August 2, 2023 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 02.08.2023, 20:00

FISCAL MEASURES – The ruling coalition
continues talks on fiscal measures designed to curb the budget deficit. Prime
Minister Marcel Ciolacu and Finance Minister Marcel Boloș on Tuesday submitted
the first set of measures aimed at meeting the budget deficit target. The
government will thus restructure some areas of the public sector by reducing
jobs, setting caps for phone and daily allowances as well as holiday vouches.
The Prime Minister says the measures represent the first real reform of the
budget system. The government aims to cut some 1.2 bln EUR worth of spending
and increase taxes by another 1.2 bln EUR.

LAW – The Constitutional Court of
Romania decided to send back to Parliament the law on special pensions, after
declaring some its articles unconstitutional. Parliament will have to reexamine
the law. The reform of the special pensions is one of the milestones Romania
must fulfill under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. Otherwise Romania
could lose over 3.1 bln worth of EU funds. According to official data, special
pensions in Romania stand at some 2.4 bln EUR. Opposition parties have called
for an extraordinary Parliament sitting over August 7 – September 1 to address
the reform of special pensions.

UKRAINE – Russia’s repeated attacks on
Ukrainian civilian infrastructure on the Danube River, in the vicinity of
Romania, are unacceptable. These are war crimes that continue to affect
Ukraine’s capacity to export its grain, Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis
wrote on social media on Wednesday. In turn, Senate Speaker Nicolae Ciucă said
Russia’s recent cruel attacks destabilize the provision of food to several
countries, seriously endangering global food safety. A Russian drone attack on
Wednesday hit Ukrainian docks in Izmail on the Danube River, close to Romania.
Kyiv reported fires on its industrial and port facilities, whereas the crane
was damaged. Russia started targeting Ukrainian ports after withdrawing from a
UN agreement allowing for the safe exports of Ukrainian grain via the Black
Sea.

ALERT – The
Romanian Foreign Ministry alerted Romanian citizens who are transiting or
planning to travel to Sardinia that local authorities in this region have
issued a code orange alert against wildfires. Romanian citizens are urged to
get regular updates before starting their travels and avoid going to areas
where wildfires or the risk of wildfires are reported. In case of emergency,
they can contact the Romanian Embassy in Romania of Romania’s consular offices
in Milan, Bologna, Turin, Trieste, Bari and Catania. The Romanian MFA is also
taking action to evacuate four Romanian citizens from Niger in the context of
the deteriorating security context in this country. According to the Ministry,
representatives of the Romanian Embassy in Algiers, which ensures diplomatic
and consular relations with the Republic of Niger, have taken urgent action to
identify the Romanian citizens on the territory of this state.

INVESTIGATION
– Police are conducting a criminal investigation into negligence and abuse of
office in two cases that were highly publicized in recent days at the Urziceni
Municipal Hospital, where a young pregnant woman gave birth on the sidewalk in
front of the hospital, whereas a 32-year-old man who received superficial
treatment died upon returning home. The hospital manager who said she’d done
nothing wrong was sacked on Tuesday shortly after the media reported on these
two cases. Several investigations are pending and a number of fines have been
handed out. According to the Coalition of Organizations of Chronic Patients,
disciplinary procedures should be accelerated and tightened, including the
withdrawal of medical licenses. (VP)