THE WEEK IN REVIEW

February 13-17, 2023

Corina Cristea, 18.02.2023, 14:00

Bucharest reacts to the recent earthquakes

Romania continued to send to Turkey and Syria humanitarian aid to the people left homeless and displaced by last week’s earthquakes, which left tens of thousands dead. According to the UN, 9 million Syrians and 2.2 million Turks need aid. The first Romanian rescuers sent to Turkey arrived Wednesday night back in the country. In Bucharest, the PM also announced a ministerial panel that will deal primarily with preparation and response of institutions for emergencies. Nicolae Ciuca said that standards in construction and the quality of materials have to be reviewed and checked again, in order to ensure compliance with standards. All these measures come after Romania experienced two quakes with a magnitude of 5.2 and 5.7 on consecutive days, in an area where such events are rare and have low intensity.

Romanian presence abroad

The Romanian head of diplomacy, Bogdan Aurescu, and Defense Minister Angel Tilvar this week take part in the Security Conference in Munich, which is a forum for talks on the present dynamics of international security. Among the attendants are personalities in NATO, the EU, the UN, and other international organizations, as well as international decision makers. The agenda of the conference this year includes issues with major impact on global security, with emphasis on the evolution of the conflict in Ukraine, almost a year from the Russian invasion in that country. Previously this week, some of these security issues were tackled by the two Romanian officials in separate meetings. Minister Aurescu met UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, while Angel Tilvar met his British and Spanish counterparts, Ben Wallace and Margarita Robles Fernandez. In New York, the foreign minister was keynote speaker at a meeting of the UN Security Council, while the defense minister took part in Brussels in the meeting of the contact group for Ukraine and the meeting of NATO foreign ministers.

Romanian – Bavarian cooperation

The Prime Minister of the state of Bavaria, Markus Soder, visited Bucharest and held high level talks on economic, political, and cultural relations, as well as support for Romania’s joining of the Schengen space. The Bavarian official assured Romanian President Klaus Iohannis of his state’s support for the country in its bid for Schengen, and the head of state emphasized the long standing traditional relationship between the two entities. PM Nicolae Ciuca said that the two sides can work together to explore new areas of cooperation, such as AI, digitization, the food industry, and agriculture. The two prime ministers signed a declaration to consolidate bilateral relations, and resume the activity of the Romania-Bavaria mixed government committee.

Romanian position on accusations related to the Republic of Moldova

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said that the country has always been, and continues to be, in support for the Republic of Moldova. The head of state issued a press release on Wednesday, saying that he found deeply worrying the public signals related to any attempt of the Russian Federation to intervene illegitimately to overturn the democratic and constitutional order of the Republic of Moldova, a sovereign state, which chose by free vote its political direction. The statements came after, on Monday, the Moldovan leader, pro-European Maia Sandu, said that Moscow is planning to soon force a political power change in the Republic of Moldova by violent action, meant to destabilize the country. Previously, while in Brussels, Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski spoke to EU leaders about such a plan made by Russia, an accusation that Moscow rejected.

Harsher sentences for drugs

The Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest on Wednesday passed a law that makes harsher the sentences for people growing, selling, offering, or producing high risk drugs. The bill was reviewed at the request of the head of state, who asked for clearer regulation on substances newly featured in the bill, such as so-called ethno-botanicals. The sentence for trafficking moderate risk drugs would be between 3 and 10 years in prison, while that for high risk drugs it would be between 5 and 15 years. In case a victim dies, the punishment would be between 15 and 25 years. Sentences for people caught holding drugs for personal use would not be increased.

Romanian economic data

The winter prognosis from the EC provides an improved view regarding the Romanian economy. It says that this year growth would be 2.5%, with inflation going down to 9.7%. The Romanian National Bank provided a more optimistic view than that in December 2022, stating that inflation would go down to 7% by the end of the year. The central bank also shows that Romania’s current account deficit went up over 52 percent, now being over 26 billion Euro. Also, Romania’s total foreign debt went up by over 6.1 billion, while DFI were almost 10.7 billion Euro.

Timisoara – 2023 European Capital of Culture

The Timisoara – 2023 European Capital of Culture kicked off officially last week, with 130 inaugural events being held until Sunday. Timisoara plans to prove that it is an open, daring, and innovative city. Hundreds of Romanian and international artists invite people to a journey to match the multicultural tradition that Timisoara is famous for. Events include concerts, exhibitions, street shows, debates, theater plays, film screenings, and workshops all over the city, including in various neighborhoods and suburbs. Timisoara this year shares the title of European Capital of Culture with the cities of Veszprem, in Hungary, and Elefsina, in Greece.