August 31, 2023

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 31.08.2023, 13:55

CREVEDIA – A new patient who suffered burns in last week’s explosions
in Crevedia has died. According to the Health Ministry, the patient had
sustained burns on 90% of his body. This is the third fatality reported in the
wake of last week’s explosions at an LPG station in Crevedia. 5 people are
still in critical condition: 2 are treated in Romania and 3 abroad. 22 patients
hospitalized in Bucharest are stable while 19 were discharged. In today’s
session, the government is expected to vote the provision of emergency
financial aid to the families and victims of the tragic event. Several houses
were affected by the blasts, of which 8 were destroyed. Intervention teams
remain on-scene until the site is fully secured, whereas prosecutors have
launched a number of criminal investigations.

DEFICIT – Romania’s Prime Minister Marcel CIolacu is today
discussing with European Commission representatives about Romania’s budget
deficit for 2024. The government wants a deficit above 5%, and has prepared a
number of fiscal measures to convince the Commission the target is feasible.
The government thus wants to cut the number of VAT quotas to two and eliminate
certain tax breaks. Marcel Ciolacu believes a deficit above 5% is necessary, in
the context Romania has provided support to neighboring Ukraine. Earlier this
week, the European Commission talked to Romanian ministers but has not yet made
public its conclusions. According to EU sources, the Commission believes the
Romanian government’s measures to increase taxes and cut back on public
spending are not enough to meet the deficit target.

ROMANIAN LANGUAGE DAY – Romanian Language Day is celebrated every
year on August 31. Today, a series of cultural events are held on this occasion
in Romania and neighboring Moldova. The Romanian Academy and the Moldovan
Science Academy have organized a mixed scholarly meeting, held in both
Bucharest and Chișinău. In the Moldovan capital-city, the meeting continued
with the 12th edition of the World Conference on the life and works
of Mihai Eminescu. In Bucharest, the Botanical Gardens hosted public reading
sessions, while the city in Iași in northeastern Romania hosted a special event
– The Great Dictation, addressing people who want to test their writing,
grammar and spelling skills. Romanian Language Day is also marked by Romanian
Cultural Institutes abroad by means of conferences, Romanian language, culture
and civilization classes, book launches, concerts or exhibitions.

ITO – The city of Timișoara
(western Romania) is as of today hosting the 7th edition of the International
Meeting of Orthodox Youth (ITO). Attending are clergymen from at home and
abroad, MPs, ministers and academia. The conference will tackle a number of
issues tied to universal history and culture, but also human trafficking and
drug abuse. Religious services will be officiated, whereas a march will
commemorate the young people killed in the 1989 anti-communist revolution. The
International Meeting of the Orthodox Youth is part of the agenda of the Timișoara
– European Capital of Culture in 2023 programme. The next meeting will be held
in Bucharest in 2025, marking 100 years since the establishment of the Romanian
Orthodox Patriarchate.

TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Sorana Cîrstea on Wednesday advanced
to the third round of the US Open after ousting Ana Kalynskaya of Russia, 6-3,
6-4. The Romanian player thus matched her best performance at Flushing Meadows.
In the next round, Cîrstea will go up against Elena Rybakina, world number 4.
(VP)