August 16, 2023

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 16.08.2023, 13:55

Security – Romania’s security has
been consolidated and the efforts to strengthen the structures of the North-Atlantic
Alliance on the territory of the country, especially the NATO battle group
established in 2022, will be continued, said President Klaus Iohannis, who, on
Tuesday, attended the ceremonies in Constanta (southeast), which marked Navy
Day. In turn, the Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu gave assurances that the government
would allocate the necessary resources for equipping and modernizing the
Romanian Naval Forces. Security at the Black Sea ensures the stability of the
entire region and turns Romania into an important security provider, the speaker
of the Senate, Nicolae Ciucă, also said.

Government – The Romanian government resumes discussions
about the measures to balance the state budget. The executive should finalize
and adopt, by the end of the month, the emergency ordinances for reducing the
expenses of the civil servants’ apparatus and the increase in the budget revenue
receipts. According to a draft law, which appeared in the public space, owners
of luxury cars whose value exceeds 100,000 Euros will have to pay a tax, IT
employees whose salaries exceed 10,000 lei per month (about 2,000 Euros) will
no longer be exempted from taxes, and workers in constructions and agriculture
will have to pay health insurance contributions. At the same time, state
employees who have a gross monthly salary of over 10,000 lei may no longer
receive holiday vouchers. The government also intends to increase the excise
duty on sugar and to impose only two VAT rates of 9 and 19%. SMEs with incomes
up to 300,000 lei could be taxed with 1%, and those that exceed this income,
with 3%. Last but not least, companies that shift profits would have to pay a
15% surtax on the amounts transferred. As to the emergency ordinance regarding
the reduction of the size of the state apparatus, the government is analyzing
the possibility of abolishing 200,000 unfilled positions, merging some public
institutions and reducing the number of state secretaries, management
positions, members in the boards of administrators and the number of members in
the cabinets of local authorities.

Tennis – The Romanian tennis player Sorana Cîrstea started
the WTA 1,000 tournament in Cincinnati, in the American state of Ohio with a
victory. Cîrstea, 31st in the WTA ranking, passed the Russian
Ekaterina Alexandrova in the first round with a score of 6-0, 6-2 and will meet
in the second round Maria Sakkari, from Greece, seeded 8th in the
tournament. A second Romanian player in the main draw, Irina Begu, was defeated
by the Czech Marie Bouzkova, 6-2, 6-2. However, in the doubles, the pair Irina
Begu from Romania and Sara Sorribes Tormo, from Spain, qualified for the round
of 16 after defeating the pair Elisabetta Cocciaretto (Italy) / Mayar Sherif
(Egypt) 7-6 (7/5), 6-3). The Romanian-Spanish pair will meet the pair Storm
Hunter (Australia) / Elise Mertens (Belgium), seed number two, in the round of
16.

Gaudeamus – The Gaudeamus Radio Romania Book Fair in
Sibiu (center) has come to an end. For five days, approximately 15,000 visitors
attended the event, more than at the previous edition. Conni Chifor, a representative
of the fair, talked about the very large number of children present and said
that, for them, literature was definitely the queen of the ball. She added that
the public, including those who watched the events online, could participate in
numerous contests with book prizes. The next edition of the Gaudeamus Radio
Romania Book Fair will take place in Iasi (east), during the first week of
school, between September 13-17.

Baccalaureate – Almost 34,000 high school graduates
from Romania, enrolled for the second session of the Baccalaureate exam, are today
taking the Romanian language and literature exam, with the papers being
assessed digitally for the first time. The tests will be scanned and uploaded
to a platform that will distribute them to two teachers from any corner of the
country, except from the county of origin of the student. On Thursday, the
mandatory written test in the specialty subjects is scheduled. The optional test,
at the student’s choice, in the specialty subject is scheduled for August 18
and on August 21 candidates who belong to national minorities will take the
written test in their native language and literature. The first results will be
announced on August 25, followed by the final results on August 29 after
examining potential appeals. In order to pass the baccalaureate exam, high
school graduates must pass all language and digital skills assessment tests and
must obtain an exam average grade of at least 6.00 in the written tests. At the
first session of the Baccalaureate exam, only 75% of the registered candidates
passed the exam.

UN – Almost
10,000 civilians have lost their lives since the beginning of the war in
Ukraine, according to the UN. Thus, 9,444 civilians have died, including 500
children, and more than 16,940 have been injured since the beginning of the
Russian invasion in February 2022. The real figure is probably much higher. The
UN notes that the toll is not complete because data is missing from several
regions, especially from Mariupol, Lisiceansk and Severodonetsk, occupied by the
Russian forces after heavy fighting, and also from Kyiv. The figures also show
that the vast majority of those killed (7,339) died in Ukrainian regions bombed
by Russia and defended by the Ukrainian army. In the regions of Donetsk and
Lugansk, in the east, there were significantly more casualties on both sides of
the front than in the capital Kyiv, in the center and west of Ukraine. The UN
report also notes that more civilians died in the first months of the war. In
the spring and summer of 2023, between 170 and 180 civilians lost their lives
each month. (LS)