Radio România Internațional

Tag: food waste

  • May 16, 2024 UPDATE

    May 16, 2024 UPDATE

    VISIT The Romanian foreign minister Luminiţa Odobescu received the Hungarian minister for European affairs, János Bóka, who is visiting Romania, in the run up to Hungary taking over the six-month presidency of the EU Council, on July 1. The European and international context marked by multiple challenges and the transition period between two European electoral cycles were tackled. The Romanian official emphasised the interest in advancing the decisions regarding the EU enlargement policy in relation to Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, as well as those regarding Romania’s accession to Schengen with its land borders too. The Hungarian side reconfirmed its support for the achievement of this goal. As regards the current state of bilateral relations, the importance of the strategic partnership between Romania and Hungary and the opportunities for sectoral cooperation were mentioned.

     

    SHOOTING The Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is in intensive care, and his health condition is stable. He underwent several hours of surgery after having been shot in the chest and abdomen on Wednesday, while in a city in the centre of the country, where he had chaired a government meeting. The suspected attacker was detained by the police. According to local media, he is a 71-year-old man, a poet and civic activist. The politicians in power say the attack was politically motivated. Robert Fico is a controversial left-wing politician, accused of pro-Russian sympathies. Returning to power last year, he cancelled military support for Ukraine and announced plans to reform public radio and television, opposed by citizens in street protests. World leaders condemned the attack on the Slovak prime minister, unprecedented in recent European history. Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis said that such extremist acts threaten fundamental European values.

     

    FESTIVAL The city of Craiova (south), is hosting until May 26 the 14th edition of the International Shakespeare Festival. More than 300 world-class theatre performances, concerts, parades, workshops, book launches, installations, VR trips will cover the entire city of Craiova and its surroundings, in conventional spaces, and also in the most original and unexpected places. Shakespeare Village – a British village from the 1600, rebuilt from scratch on the Craiova Hippodrome, will be the venue for dozens of concerts and shows. Famous names in international theatre and performance creators can be found in the festival program, including Robert Wilson, Peter Brook, Declan Donnellan, Robert Lepage, Philip Pârr, Jesus Herrera, and Christian Friedel.

     

    FOOD WASTE The Romanian agriculture ministry Wednesday released for public review a draft resolution aimed at reducing food waste, given that Romania disposes of over 2.5 million tons of food per year. All food operators, prior to destroying foodstuffs past their expiration date, will have to enter annual plans to reduce food waste and annual reports on the amounts of food given away in a dedicated National Platform. According to the European Commission, food loss and food waste increase food insecurity risks and affect the environment, and account for some 16% of the total greenhouse gas emissions in the Union’s food system.

     

    GOVERNMENT In Thursday’s Cabinet meeting the government passed a number of road and railway infrastructure investment projects. Over EUR 2.2 bln will be spent on revamping the approx. 150 km Focşani – Roman railway route in the east of the country in the next 3 years, the Romanian PM Marcel Ciolacu said. According to him, a rough EUR 200 mln has been earmarked for the revamping of a 42-km long segment of the A1 Bucharest-Piteşti motorway. A similar amount will be used by the agriculture ministry to support farmers in the poultry and the pig farming sector. Next week the government is to come up with a decision concerning the salary issues notified by the culture ministry with respect to museum personnel around the country, as well as other professional categories, the PM added.

  • October 26, 2022 UPDATE

    October 26, 2022 UPDATE

    NATO. Romania is a very valuable ally and NATO is prepared to defend Romania, the Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, said on Wednesday in Brussels, in a joint press conference with Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă. For his part, the Prime Minister of Romania stated that the security in the region continues to be affected by the illegal war of aggression waged by Russia against Ukraine and reiterated the support for the Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine, assumed since 2008, at the Summit in Bucharest. Nicolae Ciuca said that Bucharest remains fully committed to fulfilling all its obligations and will continue to be a responsible and active contributor to the promotion of Euro-Atlantic security and stability. At the same time, he emphasized the need for support and assistance for Ukraine, noting that the Republic of Moldova and Georgia, the most vulnerable partners, also need support, and Romanias decision is to contribute financially to the NATO Trust Funds set up to help these states. On a working visit to Brussels on Wednesday and Thursday, the Romanian Prime Minister has met with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen and the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola. The topics of discussion included Romanias accession to the Schengen Area and the European Unions response to Russias military aggression against Ukraine.



    Energy. Both the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine are in a very difficult situation in terms of energy supply and the EUs emergency involvement is vital before the start of winter, the European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simon, said. Chisinau was informed, last week, that Russian gas flows would be further reduced, as well as the supply of electricity from Transnistria (a Russian-speaking separatist region in the east of the Republic of Moldova). Moreover, Ukraine was forced to suspend its electricity exports, while a third of Moldovas electricity imports relied on it. According to Radio Chisinau, Moldova is facing a deficit of gas and electricity, after Russia reduced the volume of gas delivered per day.



    Prescription. The prosecutors of the Superior Council of Magistracy in Romania warns that the direct application of prescription in criminal cases at various stages of trial will result in the termination of some trials and the elimination of criminal liability for certain criminal offenses, some of which are very serious. The Council’s reaction comes after, on Tuesday, the Supreme Court decided that the decision of the Constitutional Court regarding the prescription of criminal offenses applies retroactively. In May, the CCR had removed the article from the Criminal Code that allowed prosecutors to interrupt the course of prescription by administering new evidence. After that decision, some courts suspended the trials, pending a clarification from the supreme court, others just ruled the termination of some corruption trials. One of the politicians that could benefit from the new prescription ruling is former minister Elena Udrea, currently imprisoned for corruption.



    Food waste. 127 kg of food waste per inhabitant were generated in the European Union in 2020 according to the first EU-wide monitoring of food waste conducted by Eurostat, the European statistical office. The survey also notes that 45% of food waste was generated in the food supply chain, while household food waste represented 55%. Almost 10% of food waste was generated by restaurants and food services. According to the agriculture ministry, Romania wastes 2.5 million tons of food every year, which accounts for at least 70 kg of food waste per inhabitant.



    Farming. Romanian farmers managed to obtain, this year, despite extremely difficult natural conditions, 9 million tons of wheat and over 2 million tons of sunflower, thus ensuring Romanias consumption needs and a surplus for export – said, on Wednesday, the Minister of Agriculture, Petre Daea. He participated, in Bucharest, in the opening of Indagra – the biggest agricultural fair in Romania. This year, sustainable crop production and technologies that ensure low energy and fuel consumption are promoted. In parallel with Indagra, there is also Indagra Food – a fair for the food industry, where more than 400 exhibiting companies are present, including from abroad: manufacturers and distributors of equipment and technologies for the meat industry, from the field of bakery, vegetable and fruit industrialization, fish and milk processing. (MI)