A roundup of the week's major events
The Romanian prime minister attends UN General Assembly session
Romania fully acknowledges the joint responsibility for managing the large refugee flow, said prime minister Dacian Ciolos at the UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants. This was the first such summit held by the United Nations, as part of its annual General Assembly meeting. In his address, the Romanian prime minister pointed out that Bucharest would step up efforts to meet global challenges like poverty, climate change, terrorism and conflicts, in the spirit of international solidarity and joint responsibility. Dacian Ciolos also spoke about Romania's active contribution to the peacekeeping efforts, saying that Romanian police and military troops are currently taking part in peacekeeping operations. He also said his country was in favour of further supporting the reconciliation process in the Middle East and explained that Romania would continue to provide substantial political, diplomatic, financial and human resources to maintaining regional and global stability.
Right before leaving for the US, prime minister Dacian Ciolos presented Parliament with a report on Romania's economy. The economic growth rate estimated for this year is 4.8%, as compared to an earlier forecast of 4.2%. In short time it has been in power, Romania's technocratic government has tried to ensure an investment-friendly economic environment and an efficient and transparent way of managing public funds. The 5.2% growth rate of the first half of the year has translated into more jobs, a lower unemployment rate and higher salaries, Dacian Ciolos also said. He announced that a state aid scheme to support small and medium enterprises would be implemented by the end of the year. The Government is also working on a reform of the social security system and on tax facilities for those who invest in professional training. In other economic news, the French carmaker Renault will move some production of its Dacia Logan MCV model from its plant in Mioveni, southern Romania, to the one in Tangiers, Morocco. This will free up capacity to build more Duster cars, which are in high demand in Europe.
Romanians protest against corruption in their country
Thousands of people protested on Thursday and Friday in Bucharest and several other major cities across Romania against the Senate's decision to halt a manslaughter investigation targeting the former Interior Minister Gabriel Oprea, after a police officer escorting him died in a motorcycle accident. During the rally in Bucharest, protesters demanded justice and said no one should be above the law. Early this week, the Senate voted against lifting Gabriel Oprea's parliamentary immunity. However, against the backdrop of controversies over the result of the vote, on Friday, the former minister announced he would step down from the position of Senator. Earlier, Romania's President, Klaus Iohannis, said that decisions like the one made by the Senate in Oprea's case proved that a parliamentary reform, with the renewal of the current political class, was necessary.
Klaus Iohannis: "In my opinion, we will not be able to change things until we have untainted, dedicated people into Parliament. I do not wish to be misunderstood. I have nothing against anybody, but in politics whoever has a problem needs to understand that they cannot move on until that matter is clarified."
Parents' refusal to have their children vaccinated against measles and the irresponsible campaigns against child immunization have had their consequences: according to official data released by the Healthcare Ministry in Romania this week, 3 infants died and nearly 700 got sick in the first 8 months of the year, as compared to only 7 confirmed cases and no deaths last year. In other words, Romania is facing a measles epidemic. Consequently, the Ministry announced it would continue to raise people's awareness of the benefits of vaccination.
Laurentiu Colintineanu: "The various campaigns that have been conducted are indeed a problem we cannot ignore and the Healthcare Ministry intends to run an awareness raising campaign on the benefits of vaccination in the very near future, in the next few weeks more precisely, because children's safety and health are a priority."
The most affected areas are the west and the central part of Romania, but measles cases have been reported in over half of the counties.
Timisoara has been designated European Capital of Culture in 2021 by an international jury. Upon learning the news, the mayor of this western Romanian city, Nicolae Robu, described this a great teamwork victory.
Nicolae Robu: "This is very, very exciting news for me. I'm also very happy, as I am sure all my fellow citizens of Timisoara are. I would like to thank the local community for the efforts they have made, the skills they put into the service of this project and their unflinching support, because this is the victory of a team, of a great team, namely community of Timisoara as a whole."
In separate cultural news, the only international symphonic music festival devoted to radio orchestras, RadiRo started on Friday in Bucharest. Hosted by Radio Romania, the 9-day long festival includes performances by highly respected radio orchestras, conductors and soloists.
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