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| THE WEEK IN REVIEW (14-20/04/2008) |
| (2008-04-18) |
| Last updated: 2008-04-24 12:46 EET |
Career diplomat Lazar Comanescu is, as of Tuesday, Romania's new Foreign Minister, the third in the current legislative term after Mihai Razvan Ungureanu and Adrian Cioroianu. Cioroianu resigned last week, after he came under fire for the Foreign Ministry's management of the case of Romanian citizen Daniel Crulic, who died in a hospital in Poland. Crulic died in January, after being on hunger strike in prison, in protest against his arrest for a theft he claimed he had not committed. Lazar Comanescu headed the Romanian mission to NATO and, until Monday, was the resident representative of Romania at the European Union. He said his short-term priorities included assessing the activity of Romanian consulates and addressing the flaws in the assistance they provide to Romanian citizens who face difficulties abroad.
The pay raise offered to employees at the Dacia Pitesti car producer in southern Romania, held by the French group Renault, after a three-week all-out strike, seems to have encouraged other employees to do the same. On Monday, several thousand steel workers at the Arcelor Mittal works in Galati (eastern Romania), a member of the international holding owned by the Indian tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, also went on strike, demanding a salary raise. But they were less lucky than their fellows in Dacia, because three days later the Court ruled the strike as illegal and employees resumed work without having achieved much. Also on Monday, road carriers protested on the ring roads of Bucharest and other major cities in the country. They requested the Transport Ministry to discard road taxes, and to ensure lower charges, less expensive fuel, as well as roads and parking facilities which meet European standards. On the other hand, public sector personnel got good news a week before Easter. Further to protests and strike threats by unions in the public sector, the Government reconsidered its decision to suspend the provision of gift vouchers.
With the June 1st and June 15th local elections drawing near, public institutions are under pressure to take all the necessary measures for the electoral process to run smoothly. The electoral campaign kicks off on May 2nd, and citizens will only vote in the localities where they reside. Meanwhile, the main political parties have nominated most of their candidates, particularly in key cities, the capital included. Bucharest remains of paramount importance, which is why parties sent top politicians onto the battlefield: two former and one current minister. The Democratic Liberal Party in the opposition, which the President holds close to his heart, nominated Vasile Blaga, MP and former Interior Minister. The Social Democratic Party (PSD), also in the opposition, is represented by one of its vice-presidents, Cristian Diaconescu, a former Justice Minister, while the ruling Liberal Party (PNL) nominated the current Transport Minister Ludovic Orban, a vice-mayor of Bucharest between 2005 and 2007. On the other hand, PSD and the pocket-size Conservative Party (both in the opposition), once allies and until recently political enemies, have signed an agreement for this year's general elections, undertaking to support each other and join alliances together. The ruling PNL also made some changes, as on Friday it merged with People's Action, the small party headed by the former President of Romania, Emil Constantinescu.
The National Institute for Statistics gave Romanians some bad news on Monday - the annual inflation reached 8.63 percent during March, the highest level recorded since January 2006. The phenomenon was felt by many, as it had a notable impact on various categories of prices. According to the NIS, this unusually high level of inflation was a result of price increases for foods, fuel, phone services and air transportation. The governor of the National Bank of Romania, Mugur Isarescu, has repeatedly warned that failing to control inflation could stop Romania from reaching its goal of adopting the euro as the national currency as of 2014. Nevertheless, chief economist of the National Bank Valentin Lazea has a more optimistic view on the matter:
“The current level of inflation is close to the one predicted by the National Bank some two months ago. The estimated value was 8.5 percent, and 8.6 isn’t very far off. Also, the same estimates predicted that this will represent a peak for inflation this year, which will be followed by a significant drop during the summer. Recent estimates predict that inflation will stabilise somewhere between 8 and 8.5 percent during the spring, and to drop below 6 percent by the end of the year.”
Some 350 thousand Romanian children, more than half coming from rural environments, are affected by their parents leaving and working abroad, according to a study made by UNICEF published on Wednesday. The number of such children reported by UNICEF is almost five times larger than the one previously estimated by the National Child Protection Authority. The study shows that about half of the children with both parents working abroad are under the age of ten. The children are usually left in the care of their extended family, mostly with their grandparents. A similar study shows that 2 percent of all children with at least one parent working abroad have dropped out of school. To compensate for their absence from home, some 80 percent of parents working abroad talk with their children on the phone at least once a week, and send money or presents home once a month.
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