Radio România Internațional

Tag: Israel

  • February 22, 2025 UPDATE

    February 22, 2025 UPDATE

    ELECTIONS The Central Electoral Bureau of Romania announced that it decided on Saturday to admit the registration of the Protocol on the establishment of the electoral alliance “Romania Forward”, signed by the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the National Liberal Party (PNL) and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania (UDMR), in the ruling coalition, in order to support Crin Antonescu’s candidacy in the presidential elections. Antonescu is also backed by the group of ethnic minorities in the Romanian Parliament. The Central Electoral Bureau for the election of the president of Romania in May was selected on Friday. The Bureau is made up of 5 judges with the High Court of Cassation and Justice, the president and vice-presidents of the Permanent Electoral Authority and one representative of each party in Parliament. Parties, political or electoral alliances, ethnic minority organisations and independent candidates will be able to submit their candidacies by March 15, after which the Central Electoral Bureau is to rule on their validity. The election campaign begins on April 4 and ends on May 3, with the vote scheduled on May 4 and the second round on May 18. In December the Constitutional Court cancelled the presidential election over foreign interference in the electoral process. Thousands of Romanians, supporters of the independent sovereigntist candidate Călin Georgescu, who came out first in the first election round in December, took to the streets again in Bucharest on Saturday to demand that the elections be resumed with the second round.

     

    MIDDLE EAST Romania’s interim president Ilie Bolojan said on Saturday that Romania welcomes the release of the 6 Israeli hostages held captive in Gaza, one of whom has dual, Israeli and Romanian citizenship. “We take this opportunity to reiterate our support for implementing the ceasefire agreement and releasing the hostages, as well as for the urgent provision of humanitarian aid to the population of Gaza,” president Bolojan posted on social media. He also mentioned that Romania thanks the US, Qatar, Israel and Egypt for the efforts made to free the hostages. On Saturday, Hamas handed over the last 6 hostages in a first phase of the ceasefire agreement with Israel in Gaza, which provided for the release of a total of 33 captives. Hamas, in turn, receives over 700 Palestinian prisoners from Israel.

     

    RATING Fitch has sent a clear signal that Romania must carry on its fiscal consolidation measures and restore budgetary balance, in order to improve its fiscal credibility, the finance minister Tanczos Barna said after the international financial rating agency announced on Friday that it is keeping Romania in the investment grade category. In a statement, the agency confirmed Romania’s long-term rating at ‘BBB minus’, with a negative outlook. According to Fitch, the rating relies on the country’s EU membership and capital inflows that contribute to public revenues and macro-stability. The gross domestic product per capita and the governance and human development indicators are also higher than in countries in the same rating category, the agency explains. These strengths are overshadowed, however, by a significant deterioration of public finances and a sharp slowdown in economic growth in 2024. Adding to this is a possible adverse effect of political uncertainty. In December last year, Fitch announced that it had downgraded the outlook assigned to Romania from stable to negative. The same announcement came later from Standard & Poor’s.

     

    ENERGY Electricity and natural gas tariffs could be offset in Romania even after April 1, when the current aid scheme is set to expire. The energy ministry has posted for public review a draft act extending the capping period, under which the scheme for electricity is extended until July 1, and for natural gas by one year, until April 1, 2026. The capping extension proposal comes as prices on European electricity and gas exchanges have increased significantly, and also as the low temperatures in Romania this winter entailed a significant increase in consumption. As a result, the line minister Sebastian Burduja announced that the government had decided to protect Romanians and support the competitiveness of Romanian companies. After the energy market was deregulated on January 1, 2021, Romania was among the European countries the most severely affected by record-high electricity and natural gas prices. Thanks to the government’s price capping decisions, households and businesses were protected from excessive prices.

     

    GERMANY Germany holds federal elections on Sunday that are crucial to the country’s future, as the far-right is on the rise and the economy is heading for a third year of recession. The vote comes after the coalition of the Social Democrats, Liberals and Greens led by the Social Democratic Chancellor Olaf Scholz collapsed late last year. According to polls, the Conservatives are expected to win. With the far-right in second place in the polls, however, analysts say that in order to govern, the Conservatives will have to reach a compromise with the Social Democrats or the Greens, overcoming their differences.

     

    AIRCRAFT US aircraft deployed at the Mihail Kogălniceanu base (southeastern Romania) are performing low-altitude training flights in and around Constanţa County these days, the Romanian Air Forces announced. They say that the exercises will continue until February 28 and promised that all safety measures have been taken to reduce the noise impact on civilians. Officials say that these trainings aim to increase the response capacity of aeronautical personnel.

     

    CORRUPTION A company and 2 individuals are prosecuted in a case handled by the Romanian National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA), together with investigators from the US Department of Defence, the DNA announced today. The company owned by a Greek national has allegedly bribed a foreign official to get a EUR 9 mln contract to refuel aircraft at the NATO military base in Mihail Kogălniceanu. Two other individuals are suspected of complicity in continuing bribery in connection with an official of a foreign country.

