Radio România Internațional

Tag: Ciolacu

  • September 15, 2024 UPDATE

    September 15, 2024 UPDATE

    A roundup of local and international news.


    FLOODS – A crisis cell was set up at the Health Ministry to provide the necessary medical assistance to the residents of Galati and Vaslui counties (eastern Romania) affected by the floods. The Interior Ministry and the Defense Ministry have mobilized hundreds of firefighters, gendarmes, soldiers and equipment to help evacuate the victims and repair the infrastructure destroyed by the waters. Dozens of modular homes have already been sent and others are being prepared. More than 5,000 households were flooded, 300 people were evacuated, and another five died, according to the authorities’ latest report. Aid from the state reserves is taken to the affected areas. On Sunday, an energy command was convened by minister Sebastian Burduja. According to him, all teams of the local distribution operator are mobilized in Galati County. The number of people without electricity exceeded 24,000 on Saturday. Several sections of national and county roads in Galati and Vaslui were still closed on Sunday due to the flooding.

     

    WEATHER – Torrential rains have severely affected Central and Eastern Europe in recent days, causing rivers to swell and triggering flood warnings in the Czech Republic, Poland, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary. Flood dams were erected in Prague. Tens of thousands of households in northern areas of the Czech Republic were affected by power outages. In Poland, one person died and thousands of residents in flood-ravaged areas were left without electricity. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk urged the affected population to cooperate with rescue teams. Heavy rainfalls are becoming more frequent in Europe, as in most areas of the world, due to climate change. A warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture, which leads to more precipitation.

     

    FARMERS – Farmers in the European Union will benefit from faster advance payments to cope with this year’s drought and other extreme weather phenomena. The European Commission announces that it has authorized such payments based on requests received from several member states. Thus, starting from October 16, farmers will be able to receive up to 70% of direct payments in advance, compared to 50% at present. According to the European Commission, farmers in the EU face liquidity problems due to the extreme weather phenomena of recent years, drought, but also floods, high interest rates on the financial markets and high production costs. In Bucharest, the Minister of Agriculture, Florin Barbu, gave assurances that farmers whose crops were affected by this year’s drought will receive compensations by October 15. According to official data, over two million hectares of corn and sunflower crops were compromised by the lack of precipitation in Romania.

     

    LIBERALS – The  Liberal Party’s National Council validated, on Sunday, in Bucharest, the candidacy of Nicolae Ciucă for president. Former general and chief of the Army General Staff, Nicolae Ciucă is currently the speaker of the Senate. Mircea Geoană, former president of Social Democrats and former NATO deputy secretary general, recently announced his candidacy as an independent. Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, president of the PSD, as well as Elena Lasconi, the mayor of Campulung Muscel and leader of the Save Romania Union (USR, in opposition), are also part of the race for president. The first round of the presidential elections will take place on November 24, and the second on December 8. At the same time, the legislative elections are scheduled for December 1, on Romania’s National Day.

     

    ELECTIONS – Romanian citizens who have their domicile or residence abroad can express their electoral option by mail in the presidential and parliamentary elections, scheduled in November and December. The application deadline is September 24. So far, approximately 2,800 applications for voting by mail in the parliamentary elections have been registered on the website of the Permanent Election Authority. A little over 3,000 Romanian citizens domiciled or residing abroad registered for the presidential elections. We remind you that the first round of the presidential elections is scheduled for November 24, and the second for December 8. The voting for the election of the future Parliament will take place on December 1, when the National Day of Romania is being celebrated.

     

    DAVIS CUP – Romania defeated China 3-2, in the Davis Cup’s World Group II, after the tennis player Cezar Creţu defeated Rigele Te, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, on Saturday, in Craiova (south). Also on Saturday, the Romanian tennis player Gabi Adrian Boitan was defeated by Yunchaokete Bu, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3), while the Victor Cornea/Bogdan Pavel pair was defeated by Fajing Sun and Rigele Te, 6-4, 6-4, in the doubles. On Friday, in the first singles match, Cezar Creţu (292 ATP) defeated Yunchaokete Bu (113 ATP) 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4), while Gabi Adrian Boitan (364 ATP) beat Yi Zhou (527 ATP) 7-6 (7/4), 6-2. Romania and China have never met before in the Davis Cup.

  • August 25, 2024 UPDATE

    August 25, 2024 UPDATE

    WEATHER Monday will be the 14th day of uninterrupted hot weather in Romania. The highs of the day will be ranging between 31 and 38 degrees Celsius, slightly lower on the Black Sea coast. Meteorologists have issued fresh code yellow and orange alerts for large areas in several Romanian counties, whose residents are bracing up for more days of thermal discomfort. 36 degrees Celsius are expected in Bucharest and a rain shower in the evening.

     

    TENNIS A Romanian-Chinese pair made up of Monica Niculescu and Hanyu Guo has won the title of the doubles competition of the WTA 500 tennis tournament in Monterrey, Mexico. The two clinched a 3-6, 6-3, 10-4 win against the odds-on favourites Giuliana Olmos of Mexico and Alexandra Panova of Russia in a match that lasted one hour and 34 minutes. Monica and Hanyu got more than 47 thousand dollars and 500 WTA points. This has been Monica’s 12th title in the doubles contests and the second this year after the one in Strasbourg together with Cristina Bucsa of Spain. Niculescu, who will turn 37 on September 25th, has also lost 23 finals in doubles competitions and reaped three WTA titles in singles.

     

    NOMINEE The Romanian Prime Minister, Marcel Ciolacu, leader of the Social-Democratic Party (PSD), was officially nominated as the PSD candidate for the upcoming presidential election during a PSD congress held in Bucharest yesterday. He was also reconfirmed as president of the Political-Parliamentarian formation, which is presently co-ruling Romania. In a speech delivered at the event, Ciolacu presented the programme with which he wants to win the highest position in Romania. The country’s industry, agriculture and public services are the main axes of his strategy. According to him, the Social-Democrats have managed to win the trust of the Romanians through unity, and he proposes a new type of president, ‘a president for all’. Most of the PSD members who took the floor during the Congress lashed out at their partners in the coalition that is presently ruling Romania and made ironical statements against the country’s incumbent president Klaus Iohannis. The Social-Democrats haven’t won the presidential election since the year 2000. The first round of the presidential ballot is due on November 24 and the second on December 8.

