December 22, 2015

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 22.12.2015, 12:15

Over 51% of the
Romanians trust the Presidency, which is top of the list when it comes to
citizens’ trust in state institutions, according to an opinion poll conducted
by the Romanian research center INSCOP. Among the executive institutions, first
comes the Fire Department with 77.5%. There follow the army, the gendarmerie, the
National Anticorruption Directorate, the Romanian Intelligence Service and the
Foreign Intelligence Service. As for the social and private institutions,
Romanians seem to trust the church the most, with a rate of approximately 56%.
Next in line come universities, the media and civil society organizations. The
research has also shown that the international institutions most trusted by the
Romanian citizens are NATO, the UN and the EU. The barometer covers the November 26th
– December 2nd 2015 period, and was conducted on a representative sample of
1,071 Romanians aged over 18.

26 six years ago,
the Communist regime in Romania saw its demise on December 22nd.
Various events, including religious services, are being held in Bucharest and
other cities across the country to commemorate those who died in 1989 for
freedom and democracy. On Monday, the Romanian Parliament convened in solemn
session to mark 26 years since the anti-Communist revolt of 1989. The
Revolution started in Timisoara on December 16th and soon spread all
across the country, culminating, on December 22nd, with dictator
Nicolae Ceausescu’s flee. Over 1,000 people died and more than 3,400 were
wounded between the 16th and the 25th of December 1989.
Romania is the only country in the Eastern Bloc where the communist regime was
changed violently and its communist leaders executed.

The death toll of
the fire that broke out at the Colectiv nightclub in Bucharest on October 30th
has reached 63, as another patient died in a hospital in Great Britain las
night. According to the Romanian Health Ministry, 34 people are still
hospitalized in the country and abroad. We recall that the tragedy occurred
during a rock concert, with hundreds of people attending. The fire was started
by a firework show, the place was overcrowded and there were no emergency
exits. Yesterday, the Bucharest Tribunal decided that the three owners of the
Colectiv club, who had been under arrest since November 3rd for manslaughter,
be placed under house arrest.

On December 16th,
2015, Mr. Makoto Kurahasi, president of the Japanese Business People’s
Association in Romania, alongside Mr. Tetsuya Fujti, vice-President of the
Japanese Residents’ Association in Romania and a delegation of the Romanian
Embassy in Romania had a meeting with Mr. Dorel Sandesc, State Secretary with
the Ministry of Health, with the aim of making a donation for the treatment of
the victims of the Colectiv fire on October 30th. The donation was
made voluntarily by the two Japanese
associations and several Japanese companies operating in Romania, among which
E&M Corporation, Honda Trading Romania and Mitsubishi Corporation. The
donation, worth 12,000 lei, will be transferred to the bank account of the
Romanian Society of Anesthesia and Intensive Care.

Romanians
make up the largest minority in several EU member states. According to the
Eurostat data regarding the foreign citizens who are living in EU member
countries, Romanians are the largest immigrant community in Italy, with some
1.1 million people, followed by Spain, with 730,00 and Hungary with 31,000. In
percentages, in Italy and Hungary ethnic Romanians account for 22% of the total
number of foreign citizens, and in Spain 16%. Other countries in which Romanians
have settled in large numbers are Greece, Cyprus, Portugal, Slovakia and
Germany. Officially, some 2.2 million Romanians live in EU member countries.

The Labour Ministry
is analyzing the possibility of increasing the minimum wage in Romania. According to the
line minister Ana Costea, the final decision will be made by the end of the
year. On the other hand, although Romanians’ pensions will grow by only 5%
next year, the MPs and the local officials have already voted special pensions for
themselves.

Ion Sturza, the new Prime Minister
Designate of the Republic of Moldova, Romania’s neighbor with a predominantly
Romanian-speaking population, has stated that the future Government
will be made up of people with no political affiliations and who will sign an
integrity code. Moldova’s president Nicolae Timofti designated Sturza yesterday
as candidate for the office of prime-minister, after two months of failed
negotiations with the parliamentary parties on the replacement of the former PM,
Valeriu Strelet, who was sacked under a no-confidence motion. Ion Sturza, who
is a prosperous businessman, believes that he will be able to find support for
his Cabinet. According to the Moldovan Constitution, the current Parliament
must endorse the government by the end of January 2916, otherwise it will be
dissolved and early elections will be held. Ion Sturza has been the Prime
Minister of Moldova before, back in 1999.

The Romanian women’s national
handball team returned to Bucharest last night, after on Sunday they won bronze
at the World Championship in Denmark. The athletes were welcomed back home by
the Minister of Youth and Sports, Elisabeta Lipa, other sports officials,
friends and relatives, and also by supporters. The Romanians defeated Poland
31-22, and thus won the first world medal in ten years and the first bronze in
history. At the competition in Denmark, Cristina Neagu was declared the best beck left and the best player of the tournament. Romania is the only team that
has participated in all editions of the World Championship, ever since
1957. It won gold in 1962 and silver in 1973 and 2005 respectively.