March 24, 2017 UPDATE
For a roundup of domestic and international news, click here.
Newsroom, 24.03.2017, 19:40
THE FUTURE OF THE EU– Romania’s President, Klaus Iohannis, on Saturday is attending the EU Summit in Rome, where a Declaration on the future of the EU will be adopted. According to a communiqué issued by the Presidential Administration, Romania will plead for a stronger, more consolidated Europe. Early this month, Bucharest sent a document to the EU member states, expressing its stand on the issue. “The fact that there is no alternative to a European solution, which places the stability of our economies and societies and the prosperity of our citizens at the center of the Union’s actions, should be clearly expressed”, the document also writes. The president’s agenda on Friday also included a visit to Pope Francis at the Vatican, alongside other European leaders.
LONDON ATTACK — The latest death toll of Wednesday’s terror attack in London, issued by the British Police on Friday, takes the number of fatalities to four. 50 other people, of 12 nationalities were injured in the attack. Two Romanian tourists, a man and a woman are among those injured. The man has been released from hospital, whereas his partner is still in critical condition in hospital, although according to the Romanian Embassy her condition has somewhat improved in the last hours. She fell off Westminster Bridge into the Thames River, after the attacker rammed the car into people crossing the bridge. According to the British Police, the terrorist, who was shot dead, is Khalid Masood, 52, born in Great Britain and who embraced radical Islam. The attack has been claimed by the Islamic State group. Romania’s President, Klaus Iohannis, has firmly condemned the attack and, in a phone conversation with the British Prime Minister Theresa May, he expressed full solidarity with the United Kingdom. Klaus Iohannis also sent a message of condolence to the families of the victims and wished a fast recovery to those injured. In turn, Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu has said the government, via the Romanian Embassy in London, is monitoring the health condition of the two Romanian nationals who sustained injuries. In a message on Twitter, the British ambassador to Bucharest, Paul Brummel, sent a message to the Romanians, thanking them for their reaction to the attack.
LOANS — The National Bank on Friday announced that loans for businesses and natural persons amounted to some 3 billion euros in late February, down by 35% as compared to the same period of last year. At the end of last month, overall debt in national currency stood at over 1.3 billion euros, of which 1.1 billion were reported in Bucharest. In January, the number of natural persons with debt exceeding 30 days rose to some 650 thousand, the National Bank reports.
SUMMER TIME — On March 26, the last Sunday of March, Romania will switch to summertime or daylight saving time (DST). This is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that evening daylight lasts an hour longer. In Romania clocks will be advanced by one hour, from 03.00 to 04.00, local time. Consequently, this will be the shortest day of the year, with only 23 instead of 24 hours. This practice is aimed at saving electricity, using instead sunlight for a longer period of the day. Natural light is also a booster of people’s mental and physical health. DST is currently used by over 100 countries the world over.
EXERCISES — The French frigate “La Fayette” is starting Friday taking part in military exercises alongside similar Romanian ships, in the Black Sea. French and Romanian marines will work together to put into practice NATO standard operation practices, according to scenarios of ensuring free navigation and a maritime traffic flow. On Monday, the frigate “La Fayette” will take part in an exercise meant to consolidate interoperability with the Romanian Navy. There will be a busy timetable, including live fire exercises. Becoming militarily operational in 1996, “La Fayette” is equipped with anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles and has a self-defense arsenal. A Panther helicopter is also onboard the ship, which increases the frigate’s action range.
FOOTBALL — Romania’s national team is training in Cluj, north-western Romania, ahead of Sunday’s match against Denmark. The match counts towards preliminary Group E as part of the qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup to be hosted by Russia. Also on Sunday, Armenia is playing Kazakhstan while Montenegro is facing Poland. After trouncing Armenia 5-nil, drawing 1-all against Montenegro at home and nil-all against Kazakhstan away from home, losing nil-3 against Poland in Bucharest, Romania is ranked 4th in the group tables, with 5 points. We recall that Romania is coached by German Cristoph Daum, the first foreign coach in the history of the Romanian team, after last year’s subpar performance at the 2016 European Championships in France. (Translated by V. Palcu)