     

    MEDALS Students from Romania have walked away with four medals from the International Geography Olympiad hosted by the Irish capital Dublin over August 19th and 24th. David Mihai Dumitrescu, from the National College ‘Carol l’ in Craiova, south-western Romania, won gold in Dublin and Ian Mitocaru, from the National College in Iasi became silver medalist. Tudor Olariu from the Iasi-based ‘Costache Negruzzi College’ and Iustin Balan from the ‘Garabet Ibraileanu’ National College in Iasi stepped onto the podium third step. According to the Education Ministry in Bucharest, Romania’s team in Dublin has been coordinated by teachers Mihaela and Dorin Fiscutean of the National College in Iasi.

     

    COAL According to the National Institute for Statistics in Bucharest, Romania’s coal production dropped by 20% in the first six months of the year against the same period of 2023. The country’s coal imports have also dropped by 30%, the same report says. According to the estimates of the National Commission for Strategy and Prognosis, this downward trend is likely to continue in the following years as other energy-production facilities will become operational. The EU’s consumption and production of coal last year dropped by 23%, to its lowest level in recorded history, says the EU statistical Office, Eurostat. According to the same sources, the 100 million ton slump in the coal production in a single year is one of the sharpest ever registered in the EU for this type of fuel. With almost two thirds of the entire EU consumption, Germany and Poland were the biggest coal consumers.

     

    TALKS The government in Bucharest will hold talks next week on a first series of measures aimed at supporting the farmers affected by drought. Authorities are considering a series of compensations but also a new support package for the next year. The state will offer an insurance bonus of 3 thousand lei per hectare and amend the conditions needed for getting the Farmer Loan. Suspending the payment of installments for high interest credits until October next year is also being considered.

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  • August 24, 2024 UPDATE

    August 24, 2024 UPDATE

     

    CONVENTION Romania’s PM Marcel Ciolacu was reconfirmed as leader of the Social Democratic Party on Saturday, and officially nominated as the party’s candidate in the presidential election. In his address on this occasion, he presented the platform for which he hopes to win the president seat: a 10-year plan with 3 strategic directions: industry, agriculture and services. He argued that with its unity, the Social Democratic Party has managed to regain the confidence of Romanians, and that he offered Romanians “a president for all.” The party last won a presidential race in 2000. In their speeches, the Social Democrats teased their partners in the ruling coalition, the Liberals, and mocked the incumbent president, Klaus Iohannis. The first round of the election is scheduled on November 24, and the second on December 8th.

     

    UKRAINE The president of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, sent a letter to his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on Ukraine’s Independence Day. According to the Romanian presidency, Iohannis voiced his appreciation for the courage and resilience of the Ukrainian armed forces and civilians in defending their country’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. He reiterated Bucharest’s firm commitment to provide constant, predictable and multidimensional support to Ukraine until its victory and further on in its reconstruction and European integration process. Iohannis emphasized that the security cooperation agreement signed by the 2 countries in July, on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington, proves that Romania’s support is not circumstantial, but long-standing, predictable and transparent.

     

    CROPS The European Union’s maize output will be smaller because of the drought and extreme heat in Romania, whose crops will be 30% lower. Estimates for the EU’s maize output were cut from 63 million tonnes, as reported last year, to 60-61 million tonnes, which is still above the level in 2022, when the drought affected the entire continent. Romania’s output is expected to drop from around 11 million tonnes last year to less than 8 million this autumn. In France, favourable humidity levels kept maize crops in a generally good condition, and the increase of the areas under crops should ensure higher output, namely over 14 million tonnes. In Poland, smaller areas under maize crops may lead to a 13% drop in output, while in Germany the crops are estimated to be 2% lower.

     

    PENSIONS The National Liberal Party, a junior member of the ruling coalition in Romania, proposes new amendments to the Pensions Law, so as to address the situation of pensioners whose benefits have been cut down in the latest revision. The Liberal leader and Senate speaker Nicolae Ciucă said the law should not have retrospective effect, and confirmed that the pensioners whose benefits have been cut down on paper will not benefit from cost-of-living adjustments for several years, although they will not be paid smaller amounts. According to official data, over 700,000 pensioners have received decisions by which their benefits have been cut down. These include workers in hazardous conditions, such as coal miners, engine drivers and nuclear industry personnel, who were able to stop working before the standard retirement age. Also at a disadvantage are people with disabilities, where the revised benefits are smaller by as much as 60%, for instance for the visually impaired. Hundreds of people are already asking for explanations from the authorities. They have until September 1 to appeal the decisions, and may even take the matter to court.

     

    MUSEUM The Bucharest Children’s Museum has reopened and is waiting for visitors with new guided interactive tours. The most recent of them shows kids the secrets of physics and chemistry. Entitled “The School of Magic – Wizard’s Castle,” it helps children understand physical and chemical reactions in a setting that reminds them of the Harry Potter universe. Apart from the School of Magic, children can enjoy 3 other tours – one devoted to the great ocean explorers, one to the human brain and one to classical fairytales.

     

    TENNIS Monica Niculescu (Romania) / Hanyu Guo (China) have qualified into the doubles finals of the WTA 500 tournament in Monterrey, Mexico. They defeated Tereza Mihalikova (Slovakia) / Olivia Nicholls (UK) 4-6, 7-6 (7/3), 10-4. Niculescu and Guo won the match in 2 hours and 10 minutes and received USD 28,720 and WTA 325 points. In the final on August 25, Niculescu and Guo take on top seeded Giuliana Olmos of Mexico and Alexandra Panova of Russia. (AMP)

  • August 23, 2024 UPDATE

    August 23, 2024 UPDATE

     

    EU The Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu discussed, on Thursday, in Brussels, with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, about the future European commissioner from Romania, about the implementation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, as well as about a new agreement on Romania’s budget deficit, which should extend over 7 years. Regarding the position of European commissioner, Marcel Ciolacu announced that he nominated Victor Negrescu, the current vice-president of the European Parliament. During the meeting, they tackled Romania’s accession to Schengen with its land borders, with the Prime Minister stressing that Ursula von der Leyen is the “biggest” supporter of this cause.

