Radio România Internațional

Tag: border

  • Romanian competent aid for Ukrainian refugees

    Romanian competent aid for Ukrainian refugees


    The Workshops without Frontiers Association this past weekend organized a Jobs market for Ukrainian refugees. The event was hosted by the Viilor Economic College in Bucharest. Among other things, participants were offered help in composing their CVs and letters of intention. Also available were interpreters/translators for those Ukrainian refugees who were in need of that, as well as mediations between candidates and employers.



    The Workshops without Frontiers Association has made public the fact that they were among the first such associations to have accepted the employment of refugees from Ukraine, in their own workshops but also via a string of services meant to facilitate the refugees access to jobs in Romania. In 2022, the Association organized free-of-charge Romanian language courses for 224 people, as well as workshops focusing on facilitating the understanding of the legal framework of the work environment in Romania. The Association also organized CV writing workshops, labor market counselling and assessment activities, but also community events for the Ukrainian refugees. The aforementioned event was part of a project financed by the United Nations High Command for Refugees. The event was carried with the support from Ilfov Countys Employment Agency.



    The Municipality of Brasov, a city located in central Romania on October the 2nd inaugurated a services hub for the refugees from Ukraine. Involved in the undertaking were 10 associations or foundations from across Brasov municipal city. Attending the event was the representative in Romania of the United Nations High Command for Refugees, Pablo Zapata. The associations involved in the hub labelled KATYA offer educational services for children, support for the job seekers as well as mental health assistance and psycho-social support. Also, the associations provide facilitators for translations in the case of the Ukrainian refugees who intend to access healthcare services in Romania. The hub is a project of Brasov Metropolitan Agency for Sustainable Development Hub-ul, carried in partnership with the Terre des Hommes Foundation in Romania. The hub has the support of the United Nations High Command for Refugees. As present, KATYA has roughly 500 beneficiaries. The Ukrainian citizens who need the services of the hub can ask for help or additional info accessing an email address, at katyahub@metropolabrasov.ro.



    Tulcea County Employment Agency, in the south-east, on September 27 staged an event themed The Entrepreneurial and digital competencies in the context of todays labor market current demands. The event targeted a group of 13 Ukrainian high-school students from the town of Izmail. Accompanying and guiding the group of high-school students was an information, communication and selection officer of Suceava Cross-Border Regional Cooperation Office. As part of the event, the young pupils got info on the free-of-charge services offered by the Tulcea County Employment Agency, for job seekers. Basically, the information focused on the required labor market competencies, with a view to enhancing productivity and providing decent jobs, as well as on the importance of entrepreneurial and digital skills. Also, the pupils visited the entrepreneurial consultancy Centre and were given detailed info on howe to access and use the CREDA-DEBUS portal. CREDA -DEBUS is a communication platform providing info on the improvement of quality and access to entrepreneurial education. CREDA-DEBUS seeks to develop at least 75 business plans, for a 12-month timeframe.



    Border policemen in western Romanias Timis County this past weekend stopped nine citizens of Nepal and Pakistan, in their attempt to illegally cross the Romanian-Serbian border. Aged 25 to 46, the foreign citizens trespassed the Romanian territory having a work permit, yet they stated they intended to reach western Europe. The case is definitely not a one-of-a-kind one. On September 29, Timis County border policemen caught other 11 citizens from Nepal and Egypt, aged 22 to 38, in their attempt to cross Romanias Serbian border illegally. Just as in the aforementioned illegal border crossing case, those citizens had entered Romanian territory illegally having work permits, yet they intended to reach countries in Western Europe.



    Every week, dozens of foreign workers arriving in Romania and having a labour contract are caught at the countrys western border, in their attempt to flee Romania illegally. They are detained for fraudulent crossing of state border. In such cases, legal sentences range from a fine to imprisonment from 6 month to 3 years.




  • Coordination against Russian attacks

    Coordination against Russian attacks

    The countries neighbouring Russia-invaded Ukraine are
    not safe from the war spill-over. Polish experts have recently concluded that
    the missile that killed 2 people in a farm in southern Poland last November had
    been fired by the Ukrainians. The missile had a range of 75 to 90 km, the media
    in Warsaw report, and at that time
    Russian troops were positioned in a place from where they could not have hit
    the Polish farm.


    The missile hitting
    NATO-member Poland has fuelled fears that the war in Ukraine might spiral into
    a broader conflict, through the activation of the Allies’ mutual defence
    clause, under which an attack against one NATO member state is an attack
    against all.


    In turn, Romania, which
    has an approx. 650-km long border with Ukraine, has had constant consultations
    with NATO with respect to developments on this border, ever since several drone pieces, most
    likely Russian, were found on Romanian territory, in the Danube Delta.


    The most recent incident took place early
    this week on the Ukrainian banks of the Danube, near Orlovka, where drones fell
    near a Romanian ferry leaving for Isaccea. After
    this new episode, the Army chief of staff organised a video call with
    the local public authorities in the counties of Brăila, Constanţa, Galaţi and
    Tulcea, all of them along the Danube River, in the context of the Russian
    Federation’s attacks on Ukrainian Danube ports.


    According to a news release issued by the
    Defence Ministry, the video call was intended to optimise inter-institutional
    coordination. The agenda included a presentation of the security situation, of
    the Army’s public communication process, steps to prepare the defence of the
    local population, economy and territory, and the responsibilities assigned to
    the various institutions in the national defence system.


