Radio România Internațional

Tag: grain deal

  • September 16, 2023 UPDATE

    September 16, 2023 UPDATE






    Grains. The European
    Commission has decided not to extend the ban on grain imports from Ukraine, in
    exchange for some commitments assumed by Kyiv. Until September 18, the
    Ukrainian side must present an action plan with effective measures to control
    grain shipments. According to this plan, the Bucharest Government claims that
    it will take the appropriate decisions to protect local farmers. Farmers want
    the Government to make a unilateral decision and extend the restriction for the
    entire duration of the war, even if Brussels has a contrary position. If the
    authorities do not extend the ban, as decided by Poland, the Romanian farmers
    threaten to block the customs in the west of the country, as well as the Black
    Sea port of Constanţa (southeast). Among
    the five countries that initially requested the introduction of this ban, only
    Bulgaria has announced that it does not want to extend the embargo imposed on
    wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower imports from Ukraine.






    Schengen.
    Austria’s opposition to Romania’s accession to the Schengen
    Area is not directed against Bucharest, but against this system of free
    movement – said the Austrian Minister of European Affairs, Karoline Edtstadler.
    The reaction comes at the request of the media, after the Bucharest government
    warned that it would sue Vienna if it kept opposing Romania’s accession.
    Edtstadler has stated that she understands the position of the Romanian
    authorities, but stressed that one cannot turn a blind eye to an already
    defective system. She says that the European Union should ensure a protection
    of the external borders that works. In an interview that appeared in the
    Austrian media on Friday, Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu says that, in
    the event of a new opposition, he will have to appeal this decision at the
    European Court to demand compensation for the losses caused by Romania’s
    failing to join the Schengen Area.






    Ukraine. The Russian
    anti-aircraft defense shot down two Ukrainian drones over the regions of Kaluga
    and Tver, in the west of the country , the Russian Defense Ministry announced on Saturday. Also on Saturday, the so-called authorities installed by Moscow in
    the annexed Crimea stated that they intended to sell about 100 Ukrainian
    properties, previously nationalized, including one belonging to
    President Volodymyr Zelensky. The president of the Crimean pseudo-parliament,
    Vladimir Konstantinov, claims that the nationalized properties will be sold
    soon and that the authorities have already organized the first
    eight auctions for the assets of Ukrainian businesspeople. The sales contracts
    amounted to more than 815 million rubles (equivalent to about 8.51 million US
    dollars).








    Mourning.
    In the Republic of Moldova (ex-Soviet, predominantly
    Romanian-speaking), Saturday was a day of national mourning, in memory of the
    first president of this state, Mircea Snegur, who died on September 13. He was
    an active supporter of the national revival movement and had an essential role
    in promoting the independence, freedom and sovereignty of the Republic of
    Moldova – reads a press release from the Presidency in Chisinau. Snegur was
    born in 1940, in the old Romanian county of Soroca (east). He was a doctor in
    agricultural sciences and an activist of the single communist party. President
    of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the republic, in August 1989 he
    agreed to support the bills that gave the Romanian language the status of an
    official language and decided to return to the Latin script and the Romanian
    tricolor flag, a fact that amplified his popularity. On August 27, 1991, Mircea
    Snegur was one of the protagonists of the great national assembly in Chisinau,
    where the Republic of Moldova proclaimed its independence from the Soviet
    Union. He was head of state between 1991 and 1996.










    Libya. An
    aircraft of the Romanian Air Force took off, on Saturday, bound for Benghazi,
    Libya, to transport the first installment of the aid that Romania sends as free
    international assistance to that country, affected by catastrophic floods.
    According to a press release issued by the Ministry of National Defense, the
    Air Force has planned six flights on this route, in which a total of 55 tons of
    goods will be transported, consisting of food products and shelter items. The
    flights are carried out under the Civil Protection Mechanism of the European
    Union, based on the Decision of the National Committee for Emergency
    Situations.








    Rugby. The national rugby
    team of Romania meets, on Sunday, September 17, in the second match they are
    playing at the World Cup in France, the holder of the trophy, South Africa. The
    match takes place in Bordeaux (west). A week ago, also in Bordeaux, in the
    first match of the World Cup, Romania was defeated by the Irish team, with a
    score of 82-8 (33-8). The Romanian rugby players will take on Scotland on
    September 30 and Tonga on October 8, both in Lille (north).