     

    DEFENCE The Chief of the defence staff, General Gheorghiţă Vlad, met on Thursday, in Bucharest, with his counterpart from the French Republic, General Thierry Burkhard, who is on an official visit to Romania. The talks between the two focused on the regional security situation, the progress in achieving full operational capacity of the NATO Battle Group in 2025, and the responsibilities of the French structures deployed to Romania in strengthening the Allied deterrence and defence posture. General Gheorghiţă Vlad emphasised that, in the last two years, the excellent cooperation between the two armies to ensure collective defence were also reflected in the increased interoperability between structures and in the development of training and quartering infrastructure. The visit also included a meeting of the two heads of defence with troops from the NATO Battle Group, at the Getica National Joint Training Center in Cincu. France is the lead nation of the NATO Battle Group.

     

    US ELECTION The Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris accepted her party’s nomination as a candidate for the US presidency, at the Democratic National Convention. She told her supporters that the country has a chance to overcome resentment, cynicism and division. Harris promised tax cuts for the middle class. As regards abortions, she accused her opponent, the former Republican President Donald Trump, of wanting to introduce a national ban. In terms of foreign policy, Harris said that dictators around the world support Trump, the BBC reports.

     

    COMMEMORATION The president of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, in his message on the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Fascism and Communism, says that populism and hate speech are once again present, under various forms. He argues that this is precisely why society as a whole must stay alert to the risk of all the values embraced by Romania being pushed into irrelevance. Iohannis also mentioned the crucial decision made by King Michael I, who acted with responsibility and dignity and changed the fateful course of WWII, saving the country from imminent disaster. In turn, PM Marcel Ciolacu reiterated the government’s firm commitment to fight all forms of extremism, and to strengthen civic engagement, by educating the youth with respect to all the landmarks in recent history.

     

    SCHOOLS Students in secondary schools and high schools in Romania will have more rules to observe in the new academic year. School rules stipulate, among other things, that students cannot hold mobile phones during classes and provide for penalties in case of violations. School operation rules have also been amended. Novelties include conduct grades for each module, separate tests for 9th grade admission, and a teacher in charge of EU-funded projects in each school, as well as online or hybrid classes for students in exceptional situations. On the other hand, secondary school and high school students with final grades above 9.50 will receive merits scholarships. For this academic year, the merit scholarship minimum amount is nearly EUR 90. This amount may be increased by school boards, depending on the budget earmarked by the local authorities.

     

    TENNIS The Romanian tennis player Gabriela Ruse managed to reach the singles main draw of the US Open Grand Slam tournament, which starts on Monday in New York, after defeating Alexandra Eala from the Philippines in 3 sets. Ruse will face Julia Grabher from Austria in the inaugural round. She is the third Romanian to reach the singles main draw at the US Open, after Ana Bogdan and Jaqueline Cristian entered the singles draw thanks to ranking. Cristian will play against Russia’s Daria Kasatkina, seeded 12, while Ana Bogdan will meet the Dutch Arantxa Rus in the first round. (AMP)

  • August 23, 2024

    August 23, 2024

    Brussels – The Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu discussed, on Thursday, in Brussels, with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, about the future European Commissioner from Romania, about the state of fulfillment of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan – PNRR, as well as about a new agreement on Romania’s deficit, which should extend over 7 years. Regarding the position of European commissioner, Marcel Ciolacu announced that he proposed Victor Negrescu, the current vice-president of the European Parliament. During the meeting, they tackled Romania’s accession to Schengen also with land borders, with the Prime Minister stressing that Ursula von der Leyen is the “biggest” supporter of this cause.

     

    Defense – The Chief of the Defense Staff, General Gheorghiţă Vlad, met on Thursday, in Bucharest, with his counterpart from the French Republic, General Thierry Burkhard, who is on an official visit to Romania. The talks between the two focused on the regional security situation, the fulfillment of the conditions for achieving, in 2025, the final operational capacity of the NATO Battle Group, and the responsibilities of the Hexagon structures deployed in Romania in order to strengthen the allied deterrence and defense posture respectively. General Gheorghiţă Vlad emphasized that, in the last two years, the excellent cooperation relations between the two armies to ensure collective defense were also reflected in the increased interoperability between structures and in terms of infrastructure development for training and quartering. The visit schedule included the meeting, in the facilities of the Getica National Joint Training Center in Cincu (centre), of the two heads of Defense with soldiers from the NATO Battle Group. The role of the framework nation of the NATO Battle Group was assumed by France.

     

    Washington – The Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris accepted her party’s nomination as a candidate for the US presidency, within the Democratic National Convention. She told supporters that the country has a chance to overcome resentment, cynicism and division. Harris promised tax cuts for the middle class. As regards abortions, she accused her opponent, the former Republican President Donald Trump, of wanting to introduce a national ban. About foreign policy, Harris said that dictators around the world support Trump, the BBC reports.

     

    Tennis – The Romanian tennis player Gabriela Ruse managed to reach the main singles draw of the US Open Grand Slam tournament, which starts on Monday, at the Flushing Meadows arenas in New York, after defeating Alexandra Eala from the Philippines in 3 sets. Ruse will face Julia Grabher from Austria in the inaugural round. She is the third Romanian to reach the main singles draw at the US Open, after Ana Bogdan and Jaqueline Cristian entered directly the singles draw, thanks to the ranking. Cristian will play against the Russian Daria Kasatkina, the 12th seed, while Ana Bogdan will meet the Dutch Arantxa Rus in the first round.

     

    Football – The Romanian football champions, FCSB, ended in a draw 1-all the away match with the Austrian team LASK Linz, on Thursday evening, in the first leg of the Europa League play-off. The second leg will be played on August 29, in Bucharest. The vice-champion CFR Cluj (north-west) defeated the Cypriot team FC Pafos 1-0 on home ground, in the first leg of the Conference League football play-off. The decisive second leg will take place in Limassol, on August 29. (LS)

     

  • August 21, 2024 UPDATE

    August 21, 2024 UPDATE

    Visit – The Romanian Prime Minister, Marcel Ciolacu, is visiting Brussels, accompanied by the Minister of Investments and European Projects and the Finance Minister. He will discuss with the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, including about Romania’s portfolio in the future community executive. Ciolacu said that his option is Victor Negrescu, who is currently the vice-president of the European Parliament. Marcel Ciolacu and Ursula von der Leyen will also discuss the implementation stage of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. The Romanian prime minister might also present the general principles that he wants to put into practice to reduce the budget deficit.

