December 18, 2016
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 18.12.2016, 12:00
EVENTS The city of Timisoara, in western Romania, is seeing a series of events aimed at commemorating the heroes of the December 1989 Revolution. 27 years ago, on December 18th, the city witnessed a series of reprisals mounted by the communist authorities against the anti-communist protesters. Religious services were conducted on Saturday, wreaths of flowers were laid at various monuments around the city while flags were flown at half mast. Scores of candles were lit at night on the steps of the Cathedral in Timisoara, where the first protesters were killed on December 17th 1989. Tens of people were killed in the events 27 years ago while 400 others were wounded. Triggered by a spontanous revolt of the people in Timisoara against the abusive measures taken by the communist authorities, the revolution soon spread all throughout Romania, climaxing on December 22nd when ruthless dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife fled in a helicopter. Over 1,000 people were killed and roughly 34 hundred were wounded between December 16th and 25th 1989. Romania was the only country in the estern bloc which saw a violent overthrow of the regime and where the communist leaders were executed.
WB The World Bank has decided to grant Romania 500 million euros in a second loan targeting the country’s development programmes: the streamlining of its public finances and fostering economic growth. The objective of this programme is to streamline certain institutions, create fresh better-paid jobs and raise the Romanians’ standard of living. The World Bank opened offices in Romania back in 1991 and ever since it has given Romania over 10 billion dollars in loans and grants, money that was used in sectors such as education, health, agriculture, environment projects, social assistance, justice and transport.
PROJECTS The European Commissioner for regional policy Corina Cretu has approved the continuation of 19 projects in several Romanian regions amounting to 1.3 billion euros. The projects include water supply, sewerage, water treatment facilities as well as centralised urban heating sytems. Another project is aimed at the road and rail transport infrastructure.
CONFERENCE France has decided to postpone for January the International Conference aimed at kick starting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, which it intended to stage in December, Francois Delattre, the French ambassador at the UN, has said. Paris believes the continuation of settlement construction is posing a threat to the two states solution and announced it would stage a conference to bring together all the partners involved with the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
TALKS Romania’s Parliament in a new formula after the December the 11th election has been summouned by president Iohannis for talks on Tuesday. Iohannis said he would be having talks with representatives of the political parties on the designation of the country’s new Prime Minister. Six political groups have made it to Parliament; the largest number of the total 465 seats have been won by the Social-Democrats. Other political groups that have made it to Parliament are the National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union (USR), the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania (UDMR), the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) and the People’s Movement Party (PMP). Minorities, other than the Hungarian one, have mustered 17 seats.