    The Russian army frequently targets the
    Danube ports of Izmail and Reni, in the south of Bessarabia, the eastern Romanian territory annexed
    by Stalin’s Soviet Union following an ultimatum in 1940, and incorporated into
    Ukraine, as a successor state, in 1991. These ports are a major gateway for
    Ukrainian grain exports, after in July Russia pulled out of a deal allowing
    grain transit via the Black Sea.


    Reni is some 13 km from the Romanian city
    of Galați, while Izmail is located on the Chilia distributary of the Delta,
    which serves as a border between Romania and Ukraine. Both ports are critical
    for commodity transport on the Danube.


    The Romanian diplomacy firmly asked the
    Russians to cease the repeated attacks against Ukrainian population and
    civilian infrastructure, and to comply with the rules of international law,
    including Romania’s sovereignty over the airspace above its territory,
    including its territorial sea. (AMP)

  • Increased NATO attention to the eastern flank

    Increased NATO attention to the eastern flank

    Following Russia’s repeated attacks on the Ukrainian
    ports on the Danube river, pieces of a Russian drone were found a few days ago
    on Romanian territory as well, in a village in Tulcea County near the Ukrainian
    border. Officials from Ukraine’s foreign ministry were actually the first to
    report the incident, but the Romanian defence ministry initially denied the
    information.


    Later on, however, the institution revised its
    position, but added that the intelligence provided by electronic surveillance
    and other monitoring systems did not reveal direct military threats against our
    national territory or against Romania’s territorial waters. The defence
    ministry also announced that it appointed field research teams, including on
    the Danube, for additional inquiries.


    Romania has been in permanent contact with NATO,
    Bucharest also said. In fact, the Alliance’s secretary general Jens Stoltenberg
    announced that Romanian authorities had notified the Allies about the drone
    pieces found in the country and that an investigation was on-going, pointing
    out however that there was no evidence of a deliberate move by Moscow, but
    rather that it was an accident.


    On Wednesday, during talks with the foreign affairs
    and defence committees in the European Parliament, Stoltenberg mentioned that
    NATO has a stronger than ever presence on the eastern flank and that all member
    states are defended under the new military plans.


    In the context of this situation on the
    Romanian-Ukrainian border, the Romanian defence minister Angel Tîlvăr, talking
    in Bucharest with the US Ambassador to Romania Kathleen Kavalec,appreciated the Allies’ strong solidarity. The two
    officials discussed the situation entailed by the Russian Federation’s recent
    attacks against Ukraine’s Danube ports, close to the Romanian border.


    The case was also approached during a telephone
    discussion between Romania’s foreign minister Luminiţa Odobescu and the US
    Secretary of State Antony Blinken. They also discussed means to strengthen
    bilateral cooperation in order to protect airspace security and, in this
    context, mention was made of the deployment by the US Air Forces of F-16 aircraft
    on Romanian territory.


    According to a news release issued by the foreign
    ministry, the Romanian diplomacy chief also welcomed the US and the Allies’
    support and solidarity with Romania and emphasised the importance of NATO staying
    alert to the developments at the Black Sea and in the region.


    In turn, the US Secretary of State highlighted the US
    solidarity with Romania and thanked Bucharest for its support for Ukraine and
    for the additional measures taken in order to facilitate the transit of
    Ukrainian grains. According to the Romanian foreign ministry, the US official
    appreciated Romania’s interest and involvement in identifying efficient
    solutions in this context, jointly with the US, the European Commission and
    Ukraine. (AMP)

  • August 16, 2023 UPDATE

    August 16, 2023 UPDATE


    SECURITY Romanias security has been consolidated and the efforts to strengthen NATO structures on national territory, especially the NATO battle group established in 2022, will carry on, said President Klaus Iohannis, who attended the Navy Day ceremonies in Constanta on Tuesday. In turn, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu promised that the government would earmark the resources required for equipping and modernising the Romanian Naval Forces. Security at the Black Sea ensures the stability of the entire region and turns Romania into an important security provider, the speaker of the Senate, Nicolae Ciucă, also said.



    ECONOMY The EU economy grew 0.5% and the Eurozone economy went up 0.6% in Q2 2023, compared to the corresponding period in 2022, with Ireland and Romania reporting the most significant growth rates, according to preliminary data released on Wednesday by the European Statistics Office (Eurostat). Among the EU member countries for which data are available, the highest growth rates in April-June 2023 are reported in Ireland (2.8%), Romania (2.7%), Cyprus and Portugal (2.3%), while the most important negative rates were in Estonia (-3%), Sweden (-2.4%), Hungary (-2.3%) and Poland (-1.3%). Across the ocean, the US GDP went up 0.6% compared to the previous 3 months and 2.6% against the corresponding quarter last year.



    BACCALAUREATE Nearly 34,000 high school graduates in Romania, sitting the second session of this years Baccalaureate exam, Wednesday had the Romanian language and literature test, with papers graded digitally for the first time. The tests are scanned and uploaded on a platform, where they are assigned for grading to teachers in any part of the country except for the county where the student went to high school. The two tests in students major subjects are scheduled for August 17th and 18th. In order to pass the exam, candidates need an overall grade of at least 6 in their written tests. In the first Baccalaureate session, 75% of the candidates passed the exam.



