29 November, 2018

Romanian government holds special meeting in Alba Iulia to celebrate National Day and Great Union Centenary.

Newsroom, 29.11.2018, 13:18

Government. The government will continue to implement public policies to
benefit the country and its citizens, Romania’s prime minister Viorica Dancila
has promised. Her cabinet held a special meeting on Thursday in Alba Iulia,
central Romania, dedicated to the celebration of Romania’s National Day on 1
December, in a year when the country celebrates 100 years since the creation of
the Romanian nation state. Alba Iulia is the city where the Great Union was
accomplished in 1918. Viorica Dancila announced that the building sector
would be considered a priority and of national importance for the Romanian
economy, and that a minimum gross salary of some 640 euros would be established
in this field. 1 January will also see an average 5-time increase in the
allowances of war invalids, veterans and widows. Last but not least, the
government will approve the creation of a Food Trade National Society, a
commercial mechanism meant to promote the local resources and agricultural
products. Before the government’s meeting, the prime minister
visited the Union Memorial, one of the most spectacular projects celebrating
the Centenary of the Great Union. The structure is 22 m high and will be
unveiled on 1 December, in the presence of president Klaus Iohannis. Yesterday,
the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies also met in a special session to mark
the Centenary of the Great Union. President Iohannis called on politicians to
listen to the voice of the people, while prime minister Viorica Dancila called
for peace and unity.

Ukraine. The
Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko has called on NATO member states to send ships
to the sea around Crimea and on the EU leaders to take all necessary measures
to put pressure on Russia, including by tightening sanctions, in order to put
an end to what he called the ongoing annexation of the Sea of Azov and the
Kerch Strait and to restore Ukraine’s territorial integrity, according to the
BBC. In Moscow, Russian president Vladimir Putin made his first comments about
the Russian-Ukrainian naval incident in the Kerch Strait describing it as a
minor border incident. The foreign ministry in Kiev has sent a letter of
protest to the Russian foreign ministry, requesting the immediate release of
its sailors, whom it considers war prisoners. A court in Simferopol, the
capital of Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, placed nine sailors in
temporary detention until the 25th of January, pending trial. A
similar decision was taken on Tuesday for 15 sailors. Three of them are in a
hospital in Kerch. France Presse notes that this is the first open military
confrontation between Moscow and Kiev since the annexation of Crimea.

Cyber security. 70 Romanian staff are taking part in the Cyber Coalition
cyber defence exercise under way until 30 November, the biggest of its kind
organised by NATO. The exercise is coordinated from Tartu, in Estonia, and its
goal is to test NATO’s capacity to defend its computer networks from cyber
attacks. Each NATO member state takes part from its own territory, via a
secured connection to the cyber network made available by the defence ministry
in Estonia and configured for this exercise by the CyberInt Centre of the
Romanian Intelligence Service.

Unemployment. The unemployment rate reached 4% in Romania in October,
slightly up from the previous month by 0.1%, according to the National
Institute for Statistics. Unemployment among men is 1.4% higher than among
women, with 4.6% for men and 3.2% for women. Statistical figures also show that
the unemployment rate among the adult population aged between 25 and 74 was
estimated at 3.2% for October, with 3.8% for men and 2.3% for women.

Eurozone. Corporate credit growth in the eurozone slowed down last month
according to a study by the European Central Bank, which is a sign that the
worsening of the economic prospects is starting to affect loans, Reuters notes.
Corporate loans went up by 3.9% in October, the slowest growth pace since May,
after an increase of 4.3% in September, the highest since the crisis. Analysts
believe these data will not affect the intention of the European Central Bank
to halt in December the public and private bond acquisition programme worth
2,600 billion euros launched in the last three years, or its plans to raise the
interest rate next year for the first time since 2011. The study published by
the European Central Bank comes after other indicators have also showed a
slowdown of the eurozone economy.

Handball. The best 16 handballing nations in Europe, including Romania,
are taking part in the Women’s European Championship which begins on Thursday
and is hosted by France. This is Romania’s 13th participation in a
European championship. They are in Group D, alongside the Czech Republic,
Germany and Norway. Romania, who are managed by the Spanish coach Ambros Martin,
play their first match on Saturday against the Czech side. The top three ranked
sides in the group make it to the next stage. Romania finished fifth at the
2016 European Championship and their best result was a bronze medal in 2010.