October 26, 2016 UPDATE
Romanian Defense Minister Mihnea Motoc attends a NATO meeting in Brussels, the first such event held at political level, after the Warsaw Summit/ The series of events celebrating the 95th birthday anniversary of King Mihai I continues in Romania
Valentin Țigău, 26.10.2016, 12:20
RADIO AND TV LICENSE FEE– Representatives of the Romanian Government and of the National Liberal Party (PNL) consider appealing to the Constitutional Court the bill on the elimination of over 100 non-fiscal taxes as of January 1, including the radio and TV licence fee. The bill, proposed by the Social Democratic Party (PSD) was passed on Tuesday by the Chamber of Deputies, which is the decision-making body in this case. The bill has been passed without an assessment of its impact on next years state budget and the MPs have not indicated the source of funding, the bills opponents have argued. They have also said that the elimination of the radio and TV licence fee by law infringes on the independence and impartiality of the public broadcasters. A number of media organisations call on President Klaus Iohannis not to promulgate the law and launch a public debate on the status of public media services.
NATO MEETING– Romanian Defense Minister Mihnea Motoc on Wednesday attended a NATO meeting in Brussels. Motoc also met with several NATO defence ministers. The US Ambassador to NATO, Douglas Lute, said in Brussels that NATO would consolidate its presence in Romania and neighbouring Bulgaria. 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.
MILITARY DRILL – A multinational military drill involving 1,300 military is unfolding until November 2 at the Land Forces training centre in Cincu, Brasov county. The three stage “SCORPIONS FURY – 16 exercise has been designed by the NATO Southeast Multinational Division Command. Romanias land forces participate in the military exercise with around one thousand troops, alongside colleagues from Canada, Germany and the Republic of Moldova.
ANNIVERSARY – The series of events occasioned by the birthday anniversary of King Mihai I of Romania, who turned 95 on October 25, continues across the country. On this occasion, the kings eldest daughter, HRH Princess Margareta, Custodian of the Romanian Crown, has attached special importance to this years birthday anniversary of king Mihai, concurrently with the celebration of 150 years of the Romanian Crown, serving Romanias history, the nations identity and continuity. On Thursday, Princess Margareta and Price Radu will attend the public presentation of a stamp collection entitled “Engines, a royal passion, issued by Romfilatelia. The event will be hosted by the Carol I Central University Library in Bucharest. On this occasion the Royal Choir will give a short recital. 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.
ECONOMY – Romania ranks 36th in the World Banks classification “Doing Business 2017, one place down as against the previous year. Romania advanced in terms of tax payment, but went down in terms of starting a business. Romania is rated ahead of countries like Hungary, Belgium, Italy and Turkey, but comes after countries like New Zealand, which ranks first, Poland, the Czech Republic and Kazakhstan. The World Bank report assesses 190 economies based on 11 criteria such as taking out loans, access to the electricity network and cross border transactions.
REP OF MOLDOVA – The candidate for the presidential elections in the Republic of Moldova, the leader of the Democratic Party, Marian Lupu, has withdrawn from the race, three days ahead of the ballot scheduled for October 30, in favour of the common candidate of the right wing, Maia Sandu. He said that it is important to his political party for a pro-European candidate to win the elections. Opinion polls credited Lupu with 13% of the voting intentions and Maia Sandu with 16% and already enjoyed the support of three pro-European parties. Most likely than not she will face in the runoff pro-Russian Socialist, Igor Dodon, credited with some 35% of the intended votes.
TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Simona Halep (WTA no. 4) will take on Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia (WTA no. 8) on Thursday in the Red Group at the WTA finals in Singapore. On Tuesday, Halep lost to Angelique Kerber of Germany (WTA no.1), 4-6, 2-6. Simona is second seeded in her group, after Angelique Kerber. 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 E. Enache and D. Vijeu)
