June 16, 2023

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 16.06.2023, 13:55

GOVERNMENT – The
freshly sworn-in Prime Minister, Social-Democrat Marcel Ciolacu is today
holding his first meetings with members of his new cabinet, including deputy
prime ministers Marian Neacșu and Cătălin Predoiu, Minister for Investment
Adrian Câciu, Labor Minister Marius Budăi and Finance Minister Marcel Boloș.
Also today, Prime Minister Ciolacu is holding talks with Education Minister
Ligia Deca and representatives of education trade unions. In yesterday’s
government session, Marcel Ciolacu announced his main priorities include
slashing prices for basic foodstuffs and curbing inflation.

STRIKE -
Unionists of the national airline TAROM have threatened to launch a strike
unless they receive a 15% salary raise. The Ministry of Transport has agreed to
operate an 8% salary increase, provided this loss-incurring company is
restructured. Representatives of the Sanitary Solidarity Federation on Thursday
staged protest rallies near medical units across the country, calling for
salaries and benefits in line with regulations in force and the relaunch of
vacancy-filling contests in the healthcare system. Union representatives say
that unless their grievances are heard and solutions are found, they will be
organizing a work-in strike on June 27 and starting July 1 they will go on
all-out strike. We recall that the strike action in the public education system
was suspended on Monday after the Government pledged its commitment to raise
salaries and provide bonuses to employees in the system.

COMMITTEE – The Romanian-German mixed
government committee on the German minority in Romania met on Thursday in
Timișoara. On the sidelines of the session, the committee published a joint
cooperation protocol for preserving the identity of German ethnics. The meeting
was held this year against the backdrop of very intense Romanian-German
relations, also as a result of the major contribution of the German minority in
Romania. The committee agreed to boost bilateral relations in the fields of
arts and culture by means of specific projects, to conserve German buildings
and monuments in Romania, as well as to support German-language teaching by
posting German teachers and developing applied sciences curricula. We recall
Germany is Romania’s top trade partner, last year two-way trade standing at 40
mln EUR, as well as Romania’s second-largest investor, with over 25,000
companies with German capital participation and a total invested capital of 5.5
bln EUR.

VISITS – The Prime Minister of the
Republic of Moldova, Dorin Recean, is paying an official visit to Bucharest on
Saturday, government sources say. The Moldovan official will meet his Romanian
counterpart, Marcel Ciolacu. The Romanian Prime Minister in turn is expected to
pay his first external visit to Germany, where he will hold talks with
Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

FOOTBALL -
Romania’s football team is today playing Kosovo in Pristina in Group I of the
EURO 2024 preliminaries. Romania started the qualification campaign with two
wins, 2-0 against Andorra and 2-1 against Belarus at home. On June 19, in
Lucerne, Romania will take on the top-seed Switzerland. The first two teams in
each group will qualify to the EURO 2024 championship to be hosted by Germany.

WEATHER -
Romanian meteorologists have issued warnings against stormy weather for western
counties, in place until Saturday afternoon. Four counties in the southwest
have been placed under a code red alert for heavy rain. During the interval,
rainfall volumes are expected to exceed as much as 80 liters/square meter in
isolated areas. Several counties in the south are already bracing for flash
floods in the wake of the heavy rainfall of the last few days. Hydrologists
have issued a code red alert against flash floods and heavy rainfall in excess
of critical water levels, in place until Saturday afternoon for several rivers
in the southwest. The highs of the day range between 20 and 30 degrees Celsius.
Warm weather and overcast skies are reported in Bucharest with slight chances
of rain in the second half of the day. The noon reading in the capital city was
30 degrees. (VP)