     

    Drought – The drought has seriously affected cereal production in Romania, especially in the south of the country. The authorities say that an area of ​​approximately 2 million hectares is affected. According to some estimates, approximately 40% of the wheat, corn, rape and sunflower crops are allegedly compromised. It is the fourth year of drought in the last five years, and the losses of farmers are piling up. They put their hopes in the compensation that they can receive from the state. The Romanian Agriculture Minister, Florin Barbu, has recently declared that this year farmers will receive 200 Euros worth of aid per hectare for crops affected by the drought. He added that a unique mechanism in Europe was drawn up by which Romania should ensure 7 million hectares against the drought.

     

    NATO – NATO is strengthening Romania’s defense capacity with the LANZA air defense radar moved from Italy, including the technical team. Located in Tulcea county (southeast), the radar offers a unique capability to NATO’s command and control center, which provides both passive and active radar detection. This state-of-the-art radar is designed for detection, tracking and surveillance in advanced conditions. It is used to provide comprehensive situational awareness and improve the operational capabilities of various platforms, including military ships and submarines. Mobile active radars are highly effective and provide additional protection over airborne and static command and control platforms as they improve interoperability through alliances and partnerships and strengthen NATO’s air and space power readiness.

     

    Program – The Romanian government has decided to continue the program “Hot meals in schools”, for the almost 1.9 million children who go to kindergarten or school. They will receive fruits, vegetables, dairy and bakery products, and the local authorities and directors of the education units will be responsible for the smooth running of the program. Moreover, they will be taught why it is important to eat healthy food, through educational actions. Also during Wednesday’s meeting, the Government set the timetable for the parliamentary elections, scheduled for December 1. The election campaign will start on November 1 and end on November 30. Romanians in the country will vote between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. For the Romanian citizens in the Diaspora, the vote will begin on November 30, at 7:00 a.m. and will end on December 1, at 9:00 p.m..

     

    Washington – The American Democrats officially confirmed Kamala Harris as their candidate for the November 5 presidential election, on Tuesday evening in Chicago, during the party’s national convention. The delegations from all the states and U.S. territories once again cast their votes for Harris, accompanied by music, lighting effects, short speeches and much cheering in the event hall, after she had already been officially elected in an online roll call earlier this month. Vice President Kamala Harris (60 years old) is the second woman nominated by the Democratic Party for the presidential election since its creation in 1828 and could become, if elected, the first female president in US history. She replaces the current US president, Joe Biden (81 years old), who gave up his candidacy for a second term. The Republican counter-candidate in the presidential election is the former president, the billionaire Donald Trump (78 years old).

     

    Air show – The biggest air show in Romania will take place on Saturday, August 31 at the Băneasa Airport near Bucharest. More than 100 civil and military aircraft and more than 150 pilots and paratroopers from 13 countries will participate. The event will mark the 20th anniversary of Romania’s accession to NATO. The pilots of the Romanian Air Force will perform demonstrations with F-16 and IAR-99 Şoim and STANDARD aircraft, among others, as well as with Spartan and Hercules transport aircraft. Special guests this year are the aerial acrobats from the Baltic Bees, the Latvian jet team with a unique in the world style of piloting, performing artistic maneuvers of maximum difficulty. The famous Lithuanian pilot Jurgis Kairys, a multiple world champion in aerobatics, is not missing this year either. (LS)

  • July 27, 2024

    July 27, 2024

    OLYMPICS – Nadia Comaneci was last night one of the surprises of the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympic Games in Paris, along with other world sports legends. The Romanian, alongside Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams and Carl Lewis, held the Olympic torch while aboard a boat on the River Seine, before handing it to various French athletes that took it the place where the Olympic Cauldron was lit. 90 heads of state attended the festivities. The fight for medals started a few days ago in certain disciplines. The first Romanian to enter the competition is the rower Mihai Chiruţă, who has qualified, this morning, in the quarter-finals of the men’s single rowing event, after winning the second series. Also, the rowers Andrei Cornea and Marian Enache qualified directly for the semifinals of the men’s double rowing event, after clearly winning the second series. Romania is participating in the Summer Olympic Games in Paris with 106 athletes.

     

    DISBURSMENT – The European Commission approved the release for Romania of 1.7 billion euros for strategic projects in research and innovation. The Minister of Digitization, Bogdan Ivan, announced that after 2 years of negotiations, the Commission considerers fulfilled the condition called “Good governance of the national or regional smart specialization strategy”, coordinated by the ministry. The European money is for investments in all regions of the country, and the goal is, according to the minister, “an ecosystem of innovation that supports entrepreneurs in the field, Romanians who develop last-generation technologies and bring value to the economy and industry”.

     

    INVESTMENT – The funds to be granted to Romanian farmers whose crops have been compromised by drought will almost triple the budget allocations for subsidies in agriculture, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said. Ciolacu visited, together with the Minister of Agriculture, Florin Barbu, the counties of Vrancea and Galati, some of the most affected by the weather conditions, where corn and sunflower crops are over 90% lost. Around 2 million cultivated hectares are compromised by drought in the entire south and east of the country. Ciolacu gave assurances that Romania does not have any problem regarding food security, because it has a fairly large irrigated agricultural area. On the other hand, he said the Government would present a plan to reduce expenses on September 1. Neither the increase in VAT nor in the social contributions is considered, Ciolacu said. We remind you that the European Union announced that it maintains the excessive deficit procedure for Romania. Similar actions were launched on Friday for six other member states, including France, Poland and Hungary.

     

    SCHENGEN – Hungary, which holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union until the end of the year, will put Romania’s accession to the Schengen area with its land borders, back on the European agenda. This is what the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who participated, on Thursday, in Bucharest, in a working breakfast with PM Marcel Ciolacu, promised. The Hungarian leader is in Romania today to participate in the Summer University in Baile Tuşnad (center). Hungary is Romania’s third largest trade partner. Trade between the two neighboring countries amounts to approximately 13 billion euros, and the two prime ministers agreed that there is still potential for development. They also decided, at the meeting, to start the feasibility studies for a high-speed railway between Bucharest and Budapest, a strategic project of regional interest.

