Romania

AGERPRES special correspondent Catalin Alexandru reports: President Klaus Iohannis, who toured on Thursday Romania's pavilion at Expo Milano 2015, declared himself pleasantly impressed by the experience, remarking that although not an imposing appearance through size, the pavilion impresses through its concept, which seamlessly fits with the theme of the world exhibition.

President Klaus Iohannis on Thursday said that he took note of Prime Minister Victor Ponta's statements on a possible influence at the Presidential Administration level on the Forestry Code and labelled these statements as surprising and false.

Photo credit: (c) Silviu MATEI / AGERPRES PHOTO

Prime Minister Victor Ponta on Wednesday evening said that several Liberal politicians had "official and private" meetings with representatives of Austrian company Schweighofer and misinformed the Presidential Administration on the topic of the Forestry Code.

Photo credit: (c) (c) Liviu SOVA / AGERPRES PHOTO

A new report by Romania's National Statistics Institute, the INS, published on Wednesday, holds good news for Romania's economy in 2015.

Gross Domestic Product expanded by 4.3 per cent in real terms in the first quarter of 2015 compared to the same period last year, the INS said in a statement.

Prime Minister Victor Ponta on Wednesday announced the Government is considering passing next week an emergency ordinance banning the export of unprocessed wood.

Photo credit: (c) Cristian NISTOR / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

According to forecasts of the European Commission, the population of Bulgaria will decrease to 5.5 million by 2060.

This was revealed by the 2015 Ageing Report: Economic and budgetary projections for the 28 EU Member States in the period 2013-2060, which was published on Tuesday.

The Greek economy returned to recession in the first quarter of 2015, according to data by the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) at noon on Wednesday. The figures show 0.2% recession. Simultaneously, the forecast for development has been cut to 0.3% as the European Commission in its spring assessment for Greece estimated 0.5% growth with the government expecting development at 1%.

Representatives of the Romanian Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE) in Madrid on Tuesday participated in the second round of consultations on a legal expert level concerning the creation of an International Court for combating and judging terrorism, reveals a MAE release remitted to AGERPRES.

Photo credit: (c) Liviu SOVA / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

AGERPRES special correspondent Florin Stefan reports: The organizers of Romania's pavilion at Expo Milano 2015 do not try to make anything spectacular, they only wish to present things as they are, practically to challenge the visitor to wish to see more of Romania, general commissioner of Romania's pavilion, Georgian Ghervasie said on Tuesday, in Milan, in an interview for AGERPRES.

The works at the Deveselu missile defence base are advancing as planned; the military facility will be operational this autumn, Defence Minister Mircea Dusa said on Tuesday during a visit to the Olt County.

Photo credit: (c) Alex MICSIK / AGERPRES ARCHIVE