September 14, 2013
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Ştefan Stoica, 14.09.2013, 13:59
Fitch ratings has affirmed Romania’s long-term foreign and local currency issuer default ratings IDR at triple B minus and triple B respectively with a stable outlook. According to Fitch, Romania has consolidated its public finances successfully under two executive international financial assistance programmes. The European Commission in June decreed Romania’s exit from the excessive deficit procedure after it reduced its general government deficit to 2.9%. Fitch expects the government to meet its medium-term objective of a structural deficit of 1% of the GDP in 2014.
Over 2000 people evacuated from the flooded areas in Galati county (south-eastern Romania) were unable to return to their homes last night as heavy rainfalls continued. The authorities have dispatched water treatment equipment to the regions where the underground water supplies are no longer drinkable. Local and central authorities have pledged assistance for the reconstruction of houses and roads. Nine people have been killed by heavy downpours and flooding in southeastern Romania whereas hundreds of households and local roads have been destroyed by waters.
Bulgaria and Romania must be offered the possibility of joining the Schengen zone as soon as possible, the head of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso said in an interview to the Bulgarian national radio station, quoted by RADOR news agency. In another development Barroso underlined that the free movement of labour force is an undisputable fundamental principle of the European Union. The accession of Romania and Bulgaria to Europe’s border-free area has been repeatedly postponed due to the opposition of some member states, which have called for deeper justice reforms and a stepped-up anti-graft fight. A decision on the two countries’ entry could be made in December.
High-ranking US officials have given Syria a couple of weeks to place its chemical weapons under international control, but Russia considers the deadline as unrealistic, France Press reports. We recall that Syria has accepted Russia’s plan of placing its chemical weapons under control in order to avoid a potential military intervention from the West. The heads of the Russian and American diplomacies, John Kerry and Serghei Lavrov respectively, have met in Geneva for talks on the issue. Washington has blamed the Syrian regime for the attack with chemical weapons on August 21st which killed 14 hundred people in Damascus. The UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon said he expected the weapons inspectors’ report to confirm that the August the 21st attack was carried out with chemical weapons adding that Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad had committed numerous crimes against humanity.
The 21st edition of the International George Enescu music festival continues in Bucharest. The Athenaeum will today host concerts given by the National Orchestra d’Ile de France, which will be performing works by Enescu and Bela Bartok. London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Radio Academic Choir will be performing at the Palace Hall in Bucharest. The Chamber Orchestra in Laussane will end the day with Mozart at the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest.
Demonstrations pro and against the controversial project of mining gold at Rosia Montana in central Romania are continuing today. Most of the locals are backing the project, as they believe that unemployment in the region will skyrocket in the absence of mining activities. Several scores of miners are protesting in their mines; they have called for resuming mining operations at Rosia Montana. On the other side of the barricade, the conservationists say the project will have a devastating impact on the environment. Green activists have staged protest rallies this weekend in Romania and abroad. The project has sparked off tensions inside the ruling Social-Liberal Union, after the cabinet led by social democrat Victor Ponta drew up a draft law regulating the mining activities in Rosia Montana. A special Parliament commission is to analyze this controversial file shortly.
