May 25, 2023 UPDATE

Strike – The strike in the education system in Romania continues, after the unions rejected the latest offer made by the government, which they consider offensive. The teachers were to receive 2,500 lei this year, in two installments, and the non-teaching staff 1,000 lei. The money would have been granted on a "professional career card". The trade unions are asking for a rise in incomes of 25% and a law under which the salary of a beginner teacher should be the equivalent of the average gross salary. A new round of negotiations took place on Thursday in Bucharest. Employees in the pre-university education system started an all-out strike on May 22, dissatisfied with the level of salaries and working conditions. The union leaders have stated that they will not give up the protest until their demands are resolved.

Deficit - The European Commission Executive Vice-President, Valdis Dombrovskis on Wednesday called on the member states to more effectively apply their plans of recovery and resilience, to make investments and cut on spending. The European Commission has again drawn attention to the economic situation in Romania, the only EU country for which the excessive deficit procedure has been activated. According to Brussels, Romania spends more money than it has and must cut its deficit under 3% by the next year. According to the Romanian government, the budget deficit is expected to go down under 4.4% of the GDP this year and 2.9% next year.

Visit – Currently, "a real war is going on in Europe" said, on Thursday, in Sibiu (center), the president of the Federal Republic of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who reiterated the call for unity in this context. ‘Since the beginning of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, we have considerably strengthened NATO's Eastern Flank and have considerably expanded our cooperation in the field of security policy. Both within the European Union and within NATO, our countries collaborate closely, based on trust’, the German official emphasized. Romania’s President, Klaus Iohannis, stated, in turn, that the Romanian-German friendship, with an old tradition, has now reached an unprecedented point of development. The two met with the representatives of the German community in Romania and visited the "Samuel von Brukenthal" National College, with tuition in German, a school attested in documents almost 650 years ago. The German president is on a state visit to Romania until Friday.

Football - Sepsi OSK Sfantu Gheorghe won Romania's football cup after a 5-4 win against Universitatea Cluj in the shootouts on Wednesday evening. 120 minutes into the game, the score was nil-all. The hero of Sepsi was its goalkeeper, Roland Niczuly, a former player of Universitatea Cluj. Niczuly managed to save three shots, after Universitatea had got the upper hand but wasted two chances. Sepsi has won the trophy for the second time in a row. We recall that this ambitious football side from central Romania, lost the finals of the aforementioned competition in 2020. Universitatea Cluj was left with the trophy they won in 1965, losing the Romanian Cup finals for the fifth time.

Moldova - Less than 0.5% of the citizens of the Republic of Moldova who spent their holiday abroad last year chose the Commonwealth of Independent States - CIS as their destination - reveals a study published in Chişinău. The research appeared in the context in which the Moldovan government made the decision to withdraw from the CIS, given the fact that one of its founding members, Russia, attacked another founding member, Ukraine. 40% of the citizens of the Republic of Moldova would, however, like the country to remain in the CIS, and Moscow claims that, by leaving the organization, the Republic of Moldova risks losing economic advantages. Official statistics show, however, that the commercial relations of the Republic of Moldova are currently mainly oriented towards the European Union. The Republic of Moldova wants to join the European Union "as soon as possible" in order to protect itself from the Russian threat and hopes for a decision "in the next few months" regarding the opening of negotiations, President Maia Sandu had previously said.

Banks - The banks in Romania will have to issue new repayment schedules, where the amount of the principal on the loan will be paid by consumers in equal installments over the entire loan term, said the general director of the National Authority for Consumer Protection, Paul Anghel. Also, the president of the institution, Horia Constantinescu, pointed out that he had already signed the orders to stop these deceptive practices for 11 banks that were previously fined because the installments was mainly composed of interests in the first years of repayment. The Authority for Consumer Protection announced on Thursday that eight other banks were sanctioned for the way in which they calculate loan rates. Moreover, the Authority notified the Competition Council over what it called the cartel attitude of some banking institutions. However, the Romanian Association of Banks contradicted the Authority and showed that this calculation method was included in the Romanian legislation since the setting-up of regulations on lending activity. (LS)