King Michael funerals. The body of Romania’s last king Michael I will
be flown to Romania next Wednesday, on the 13th of December, and
placed in the Hall of Honour of the Peles Castle in Sinaia, the Royal House has
announced. The presidents of Romania and of the neighbouring Republic of
Moldova, which has a majority Romanian-speaking population, as well as the
governments and members of Parliament of the two states, and representatives of
the diplomatic corps, the European Union, NATO and international organisations
will be able to convey their condolences there. In the evening, the king’s body
will be brought to Bucharest and placed in the Throne Hall of the Royal Palace,
where it will lie in state until the 15th of December. He will be
buried next Saturday at Curtea de Arges, in the south, where all of Romania’s
kings are interred.
The government is to decide today the period of
national mourning for the king, who died on Tuesday at the age of 96 at his
private residence in Switzerland. President Klaus Iohannis said King Michael
was one of Romania’s greatest figures and his death is a great loss for the
country. The former presidents Ion Iliescu, Emil Constantinescu and Traian
Basescu, as well as prime minister Mihai Tudose, the leaders of the ruling and
opposition parties and the heads of the diplomatic missions in Bucharest have
also sent their condolences.
The death of Romania’s last king did not go unnoticed internationally.
The president of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker has expressed his
profound sadness at his death, recalling the tour the latter made in 1997 of
all European capitals to advocate Romania’s entry into the European Union. The
international media also dedicated articles to King Michael, who was the last
surviving head of state from World War two and who lived in exile for decades.
The France Presse news agency wrote that Michael I embodied Romania’s tragic
fate in the 20th century, caught up in the turmoil of World War Two
and then held in the grips of communism.
NATO. The Romanian foreign minister Teodor Melescanu on Tuesday
attended a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, where he spoke about
the need to consolidate and deepen the relationship between NATO and the
European Union. He also said it was important to make the most use of the
potential for cooperation between NATO and the European Union, focusing on
areas such troop mobility, combating terrorism and supporting partner states in
the close vicinity. According to a foreign ministry press release, the meeting
in Brussels, which is an important milestone in the preparation of the NATO
summit of July 2018, also looked at the progress made in implementing the
decisions of the NATO summit in Warsaw and the priority actions for the coming
period, in particular with regard to the NATO-EU cooperation, the open door
policy and NATO’s role in international efforts to project stability and combat
terrorism.
Budget deficit. The Romanian
finance minister Ionut Misa has told the EU’s Economic and Financial Affairs
Council (ECOFIN) that met on the 4th and 5th December in
Brussels that Romania is committed to taking the necessary steps so as not to
exceed the recommended 3% budget deficit of the GDP. In a press release
published after the meeting, the EU Council said Romania failed to take
efficient measures to address a significant budget deviation. The Council thus
issued a new recommendation revising its previous one. The Council established
the deadline of 15th April 2018 for Bucharest to present a report on
the actions taken in response to the revised recommendation. According to the
autumn forecast published by the European Commission, the budget deficit is to
reach 3% of the GDP in 2017 and is predicted to grow to 3.9% in 2018 and 4.1%
in 2019.
Handball. The
Romanian women’s handball side defeated Spain 19:17 in a Group A match on
Tuesday to secure their qualification for the round of last 16 at the World
Championships in Germany. In the other group matches, Slovenia defeated Angola
32:25, while France defeated Paraguay 35:13, thus also making it to the next
round. Russia, Germany and Serbia have also qualified. After three wins,
Romania, who also defeated Slovenia and Paraguay, top the group with 6 points
followed by France, Spain and Slovenia with 4 points each, and Angola and
Paraguay with no points. Romania will next face Angola on Thursday and France
on Friday before the knock-out round. At the previous world championship hosted
by France in 2015 Romania won the bronze medal. They are the only national side
to take part in all the 22 editions of the championships. The Spanish coach
Ambros Martin is the team’s current manager.