July 16, 2017 UPDATE

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Newsroom, 16.07.2017, 19:11

TAXES On Monday, the ruling coalition in Bucharest will be tackling fresh fiscal measures, such as the introduction of the solidarity tax or the turnover tax. Liviu Dragnea, president of the main ruling political force, the Social-Democratic Party (PSD) has recently announced that the Finance Ministry is running research over the effects of such measures envisaged in the ruling programme. In another development, the biggest opposition party, the National Liberal Party, has pointed out to the fact that the fresh fiscal measures or the artificially raised minimum salaries can affect private companies in Romania as well as the country’s economic development.

DRILL A new stage of the largest military exercise in Romania’s modern history, SABER GUARDIAN 17 was hosted by the county of Constanta in southeastern Romania. The medical evacuation exercise called MASCAL unfolded under a real-life scenario for the 30th US medical brigade, which led the exercise and three NATO ROL 2 medical units deployed to Mihail Kogalniceanu. During the exercise the soldiers were selected and evacuated to the medical units mounted at the Mihail Kogalniceanu air base. The shooting range in Cincu, central Romania, on Saturday saw another series of exercises part of the SABER GUARDIAN 17, which brought together over 5,000 soldiers, 650 vehicles and other military gear as well as 30 warplanes. The event was also attended by the head of the Romanian state Klaus Iohannis.

HODGES The commander of the US troops in Europe, lieutenant general Ben Hodges, has hailed the efforts Romania is making in an attempt to modernize its armed forces. Hodges, who participated in Saber Guardian 17, a multinational exercise held in Cincu, central Romania, has said that Romania is a trustworthy ally committed to modernizing its armed forces. He has recalled Bucharest’s pledge to invest 2% of the country’s GDP in defence this year, and referred to the training quality of the young soldiers and their commanders and their commitment to contributing to security in the Black Sea.

VACCINE The Healthcare Ministry in Bucharest is to commence a warning campaign against the consequences of not vaccinating children. The number of measles cases confirmed in Romania has exceeded 8 thousands; most of them reported in the country’s west and southwest. We recall that 31 people have so far been killed by the disease in this country. On Monday Radio Romania is also to commence an information campaign over the risks of leaving children unvaccinated, the side effects, the reasons for which some parents don’t want to immunize their children and the need for fresh legislation on vaccination.

MEDAL Romanian rowers Leonid Carp and Victor Mihalachi on Sunday reaped silver in the 500 meter double canoe race of the European Championships held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. This is the first medal for the Romanian delegation. The Romanians were outperformed by Russia, while a crew from Ukraine ended on the third position.

EFFORTS The Ministry for The Romanians All Over the World is making efforts to bring back the Romanians living abroad, field minister Andreea Pastarnac has said. According to her, Start-up Diaspora, a special programme mainly targeting the second or third generations of Romanian immigrants was launched 10 days ago alongside a scholarship project by the Romanian Education Ministry aimed at allowing students from abroad to chose from several education packages offered by Romanian universities. Minister Pastarnac spoke in Sulina, southeastern Romania, at a meeting during the ARC 2017 Camp programme destined for the Romanian ethnics living abroad.

VISIT Romania’s Foreign Affairs Minister Teodor Melescanu on Monday will join his EU counterparts for the proceedings of the EU Foreign Affairs Council. According to a communiqué issued by the Foreign Ministry in Bucharest the participants will be mainly discussing measures on migration focusing on the central-Mediterranean route. The Global Strategy in the EU Foreign and Security Policy, the latest developments in Libya and the north-Korean file are high on the meeting’s agenda, the communiqué also says.