Radio România Internațional

Tag: BSEC meeting

  • November 27, 2020

    November 27, 2020

    COVID-19 IN ROMANIA
    – Another 8,499 new COVID-19 infections and 172 related deaths were reported on
    Friday in Romania. 457,848 people have been infected since the start of the
    outbreak and 10,884 people have died to the virus. 1,226 patients are in
    intensive care. 6,876 Romanians living abroad have tested positive for
    COVID-19, 127 of them have died. Several villages around the capital city are
    now in quarantine after the infection rate there has spiked. Doctors say the
    measures taken by the authorities are not enough to keep the pandemic in check.
    They ask for harsher restrictions, warning that the number of beds in intensive
    care units across the country is getting lower by the day. In another
    development, the National Authority for Consumer Protection has submitted seven
    notifications regarding uncertified masks in Romania, which have already been
    filtered through the EU’s rapid alert system. The Authority has recently put a
    trade ban on nearly 33 million such masks in Romania.




    COVID-19 IN THE WORLD
    – Over 61.3 million people around the world have got infected with SARS-CoV-2
    since the start of the outbreak, according to the latest worldometers.info
    update. Over 1.4 million people have died to the virus. In Europe, Germany
    announced plans to vaccinate 900 thousand people over the course of three
    months against COVID-19, after progress has been reported to organize the
    vaccination campaign. According to our correspondent on the ground,
    restaurants, cultural and entertainment venues remain closed, including for the
    winter holidays. Schools and nursery schools remain, however, open in Germany.
    In France, Health Minister Oliver Veran confirmed the immunization might begin
    at the end of December, underlining the need to make the process as transparent
    as possible, against the backdrop of high levels of coronascepticism in this
    country. Meanwhile the infection rate is going down in Spain. The authorities
    have called on the population to continue observing travel restrictions until
    the Government and regional authorities announce the set of special measures
    for Christmas and New Year’s celebrations.




    RECOVERY – The
    Government in Bucharest has submitted for public consultation the national
    Recovery and Resilience Plan, a post-COVID economic recovery plan, under which
    Romania will receive €30 billion worth of European funds. The plan is designed
    to uphold an accelerated growth rate over the next four years. The European
    funds will be used to build new hospitals and hundreds of kilometers of
    motorway, to develop school infrastructure and digitize local administrations.
    Of the €30 billion, €14 billion represent non-refundable grants, while the rest
    accounts for low-interest loans the Commission has taken out on behalf of all
    Member States.




    GOVERNMENT – The
    Government is today convening in a new session, the second this week, aimed at passing an emergency decree introducing assistance measures for the hospitality
    sector, one of the hardest hit by the coronacrisis. The financial aid package
    includes grants tantamount to 20% of the losses incurred this year, which caps
    out at €800 thousand for a single business. Travel agencies also qualify for
    this programme. High on today’s Cabinet meeting is also the anti-COVID national
    vaccination strategy, recently made public by Bucharest authorities. President
    Klaus Iohannis said the Government should adopt the strategy before the
    country’s Supreme Defense Council meeting scheduled for next week. The
    Government will also discuss a law on granting emergency assistance to the
    families of the victims of the November 14 fire at the Piatra Neamţ Emergency
    County Hospital.




    BSEC – Romania’s
    Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu is today presiding the 42nd meeting
    of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of the Black Sea
    Economic Cooperation (BSEC). Held in videoconference format, the event marks
    the end of Romania’s presidency of the Organization in 2020. Albania will hold
    the presidency of BSEC in the first half of 2021. According to a Foreign
    Ministry release, the Council meeting occasioned a review of all projects and
    initiatives launched under the Romanian presidency, which sought to boost
    economic cooperation in the Black Sea region and increase regional dialogue
    among BSEC Member States with a view to better deal with the social and
    economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.