     

    HANDBALL CS Minaur Baia Mare qualified for the quarterfinals of the men’s handball competition EHF European Cup, although they were defeated by the Finnish team BK-46, 32-31, on Saturday, in Karis, in the second leg of the round of 16. Minaur also played the first match in Finland, on Friday, winning 33-30. Last season, Minaur Baia Mare reached the semifinals of the European Cup. (AMP)

  • February 22, 2025 UPDATE

    February 22, 2025 UPDATE

    MIDDLE EAST Romania’s interim president Ilie Bolojan said on Saturday that Romania welcomes the release of the 6 Israeli hostages held captive in Gaza, one of whom has dual, Israeli and Romanian citizenship. “We take this opportunity to reiterate our support for implementing the ceasefire agreement and releasing the hostages, as well as for the urgent provision of humanitarian aid to the population of Gaza,” president Bolojan posted on social media. He also mentioned that Romania thanks the US, Qatar, Israel and Egypt for the efforts made to free the hostages. On Saturday, Hamas handed over the last 6 hostages in a first phase of the ceasefire agreement with Israel in Gaza, which provided for the release of a total of 33 captives. Hamas, in turn, receives over 700 Palestinian prisoners from Israel.

  • February 4, 2025

    February 4, 2025

    Budget – Today, the Romanian MPs are focusing on the state budget and social insurance bills. With over 1,000 amendments submitted, most of them by the opposition, they will be discussed at an accelerated pace in the committees. The finance minister, Tánczos Barna, explained that the Government’s bill is based on spending cuts and supporting investments, with record allocations of 150 billion lei (about 30 billion Euros), which would ensure compliance with the deficit target of 7% of the gross domestic product. Adopted by the government at the end of last week, Romania’s budget bill for this year is built on an economic growth of 2.5% and an average inflation rate of 4.4%. The debates and the vote in Parliament are predictable, as the MPs of the ruling coalition (PSD-PNL-UDMR) form the majority.

     

    Israel – The American President Donald Trump today receives the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the first foreign leader invited to the White House after his return to power. The talks take place at a delicate moment in the negotiations between Israel and Hamas, for the second phase of the agreement to end the war in Gaza. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent in Israel, the public channel of the Israeli television reported that a compromise is foreseen between the desire of the extremist wing of the Israeli government, which seeks to compromise the transition to the 2nd stage of the Israel-Hamas agreement for the release of the hostages and the continuation of the war in the Gaza Strip, and the American administration, a firm supporter of the release of all hostages and of the end of the war. The compromise would consist in adopting the so-called Tunis model, which was applied in the 1980s to the Palestine Liberation Organization, when its leaders were expelled to Tunis, guaranteeing their lives and the continuation of the organization’s structure in return. On the same model, the extremist wing in the Israeli government could agree to a cessation of the war in the Gaza Strip and the only symbolic defeat of the Hamas organization, whose leaders, without being eliminated, would be expelled to another country, after the Tunisian model.

     

    BOR – Today, the Romanian Orthodox Church (the majority denomination in Romania) celebrates 100 years since its promotion to the rank of Patriarchate. According to Patriarch Daniel, this anniversary is not only a celebration of the past, but also a call to gratitude towards our ancestors and a reflection on the role of our Church in the life of the Romanian people. The Romanian Patriarchate was, throughout its 100-year existence, an unquenchable torch of faith and national unity, he said. Specialists recall that the Romanian Patriarchate was born on February 4, 1925, in a historical context marked by the Great Union of 1918, which brought together all the historical Romanian provinces in a single unitary state.

     

    Defense – European defense without the United States will not work, said NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, after an informal defense meeting of European leaders in Brussels. Mark Rutte highlighted the importance of the NATO-European Union partnership, emphasizing the transatlantic connection as the foundation of European security. The former Dutch prime minister pleaded, at the same time, in favor of increasing defense spending and increasing military production. Romania’s President, Klaus Iohannis, said, among other things, that the US defense industries must collaborate much better and reiterated that Romania did not support the idea of ​​a separate European defense.

     

    Customs – The Romanian Customs Authority (AVR) has started real-time monitoring of means of transport with the help of smart seals applied by customs inspectors within mobile teams, as part of the RO e-Seal National System, the institution announced on Tuesday. This system significantly reduces customs and tax fraud, because the entire process of freight transport becomes transparent and uses a modern method to ensure the modernization and digitization of customs processes, the integrity of goods and the prevention of burglary, also in the case of other risks associated with transport, shows an AVR press release. According to the aforementioned source, the advantages of using the RO e-Seal National System include real-time monitoring, as electronic seals equipped with GPS technology allow full tracking of the transport route and, depending on the information obtained, the rapid intervention of mobile teams throughout the national territory for detecting, sanctioning of customs or fiscal fraud and fraudulent handling of goods. (LS)

  • January 25, 2025

    January 25, 2025

    RATING The financial rating agency Standard & Poor’s confirmed Romania’s ‘BBB minus’ rating, but revised the outlook from “stable” to “negative”. The reasons are related to high fiscal and external risks, the agency reports. According to S&P, the fragmented and uncertain political environment, as well as all the substantial spending ahead of the elections, pushed the fiscal deficit to almost 8.7% of GDP, far above expectations. The Romanian finance minister Tánczos Barna says the change in the outlook from stable to negative indicates that measures are needed to reduce the budget deficit, and that the country needs a balanced public budget and a streamlined government structure. He also said that the government’s measures to reduce the deficit and consolidate economic growth must be implemented at an alert pace, in the form already agreed on with the EU.

