PEACE FORUM – Paris plays host to the fifth edition of the Peace Forum. Amidst multiple crises, the forum this year focuses on hot topics on the global agenda, such as geopolitical conflicts with global effects, the growing impact of climate change, the waves of COVID pandemic and growing social inequality. Representing Romania will be president Klaus Iohannis, who will address the consequences of the Russian aggression in Ukraine on European and global security and in a number of fields, as well as the impact of the war on post-pandemic recovery efforts and other global priorities, such as combating climate change.
INFLATION – The European Commission has upgraded its forecast on Romanian economic growth this year, from 3.9% in July to 5.8% this autumn. After a solid 2022, Romanian economy is expected to slow down by 2% in the following years, due to soaring inflation, the difficult financial context and the economic fallout from the war in Ukraine. According to the Commission, inflation is expected to peak at the end of 2022 and remain high over the course of 2023, before starting to drop in 2024. On Friday, the National Statistics Institute announced that the annual inflation rate dropped to 15.32% in October, from 15.88% in September, considering that prices for foodstuffs went up by 20.58% while prices for non-food products increased by 14.37%. Prices for services also went up by 8.31%.
BORDERS – The fourth checkpoint on the Romanian-Ukrainian border was opened on Thursday in a ceremony attended by the Prime Ministers of Romania and Ukraine, Nicolae Ciucă and Denys Shmyhal, respectively. The new checkpoint, Vicovu de sus – Krasnoilsk, will help facilitate the transit of people and goods between the two states , the Romanian Prime Minister said. This is the first checkpoint to open since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24. Since then, some 2.8 million Ukrainians have entered Romania, most of whom were in route to Western Europe. A few thousand filed for and received asylum in Romania, benefiting from every right under Romanian law. Some 70,000 Ukrainians now have stay permits.