    Tennis. Cezar Cretu
    brought the Romanian men’s tennis team the point of honor in the match against
    Taiwan, won by the Asians 3-1, on Saturday, in the first round of the Davis Cup
    World Group, in Mamaia (southeast). He defeated Tung-Lin Wu 6-4, 6-4 in a
    straight game. Also on Saturday, in the doubles match, the Victor Cornea/Cezar
    Creţu pair was defeated by the Yu Hsiou Hsu/Tsung-Hao Huang couple 6-1, 6-4,
    ensuring Taiwan’s victory. On Friday, in the first singles match, Nicholas
    David Ionel was defeated by Chun-Hsin Tseng, 6-3, 6-0, and Marius Copil was
    defeated in the second by Yu Hsiou Hsu with a score of 7- 6, 7-5. At the
    beginning of next year, Romania will play a play-off to stay in World Group I
    of the Davis Cup. (MI)



  • September 16, 2023

    September 16, 2023

    Grains. The European Commission has decided not to extend the ban on grain imports from Ukraine, in exchange for some commitments assumed by Kyiv. Until September 18, the Ukrainian side must present an action plan with effective measures to control grain shipments. According to this plan, the Bucharest Government claims that it will take the appropriate decisions to protect local farmers. Farmers want the Government to make a unilateral decision and extend the restriction for the entire duration of the war, even if Brussels has a contrary position. If the authorities do not extend the ban, as decided by Poland, the Romanian farmers threaten to block the customs in the west of the country, as well as the Black Sea port of Constanţa (southeast). Among the five countries that initially requested the introduction of this ban, only Bulgaria has announced that it does not want to extend the embargo imposed on wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower imports from Ukraine.



    Ukraine. The Russian anti-aircraft defense shot down two Ukrainian drones over the regions of Kaluga and Tver, in the west of the country , the Russian Defense Ministry has announced today. Also today, the so-called authorities installed by Moscow in the annexed Crimea have stated that they intend to sell about 100 Ukrainian properties, previously “nationalized”, including one belonging to President Volodymyr Zelensky. The president of the Crimean pseudo-parliament, Vladimir Konstantinov, claims that the nationalized properties will be sold “soon” and that the authorities have already organized the first eight auctions for the assets of Ukrainian businesspeople. The sales contracts amounted to more than 815 million rubles (equivalent to about 8.51 million US dollars).



    Mourning. In the Republic of Moldova (ex-Soviet, predominantly Romanian-speaking), today is a day of national mourning, in memory of the first president of this state, Mircea Snegur, who died on September 13. He was an active supporter of the national revival movement and had an essential role in promoting the independence, freedom and sovereignty of the Republic of Moldova – reads a press release from the Presidency in Chisinau. In all localities, as well as at diplomatic and consular missions of the Republic of Moldova abroad, the state flag has been lowered to half mast. Snegur was born in 1940, in the old Romanian county of Soroca (east). He was a doctor in agricultural sciences and an activist of the single communist party. President of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the republic, in August 1989 he agreed to support the bills that gave the Romanian language the status of an official language and decided to return to the Latin script and the Romanian tricolor flag, a fact that amplified his popularity. On August 27, 1991, Mircea Snegur was one of the protagonists of the great national assembly in Chisinau, where the Republic of Moldova proclaimed its independence from the Soviet Union. He was head of state between 1991 and 1996.



    Libya. An aircraft of the Romanian Air Force took off, on Saturday, bound for Benghazi, Libya, to transport the first installment of the aid that Romania sends as free international assistance to that country, affected by catastrophic floods. According to a press release issued by the Ministry of National Defense, the Air Force has planned six flights on this route, in which a total of 55 tons of goods will be transported, consisting of food products and shelter items. The flights are carried out under the Civil Protection Mechanism of the European Union, based on the Decision of the National Committee for Emergency Situations.



    Rugby. The national rugby team of Romania meets, on Sunday, September 17, in the second match they are playing at the World Cup in France, the holder of the trophy, South Africa. The match takes place in Bordeaux (west). A week ago, also in Bordeaux, in the first match of the World Cup, Romania was beaten by the Irish team, with a score of 82-8 (33-8). The Romanian rugby players will take on Scotland on September 30 and Tonga on October 8, both in Lille (north).



    Tennis. The Romanian mens tennis team was defeated by the Taiwan team 3-0, in the first round of the World Group I of the Davis Cup, after the pair Victor Cornea/Cezar Creţu was defeated by the pair Yu Hsiou Hsu/Tsung-Hao Huang with 6-1, 6-4, today, in the Black Sea resort of Mamaia (south-east). On Friday, in the singles matches, Nicholas David Ionel was defeated by Chun-Hsin Tseng, 6-3, 6-0, and Marius Copil by Yu Hsiou Hsu 7-6 (7/5), 7-5. At the beginning of next year, Romania will play a play-off to stay in World Group I of the Davis Cup. (MI)


  • Delta and Drones

    Delta and Drones


    The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bucharest has informed and is consulting with NATO allies on the developments on the border between Romania and Ukraine, after the discovery of new fragments of a drone, most likely Russian, on Romanian territory. It is the third such incident in recent days, and the Charge Daffaires of the Embassy of the Russian Federation was summoned to the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Romanian diplomacy has once again firmly demanded “the cessation of repeated attacks against the Ukrainian population and civil infrastructure and the irresponsible escalation by the Russian Federation of the security situation, including at the border between Romania and Ukraine”.



    At the same time, Bucharest insists on “respecting the norms of international law, including the inviolability of Romanias airspace”. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defense has specified that “there are no elements to indicate that it was an intentional attack on Romania”, and there were no unauthorized flights or violations of the countrys airspace. The official announcements do not diminish, however, the anguish of the people living near the border. Locals from the Danube Delta (Tulcea county, southeast) have already received RO-ALERT messages, in which they are warned about the possibility of objects falling from the airspace, amid Russian attacks on Ukraine.