     

    GAZA – Israel and Hamas are preparing for a new round of negotiations for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, the United States, through several officials, including President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, insisted during Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the United States, on the need for a quick agreement on the release of hostages and a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. During the meeting on Friday evening at the residence of former US President Donald Trump in Florida, Prime Minister Netanyahu confirmed that the Israeli delegation of negotiators will go to Rome next week, where the next high-level conference of mediating countries is held. (EE)

     

     

     

     

  • Cooperation Romania – Bavaria

    Cooperation Romania – Bavaria

    ‘We are supporting Romania’s fully-fledged accession to Schengen’ – Markus Soder, the Prime Minister of the state of Bavaria assured his Romanian counterpart Marcel Ciolacu during the official visit he paid as head of a ministerial delegation that went to Munich on Monday and Tuesday.

    The Bavarian official mentioned the real headway made by Bucharest.

    Markus Soder: “We are seeing the progress Romania made, the security aspects. And we are a support to Romania for its fully-fledged accession to the Schengen zone. The cooperation with Europol, the process of fighting corruption have registered great progress and the authorities are cooperating very well. We have got very important and good information from the Bavarian Interior Ministry. And for this reason it is important for Romania to join Schengen as a fully-fledged member.”

    Munich also saw the first joint session of the Romanian and Bavarian governments, where they tackled ways of consolidating the bilateral, economic, social and security cooperation. The two sides have signed a memorandum on entrepreneurship, SMEs and start-ups. Out of all German states, Bavaria is Romania’s most important investor and trade partner with a volume of trade exchanges of 8.3 billion Euros at the end of last year. Marcel Ciolacu says that he wants that all major Bavarian companies invest in Romania.

    Marcel Ciolacu: “We want the big Bavaria-based companies in the field of car-making, engineering and aero-spatial industry, invest in Romania. We have one of the best growth-rates in Europe.”

    The Bavarian Prime Minister also stood for stepping up the bilateral economic relations adding that one domain that should be given increased attention is that of the defence industry. In fact, the talks between the two high officials also focused on the security situation at the Black Sea against the background of the conflict in Ukraine.

    Marcel Ciolacu reiterated Romania’s support for the neighbouring Ukraine and the intention of Bucharest to actively contribute to its reconstruction process. The officials also tackled the EU’s enlargement process.

    Marcel Ciolacu:  “We have reiterated our staunch support for the European future of the partners in the Western Balkans, as well as the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine on the candidates’ own merits in the reform process. We have also mentioned Romania’s appreciation for the sustained efforts of the authorities in Chisinau to implement the needed reforms and have emphasized the fact that we will continue to staunchly support the Republic of Moldova on its way to European integration.”

    The officials also had a meeting with the representatives of the Romanian community in the region. “Romania is also important because more than 213 thousand Romanian nationals are living in Bavaria, the largest foreign community. They have their own contribution and we are happy to have them here – Markus Soder said.

    (bill)

  • May 22, 2024

    May 22, 2024

    BSDA Romanian Prime Minister, Marcel Ciolacu, on Wednesday said there are prospects for the Romanian defence industry to conclude impressive contracts of billions of Euros. Attending the international exhibition Black Sea Defense and Aerospace in Bucharest, the Prime Minister said this is the biggest event devoted to the defence industry in the Black Sea region. The presence of 400 companies from 31 countries here proves the importance of this event, Ciolacu went on to say. All the five operational fields are being represented, the land, air, naval, cyber and space and the event’s main attraction is the multi-role F-35 jet fighter, the US Navy has for the first time brought to an exhibition in Europe. The event is proposing to identify opportunities and find cooperation solutions both in terms of production and the business field contributing to the international promotion of Romania’s Defence industry.

     

    WAGES The government in Bucharest intends to raise the salaries of some categories of state employees by 10 percent this year in two equal installments. A draft ordinance on the issue has been put up for debates by the Labour Ministry. Some of the state employees who are to benefit the measure have recently staged protest rallies, but Prime Minister Ciolacu yesterday explained the budget did not allow for more pay raises. Those to benefit the aforementioned measure are employees from various cultural institutions, of the trade registry, the diplomatic field, the defence industry, of mayor offices and other institutions funded from the government’s and Parliament’s own sources.

     

    FESTIVAL The International Theatre Festival ‘Shakespeare’ continues in Craiova, south-western Romania with a new series of theatre shows, multi-media installations, outdoor film screenings, book launches and round table talks.  ‘Macbeth’, brought by the Theatre without Name based in Chisinau, the Republic of Moldova, and the ‘Twelfth Night’ directed by Andrei Serban at the state theatre in Constanta are the festival’s main events today. Shakespeare village, a British village from 16 hundred build from scratch on the local hippodrome is the venue for scores of concerts and shows, while the Craiova Promenade is hosting the Shakespeare Dimension cube, providing a virtual immersion into the Shakespearian world. At its thirtieth edition this year, the aforementioned international event consists of 300 shows and events bringing together some of the world’s most famous directors and actors such as Robert Wilson, Declan Donnellan, Peter Brook or Robert Lepage.

     

    VISIT Romanians will be able to travel to Turkey without passports only with their ID cards, Turkish president Tayyip Recep Erdogan decided during the formal visit Romania’s Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu paid to Ankara. The Romanian Prime Minister participated together with president Erdogan in the first joint session of the two governments, when they decided that Romanian farmers may resume the export and transit of meat through Turkey. Also high on the talks agenda were the extended cooperation in the fields of defence and energy.

     

    (bill)

     

  • May 21, 2024

    May 21, 2024

    goVisit – The Romanian Prime Minister, Marcel Ciolacu, is paying an official visit to Ankara today, at the invitation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The PM is accompanied by a delegation of ministers, in the context of which they will sign a series of agreements in the field of tourism, SMEs and urban planning. A joint meeting of the governments of the two states will also take place. Marcel Ciolacu and Recep Tayyip Erdogan will sign the joint declaration regarding the setting up of the high-level Strategic Cooperation Council between the two countries. According to a press release of the Romanian government, the prime minister’s intention is to increase bilateral trade exchanges to 15 billion dollars through future projects in energy, transport, agriculture, agri-food industry and defense. Last year, bilateral trade amounted to over 10 billion dollars, and Turkey is Romania’s main economic partner outside the European Union. In the context of the visit, the Turkish authorities have today published in the Official Gazette a decree under which the Romanian citizens can enter Turkey for transit or for tourism purposes only with the ID. They can stay in Turkey for 90 days at the most.

