May 17, 2019

A roundup of domestic and international news

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Newsroom, 17.05.2019, 14:02

WEATHER More than 3,000 fire fighters were deployed on Thursday and Friday to support the authorities and citizens in 22 villages and towns, pumping water out of the houses following the heavy rainfalls and flash floods of recent days. The most affected counties were Bistriţa Năsăud and Mures, in the centre, Gorj and Teleorman in the south, Hunedoara in the south-west and Maramureş in the north. Scores of people have been evacuated in Bistriţa-Năsăud County over the past few days, hundreds of households, company offices and public institution headquarters have been flooded, and hail damaged the farms. The National Meteorology Agency has extended the alert for unstable weather across the country until Sunday.

INFLATION The Governor of the National Bank of Romania, Mugur Isărescu, has presented today the institutions quarterly inflation report. The Central Bank updated its year-end inflation forecast to 4.2% and estimates an inflation rate of 3.3% for 2020. Inflation has reversed the downward trend reported in the last quarter of 2018, and prices went up in the first 3 months of this year more than the National Bank had expected, Mugur Isărescu said. He also warned that the demand for products and services is still in excess of what the domestic economy can produce, leading to a rise in imports and a trade imbalance. Inflation in Romania is in fact among the highest in the European Union, alongside the rate in Hungary. According to the central bank governor, in the coming 3 quarters inflation will remain above target, and is expected to go down later on to around 3.5%.

CEREMONY The President of Romania Klaus Iohannis decided to postpone the May 20 ceremony at Cotroceni Palace, when the year 2019 was scheduled to be declared the “Year of Gratitude honouring the victims of communism, 30 years after the Romanian Revolution of December 1989. The Presidency announced on Friday that the head of state wants to remove any suspicions that the event may be used for electoral purposes. According to the same source, ever since taking over his office, the President has constantly worked to condemn the crimes and abuse committed by the communist repression system, and to pay tribute to the victims of totalitarianism.

ECOFIN The Romanian Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici is chairing on Friday in Brussels the EU Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN), as part of Romanias presidency of the Council of the EU. According to a news release from the Finance Ministry in Bucharest, the agenda of the meeting includes the Directive on the structure of excise duty on alcohol and alcoholic beverages, the Directive on general arrangements for excise duties, the digital services tax, and a review of the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions. Also on Friday, the Romanian Finance Minister attends the Economic and Financial Dialogue between the EU and the Western Balkans and Turkey.

SWINE FEVER African swine fever is still present in Romania, in 84 villages in 16 counties, the National Veterinary and Food Safety Authority announced. Of the around 400 active outbreaks, 10 are in agricultural holdings. More than 365,000 pigs have been slaughtered so far because of this disease, which was first reported in 2017, in Satu Mare County. African swine fever does not affect humans, but has a major negative economic and social impact.

EUROVISION Ester Peony, representing Romania in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest with a piece called On a Sunday, failed to qualify to Saturdays finals in Tel Aviv, where the second semi-final was held on Thursday night. Romanias best performances in this competition were 2 third places, won by Luminiţa Anghel & Sistem in Kiev in 2005, and by Paula Seling and Ovi in Oslo in 2010, and a 4th place won by Mihai Trăistariu, in Athens, 2006.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)