17 January, 2020

A selection of the main stories in Romania today.

Newsroom, 17.01.2020, 13:55

Holocaust. The Romanian president
Klaus Iohannis will be in Israel from Tuesday to Thursday, the
president’s office has announced. He will make this trip in order to attend the
5th forum of world leaders dedicated to the remembrance of the
victims of the Holocaust and the 75th anniversary of the liberation
of Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. The forum, entitled Remembering the Holocaust, Fighting Anti-Semitism, will take place on
the 23rd of January in Jerusalem. The participation of the Romanian
president in this international forum is part of the efforts made by the
Romanian state to consolidate education about the Holocaust, preserve the
memory of the Holocaust, combat anti-Semitism, racism and xenophobia and
promote European values, tolerance and respect for the fundamental rights and
liberties. On the sidelines of the forum, president Iohannis will also have a
meeting with his Israeli counterpart Reuven Rivlin.

Aid. The
Romanian government has approved aid worth 195 million lei, the equivalent of
41 million euros, to rescue the National Air Transport Company Tarom. Without
the aid, Tarom would no longer be able to finance its activity as of March.
According to the head of the prime minister’s office Ionel Danca, this is the
first step and can take the form of restructuring aid, following the
notification of the European Commission and the latter’s approval of the aid.
Tarom estimates losses of around 36 million euros for 2019. The Romanian
state-owned airliner has not had a profit since 2007.

Inflation. The annual inflation rate
in the eurozone stood at 1.3% in December last year, up from 1% in November,
and at 1.6% in the European Union from 1.3% the previous month, according to a
report published on Friday by Eurostat, the European statistical office. The
highest annual inflation rates in the EU were registered in Hungary, with 4.1%,
Romania, with 4%, and the Czech Republic and Slovakia, both with 3.2%, while
the lowest rates were registered in Portugal, with 0.4%, Italy, with 0.5%, and
Cyprus, with 0.7%. In the case of Romania, the figure published by Eurostat is
identical to that published on Tuesday by Romania’s own statistical office.

Green week. Romania is attending the
International Green Week in Berlin, an event that got under way today. The
agriculture ministry in Bucharest has an information stand where visitors can
find out more about the policies applied in the area of agriculture and rural
development. The ministry officials are promoting products registered as part
of European quality schemes or in the process of being registered. Tourist
sites are also promoted, as well as traditional customs from a number of
counties such as Cluj, in the north-west, Sibiu, in the centre, Suceava, in the
north-east, and Tulcea, in the south-east. The International Green Week is also
attended by the Romanian agriculture minister Adrian Oros, who will take part
in a conference on the future of the global pork production under the threat of
African swine fever, organised by the European Commission.

Tennis. The
Romanian tennis player Monica Niculescu, world no. 128, has qualified for the
main draw of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year.
She defeated the Swiss player Stefanie Voegele on Friday in three sets, in the last qualifying round.
Elena Gabriela Ruse is also vying for a place on the main draw. She will face
the American player Caty McNally, world no. 63, in the final qualifying round.
Three Romanian players go straight into the main draw in women’s singles: world
no. 4 Simona Halep, world no. 74 Sorana Cirstea, and world no. 105 Irina Begu.
In the opening round, Halep will face world no. 49 Jennifer Brady of the US,
Cirstea will face world no. 33 Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic and Begu
will face world no. 10 Kiki Bertens of The Netherlands.

Water polo. The Romanian men’s water polo side on Saturday face Russia in their final
Group B match as part of the European Championships under way in Budapest.
Romania lost their first two matches to The Netherlands, 9-8, and to Serbia,
15-7. The winner of the group go straight into the quarterfinals, while the
sides ranked second and third will go into play-offs to advance to the next
stage of the competition.