November 7, 2023

A roundup of domestic and international news

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Newsroom, 07.11.2023, 13:55

ROMANIANS IN GAZA – 103 Romanians and members of their families in Gaza were last night given permission to cross the Rafah border into Egypt, the Romanian Foreign Ministry has announced. The Romanians were notified about border-crossing procedures, and their evacuation to Egypt will be carried out today, in compliance with specific regulations. Subsequently, they will be flown home from Cairo onboard a special flight. Romanian authorities remain in contact with Egyptian and Israeli authorities with a view to bringing home the remaining Romanian citizens in Gaza whove asked for assistance.

CEASEFIRE – Leaders of UN agencies have called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, one month since hostilities broke out in the area. “An entire population is besieged and under attack, denied access to the essentials for survival, bombed in their homes, shelters, hospitals and places of worship. This is unacceptable,” UN leaders said in a joint statement. The 18 signatories include Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and UN aid chief Martin Griffiths. In turn, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the situation in Gaza is a crisis of humanity, and that Palestinian territories bombed by the Israeli armed forces are rapidly turning into a “graveyard for children”. The so-called Hamas authorities announced the death toll has exceeded 10,000 in Gaza, of whom 4,000 children.

CASH PAYMENTS – Cash payments made by natural persons or self-employed people will be restricted to a maximum of 1,000 EUR per day starting January 1, 2024, and further down to 500 EUR starting January 1, 2025. The limitation was included in the package of fiscal and budget measures over which Marcel Cioalcus Cabinet assumed responsibility in Parliament and which was ruled constitutional by the Constitutional Court. Marcel Ciolacu says the measure is designed to combat tax evasion. The Prime Minister also mentioned the government doesnt want to eliminate cash payments altogether, arguing however that Romania has the highest tax evasion rate at EU level, totaling 160 bln lei, accounting for 10% of the GDP. Representatives of SMEs and experts alike have criticized the measure.

REVIEW – The Romanian Labor Ministry announced it will review the allowances and benefits awarded to people with disabilities in Ilfov County, after discovering irregularities in 1,400 of the 1,700 files they have examined so far. Minister Simona Bucura-Oprescu said the Ministry has notified the authorities and the members of the Ilfov County Committee for the Evaluation of People with Disabilities have been dismissed. The topic was discussed at coalition level, and its leaders decided to conduct checks regarding the way disability certificates are issued nationwide. Some 800,000 people own disability certificates and receive financial aid, which puts Romania at the top of the list in Europe, Prime Minister Ciolacu says. In turn, Liberal leader Nicolae Ciucă says it is hard to believe Romania has such a high number of people with disabilities.

MOLDOVA – The Action and Solidarity Party (PAS), the ruling pro-European party in the Republic of Moldova, has won most of the district councils in Sundays local election. PAS failed to win in large cities. Former Socialist Ion Ceban won the race for the Chișinău City Hall from the first round. Authorities say the election campaign was marked by unprecedented interference from the Russian Federation in election processes, including the illegal funding of parties and swaying voters and candidates. The Russian Federation has denied the accusations. The local election is seen as a test ahead of the presidential and parliamentary elections, which will be held in 2024 and 2025, respectively, in the Republic of Moldova. (VP)