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine will create a new opportunity for the economic development of the three states.

Energy – Romania has no problems in terms of energy supply for the entire cold season, the energy minister Sebastian Burduja gave assurances again, on Tuesday, after the Winter Energy Command meeting. He specified that the measures established to increase domestic production, including coal-based production, were applied. According to him, energy production from gas is still the main source of electricity production during the cold season, except for days when the wind blows and wind power plants are the first source of production in Romania.  The Energy Minister also emphasized that the domestic demand for natural gas is not affected by daily exports to the Republic of Moldova.

Gas – Half of the electricity consumed in the Republic of Moldova (ex-Soviet state with a majority Romanian-speaking population), on the right bank of the Dniester River, comes from internal sources, including renewable energy, and the other half comes from imports from Romania, the Moldovan president, Maia Sandu said on Tuesday, in a press conference. She convened a meeting of the Supreme Security Council which tackled the situation in the energy sector and assistance measures for the population. On the other hand, Maia Sandu says, the energy and humanitarian crisis in the separatist region of Transdniester is caused by the Russian Federation with the aim of destabilizing the political situation in the Republic of Moldova. We remind you that since January 1, the Transdniester region has no longer received natural gas from Russia.

Inflation – The annual inflation rate went up to 5.14% in December 2024 from 5.11% the previous month, amidst a 5.09% increase in the price of foodstuffs, 4.38% in the price for non-foods and 7.10% in the cost of services, according to National Statistics Institute data made public on Tuesday. Compared to 2023, the annual inflation rate in December last year stood at 5.5%. The National Bank of Romania upgraded its inflation forecast for the end of 2024, from 4% previously to 4.9%, and estimates the inflation rate will go down to 3.5% at the end of 2025.

Tennis – The Romanian tennis player Gabriela Ruse, coming from the qualifications, defeated another Romanian player, Irina Begu, 6-4, 6-0 in the opening round at the Australian Open tennis tournament on Tuesday. In the next round, Ruse will take on Madison Keys of the United States, who knocked out Ann Li of the USA in the first round. This is the second time Gabriela Ruse reaches the main draw in Melbourne after in 2022 she reached the second round. Another Romanian player, Jaqueline Cristian, is playing Lucia Bronzetti of Italy in the second round. (LS)