PEACEKEEPING– On Saturday, in Arad, Romania took over the command of the joint Romanian – Hungarian Peacekeeping Battalion. Next year, on March 20th, the battalion will celebrate its 20th anniversary as the first structure of this type at regional level. The battalion is 899 strong, and its command is ensured by rotation. The ceremony was attended by the Romanian Defence Minister Mihai Fifor, who also attended an athletics event, organized by two education units in the county, also with the aim of promoting the Invictus project, involving soldiers wounded in theatres of operations abroad. Invictus Games is an international multi-sport event, created in 2014 by Prince Harry, in which wounded, injured armed services personnel take part. Romania was the first country from the East-European bloc invited to participate in the games.
LA FRANCOPHONIE– The Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu is attending in Paris La Francophonies Ministerial Meeting. The theme of the meeting is ” the blue and the green economies as drivers of prosperity, social inclusion and sustainable development”. According to a communiqué issued by the Romanian Foreign Ministry, the minister will convey a message about the importance of preserving natural resources for the coming generations and stimulating a responsible economic growth. Teodor Melescanu will also speak about Romanias commitment to the new economies, as drivers of sustainable development. On the sidelines of the conference, Romanias delegation will continue the political and diplomatic dialogue with the Francophone countries, by means of bilateral talks, focusing on cooperation, in particular at UN level.
BUSINESS – The Secretary of State with the Romanian Ministry for the Business Environment Adrian Dobre has promoted in Milan, at the economic forum themed “Romania – new business and cooperation opportunities”, measures to support the development of the Romanian and foreign business environment. He presented the programmes run by the Ministry aimed at encouraging the setting up of new companies, the creation of jobs, supporting internationalisation and company modernization and development. According to the ministrys estimates, the value of the Romanian – Italian trade exchanges might exceed 14 billion Euros in 2017, the biggest value registered in the past ten years. The Romanian minister, who paid a visit to Milan on Thursday and Friday, met with representatives of the Romanian community in northern Italy, presenting them with a number of economic arguments is support for their return to the country or for starting a business in or with Romania.
ECONOMIC GROWTH – The fast salary growth endangers Romanias economic competitiveness and increases the current account deficit, according to the annual rating report drawn up by Moodys. The agency expects that the current fiscal incentives will ensure a solid economic growth in the short run, but it is very unlikely that such a growth will also be sustainable. According to the report, the real growth of the GDP would be 6.5% in 2017, and it will slow down to 5% in 2018. Romania has made significant progress in correcting its macro-economic imbalance, creating the grounds for a solid economic growth, but such progress might be eroded in the medium run, says the agency. Moodys recommends Romania should keep government expenditure under control, increase the absorption of European funds and strengthen state-owned companies governance.
GAUDEAMUS FAIR– 400 new titles were launched on Saturday at the Gaudeamus International Book Fair, organized by Radio Romania. This years guest of honour is the European Commission. The Casa Radio publishing house is participating this year with a special collection of audio-books, representing a wide range of literary styles, poetry in particular. On Friday, the fair hosted more than 200 events, mostly book launches. This years edition of Gaudeamus marks three important events: 60 years since the signing of the Rome treaty, 30 since the launch of the Erasmus programme and 10 years since Romanias EU accession. Under the motto Unity in Diversity, the EU encourages people to discover and explore the rich cultural heritage of the old continent.
ABUSE – A ministerial delegation headed by the Secretary of State Veaceslav Saramet from the Ministry for Romanians Abroad met in Italy, in Lamezia Terme, with the Romanian woman found living in terrible conditions together with her children. For ten years, the woman was held prisoner and tortured by an Italian man. She was raped repeatedly and gave birth to two children while captive. After the police intervention, the woman and her children were placed in a shelter and the man was arrested for maltreatment, abuse, slavery and rape. The members of the Romanian delegation met with the prefect of Catanzaro, Luisa Latella, and representatives of the local police. The talks focused on the measures that need to be taken in order to ensure a full recovery of such victims, as well as enhancing bilateral cooperation with the aim of ensuring the rights of the Romanian citizens living in Italy and means of developing mechanisms that would ensure the prevention and combating of all forms of abuse that might be perpetrated against them.
HANDBALL– Romanias national womens handball team defeated Macedonia on Saturday, 31-18, at the Carpati Trophy, a competition organized in Craiova, southern Romania, held in preparation for the World Championship. On Friday, the Romanian players were defeated by the Polish team 27-21. The next game is due on Sunday, against Brazil. At the World Championship in Germany, scheduled to start on December 1st, Romania is part of Group A, alongside France, Spain, Slovenia, Angola and Paraguay. Romania is the only team that has participated in all the 22 editions of the Championship held so far. In 2015, our national team won bronze.