19 July, 2018

A roundup of the main stories in Romania today.

România Internațional, 19.07.2018, 12:48

Forecast. The
National Prognosis Commission has revised Romania’s economic growth rate for
this year down to 5.5% from 6.1% in its previous spring forecast. The inflation
rate has been revised up to 3.5% from 3.2% in spring.

Danube region. Romania and Austria are to host the
Secretariat of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region, whose re-establishment
was decided at a meeting of the Monitoring Committee of the Danube
Transnational Programme and the member states national coordinators of the EU
Strategy, an event held in Split, Croatia. Beginning in September this year,
Bucharest and Vienna will open two offices of this body. The EU Strategy for
the Danube Region is a high-visibility political project and Romania’s first
large-scale initiative after joining the European Union. According to a press
release published in Bucharest, Romania’s presidency of the EU Council in the
first part of next year is an opportunity to promote this important framework
for macro-regional cooperation on the agenda of the Union and to
ensure the necessary financial allocations for the priorities proposed for the
EU Strategy for the Danube Region and the other macro-regional strategies.

Romania-Singapore. The Romanian foreign
minister Teodor Melescanu has had talks in Bucharest with dr Mohamad Maliki Bin
Osman, Senior Minister of State in the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs in Singapore, about ways to boost bilateral relations. The two
officials highlighted the mutual interest in taking advantage of the
opportunities for collaboration in the areas of trade, investment, transport,
the financial and banking sector, IT and communications. Special attention was
given to the expansion of cooperation in the areas of education, research and
innovation, by stimulating cooperation among universities, the interest of the
citizens of Singapore in
studying in Romania and the involvement of Singapore’s researchers in specific
projects with Romanian partners.

Broadcasting. Radio Free Europe says it will resume news programmes in Bulgaria and Romania in December this year in a bid to consolidate the media landscape in these countries. The station, which is funded by the United States Congress, will carry multi-media reports and analyses in Romanian and Bulgarian and will collaborate with the local media to expand existing projects that promote public accountability and debunk fake news. The station’s Romanian language service opened in 1950 and ended in 2008, when Romania had already become a member of the European Union and NATO. Historians view as essential the station’s contribution to the erosion and final collapse, in 1989, of the communist dictatorship in Bucharest. The station still has a Romanian language service in the Republic of Moldova. Radio Free Europe broadcasts to 26 million people in 20 different countries with restrictions on media freedom and where professional journalism is not fully developed.

Award. Romanian Florin Morariu, a baker who distinguished himself last year in the London Bridge terror attacks, will receive the Queen’s Commendation for Bravery. The Britrish government has published the list of those honoured with bravery awards. Morariu helped people hide in the bakery he worked in and threw crates of bread at one of the attackers who had stabbed a person. In the wake of the attack, Prime Minister Theresa May praised his courage, but the British media wrote that there was no follow-up from the authorities. Morariu returned to Romania after he lost his apartment because his landlord asked him to move out fearing reprisals, and the British government refused his request for protection and assistance.

Football. The Romanian football side Viitorul
Constanta today face Racing FC Union Luxembourg at home in the decisive first round leg
of the Europa League preliminaries. Viitorul won their first match away, 2-nil.
Romania is also represented in the Europa League by the vice-champions FCSB
(formerly Steaua Bucharest), who are facing the Slovenian side NK Rudar Velenje in the
second preliminary round and the Cup winner CSU Craiova, who go straight into
the third preliminary round. The Romanian champions CFR Cluj play the Swedish
side Malmo FF in the second Europa League preliminary round.

Pop music competition. 18 singers from 15
different countries will be vying for the Grand Trophy of the Golden Stag
Festival to be held in Brasov, central Romania, between the 29th of
August and the 2nd of September. The initial line-up was 15, but
organisers decided to expand it following great demand. Romania has three
representatives, Dora Gaitanovici, Ovidiu Anton and Raluca Blejusca, while the
Republic of Moldova is represented by Lidia Isac. The Golden Stag Festival this
year celebrates its 50th anniversary with a special edition and
65,000 euros worth of prizes. The festival will come to an end with a Romania Centenary
show featuring traditional Romanian music and contemporary reinterpretations of
his genre.