December 5, 2014 UPDATE
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România Internațional, 05.12.2014, 12:15
The Romanian PM Victor Ponta said Friday that the negotiations with the IMF are in full swing and that he did not believe that the agreement with the IMF would be broken. However he labeled as unacceptable a deficit of 0.9% of the GDP for 2015, as the IMF requests. Previously, the minister delegate for budget, Darius Valcov, had said Romania could not afford to have a lower deficit than 1.4% of the GDP and that a 0.9% deficit would definitely undermine the Romanian economy. A mission of the IMF and the European Commission is currently in Bucharest for talks with the Romanian authorities on the draft budget law for 2015.
Hundreds of trade unionists from the food industry protested Firday in Bucharest against the Government’s refusal to cut the VAT from 24% to 5% for meat and meat derived products as of January 1, 2015. The campaign to reduce the VAT for this products was initiated by companies in the field in April this year, when 200 thousand Romanians signed a petition in this respect. The document said that a VAT of 24% means a 50% fiscal evasion and the meat industry is faced with bankruptcy.
The Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu met on Thursday with the US secretary of State John Kerry ahead of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Basel, Switzerland. On this occasion, Minister Aurescu reiterated Romania’s commitment to developing the Strategic Partnership with the US as a central pillar of Bucharest’s foreign policy. Aurescu invited Kerry to pay an official visit to Bucharest next year, to celebrate 135 years since the diplomatic relations between the two countries were established.
The Romanian Foreign Ministry firmly condemns the anti-Semitic and homophobe declarations made by the Romanian ambassador to Armenia, Sorin Vasile. In a communiqué made public on Friday, the Romanian Foreign Ministry said that, upon order by foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu, ambassador Vasile was recalled to give explanations for his commentaries made at a public conference at the American University in Erevan. The communiqué also shows that the Romanian Foreign Ministry firmly condemns any behavior or statement that promotes intolerance and stereotypes and that it will not tolerate any behavioral or language deviation by Romanian acting diplomats. We recall that as of 2016 Romania will hold the presidency of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, an NGO set up in 1998. Romania became a member of the Alliance in 2004.
The majority Orthodox, Greek Catholic and Roman-Catholic believers in Romania celebrate Saturday Saint Nicholas. Born in the 3rd century A.D. in the Middle East, Saint Nicholas is known for his goodness and philanthropic activities. He is also said to have worked miracles during his lifetime and after death. As many as 800 thousand Romanians bearing the name of the saint will celebrate their name day on December 6th. According to Romanian folk traditions on the eve of Saint Nicholas Day shoes are cleaned and placed near the house door for Saint Nicholas to come and fill them with presents at night.
Romania’s national women’s handball team is in Hungary where they will take on Sunday the Norwegian team in Debrecen, in a match marking the start of the final tournament of the European Handball Championship. The group also includes the teams of Denmark and Ukraine. Coach Gheorghe Tadici estimates that Romania’s team will be ranked among the first 8 teams in this edition of the European Handball Championship, after being ranked 10th in the latest 2 big competitions, the 2012 European Championships and the 2013 World Championships. In the latest preparation matches ahead of the final tournament Romania’s team defeated, away from home, 26-23 and 27-23 the German handball team.
Romania has reported the biggest economic growth in the EU in the 3rd quarter of 2014, as compared to the previous quarter- the Eurostat announced on Friday. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent to Brussels Romania’s economic growth stands at 1.8%, being followed by Poland, Great Britain, Slovenia and Greece, with a growth rate of 0.7%. Economic downturn has been reported however in Cyprus, Austria and Italy.
The former British PM Tony Blair on Friday met in Bucharest with the Romanian PM. Tony Blair is on a private visit to Romania, a country he has visited several times over the past 2 years. The Social Democrat Victor Ponta has repeatedly said that the former British PM, a representative of the Labor party, is his model in politics, a mentor and good friend.