     

     

    Iran – Iran will hold elections on June 28, after the death of President Ebrahim Raisi. Today, the funeral ceremonies for the former president have begun near the place where he died on Sunday, following the crash of the helicopter he was in. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, declared five days of national mourning on Monday after the death of President Ebrahim Raisi and appointed the First Vice President Mohammed Mokhbe as interim president.

     

    Royalty – Her Majesty Margareta, the Custodian of the Romanian Crown, and His Royal Highness Prince Radu are paying a visit to Luxembourg these days, in order to emphasize “Romania’s role in the European Union and NATO and to support the European aspirations of the Republic of Moldova”. In the presence of His Royal Highness Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Her Majesty Margareta is giving a speech today at the Pierre Werner Institute on the security of the eastern borders of the EU and NATO. In the following days, the Custodian of the Crown and the Prince Consort will visit the University of Luxembourg and meet with students and staff from Romania. A visit is also scheduled to the Notre-Dame Saint-Sophie School, as well as to the NATO Support and Procurement Agency, where they will meet the Romanians who work there. The program also includes a meeting with the members of the Romanian community in Luxembourg, as well as the inauguration of the photography exhibition “Contribution of the Royal Family to the consolidation of Romania’s role in NATO and the EU 2002-2023”.

     

    Tennis – The Romanian tennis player Ana Bogdan was voted the winner of the Heart Award, for her contribution in the Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers, according to the competition’s Instagram page. Ana Bogdan won two of the three matches played in April in the meeting with Ukraine, as the Romanian team came back from 0-2 to 3-2. Thus, Romania qualified for the first time to the final tournament of the competition. The Romanian team will face Japan in the round of 16 of the Billie Jean King Cup, and if they win, they will play in the quarterfinals with Italy. The final tournament will take place between November 12-20, in Seville. On the other hand, in Strasbourg, the pair made up of the Romanian player Monica Niculescu and the Spanish Cristina Bucşa qualified, on Monday, to the quarterfinals of the doubles event of the WTA 500 tournament, after defeating the Czech-Slovak pair Marie Bouzkova/Tereza Mihalikova, 6-1, 6-3. In the quarterfinals, Niculescu and Bucşa will play against the Americans Ashlyn Kruger/Sloane Stephens.

     

    Law – Penalties for trafficking in persons and minors, slavery or child pornography will no longer be suspended, according to a draft law that will receive the final vote in the Bucharest Chamber of Deputies. According to the new regulations, an increase in the penalties for these crimes will be applied. Thus, for slavery, child pornography and human trafficking, the prison sentence can reach up to 12 years, and if minors are involved, the sentence will be up to 20 years. We come back to that after the news.

     

    Moldova – The Republic of Moldova signs, today, a security and defense pact with the European Union. Cooperation in this field is intensifying against the background of the war in Ukraine and in the context in which Chişinău accused Russia of waging a hybrid war against it. The security pact will be signed within the Association Council between the two parties and takes place on the sidelines of the General Affairs Council in Brussels. The collaboration thus extends on several security levels, from the military or cyber security to the fight against manipulation and disinformation, from border management to the fight against corruption. According to the Financial Times publication, the partnership with Brussels in the field of security and defense will allow the Republic of Moldova to exchange information and carry out joint military exercises, as well as to be included in the common arms procurement system of the EU. (LS)

  • April 18, 2024

    April 18, 2024

    Summit – President Klaus Iohannis said that he wanted to solve as quickly as possible the problems that the Romanian citizens still have at the airports of some European countries, despite the fact that Romania entered Schengen with air borders. The statement was made before the European summit in Brussels, where a report requested by the Council mentions the need for the total integration of Romania and Bulgaria into the Schengen Area, as a measure that will boost the single market. The Council’s agenda includes the situation in Ukraine, a country that needs more military aid and is facing problems in the energy infrastructure, following the Russian bombings. The European leaders will also discuss the tense situation in the Middle East, generated by the crisis in Gaza and the tensions between Israel and Iran.

     

    Eurobarometer – Romania is among the top countries in the European Union where the voting intention in this year’s European Parliament elections has increased. According to the most recent Eurobarometer survey, the voting intention reached 74%, after it increased by 19% compared to the elections five years ago. The data show that Romanians continue to have a positive image of the European Parliament. A little more than half of Romanians say that for them personally it is important to vote in the European elections, 40% say that the vote has an average importance, while only 5% say that the election has low importance for them. At the same time, Romanians are more optimistic than the EU average that their standard of living will increase in the next five years, and equally more optimistic than the EU average that the state of the country’s economy will be better in a year’s time.

     

    Abu Dhabi – The Romanian Prime Minister, Marcel Ciolacu, is paying a working visit to the United Arab Emirates on Thursday and Friday. An important objective of this visit is the consolidation of the economic component, with an emphasis on attracting Emirati investments. The Prime Minister is to meet with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan, the President of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, with other senior Emirati officials, with representatives of relevant companies in the United Arab Emirates, as well as with members of the Romanian community there. The agenda of the visit also includes a plenary meeting of the delegations, during which there will be an exchange of bilateral documents in areas of common interest. The PM Ciolacu stated that he wanted to strengthen cooperation relations with the United Arab Emirates, from a political and economic perspective. ‘Romania continues to attract Emirati investors in the air infrastructure, the modernization and expansion of Otopeni Airport being a viable project of our collaboration’, said Marcel Ciolacu. He added that projects in the fields of digitization, energy and agriculture also correspond to Romania’s interests. In the first part of his tour in the Persian Gulf area, Marcel Ciolacu had discussions, on Wednesday, in Qatar, on economic topics. He stated that he wanted Romania to become the entry gate of this state’s investments in the European Union.