    FOOTBALL -
    Romania’s champions CFR Cluj on Thursday lost nil-2 to AS Rome of Italy in
    Europa League Group A. In the other group fixture, Young Boys Berne of
    Switzerland defeated Bulgaria’s CSKA Sofia. Rome tops the group tables with 10
    points, followed by Young Boys with 7 points, CFR Cluj with 4 points and CSKA
    with 1 point. In the next round scheduled for December 3, AS Rome will take on
    Young Boys while CFR will play CSKA. Eliminated from the Champions League
    preliminaries, CFR Cluj is Romania’s last representative in this year’s
    inter-club competitions. (V. Palcu)

  • December 11, 2015

    December 11, 2015

    BUDGET LAW – In Bucharest, the expert committees in Parliament are discussing today the draft budget for next year. The talks will continue during the weekend, and the final vote in the Parliament plenum is scheduled for Wednesday. The Social Democratic Party, in power, voiced satisfaction with the bill, which they say concurs with the previous governments views on fiscal relaxation and economic growth. In turn, the Liberals in opposition say the overall budget structure is reasonable, and slight amendments are possible during the debates in the Parliament committees, although no major changes are expected.



    INFLATION – In Romania, the annual inflation rate remained negative in November, although it rose from minus 1.6% in October to minus 1.1%, according to data released today by the National Statistics Institute. Last month, the National Bank of Romania lowered by 0.4% its annual inflation forecast, to 0.7% negative, and for next year the inflation forecast was revised up to 1.1%. The central bank governor, Mugur Isărescu, mentioned that the negative inflation rate was prompted by the lowering of the VAT for foodstuffs to 9% this summer.



    DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS – The population of Romania dropped in 2014 below the 20-million threshold, a level similar to the one reported in 1966. According to the National Statistics Institute, until 2013 the number of people fell particularly as a result of labour migration, whereas last year the main cause was the wide gap between the birth and death rates. If this trend continues, in 30-40 years the population of Romania will go down to around 14 million.



    EU DIRECTIVE – Romania must fully implement the Directive on Deposit Guarantee Schemes, under which bank clients will benefit from quicker disbursements and a better safety mechanism. The deadline for transposing these provisions in the national legislation was July, and the European Commission has officially requested Romania to conform. Ten EU member countries are yet to introduce the European Directive in their national legislation, and unless they take appropriate measures within two months, the Commission may decide to notify the EU Court of Justice.



    BSEC – Bucharest is hosting today the 33rd meeting of the foreign affairs ministers of the Organisation of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation countries. Romania, a founding member of the Organisation, held the rotating presidency for the 5th time. The meeting is chaired by the Romanian Foreign Minister, Lazăr Comănescu, who will stress the progress made in terms of economic cooperation in the Black Sea region during Romanias six-month presidency. According to a news release issued by the Foreign Ministry, Comănescu will hand over the presidency to the Russian Federation, which will head the organisation in the first half of 2016.



    NATO EXERCISE – The Romanian Naval Forces frigate “Regina Maria is taking part, alongside vessels from the US, Turkey and Ukraine, in a Black Sea exercise scheduled to conclude on December 16. The exercise is part of the NATO measures designed to enhance confidence among the allies, reads a news release issued by the Naval Forces Command. Regina Maria, with a 220-strong crew, the American destroyer USS Ross, a Turkish frigate and a Ukrainian auxiliary ship will conduct exercises to prepare response to multiple air, naval and submarine threats, to impose sea embargoes and monitor naval transportation. The exercise takes place at a time when the security situation at the Black Sea requires enhanced interoperability between the Romanian Naval Forces and its partners.



    HANDBALL – Romanias womens handball team is playing against Russia today, in the last game in Group D at the handball World Championship in Denmark. Although defeated in its last two games by the most valuable opponents so far, Spain and Norway, the defending Olympic and European champions, the Romanians moved forward into the eighth-finals, after having outperformed the national teams of Puerto Rico and Kazakhstan. In the next stage, Romania is to play on Monday against the winner of the match between France and Brazil. Romania is the only country to have taken part in all the World Championship final tournaments since 1957, with three medals won so far, the gold in 1962 and silver in 1973 and 2005.


    (translation by: Ana-Maria Popescu)