October 12, 2022

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 12.10.2022, 13:55

Inflation.
In Romania, the annual inflation rate rose
to 15.88% in September of this year, from 15.32% in August, as the prices of
food stuffs increased by over 19 percent, those of non-food goods were higher
by almost 17%, and services were more expensive by 8%, according to data
published by the National Institute of Statistics. The annual inflation rate
will probably continue to increase towards the end of the year, but at a
noticeably slower pace, the representatives of the National Bank recently argued.
In August, the governor of the BNR, Mugur Isărescu, announced that the
inflation forecast for the end of this year is estimated at 13.9%, and for the
end of 2023 at 7.5%. The International Monetary Fund revised significantly
upwards the forecasts regarding the growth of consumer prices in Romania both
for this year, from 9.3% to 13.3%, and especially for next year, from 4% to
11%, according to the latest report ‘World Economic Outlook’, published on
Tuesday by the international financial institution. On the other hand, the
Gross Domestic Product in the second quarter of the current year, compared to
the same quarter of 2021, registered an increase of 5.1% on the gross series
and 5.0% on the seasonally adjusted series, according to the provisional data
announced by the Institute.

Bill. In Romania, criminals will no longer be able to run for
local or parliamentary elections, according to a bill approved on Tuesday by
the Chamber of Deputies. The drafts received similar amendments that
practically prohibit people convicted of crimes committed with intent from
holding public offices. Once the law is promulgated, there will no longer be
parliamentarians, mayors, heads of County Councils, local councilors and county
councilors convicted of rape, child pornography, pedophilia, procuring or
corruption.

NATO.
The Romanian Minister of Defense, Vasile
Dîncu, is participating, for two days, in the meeting of his NATO counterparts,
at the Headquarters of the Alliance in Brussels. According to a press release,
the participants will discuss, among other topics, the Alliance’s nuclear
deterrence position in the current security context marked by Russia’s war of
aggression in Ukraine. On the sidelines of meeting of the NATO Defense
Ministers, Vasile Dîncu also participates in the meeting of the Ukraine Defense
Contact Group and the meeting of the defense ministers of the countries members
of the Bucharest 9 Format.

Ukraine. The United States is conducting a
diplomatic offensive to obtain the vote of as many countries as possible with
the aim of adopting the resolution under debate at the UN condemning the
annexation of some Ukrainian regions to Russia, AFP reports. The vote could
take place on Wednesday or Thursday. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has
intensified calls on the foreign leaders, including Serbian President
Aleksandar Vucic, and his counterparts around the world to mobilize as many
countries as possible. On Monday, in a debate at the General Assembly, Ukraine
accused Russia of being a ‘terrorist state’ for killing civilians in massive
attacks on Kyiv and major cities, denounced by the United Nations and the West.
In a recent Security Council vote, no country sided with Russia, but China,
India, Brazil and Gabon abstained.

Macron. A company of armored personnel carriers and one of Leclerc tanks of the French army will arrive in Romania at the end of October, to complete the technical means of the NATO Battle Group (Battle Group Forward Presence) deployed in Cincu, in the center of Romania, the Defense Ministry has announced. The group was established, starting in May, by transforming the allied multinational elements within the NATO Response Force deployed in Romania. At the proposal of Paris, France took over the role of the framework nation of this Battle Group which also includes, by rotation, forces from Belgium and the Netherlands. On Tuesday, the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, welcomed, on Twitter, President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to strengthen the French military presence in Romania. It is an important move for NATO’s Eastern Flank, a sign of Allied solidarity, Iohannis said.

Visit. The Prime Minister of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, is paying a visit to Romania. He will be accompanied by President Klaus Iohannis and Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă to the ‘Getica’ Joint National Training Center in Cincu, Braşov county (center), where he will have meetings with the military deployed there. Prior to this visit, Bucharest signed the purchase of two multi-role ships for saving and extinguishing fires at sea, bought from a Dutch company. The contract signed on Tuesday by the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations is for approximately 40 million euros from European funds and stipulates that the design and construction of the ships will be done at the Dutch company’s shipyard in Galati (south-east). The Minister of the Interior, Lucian Bode, stated that the purchase of the two boats will allow a more effective intervention and better coordination with other structures. The head of the Department for Emergency Situations, Raed Arafat, has stated that each ship can ensure the rescue and retrieval of a maximum of 50 people and has medical equipment including for critical patients. (MI)