October 25, 2016 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 25.10.2016, 12:15
CELEBRATION – On October 25, King Mihai I turned 95 and the Royal House of Romania is organizing a series of events, until October 28, to mark his anniversary. Medals and distinctions are being offered, concerts and book launches are held and Radio Romania broadcasts a radio drama written by King Mihai and Queen Ana. Mihai I is Romanias last king and the only surviving head of state from WWII. He ruled the country two times, between 1927 and 1930, and between 1940 and 1947, respectively. Forced by the communists to abdicate, on December 30, 1947, the former monarch lived in exile. After the Anti-communist Revolution of 1989, he returned to his native Romania. Also on Tuesday the Romanian Army Day was observed at home and abroad. Military and religious ceremonies were organized in all garrisons and theatres of operation across the country. Floral tributes were also paid at the cemeteries and memorials, in honour of the Romanian heroes in Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Russia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. A reburial ceremony was held at Rossoshka, in the Russian Federation, for 594 Romanian military who died in the line of duty in the battle of Stalingrad (todays Volgograd) during WW II. At present, 780 Romanian military are taking part in international missions around the world, 629 of them in Afghanistan.
NON FISCAL FEES– The Romanian Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday approved the draft law initiated by the Social Democratic Party to abolish over 100 non-fiscal taxes, including the radio and TV license fee, which covers most of the public broadcasters financing. On Monday, the Social-Democrats announced they gave up the idea of cancelling the radio and TV license fee, against the backdrop of harsh criticism voiced by the political class, civil society, representatives of public media institutions, who said the absence of such a fee would significantly impact the autonomy of the public radio and TV broadcasters. On Tuesday, however, Social-Democrat Liviu Dragnea made a comeback and called again, in the plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies, for the elimination of the public radio and TV license fee. The draft law has been endorsed by the Senate, and the Chamber of Deputies is the decision making body on the issue.
CONSTITUTIONAL COURT – Romanias Constitutional Court on Tuesday ruled that the law on giving in payment, challenged by banking institutions, is partially against the Constitution. The law was enforced on May 13th. Also, the bill allowing the conversion of Swiss-franc loans into the local currency at below-market rates has also reached the Constitutional Court. The Government contested the law because, in their opinion, the form under which it was endorsed by the Chamber of Deputies has come to be more than a form of social protection. Under this bill debtors can ask banks to convert their outstanding debt to local currency loans at the exchange rate prevailing when the loan was extended.
SMEs– Private small and medium sized enterprises in Romania, which got prizes in the 24th edition of the National Top of the Private Companies in Romania, reported a turnover of 2.2 billion Euro and employed over 26,000 people, Florin Jianu, the President of the National Council of SMEs has today said. According to him, the business environment in Romania should be supported by the state, by measures aimed to cut red tape, encourage the work force and grant funds to SMEs. Jianu has also said it is very important to attract investment, be it local or foreign.
CETA – The European leaders say the summit scheduled for Thursday and devoted to the signing of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between the EU and Canada (CETA) is “still possible, in spite of Belgiums finding it impossible to approve it at the moment, as it announced. Attending the meeting will also be Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, government officials from Ottawa have announced. On Tuesday, the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, the Canadian trade minister, Chrystia Freeland, and the head of the Belgian region of Wallonia, Paul Magnette, held talks in an effort to breathe new life into the negotiations on this agreement. All EU member states have expressed their agreement on the conclusion of a treaty, with the exception of Belgium, which needs the agreement of all its five federal entities. The region of Wallonia, displeased with several provisions of the treaty, particularly those referring to the arbitration of trade disputes between companies and governments, has rejected the agreement.
NATO – US Ambassador to NATO, Douglas Lute, said in Brussels that NATO would consolidate its presence in Romania and neighboring Bulgaria. The US official said that Romania would host a multinational brigade, with the participation of Bulgaria. The brigade will coordinate the efforts of allied partners, including the United States, who will be deploying military for organizing military exercises in the two countries. Ambassador Lute said that, for the time being, plans on consolidating the presence of NATOs air and naval forces in the Black Sea region are still being discussed. In another development, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that NATO Defense Ministers will discuss NATOs presence in the Black Sea region as part of their meeting scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday in Brussels.
TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Simona Halep (WTA no. 4) lost on Tuesday to the worlds number one player Angelique Kerber of Germany, 4-6, 2-6 in the Red Group at the WTA finals in Singapore. Simona won the first match against Madison Keys of the United States, and will take on Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia (WTA no. 8) in the last match. In the White Group, the Czech player Karolina Pliskova (WTA no.5) defeated the Roland Garros defending champion, Spanish Garbine Muguruza (WTA no.6), and Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova (WTA no.9) defeated last years winner of the title, Polish Agnieszka Radwanska (WTA no.3). Simona Halep is participating for the third time in the WTA Finals, after in 2014 she met Serena Williams in the finals, and last year failed to go past the group stage.
(Translated by D. Vijeu and V. Palcu)