    TRAFFIC Over 2.2 million Romanians and foreigners crossed Romanias borders during the Assumption of Mary holiday period, up 24% compared to the corresponding period of last year, the Romanian Border Police announced. The most crowded checkpoints were those on the Hungarian and Bulgarian borders, and those in airports. During the same period, border police issued fines totalling over EUR 60,000 and seized assets of over EUR 600,000. More than 100 Romanian nationals were denied exit and 90 foreign nationals were not allowed to enter the country for various reasons.



    UKRAINE The Romanian Defence Ministry strongly condemns the repeated strikes by Russian armed forces targeting critical infrastructure in Ukraine and regions inhabited by civilians in that country. The statement comes after on Wednesday morning the Danube River ports in Izmail and Reni, near the border with Romania, were hit by drone strikes. The war of aggression started by Russia against Ukraine is a blatant violation of international law, says the Defence Ministry, also adding that it has enhanced the monitoring of Romanias national territory and its maritime and airspace, jointly with NATO forces, to strengthen defence on the entire eastern flank and to deter possible aggressions against NATO member countries. (AMP)


  • On Schengen, once again

    On Schengen, once again

    Austria is one of the top investors in Romania, with
    total investments put at over EUR 12 billion in 2021. But it is also the only
    EU member state openly opposing Romania’s Schengen accession, which is puzzling
    for both Bucharest, and Brussels. At the latest meeting of the Justice and Home
    Affairs Council last December, Vienna vetoed Romania’s accession to the
    border-free area, disregarding all the reports dating as far back as 2011 that
    said the country met all technical criteria to be a Schengen member.


    A regrettable and unjustified attitude, president Klaus
    Iohannis said at the time. The EU Commissioner for Internal Affairs, Ylva Johansson,
    pointed out that she would make it a priority to secure Romania’s and Bulgaria’s
    Schengen accession this year, while the European Commission chief, Ursula von
    der Leyen, and the Council president, Charles Michel, said they were expecting
    progress to be made.


    But while on a visit to Bucharest on Wednesday,
    Austria’s minister of the interior Gerhard Karner shattered all hopes in this
    respect: Romania made important headway in fighting illegal migration, but
    there is still a lot to be done to ensure efficient protection of the Union’s
    borders, he said.


    Romania’s Schengen accession is not only a goal, but a
    right, his counterpart Lucian Bode said in response, and added that it was not
    natural for Romania to only have obligations and no rights.


    Lucian Bode: We told the Interior Minister that
    Romania’s Schengen accession process must be completed in 2023. By virtue of this
    European concept of an area without internal border checks, joining Schengen is
    not only an aspiration of Romania, but rather a right granted under the
    treaties signed by all member states. As regards the decisions made today, we
    have agreed on an action plan to prevent illegal migration, and we have signed
    three cooperation documents.


    The agreements signed in Bucharest concern the fight
    against migrant smugglers and asylum abuse, and include a joint action plan to
    curb illegal migration on the east-Mediterranean route, which stipulates, among
    other things, that Romanian police workers will be sent to the Austrian
    interior ministry and Austrian workers will be deployed at the Nădlac
    checkpoint on the Romanian-Hungarian border. (AMP)

  • January 9, 2023

    January 9, 2023

    SCHOOLS
    Schools and kindergartens reopened in Romania today after the winter break,
    among seasonal flu and viral respiratory infection alerts. The authorities call
    on parents not to send their kids to school if they have symptoms. The
    education and health ministries have taken measures and issued guidelines to
    prevent the transmission of respiratory viruses.


    GOVERNMENT The government of Romania is
    considering a number of projects for the forthcoming period, which have already
    been agreed on within the ruling coalition, the PM Nicolae Ciucă announced.
    Healthcare, education and investments, including the targets and benchmarks
    undertaken under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, are the main areas
    to receive special attention. The government posted for public debate a draft resolution
    on master’s, Ph. D, post-doctoral and research grants abroad. In terms of
    healthcare system improvements, the proposed measures include hospital
    revamping using EU funds.


    UNEMPLOYMENT The unemployment
    rate in Romania dropped slightly, from 5.5% in October to 5.4% in November,
    according to data made public today by the National Statistics Institute. The
    number of unemployed people aged between 15 and 74 estimated for November 2022
    was 447,700, down from the 453,200 reported for the previous month and from the
    450,000 reported for November 2021. The unemployment rate is 0.9% higher among
    men (5.8% for men and 4.9% for women). Unemployment among youth under 24
    remains at a worrying 22.9%, the INS warns. The number of unemployed people
    aged 25 to 74 accounted for 74.3% of the total number estimated for November
    2022.


    CULTURE The first event in the series devoted to Timişoara – European
    Capital of Culture in 2023 takes place today, when the vice-president of the
    European Commission, Margaritis Schinas, will hand over this official title in
    a ceremony held at the Acropolis Museum in Athens. This year, the city of Timişoara
    in western Romania is one of the 3 European capitals of culture, alongside Elefsina
    in Greece and Veszprém in Hungary. The official opening of the event is
    scheduled for February 17 to 19, and throughout the year as many as 50 shows,
    concerts, exhibitions and other cultural events will bring together more than
    2,500 artists from Romania and abroad. Timişoara is included in a top of the best places to visit put together
    by the British daily The Independent. The publication
    recommends Timişoara’s Baroque buildings and historical squares, as well as art
    exhibitions, classical music concerts and jazz festivals. The mayor Dominic
    Fritz said this year’s priority is to attract both tourists, and investors.


