11 June, 2015

News and Current Affairs

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Newsroom, 11.06.2015, 11:59

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis takes part in Brussels in the summit meeting between the EU and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. The aims of the meeting are consolidating political dialog, developing economic ties and stronger cooperation, which Romania supports fully, according to President Iohannis speaking upon departure. This summit is attended by heads of state and government from 60 countries. On the first day, the EC announced it would grant yet another 118 million Euro to its counterpart countries to boost investment and cooperation in the region. A new agreement was also signed between the EC and the Interamerican Development Bank.

The World Bank has revised its economic growth forecast for this year downwards, to 2.8%, 0.2 lower than before. For Romania, the bank anticipates above average growth: 3% in 2015, 3.2% in 2016, and 3.5% in 2017.

Romanian retirees members in the Unirea National Federation protested on Thursday in Bucharest, demanding a national action program to ensure pensioners in Romania have decent living conditions. According to the federation, pensions in real terms in 2014 are lower than even in 2009, with fewer and fewer treatment vouchers each year. The federation claims that the general state of health among seniors is lower and lower because of poverty, with rising mortality and morbidity, with the number of civilian retirees dropping from 6 million 12 years ago to 5.18 million at present.

Romanian Minister of Internal Affairs Gabriel Oprea met his counterpart from the Republic of Moldova, Oleg Balan. At the meeting, the former said that Moldova was a privileged partner for Romania, specifying that fighting cross-border organized crime was still a priority for the two countries, adding that Romania would open up more positions for Moldovan students to attend the Romanian Police Academy. The Romanian deputy PM assured the Moldovan minister of Romania’s full support in his country’s bid to join the EU. In turn, Oleg Balan welcomed all the support granted by the Romanian authorities to the efforts to reform the Moldovan police.

Citizens from NATO member states believe Moscow is responsible for triggering the Ukrainian crisis and see Russia as a threat to its neighbors, as indicated by a Pew Research poll quoted by press agencies. 39% of respondents believe that the situation in Ukraine was provoked by Russia, while 18% believe the responsible party is the pro-Russian separatist faction. About half of the people polled said that Russia was a threat to neighboring countries. Moscow’s aggressive action in the ex-Soviet space was harshly condemned on Wednesday in the European Parliament.

The Romanian national football squad is today traveling to Belfast, where on Saturday evening it will be taking on the national team of Northern Ireland. The game counts towards the Euro 2016 preliminaries, and is rated a final of sorts in Group F, which also includes Hungary, Finland, Greece and the Faeroe Islands. With four wins and a draw in their first five fixtures, the Romanians top the table with 13 points, followed by Northern Ireland, with 12. The last time when Romania took part in a final tournament of a European Championship was 2008.