On Monday, the Romanian Government submitted to Parliament for debate and approval the 2012 draft state and social insurance budget. According to government officials, against the current unstable economic and financial background, particularly in Europe, the draft budget is cautious and realistic. It was built on a 2.1% economic growth, a deficit of 1.9% of the GDP and an inflation rate of 3.4%. More money will be allocated for investments, seen as the engine of the economy. The government also counts on the European structural funds that it hopes to attract, estimated at 6 billion Euros. According to the draft budget, in 2012 salaries and pensions will stay at the level reached this year. Opposition parties have announced they will not vote the budget, unless their amendments are accepted. The amendments refer to measures meant to boost the economy and create new jobs, but also to austerity measures regarding state expenditure.

The Romanian Senate has got a new president.

The new speaker of the Romanian Senate is Liberal – Democrat Vasile Blaga, former Interior Minister. He is supported by the ruling coalition made up of the Liberal Democratic Party, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania and the National Union for the Progress of Romania. The post, which became vacant last week, when the former speaker, Mircea Geoana, lost the support of his party, was also wanted by Titus Corlatean, supported by the opposition. Geoana was actually excluded from the Social Democratic Party, as the party leadership accused him of having a different agenda and of breaking the party statute by refusing to surrender the speaker seat to another party colleague. Who won following the disputes inside the party? First of all the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians, who, in exchange for their support for Blaga, obtained the general secretariat of the government. Also a winner was the Liberal Democratic Party, which got the second most important office in the state.

On December 1st Romanians celebrated their national day.

December 1st, Romania’s National Day, was celebrated by Romanians everywhere. Various events were held both in the country and outside the borders, as well as in theatres of operation, where Romanian military take part in international missions. In Alba-Iulia, in central Romania, where the Great Union took place in 1918, a special ceremony was held. In Bucharest, the main event was the traditional military parade, in the presence of president Traian Basescu. In his speech to the audience, the president stressed that December 1st is a day of remembering events and personalities that, through their vision and loyalty to the national ideals, played an overwhelming role in affirming the state identity of modern Romania. The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, addressed the Romanian people warm wishes on their national day, stressing that the signing, this year, of the strategic partnership and of the agreement on the anti-missile defense shield marks a new chapter in the relations between the US and Romania.

The Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation has launched Radio Chisinau.

On Romania’s National Day, Radio Chisinau was officially launched by the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation. The new station will offer the audience in the Republic of Moldova, a former Soviet state with a predominantly Romanian speaking population, radio programs at high standards. President Traian Basescu believes that the new station will be a window for the Republic of Moldova to look through to Romania. Traian Basescu:

“I am truly confident that the launch of Radio Chisinau, the newest station of Radio Romania, builds a bridge between Romanians all over the world. Also, I hope that the quality of the programs and shows in Romanian will consolidate the European profile of the Republic of Moldova, promoting values that help achieve our common good in Europe, which is characterized by pluralism, diversity, performance, transparency and cooperation.”

Radio Romania hopes that these programs in Romanian will provide direct, fair and balanced information to all users in the Republic of Moldova and will promote the Romanian cultural, artistic and linguistic values.

Two well-known and highly appreciated theater and film directors, Alexandru Tocilescu and Andrei Blaier have passed away.

It’s been a sad week for the Romanian film and theatre world. Theater director Alexandru Tocilescu, one of the most important figures of Romanian theatre in the past decades, died aged 65. Tocilescu signed dozens of performances in Bucharest, hosted by the most important theatres such as Bulandra, the National Theatre, the Small Theatre, the Comedy Theatre, the Opera and the Operetta. He was awarded two UNITER awards, in 1999 for the best theatre performance “A lost letter” by I.L.Caragiale and in 2002 for his lifetime achievement. Also, another appreciated director, Andrei Blaier, died in Bucharest on Thursday, aged 78. Blaier directed many films and TV series, being famous in the 1970s and 1980s. For the feature film ‘Postcards with wild flowers’ he got the Film Makers’ Association award.