    BORDERS As many as 302,000 people and over 75,000
    vehicles crossed into and out of Romania on Sunday. More than 92,700 people entered
    Romanian territory, including 6,880 Ukrainian nationals. This brings the total
    number of Ukrainian citizens having entered Romania since February 2022 to over
    3.27 million.
    Border checks are conducted efficiently at all checkpoints, in line with the
    national and EU legislation, and the Border Police are working at full
    capacity, the authorities announced.


    UKRAINE Wars like the one in Ukraine, where civilian areas are
    subjected to indiscriminate destruction, are a crime against God and
    humanity, Pope Francis said on Monday. In his annual speech to diplomats
    accredited to the Vatican, the Pope spoke about the war in Ukraine, with its
    wake of death and destruction, with its attacks on civil infrastructures that
    cause lives to be lost not only from gunfire and acts of violence, but also
    from hunger and freezing cold. Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces are withstanding constant
    Russian attacks on Bakhmut and other towns in the east of Donbas, the Ukrainian
    authorities announced today. Bakhmut is holding out against all odds,
    president Volodymyr Zelensky said in his Sunday address. The nearby town of
    Soledar is also holding out, Although there is even more destruction there and
    it is extremely hard, he added.


    TENNIS The Romanian player Sorana Cîrstea (43 WTA) was defeated today by Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil (156 WTA), 7-6, 6-1, in
    the first round of the Adelaide International 2 (WTA 500) tournament in Australia.Another
    Romanian, Irina Begu, will play in the main draw against Australia’s Storm
    Hunter. Begu reached the semi-finals of the Adelaide International 1(WTA 500), where
    she lost to the winner of the tournament, Arina Sabalenka of Belarus. (AMP)

  • Visit by the European Parliament president to Bucharest

    Visit by the European Parliament president to Bucharest

    The president of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola has once again stated that Romania is prepared to join the Schengen passport-free area, and it will do it soon. In an address to the joint chambers of the Romanian Parliament, she emphasised that accession to this area is not a gift, but a right earned by Romania, and reminded of the support provided to the Ukrainian refugees. “Romania will join Schengen soon,” she added. “Dont give up on Europe”, Roberta Metsola said, and explained that she thought the postponement decision was the most disappointing course of action the EU countries could have taken.



    The Schengen accession remains a national strategic objective for Romania, and its rejection is ungrounded, the interim Senate Speaker Alina Gorghiu said in her turn:



    Alina Gorghiu: “Romania is a trustworthy partner, and all EU member countries can rely on us. This is why, dear Romanians, the outcome of the December 8th vote is completely unjust. Austrias position was totally unacceptable.”



    In turn, the speaker of the Chamber of Deputies and leader of the Social Democratic Party Marcel Ciolacu said Romania must remain confident. We have already won the respect of our European partners by accomplishing our mission in the first line of defence of European security and unity, he said:



    Marcel Ciolacu: “This temporary setback cannot define us. Romania will remain a part of the European solution, but at the same time, together with our partners, we will be even more determined to revert the outcome of this unfair vote.”


    The Schengen area will become stronger, safer and more prosperous with Romanias accession, the PM Nicolae Ciucă said in his turn. He mentioned that Romania will stay engaged and with a constructive attitude in order for this national goal to be attained.



    In Bucharest, Roberta Metsola also had a meeting with president Klaus Iohannis. The head of state voiced his hope that Romania will join Schengen next year:



    Klaus Iohannis: “In my opinion, it is too soon anyway. It is hard to believe that something will be discussed before January 15, and I dont expect the issue of the Austrian approach and of the Dutch position on Bulgaria to change in 2 weeks time. We must understand, all of us, together, that these issues must be solved before a new vote in the JHA Council.”



    The talks at Cotroceni Palace also covered the EU unity in the context of the war in Ukraine, the sanctions against Russia and the recent corruption scandal within the European Parliament, regarding the alleged bribes paid by Qatar and Morocco to some European officials in exchange for influencing decisions of the EU institutions. In this context, Roberta Metsola emphasised that she would work to address the mistakes and restore lost confidence. (AMP)


  • European plan to manage illegal migration

    European plan to manage illegal migration

    The European Commission made public an action plan for
    the management of the illegal migrants arriving via the Western Balkans, whose
    numbers have reached record-high levels this year. The Commission is thus
    trying to alleviate the fears of some EU member countries and to step up
    negotiations on the new European Pact on Migration and Asylum.


    The Western Balkans route has become a major point of
    migratory pressure, with the number of irregular migrants on this route up 168%,
    according to Frontex data. The situation raises particular concerns in Central
    European countries like Austria and the Czech Republic, which have strengthened
    border controls.


    In the first 10 months of this year a total of over 280,000
    illegal EU arrivals have been detected, more than 120,000 of which were on the
    Western Balks route. The EC plan comprises operational measures structured into
    5 pillars: strengthening border management, swift asylum procedures and support
    reception capacity, fighting migrant smuggling, enhancing readmission
    cooperation and returns as well as achieving visa policy alignment.


