October 9, 2016 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 09.10.2016, 19:17

HOLOCAUST
MEMORIAL On Sunday, the National Commemoration Day of the Holocaust victims in
Romania, the Romanian Foreign Ministry paid homage to the memory of the victims
of the Holocaust and voiced solidarity with the survivors of the tragic events
that occurred during the Second World War. Also, the Foreign Ministry
reaffirmed its commitment to the fight against anti-Semitism and any other form
of racism, xenophobia, discrimination and intolerance. 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 Romania’s 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 Romania’s long and short
term government debt, in national and hard 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 ended at the Government headquarters in Bucharest
on Sunday. For two days, over 100 young
IT professionals developed programmes aimed at increasing the quality of public
services and improving citizen’s relation with state institutions. The list of
projects included an application with the help of which Romanians in the Diaspora can learn more and
faster about what is happening in the country, 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.

HURRICANE Haiti has declared three days of
national mourning, as of Sunday, for the 900 victims of hurricane Matthew.
Also, the first cases of cholera have been confirmed in the Caribbean state. A
Romanian officer with the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations will
head the team that will assess the damage caused by the hurricane. At the same
time, colonel Marius Dogean will coordinate the international assistance,
including the aid for the affected population. He was designated by the
European Commission as head of the EU Civil Protection Team, which will travel
to Haiti. Colonel Dogean worked in Jordan in 2012 during the crisis triggered
by the massive inflow of refugees from Syria, and also in 2013, in the
Philippines, after the catastrophic passing of typhoon Hayian. Also, he was a
national expert posted for EC assessment missions in South Sudan.

FOOTBALL Romania’s national
football team is in Astana, where on Tuesday it will take on the team of
Kazakhstan, in the preliminaries of the 2018 world Cup hosted by Russia. On
Saturday, Romania defeated Armenia 5-nil, also away from home. In the same
group E, Poland won 3-2 the game against Denmark, and Montenegro defeated
Kazakhstan 5-nil. Now Romania ranks first, with 4 points, just like Montenegro
and Poland. Last month, the match
between Romania and Montenegro ended in a draw, 1-1. That was the debut match
for the German Cristoph Daum, the first foreign coach to head Romania’s team as
of this fall. Also at home, Romania will take on Poland, on November 11th.