August 31, 2024 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 31.08.2024, 20:00
LANGUAGE The Romanian Language Day was celebrated on Saturday both in Romania and in the R. of Moldova, where this holiday was first introduced, to mark a return to the Romanian language and Latin alphabet in the former Soviet Republic. Special events were held on both sides of the river Prut. In a message posted on this occasion, president Klaus Iohannis said the Romanian language is not just a set of words, but a means to pass on the cultural heritage and an invaluable heritage we are leaving for the future generations to cherish and enrich. As Mr. Iohannis emphasised, since last year the Romanian language has also been the official language of Moldova, after a law was promulgated by president Maia Sandu, replacing the phrase “Moldovan language” with the phrase “Romanian language.” This has been essential to restoring a historic fact, namely that Romanians living on both sides of the river Prut share a common language, culture and history, Iohannis said. According to him, Romanian is studied in 59 universities in 37 countries in the world. Public reading sessions, art exhibitions, film screenings, music recitals are organised by Romanian cultural institutes around the world to mark the Romanian Language Day.
VISIT The president of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, Saturday was on an official visit to the Republic of Moldova, for talks with his counterpart Maia Sandu. On this occasion, the two officials signed a Joint Declaration on bilateral cooperation to consolidate the resilience of the Republic of Moldova, which has received consistent support from Romania so far to withstand the many challenges it has been facing. According to Iohannis, the hybrid war waged against the Republic of Moldova and its citizens is growing more intense and taking ever more severe forms. He emphasized that Romania’s strategic commitment to supporting the democratic development of Moldova would remain unwavering in the long run, and called on all international partners to provide consistent support in its EU accession efforts. In turn, Maia Sandu said Romania played a vital part in consolidating her country’s energy independence, and also highlighted Bucharest’s support in the EU accession process. The Romanian president’s visit to Chişinău took place as Romania and Moldova celebrated the Romanian Language Day on August 31.
RATING Fitch Rating Friday reconfirmed Romania’s long- and short-term foreign-currency government debt rating at BBB-/F3 with a stable outlook, the finance ministry reports. According to the institution, the decision is supported by the capital inflow from the European Union, which sustains the country’s income convergence, foreign financing and macroeconomic stability, as well as a positive trend in the GDP per capita and in governance and human development indices, which are above ‘BBB’ category peers. The international institution’s decision reconfirms the confidence in the measures taken by the Romanian government to ensure public funding sustainability, the finance minister Marcel Boloş said. On the other hand, these strengths are balanced against large budget and current account deficits relative to peers, high budget rigidities, and a fairly high net external debtor position. The agency expects Romania’s economy to grow by 2.5% this year.
PENSIONS A bill on raising the pension tax threshold in Romania from EUR 400 at present to EUR 600 is to be endorsed next week in the Chamber of Deputies, the decision-making body in this respect, the culture minister Raluca Turcan announced. She said the measure had been promoted since 2022 by the National Liberal Party, and that after its endorsement in Parliament it would take effect on October 1. The ruling coalition comprising the Social Democratic Party and the National Liberal Party decided a few days ago that the new bill should be rushed through Parliament, instead of being endorsed by the government under an emergency order.
LAW The legislation regarding extended restraining orders took effect in Romania on Saturday. The goal is to protect all victims, irrespective of their relations with the abuser. The justice minister, Alina Ghorghiu, says that previously, restraining orders were only issued for cases of domestic violence, but the new legislation also includes psychological abuse. She encouraged all victims to seek protection and to report abuse cases, regardless of the form of abuse and of who the abuser is. In this context, the Romanian justice ministry has initiated an awareness raising campaign called “Living in fear is not living.” In 2023, nearly 80,000 cases of domestic violence were reported to the police, and in over 30,000 cases the victims were women. (AMP)