    Western Balkans countries are urged to align their
    visa regimes to the EU visa policy, because there are many cases of migrants
    arriving in Balkan countries that do not require visas, and from there they
    move illegally into Western Europe.


    On the other hand, EU policymakers are confident that
    only an agreement like the European Pact on Migration and Asylum, first
    presented in September 2020, is able to meet the challenges created by the
    migration wave. However, member states have reserves concerning the refugee
    distribution mechanisms, which is why the initiative has not been adopted to
    date.


    Unlike in 2016, the current plan does not explicitly
    stipulate refugee quotas, but it introduces a mandatory solidarity mechanism
    under which the Commission would still be able to set quotas for EU member
    states, depending on their population and economic development. The alternative
    for these countries would be other types of contributions, such as financing
    and repatriation of rejected asylum seekers, or the construction of refugee
    camps.


    Romania welcomed the European Commission’s Action Plan
    on the Western Balkans, and voiced confidence that the proposed measures and
    instruments are able to respond to concerns related to arrivals on the Western
    Balkans route this year, including those expressed by Austria.


    Vienna is reluctant to accepting Romania and Bulgaria
    into the Schengen area, for reasons related to the management of migration
    flows. Romania reiterates its willingness to make active and substantial
    contributions to the implementation of the measures proposed by the European
    Commission, in close cooperation with its other EU partners and in the spirit
    of solidarity and responsibility. (AMP)

  • October 23, 2022 UPDATE

    October 23, 2022 UPDATE

    NATO Spain is going
    to send F-18 and Eurofighter jets to Romania and Bulgaria, to help strengthen
    NATO’s eastern flank in the context of the war in Ukraine. According to Radio
    Romania’s correspondent in Madrid, the aircraft, pilots and relevant auxiliary
    and maintenance personnel will reach the Feteşti air base in the south of
    Romania on December 1, and will be stationed there until the end of March 2023.
    Currently stationed in Zaragoza, they will monitor air space in the region and
    take part in training missions. This is Spain’s response to the Allied request
    for an enhanced contribution to NATO’s prevention capability, the Spanish
    defence ministry said, and added that Spain has already installed a long-range
    air surveillance radar in Schitu, Constanţa County, operational since October
    17 and serviced by 38 troops.


    BORDER Romania’s
    border police announced that over 97,000 people entered Romania on Saturday, of
    whom more than 9,500 were Ukrainian nationals, up 15.6% since the previous day.
    According to current data, over 2.6 million Ukrainian citizens have entered
    Romania since February 10, and nearly 4,400 of them have applied for asylum
    here.


    NRRP Romania is
    set to receive EUR 2.6 bln in the coming days under the National Recovery and
    Resilience Plan, to be channelled into the country’s economic recovery. The
    funds are transferred after the European Commission authorised the payment of
    the first instalments of the non-reimbursable aid and loan components. Romania submitted
    the first payment request in May, after meeting the targets and benchmarks for
    the 4th quarter of 2021. In September, the European Commission’s assessment of
    these targets was approved and submitted to the Economic and Financial
    Committee, which also approved it. The Romanian minister for investment and
    European projects Marcel Boloş believes this is just the beginning of a long
    road, which, if successfully completed, will translate into investments in
    motorways, railways, schools and hospitals. The next payment request will
    amount to EUR 3.2 bln, for which over 50 targets will have to be met, related
    to the first half of this year. Romania may access a total of nearly EUR 30 bln
    under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, of which it has already
    received 2 pre-financing instalments amounting to a rough EUR 3.8 bln.


    COAL Romania has
    increased its coal output to mitigate the energy crunch. The amounts extracted
    in the first 8 months of the year went up 1.7% and imports rose by 13.5%, the
    National Statistics Institute reports. The National Strategy and Forecast
    Commission estimates for this year a coal output 10% higher than in 2021 and a
    2.8% rise in imports. For 2023, the Commission forecasts an 8% increase in
    output.


    CHINA The Chinese
    president Xi Jinping was re-elected on Sunday as leader of the ruling Communist
    Party, thus becoming China’s strongest leader since Mao Zedong, the founder of
    the Chinese communist regime, international news agencies report. Xi Jinping was
    appointed for a 3rd five-year term in office by a largely reshuffled Central
    Committee, and is very likely to be re-elected president as well in March. ‘China cannot develop without the world, and the world also
    needs China,’ he said, and praised what he called the two miracles achieved
    by his country-rapid economic development and long-term social stability. Xi
    Jinping appointed many of his close allies in the Standing Committee, a 7-member
    group in power in China. The all-powerful Politburo includes no women among its
    members for the first time in 25 years.


    HANDBALL The
    Romanian women’s handball champions, Rapid Bucharest, Sunday defeated Storhamar Handball Elite,
    of Norway, 27-25, in a home match in Champions’ League Group B. Rapid remain
    undefeated after 6 matches in Group B. Their next game is scheduled on December
    3, away from home, against handball powerhouse Gyori Audi ETO KC. (AMP)

  • December 18, 2021 UPDATE

    December 18, 2021 UPDATE

    VISIT The PM of Romania Nicolae Ciucă will be on a visit to
    Brussels on Monday and Tuesday, for talks with senior EU and NATO officials. According
    to the Government, on Monday the Romanian PM will have a working dinner with
    the president of the European Council Charles Michael. On Tuesday, Ciucă will
    have meetings with the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der
    Leyen and with other EC members. The PM will also have a meeting with the
    secretary general of NATO Jens Stoltenberg at the NATO headquarters.


