November 3, 2023 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 03.11.2023, 20:00
Strike * The national health insurance house employees have interrupted their activity with the public for an indefinite period of time, because their salaries have not been increased for over 6 years. The protest disrupts services to patients and it might jeopardize the disbursement of expenses incurred by healthcare service providers, the head of the National Trade Union Bloc Dumitru Costin explained. He said the National Health Insurance House’s budget can cover the requested pay raises, but that the measure must be endorsed in Parliament, where a bill in this respect has been pending for a long period and is currently stuck in the Chamber of Deputies. The health minister Alexandru Rafila said suspending the provision of healthcare services is unacceptable, and that he hoped for a dialogue between the management and the staff of the National Health Insurance House.
Elections * The liberals — PNL, in the government coalition in Romania together with the social democrats – PSD decided, by vote, in the meeting of the National Political Bureau, that they will participate on their own lists in next years elections. The PNL leadership analyzed, based on opinion polls carried out at national level and 45 sociological researches at local and county level, three options, respectively: on own lists, together with PSD, or in an electoral alliance or in a broad rightist coalition. The chosen option is supported by two thirds of the leaders in the territory. At the same meeting, the president of the PNL, Nicolae Ciucă, allegedly told his colleagues that the party must have its own candidate for the presidential election and made it clear that he would assume this candidacy, as reported by the Radio Romania News and Current Affairs correspondent.
Hostages * The Romanian foreign ministry announced that checks conducted by the Romanian authorities based on the information provided by Israel indicate that another two persons with dual citizenship, Romanian and Israeli, residing in Israel, are being held hostage in the Gaza Strip. The foreign ministry also announced that the Romanian Embassy in Tel Aviv and the Romanian Consulate in Haifa are in touch with the Israeli authorities. So far 6 people with Romanian and Israeli citizenship are known to be held hostage by the Hamas terrorists.
Budget * The ruling coalition has started talks on next years public budget. The government has approved a memorandum drawn up by the finance ministry, which lists the significant public investment projects on which the budget will be based. The transport ministry has the largest number of projects in the list, i.e. 108 projects in various implementation stages, which means this ministry will receive the largest appropriations in the 2024 budget.
Israel * The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on a visit to Tel Aviv, on Friday reiterated Washingtons support for Israels right to defend itself. He underlined, however, that it is important to protect the civilians caught in the crossfire in the Gaza Strip and to grant them the humanitarian aid they urgently need. After talks with Israeli leaders, Antony Blinken said that all possible efforts were being made to free the hostages captured by Hamas in October. The head of the American diplomacy is on a new tour of the region, amid fears that the war between Israel and Hamas might degenerate into a wider conflict. Also on Friday, Israel began the expulsion of thousands of people from the Gaza Strip stranded in Israel since the bloody attack by Hamas on October 7. According to the BBC, thousands of Palestinians working in Israel and the occupied West Bank were brought to the Kerem Shalom border crossing, east of the Rafah border between Gaza and Egypt. On the other hand, the UN estimates at 1.2 billion dollars the humanitarian aid needs for the residents of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank by the end of this year.
Delicacies * ‘Salinate de Turda’ is the 13th Romanian product to benefit from a Protected Geographical Indication throughout the European Union. The product is smoked and dried pork kept in natural brine with a mixture of spices. Currently, according to the Agriculture Ministry, Romania has two more products that are in the verification stage at the level of the European Commission for receiving the Protected Geographical Indication: Batogul de sturion – the smoked sturgeon from the Danube Delta and Babicul — the saveloy from Buzău. The first Romanian product recognized at the European level was Topoloveni plum jam (Magiun de Topoloveni). Next followed the Salami from Sibiu, the smoked bighead carp (Novacul afumat) from Bârsei country, the smoked mackerel (Scrumbia afumată) from the Danube, the brined white cheese (Telemeaua) from Sibiu and the sausages of Pleșcoi. (LS, AMP)
