March 8, 2016 UPDATE

Click here for a round-up of news from Romania

Newsroom, 08.03.2016, 12:18

ECONOMY– Romania last year reported 3.7% in economic growth as compared to the previous year and an estimated GDP of 158 billion euros, the National Institute for Statistics has announced. All economic sectors have contributed to the GDP growth with the exception of agriculture, forestry and fishing. Several sectors, such as trade, car mending, transport and storage, hotels and restaurants, constructions, IT&C and industry have made a significant contribution to the GDP growth. The National Forecast Committee has revised up its outlook for the GDP to 4.2% this year. A 4.3% economic growth is expected for the next year.

VISIT-Romanias President, Klaus Iohannis, has announced he will plead for the setting up in Bucharest of a museum dedicated to Jews and the Holocaust and that he will have talks on this issue with government representatives. The announcement was made during his official visit to Israel, after he signed in the Guest Book of the “Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem. At the end of the talks he held on Tuesday with the Knesset Speaker, Yuli-Yoel Edelstein, the Romanian President said the “Holocaust tragedy is a painful page in the history of mankind. We have the moral duty to keep alive the memory of the millions of Jews who fell victim to murderous ideologies and we have the obligation to categorically oppose intolerance, based on ethnic, racial or religious criteria, for this to never repeat again. On Monday, during the official talks with his Israeli counterpart, Reuven Rivlin, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Iohannis underlined that in order to ensure Israels security, there couldnt be any compromise. After Jerusalem, President Johannis will visit the Palestinian territories, where he will have official talks with President Mahmoud Abbas.

DIPLOMACY – Romanian Prime
Minister Dacian Ciolos held talks in Brussels on Tuesday with NATO Secretary
General, Jens Stoltenberg, on NATO’s presence in Eastern Europe, the Black Sea
area and on the EU-NATO strategic relationship. Dacian Ciolos has underlined
that the Romanian government has pledged to increase the defence budget, which
will stand at 2% of the GDP in 2017. Jens Stoltenberg said Romania is a very
appreciated NATO member, which actively contributes to the alliance’s missions in
Afghanistan and Kosovo and to Black Sea security. The NATO Secretary General
has also said Romania is the host of NATO active equipment and of a large part
of the anti-missile defence system, placed in Deveselu. The meetings with the President
of the European Council, Donald Tusk, and with representatives of the Romanian
communities in Belgium brought to an end the visit paid by PM Dacian Ciolos to
Belgium. Also in Brussels, Dacian Ciolos on Monday attended the EU-Turkey
Summit on the joint plan regarding the refugee crisis. After the meeting, the
Romanian prime minister hailed Turkey’s proposals on managing the flow of
migrants and said their implementation would deter illegal migration to the EU.

MILITARY EXERCISES-Almost 120 multinational exercises have been planned in Romania and abroad this year, a Romanian Defence Ministry communiqué reads. On Monday, the Mihail Kogalniceanu base in Constanta County, south-eastern Romania, saw the opening ceremony of a joint drill involving the air forces of Romania and Canada. Until April 10, close to 200 Romanian soldiers from the countrys air forces backed by MIG-21 fighters and Puma gunships will be training together with their Canadian colleagues backed by F 18 Hornet fighters. The drills are aimed at improving interoperability and cooperation inside the North-Atlantic Alliance.

WOMENS DAY– The International Womens Day is usually celebrated in Romania by most of the population, shows a survey conducted by the Romanian Institute for Evaluation and Strategy. For almost two thirds of the Romanians, March 8 is a day of celebration, 85% of Romanian women say they have received flowers, jewels or perfumes on that day. On this occasion Romanians are mainly making presents to their wives, mothers and girlfriends, acknowledging their qualities of being hardworking, beautiful and sympathetic.

TENNIS– The world famous Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova announced on Monday night that she had tested positive for a recently banned drug called Meldonium, at the Australian Open. The Russian athlete admitted to having been taking the drug for 10 years before being banned on January 1st. Sharapova admitted to her mistake and to badly disappointing her fans, adding that she didnt want her career to end in such a way. Suffering from injuries at present, when shes ranking 7th in the world standings, Sharapova shot to international fame back in 2004, after winning the Wimbledon tournament at the age of 17. She has also reaped other Grand Slam titles ever since, such as the Australian Open, US Open and Roland Garros. Her prize closet includes no less than 35 titles in womens competitions. She won Fed Cup with the Russian side in 2008 and reaped a silver medal in the single contest of the London Olympics in 2012.

(Translated by Daniel Bilt and Diana Vijeu)