Romania’s President-Elect Klaus Iohannis And King Michael Meet
Romania’s President-elect Klaus Iohannis had a private lunch with King Michael I on Wednesday, on the occasion of the Open Doors event organized by the Royal House
Iohannis was welcomed at the entrance to the palace by Princess Margareta and Prince Radu Duda. Iohannis gave Princess Margareta a bouquet of flowers and invited His Majesty the King to his investiture ceremony on December 21.
About 1,000 people came at the Elisabeta Palace in Bucharest to celebrate the anniversary and name day of King Michael I and to greet him. King Michael turned 93 years old on October 25, and celebrated his name day on November 8.
Johannis, an ethnic German and a Lutheran, defeated Prime Minister Victor Ponta in a run-off election on Sunday, November 16.(Adevarul)
Ford To Lay Off Over 20% Of Staff At Its Romanian Plant
U.S. carmaker Ford will lay off 680 of some 3,200 employees at its plant in Craiova (southern Romania), meaning over 20% of its staff.
To that end, the company decided to implement a voluntary layoff program targeting around 680 employees. The plant’s employees have until December 18 to enroll in the program.
“While B-Max remains one of the best-selling car models on the B-MAV segment, Europe’s auto market is still ailing. Therefore, the plant in Craiova had to halt its production this year for a considerable number of days,” said Ford Romania spokesperson Ana-Maria Timis.
Timis added that, in order to ensure the plant’s competitiveness and keep a tight grip on operating costs, it is necessary to take additional measures aimed at adjusting production volumes to the current market demand, which entail, among others, workforce reduction. (Evenimentul Zilei)
Isarescu: Fears Of Depreciation Eased; Leu Stable Even During Elections Campaign
Romania has escaped the fear of the leu’s depreciation, says central bank governor Mugur Isarescu, pointing out the national currency was largely unmoved even during the elections campaign.
“After a while, the public has seen the leu’s direction isn’t always downwards, it also goes up; the leu has stretched out between 4.4 and 4.44 (per euro) for the past six months,” Isarescu said Wednesday at an economic seminar.
The leu’s moves were lower than 1% in the past weeks, even during the elections campaign, a traditional period of volatility due to political statements, the governor showed. (Jurnalul National)
Chamber Speaker: MPs Must Draw Up Bill For Parliamentary Elections To Include Postal Voting
Chamber of Deputies Speaker Valeriu Zgonea on Wednesday said lawmakers’ top priority is to draw up a draft law for the parliamentary elections, which are due in 2016, so as to include postal voting.
Zgonea also said that postal voting for the presidential elections will be discussed at the next elections which will be held five years from now. (Romania Libera)
President Basescu Pleased With Iohannis And Ponta’s Initiative
Romanian President Traian Basescu on Wednesday saluted the initiative of President-elect Klaus Iohannis and Prime Minister Victor Ponta which prompted lawmakers Wednesday to turn down a bill regarding amnesty and pardons, which would have helped jailed Romanian politicians.
Basescu also said he is pleased that Iohannis and Ponta’s initiative also prompted the Parliament to approve prosecutors’ request to start criminal investigations against several lawmakers.
Basescu added that the November 16 elections were a wake-up call for lawmakers who finally understood that they are not above the law, but the other way around. (Evenimentul Zilei)