GOVERNMENT Romania’s Prime Minister
designate, Social-Democratic leader Marcel Ciolacu today comes before
Parliament in Bucharest with a list of the new cabinet to be sworn in and with
a fresh ruling plan. PSD and PNL enjoy the majority although the Democratic
Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, UDMR, has left the ruling coalition. The
new Prime Minister’s ruling programme includes five major objectives; solving
the prickly issue of the special pensions, the endorsement of the law on unitary
wages, a new price cap on products, the development of the public systems in
education and healthcare, raising the national output and the creation of better-paid
jobs. The opposition USR and AUR have voiced discontent at the new ruling
programme as well as at the new cabinet ministers and have pledged to cast a nay-vote.
The UDMR have announced they will provide the quorum needed but their MPs aren’t
going to participate in the voting. Nevertheless, the group has announced its intention
of having Parliament cooperation with the coalition parties on various
interesting projects. The Ciolacu government is expected to get endorsement
from the MPs belonging to the other national minorities. However, there are Liberals
and Social Democrats who will abstain from voting for the new Executive,
although they are running the risk of being excluded from their own parties.
POVERTY Over 34% of
the Romanians were facing the risk of poverty and social exclusion in 2022, the
highest rate in the EU, according to data released by Eurostat, the statistical
office of the European Union. Romania is followed in the ranking by Bulgaria,
Greece and Spain. The states with the lowest rates of people facing the risk of
poverty are the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Poland. At the EU level, the risk
of poverty and social exclusion was higher among women than men. We’ll have
more on the issue after the news.
DRILL Roughly 600 Romanian and allied
servicemen are taking part until Friday in the Dacia Strike 23 multinational
drill currently underway at the Smardan Training Ground close to Galati in
eastern Romania. The drill focuses on the interaction between the joint command
structures of the Multinational Division Southeast and the ground troops
deployed. Dacian Strike 23 is the second biggest war drill the NATO troops
have carried out in the past two weeks in the training ground of Smardan after ‘Saber
Guardian 23’, an event that brought together a record number of troops and pieces
of military equipment.
MAE The Foreign Ministry in Bucharest
has recommended the Romanians who travel to Pristina to encourage our football
side in their game against the local side, in the EURO 2024 preliminaries, to
enter Kosovo through Blaze, in North Macedonia. The only checkpoint between
Serbia and Kosovo recommended is Merdare, which is very likely to be overcrowded
due to additional security measures. The Romanian Foreign Ministry does not
recommend the check points in northern Kosovo because they could be blocked or
closed down due to the worsening security situation in the region. At the same
time, the Ministry recalls the situation in the area remains unpredictable and
recommends the Romanian football fans to refrain from chanting or posting
political slogans, which could trigger a response from the hosts. The Romanians
are also advised to avoid traveling at night as well as crowded or isolated places.
WEATHER The weather in Romania is
generally unstable with an overcast sky and thunderstorms in the mountains, the
southwest and center. Heavy downpours are expected in the aforementioned areas
as well as on isolated areas in the other parts of the territory. The highs of
the day range between 20-31 degrees with a noon reading in Bucharest, where the
weather is presently hot, of 30 degrees Celsius.
(bill)