November 17, 2023

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 17.11.2023, 13:55

Budget — The PM Marcel Ciolacu said on Thursday that there will be no new taxes next year and that the Romanian government will manage to have money by fighting tax evasion. According to him, in October, revenue collection to the state budget reached the record level of 40 billion lei (about 8 billion Euros) and keeping the same pace and maintaining non-essential expenses under control, the prime minister added, by the end of the year, we will meet the deficit target agreed with the European Commission. The statement comes after, recently, the Liberal leader Nicolae Ciucă argued that Romania cannot afford an increase in taxes next year and that funding sources must be found to support the draft pension law.

Visit – President Klaus Iohannis continues his tour of Africa with a state visit to Tanzania. According to the agenda, today, he will meet his counterpart, Samia Suluhu Hassan, in the capital Dar es Salaam. The two presidents will have private and official talks, followed by joint press statements and an official lunch. On Saturday, Klaus Iohannis will be received by the president of the island of Zanzibar, Hussein Mwinyi. The two will have official talks, followed by an official lunch. On Sunday, a farewell ceremony will be held in Dar es Salaam. President Iohannis began his tour of Africa on Tuesday with a state visit to Kenya. He was received by his Kenyan counterpart, William Ruto. Later, he attended a meeting with the Executive Director of UNEP – United Nations Environment Program at the UN Headquarters in Nairobi. On Wednesday, president Iohannis met with Kenyas Minister of Nature Conservation, Alfred Nganga Mutua, and the Director General of the Kenya Wildlife Service, Erustus Kanga, during a visit to Nairobi National Park, and on Thursday he went to Uthiru Girls High School. The tour of President Klaus Iohannis in Africa will continue with the state visit to the Republic of Cape Verde, where he will have consultations with President Jose Maria Neves. According to the Presidential Administration, the official program will also include meetings with the President of the National Assembly, Austelino Tavares Correia, Prime Minister Jose Ulisses Correia e Silva and the Mayor of Praia, Francisco Avelino Carvalho. At the same time, Klaus Iohannis will have a meeting with people from Cape Verde who studied in Romania. The Romanian president will end his visits to Africa on November 23. The last trip of this tour is to the Republic of Senegal, where President Klaus Iohannis will have political consultations with his counterpart Macky Sall. The official program of the visit also includes, among other things, the participation of the two heads of state in the inauguration of the United Nations House in Senegal, which will house the 34 UN agencies present in this country. President Iohannis will also have a meeting with former Senegalese students in Romania.

Football – Romanias national football team is in Hungary, where they will play against Israel on Saturday evening, in a Qualifying Group I match of the 2024 European Championship to be hosted by Germany. Because of the war at home, the Israelis had to postpone their matches from October to November, and to play abroad the matches scheduled at home. The Romanian footballers finish the preliminaries on Tuesday, in Bucharest, with Switzerland. Undefeated in the first eight matches, Romania has 16 points and is ahead of Switzerland, the group leader, on goal difference. Next is Israel, with 11 points, and Kosovo, with 10 points. The two top-ranking teams in the group go to the final tournament. Romania has not reached a Euro since 2016, and a World Cup since 1998.

Gaza – Another 16 Romanian citizens and members of their families, evacuated from the Gaza Strip, arrived in Romania today on board a flight operated by the state-owned company TAROM. Initially, 17 Romanians and their families crossed into Egypt through the Rafah border point, being accompanied to Cairo by representatives of the Romanian Foreign Ministry. There, one of the evacuated Romanians decided to remain in Egypt. So far, 237 Romanian citizens evacuated from Gaza have been transported to Romania.

Montenegro – The Romanian Foreign Minister, Luminiţa Odobescu, on Thursday paid the first official visit by a foreign minister to Montenegro since the installation of the current pro-European government in that country. The program of the visit included political consultations with the FM Filip Ivanovic, receptions with the President Jakov Milatovic and the Prime Minister Milojko Spajic, as well as meetings with the Deputy Prime Minister for Security, Home Policy, European and Foreign Affairs Aleksa Becic and respectively with the Minister of European Affairs Maida Gorcevic. The agenda of talks included aspects related to the strengthening of bilateral dialogue, including by intensifying high-level contacts. Areas of common interest were addressed, such as economic cooperation and interconnectivity, cyber security, internal affairs and justice, civil protection, education and research. The Romanian Foreign Minister expressed her appreciation for the bilateral collaboration in the field of defense, as well as within NATO. Luminiţa Odobescu reconfirmed Romanias firm position for the continuation of the European integration process of the Western Balkan states, emphasizing Romanias consistent support for Montenegros European path.

Debate–The NATO Deputy Secretary General, the Romanian Mircea Geoană, is today visiting the cities of Iaşi and Bacău, in eastern Romania. In Iasi, he participates in the debate entitled “Economic security and innovation on the eastern flank of NATO and the EU”, organized by the citys Chamber of Commerce. In Bacău, Geoană will visit Aerostar, a company that will sign a collaboration contract with Derco Aerospace (part of the American Lockheed Martin group), for technology transfer for the repair of F-16 aircraft equipment belonging to the Romanian Army. (LS)