    BUDGET The
    government of Romania passed a number of measures on which the 2022 public
    budget is based. An emergency order freezing the salaries of public officials and
    other public sector staff, with 2 exceptions, was endorsed by the Cabinet with
    amendments compared to the version subject to public debate. The bill also
    includes other measures, such as a low VAT rate only for the purchase of a
    family’s first home. The new tax provisions, alongside the new Ceilings Act,
    are the foundation of next year’s state budget, and are designed to reduce
    expenditure and maintain the public deficit below 6.2% of GDP.


    ANTI-CORRUPTION The government approved the 2021-2025 National
    Anti-Corruption Strategy, the justice minister Cătălin Predoiu announced. He pointed
    out that the document is a political commitment to support all institutions
    involved in fighting corruption, and also a first goal met out of the ones
    included in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan in the judicial sector. Predoiu
    added that the Strategy is correlated with international instruments to which
    Romania is affiliated, such as GRECO and the Cooperation and Verification
    Mechanism. The CVM was introduced in January 2007, upon Romania’s and Bulgaria’s EU accession, to support the 2
    countries in overcoming deficiencies in judicial reform and in fighting
    corruption.


    BORDER As of Monday, December 20, travellers entering Romania are
    no longer required to fill in separate COVID-19 statement, because all the data
    will be included in the digital Passenger Locator Form (PLF). The measure is expected
    to help reduce waiting times at border checkpoints, including at the Henri
    Coanda Airport, near Bucharest. The transport minister Sorin Grindeanu Saturday
    requested the Airport management to take steps to streamline passenger flows
    and to avoid crowding. The request came after hundreds of people waited for a
    long time for the authorities to check their documents. Romanian border
    checkpoints are getting crowded these days, as many Romanians living abroad are
    coming home for Christmas. Queuing is reported at the checkpoints on Romania’s
    western borders, where apart from travel documents the digital Covid
    certificates and PCR tests must also be checked. In order to streamline border
    crossing, at the checkpoint in Giurgiu (south), the number of border police
    will be increased by 20%.


    MINORITIES Romania
    celebrated on December 18 the Day of Ethnic Minorities. President Klaus
    Iohannis said on this occasion that ethnic minorities make an essential
    contribution to social cohesion and that only together can a modern Romania be
    built, with no place for racism, xenophobia and intolerance. Protecting cultural
    heritage, including that of national minorities, is a priority for the Culture
    Ministry, which treasures the culture of minorities as an element contributing to
    the shaping of Romanian culture as we know it today, reads a news release
    issued by the institution.



    COVID-19 733 new COVID-19 cases
    and 64 related fatalities were reported in the last 24 hours in Romania, the
    authorities announced on Saturday. The coordinator of the vaccination campaign,
    Valeriu Gheorghiţă, announced on the other hand that the number of people
    requesting their first doses of anti Sars-CoV-2 vaccine is on the decrease. He detailed
    that the number of people who get their first vaccine doses drops by 15-25%
    from one week to the next. On Saturday only 4,500 first
    doses were administered. Meanwhile, the Omicron variant of the virus has been
    reported in 89 countries, with the number of cases doubling over 1.5-3 days in
    areas with community transmission, the WHO announced on Saturday. WHO first
    labelled Omicron a variant of concern on November 26. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • December 18, 2021

    December 18, 2021

    VISIT The PM of Romania Nicolae Ciucă will be on a visit to
    Brussels on Monday and Tuesday, for talks with senior EU and NATO officials. According
    to the Government, on Monday the Romanian PM will have a working dinner with
    the president of the European Council Charles Michael. On Tuesday, Ciucă will
    have meetings with the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der
    Leyen and with other EC members. The PM will also have a meeting with the
    secretary general of NATO Jens Stoltenberg at the NATO headquarters.


    BUDGET The
    government of Romania passed a number of measures on which the 2022 public
    budget is based. An emergency order freezing the salaries of public officials and
    other public sector staff, with 2 exceptions, was endorsed by the Cabinet with
    amendments compared to the version subject to public debate. The bill also
    includes other measures, such as a low VAT rate only for the purchase of a
    family’s first home. The new tax provisions, alongside the new Ceilings Act,
    are the foundation of next year’s state budget, and are designed to reduce
    expenditure and maintain the public deficit below 6.2% of GDP.


    ANTI-CORRUPTION The government approved the 2021-2025 National
    Anti-Corruption Strategy, the justice minister Cătălin Predoiu announced. He pointed
    out that the document is a political commitment to support all institutions
    involved in fighting corruption, and also a first goal met out of the ones
    included in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan in the judicial sector. Predoiu
    added that the Strategy is correlated with international instruments to which
    Romania is affiliated, such as GRECO and the Cooperation and Verification
    Mechanism. The CVM was introduced in January 2007, upon Romania’s and Bulgaria’s EU accession, to support the 2
    countries in overcoming deficiencies in judicial reform and in fighting
    corruption.


