May 12, 2024 UPDATE

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Newsroom, 12.05.2024, 20:00

Visit – The European commissioner for agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, will visit Romania on Monday and Tuesday. According to the European Commission, he has scheduled meetings with the Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu and the Minister of Agriculture, Florin Barbu, after which he will have a dialogue with farmers’ associations and with representatives of the University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine in Bucharest. A visit to the port of Constanţa (on the Black Sea Coast), where most of the exports of grain and agricultural products from Ukraine take place, is also planned. According to the European Commissioner, Romania made exceptional efforts to provide vital aid to Ukraine’s economy during its deepest crisis, facilitating the largest alternative export route for grain and other goods outside the Black Sea corridor. We remind you that the EC has recently approved a state aid scheme for Romania worth 126 million Euros, to support the necessary investments in those ports facing increased commercial flows.

Protest – On Monday, the National Trade Union Bloc, together with the 29 affiliated federations, organizes a rally in front of the Romanian Government headquarters in Bucharest, followed by a protest march to the Ministries of Economy, Labor and Finance. The trade unionists demand a reform of the tax system with the aim of reducing inequalities and combating poverty. According to the Trade Union Bloc, Romania currently has one of the highest tax burdens on labor costs in the EU: almost 43%, compared to the European average of around 39%. Also, the Bloc states, Romania is the only country in the world where the contributions of the business environment to the social security system have been shifted to the responsibility of employees since 2018, so that contributions to health and pensions have doubled for employees, while for employers were reduced to zero. And according to Eurostat, the low wages and the high taxation made Romania register the third lowest employment rate in 2023, after Italy and Greece. Only 69% of Romanians aged between 20 and 64 work, which means that almost a third of Romanians do not work, shows the National Trade Union Bloc.

Tennis – The Romanian tennis player Irina Begu moved into the last 16 of the Italian Open by defeating Belgian Elise Mertens, the No 27 seed, 6-2, 6-0 at the Foro Italico in Rome on Sunday. This was the fifth meeting between Begu and Mertens. The Romanian won her second consecutive victory, after the Belgian won the first three matches. On Saturday, Sorana Cîrstea qualified for the round of 16 in Rome, after beating Czech Marketa Vondrousova, no. 6 seed, 7-6 (7/1), 6-3. Also in the third round of the tournament, Jaqueline Cristian was defeated by Coco Gauff (USA), world number three, 6-1, 0-6, 6-3, on Saturday evening. The Italian competition founded in 1930 was won three times by Romanian athletes: Ilie Năstase, the 1970 and 1973 editions, and Simona Halep the 2020 edition.

Birth rate – The Romanian Ministry of the Family has put up for public debate until May 20, a bill to modify the National Program for the Support of Couples and Single Persons in order to increase the birth rate. One of the proposals is that only one member of the couple should be a Romanian citizen, as, currently, it is necessary that both partners have Romanian citizenship, and another proposal is that the registration documents can be submitted in electronic format. According to official data, 9,300 contracts were signed last year, 2,200 pregnancies were confirmed and 156 children were born. The support offered by the Romanian state is 15,000 lei (about 3 thousand Euros).

Epidemic – The Health Minister, Alexandru Rafila, stated that there is still an epidemic of measles in Romania, and the disease is reported mainly in counties with a low degree of vaccination coverage. He encourages parents to immunize their children because measles is an infectious disease that is easily transmitted. According to the health ministry, vaccination coverage with the first dose at the national level is 78%, and 62% with the second dose.

Gaza – Israel should not launch an offensive on the city of Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, in the absence of a clear plan to protect the population – said, on Sunday, the head of British diplomacy, David Cameron. We haven’t seen such a plan, that’s why we don’t support an offensive in Rafah, Cameron added. In turn, the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, launched a call for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, for the release of hostages held by the Islamist movement Hamas and for an increase in aid for the Palestinian enclave under Israeli siege. Earlier, France also urged Israel to end without delay its military operation in Rafah, where about 1.4 million Palestinians live, most of them displaced by the war. The conflict between Israel and Hamas broke out after the October 7 terrorist attack, when Palestinian militants entered Israel and killed at least 1,170 people, and around 250 were taken hostage and taken to Gaza. The Israeli army retaliated, its military actions resulting, so far, in over 35,000 dead and almost 79,000 wounded in the Gaza Strip. (LS)