     

    Strike – The employees’ trade union of the National Office of the Trade Register (SAONRC) goes on a Japanese-style strike on Thursday, across Romania, requesting the Romanian Government to take urgent actions to increase salaries by 15%. According to trade unionists, the National Office of the Trade Register is the public institution with the lowest salary level in the judiciary. The union accuses salary inequities and discrimination of the Office employees compared to other categories of employees in the justice domain. The Japanese-style strike will last until April 22. Between April 23-25, rallies will take place at the national level in all counties, and on April 26 a rally will take place at the headquarters of the Justice Ministry. As of August, the collective labor conflict will be started, announced the National Office of the Trade Register trade unionists. (LS)

  • April 16, 2024 UPDATE

    April 16, 2024 UPDATE

    IMF – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revised downwards the estimates regarding the growth of the Romanian economy this year, from 3.8% as estimated in October, to 2.8%, according to the latest report ‘World Economic Outlook’, published on Tuesday by the international financial institution. According to the new IMF forecasts, after an advance of 2.1% last year, the economy will grow to 2.8% this year, accelerating to 3.6% in 2025. As for inflation, the IMF forecasts that Romania will register an average annual growth of 6% this year and 4% next year, from 10.4% in 2023. Also, the IMF expects Romania’s current account deficit to remain at 7.1% of the GDP in 2024, similar to the level forecast in October and to that of 2023. Regarding the unemployment rate, the IMF estimates a level of 5.6% in 2024 and 5.4% in 2025.

     

    Visit – The Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu and members of his cabinet on Wednesday travelled to Doha, the capital of Qatar. They are due to meet a number of high-ranking Qatari officials to discuss the consolidation of bilateral cooperation in key areas such as agriculture, transport infrastructure, new technologies and energy. An important role will be played by the dialogue between the business communities from the two states and the talks on the organization of a future business forum. The Prime Minister Ciolacu is accompanied on his trip by the ministers of foreign affairs, transport, economy, energy, agriculture and digitalization. After Qatar, the government delegation will travel to the United Arab Emirates.

     

    Miners’ riots – The former Prime Minister Petre Roman and the former Deputy Prime Minister Gelu Voican Voiculescu can be criminally investigated in the 1990 Mineriada – Miners’ riots file, after President Klaus Iohannis approved, on Tuesday, the prosecutors’ requests to start the criminal prosecution of the two officials for crimes against humanity and sent the requests to the justice minister. In the same file, President Klaus Iohannis approved, also this month, the criminal prosecution of the former head of state Ion Iliescu, accused of giving the order for the forced evacuation of the demonstrators from the University Square in Bucharest. The three were at the helm of the country during the Miners’ riots in the period June 13-15, 1990, when demonstrations against the government were violently repressed by law enforcement, with the help of miners called from Jiu Valley. Four people were shot dead, and over 1,000 others were injured.

     

    Tennis – The Romanian tennis player Sorana Cîrstea was defeated by the Chinese Qinwen Zheng, 6-2, 6-3, on Tuesday, in the first round of the WTA 500 tournament in Stuttgart (Germany), with total prizes worth about 800,000 dollars. Cîrstea, ranked 29th in the WTA ranking, played her first match on clay this year. Another Romanian, Gabriela Ruse, will play, on Wednesday, against the Japanese Nao Hibino, in the first round of the WTA 250 tournament in Rouen (France), with total prizes worth over 230,000 Euros.

     

    Art – The Romanian Culture Minister, Raluca Turcan, on Monday started a five-day visit to Italy, in the context of the 60th edition of the Venice Art Biennale. The agenda of the visit included participation in the opening of the exhibition ‘What Work Is’ by Şerban Savu, presented at the Romanian Pavilion within the Biennale, as well as participation in the New Gallery of the Romanian Institute of Culture and Humanistic Research in Venice.

     

    Schengen – The Romanian Interior Minister, Cătălin Predoiu, said on Tuesday, in Bucharest, that in the Schengen history, there is no example, to his knowledge, in which a state was left with only part of its borders in the free travel area. He made these statements after a meeting with his German counterpart Nancy Faeser. “We believe that history will be confirmed this year, in 2024, and Romania will complete this file with the support of the member states, the Commission and in good cooperation with Austria,” the minister pointed out. Cătălin Predoiu mentioned, in context, that Romania has met the technical criteria for joining the free travel area for 14 years. In turn, Nancy Faeser reiterated Germany’s support for Romania’s accession. We continue to support Romania’s full accession to the Schengen area with land borders as well. Schengen is an important achievement of our European project. Now it is very important to show solidarity and strength’, the German official emphasized.

     

    Talks – The Romanian Defense Minister, Angel Tîlvăr, on Tuesday had a meeting in Bucharest with the US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, James O’Brien, during which he highlighted the need to strengthen NATO’s presence on the entire flank eastern. The Romanian minister reiterated his firm commitment to consolidating and strengthening the bilateral strategic partnership. The two officials also discussed Ukraine’s European path and the continuation of international support for Kyiv. (LS)

  • April 15, 2024

    April 15, 2024

    Attack – “Neither the region nor the world can afford more war,” António Guterres told the body’s Security Council as it met to discuss Saturday’s Iranian attack. “The Middle East is on the brink,” he warned. “The people of the region are confronting a real danger of a devastating full-scale conflict. Now is the time to defuse and de-escalate” insisted Antonio Guterres. The Iranian attack, called “Operation Honest Promise”, was a response to the strike that destroyed the Iranian consulate in Damascus on April 1, an attack in which seven members of the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological army of the Islamic Republic, lost their lives. Iran has put the blame on Israel, which has neither confirmed nor denied. Since the Iranian revolution of 1979, Israel has been the avowed enemy of the Islamic Republic. So far, Tehran has not attacked Israel head-on, and the two countries have usually clashed through third parties, such as the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah.

     

    Visit – The Romanian Prime Minister, Marcel Ciolacu, is paying an official visit to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates this week. The main topics of discussion concern the fields of energy, port infrastructure, agriculture and IT. Investment opportunities in Romania, in the field of renewable energy, both offshore and on-shore, will also be addressed. The parties also intend to develop the public-private partnership to support large-scale projects, both in the highway and railway infrastructure. One such project, said Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, is Moldavia’s Highway. Topics of regional and international interest will also be discussed.

     

    Energy – The Romanian Energy Ministry is organizing, on Monday, in collaboration with several entities, an event dedicated to the first cyber security exercise organized in Romania. According to the institution, the purpose of the exercise is to establish the level of preparation of the energy companies in order to face potential cyber attacks. Based on the exercise, a risk assessment will be made, and according to the results, procurement plans for goods and services in cyber security will be established, said the quoted source.

