August 28, 2015 UPDATE

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Newsroom, 28.08.2015, 12:15

16 Romanian citizens are being investigated in the Hungarian capital city for participating on August the 26th in two different cases of human trafficking. In a news conference given in Bucharest, the press service of the Romanian Foreign Ministry announced two other Romanian nationals had been taken into custody in Hungary and are being investigated for the same reason. As regards the scores of migrants found dead in a truck which was left abandoned near the Austrian-Hungarian border, the Romanian Foreign Ministry has confirmed the owner of the truck is not a Romanian national and no Romanian citizen got involved in this dramatic incident, investigated by the Austrian police.

The total population residing in Romania remains under 20 million people, according to preliminary data from the National Statistics Institute. On January 1, 19,861,000 people were residing in Romania, down 85,900 since the beginning of the previous year. The urban and female population account, respectively, for 53.8%, and 51.1% of the total, and the ageing phenomenon is deepening, the difference between the population over 65 and the young population of up to 14 years of age having widened to more than 300,000 people. The survey also indicates that Romania remains an emigration country, with a number of emigrants 42,000 higher than the number of immigrants last year.

The Bucharest Court has dismissed a notification filed by the management of the Romanian Air Traffic Authority (ROMATSA) regarding the unlawfulness of the strike announced by employees. Their union leaders announced an all-out strike starting September 1, unless an agreement is reached with the Transport Ministry on the unions demands. Air traffic controllers want a pay rise, the reduction of the retirement age from 65 to 55, improved working conditions as well as the resignation of the management. On July 15, the employees went on a two-hour token strike, an unprecedented situation in the Romanian air transport system. According to the Romanian Air Traffic Authority, which currently has around 1,500 employees, between 2,500 and 3,000 planes transit the Romanian territory every day. On Wednesday, union leaders from the state-owned sector announced that 85,000 public sector employees might express their solidarity with the air traffic controllers planned strike.

Romanian managers believe the economic situation of the country will improve slightly until the month of October, a conjectural investigation conducted by the National Statistics Institute shows. It is estimated that the volume of activity will grow in three of the four domains included in the analysis, the processing industry, trade and services, against the backdrop of a relative stability of prices. Also, the number of employees will go up in the field of trade and will further be stable in other sectors. The Secretary General of the Association of Romanian Businesspeople, Cristian Parvan, has told Radio Romania this high level of optimism is determined by the VAT reduction for foodstuffs and the decrease in oil price on the international market.

A delegation of the committee for the Romanians around the world with the Romanian Senate has started a working visit in Herta and Storojinetz counties and to Cernauti (Chernivtsy) in Ukraine. The members of the delegation will hold talks with Ukrainian government officials and with MPs on the rights of the Romanians living in the neighbouring state. The president of the committee, senator Marcel Bujor has told Radio Romania that most ethnic Romanians in Ukraine do not have access to education in their native language, do not have newspapers in Romanian, are facing difficulties in the effort to preserve their religious identity and do not have a representation at parliamentary level.

In Romania, the autumn session of the Baccalaureate exam concludes today, when over 36,000 high-school graduates give the last written test in their chosen major. The first results will be announced on September 1, appeals may be filed on the same day. The final results will be made public on September 4. Around 55,000 high school graduates took part in the autumn session of the Romanian Baccalaureate.

The date of early legislative election in Greece was set for September the 20th. Former Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras, who stepped down on August 21, agrees to this date, whereas some opposition parties, such as the New Democracy (conservative) and the Popular Unity (of the Syriza splinter group), prefer the date of September 27th, to benefit from a longer electoral period. The announcement is officially opening the election campaign and was made public just minutes after the first meeting of the new interim Greek government, led by Vassiliki Thanou.

The Romanian Youth Orchestra will open in Bucharest on Sunday night the 22nd “George Enescu International Festival. Nearly 2,500 foreign artists and 500 Romanian ones will take part in this years edition of the Festival. The participating orchestras include the San Francisco Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, conducted by the world famous Zubin Mehta, the Vienna Philharmonic, the Bavarian State Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, London Symphony Orchestra, Saint Petersburg Orchestra, Monte Carlo Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam. According to the organisers, the 2015 edition of the largest cultural event organised in Romania and the worlds leading promoter of the works of the great Romanian composer George Enescu, will take place between August 30 and September 20, and will consist in 58 indoor concerts and many other outdoor events.

For the first time in 12 years, Romania will have no representatives in the group stage of the European inter-club football competitions. Although on Thursday night Romanian champions Steaua defeated Norways Rosenborg Trondheim, 1-0 away from home, the Romanians were knocked off the Europa League play-off, because the Norwegian team had won in Bucharest 3-0. The new failure comes after Steaua was also eliminated from the third round of the Champions League by the Serbian team Partizan Belgrade. Also in Thursdays Europa League play-off, Astra Giurgiu failed to qualify, after losing 0-2, against the Dutch team AZ Alkmaar, which it had beaten in the first leg. The other two Romanian teams in the competition, vice-champions ASA Targu Mures and FC Botosani, were sent home from the qualifiers stage. According to Romanian sports media, the last hope for the local football fans remains the national team, which is the leader of the preliminary group of next years European Championships. Romanias next match in the group is scheduled for September 4, when the national team takes on Hungary in Budapest.