December 22, 2014
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România Internațional, 22.12.2014, 12:00
Three Romanian young researchers are the recipients of the grants offered to budding researchers. The grants have been awarded by the European Research Council. Each of the grants provides up to two million Euros worth of funding, enabling the selected young researchers to undertake research activities in Europe for a five-year period. The short-listed projects cover a wide range of research areas, among which electronic fabric, working via body heat, new methods to detect bacteria, and fighting off cancer-related inflammations. Set up by the European Union in 2007, the European Research Council is the first ever top-flight research financing body for fringe research areas. More than 4,500 top-level researchers so far have received funding through this program.
The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini as of today is on a two-day visit to Iraq, at a time when the country is going through one of the most severe crises in its history. An important part of Iraq’s territory is under the control of the Islamic State Jihadist group. Federica Mogherini today will be holding talks with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and will confirm for the authorities in Baghdad that Brussels is prepared to improve its relation with Iraq. Federica Mogherini tomorrow will be holding talks in northern Iraq with representatives of the Kurdish authorities, focusing on the major challenges the region of Kurdistan and its population have been facing. The European Union has already dispatched humanitarian aid to Iraq, worth 20 million euro, also saying it was prepared to enhance its financial, political, humanitarian and development aid, to assist the country in its fight against Jihadi violence.
Romania’s budget bill that Parliament passed yesterday has a structure which carries a deficit level of 1.8 % of the GDP, an inflation rate of 2.2 % and an economic growth rate standing at 2.5%. Prime Minister Victor Ponta specified the state budget included regulatory measures targeting economic growth, the creation of jobs, the increase of pensions and of children’s allocations, as well as the allowances for people with disabilities. Romania’s Prime Minister went on to say in 2015 taxes and duties would not be subject to increase and the 16% flat tax rate would be kept in place. Also yesterday, Parliament passed the social security bill for 2015.
Romania’s new President Klaus Johannis in Bucharest today is holding talks with Prime Minister Victor Ponta. High on the talks’ agenda are the top priorities of Klaus Johannis’s term in office, current political and economic issues, as well as on the prospects of the Presidency working with the Government at institutional level. President Johannis said that as soon as possible he would invite the country’s political parties to consultations, so that a joint decision could be made on the country’s priorities and in order to a draw out an implementation timetable. President Klaus Johannis was sworn in yesterday, in a special session of the Parliament’s Senate and Chamber of Deputies. Johannis said he was grateful for and honored by the confidence he enjoyed from the Romanian citizens who cast their vote for his presidential bid. Johannes vowed he would offer Romanians a thorough society change and a corruption-free country, with a completely reformed political class. We’ll revert to the issue after the news.
We recall that on this day 25 years ago, Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife fled Bucharest. The event marked the collapse of the communist dictatorship in Romania. Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena were subsequently caught and executed, following a summary trial. The anti-communist revolt flared up on December 16, 1989 in the western Romanian city of Timisoara and rapidly spread across the capital and other big cities in Romania. More than 1,000 people died and nearly 3,400 others were wounded. Romania is the former Eastern Bloc’s only country where the change of regime occurred violently and where the communist leaders were executed. We’ll revert to the issue after the news.
The European Commission has adopted the first two operational programs over 2014-2020 for Romania, focusing on the increase of competitiveness and technical assistance for the implementation of the European funds, according to a communiqué the European Council has released today. Through the two programs, 1.53 Billion Euros worth of investments will be earmarked for Romania’s real economy. The Technical Assistance Operational Program accounts for 251 million Euros, of which 212 million Euros make the European contribution, while the Operational Program for Competitiveness accounts for 1.58 billion Euros worth of investments, of which 1.32 billion make the European contribution. The Technical Assistance Program was created to provide support to the country’s administrative structure, so as to increase the fund absorption rate, while the Competitiveness Program seeks to stimulate innovation capable of meeting the real needs of the economy. According to the European Commissioner for Regional Policies Corina Cretu, the fast adoption of the two programs is a strong support signal for Romania from the EC.
