November 15th, 2016

President Klaus Iohannis has referred to the Constitutional Court the bill on removing 102 fiscal taxes

The Romanian President, Klaus Iohannis, has challenged in the Constitutional Court a Parliament approved bill, on removing 102 non-fiscal taxes, including the radio and television license fee. The President has motivated his move by the fact that the Parliament did not have a Government approval to promote the bill and also that the document does not specify the source to finance its enforcement. As far as the radio and television fee is concerned, the President says that the amendment to use state budget funds in order to finance operation and development spending at the public radio and television is out of line with provisions in the contested bill, which say that wages and other rights for employees of the two institutions are negotiated by means of collective and individual work contracts, legally concluded. All these aspects are contrary to the judicial technique norms and could affect the independence of the public service radio and television envisaged in the Constitution.

Jerusalem exhibition: „Righteous among the Nations” for Romanian figures involved in saving Jews, during the Nazi Era

The Israeli Defense Ministry is hosting the exhibition „Honorable among people”, dedicated to Romanian figures involved in saving Jews during the Nazi period. Romania is the current President of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, by means of Ambassador Mihnea Constantinescu, from the Romanian Foreign Ministry. Akiva Tor, Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Bureau for World Jewish Affairs and World Religions, has offered an exclusive interview to Radio Romania correspondent, Dragos Ciocarlan:
Akiva Tor: The Romanian Exhibition, here in the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, of the „Righteous among the Nations”, is a wonderful project, because it teaches all of us, in Government, in civil society, that our duty first and foremost is so make sure that we remain decent and do the right thing, even in times when civilization is collapsing and there is severe moral testing. This is what we learn here, from this exhibit, from the example of the Queen Mother Elena. I think is important for Europe now, and at every time, to remember that approximately 70 years ago, there was a time when European civilization was in a situation of collapse. Even at that time, there were people in positions, in Government and elsewhere that didn’t follow orders; they followed their internal orders, which was even to risk their lives in order to save other human beings. In this case, the Jews were marked for destruction.

The Romanian economy has continued to grow in the third trimester of 2016

The Romanian Economy has continued to grow in the third trimester of 2016, but at a slower pace. According to first estimates, released on Tuesday by the National Statistics Institute, the economy has grown by 4.4 % overall, with a 0.6% more than the previous trimester, while the progress in the first nine months was 4.9%. President of the Fiscal Council, Ionut Dumitru, has said that the slowdown was expected, adding that an annual economic growth of 5% might not be reached.

(Mădălina Brotăcel)