     

    PROTESTS The government of Romania is completely willing to find solutions to protect people’s spending power while at the same time preserving macro-economic balance, the prime minister’s office chief said after talks with representatives of the employees who protested in front of the Government headquarters. On Friday, thousands of civil servants, reserve officers, police staff, miners, foresters, steelworkers, Bucharest Metro employees and pensioners took part in a rally to protest a government order that froze salary increases for many public sector personnel at the beginning of this year, and suspended the cost-of-living adjustment of public pensions. A reorganisation of central public institutions and state-owned companies was also announced these days. According to PM Marcel Ciolacu, restructuring the public sector is a priority for the current governing coalition comprising the Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party, and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania.

     

    UKRAINE The president of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, is meeting today in Kyiv with the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, with PM Denys Shmykhal and with the Parliament Speaker, Ruslan Stefanchuk. The main topics of the discussions are the connection of the infrastructure of the two states, trade, collaboration in the EU accession process, and regional security. An important topic on the agenda is the energy crisis caused by Russia, which has increased energy prices and left the citizens of Transnistria, a Russian-speaking breakaway region in the Republic of Moldova, without heat and electricity. The rest of Moldova is safe for the time being, thanks to electricity and gas imports from neighboring Romania.

     

    ELECTIONS The Liberals will convene on Sunday in a special National Council meeting to validate the former party president Crin Antonescu as the joint candidate of the ruling coalition in Romania. The Social Democrats scheduled a special congress on February 2 for the same purpose, and UDMR will make its decision at the beginning of next week. The first and second rounds of the presidential elections are scheduled for May 4 and 18. So far, the mayor of Bucharest, Nicuşor Dan, the independent candidate Călin Georgescu and the president of Save Romania Union, Elena Lasconi, have announced plans to run for president. The latter two were top placed in the presidential elections canceled last year. After the first election round on November 24 was validated, the Constitutional Court of Romania canceled the election as a whole on December 6, although voting in the second round had already begun abroad. The Court made its decision after the Supreme Defence Council published a report indicating foreign interference in the electoral process, but investigations have so far failed to confirm it. Tens of thousands of Romanians took to the streets to demand that the second round be resumed.

     

    HOLOCAUST The minister of culture Natalia Intotero will represent Romania, on Monday, at the ceremony commemorating the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland. The event, held under the patronage of the president of Poland, marks the International Holocaust Remembrance Day declared by the United Nations, and brings together camp survivors, official delegations of states and international organisations. Romania’s participation in the ceremony on January 27 reflects its solid commitment to keeping alive the memory of the victims of the Holocaust, to fighting all forms of denial, distortion, or downplaying of this tragic moment, as well as to fighting anti-Semitism, xenophobia, radicalisation and hate speech, while at the same time promoting respect for fundamental human rights, both at national and international level, the Romanian culture ministry said.

     

    HOSTAGES Four Israeli female soldiers held hostage by Hamas since October 7, 2023, have reached Israel today. In exchange for them, Israel must release 200 Palestinians held in its prisons. This is the second prisoner exchange under the ceasefire that came into effect last Sunday between Israel and Hamas, after 15 months of war. In a first stage, which will last 6 weeks, 33 Israeli hostages are to be released in exchange for about 1,900 Palestinian prisoners. A Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 killed 1,210 Israelis, most of them civilians. Of the 251 people kidnapped, 91 are still in Gaza, 34 of whom are dead according to the Israeli army. In retaliation, Israel launched an offensive in the Gaza Strip, resulting in at least 47,000 casualties, most of them civilians, and a humanitarian disaster. (AMP)

  • January 19, 2025

    January 19, 2025

    UNIONS Romanian trade unionists ask the politicians in power to talk directly with the people, because social tensions are high, and the powder keg could explode at any moment. This warning was issued by the Cartel Alfa federation in a statement that says political decision-makers have abandoned open communication with Romanians. The budget deficit must be corrected by improving collection, but the government refuses to take any measures outside of recipes that have proven ineffective for years, Cartel Alfa also says.

     

    JOBS Nearly 33,000 positions are declared vacant by employers in Romania, the National Employment Agency announced. Most of them, over 20,000, are intended for unskilled applicants or primary and secondary school graduates. Another 10,000 jobs require high school, post-secondary school or vocational education. A little over 1,900 jobs require a degree, including positions as engineers in various sectors, computer programmers, financial and accounting experts or veterinarians. Also, employers from the European Economic Area offer employment through the EURES Romania network; 100 jobs are available in Germany and Spain, and another 27 in Austria, Ireland and Malta.

     

    ECONOMY The World Bank has revised downward its outlook for the Romanian economy this year, mainly due to the fiscal consolidation measures recently announced by the government. In its latest global economic outlook report, the World Bank lowers its estimate for Romania’s economic growth rate to 2.1% this year, as against 3.8% forecast in June 2024. Also, in 2026, Romania’s GDP growth is expected to be 2.6% compared to 3.8%, as estimated in June. On the other hand, economic growth in Central Europe is expected to recover to 2.8% in 2025 and 3% in 2026, thanks to robust private demand. Export growth in Central Europe is expected to remain modest due to slow progress in the Euro area. The level of investments, especially in Poland and Romania, is expected to improve, thanks to structural reforms and EU funding.

     

    MILITARY Hundreds of British military vehicles are on their way to Romania by ferry, in order to take part in a major NATO exercise, London announced. 2,400 British soldiers with 730 military vehicles will form the main battle group, supported by troops from five other NATO countries, with the United Kingdom assuming command of the land component. The new Allied Reaction Force (ARF) replaced the NATO Response Force (NRF) last year, and aims to respond quickly and effectively to any threat in times of peace, crisis or conflict.

