THE WEEK IN REVIEW
July 8-12, 2024
Ştefan Stoica, 13.07.2024, 13:00
Five NATO leaders, including the American president, Joe Biden, and the Romanian one, Klaus Iohannis, signed, at the allied summit in Washington, a statement in which they commit to deliver Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine. Kyiv will thus be able to use Patriot batteries donated by the United States, Germany and Romania, to which are added components provided by the Netherlands and a system donated by Italy. “We do all these things: we support Ukraine, we donate Patriot, we help Moldova, we also help others in the region, because we can, and because we think it’s right,” declared President Iohannis. According to him, Romania has transformed from a state that begged to receive help of any kind to a state that has the strength, energy, and capabilities to export security throughout the region. On a bilateral level, Klaus Iohannis and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, signed, in Washington, a cooperation agreement in the field of security. It is a political document that systematizes the existing cooperation between the two countries in various fields and includes aspects related to Kyiv’s commitment to continue the necessary reforms on its European and Euro-Atlantic course, respect for the rights of national minorities, as well as cooperation in combating cross-border crime. Aid to Ukraine was the main item on the agenda of the NATO summit. “We intend to release a basic package of at least 40 billion euros for next year, and then maintain security assistance at a sustainable level, so that Ukraine wins,” the member countries pledged.
Open protest, masked protest
Internally, the week started with a less usual protest, organized by accountants and economists under the motto “No chaos in tax legislation”. In Bucharest and in other cities, the participants denounced the legislative acts and fiscal measures that they consider oppressive, because they would deeply affect every entrepreneur, economist, accountant, as well as taxpayers in Romania. The protesters say that the introduction of mechanisms such as e-Invoice or e-VAT, in fact, increases the bureaucracy. The accountants’ protest was announced in advance. Things were not the same at Otopeni International Airport, where dozens of internal and external flights of the national company TAROM were canceled after some of the pilots declared themselves unfit to fly. Later, it turned out to be a kind of masked strike, triggered untimely, which affected many passengers and caused new losses to the company. The flights resumed the next day, after TAROM’s management concluded an agreement on salary issues with the flight personnel. The European commissioner for transport, Adina Vălean, said that the problem at TAROM is not auspicious, given that the company benefits from state aid approved by the European Commission. TAROM suffers significant financial losses every year, and analysts question whether the state’s efforts to reorganize and save it are maybe futile.
Transport problems
Traffic on the DN7 Valea Oltului, a vital artery that runs through the Carpathians, and ensures the connection with the central-western sections of the highway, was closed for a month, during the day, for clearing works in order to build the Sibiu-Pitesti Highway, expected for over 3 decades. The restrictions give headaches to transporters, and not only them, and the effects did not take long to appear. Several traffic jams formed on the already overloaded DN1 between Ploiesti and Braşov. And that’s not all in terms of transport: the Giurgiu-Ruse Friendship Bridge over the Danube went into repair, on the Bulgarian side, for a period of two years, starting Wednesday. Romanian citizens are advised to use the other border crossing points with Bulgaria, a tourist destination for Romanians, but also a transit country for Greece and Turkey, two major destinations during the summer.
A controversial ordinance
On Thursday, the government modified the emergency ordinance regarding drug testing of drivers, after the normative act was intensely criticized by civil society. Drivers who are found positive in the test, or refuse it, have their license suspended, but they get it back in 3 days, if the forensic laboratories do not provide, during this time, the preliminary result of the blood tests. A non-governmental association requested the annulment of the ordinance regarding drug tests, because it would contain abusive provisions, such as the appearance of positive results even in the case of the consumption of common cold medicines.
Heatwave over Romania
Romanian meteorologists have issued, for the end of the week, the most extensive red heat code so far, which covers three quarters of the country’s territory. The weekend was preceded by five hot days, with temperatures that rose to 39 degrees and will be followed, according to forecasts, by another three days with extreme temperatures, which will exceed 40 degrees. The government asked the central and local authorities to be prepared to intervene effectively when needed.
Encouraging debut in interclub football competitions
After a good European performance by the Romanian national team, the fans’ attention moves to the club teams engaged in the continental competitions. The debut of the season was a successful one: the champion FCSB (Bucharest) outclassed the champion San Marino, Virtus, 7-1, on Tuesday, away, in the first leg of the first preliminary round of the Champions League. The holder of the Cup, Corvinul Hunedoara (center-west), defeated, also away, 4-0, the vice-champion and winner of the Hungarian Cup, Paksi, in the first leg of the first preliminary round of the Europa League. In the case of very likely qualifications, FCSB will meet Maccabi Tel Aviv, from Israel, in the preliminary second round, and Corvinul will face the Croatian team Rijeka.
