October 12, 2024 UPDATE
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 12.10.2024, 19:00
Threat. The US Embassy in Bucharest has warned its citizens that it was made aware of threats potentially targeting a synagogue, temple, or mosque in Romania between 11th and 13th October. The embassy urges US citizens to exercise increased caution near religious institutions in Romania for this period. The Romanian Intelligence Service said there was no information prompting the rise in the terrorist alert level in Romania. Despite this, the Service’s spokesman Ovidiu Marincea said the authorities would pay increased attention and spoke of the international context and the religious events celebrated this weekend. The interior ministry also indicated that a larger number of its staff would be deployed this weekend to ensure an optimal climate of public order and safety.
Rating. The assessment by Standard & Poor’s is proof of our macroeconomic stability and Romania’s development prospects in the coming years, said prime minister Marcel Ciolacu. His reaction comes after Standard & Poor’s this weekend reconfirmed Romania’s government debt rating and stable outlook for the long and short term hard currency debt. This is the result of the transition to an economic model based on massive investments, production and job creation, Ciolacu also said. He added that the inflation rate fell from over 10% in June 2023 to 4.6% at present, while the number of people in employment rose to a record 5.16 million. The prime minister also said that budget consolidation in the next 7 years must be based on rational spending and better revenue collection by cutting tax evasion and continuing investments. Standard & Poor’s estimates that Romania’s economy will grow by 1.6% this year and by around 3% on average in the next 3 years. In another move, Fitch Ratings confirmed Bucharest’s long term hard currency and local currency rating at BBB minus with a stable outlook. The Romanian capital city has around 2.2 million inhabitants and accounts for more than 30% of the country’s economy, while its level of wealth is almost three times the national average.
Survey. Romania has one of the highest levels of life satisfaction in Europe, according to Eurostat statistics. In a ranking of EU member states, Romania, which has a rating of 7.7 points out of a maximum of 10, is only outranked by Finland and shares its position with Slovenia, Austria and Belgium. The lowest satisfaction levels are recorded in Bulgaria, Greece and Latvia. In 2023, the EU average was 7.3 points.
Exercise. NATO begins its annual nuclear exercise on Monday, amid increasingly frequent threats from Russian president Vladimir Putin to use nuclear weapons in the context of the war in Ukraine. After the end of the Cold War, NATO’s nuclear capacity was no longer a priority. Following Ukraine’s invasion by Russia and after the latter’s clear threats, NATO changed its approach, with former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg often saying NATO’s nuclear power is an element of deterrence. NATO sources said the exercise is not in response to Moscow’s threats, as such drills have been held every year for more than a decade. The operation, which is hosted by Belgium and The Netherlands and lasts two weeks, brings together 60 planes from 13 different countries and 2,000 military.
Festival. Video mapping on historical buildings, multimedia installations and interactive experiences are some of the weekend’s attractions in Bucharest as part of the 8th edition of the Spotlight International Festival. The event brings together local and international participants whose creations are reconfiguring streets and buildings by means of light and colour. The Spotlight festival, which this year is headlined “Bucharest 565. Urban connections”, is focused on a complex theme that reflects the interaction between new media art and contemporary challenges, such as the devastating impact of global warming and the rescue of vulnerable species.