    BORDER Romanian border checkpoints are getting crowded these days,
    as many Romanians living abroad are coming home for Christmas. Queuing is
    reported at the checkpoints on Romania’s western borders, as apart from travel
    documents the digital Covid certificates and the PCR tests must be checked. Crowding
    was also reported on the Otopeni International Airport, near Bucharest. Hundreds
    of people waited for a long time for the authorities to check their documents. On
    Monday, an additional digital form will be introduced, to trace travellers. In order
    to streamline border crossing, at the checkpoint in Giurgiu (south), the number
    of border police will be increased by 20%.


    MINORITIES Romania
    celebrates on December 18 the Day of Ethnic Minorities. The president Klaus
    Iohannis said on this occasion that ethnic minorities make an essential
    contribution to social cohesion and that only together can a modern Romania be
    built, with no place for racism, xenophobia and intolerance. Protecting cultural
    heritage, including that of national minorities, is a priority for the Culture
    Ministry, which treasures the culture of minorities as an element contributing
    in the shaping of Romanian culture as we know it today, reads a news release
    issued by the institution. As many as 18 ethnic minorities are officially
    recognised in Romania at present, namely Hungarian, Rroma,
    German, Ukrainian, Russian, Lipovan, Jewish, Turk, Tatar, Armenian, Bulgarian,
    Serbian, Croatian, Czech, Slovakian, Polish, Greek, Albanian and Italian.


    COVID 733 new COVID-19 cases and 64 related fatalities were
    reported in the last 24 hours in Romania, the authorities announced on
    Saturday. The coordinator of the vaccination campaign, Valeriu Gheorghiţă, announced
    on the other hand that the number of people requesting their first doses of anti
    Sars-CoV-2 vaccine is on the decrease. He detailed that the number of people
    who get their first vaccine doses drops by 15-25% from one week to the next. Valeriu Gheorghiţă also said that Romania
    might receive Pfizer vaccine children doses next month, and the vaccination of
    children aged 5 to 11 may begin in the second half of January. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • Crowding in border checkpoints

    Crowding in border checkpoints

    As it happens every year, the Romanians living abroad
    are beginning to come home these days to spend their winter holidays with their
    families. This is the second Christmas and New Year’s that people will
    celebrate under pandemic restrictions.


    The new rules for entering Romania, introduced by the
    authorities on December 10 to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus
    variant, Omicron, are making checkpoints even more crowded than usual. Many Romanians
    are not vaccinated and unaware of the new restrictions.


    Those who come from outside the EU must present a PCR
    test not older than 48 hours. Those who test negative, even if unvaccinated or
    not recovered from the disease, will have to isolate for 10 days, while
    travellers without a test will have to quarantine for 14 days.


    For those who come from the EU, the requirements
    include the digital certificate confirming vaccination, recovery from the
    disease or a negative PCR test not older than 72 hours. The rules apply for
    both Romanian and foreign nationals.


    Border police warn that, because people are not aware
    of these regulations, at the Nădlac 2 checkpoint on Romania’s western border, in
    8 hours as many as 1,400 people were quarantined either for 10 or for 14 days. And
    with the quarantine documents requiring time to fill in, the waiting times at
    the border are even longer.


    In order to avoid crowding, the number of agents and
    of lanes has been increased in most border points. But even so, people are
    waiting for as long as 2 hours to get into Romania.


    And so do lorries and trucks. Customs officers and
    border police say their number has been on the rise since mid-November, when fruit
    and vegetable imports went up, and the processing capacity stayed the same.


    According to border police, these days at the southern
    border, with Bulgaria, truck drivers have been waiting for as long as 2 hours, on
    the western border, in Borş 2, waiting times are around one hour, and in the
    north-east, at the Ukrainian border, the longest waiting time is 2 hours, at
    the Siret checkpoint. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • November 17, 2021 UPDATE

    November 17, 2021 UPDATE

    Covid-19. Over 3,500 new Covid cases were recorded in the last 24
    hours in Romania, as well as 350 related fatalities, including 51 from an
    earlier date. The incidence rate over the last fortnight is on the decrease,
    with the infection rate dropping to 5.03 cases per 1,000 inhabitants in
    Bucharest, as against 5.34 the previous day. The highest figure was reported on
    22 October (16.54 per thousand). The indicator is still over 6 per thousand in
    44 cities in the country. As of Wednesday Romania has over 7 million fully
    vaccinated citizens.


    Inflation. The EU year-on-year inflation rose to 4.4% in October, as
    against 3.6% in September. The highest rates were reported in Lithuania (8.2%),
    Estonia (6.8%), Hungary (6.6%) and Romania (6.5%), Eurostat announced on
    Wednesday. Disruptions in energy supply and the growing costs in the sector slow
    down the growth of the Eurozone economy and will keep inflation up for longer
    than predicted, the head of the European Central Bank Christine Lagarde warned
    on Monday.


    Corruption. Two nurses, 2 clerks and another person in no official capacity were detained under suspicion of
    bribe-taking, computer fraud and forgery in an investigation involving forged
    COVID-19 vaccination certificates. Some 3,000 false certificates have been
    issued in recent months in Vama Petea, north-western Romania, in exchange for 250
    to 300 euros each. Early this month the Interior Ministry announced over 360 criminal
    cases are pending, with nearly 900 individuals facing fraud charges in similar
    circumstances. In related news, the ex-Senator and transport minister Dan Şova
    was sentenced on Wednesday to 4 years behind bars for influence peddling. The
    sentence can be appealed.