     

    MIDDLE EAST A senior Israeli official said that Israel received a list of hostages in Gaza who are to be released today by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas. Israel’s national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has resigned to protest the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, Israeli media reported today. Ben-Gvir’s far-right and ultranationalist party will leave the ruling coalition. After months of deadlock in the 15-month war in Gaza, a three-stage agreement was reached earlier this week. During an initial six-week ceasefire, 33 Israeli hostages held in Gaza are to be released in exchange for 1,904 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, while the Israeli army is to pull out of densely populated areas in Gaza. Meanwhile, however, the army carried on its attacks in Gaza, where at least five people were killed.

     

    HANDBALL The women’s handball team CS Rapid Bucharest face today at home the Danish side Odense Handbold, in the Champions League Group B. The day before, in Group A, the Romanian champions CSM Bucharest defeated the Slovenian side Krim Mercator Ljubljana 36-23, also at home. In the same group, Gloria 2018 Bistriţa-Năsăud were defeated, away from home, by the Croatian team RK Podravka Vegeta Koprivnica, 26-25. In the group standings, CSM are in 4th place, with 10 points, and Gloria are in 6th place, with 6 points.

     

    TENNIS The Romanian-Ukrainian pair Gabriela Ruse/Marta Kostiuk qualified for the quarterfinals of the women’s doubles event at the Australian Open on Sunday, after defeating Hanyu Guo (China) / Alexandra Panova (Russia) 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (10/6). Ruse and Kostiuk have played two Grand Slam women’s doubles semifinals together, one in Melbourne in 2023 and one at Roland Garros in 2024. In the quarterfinals, they will take on Su-Wei Hsieh (Taiwan) and Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia). (AMP)

  • January 17, 2025

    January 17, 2025

     

    RUSSIA The Romanian ministry of foreign affairs firmly condemns the Russian forces’ irresponsible attacks that violate all the norms of international law, and emphasises that Russia’s illegal and unprovoked aggression against Ukraine generates risks for the entire region. The statement was made as the monitoring and surveillance systems of Romania’s defence ministry Friday morning noted violations of Romanian airspace, in Tulcea county, after Russian forces resumed their drone attacks on civilian targets and port infrastructure in Ukraine. ‘Respect for sovereignty, security and peace are obligations that the Russian Federation violates systematically and without provocation. The persistent aggressive actions, the illegal occupation of some of the neighboring territories and the illegal full-scale war that Russia has been waging for almost 3 years against a sovereign neighbor are a persistent and serious threat not only to Ukraine but to the entire Black Sea region and NATO’s eastern flank,’ the foreign ministry says. The foreign ministry and the defence ministry also mention that they have been informing NATO in real time about the situations caused by these attacks, and remain in permanent contact with it.

     

    PROTESTS Several thousand police officers and employees from defence, public order and national security institutions, as well as reserve officers from all over Romania take part in a protest in Bucharest today. They are unhappy with a government order that has significantly reduced their incomes. The act scraps overtime pay and payments for days worked on weekends or public holidays. The protesters argue that the income of operational police officers will be severely affected, with decreases ranging between EUR 200 and 2,000. The participants are marching towards the ministry of finance, the ministry of justice, the labour ministry, and the interior ministry, with the government headquarters as their final destination.

     

    ELECTIONS The first round of the presidential elections in Romania will take place on May 4, and the second round on May 18, the government has decided. Stricter rules have also been set for the election campaign, especially regulating online campaigns. Failure to comply with them may entail fines for major online platforms of up to 5% of their turnover. Romanians in the diaspora will still have 3 days to vote, but on the last day, that is, on Sunday, polling stations will close at 9:00 p.m. Romanian time, regardless of the local time zone. The new provisions have been criticised by several NGOs. The presidential election was cancelled at the end of last year by the Constitutional Court, on grounds that the election process had been flawed.

     

    FLU Flu vaccination remains the easiest, safest and most effective protection method against seasonal diseases, Romanian doctors reiterate amid increases in the number of respiratory infections. Specialists emphasise that as the percentage of the vaccinated population increased, flu viruses spread less in communities decreases. A National Institute for Public Health report shows that the number of people diagnosed with respiratory infections has doubled, with almost 91,000 cases reported in the last week. There are almost 600 patients diagnosed with clinical flu and over 200 for whom lab tests have confirmed infection with the flu virus, most of them in Bucharest, Cluj, Braşov, Constanţa, Alba and Galaţi. Five more people have died from the flu, bringing the death toll since the beginning of the season up to 9.

     

    MIDDLE EAST Israel and Hamas have officially signed a ceasefire and hostage release agreement in Gaza, after overcoming last-minute disputes. The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced that the Security Cabinet and the government are meeting later today to ratify the document. The US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said he expects the implementation of the agreement to begin on Sunday as planned, with the release of the first 3 Israeli hostages. At least one of the far-right Israeli ministers who oppose the agreement has resigned. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent in Israel, political life in Israel is shaping up to be troubled, with a great potential for surprises and even changes.

