October 17, 2015 UPDATE

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România Internațional, 17.10.2015, 12:30

Romania’s handball champions Minaur Baia Mare will be playing at
home Macedonian side Metalurg Skopje in a Champions League Group D game.
Romanian vice-champions in women’s handball, HCM Baia Mare, made an excellent
start in Champions League group A with an away win 33-27 against Slovenian side
Krim Ljubljana on Friday night. Women champion side CSM Bucharest have also
started off on the right foot with a 33-21 home win against Polish side Selgros
Lublin.

The trade agreement between Europe and
America also has a geostrategic component as it offers stability to the region,
Cecilia Malmstrom, the European Commissioner for Trade and Anthony Gardner, the
US ambassador to the European Union agreed on Friday during the international
conference in Bucharest on the partnership and investment agreement between the
United States and the European Union, currently under negotiation. Malmstrom
said the agreement’s first palpable effects would be the elimination of taxes,
duties or redundant and costly procedures, which would give an impetus to
companies. If the Transatlantic Partnership for Trade and Investment, which is
being negotiated at present, came into effect, Romanian companies from 130
cities exporting to the USA, would benefit from improved export conditions,
Malmstrom went on to say. In turn Anthony Gardner, the US ambassador to the
European Union, said the agreement equally meets economic and geostrategic
needs. According to him, the Kremlin doesn’t want this agreement to come into
effect, because it disarms Russia.

The head of the government in
Ljubljana, Miro Cerar, announced that army troops would be assisting police
units dealing with the flow of migrants, which was redirected on Saturday
towards Slovenia after Budapest had sealed off its border with Croatia, which
saw the transit of 170 thousand people in only one month. Hungary will temporarily reinstate border controls on its frontier
with Slovenia, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has been quoted by
Reuters as saying. The Hungarian official said the measure was necessary being
also within the framework of the Schengen agreement. Croatia and Slovenia
accepted the setting up of a new corridor to allow migrants to reach Western
Europe. Authorities in Ljubljana and Zagreb have said they will not try to stem
the flow of migrants as long as Germany and Austria are ready to receive them.

According to credit insurer Coface, Romania will this year see an
increase in the GDP of 3.3% and an average inflation rate of 0.3%. The same
report points out that domestic demand will be boosted by the fiscal relaxation
and the salary and pension rises in the public sector. Consumption will all
also see a boost thanks to assistance programmes for small income households.
However, Coface experts estimate that investment in the public sector will
remain low due to bureaucracy, which hinders European funds accession and due
to the lack of a proper structure.

Social-Democrats (number one in the ruling coalition in Romania) on
Sunday are expected to vote on their new National Permanent Bureau and validate
Liviu Dragnea as party president. After winning the last week’s election in the
party, Dragnea proposed a new ruling structure in the Social Democratic Party,
PSD, with a smaller Permanent Bureau and slightly changed prerogatives. Valeriu
Zgonea, president of the Chamber of Deputies, and former Economy Minister
Constantin Nita are vying for the second position in the party, that of
executive president. The Congress is to validate proposals of amending the PSD
status, including a ban on cumulating positions inside the party. The National
Council will become a specialized forum with a role in coordinating
departments.