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| THE WEEK IN REVIEW 21/04/2008-27/04/2008 |
| (2008-04-25) |
| Last updated: 2008-04-25 15:02 EET |
Early this week, Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu made a visit to France, a country with a special position on the agenda of the Romanian diplomacy, and which will take over the rotating presidency of the EU on July 1st. A proof of the privileged institutional relations between Paris and Bucharest is the fact that Romania is the only South-East European state with which France has signed a strategic partnership, complementary to the common membership to the EU and NATO. In fact, on Tuesday Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu and his French counterpart Francois Fillon agreed on a so-called roadmap for the implementation of the Stretegic Partnership, a document signed in early February, during President Nicolas Sarkozy's visit to Bucharest. The Romanian Prime Minister told our correspondent in Paris:
“I am confident that this ambitious project, based on joint efforts, will make our bilateral relationship and our relation within the EU more dynamic. The roadmap identifies specific areas of cooperation between our countries, at a political, security, economic, cultural and scientific level.” The heads of the two governments also agreed to support the French companies which invest in Romania in projects financed by the EU. “
One of the outstanding representatives of Romanian cultural exile, journalist, literary critic and life-time anti-communist militant Monica Lovinescu passed away in Paris on Monday. She went into exile together with her husband writer Virgil Ierunca immediately after the installation of the communist dictatorship by soviet troops in Romania at the beginning of the 1940s. During the communist regime Monica Lovinescu was one of the most beloved voices at Radio Free Europe. In 1977 she survived an assassination attempt carried out by Palestinian terrorists at the order of the Romanian Securitate, which was the communist political police. She donated her house in Paris to the Romanian state. The house will become a cultural centre and will be a home for Romanian students winners of various scholarships. Monica Lovinescu was awarded the Star of Romania, which is a distinction awarded by the Romanian state. On Friday the funerary casks of Virgil Ierunca and Monica Lovinescu were brought to Romania.
Romania will slow down economic growth in 2008 to 5.5%, that’s according to forecasts by the International Monetary Fund. At a press conference in Bucharest, the head of the IMF mission to Romania and Bulgaria Albert Jaeger estimates that the projections of the Romanian authorities in terms of budget revenue are too optimistic. Besides that, the authorities must also take into consideration that this is an electoral year and there’ll be more spending from the budget. Unlike the IMF specialists, experts in the banking sector are optimistic as far as Romania’s economic growth is concerned. In a report by the BRD Groupe Societe Generale on Romania’s macroeconomic prospects, Bucharest is estimated to report an economic growth rate of 6%, while inflation may reach 7%. The most pessimistic forecast of the BRD Groupe Societe General has to do with the current account deficit, which is estimated to reach 15% of the GDP by the end of 2008.
Turkish author Orhan Pamuk, who is also the 2006 winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature visited Romania at the invitation of a publishing house that has exclusive publishing rights for his works. The author also received the title of Doctor Honoris Causa of the Bucharest University in recognition for his contribution to literature and for his firm convictions. Orhan Pamuk boosted his recognition across the world in 2005 when he was critical of Turkey’s genocide against the Armenian population in 1915 and against the repression of part of the Kurdish minority. The writer fled Turkey for a while for fear of nationalist reactions. When he returned to the country the Turkish authorities welcomed him with a law suit for having insulted Turkey. The case was eventually dropped.
The European Commission has suspended the infringement procedure against Romania in the case of the car registration fee imposed by Bucharest. The procedure will be closed after the adoption of the methodological norms for the application of an emergency ordinance passed on Monday on this fee, which has been turned from a car registration fee into an environmental fee. At present the car registration fee is still in effect, but it will be replaced by the environmental fee as of July 1st. The new fee will be calculated based on the technical specification of each and every car bought from abroad, more exactly based on the quantity of carbon dioxide emissions. The money collected will go into environmental protection projects and renewing Romania’s car park. At present Romanian authorities are carrying out a programme meant to encourage Romanians to buy new cars. Under this programme owners of cars which are older than 12 years receive 800 Euros to scrap the old car and buy a new one.
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2025-04-03
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