     

    TENNIS The Romanian tennis players Gabriela Ruse and Jaqueline Cristian, in separate pairs, qualified for the second round of the women’s doubles event at the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, after winning their respective matches on Friday in Melbourne. Ruse and Ukraine’s Marta Kostiuk won against the Australians Destanee Aiuava and Maddison Inglis 6-4, 7-6 (7/2), and in the second round they will face strong opponents in Elise Mertens (Belgium) and Ellen Perez (Australia), seeded 6th. Jaqueline Cristian and her Italian partner Camilla Rosatello defeated Cristina Bucşa (Spain) / Iana Sizikova (Russia) 6-2, 6-7 (2/7), 6-4. Cristian and Rosatello will next face Leylah Fernandez (Canada) and Nadia Kicenok (Ukraine), seeded 16th. In another first-round match in the women’s doubles, Monica Niculescu and Sofia Kenin (US) were defeated by Miyu Kato (Japan) / Renata Zarazua (Mexico), 6-4, 6-4. In the men’s doubles, the Romanian-Argentine pair Victor Cornea / Mariano Navone were defeated in the second round by Germany’s Kevin Krawietz / Tim Puetz, 4-6, 6-1. (AMP)

  • November 26, 2024

    November 26, 2024

     

    ELECTIONS The leaders of the Social Democratic Party (in the ruling coalition in Romania) have decided that Victor Negrescu should be in charge with the party’s political communication until the December 1 general elections, PM Marcel Ciolacu announced. The latter stepped down as party leader after failing to move into the second round of the presidential ballot. The leaders of the other party in the ruling coalition, the National Liberal Party, also resigned, beginning with its president Nicolae Ciuca, who only came out fifth in the first round. Party heavyweight Ilie Bolojan will serve as interim president for the Liberals. He announced his party would support the pro-European, right-of-centre Elena Lasconi in the second round due on December 8, against the pro-Russian candidate Calin Georgescu, the surprise winner of the first round.

     

    NATIONAL DAY Nearly 2,500 troops and specialists from the defence ministry, the interior ministry, the Romanian Intelligence Service, the Special Telecommunications Service, the National Penitentiary Administration and the Romanian Customs Authority, with about 190 vehicles and 45 aircraft, will take part in the military parade organised on Sunday, December 1, in Bucharest, on the occasion of Romania’s National Day. Along with Romanian soldiers, around 240 foreign troops will also march in the parade, deployed to Romania from Albania, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Croatia, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, North Macedonia, the Republic of Moldova, Poland, Portugal, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Spain, the USA, Turkey and other countries. The foreign units include about 21 vehicles, including combat aircraft.

     

    EUROPEAN UNION A European Parliament plenary session has begun in Strasbourg, where the final vote on the new European Commission will be held tomorrow. The EU’s support for Ukraine, amid North Korea’s growing involvement on Russia’s side, and another hot topic, the Gaza Strip situation, are being discussed. Talks are also taking place ahead of the adoption of the Union’s 2025 budget. According to the Romanian MEP Victor Negrescu, one of the negotiators, Parliament managed to secure a EUR 10 billion higher budget for next year compared to 2024, namely almost EUR 199.5 billion in commitments and EUR 155 billion in total payments, including amounts for special instruments outside the multiannual financial framework. The issue of Romania and Bulgaria’s full Schengen accession will also be discussed in the evening, following a recent agreement in Budapest, according to which Austria will withdraw its veto in the Council to allow this last step. Discussions could also include references to the fact that the Dutch Parliament might block this full accession in early December, as the “Financial Times” wrote a few days ago.

     

    MIDDLE EAST Israel and the Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah are about to conclude a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon. According to Lebanese sources, the US and French presidents are expected to announce the ceasefire soon, after intense diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the conflict that began last October, concurrently with Israel’s war against the Palestinian Hamas group in Gaza. The deal between Israel and Lebanon is not backed, however, by all the political forces in the state or by the presidents of local councils in the towns on the border between the two states, Radio Romania’s correspondent reports. According to him, PM Netanyahu has talks today with all the heads of the political factions in the ruling coalition in an attempt to convince them to support the agreement, and in the afternoon he will convene a meeting of the political and security cabinet to the same effect. What seems to have convinced the Israeli PM to accept the deal, the correspondent also says, was the United States’ guarantee that it would support Israel’s right to attack Lebanon if the terms of the agreement were violated. (AMP)

  • November 21, 2024 UPDATE

    November 21, 2024 UPDATE

    A roundup of local and international news.

    RULING – The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants on Thursday for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and the leader of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, Al-Masri, known as Mohammad Deif. The Hague-based court’s Pre-Trial Chamber rejected Israeli challenges to its jurisdiction and said there were sufficient grounds to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant committed war crimes and crimes against humanity by approving attacks on civilians in the Gaza Strip. The ICC also issued a warrant Thursday for the arrest of Muhammad Deif, Hamas’ military chief. Israel said in August that it had killed Deif but Hamas has not confirmed his death.

     

    ENERGY – The Bucharest Government on Friday adopted the national energy strategy for the next 10 years, with an extension until 2050. It aims at gradually shifting from coal-based production to natural gas-based production, which is less polluting, and, in the medium and long term, to nuclear energy. Three other economic strategies were also on the Government’s agenda. The first is the Romanian industrialization strategy for the period 2024-2030. This involves the transition of Romanian industry towards clean energy. The second strategy is the one regarding non-energy mineral resources and aims to develop an integrated chain in the mining industry, from research, exploitation and development to processing. The third national strategy is the one for market surveillance. It is about a single market and the need, on the one hand, to guarantee the free movement of products in the European Union and, on the other hand, to make sure that these products meet quality standards.