    Migrants.
    Poland’s defence minister Mariusz Blaszczak warned on Wednesday that the
    ongoing crisis on the Belarus border ‘may last for months or even years’, and added
    that migrants once again tried to push across the border on Tuesday night.
    Several police workers were injured in the clashes with the migrants crowding
    at the border between the 2 countries in the past few weeks. Poland, which
    strengthened border security, is blaming the crisis on Belarus, but Minsk
    dismisses the accusations. Against this background, the EU announced it is
    considering a joint military force of up to 5,000 troops, to intervene in a
    number of crises without needing to rely on the US. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • Migrant pressure on the EU

    Migrant pressure on the EU

    As relations between Minsk and the EU deteriorate and Belarus’s
    president Aleksandr Lukashenko strengthens his aggressive rhetoric, the refugee
    crisis at the Union’s eastern border risks turning into a humanitarian disaster.


    This is precisely why, at the request of France,
    Ireland and Estonia, the Security Council decided to convene to look for solutions
    for the thousands of people who are trying to get to Western Europe but are
    kept in inhumane conditions at the border.


    For several months now, Belarus has been encouraging
    Middle East migrants to cross its territory on their way to the EU via Poland
    and the Baltic states, and the crisis has been deepening these past few days, when
    thousands of refugees crowded at the border and tried to cross into Poland
    illegally.


    Poland has deployed troops on the border to push back
    the migrants, and informed its NATO allies of the crisis. The North-Atlantic
    Alliance is monitoring the situation and promises to safeguard the security of
    its members, including Lithuania and Latvia, who are also facing migrant
    pressure from Belarus.


    In fact, this is not the first time that the three EU
    member states see migratory waves, mostly Syrian, Iraqi and Afghan nationals trying
    to get illegally into Germany. The EU has repeatedly accused Belarus of pushing
    these migrants into European territory in retaliation to the sanctions
    triggered by Alexandr Lukashenko’s election fraud last year and by the brutal
    crackdown on the post-election protests.


    To add to the complications, Russia, a supporter of
    the Lukashenko regime, has deployed 2 nuclear-capable bombers to fly over
    Belarus. Media agencies note that a growing number of EU voices blame the
    crisis on Russia’s president Vladimir Putin, but Kremlin dismissed the
    allegations as unacceptable. President Putin, contacted on the phone by the
    German Chancellor Angela Merkel in order to put an end to the crisis, suggested
    direct talks between the EU and Minsk, to discuss the issue.


    The EU border is the scene of a brutal hybrid attack with
    Belarus cynically and shockingly using the desperation of migrants as a weapon,
    said the president of the European Council, Charles Michel. The situation on
    the border between Belarus and Poland is not a migrant crisis, but an attempt
    by Minsk to destabilise its neighbours, the EC president Ursula von der Leyen
    said in her turn, warning that the Union would extend its sanctions against
    individuals and entities in Belarus. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • Romania, Bulgaria, closer to Schengen

    Romania, Bulgaria, closer to Schengen

    A
    priority of the Romanian diplomacy, Romania’s Schengen accession, originally
    scheduled for March 2011, is still a goal being pursued, in spite of the fact
    that, as president Klaus
    Iohannis recently pointed out, the country has met the accession criteria for
    over 10 years and is a model of security provision in the EU.


    The Romanian official also mentioned that
    the Schengen accession remains a major political objective and is part of the
    commitment Romania made under the EU Accession Treaty. We hope our efforts will
    be acknowledged soon and that a solution to wrap up this process will be found
    in due time, the head of state also said.


    Romania’s accession has been repeatedly
    postponed, over the opposition of some Member States, particularly the
    Netherlands, which put forth reasons related to the Cooperation and Verification
    Mechanism.


    The fact that Romania, alongside Bulgaria
    and, as of recently, Croatia as well, have met the requirements, has been
    acknowledged at EU level. Early this month, the European Commission presented a
    strategy for strengthening the Schengen area’s external borders and for
    avoiding the checks introduced by several countries in the area since 2015 and reinforced
    by the coronavirus pandemic. The Commission urged the Council to green light as
    soon as possible the 3 countries’ Schengen entry    .


    The European Commissioner
    for home affairs, Ylva Johansson, argued that Schengen accession is an
    obligation for all the EU member states that fulfil the requirements, and said
    the 3 countries currently meet these requirements. We expect the Council to
    make this decision soon, so that Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia may become full
    members, the EU official added.


    For the time being, under a
    decision adopted on Friday by the European Commission, Romania and Bulgaria
    will have limited access to the Schengen digital system as of 1 July. They will
    be able to read visa information in the database that connects the border
    police forces on the EU’s external borders with the consular offices of member
    countries, but will not be able to introduce data in the system.


    Still, the authorities in
    the 2 states will be able to check the records of a visa applicant and the
    validity of Schengen visas issued by other Member States. The decision was
    made after both countries successfully completed a number of technical tests
    required for achieving connection with the system.


    Full access to the Schengen
    databases will be possible once Bulgaria and Romania have been fully integrated
    in the visa-free area, the Commission said.     (tr.
    A.M. Popescu    )