    The message was sent according to a decision of the National Committee for Emergency Situations. People are advised to keep calm and protect themselves in basements or civil protection shelters. In parallel, a detachment of sappers have installed in a village two shelters made of prefabricated concrete elements, which they handed over to the local authorities. Everyone seems to expect such incidents to happen again. The Russians frequently target the river ports of Ismail and Reni, in southern Bessarabia, the eastern Romanian territory annexed by the Stalinist Soviet Union in 1940, following an ultimatum, and taken over by Ukraine in 1991, as a successor state. These ports are an important outlet for Ukrainian exports after Russia withdrew from the Black Sea grain deal in July.



    Essential for the transport of goods on the Danube, Reni is about 13 kilometers in a straight line from the Romanian city of Galati, and Izmail is on the Chilia arm of the Delta, which has become the border between Romania and Ukraine. The Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, also said, last week, that there was no information indicating an intentional attack by Russia. He recalled that similar incidents had taken place in Poland. But the events in Romania, warns Stoltenberg, “demonstrate the risk of an accident” caused by the conflict in Ukraine. The opinion is also shared by the military analysts in Bucharest, who are stressing that the Russian army is not famous for rigor or scruples, especially in times of war. (MI)




  • November 2, 2022 UPDATE

    November 2, 2022 UPDATE

    Plan – President Klaus Iohannis signed, on Wednesday, in a ceremony that took place at the Cotroceni Palace in Bucharest, the decree for the promulgation of the law on the National Plan to prevent and combat cancer. The plan covers the period 2023 – 2030 and represents the main public policy document that underpins the measures in the field at the national level. The law stipulates that all citizens have the state-guaranteed right to medical, social and psychological support services such as: prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer, care, including palliative care, psycho-oncology, onconutrition and oncofertility, social services and monthly food allowances. “These are remarkable advances of the medical science, they are state-of-the-art technologies that transform cancer into a disease that can be controlled. Romanians have the right to these innovations of the present”, said Klaus Iohannis.



    Winter season – 58% of Romanians say they will find it hard to pay their energy bills in the upcoming winter season, the same percentage estimating temperatures in their homes will be lower compared to previous years, a recent study reveals. According to the study, increased utility costs have caused changes in the Romanians consumption and purchasing behavior. Therefore, 55% of Romanians say they have stopped buying non-essential products. 40% of the respondents say the energy bills represent their biggest concern for the coming period.



    Moldova – The President of the Republic of Moldova (an ex-Soviet state with a majority Romanian speaking population), Maia Sandu, received assurances, in Bucharest, of Romanias full support in the context of the energy crisis. On Tuesday, she met with the President Klaus Iohannis and the Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca, whom she thanked for their support and for the measures adopted by Romania regarding the facilitation of the supply of electricity, natural gas, fuel oil and firewood for Moldovan citizens. Furthermore, Maia Sandu thanked Romania for the reaction regarding the emergency compensation of the electricity deficit. We remind you that Bucharest urgently began to supply Moldova with electricity and natural gas, after Ukraine stopped exporting energy to Chisinau due to damaging of the power plants in the bombings of the Russian army.



    Russia – Russia announced on Wednesday that it reentered the Ukrainian grain exports agreement, after receiving “written guarantees” from Ukraine regarding the demilitarization of the maritime corridor used for their transport, AFP reports. Moscow suspended its participation in the grain deal on Saturday, citing a Ukrainian drone attack on Russian military ships in the port of Sevastopol in the annexed Crimea. According to Russia, in this attack, remote-controlled aerial and maritime drones moved through the secured corridor intended for ships carrying Ukrainian grain. On Monday, Moscow warned of the “danger” of continuing navigation without its consent and asked Ukraine to guarantee the security of the respective maritime corridor.



    Governemnt – In Wednesdays meeting, the Romanian government approved a draft law on the organization and functioning of the National Signaling Information System and Romanias participation in the Schengen Information System, which ensures harmonization with the standards in the field. On the other hand, the government expanded by 21 molecules the list of compensated and free medicines. These are destined for patients with oncological diseases, heart failure, Parkinsons disease, endocrine and metabolic diseases and chronic lung diseases. The updated list will enter into force on December 1.



    Constitutional Court – The Constitutional Court of Romania admitted, on Wednesday, the notification of the opposition Save Romania Union – USR in relation to the law that allows the construction of small hydropower plants in protected areas. USR invoked 11 arguments of unconstitutionality, including the violation of the principle of bicameralism, given that there are major differences in legal content between the form adopted by the Senate, as the first Chamber notified, and the form adopted by the Chamber of Deputies. USR also invoked the violation of the right to a healthy environment. At the beginning of the year, the Parliament, controlled by the government coalition made up of the PSD-PNL-UDMR, adopted the bill which stipulates that hydropower plants in protected areas, with a more than 60% completion percentage, are considered of major public interest and national security and are to be put into operation by the end of 2025. (LS)