     

    ELECTION – The first round of the presidential election takes place in Romania on November 24. The second round is scheduled for December 8, and legislative elections are held on December 1. There are 13 candidates in the race for president, 10 supported by parties and 3 independents. There are 14 names on the ballots, but one of the candidates withdrew in favor of another. The authorities opened 950 polling stations for Romanians outside the borders, a record number. They can vote, in the first round of the presidential election, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

     

    TRACTORS – Small Romanian farms that own old and polluting tractors will be able to buy new ones by applying to the “Tractors Scrap” program. The budget allocated to the project by the administration of the environmental fund is 500 million lei (the equivalent of about 100 million Euros). The registration of the companies from which farmers can purchase the tractors starts on Friday and can be done until November 28 at the latest. The vouchers acquired by farmers will cover between 65% and 80% of the purchase value, which should not exceed 55,000 Euros.

     

    TOURISM – The autumn edition of the 2024 Romanian Tourism Fair opened on Thursday in Bucharest. Visitors have access to a wide range of promotional packages, exclusive discounts and holiday ideas for all tastes and budgets, the organizers say. More than 100 participating companies offer destinations from all over the world, and discounts on vacation packages during the fair are up to 50%. Among the participants are tour operators from Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Israel, Austria, Hungary, Egypt, Vietnam and Italy.

     

    EC – The right-wing, centrist and social democratic parties in the European Parliament reached, on Wednesday evening, a political agreement to approve the new European Commission makeup. The Romanian Roxana Mînzatu will thus become Executive Vice-president for People, Skills and Preparedness in the European Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen. The European Parliament will give its final vote on the new EC membership on November 27, in a plenary session in Strasbourg.

     

     

  • November 19, 2024 UPDATE

    November 19, 2024 UPDATE

     

    PARLIAMENT The parliament of Romania convenes on Wednesday to approve 2 inquiry committees and their membership. The joint standing bureaus approved a draft resolution on setting up a joint parliamentary inquiry committee to check the spending by and on behalf of the Presidency in 2014 – 2024, initiated by the Social Democratic Party. Another joint inquiry committee will look into real estate mafia, beginning with the Nordis affair, initiated by the National Liberal Party. The Liberal Party president Nicolae Ciucă said the number of victims identified in this case is over 400. Many Romanians in the country and abroad were persuaded to purchase apartments in residential compounds and hotels built by Nordis, but the developers have sold the same apartments several times over to different buyers.

     

    ELECTIONS Romania sees the last days of the campaign for the first round of the presidential elections, scheduled for Sunday, November 24. There are 13 candidates for the president post, 9 of them backed by political parties and 4 running independently. The head of the Permanent Election Authority, Toni Greblă, says the official results of the election may be announced by late Monday, November 25. The second round of the presidential elections is due on December 8.

     

    ISRAEL The Romanian foreign minister Luminiţa Odobescu Tuesday discussed over the telephone with Israel’s new diplomacy chief, Gideon Saar. According to the Romanian foreign ministry, Luminiţa Odobescu praised the dynamics of bilateral dialogue and cooperation, and its potential for development in key sectors. The 2 officials also exchanged opinions regarding the security situation in the Middle East. Odobescu voiced support for the international community’s efforts towards de-escalation, a ceasefire, the freeing of all hostages and the improvement of the humanitarian situation in the region. The Romanian minister also reiterated Bucharest’s firm commitment to fighting anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial, a topic constantly on the agenda of the Romanian government and supported by concrete measures. Gideon Saar praised the special relations between the 2 countries and thanked for Romania’s steady support.

     

    UKRAINE Despite 1,000 days of terrible warfare, Ukraine stands unbowed, the US Ambassador in Bucharest, Kathleen Kavalec said in a statement on Tuesday, marking 1000 days since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. She also said that, according to the UN, Russian forces have killed more than 11,000 Ukrainian civilians, including more than 600 children, and continue to engage in shocking war crimes, including torture of civilians and prisoners of war. Russian bombs have obliterated schools, hospitals, and treasured sites of Ukrainian history, culture, and memory. According to the American diplomat, Ukraine has shown remarkable courage and resolve in defence of its sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence, helped by the enduring support of its friends and allies around the world. Romania has shown true leadership in support of Ukraine and its citizens and, as strategic partners and NATO allies, the United States and Romania stand together to counter the threats posed by Russia in Ukraine and in Europe, Kathleen Kavalec also said.

     

    FOOTBALL The Romanian national football team defeated Cyprus 4-1 on Monday night at home, in their last match in Group C2 of the Nations League. The Romanians thus won their fifth victory in the group and moved into the competition’s League B. Romania is still waiting for UEFA’s decision regarding the match against Kosovo in Bucharest on Friday, when the guests left the pitch little before the end, at a goalless score, when they heard pro-Serbian chants from the host fans. The Kosovo Football Federation denounced what it saw as an “unacceptable and unsafe atmosphere”. The Romanian Football Federation dismissed the accusations as unfounded.

     

  • October 27, 2024 UPDATE

    October 27, 2024 UPDATE

    Debt – Romania’s government debt rose, in July, to 876.288 billion lei, from 860.331 billion lei in the previous month, according to data published by the Finance Ministry. As a percentage of the GDP, the government debt rose to 52% from 51.1% in June. Most of this debt was represented by government bonds. The Romanian government approved, on Wednesday, an emergency ordinance which establishes the increase in the public debt ceiling, according to the European Union’s methodology, to the level of 53% of the gross domestic product for the end of 2024. According to the government, this change aims to ensure flexibility in attracting the financial resources necessary to implement the financing plan of 2024, to pre-finance the needs in the year 2025, as well as to maintain the foreign currency reserve at the disposal of the State Treasury at a comfortable level.

