10 August, 2016

Queen Anne lays in state at Peles Castle, Romania adjusts social budget

Newsroom, 10.08.2016, 11:59

CONDOLENCES — Romanian and foreign officials offered condolences at Peles Castle in Sinaia for the demise of Queen Anne of Romania, consort to the last king of Romania, Michael I. She is laying in state in the grand hall of the royal mansion, attended by members of the Royal House. In the evening the coffin will be taken to the throne room of the Royal Palace in Bucharest, where a prayer ceremony will be held. Queen Annes funeral is scheduled for Saturday. It will be held in Curtea de Arges, place of rest for Romanian royalty. King Michael is unable to attend the funerals due to failing health. Queen Anne passed away on August 1 in Switzerland.

BUDGET — The government in Bucharest are discussing the draft executive order to adjust the current budget, in addition to the one on adjusting the social insurance budget for 2016. The project aims at increasing revenue and spending by 2.92 billion lei, about 655 million Euro. The highest amounts go to the ministries of labor, interior, health, and education, while the highest budget slashes are aimed at transportaion. This adjustment, the highest this year, was initiated by the Ministry of Public Finance, which justified it by the fact that the GDP for 2016 is growing, from 746.6 billion lei, around 167 billion Euro, to 757 billion lei, about 170 billion Euro.

OLYMPICS — Today is yet another competition day for Romanian athletes at the Summer Olympics, underway in Rio de Janeiro. Romania’s women’s national handball team takes on Montenegro, and is in dire need of a win if they want to retain their place in the tournament, having sustained defeats in the two previous fixtures against Angola and Brazil, respectively. In rowing, the women’s coxed eight crew competes in the second qualifying round. Also in the women’s competitions, Romania’s double scull and light double oars crews are still in contention for a medal. In women’s fencing, competing for Romania are athletes in the individual foil event, while in the men’s version of the same competition trying to prove their mettle are fencers in the individual epee event. In swimming, competing for Romania are athletes in women’s 100m freestyle event, while in men’s weightlifting Romanian athletes will make an attempt to lift 69 and 77 kilograms, respectively. In the mixed doubles event in tennis, Florin Mergea and Monica Niculescu face the all-Spanish pair made up of David Ferrer and Carla Suarez Navarro. In the men’s doubles, Flori Mergea and Horia Tecau, as an absolute first, got through to the semifinals, where they take on the all-American pair made of Jack Sock and Steve Johnson. Mergea and Tecau rank as favorites and are highly likely to win the first medal for the Romanian delegation in Rio.

ORGANIZED CRIME — Organized crime prosecutors went on a raid today in northern Romania as a result of a report broadcast by Sky News, in a weapon smuggling case. British journalists alleged that, after two months of negotiations, they were pointed to an isolated area of Romania where they met weapon smugglers. The weapons were brought in from Ukraine, going to Western Europe and the Middle East. The prosecutors found that some of the weapons were legally held with hunting permits. The go-between in the journalistic investigation is said to be a Romanian freelancer who has been living in Britain for the last seven years, and is currently being investigated. Judicial sources indicate that the investigators believe that the report was staged by Sky News, whose reporters wrote lines for the Romanians that were interviewed, asking them to wear military style clothes. Previously, the Romanian Embassy in London pointed to flaws in the report, which projects a negative image of Romania.

INVESTITURE — The new Romanian minister for communications, Delia Popescu, who is 38 years old, will be sworn in today by President Klaus Iohannis. PM Dacian Ciolos made the appointment, which was endorsed by the head of state. Delia Popescu has been working since 2003 in development and IT systems for public services and businesses. Since 2014, she has been heading the Romanian Agency for the Digital Agenda, coordinated by the Prime Ministers office. The former Minister of Communications was removed in early July.

INAUGURATION — US Ambassador Hans Klemm inaugurated today the seventh American Shelf at Panait Istrati County Library Braila. The Ambassador presented the gift to Library Director Dragos Neagu. The book collection includes 136 titles offering access to reference books, classic and contemporary US literature, English language teaching methodology and English language learning, as well as childrens books. This gift continues the initiative that resulted in similar shelves in Botosani, Galati, Brasov, Sibiu, Drobeta Turnu-Severin and Arad, strengthening the strategic partnership betwee the United States and Romania.