     

    Strike – The Romanian employees of the National Trade Register Office, on Thursday, will go on a Japanese-style strike, at the national level, according to a press release sent to AGERPRES news agency on Monday. They request the Government to take urgent steps to increase salaries by 15%, given that the Office is the public institution with the lowest salary level in the judiciary field. At the same time, the trade unionists demand the granting of increased benefits for risk and neuropsychological overload, a right that is granted to all other categories of employees from the ‘Justice’ occupational family. The trade unionists announced, for the period April 23-25, rallies at the national level in all counties, and on April 26 a rally at the headquarters of the Justice Ministry. In August, the collective labor conflict will be started, the trade unionists also announced.

     

    Price – In Romania, the average price of one liter of gasoline increased, compared to last month, by 3.2%, while one liter of diesel oil increased by one percent. With an average price of one liter of gasoline of 1.47 Euros and of diesel oil of 1.51 Euros, Romania ranks 3rd in the European Union, in the top of the countries with the cheapest fuel, after Bulgaria and Malta. The price of oil could increase, today, after Iran’s attack on Israel, according to some analysts, quoted by the Reuters news agency. Everything depends on how Israel and the West choose to fight back.

     

    Art – The Romanian Culture Minister, Raluca Turcan, is starting today a five-day visit to Italy, in the context of Romania’s participation in the 60th edition of the Venice Art Biennale. Raluca Turcan will participate in the opening of the exhibition “What Work Is” by Şerban Savu, presented at the Romanian Pavilion at this year’s edition of the Biennale, as well as at the New Gallery of the Romanian Institute of Culture and Humanistic Research in Venice. According to a Ministry of Culture press release, Romania’s participation in the Venice Biennale is a constantly renewed declaration of membership to European and world culture. The Culture Ministry traditionally supports the Romanian presence at the Venice Biennale, one of the most prestigious cultural events in the world. (LS)

  • State aid for companies affected by the war in Ukraine

    State aid for companies affected by the war in Ukraine

    The European Commission has approved the reintroduction of a state aid scheme in Romania of approximately 2.5 billion Euros (12.5 billion RON) to support companies in the context of Russia’s war against Ukraine. The aid consists of loans as well as of non-reimbursable funds that will be granted to Romanian companies until June 30. The amount of support is divided into categories. Thus, companies in the agricultural field can receive up to 280,000 Euros, companies in the fishing and aquaculture field, up to 335,000 Euros, and companies operating in the rest of the sectors can benefit from aid worth up to 2.25 million Euros. According to the Commission’s analysis, the request made by Romania complies with the conditions provided for in the crisis and transition framework. The Romanian state requested such an agreement for the first time on September 9, 2022, which was approved in January 2023 for the entire year. Following the expiry of this deadline, the Commission once again approved the reintroduction of the state aid scheme to ensure sufficient liquidities for companies on the Romanian market.

     

    The measure is seen as necessary and proportionate to remedy the irregularities in the national economy. Moreover, the Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu had announced, a few days ago, that the government would extend this year the IMM INVEST PLUS state aid scheme, to overcome the economic difficulties created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This is a government lending program for working capital and investments aimed at SMEs and large companies in Romania. Approximately 11,500 companies can receive such funds. The program was initiated to ensure, until June 30, access to financing by companies that do not have the necessary sums for investment projects and for the continuation of their activity, the Finance Ministry announced. We want to support vital sectors such as agriculture, constructions and production and to make sure that we offer innovative Romanian companies the opportunity to reach their potential, said the finance minister, Marcel Boloş.

     

    The EU imposed unprecedented sanctions on Moscow and adopted a series of support programs and allowed member states to provide special subsidies to mitigate the economic and commercial effects of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Europe was subsequently faced with an explosion of prices and turbulence in the financial markets. The war has had enormous economic costs so far. It was not just the economies of the two countries in conflict that suffered, but the entire planet. Already rated as one of the costliest wars in human history, the price of this conflict has so far been estimated at over two and a half trillion dollars, that is over two thousand five hundred billion. Comparatively, this sum is equivalent to Romania’s GDP for seven and a half years. And it represents, in just two years, more than half the estimated costs of World War II, which lasted six years and was the most devastating conflict in history. (LS)

  • The European People’s Party Congress in Bucharest

    The European People’s Party Congress in Bucharest

    The President of the European Commission, the German conservative Ursula von der Leyen, received, on Thursday, in Bucharest, the approval of her political family, the European People’s Party (EPP, center-right), to run for a second term at the helm of the European Commission. “We have 90 days until the European Parliament elections” on June 6-9, she said from the podium of the Romexpo compound, thanking the participants for their “trust” and broad “support” (400 votes for, 89 against). The congress in Bucharest was hosted by the National Liberal Party – PNL, affiliated to the EPP and part of the governing coalition in Romania together with the leftist Social Democratic Party – PSD, member of the European socialists group.

     

    The EPP has the largest group in the current European Parliament, and polls regarding voting intentions in the 27 member states continue to credit it with the first place. Which, the analysts write, will allow the EPP to remain at the helm of Europe, with a Commission in which, as before, the socialists and, respectively, the liberals from the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE)-Renew Europe will be co-opted. Von der Leyen announced in Bucharest the priorities for the next five-year virtual mandate, with focus on supporting Ukraine invaded by the Russian troops, European defense and the fight against extremism. The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, should not win this war that he started and through which he tries to move the borders by force, von der Leyen said, adding that they remain with Ukraine, and this is the only way in which they can preserve the freedom and prosperity of the European Union.

     

    At the EPP Congress, an extensive electoral manifesto was unanimously voted, in which the full accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the free travel Schengen Area is demanded, among other things. The unanimity cracked, however, after only a few hours. Austria still has objections to the admission of the two countries, members of the EU since 2007 and which will only enter Schengen at the end of this month with the air and sea borders, not with the land borders. About 25 million Romanians and Bulgarians remain, the press writes, second-rate Europeans, only because this is the will of the Austrian conservative chancellor Karl Nehammer whose party is, in turn, affiliated to the EPP. Although the community statistics contradict them, the chancellor and his executive team accuse, with an insistence that is already tiring for everyone, the waves of illegal migrants from Africa or Asia that would arrive in his country through Romania. In Bucharest, Nehammer discussed both with the president Klaus Ioahnnis,the ex-Liberal leader, and with the social-democratic prime minister Marcel Ciolacu, but his position remained unchanged: currently, the Schengen system does not work, therefore, it cannot be extended. (LS)