Thousands of Romanians rally in support of EU ahead of run-off vote
dpa
Bucharest
Thousands took to the streets in Bucharest and other cities in Romania on Saturday to rally in support of the European Union ahead of the country's presidential run-off election later this month.
In the centre of the Romanian capital, crowds waved EU flags and chanted slogans including 'Romania votes, Europe counts' and
'Russia threatens us - the EU protects us,' local media reported.
In the run-off on May 18, the eurosceptic and nationalist George Simion faces off against Bucharest's centrist mayor Nicusor Dan.
Simion received almost 41% of the vote in the first round on May 4, while Dan garnered just under 21%.
Dan is a supporter of firmly anchoring EU-member Romania in European institutions and NATO, while Simion wants to stop all aid for Ukraine as it fights to repel a Russian invasion.
According to media reports, further demonstrations took place in the western
Romanian cities of
Timisoara, Cluj and Arad, among others.
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Al Jazeera
9 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
UK prepares for war: How much will it cost?
The United Kingdom has announced a major investment in defence in response to a 'new era of threats' driven by 'growing Russian aggression'. The UK's Strategic Defence Review (SDR), unveiled on Monday, includes new investments in nuclear warheads, a fleet of new submarines and new munitions factories. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the SDR would bring the country to 'war-fighting readiness'. 'The threat we now face is more serious, more immediate and more unpredictable than at any time since the Cold War,' Starmer said as he delivered the review in Glasgow, Scotland. The SDR described Russia as an 'immediate and pressing' threat, and referred to China as a 'sophisticated and persistent challenge'. European nations have rushed to strengthen their armed forces in recent months, following Trump's repeated demands that Europe must shoulder more responsibility for its security. The defence review, the UK's first since 2021, was led by former NATO Secretary-General George Robertson. Among the 62 recommendations in the SDR, all have been accepted by the government. Starmer said the measures recommended in the review would bring 'fundamental changes' to the armed forces, including 'moving to war-fighting readiness', re-centring a 'NATO first' defence posture and accelerating innovation. 'Every part of society, every citizen of this country, has a role to play because we have to recognise that things have changed in the world of today,' he said. 'The front line, if you like, is here.' Based on the recommendations in the review, the government said it would boost stockpiles and weapons production capacity, which could be scaled up if needed. A total of 1.5 billion pounds ($2bn) will be dedicated to building 'at least six munitions and energetics factories', with plans to produce 7,000 long-range weapons. In turn, UK ammunitions spending – just one component of overall military spending – is expected to hit 6 billion pounds ($8.1bn) over the current parliamentary term, which ends in 2029. There are also plans to build up to 12 new attack submarines by the late 2030s as part of the AUKUS military alliance with Australia and the United States – equivalent to a new submarine every 18 months. This accounts for nearly half the projected spending outlined in the SDR. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) also said it would invest 15 billion pounds ($20.3bn) in its own nuclear warhead programme. The SDR recommended procuring new F-35 fighter jets and the Global Combat Aircraft Programme, a sixth-generation fighter produced jointly with Japan and Italy. The target size of the army will remain roughly the same, but the SDR recommended a slight increase in the number of regular soldiers 'if funding allows'. There are currently about 71,000. Instead of a dramatic increase in troop numbers, the SDR recommends using technology, drones and software to 'increase lethality tenfold'. To do this, the MoD plans to deliver a 1 billion pound ($1.35bn) 'digital targeting web', an AI-driven software tool designed to collect battlefield data and use it to enable faster decision making. More details about the SDR will be provided in the upcoming Defence Industrial Strategy, expected in the coming weeks, but UK defence companies will be among the big winners from the new SDR. Though supposedly a 10-year review, past SDRs suggest its shelf life might be more limited. The last SDR was published in 2021 and recommended 'a strategic pivot towards the Indo-Pacific region to counter China's influence and deepen ties with allies like Australia, India, and Japan', in line with strategic priorities of the time. This SDR, undertaken in the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, has re-oriented the UK's geographical priorities. In the coming years, those could change again. Proposals to prepare the UK's armed forces to be 'battle ready' will cost at least 67.6 billion pounds ($91.4bn) through to the late 2030s, according to costings and estimates provided in the SDR. Before Monday's announcement, the government had already pledged to increase spending on defence from 2.3 percent currently to 2.5 percent by 2027, an increase of about 6 billion pounds ($8.1bn) per year. This would raise 60 billion pounds over 10 years – a bit shy of the cost projected by the SDR. The government has said it will cut overseas aid to fund that 0.