     

    Moldova – The pro-European President of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, accused, on Sunday, during an electoral debate, her opponent in the second round of the presidential election, the pro-Russian Alexandr Stoianoglo, of being just a ‘Trojan horse’, a man through whom others want to rule the country’. In reply, Stoianoglo, who is supported by the Socialist Party from the Republic of Moldova, said that he is a ‘firm supporter of the country’s European integration’ and that he wants ‘the transformation of Moldova into an active provider of peace and security in the region’. The electoral debate took place without a moderator, because the journalist proposed to be moderator by the Stoianoglo camp was accused of not being honest and impartial. In the first round of the presidential election, the incumbent president obtained 43% of the votes, while Stoianoglo took 26%. The second round of the presidential election will take place on November 3. A week ago, together with the first round of the presidential election, there was also a referendum for EU integration, which was validated and in which the pro-accession voters were 12 thousand more. Maia Sandu pointed an accusatory finger to the meddling in the electoral process of some criminal groups that would have acted alongside foreign forces hostile to the interests of the country. Moscow denied any interference in the elections and referendum.

     

    Georgia – Georgia’s ruling party, Georgian Dream, won the parliamentary elections against a pro-European opposition coalition that refused to concede defeat, the Central Electoral Committee announced on Sunday morning, according to AFP and Dpa. The Georgian Dream, a conservative and nationalist party led by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, allegedly obtained 54% of the votes, compared to 37.58% for the pro-European coalition, according to the counting carried out in over 99% of the constituencies.  The pro-European opposition coalition did not recognize the preliminary results and announced the organization of protests. The opposition accuses the Georgian Dream, in power since 2012, of pro-Russian authoritarian drift and Georgia’s distancing from the EU and NATO, which it intends to join. Brussels has warned that Georgia’s chances of joining the EU will depend on the elections held in the former Soviet republic in the Caucasus, which has enshrined this aspiration in its constitution. Georgia was rocked, in May, by protests against a law on ‘foreign influence’, after the model of the Russian legislation on ‘foreign agents’ used to crush civil society, AFP reports.

     

    Winter time – Romania switched to winter time on Saturday night to Sunday. The clocks were set back by one hour, so that Sunday will have 25 hours and will be the longest of the year. Changing the time twice a year is based on the idea of ​​saving energy, by aligning the interval of human activity with that of natural light. Although this is the most important argument for changing the time, there are studies that suggest that the energy savings are minor, and citizens are more and more complaining about negative health effects. The EC and EP tried to abandon this system as early as 2021, but the member countries did not agree on which of the systems should be kept.

     

    Iran – The UN Security Council will meet on Monday to discuss Israel’s attack on Iran. The meeting was requested by Tehran with the support of Algeria, China and Russia. The Israeli regime’s actions represent a serious threat to international peace and security and further destabilize an already fragile region, the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a letter to the Council. Dozens of Israeli jets carried out three waves of strikes on the night of Friday to Saturday against missile factories and other military centers near Tehran and in western Iran, the Israeli army representatives said. They were in retaliation for Iran’s October 1 attack on Israel with about 200 ballistic missiles, and Israel warned its heavily armed enemy not to retaliate after the latest strike. On Sunday, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, rejected Iran’s complaint saying in a statement that Iran ‘is trying to act against us in the diplomatic arena with the ridiculous claim that Israel has violated international law’. (LS)

  • October 26, 2024 UPDATE

    October 26, 2024 UPDATE

     

    NATURAL GAS Romania has become the EU’s largest natural gas producer, with an output of 2.3 billion cubic metres in Q2, the energy minister Sebastian Burduja announced. According to him, Romania has outperformed the Netherlands, which reported 2.2 billion cubic metres, and compared to last year Romania’s natural gas output was 1% higher. The energy minister also mentioned that during the same period Romanians benefited from the fourth-lowest gas price in Europe, according to Eurostat. As of 2027, Burduja added, Romania will practically double its gas output thanks to the deep-water natural gas drilled in the Black Sea. “We will see even better gas prices, we will attract even more investments in our economy and will help the entire region reduce its dependence on Russian gas,” he said.

     

     

    MIDDLE EAST The European Union Saturday called on all parties to exercise utmost restraint to avoid an uncontrollable escalation in the Middle East, after Israel’s retaliatory attack against Iran, AFP reports. “The dangerous cycle of attacks and retaliations risks causing a further expansion of the regional conflict,” the EU warned. Gulf countries have condemned the recent Israeli strikes on Iranian military targets, and warned against possible ripple effects in the region. In turn, Washington called on Iran not to retaliate. Should Tehran choose to strike back, we will be prepared and there will be consequences, the US Administration said. Israel announced that its operations in Iran were over, after 3 rounds of attacks on military targets, particularly the defence system and arms production facilities. Iran says the strike was countered and that damages were limited. The international community had been anticipating this operation for about a month, as a response to Iran’s missile attack on October 1.

     

     

    WINTER TIME Sunday is the longest day of the year in Romania, after switching to winter time on Saturday night, with clocks set one hour behind. The switch is aimed to save energy by aligning work hours with natural light hours. A public poll conducted by the European Commission a few years ago indicates that most Europeans are against the change. The EC considered eliminating the shift, but member states failed to agree on which of the times should be kept. A number of states have given up switches between winter and summer time, such as Mexico in 2022 and Turkey in 2016. Ukraine also decided that as of 2025 it will no longer switch to Daylight Saving Time.

