Friday, November 11, 2016

DEBATES  

Romanian president Klaus Iohannis on Thursday said he would have promulgated the law recently adopted by Parliament under which 102 taxes and duties are cancelled unless that included the radio-TV fee. The head of state said the fee had been eliminated without public debates and consultation with the two media institutions. Iohannis added he had received requests for vetoing the law including from international organisations and institutions. President Iohannis made the statements during a debate conference entitled ‘Canceling Radio-TV fee – support or threat to the mission of the public radio and television corporations?’. The meeting was aimed at ensuring a dialogue between the head of state and journalists, representatives of media organisations and members of civil society, about the situation of the public radio and TV stations. Participants in another series of debates also on this issue, hosted by the Romanian television, have highlighted that canceling the radio-TV fee and funding these two institutions from the state budget, cuts off the direct connection between citizens and public services. Furthermore, the elimination of the aforementioned tax would jeopardize the functioning as of January 1st of the two public media services.

November 11 – Veterans Day

On the occasion of Veterans Day, military and religious ceremonies will be held today in Bucharest and in garrisons in which there are military units which served missions in the theaters of operations. According to a press release, events will take place at Monument of the Heroes in the Youth Park, at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and at the Memorial of the Nation’s Heroes in Carol Park. Veterans Day started to be observed since 2014, thus Romania joining Australia, Canada, United States of America and other countries in Europe which on November 11 show their gratitude for soldiers returning from missions and commemorates their heroes. For Romanian Army, the significance of this day is linked to the fact that on November 11, 2003 posthumous Sub-Lieutenant Iosif Silviu Fogoras died on duty, the first Romanian soldier who lost his life in the theater of operations in Afghanistan. (RADIO ROMANIA reports)

Public health authorities in Romania and Bulgaria have signed a cooperation Agreement to ensure access to medicines

Public health authorities in Romania and Bulgaria have signed a cooperation Agreement to ensure access to medicines. Thus price reductions for medicines from producers will be achieved and patients will have access to a product in neighboring country, if it misses where they reside. A first case was resolved during the negotiations for the agreement between Romania and Bulgaria. A young woman with a rare blood disease received the medicine she needed from our Bulgarian neighbors, two hours after the request, provided that the manufacturer no longer had authorization for Romania. (RADIO ROMANIA reports)

The annual inflation rate rose slightly in October compared with the previous month

The annual inflation rate, which measures consumer price developments in the last year, rose slightly in October compared with the previous month, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INS) data. INS figures show that all categories of products and services rose last month, but food prices, such as potatoes, fresh fruits and eggs increased most. Thermal energy also rose by 3.2%, right in the month when people began to use heating systems. At the opposite, significant discounts were recorded only in citric, other prices having small fluctuations. Following developments in recent months, Romanian National Bank maintained this week its inflation forecast for the end of 2016, but slightly increased the forecast for inflation at the end of next year. (RADIO ROMANIA reports)

Adrian Strugariu – RADOR