November 15, 2018 UPDATE

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Newsroom, 15.11.2018, 19:46

NEGOTIATIONS – Negotiations between the
Bucharest metro trade unions and the management are due to continue, following
a warning strike on Thursday morning. The metro employees threaten to go on a
general strike beginning on the 19th of November. They demand a 42%
salary increase, but were only offered an 18% increase by the management.
According to the transport minister Lucian Sova, the salaries of metro
employees have grown every year in the last four years, the last time by 21%
last year. 700,000 people use the Bucharest metro every day.

PRESIDENCY – Romania is ready to take over and successfully carry
out its term as holder of the EU Council presidency in the first part of next
year, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila has again given assurances. The events
timetable has been finalized and all working mechanisms have been created. We
have the capacity to show our European partners that Romania is a balanced and
responsible member state, determined to contribute to the future of the
European Union, regardless of the purely political considerations at one time
or another, the Romanian prime minister also said. Tuesday’s vote in the
European Parliament is one such example and I assure you that it will not make us
stray from our objectives, said Dancila. She added that she was disappointed
with the conclusions of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism report,
given that Romania has proved to be a loyal and fair partner of the European
Union. We recall that European Parliament’s resolution and the aforementioned
report are critical of the changes to the justice laws made by the ruling
coalition formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals
and Democrats.

BREXIT – The foreign ministry in Bucharest
welcomes the fact that Brussels’ and London’s negotiators have arrived at a
final version of the text of UK’s EU withdrawal agreement. This marks an
important moment in the negotiation process and paves the way for defining a
close and strong future relationship between the EU and London, which is
Romania’s strategic objective, given the bilateral strategic partnership and
the close security cooperation, which is important to maintain in the context
of the developments in the eastern neighborhood, where Romania and Great
Britain share a common objective, reads a press release from the Romanian
foreign ministry. The withdrawal agreement will guarantee the protection of the
rights of all Romanian citizens who settle in Great Britain before 31st December
2020. They will be able to continue to work, live and study in Britain after
obtaining a settled status, the ministry also says.

SIF – The Government on Thursday passed an emergency decree setting
up the Sovereign Investment Fund. The Fund is aimed at developing and helping
build profitable businesses in priority fields for the Romanian state, either
standalone or jointly with external investors or other investment funds.
Stipulated in the 2017-2020 governing platform and drawing on experience of
states such as France, Norway, Poland or Italy, the Sovereign Fund will
comprise profitable Romanian state-owned companies with a joint capital of some 2 billion euros.

SURVEY – Over 60% of Romanians have contracted loans while 37% of
them have monthly expenses tantamount to their revenue, reads a survey on
Romanians’ financial habits released on Thursday. As regards loans, 83% of
Romanians trust the banking system, saying they would take out a loan from a
bank if they needed money. Additionally, 70% of Romanians who took out loans to
finance a previous debt say their situation will improve in the future. 45% of
Romanians have no family savings and the little they put on the side is
destined for emergency situations.

EXERCISE – Some 1,800 Romanian and foreign military backed by 250
pieces of technical equipment are taking part in the Scorpions Fury multinational exercise under way at the shooting
range in Cincu, central Romania until the 16th of November. The aim
is to evaluate the capacity of the Headquarters Multinational
Brigade South East in Craiova, in the south, to ensure the command and control
of a NATO collective defense operation. The military carry out both
computer-assisted command exercises and field training and tactical combat
shooting exercises. Turkish, Polish, Bulgarian, Italian and Portuguese as well
as Romanian military are taking part.

MEETING – Romania’s Interior Minister Carmen Dan on Thursday met in Budapest
with Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister for National Security Sandor Pinter. The
agenda for talks focused on bilateral and regional cooperation and the upcoming
agenda of the Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting, ahead of Romania’s
taking over the EU Council presidency in the first half of 2019. Minister Dan
presented the priorities of Romania’s term in office ahead of the council
meeting, with complex topics outside internal security, border crossing
management and civil protection. Attending were also the heads of the Romanian
Police and the Romanian Border Police.

COMMITTEE – Members of the Romanian-Moldovan inter-Government
committee for economic cooperation on Thursday signed a cooperation protocol in
several fields. The document was signed by Moldovan Minister of Economy and
Infrastructure, Chiril Gaburici, and Romania’s Minister for the Business
Environment, Trade and Entrepreneurship, Stefan Radu Oprea. Moldova will
cooperate with Romania in the field of economy, SMEs, and connecting certain
towns and villages in Moldova to Romania’s drinking water grid. Additional
cross-border projects were discussed, such as the Romanian Mobile Emergency Service for Resuscitation and
Extrication (SMURD) and the bridge over the river Prut. Moldova’s energy issues
were also tackled during the meeting. Minister Oprea reiterated Romania’s
support for Moldova’s European accession. The next inter-government committee
meeting is slated for June 2019 in Bucharest.

RADIRO – Starting November 18
Bucharest plays host to one of the most important music events of the year: the
International Radio Orchestras Festival – RaDiRo. The festival marks 90 years
since the public radio was founded and 100 years since the Great Union. The
Radio Concert Hall and the Auditorium Hall of the Fine Arts Museum will host 8
symphonic concerts and 4 jazz concerts. This year’s guests include pianist
Mihai Ritivoiu and cellist Andrei Ionita, alongside the famous vocalist Aura
Urziceanu. Europe’s oldest radio
orchestra, MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra from Germany, will return to
Romania this year along with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra of Great Britain,
Svizzera italiana – Lugano of Switzerland and RTE National Symphony Orchestra
from Ireland. All concerts are broadcast live on Radio Romania and the Romanian
Television Corporation, as well as members of the European Radio Broadcasting
Union.

MEDAL – Romanian Stefania Claudia Priceputu on Thursday scooped
bronze in the 50-kg category at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships
underway in Bucharest. In the bronze final the Romanian defeated Lisa Ersel of
Germany. Romania so far has won another two medals: Mihai Radu Mihut won bronze
in the 63-kg Greek-Roman event, while Nicu Ojog won the silver medal in the
82-kg category. Also worth mentioning is that Romania will win either silver or
gold after Alexandra Anghel has qualified in the 72-kg category final, where
she will take on Turkey’s Buse Tosun. A total of 30 athletes represent Romania
in this year’s edition.

(Translated by C. Mateescu & V. Palcu)