December 5, 2017 UPDATE

Romania mourns its last king, Mihai I, who passed away at 96 years of age

Newsroom, 05.12.2017, 19:30

MOURNING: Romania’s last king, Mihai I, 96, passed away at his residence in
Switzerland. He was the last of the four sovereigns of the
Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen German dynasty which ascended the throne in Bucharest
in 1866 and built modern Romania. Born on October 25, 1921, Mihai was enthroned
in 1940, after the abdication of his father, Carol II. On August 23, 1944,
during WWII, he ordered the arrest of the de facto leader of the country,
Marshal Ion Antonescu, Romania’s withdrawal from the alliance with Nazi Germany
and subsequently declared an alliance with its traditional allies, the United
States and Great Britain. According to historians, this decision shortened the
war by at least six months and saved hundreds of thousands of lives. Three
years later, when the country was practically under Soviet military occupation
and was led by a puppet communist government, the King was forced to abdicate
and to live in exile in the West. The sovereign was allowed to return to
Romania only after the 1989 anti-communist Revolution, regained Romanian
citizenship that he had been stripped of by the communists and some of his
properties. King Mihai promoted, as a special ambassador, in the big western
chancelleries, Romania’s accession to NATO in 2004 and to the EU, in
2007. His first born, the eldest of his five daughters, Princess
Margareta, is King Mihai’s successor at the helm of the Royal House and the
Custodian of the Crown. With endless love and strong principles, King
Mihai wrote the most valuable page of contemporary history in the Book of the
Romanian Nation, Princess Margareta said in a televised declaration to the
country. The earthly remains of King Mihai will lie in state at Peles Castle in
Sinaia, the southern Carpathians, for two days, and then at the Throne Hall of
the Royal Palace in Bucharest. The funeral will be held at Curtea de Arges,
southern Romania, the last resting place of the Romanian kings.

PRESIDENCY –President Klaus Iohannis, said on Tuesday that Romanias accession to the Euro zone and the Schenghen area continue to be major objectives of the country. The declaration was made before the ambassadors of the EU member states accredited to Bucharest, during a meeting hosted by the Embassy of Estonia, a country which is currently holding the half-yearly rotating presidency of the EU Council. On that occasion, the president also expressed Romanias readiness to contribute to consolidating the European project, the more so as the country will hold the presidency of the EU Council in the first half of 2019. At domestic level, president Iohannis reiterated his firm commitment to consolidate the independence of the judiciary and to continue the fight against corruption. The agenda of talks also covered such issues as Brexit and the informal summit of the European leaders due in May 2019 in Sibiu, central Romania.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS– Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu on Tuesday and Wednesday attends the Brussels meeting of the NATO foreign ministers. According to a ministry press release, this is a major event in preparation for the summit of July 2018. The main areas being covered in the meeting will be security issues of relevance to the alliance, as well as the role of NATO in projecting stability, including the threat of terrorism. The participants will also exchange opinions on the open door policy and optimal solutions in supporting candidate states. Participating is also the US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who reassured NATO member states that the United States is committed to Europe’s security.

TAX HAVENS – The 28 EU finance ministers, who gathered in Brussels on Tuesday, adopted a black list of fiscal havens in 17 jurisdictions outside the EU which do not cooperate on fiscal and taxation-related issues. The list includes, among others, South Korea, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, Namibia, Panama and Bahrain. These countries run the risk of loosing access to European funds. Other possible measures will be made public next week. 47 other jurisdictions are included on a so-called “gray list, including countries which have pledged to improve fiscal and tax practices. Some of the member states, including Romania, stand for tough sanctions.

ANTI-CORRUPTION -
Former interior minister, Cristian David, on Tuesday was sentenced by the high
Court of Cassation and Justice to five year imprisonment, in a file in which he
is accused of having taken a 500,000 Euro bribe. According to the National
Anti-corruption Directorate, in 2007, in his capacity as interior minister,
Cristian David used his influence for the issuance of a property title for a 15-hectare
plot of land in Buzau, south-eastern Romania. The sentence is not final.

ECONOMY – Household spending has been the main driver of the 7% growth of the Romanian economy in the first three quarters of 2017, against the same period of 2016. According to the National Statistics Institute, between January and September of this year, the GDP amounted to 696 billion lei, around 151 billion Euro. Beginning in November, the National Prognosis Commission adjusted upwards its 6.1% growth estimate regarding economic growth in 2017. The European Commission also adjusted upwards its estimates for economic growth in Romania this year, at the same time warning that uncertainties in terms of executive policies may adversely affect economic growth. The IMF expects that the Romanian economy grow by 5.5% in 2017.

EDUCATION – 18% of Romanian youth graduate basic education, according to the latest data from the EU, presented on Tuesday in Bucharest. Director General of the Institute of Education Sciences in Romania, Ciprian Fartuşnic, said that this drop out rate is almost double the figure that the authorities were aiming for. He also remarked that Romania has the lowest rate of investment in education among European Union countries, around 3% of the GDP. There is also a huge gap between urban and rural environments in terms of education, and also between categories of students, with a disproportionate lack of education among the poor and among children with disabilities or children belonging to the Rroma minority. (Translated by D. Vijeu and C. Cotoiu)