November 22, 2022

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Newsroom, 22.11.2022, 13:55

PENSIONS The
ruling coalition in Romania has decided to increase public pensions by 12.5%,
as of January 1. The increase applies for all pensions, regardless of level,
but low-income pensioners will also receive additional aid from the government,
provided in 2 instalments. Child allowances and the allowances for war veterans
and widows will be adjusted to inflation, while people with disabilities will
receive a 13th allowance, the ruling coalition also decided.

VISIT The president of Romania Klaus Iohannis will make an official visit to Latvia
on Wednesday and to Lithuania on Thursday. On Friday, he will take part in a
summit with his counterparts from Lithuania, Latvia and Poland, and in an
international symposium. According to the Presidency, in Latvia Klaus Iohannis will
have talks with his counterpart Egils Levits, with PM Krisjanis Karins, and the
parliament speaker Edvards Smiltens. In Lithuania, the official agenda includes
consultations with president Gitanas Nauseda and the parliament speaker,
Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen.

NATO Romania will host for the first time, on November 29th
and 30th, a meeting of the NATO foreign ministers. The meeting will
have 4 sessions, focusing on the implementation of the Madrid Summit decisions,
on the war in Ukraine, on energy security and partners. Ukraine, the Republic
of Moldova, Georgia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, as well as Finland and Sweden, were
invited to attend. It is for the first time that the Republic of Moldova takes
part in a NATO ministerial meeting. In fact, in this summer’s summit in Madrid,
NATO leaders announced measures to support Moldova, Georgia and Bosnia-Herzegovina
in the current security context in Europe. The foreign ministers of the 3
countries are expected to discuss in Bucharest means to strengthen their
defence and resilience capabilities. The foreign minister of Ukraine, Dmytro
Kuleba, is also scheduled to attend the meeting in Bucharest.

AID Romania, France and Germany have agreed
on a new aid instalment to help the Republic of Moldova cope with the energy
crisis this winter. Officials of the 3 countries convened in Paris for the 3rd
ministerial conference of the Moldova Support Platform, initiated by Bucharest,
Berlin and Paris this spring. Moldova is to receive another EUR 100 mln in
international support to handle the consequences of the war in
Ukraine, including the energy crisis and the refugee inflow, and also to carry
on the reforms initiated in order to join the EU, the president of France,
Emmanuel Macron announced. The Romanian foreign minister said Romania intends
to pay a first instalment of EUR 25 mln by the end of this year, intended for
the implementation of projects in education, regional development, and public
utility services.

AUTOMOTIVE Romania is the EU’s six-largest car manufacturer, with an
average of over 40,000 vehicles per month. According to the latest report by
the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), nearly 50 million
cars were produced worldwide in the first 9 months of this year. China comes
first, with 16.3 million, followed by the US with 5.3 million. As many as 7.96 million
cars were produced in the EU during the same period, up 5.8% compared to 2021.
Germany tops the European ranking, with 2.4 million vehicles produced, which is
considerably less than the 3.4 million cars made in 2019. In Romania, the only
country where this year’s output was higher than in 2019, 376,000 cars were
made, of which some 60% were Dacia and 40% Ford. Recently, the Romanian
Carmakers Association announced that the national output went up 27.7% in the
first 10 months of the year, compared to 2021.

EARTHQUAKE Rescue teams in Indonesia
continue to search for survivors of Monday’s earthquake, in which hundreds of
people died or were injured. Many victims were school children. The 5.6 Richter
quake occurred at a depth of 10 km, and destroyed many buildings. According to Reuters,
Indonesia is on the so-called Pacific ring of fire, an area with many active
volcanoes that frequently produce tremors. In 2004, a magnitude 9.1 off the
Indonesian island of Sumatra caused a tsunami that killed 226,000 people in 14 countries,
with almost half of the victims reported in Indonesia.

FOOTBALL Today at
the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the defending champions, France, will play against
Australia, while two-times world champions Argentina take on Saudi Arabia. The
other matches scheduled for today are Denmark vs. Tunisia and Mexico vs.
Poland. On Monday England defeated Iran, 6-2, and in the same group the US and
Wales drew 1-1. Also on Monday, the Netherlands, who have played 3 world cup
finals without winning, defeated Senegal 2-0. (AMP)