August 7, 2018 UPDATE
The Romanian Presidency criticizes the budget adjustment operated by the Government
Newsroom, 07.08.2018, 19:36
REACTION – The Romanian Presidency criticizes the budget adjustment operated by the Government, saying that the slashing of funds from the Presidency will make Romania unable to comply with its international commitments such as organizing the Three Seas Initiative summit, the Presidency’s spokeswoman Manadalina Dobrovolschi has announced. President Klaus Iohannis believes that that the budget adjustment announced by the Government is an attempt to block, through budget restrictions, the activity of a fundamental institution, the Presidency’s spokeswoman has also said. In his turn, Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici rejected the accusations and said that the Presidency has all the funds it needs to continue its activity until the end of the year. The Romanian Finance Ministry has finalized the bill for the first budget adjustment this year, grounded on a budget deficit of 2.97% of the GDP. According to a press release, economic results are encouraging and reflect a 5.5% growth rate, underlying the state budget for 2018. The budget adjustment is positive, calculated on a surplus of budget revenues of nearly 1.3 billion euros. Additional funds will go to local authorities and the National Social and Health Insurance Fund. The ministries of health, education, interior and agriculture will get additional money. More funds have been earmarked to the Ministry of Public Finance, in order to ensure Romania pays its contribution to the EU budget. At the opposite end, the budgets of the Presidency, the Romanian Intelligence Service, the Romanian Foreign Intelligence Service, the ministries of Research, Energy and Foreign Affairs will be slashed. The budget adjustment law will be adopted in the second half of August.
ROMANIA’S JUDICIARY — US Senators John McCain of the Republican Party and Christopher Murphy of the Conservative Party have addressed a joint letter to the Romanian Prime Minister, Viorica Dancila, expressing concern with the dismissal of the chief anti-corruption prosecutor and calling on the Government to step up its efforts to combat corruption. The two Senators wrote that, as strong supporters of the US-Romania relationship, they noted with regret that President Klaus Iohannis was recently forced by a court ruling to dismiss Laura Codruta Kovesi. We recall that President Klaus Iohannis removed Kovesi from office last month following a Constitutional Court ruling. In another development, the New Europe publication headquartered in Brussels has drawn up an analysis, claiming that Kovesi’s dismissal provides Romania with the opportunity of eliminating past abuses. New Europe analysts claim Romania is by far the European country with the highest number of human rights violations. New Europe also highlights the fact that anti-corruption prosecutors assigned by Kovesi were recorded while discussing attempts to fabricate evidence.
VIRUS — The African swine fever virus continues to spread across Romania, the number of hotbeds now reaching 580 in over 100 towns in villages in 8 counties, according to the latest toll. Some 78,000 pigs were slaughtered. Authorities continue to take specific action to prevent the virus from spreading. Wild boars carrying the disease in affected areas will be shot down, while special disinfection checkpoints will be set up in border crossing points. Farmers will be compensated for their losses, while the recent budget adjustment has earmarked additional funds to the program aimed at eradicating this disease.
VICTIMS — Another two Romanian citizens have been identified among the people injured in Monday’s blast near the airport in Bologna, the Romanian Foreign Ministry has announced. So far three Romanians are among the injured. Romania’s Consulate in Bologna continues to monitor the situation and keeps in touch with the local authorities, the injured people and the hospital where they are being treated. A tanker truck carrying a highly flammable gas exploded after crashing into a truck on a crowded motorway in the northern Italian city of Bologna killing one person and injuring several dozens.
INFLATION — The National Bank of Romania expects the inflation rate to drop in the third quarter of the year and to stand at around 3,5%, close to the maximum limit set by the Bank. Governor Mugur Isarescu said that, according to preliminary reports, Romania will have a negative inflation rate starting July and will see a drop in prices. The National Bank decided to maintain the monetary policy interest rate at 2.5% per year, against the backdrop of the evolution of the inflation rate.
WEATHER — The Foreign Ministry in Bucharest has issued a travel warning for Germany in place until Thursday against temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius and thunderstorms. Croatia is under a code red alert against extreme heat and heavy traffic. Spain and Italy have seen the first casualties due to the recent heat wave. On Monday thermometers read 46.8 degrees in Portugal, while a wildfire has razed over 1,000 hectares of woodland to the ground. Another wildfire on the French-Spanish border has disrupted traffic on a highway in the Pyrenees. In the Netherlands, several segments of motorways have been shut down while four nuclear reactors were pre-emptively closed in France. Code red and orange alerts against extreme heat are in place in several European countries.
