Tag: social policies

  • The Week in Review (27.06 – 03.07.2022)

    The Week in Review (27.06 – 03.07.2022)

    Russia
    is no longer a partner, but a threat

    The
    NATO Summit in Madrid is one of the most significant Allied meetings
    in recent years in terms of results for Romania – said Romania’s
    President Klaus Iohannis. He pointed out that the central theme of
    the discussions held, and of the decisions made at the summit, was
    the military invasion of Romania’s neighbor, Ukraine, by the
    Russian army, and that NATO’s new strategic concept, adopted at the
    summit, adequately reflects the current security situation. Thus,
    Russia is no longer considered a partner, but is labeled as the most
    significant and direct threat to the security and stability of the
    Allies. For the first time, Communist China is accused of using a
    wide range of political, economic and military activities to project
    its power around the world. China’s avowed ambitions and its coercive
    policies pose challenges to our interests, security and values -
    said the NATO member states’ representatives, who also point a
    finger at the strategic partnership between Beijing and Moscow
    against the international order. NATO has also confirmed the
    strengthening of its military presence on the Eastern flank,
    including in Romania. Its reaction force increases from 40 thousand
    to over 300 thousand highly trained soldiers. This is the most
    important reorganization of our collective defense since the Cold
    War NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg unerlined, while US
    President Joe Biden said that we are here and we
    are proving that NATO is more necessary than ever. He announced,
    in turn, a strengthening of the U.S. military presence throughout
    Europe. NATO has also promised to support Ukraine, for as long as
    necessary, to resist the Russian armed invasion. Secretary-General
    Stoltenberg said that support for Kyiv was a moral and
    political obligation.

    Romania
    and the gas crisis

    One
    of the EU Member States least dependent on Russian hydrocarbon
    imports, Romania can become energy independent, a supplier of energy
    security in the region, and a transport corridor for gas and green
    energy from the Caspian Sea – says the Romanian Energy Minister
    Virgil Popescu. He participated on Tuesday, together with the Prime
    Minister Nicolae Ciuca, in the ceremony organized in Vadu, in
    Constanta County (south-east), on the occasion of the launch of the
    natural gas exploitation as part of the Midia project. Minister
    Popescu said that the natural gas reserves in the Romanian Black Sea
    area amount to 200 billion cubic meters. The extraction of natural
    gas from the Midia area is the first project of its kind in the
    Romanian Black Sea area in the last 30 years, and in June the first
    amounts of gas have already entered the domestic market. In turn,
    Prime Minister Ciuca said that 41% of Romania’s gas storage
    facilities is currently filled, and, by November 1, this amount will
    reach 80 %.

    Social
    policies for crisis situations

    Legal
    entities that want to postpone paying their loan installments must
    prove that, in the last three months, they have suffered losses of at
    least 25%, and individuals must show that their monthly expenses
    increased by 25% – shows a government decision made by the governing
    coalition made up of PSD-PNL-UDMR, which thus hopes to mitigate the
    effects of the recent price hikes. The deferral of loan installments
    is valid for a maximum of nine months, and only on loans without
    arrears in the last six months. Postponing the payment of loan
    installments for those affected by the price increase is a temporary
    advantage – warned expert Adrian Mitroi, a professor at the Academy
    of Economic Sciences in Bucharest. He explained, on Radio Romania,
    that the postponement brings, in fact, an additional cost. When the
    debtor resumes payment, the amounts due monthly will be higher, as
    they will also include certain additional bank fees. The government
    also adopted a draft law that will help students and young people to
    receive bank loans, 80% of which will be guaranteed by the state. In
    the case of students, the guarantee is about 10,000 Euros, and in the
    case of young couples, about 15,000 Euros, the equivalent in lei, the
    national currency, at the exchange rate of the day.

    The
    law of silence in Romania

    The
    head of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, former chief
    anti-corruption prosecutor in Bucharest, Laura Codruţa Kovesi,
    announced that she is looking into appealing to the European
    Commission for activating the mechanism of conditioning European
    funding in order to defend rule of law in Romania. According to an
    EPPO press release, the reason is the content of a law recently
    passed by Parliament, reflecting a European directive on protecting
    whistleblowers. The main concern is that the bill could discourage
    them in Romania, more specifically with regard to uncovering fraud
    involving European provided funding, according to an EPPO press
    release. Many Romanian civic organizations announced they would file
    complaints with the People’s Ombudsman against the bill on protecting
    whistleblowers, pointing out that Romania risks sanctions,
    considering that the prospective law samples selectively the European
    directive relevant to the issue.

    Florin
    Citu resigns again

    On
    Wednesday, meeting in plenary session, Romanian senators have
    dismissed the speaker of the chamber, after filing Florin Citu’s
    resignation. Previously, Citu had stated that his resignation had
    been requested by Liberal Party chairman, PM Nicolae Ciuca, and by
    party secretary general Lucian Bode, who had informed him that he no
    longer has party support for the position of speaker. He claimed that
    he was blamed for the statements he made for years against the Social
    Democratic Party social and salary policies, a party that is in
    coalition partnership with the Liberals. According to some Romanian
    journalists, Florin Citu is a very competent economist, for others a
    ridiculous character, and he ascended the political ladder as fast as
    he fell off of it. For as long as he was favored by President Klaus
    Iohannis, he was PM and National Liberal Party chairman, then he
    supposedly fell out of grace and lost both positions, in favor of
    Reserve General Ciuca. The interim speaker position will be held by
    Liberal Alina Gorghiu, a former MP with controversial bill proposals,
    also seen as a protege of the head of state. Two years prior, she
    proposed that people with prison sentences of less than seven years
    serve their detention at home, an initiative that sparked waves of
    criticism.