August 31, 2015 UPDATE

A look at some of the main stories in Romania today

Newsroom, 31.08.2015, 12:15

The foreign ministry in Bucharest hails the
celebration of Romanian Language Day – an opportunity for Romanians all over
the world and for those who speak and learn Romanian to cherish Romanian
cultural and linguistic heritage. Romania’s foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu
said in a press release that Romanian Language Day is celebrated on the 31st
of August both in Romania and abroad through a series of events that celebrate
Romanian history and culture and the important contribution of the Romanian
language to European and world heritage. Many Romanian embassies, consulates
and cultural institutes abroad have held events to mark this celebration,
including traditional music shows, poetry recitals, exhibitions dedicated to
Romanian writers, public talks, film screenings, theatre performances,
participations in ethnographic festivals and meetings of Romanian ethnic
communities in the region. Romanian is the native language of around 30 million
people and is taught as a foreign language in universities in 45 different
countries around the world.

The new Fiscal
Code and postal voting for the Romanians living abroad are two of the
priorities of the Romanian Parliament when it returns from the summer recess on
September 1st. The interim president of the Social Democratic Party,
Liviu Dragnea, says he would like to see Parliament engage in dialogue rather
than be dominated by the war between power and the opposition. The Social
Democrat Prime Minister Victor Ponta has also said that the law on state
employees’ salaries, which provides for higher salaries in the public sector,
as well as the 2016 state budget and the procurement law could be adopted by
November 1st, through political consensus. The Liberal Party in
opposition, through its co-president Alina Gorghiu, has called for the passing,
by November 1st, of the postal voting bill. She says that drafting a
new law does not make sense, as the bill already contains the requirements of the
Romanian communities abroad. The bill became a controversial issue after last
year’s presidential elections, when thousands of Romanians who live abroad were
unable to cast their votes, despite queuing for hours at polling stations.

Romania took over on Monday the command and
control of the NATO Multinational Division South-East, containing two force
integration units in Bucharest and Sofia. Romania had expressed its willingness
to host the Multinational Division as early as 2014, but neither the Romanian
defence ministry, nor NATO had indicated its exact location. Romania’s land
forces still maintain control of the other two large units, the Second Infantry
Division in Buzau and the Fourth Infantry Division in Cluj.

Romanian air traffic controllers
have cancelled their indefinite all-out strike set to begin on the 1st
of September. This decision follows talks over the last few days between the
trade union of the Romanian Air Traffic Services Administration and the
transport ministry. Air traffic controllers demanded higher salaries, the
reduction of the retirement age from 65 to 55, better work conditions and the
sacking of the administration’s management. They went on a warning 2-hour
strike on the 15th of July, a first in Romania. According to the
Romanian Air Traffic Services Administration, which employs around 1,500
people, Romania is transited by up to 3,000 planes every day.

Day two of the George Enescu International
Festival sees the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by the legendary
conductor Zubin Mehta performing as part of the Great World Orchestras series,
while Bucharest’s Athenaeum hosted a concert conducted by the Romanian
conductor Liviu Prunaru. The opening of the 22nd edition of the
festival was held on Sunday evening with the Romanian Youth Orchestra
performing George Enescu’s First Romanian Rhapsody.