May 15, 2017 UPDATE
For a roundup of domestic and international news, click here.
Newsroom, 15.05.2017, 19:38
PROTEST – Nearly 22,000 employees with the Romanian Finance Ministry on Monday took part in an unplanned protest, in response to the salary bill under debate in Parliament. They say the draft law puts them at a disadvantage. Trade union leaders in the sector had talks with representatives of the Ministry, but no results have been reached and negotiations will be resumed on Wednesday. The protesters call on the Government and the Finance Ministry to revise the pay schemes in the bill, so that they should reflect the complexity and importance of the activity of the Ministry and its subordinated units. They warn that the strike is open-ended, which may hamper the tax collection activities and the institution’s public relations. Employees of the customs system also took part in the protest.
CYBER-SECURITY — The Romanian Intelligence Service is organising the first national cyber-security exercise, which will last until Wednesday and involve more than 60 public and private institutions. The effort is designed to help develop an efficient warning, alert and response system against cyber-attacks and other incidents. According to the Romanian Intelligence Service, the exercise had been planned before the ransomware attack that crippled computers around the world late last week. In another development, the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism has launched an investigation into this cyber-attack which endangered the security and integrity of IT systems and data. Friday’s global attack known as “WannaCry” made over 200,000 victims, especially institutions, from at least 150 countries. The Romanian Intelligence Service confirmed that Romania was affected by the attack since May 12, but the scope is yet to be established. One of the targets was the Romanian Foreign Ministry, where an attempted cyber-attack was countered on Friday.
FAC — Romania’s Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu on Monday attended the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels. Melescanu expressed hope that the Eastern Partnership summit of November will be a landmark in EU relations with the six countries in the program. Additionally, the Romanian official highlighted Romania’s support for the European integration efforts of partner states and the reforms they must carry out. The Council agenda’s also included the EU’s Global Defence Strategy and the developments in the Horn of Africa
INFLATION — The National Bank of Romania has revised downwards its inflation forecast for the end of the year, from 1.7% to 1.6%, and the one for 2018 from 3.4% to 3.1%, the central bank governor Mugur Isarescu announced on Monday. Since 2013, the National Bank’s inflation target has been 2.5% per year, plus/minus 1%. The inflation targeting strategy was introduced in line with the European Central Bank policy, but the central bank of Romania rarely managed to attain this target. In 2016, the inflation target was negative 0.5%, slightly below estimates, according to the National Statistics Institute, mostly due to the lowering of the standard VAT rate from 24% to 20%, as of January 1, 2016.
FRANCE — The new President of France, the centrist Emmanuel Macron on Monday appointed Edouard Philippe of the Republican right as Prime Minister. Aged 46, Philippe is the former mayor of Le Havre in the west and is due to announce the structure of his cabinet. International news agencies write that this is the first time the president appoints a Prime Minister who is not a member of his party. The decision reflects Macron’s willingness to win over some of the right wing’s influence in order to secure majority in Parliament after the elections scheduled in June. Also on Monday Macron met with Chancellor Angela Merkel in an attempt to rebuild the French-German tandem as a driving engine of EU development. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent in Paris, the agenda of talks included topics like continental security, economy, investments and social protection.
CANNES — The Romanian director, script writer and producer Cristian Mungiu is the president of Cinéfondation and the short-reel section in the 70th Cannes Film Festival due on May 17-28. A foremost representative of the “Romanian new wave”, Cristian Mungiu has a long-standing tradition of being a part of the Cannes Festival. After the Palme d’Or won for his second feature film, “4, 3, 2,” he was also awarded for the script of “Beyond the Hills” and for directing “Baccalaureate”. In related news, 200 minutes of Romanian shorts will be presented this year in Cannes, as part of a programme called “Romanian Short Waves”. Another Romanian director, Alexander Nanau, who signed the photography for Sonia Kronlund’s “Nothingwood”, will take part in the screening of the film in the “Quinzaine des réalisateurs” section.
DAYS OF JAPANESE CULTURE — The Centre for Romanian-Japanese Studies jointly with the Romanian-American University is playing host to the Days of Japanese Culture. Yukio Mishima’s novel The Sailor who Fell from Grace with the Sea will be launched at the Humanitas Bookstore in Bucharest, and will ocassion a talk on Bushido and turf wars in Japan’s largest cities, revealing a different facet of Japanese society.
TENNIS — The Rome tennis tournament, with 2.7 million US dollars in total prize money, kicked off on Monday, with Romanian players also taking part. Irina Begu (44 WTA) is up for a difficult start, with a match against Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova (18 WTA), while Monica Niculescu (48 WTA) will also be taking on a top player, the Dutch Kiki Bertens (20 WTA). After having recently won the Madrid tournament for the second running year, Simona Halep (4 WTA) will go straight into the second round in Rome, to play German Laura Siegemund (35 WTA). Monica Niculescu is also taking part in the doubles event, together with Christina McHale of the US, against the pair made up of Sara Errani and Martina Trevisan of Italy. In the men’s doubles, Horia Tecău of Romania and the Dutch Jean-Julien Rojer play today against the Americans John Isner and Jack Sock, while Florin Mergea and the Pakistani Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi have defeated Tommy Haas of Germany / Max Mirnyi of Belarus. (Translated by A.M. Popescu and V. Palcu)
