November 11, 2021 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news.

Newsroom, 11.11.2021, 20:00

INFLATION — The inflation rate may go up 7.5% next month in Romania and is expected to decrease up to 5.9% at the end of 2022, according to a report of the National Bank (BNR) made public on Thursday. BNR has specified that the projections included in the report have been revised upwards, following the rise in energy prices. Dan Suciu, the bank’s spokesman, told Radio Romania that the inflationary spike has already taken place and the variations that follow will be insignificant.

ECONOMY — Romania’s GDP will go up by 7% this year, while all across the EU the projected average economic growth rate will be 5%, EU Commissioner for Economy, Paolo Gentiloni said on Thursday, when he presented the autumn economic forecast. Gentiloni warned, however, that although figures are promising, the entire economy is affected by bottlenecks in the supply chain, inflation and the unpredictability of the Covid-pandemic. Although the impact of the pandemic on economic activity has weakened considerably, Covid-19 has not yet been defeated and the recovery is heavily dependent on its evolution, both within and outside the EU, the report says. Romania will see a moderate increase in its GDP of 5.1% next year and of 5.2% in 2023.

REVOLUTION – The High Court of Cassation and Justice of Romania gave a final ruling on Wednesday, to return to the Military Prosecutors Office the so-called File of the Revolution, in which the former president of Romania, Ion Iliescu and the former deputy prime minister Gelu Voican Voiculescu are accused of committing crimes against humanity. The file reached court in 2019, with over 5,000 civil parties being summoned to testify. The trial stalled for more than a year, to discuss requests and exceptions raised by the parties to the case. Ion Iliescu has never testified. Military prosecutors claim that the terrorist psychosis during the Revolution was intentionally induced through diversions and disinformation and caused, after December 22, 1989, more than 860 deaths, 2150 injuries and the severe deprivation of liberty of hundreds of people.

CELEBRATION — On Veteran’s Day, celebrated on Thursday, military and religious ceremonies in a small format were held in Romania’s capital Bucharest and in the garrisons across the country where there are military units that have carried missions in theaters of operations. Also on Veterans Day, an internet page was launched dedicated to the foreign missions in which Romanian Army soldiers have taken part. Ongoing missions and operations are presented, such as those in Poland, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina or the Mediterranean Sea, as well as completed missions, such as the ones in Afghanistan and Iraq. Veterans’ Day was established by law in 2014 and aims to recognize the merits of the Army personnel participating in military actions and to grant them and their families the rights of the deceased. According to the Romanian Ministry of Defense, November 11 was chosen as Veterans Day for its symbolism: the enforcement, on November 11, 1918, at 11.00, of the Armistice between the Entente Powers and Germany, which put an end to the First World War paving the way for the Great Union of all Romanians on December 1, the same year. For the Romanian Army, the date is also related to the fact that, on November 11, 2003, the first Romanian soldier died in the theater of operations in Afghanistan. His name was Iosif Silviu Fogoraşi and he fell in the line of duty. In the period 1996-2019, Romania lost 30 soldiers in missions performed in theaters of operations, and another 200 were injured.

DIPLOMACY- Security, investment and energy are among the areas considered of strategic importance to the United States and Romania, the joint statement, adopted at the end of the Seventh Round of the Strategic Dialogue between the United States and Romania, reads. According to the Bucharest Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the two sides will continue to capitalize on important achievements, such as the anti-missile shield in Deveselu (south), and will continue to strengthen joint actions within NATO, with focus on the Black Sea region. The strategic importance of infrastructure development was also recognized, in order to facilitate ties between the countries in Central and Eastern Europe, including through the support and potential investments provided by the United States. Romania and the United States are determined to work together to move forward in meeting Romanias admission criteria for the Visa Waiver program, the document also points out. Earlier this week, the Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu paid a visit to Washington, where he had consultations with the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

CORONAVIRUS – The number of new cases of Covid-19 keeps dropping. 5,416 new cases of infection and 318 related deaths – of which 15 from the previous reference timeframe – were reported on Thursday. The rate of infection in the capital has also been dropping, getting below 8 per one thousand inhabitants. On the other hand, the interest in vaccination has also been decreasing. Some 72,000 people got the jab on Wednesday. So far, a little over 6.6 million people have been immunized against Covid-19 in Romania. The head of the National Committee for Vaccination, the army doctor Valeriu Gheorghita, says that at the current pace, some 50% of the countrys population will have been vaccinated by the end of the year, but even so its far from enough. With hospitals still under a lot of pressure, a fire broke out on Thursday morning at a Covid support unit in Ploiesti, in the south. Authorities activated the red intervention plan and the patients have been transferred to another unit. (EE)