November 18, 2017 UPDATE
Click here for a round-up of domestic and regional news
Newsroom, 18.11.2017, 19:00
CENSURE MOTION – The leadership of the Social Democratic Party, PSD, the main party making up the left of centre Government in Bucharest, has adopted a resolution reiterating its support for the PSD-ALDE coalition government and its governing program and claims it has complied with the commitments it has made to the electorate. According to PSD, the Gross Domestic Product exceeds the estimates, the budget deficit is 3% lower than expected, over 250,000 jobs have been created and pay-rises have been granted in healthcare, education and culture. PM Mihai Tudose has announced the draft state budget for 2018 will be presented in Parliament within 10 days. He defended the newly adopted Fiscal Code, which provides, among others, for the complete transfer of social contributions from employers to employees and a cut in the income tax from 16 to 10%. The National Liberal Party, in opposition, says the coalition government has destabilised the Romanian economy and has filed a censure motion in Parliament, also backed by the Save Romania Union, the Peoples Movement Party and some independent MPs. According to the signatories, the benefits of a substantial economic growth have been cancelled by the Governments measures which they deem “populist and chaotic. The opposition says a governing program promising pay-rises has actually led to salary decreases, or in the best of cases, to small increases, adding that public investments have plummeted to a historic low. This is the first censure motion filed against the Tudose government, the second cabinet made up of the PSD-ALDE majority following the legislative elections held last year
DEFENCE – The US Department of State has greenlighted the sale of Patriot missile systems to Poland, the transaction being estimated at 10.5 billion USD, the Pentagon announced on Friday evening. According to Reuters, Poland, which is a NATO member state, has boosted its efforts to consolidate its defence in the wake of Russias annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, in 2014, and in response to Moscows enhanced military capacity in the region. The transaction should still however be endorsed by Congress, because it entails the purchase of advanced military technology for which special permits are needed. Romania, too, wants to purchase surface to air Patriot missiles, under a contract worth some 3.9 billion USD, without VAT. The first such system, worth 764 million USD, is to be contracted by the end of the year and become operational in 2019. The draft law on purchasing Patriot missiles from the USA was submitted to the Romanian Parliament for debate on Monday.
ANTIBIOTICS – Romania is among the fifth largest consumers of antibiotics in the EU and is the country with the highest consumption of antibiotics taken without a medical prescription, a report issued by the Romanian Health Observer, an NGO whose declared mission is to contribute to improving health services in Romania and Eastern Europe shows. According to the report, more often than not patients exert pressure on the medical staff for the release of antibiotics, even when their use is not grounded. Antibiotics do not have healing effects in the case of colds and respiratory infections and the World Health Organisation recommends that antibiotics be taken only based on medical prescription. November 18 is the European Day of rational use of antibiotics.
HIGHSCHOOL – 1.9 million pupils have finished high school in Romania in the past 10 years, of which 900,000 failed to pass the high-school leaving examination, the Baccalaureate, education minister Liviu Pop said in Iasi on Saturday. Pop also said that, for this reason, the experts of the ministry are working on new framework plans for high-school education. The minister also said that these plans will be sent for public debate as of December 15 and afterwards school curricula for high school education valid for the next school year are to be rewritten.
GAUDEAMUS BOOK FAIR – The 24th edition of the Gaudeamus-Book of Learning International Fair, organised by Radio Romania, opens its doors next week. No less than 800 editorial and professional events will be organised during the fair, which will be attended by 300 exhibitors: Romanian publishing houses boasting a long tradition in the field, education institutions, book sellers and publications, professional associations and other organisations active in the field of culture and education. The honorary president of the fair will be the well-known playwright and journalist Matei Vişniec and the honorary guest of this years edition of the fair will be the European Commission. Thus, the event will mark 60 years since the Treaties of Rome were signed, 30 years since the launch of the Erasmus program and 10 years since Romania joined the EU, says Angela Cristea, head of the EC Representation in Romania.
HANDBALL – The Romanian womens handball team, CSM Bucharest on Sunday will meet on home turf the Polish team Vistal Gdynia, in the last match of the Champions League Group A. With four wins and a defeat, CSM ranks first in the group, which is also made up of Nykobing Falster Handboldklub (Denmark) and RK Krim Mercator Ljubljana (Slovenia). CSM Bucharest won the Champions League in 2016 and is one of the favourites of the current edition of the most-powerful European inter-club competition.
