ENERGY Romania’s ruling coalition
convenes today in an attempt to reach consensus with respect to regulating
energy prices and increasing pensions. The Social Democratic Party and the
National Liberal Party are struggling to reach common ground on these major
issues. While the Social Democrats plead for a regulated energy market, the
Liberals favour a semi regulated market. As for public pensions, the Liberals
want a 15% increase, whereas the Social Democrats would like smaller pension
benefits to be increased by a higher percentage. Meanwhile, on Tuesday the
Chamber of Deputies passed a law on the decarbonisation of the energy sector.
Also on Tuesday, Deputies approved the sale of the country’s uranium
concentrate reserve to the Nuclearelectrica national corporation. Both
laws will be forwarded to president Klaus Iohanis for promulgation.
ELECTIONS The Republicans are set to
win the US House of Representatives majority following Tuesday’s midterm
elections. In the Senate, the race is still tight, with voting on-going in the
western states. According to CBS News, the Republicans won 198 seats and
the Democrats 167 seats in the House of Representatives, but ballot counting
continues. The shift in the House majority will significantly affect president
Joe Biden’s agenda in the second half of his term in office, including the US
approach of the situation in Ukraine, Radio Romania’s correspondent in
Washington reports. Final election results may still take days or even weeks to
be announced, given the differences in ballot counting systems and possible
court proceedings in the states with more competitive races.
AWARD The European Parliament last
night awarded its 2022 European Citizen’s prizes. The 30 winners include the
Save the Children Romania organisation, for its assistance to the children in
Ukraine. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the Save the Children
organisation has provided basic food products, hygiene, clothing, footwear,
children’s products, blankets and other immediate assistance products.It has responded to the acute needs
of immediate humanitarian assistance, information and emotional support, both
at the border and in the centres where refugee mothers and children are housed.
Awarded every year, the European Citizen’s prize goes to projects organised by
people or organisations that encourage mutual understanding between people in
the EU, cross-border cooperation that builds a stronger European spirit and EU
values and fundamental rights.
NATO The meeting of NATO foreign ministers in
Bucharest on November 29th and 30th confirms Romania’s
role in the current security context and reflects the Allies’ interest in the
region. The statement was made by Romania’s permanent representative to NATO,
Dan Neculăescu. He mentioned that Romania hosted a summit in 2008, a
meeting of NATO defence ministers and a meeting of the NATO Military Committee,
the organisation’s highest military authority. The meeting of foreign ministers
in late November will be the first of this kind ever hosted by Romania. It will
include 4 sessions focusing on the implementation of the Madrid Summit
decisions, the war in Ukraine, energy security and partners. Invited to attend
the meeting are also Ukraine, the R. of Moldova, Georgia, Finland, Sweden and
Bosnia.
MILITARY The French Army is sending
13 Leclerc tanks to the Cincu military base in Romania. The equipment is
scheduled to reach the military base in central Romania by rail in about a week.
The Leclerc is one of the most
expensive tanks in the world, able to hit targets 4 km away while moving at 50
kmph. France will send to Cincu a total of nearly 150 combat vehicles with
complete equipment and ammunition, in order to reinforce NATO’s eastern flank
in the context of the war in Ukraine. The NATO battle group in Romania was
created in May and is spearheaded by France. (AMP)