1 July, 2017 UPDATE

After a scorching day, storms are expected across Romania./ Fresh anti-government protests to be staged in Bucharest on Sunday.

Newsroom, 01.07.2017, 18:21

Weather. After a hot day, yellow and orange
code alerts for storm have been issued in Romania. Torrential rain, hail and
thunderstorms are expected in the south-west, centre and east of the country
and in the mountains. The weather will become even more unstable on Sunday
evening, when a yellow code alert will be in place in the south and south-east
of the country. In some areas, the lows will not drop below 20 degrees Celsius,
while the highs will reach 34 degrees.

Protests. Fresh anti-government protests have been
announced on Sunday in Bucharest, three days after the investiture of a
government formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals
and Democrats and led by the Social Democrat Mihai Tudose. The civic
organisations initiating the protest blame the government for the slow pace of the
anti-corruption fight, in particular at top level. We recall that five months
ago, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in Bucharest, across
the country and in the diaspora to protest against plans by the previous
government to ease criminal laws via an emergency order. The move was seen as
an attempt to exempt influential figures from the political scene and the
administration from accountability.

UK-Romania. Great Britain and Romania have a special
partnership, which they wish to develop and strengthen, said the British
ambassador to Bucharest Paul Brummel at a conference on the consequences of the
UK’s leaving the European Union. He emphasised that bilateral trade exchanges
have reached record levels, at around 4 billion euros a year. Earlier, Brummel
said 2017 is the most intense year in recent years with respect to
Romanian-British military partnership. He said the Romanians who live, work and
study in Great Britain are welcome, adding that he was delighted with the
quality of Romanian doctors working in his country.

Law. The public
sector pay law came into force on the 1st of July, after being
signed by president Klaus Iohannis this week. The law will, however, be applied
starting next year. It provides for a gradual increase in public sector
salaries within the next five years, by more than 50% on average. The pension
index also went up by 9% on 1st of July. At the same time, however,
the price of electricity for domestic users went up by 8%, according to the
liberalisation timetable. A full liberalisation is expected on 1st
of January 2018, when the electricity price will be established by the stock
market.

Defence.
The Romanian president Klaus Iohannis has called a meeting of the Country’s
Supreme Defence Council on Tuesday to discuss the army’s equipping plan for the
2016-2026 period. This year, Romania has allocated 2% of its GDP to defence
spending. The meeting on Tuesday will also look at the activity of the Romanian
Intelligence Service in 2016. According to the president’s office, the
Country’s Supreme Defence Council will also discuss about the number of troops
that may be made available by Romania for international missions and operations
in 2018.

EU. On Saturday, Estonia took over the EU rotating
presidency for the first time since joining the bloc in 2004. One of its
priorities will be to consolidate cooperation with the countries in Africa and
the Middle East to manage the migration problem. Another important goal,
according to the country’s prime minister Juri Ratas, is the digitalisation of
Europe and the free movement of data. The president of the European Commission
Jean-Claude Juncker, who travelled to Tallin on Friday, welcomed the intentions
of the Estonian government.

Festival. In July, Bucharest is playing host to
the International Street Theatre Festival, which brings together hundreds of
participants from Romania, France, Columbia, Italy, Germany, Holland, Austria
and Spain. Every week-end from Friday to Sunday, the streets of Bucharest will
host performances on stilts, magic shows, street dance performances and living
statues. Acrobatics, light shows, juggling with torches and tango and cabaret
performances will be held in the evening.

Tennis.
World no. 2 Simona Halep of Romania will play Marina Erakovic of New Zealand on
Monday in the first round at Wimbledon, the third Grand Slam tournament of the
year. Last year, Halep reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and was a
semifinalist in 2014. Also in the first round of the women’s draw, Romania’s
Monica Niculescu, world no. 51, will face Slovakia’s Magdalena Rybarikova;
Sorana Cirstea, world no. 62, plays Dutch player Kiki Bartens; while Irina
Begu, world no. 69, faces the British player Naomi Broady. Ana Bogdan, world
no. 114, who makes her Grand Slam debut, will face the Chinese player Ying-Ying
Duan. In the men’s draw, Romania’s Marius Copil, world no. 85, will face the
German player Peter Gojowczyk in the first round.