October 16, 2016 UPDATE

One in five Romanians is facing in-work poverty./ Foreign Minister Lazar Comanescu attends EU External Affairs Council meeting./ Romanian boxer Cristian Ciocan wins European WBO heavyweight title.

Newsroom, 16.10.2016, 18:01

In-work poverty.
One in five Romanians is facing poverty despite working full-time, according to
a survey conducted by the Cartel Alfa Trade Union Confederation published on
Sunday. The study also shows that less than 40% of the country’s GDP is
channelled into the human capital, while companies benefit from 60% of the GDP.
This points to a reverse situation compared with most European countries and
highlights a major unbalance in terms of the redistribution of economic
results. Romania’s tax system also favours capital, while adding more burden on
employees and small contributors, the survey also shows. Cartel Alfa also warns
that collective bargaining has been in effect eliminated through the effects of
a law passed five years ago. All this has deepened social inequality,
precarious working conditions, exploitation and a total lack of prospects for
Romanian workers who are thus forced to contemplate emigration.

EU. Romania’s foreign minister
Lazar Comanescu will attend a meeting of the EU External Affairs Council on
Monday in Luxembourg. Talks will focus on the Global
Strategy for
the European Union’s Foreign and Security Policy, migration and the situation in Tunisia and Syria. On the sidelines of
the Council, Comanescu will attend a meeting of the Group of Friends of Ukraine
to which the Ukrainian foreign minister Pavlo Klimkin is also invited. In
another move, Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis will take part
in a meeting of the European Council on Thursday and Friday in Brussels, said
the president’s spokeswoman Madalina Dobrovolschi. She said the talks would focus
on migration, trade policy and the Union’s external relations, in particular
with the Russian Federation.

NATO. A
meeting of defence ministers from NATO and partner states, the first since the
Warsaw summit, will be held in Bucharest between the 19th and the 21st
of October. The Strategic Military Partner Conference will be coordinated by
the Allied Command Transformation located in Norfolk, the US. 350 officials
from NATO and partner countries are expected to attend the event in Bucharest.
Four planning
workshops will also be held, focusing on different themes: maritime, air/space,
land and cyber.

Turkey. Three police officers were killed in an
explosion during a raid on an alleged Islamic State safehouse in the Turkish
city of Gaziantep. The explosion occurred as one of two suicide bombers
detonated an explosive device. Eight people were wounded in the incident,
including four Syrian nationals. Earlier, the foreign ministry in Bucharest
again warned Romanian citizens travelling to Turkey to remain cautious and
vigilant. The ministry says it is in constant touch with the Turkish
authorities to provide real-time information on how the situation develops.

Montenegro. The Montenegro police said they
arrested 20 persons suspected of planning terrorist attacks after Sunday’s
parliamentary elections. The suspects come from Serbia and were planning to use
automatic weapons to attack state institutions, police stations and possibly
even government officials when the polls closed. Tensions have risen in Montenegro
in the run up to the elections, which commentators say may decide if this small
Balkan state stays on its path to the West or turns its back on Europe and
moves instead towards its traditional ally Russia.

Boxing. The
Romanian boxer Cristian Ciocan won the European WBO heavyweight title
after wining a points victory against the Turkish boxer Erkan Teper in a
professional boxing gala held on Saturday night in Hamburg, Germany. Ciocan was
declared a winner after 12 rounds. Aged 29, his win-loss record is 20-4. He
also held the WBO title three years ago and hopes to win the world title next
year. (Translated by: C. Mateescu)