October 31, 2023

Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 31.10.2023, 13:55

VOTE The Chamber of
Deputies in Bucharest is today voting on the simple motion tabled by the
opposition against Finance Minister Marcel Bolos. The opposition USR has been criticizing
the fiscal measures endorsed by the government of late and has accused Minister
Bolos of having promoted legislative initiatives at the expenses of the Romanian
employees. In response Minister Bolos says the decisions made by the PSD-PNL
coalition government are needed against an accentuated budget imbalance with a
deficit of over 11 billion euros and a public debt reaching 160 billion euros.

COMMISSIONER
Romanian president Klaus Iohannis on Monday held talks with the European
Commission Vice-president for Values and Transparency, Vera Jourova. According
to a Facebook post of the presidential administration, high on the agenda were Romania’s
accession to Schengen, the rule of law and reforms in the country’s legal system,
as well as the support for Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East.
Commissioner Jourova has also met Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu and other
ministers for talks over the digitization programmes part of the National Plan
of Recovery and Resilience, AI and fighting misinformation.

SALARIES In a special session today, the government in Bucharest has
endorsed the minimum salaries in the fields of construction, agriculture and
food industry. As of November 1, the minimum gross salary in the field of
construction will see a rise of 14.6%, reaching the equivalent of 9 hundred
euros. The rise will be of 14.53% up to 7 hundred Euros, in the country’s food
and farm industries. According to official data, 590 thousand employees from
agriculture and the food industry have been paid the minimum salary. And the
latest government move is meant to allow the aforementioned categories of employees
to remain unaffected by the elimination of the exemption from paying the health
insurance, which is to come into effect as of November 1. We recall that, a new
series of fiscal-budgetary amendments are to come into effect in Romania, on
November 1.

PLANES A first batch of the
F-16 fighters the Netherlands donates to Ukraine will arrive at the training
center set up in Romania in a fortnight – the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte
has announced. In a videoconference with Ukrainian president Volodymyr
Zelensky, the Dutch official said the present situation in the Middle East must
not and cannot distract the Netherlands from Ukraine’s fight against the
Russian aggression. Reuters recalls that Denmark, Norway and Belgium have pledged
F-16 jet fighters to Ukraine. Romania, the Netherlands and the US giant
Lockheed Martin on August 29 signed a letter of intention for setting up a center
for the training of the F-16 personnel. The aforementioned facility has been
designed as a regional center for NATO countries at the air base in Fetesti,
southern Romania, which will also benefit the Ukrainian pilots.

ISRAEL
Clashes continued in the Gaza Strip last night where explosions and machine gun
fire was heard. Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes in the past days
and its tanks have entered deep into the Palestinian territory, where for a
short period of time they interrupted an evacuation route to the south.
According to international publications, 600 thousand people could still be in
the northern part of the Strip, and the UNO believes that most of them have
taken refuge in the 10 hospitals in the area, which have received evacuation
orders. According to Phillipe Lazzarini, the head of the UN Palestinian refugee
Agency, the Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip were being subjected to
forced displacement and collective punishment. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu has rejected the humanitarian agencies’ appeals for a ceasefire,
arguing this would be tantamount to capitulation to Hamas and terrorism. During
a military operation in Gaza, a young IDF woman held captive by Hamas has been
liberated in what Prime Minister Netanyahu has described an emotional success adding
that all efforts must be made to free all the hostages taken by Hamas.

(bill)