January 7, 2016 UPDATE

The World Bank has upgraded its economic growth forecast for Romania / French police shot dead a man who tried to enter a Paris police station

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Newsroom, 07.01.2016, 12:15

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday in Berlin that the Romanian-German economic ties will be strengthened on condition that the improvement of the Romanian justice system and the fight against corruption continue. In his turn, the Romanian Prime Minister, Dacian Ciolos, said that Germany was an important strategic partner of Romania and the country’s first commercial partner, with an annual value of bilateral trade of over 20 billion euros. PM Ciolos also said he planned to return to Germany in an attempt to boost economic cooperation between the two countries. The Romanian PM’s visit to Germany was aimed at strengthening bilateral relations and agreeing on common goals on the European agenda, including issues pertaining to migration and to EU foreign policy. Ciolos also met with representatives of the Bundestag Friendship Group and of the Romanian community in Germany.

The Romanian Foreign Ministry announced that authorities in the neighbouring Bulgaria issued a yellow code alert for heavy snow, glaze and wind for several regions in the country. The Ministry recommends drivers to have their cars equipped for bad weather and to visit the website www.mae.ro for more information. Also, all Romanian citizens travelling abroad are advised to download and consult the ‘Safe Travel’ application, including information, travel recommendations and alerts in case of emergencies. The eastern half of Romania is also under a yellow code alert for heavy snow and sleet, valid until Friday morning. On Thursday, the airport in Cluj-Napoca, in north-western Romania was temporarily closed, after a plane overran a snow-covered runway while landing. Nobody was injured. Civil aviation security investigators are probing the incident.

French police on Thursday shot dead a man who tried to enter a Paris police station brandishing a butcher’s knife and wearing a suicide vest, which later proved to be fake, news agencies announced. According to the French authorities, the incident is being investigated as a terrorist “attempted murder” of public officials in authority. The incident took place on the day when Paris commemorated one year since the terrorist attacks in the French capital which killed 17 people, including 12 employees of the French satirical publication Charlie Hebdo.

The World Bank has upgraded its economic growth forecast for Romania, from 3.2 to 3.9% this year, and from 3.5 to 4.1% for 2017. In its latest report on global economic developments issued on Wednesday, the World Bank has also upgraded its forecast on the growth of Romania’s GDP for last year, from 3 to 3.6%. In another development, the National Bank of Romania on Thursday decided to maintain its monetary policy interest rate at 1.75% per year.

The United States, South Korea and Japan have announced they would stand united after North Korea on Wednesday announced the successful test of a hydrogen bomb. London, Paris, Moscow and even Beijing have condemned the move. The UN Security Council also agreed to impose fresh sanctions on North Korea. The Romanian Foreign Ministry in Bucharest has expressed concern, seeing the announcement as a threat to world peace and security. This is the fourth nuclear test carried out by Pyongyang since 2006. If confirmed, this will be the first hydrogen bomb test.

Romania’s national football squad continues to rank 16th in the world, according to FIFA’s World Ranking made public on January 7th. With the majority of the top teams enjoying a well-deserved break in the final weeks of 2015, the situation in the top 50 remains largely unchanged from the latest ranking. Sweden have moved up one position into 34th place, Iran have climbed two places into 43rd and Guinea have gained one position in 49th. France continues to be on the 25th position while Switzerland and Albania rank 12th and 38th respectively. The qualification for next year’s Euro 2016 is a great achievement for Romanian football. In their first Euro 2016 match, Romania will face France in the tournament’s opening game on 10th of June on Stade de France stadium. In their next game on 15th June, the Romanians play against Switzerland and then against Albania on 19th June in Lyon.

(Translated by Elena Enache)