January 15, 2025
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 15.01.2025, 13:55
A roundup of local and international news.
CULTURE DAY – In Romania, January 15 is National Culture Day, which marks the birth date of the national poet Mihai Eminescu. This edition is all the more special as it celebrates the 175th anniversary of the birth of the one who is considered the greatest Romanian poet of all times. Numerous events are taking place in Bucharest and throughout the country: conferences, debates, concerts and exhibitions, and entry to many museums is free. The Bucharest National Opera celebrates National Culture Day this evening, with a gala performance that pays tribute to Romanian culture as Faith, Art and Identity. The “Luceafărul” exhibition can be visited at the Bruckenthal National Museum in Sibiu (center). The Lyric Theatre in Iași (northeast) has scheduled a special performance, while the “Past, Present and Future” exhibition is being opened at the Corvin Castle (west). On National Culture Day, the Radio Romania Culture channel invited a teenager from Vâlcea (south) to the theater for the first time. Through this symbolic gesture, the only national radio station dedicated exclusively to the arts, urges people and institutions to facilitate access to culture for their peers.
NATIONAL BANK – The Board of Directors of the National Bank of Romania (BNR) convenes today for the first monetary policy meeting of the year. Most financial analysts and commercial bank experts believe that the Central Bank will maintain the key interest rate at 6.5%. Estimates are that the BNR could relax monetary policy in the second half of the year, pending clearer prospects regarding the evolution of inflation and fiscal measures. In 2024, the National Bank reduced the reference interest rate twice, from 7% to 6.5%.
MOLDOVA – In Chisinau, President Maia Sandu accused the Russian Federation of wanting to provoke a political crisis in the Republic of Moldova by halting the supply of natural gas to the separatist Transnistrian region. On Tuesday, the Moldovan leader convened the Supreme Security Council to discuss the situation in the energy sector. Maia Sandu drew attention to the fact that the administration of the separatist Transnistrian region, which is facing a humanitarian crisis, has refused the aid offered by Chisinau, setting conditions for accepting the proposed solutions.
HEARINGS – Former Romanian Prime Minister Petre Roman was summoned today at the General Prosecutor’s Office to be heard in the June 1990 Miners’ Riot case, in which he is accused of committing crimes against humanity. He denies any involvement. Former President Ion Iliescu and former Intelligence Service chief Virgil Măgureanu are also being prosecuted in this case, among others. Prosecutors must reopen the investigation in this case, after the evidence collected by investigators was annulled in Court. Initially, Ion Iliescu was sent to trial for crimes against humanity, along with Petre Roman and Virgil Măgureanu, but in December 2020 the High Court of Cassation and Justice decided to return the case to the Military Prosecutor’s Office, to restart the investigation from scratch. According to military prosecutors, on June 11 and 12, 1990, state authorities decided to launch a violent attack against demonstrators in the University Square in Bucharest, who were campaigning for democracy and the removal of former communist dignitaries from public office. Forces from the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Defense, the Romanian Intelligence Service, and thousands of miners were allegedly illegally involved in this attack. The violence resulted in 4 deaths, hundreds of injuries, illegal arrests, and damages.
WASHINGTON – US President-elect Donald Trump has announced that he will create a new department, called the ‘Foreign Revenue Service’, whose task will be to collect customs duties, debts and all income from foreign sources, Reuters reports. Trump said on his social network Truth Social that he will sign the creation of this department on January 20, the day he is inaugurated as president. He has already announced that he will impose substantial customs duties on imports from Canada, Mexico and China, mentioning a 25% tax on imports from Canada and Mexico until these two countries neighboring the US take measures aimed at stopping illegal migration and drug trafficking at the borders. Donald Trump has also promised a 10% tariff on all imports and a 60% tax on imports from China, measures that economic analysts warn will have, among other effects, distorting trade flows, increasing costs and trade retaliation measures against American exports.
PROTEST – In Romania, the National Federation of Culture and Press Unions ‘CulturMedia’ is protesting today, on National Culture Day, with white armbands, to draw attention to the underfunding of Culture and the salary inequities to which employees of museums, libraries and cultural centers are subjected. The Federation demands the allocation of 1% of GDP for Culture, the equalization of the salaries of museum and library employees with the with the ones paid for the same professions in education payment scheme, the elimination of the huge salary disparities between employees of performing arts institutions and employees of public museums and libraries, salary increases for work carried out on weekends and public holidays, as well as the payment of overtime. The unionists also demand the unblocking of vacant positions and the supplementation of job schemes to combat the chronic shortage of personnel in cultural institutions.
