October 10, 2018

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 10.10.2018, 12:46

BILL – The Romanian Government
is today debating the public pensions system bill, endorsed by the Finance
Ministry. The document is under public debate since August and has been
modified following talks with the main stakeholders. The new law is aimed at
increasing pensions and eliminating inequities in the system. Among other
things, the bill stipulates that pensions will be paid only in keeping with
each individual’s contribution, and those whose seniority is the same, but retired
in different moments in time, will get the same amount. The future law would be
implemented in stages until 2021, benefiting more than 5 million Romanian
pensioners. Some 150 pensioner representatives from across the country have
protested today in front of the Government building, claiming an increase in
the pension point up to 45% of the average gross salary as of 2021.

MOTION – The
simple motion filed by the opposition National Liberal Party and Save Romania
Union against the Economy Minister Danut Andrusca has been dismissed today
by the Chamber of Deputies, following Monday’s debates. The National Liberal
Party claims that the minister’s incompetence, proven by the evolution of the
main economic indicators, is bringing Romania to bankruptcy. According to the
Liberals, in nine months of office, Danut Andrusca has made no progress in
solving the main problems of his ministry, carrying out an activity described
as ‘catastrophic’. Also on Monday, the Liberals filed a simple motion against
the Culture Minister George Ivascu, whom they accuse of failing to properly manage
the celebrations due on December 1st 2018, marking 100 years since
the Great Union.

INFLATION – According
to the National Statistics Institute, in Romania, the annual inflation rate
reported in September dropped to 5.03% from 5.1% in August, against the
background of prices going up. This year, the highest rate was registered in
May: 5.41%. This is the highest level since February 2013, when the increase in
consumption prices was 5.65%. In early August, the Romanian Central Bank
revised downwards to 3.5% the inflation forecast for the end of this year. We
recall that in August Romania registered an annual inflation rate of 4.7%,
the highest in the whole of the EU, for
the seventh consecutive month.

DEBATE – On October 23rd
in Strasbourg, Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis will take part in a debate on
the future of Europe, hosted by the European Parliament. The Romanian
president’s intervention is one in a string of events of this type organized between
heads of state and government and MEPs, concerning the future of the European
Union. Among those who have participated in the debates are the Irish Prime
Minister Leo Varadkar on January 17th, the Croat and Portuguese
premiers Andrej Plenkovic and Antonio Costa on February 6th and
March 14th respectively, and the French president Emmanuel Macron on
April 17th.

ASSASSINATION -
A new suspect has been arrested near the city of Hamburg in relation to the
killing of the Bulgarian journalist Viktoria Marinova. The suspect, described
as a young Bulgarian aged 20-30, was detained in Germany, where he is living
with his mother, after leaving Bulgaria on Sunday. According to the Bulgarian
media, the DNA found at the crime scene is identical to that of the young man. Previously,
the police had detained an ethnic Ukrainian from the Republic of Moldova, who
also has Romanian citizenship, but
released him for lack of evidence. The dead body of the Bulgarian journalist,
aged 30, was found on Saturday in a park
on the bank of the River Danube, in Ruse. She had been raped and then killed. On her last show on
September 30th on a TV station in Ruse, Viktoria Marinova had held a
talk with two journalists, Dimitar Stoianov from Bulgaria and Atiila Biro from
Romania, who are conducting an investigation into cases of fraud with EU
money, involving business people and
officials. Investigators are trying to find the motive for the assassination, without
excluding a connection with the journalist’s professional activity.

SPORT – Romanian athletes have
won another three medals – one gold, one silver and one bronze – at the Youth
Olympic Games in Buenos Aires. The gold medal was won by the female weightlifter
Sabina Baltag, in the 53 kg category, with a total of 177 kg. Florin Arteni -
Fintinariu and Alexandru Laurentiu won silver in the male canoe double. Tabita
Maftei and Alina Maria Beletchi won
bronze in the two women’s canoe event. In the rankings by medals, Romania ranks
5th, on a par with Colombia, each with 2 gold medals, 2 silver medals and 2
bronze. Romania’s youth team is made up of 34 athletes, 21 women and 13 men,
competing in 14 events.