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) rise in defence spending. Critics say this will not be enough and that the measures outlined by the SDR will cost more like 3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). James Cartlidge, the shadow defence secretary, said the 'authors of the strategic defence review were clear that 3 percent [not 2.5 percent] of GDP 'established the affordability' of the plan.' In February, the Labour government said it had 'an ambition' to raise defence spending to 3 percent in the next parliament (after 2029), but Cartlidge said: 'That commitment cannot be guaranteed ahead of the next general election.' According to researchers at the Institute for Fiscal Studies – an independent, London-based research organisation – raising defence spending to 3 percent of GDP by 2030 would require an extra 17 billion pounds between now and then, which the government has not yet accounted for. But the UK could be required to raise spending even more than this. In discussions taking place in advance of the NATO summit in The Hague later this month, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is understood to be pushing for member nations to commit 5 percent of GDP towards defence-related spending. Rutte has proposed that NATO's 32 members commit to spending 3.5 percent on hard defence and 1.5 percent on broader security, such as cyber, by 2032. 'At this Ministerial, we are going to take a huge leap forward,' Rutte stated before a meeting of defence ministers in Brussels on Thursday this week. 'We will strengthen our deterrence and defence by agreeing ambitious new capability targets.' He specified air and missile defence, long-range weapons, logistics, and large land manoeuvre formations as among the alliance's top priorities, according to a briefing note from NATO on Wednesday. 'We need more resources, forces and capabilities so that we are prepared to face any threat, and to implement our collective defence plans in full,' he said, adding: 'We will need significantly higher defence spending. That underpins everything.' On Monday, Starmer refused to rule out another raid on the aid budget to fund higher military spending, and signalled that he was hopeful the extra investment could be supported by a growing the economy and generating more taxes to pay for defence. After the SDR's announcement, Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, warned that the prime minister will need to make 'really quite chunky tax increases' to pay for the plans. Alternatively, increased defence spending could be siphoned off from other parts of the budget – for instance, through reduced state spending on areas like transport and energy infrastructure.
Qatar Tribune
a day ago
- Qatar Tribune
Eurozone inflation slows to 1.9% in May, below ECB target
Agencies Eurozone inflation eased in May to its lowest level in eight months, official data showed on Tuesday, falling back below the target of 2% set by the European Central Bank (ECB), further raising expectations for another interest rate cut this week. Year-over-year consumer price increases in the single currency area slowed more than predicted by analysts for FactSet to 1.9%, down from 2.2% in April, the EU's official statistics agency said. Core inflation, which strips out volatile energy, food, alcohol and tobacco prices and is a key indicator for the ECB, also eased more than expected to 2.3% in May, down from 2.7% a month earlier. The ECB is expected to deliver its seventh-straight interest rate cut Thursday as the United States' volatile trade policies hang over the sluggish eurozone economy. 'This won't have much of a bearing on Thursday's ECB decision, which already looked almost certain to be a 25 basis point cut,' said Jack Allen-Reynolds, deputy chief eurozone economist at U.K.-based investment research group Capital Economics. 'But May's inflation data strengthens the case for another cut at the following meeting in July,' he said. Eurozone inflation is at its lowest point since September last year, when it stood at 1.7%. The slowdown in inflation was thanks to prices for services easing to 3.2% from 4.0% in April, Eurostat said. The ECB closely monitors the sector as it is highly correlated to wage growth. The ECB fears that a vicious cycle between rising wages and prices would make it more difficult to tackle inflation. In energy, the rate was negative 3.6%, unchanged from the month before. Food-price inflation accelerated, however, to 3.3% last month from 3.0% in April. Inflation has sharply dropped from the record peak of 10.6% in October 2022 after Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent energy prices sky-high. Capital Economics' Allen-Reynolds said he expected inflation to fall further in the months ahead, 'leaving the headline rate comfortably below 2% in the second half of the year.' 'Subdued oil prices and a stronger euro will drag down energy inflation and lead to cheaper production inputs and imports. Decelerating wage growth will bring the long-awaited cooling in the sticky services category,' said Riccardo Marcelli Fabiani, senior economist at Oxford Economics. Consumer price rises in Europe's two economic powerhouses, Germany and France, slowed in May to 2.1% and 0.6%, respectively. While the eurozone economy expanded by 0.3% over the January-March period from the previous quarter, U.S. President Donald Trump's erratic trade policy, including the potential for steep tariffs, has hurt the region's economic outlook. Trump has put a 50% duty on EU goods on ice until July 9 as the two sides chase an agreement, but a 10% levy remains, alongside 25% tariffs on steel, aluminum and auto imports. Trump now also plans to raise duties on steel and aluminum to 50%.
Qatar Tribune
a day ago
- Qatar Tribune
Bulgaria close to adopting euro, but faces protests, backlash
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