October 9, 2016
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 09.10.2016, 14:11
HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY Today is the national day of commemoration of the Holocaust victims in Romania. 75 years ago, on October 9th, Marshal Ion Antonescu, an ally to Nazi Germany, started the deportation of Jews from Eastern Romania to the occupied Soviet territories, an action that, according to statistics, killed more than 250,000 people. Only 10% of the deported returned home. The Holocaust was recognized by the Romanian authorities in 2004, on the basis of conclusions formulated by a commission headed by the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize Elie Wiesel. The Jews and the Roma who died during the Holocaust will be commemorated on Monday at the Victims Memorial in Bucharest. The ceremonies will be attended by representatives of the Romanian presidency, the Government, the Diplomatic Corps, civil society, as well as survivors of the Holocaust.
STATE VISIT On Monday, the president of Slovakia, Andrej Kiska, is paying a formal 2-day visit to Romania, at the invitation of his counterpart Klaus Iohannis. According to a communiqué issued by the Romanian Presidency, the main goal of the visit is to boost bilateral relations, at political, economic and sectoral level, as well as to enhance cooperation on current European issues. As Slovakia is currently holding the six month presidency of the EU Council, the talks will mainly focus on the European agenda, and president Iohannis will present Romanias vision regarding the future of Europe. On Tuesday, the two heads of state will open the Romania – Slovakia bilateral business forum and will meet in Nadlac, in the west of the country, with representatives of the Slovak community in Romania.
RATING Standard&Poors rating agency has reconfirmed the rating regarding Romanias long and short term government debt, in hard and national currencies, namely BBB – /A-3, with stable prospects. According to a communiqué issued by the Finance Ministry in Bucharest, this confirmation is based on the economic results registered by Romania lately, a moderate debt, as well as good prospects for further economic growth. The low level of interest rates and the oil price have contributed to an economic growth rate of 3.8% in 2015, and 5.2% in the first half of 2016, which is the fastest growth in the whole of the EU. The line minister Anca Dragu has stated that this economic growth has been accompanied by the creation of new jobs, a low inflation rate and also a low external deficit.
GovITHub The first edition of the digital marathon GovITHub ends today at the Government headquarters in Bucharest. For two days, over 100 young IT professionals have developed programmes aimed at increasing the quality of public services and improving citizens relation with state institutions. The list of projects under development includes an application with the help of which Romanians in the Diaspora can learn more and faster about what is happening in the country. Also, friendlier platforms are being developed for citizens, and applications such as the one that allows citizens to report abuses committed by drivers.
DIASPORA Slatina and Apsa de Jos in Ukraine have these days hosted the first meetings of the Romanian cultural associations in the neighboring country. The event was organized by the Department of Romanians Around the World with the Romanian Foreign Ministry. The participants have talked about the issues facing Romanian communities in Ukraine and several partnership agreements have been signed with cultural associations in the country. There are approximately 500,000 ethnic Romanians living in Ukraine, most of them along the common border, on the eastern Romanian territories annexed by the USSR in 1940, following an ultimatum, and taken over in 1991 by Ukraine, as successor state.
FOOTBALL Romanias national football team has defeated the Armenian squad 5 – nil in the preliminaries of the 2018 World Cup hosted by Russia. In the same group E, Poland won 3-2 the game against Denmark, and Montenegro defeated Kazakhstan 5-nil. On Tuesday, Romania will play against Kazakhstan, also away from home. Last month, Romanias national squad finished the match against Montenegro, on home turf, 1-1. That was the debut match for the German Cristoph Daum, the first foreign coach to head Romanias team as of this fall. Also at home, Romania will take on Poland, on November 11th.