     

     

    AWARD The Romanian writer Ana Blandiana received the 2024 Princess of Asturias Award for Literature, in a ceremony hosted by Spain’s Royal Family at the Teatro Campoamor in Oviedo, the Romanian Cultural Institute announced on Saturday. The jury presented the award to Ana Blandiana, whose work reflects profound knowledge of the Romanian spirit during a historic period of oppression, while establishing hope and defeat as the guidelines of her literary undertaking. Ana Blandiana, the first Romanian writer to receive the award, said this was a confirmation of how her books were received in Spain and the result of the many reviews they had received, because in Spain more than in other countries, poetry is in the spotlight. Ana Blandiana, also a Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Salamanca, saw as many as 11 of her books translated into Spanish. She has so far authored more than 30 works, translated into 25 languages, and has received many international awards.

     

     

    TENNIS The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep takes on seed no. 6 Yue Yuan (China), in the first round of the WTA 250 tournament in Hong Kong. Apart from Halep, a former world leader and a wildcard in the Hong Kong tournament, Romania is also represented in the competition by Ana Bogdan, set to face Australia’s Kimberly Birrell in the first round. (AMP)

  • October 26, 2024

    October 26, 2024

     

    FEAST Orthodox and Greek-Catholic Christians today celebrate the Holy Great-Martyr Demetrius the Myroblyte, a Greek Christian martyr of the early 4th century AD. He was the proconsul of Thessalonica and as such he opposed the pagan celebrations occasioned by Roman military victories, subsequently arrested and forced to renounce his Christian beliefs, seen as dangerous for the unity of the Roman Empire. When he refused, he was run through with spears. His relics are kept today in a church in Thessaloniki.  Nearly 259,000 Romanians celebrate their name day today, according to the interior ministry. In Bucharest, a pilgrimage is taking place to the relics of St. Dimitrie Basarabov, the patron saint of Bucharest, and to the relics of St. Lazarus, brought over from Cyprus.

     

     

    SCHENGEN The Romanian interior minister, Cătălin Predoiu, had talks with his French counterpart Bruno Retailleau, on finalising the Schengen accession file and on topics of interest on the European and bilateral agenda, such as fighting illegal migration and drug trafficking. According to the Romanian interior ministry, the meeting is part of a series of talks with the EU countries with which Romania has strategic partnerships or privileged cooperation agreements, aimed at communicating the outcomes of the measures taken by Bucharest to manage migration and ensure border security in the context of the country’s efforts to fully join the border-free Schengen area. Cătălin Predoiu highlighted the measures taken at both national level and jointly with its immediate neighbours and other EU member states, which resulted in a decrease of migratory pressures on Romania’s borders to nearly zero. Romania’s cooperation with European agencies also played a major role in achieving these outstanding results. Romania aims to complete the case by the end of this year, and is relying on the support of all its allies to meet this important national goal. The French official acknowledged the progress made by Romania and reiterated France’s support for this goal to be reached as soon as possible.

     

     

    MIDDLE EAST Washington called on Iran not to retaliate following last night’s Israeli air raids. Should Tehran choose to strike back, we will be prepared and there will be consequences, the US Administration warned. Meanwhile, Israel announced that its operations in Iran were over, after 3 rounds of attacks on military targets, particularly the defence system and arms production facilities. On the other hand, Iran says the strike was countered and that damages were limited. The international community had been anticipating this operation for about a month, as a response to Iran’s missile attack on October 1. The Pentagon said it had been informed of the strike, but denied any American military involvement. The US had urged Israel not to target nuclear sites or oil fields, a request that was observed by Israel. On its part, Iraq reopened its air space after a 4-hour suspension due to security concerns.

     

     

    WINTER TIME Romania switches to winter time tonight, with clocks set one hour behind so that 4 am becomes 3 am, as a form of daylight saving time. A public poll conducted by the European Commission a few years ago indicates that most Europeans are against the change. In Germany, a teachers’ association said the move has a negative impact on the human body and causes stress, especially in families with school kids. The EC considered eliminating the shift, but member states failed to agree on which of the times should be kept. A number of states have given up switches between winter and summer time, such as Mexico in 2022 and Turkey in 2016. Ukraine also decided that as of 2025 it will no longer switch to Daylight Saving Time. (AMP)

  • October 8, 2024 UPDATE

    October 8, 2024 UPDATE

    Commemoration – The Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest hosted an event, on Tuesday, to commemorate the victims of the terrorist attack of 7th October 2023 in Israel. Representatives of the embassies accredited in Bucharest, senior officials, diplomats, victims and survivors of the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023 attended the event. The participants strongly condemned the aggression of the Hamas group against the State of Israel and launched a call for the release of the hostages from the Gaza Strip. The ambassador of the State of Israel in Bucharest, Lior Ben Dor, declared that the terrorist attack of October 7 represents the greatest tragedy after the Holocaust. The representatives of the State of Israel thanked the Romanian authorities for the gestures of solidarity and friendship shown without reservations. On Monday, one year after the Hamas attacks against the State of Israel, the Romanian government reiterated its firm condemnation, as well as the appeals for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages still held captive by the terrorist organization.

     

    Law – The Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest on Tuesday passed a bill stipulating that causing or facilitating prostitution or obtaining a profit from prostitution by minors is punishable with 7 to 15 years in prison or 10 to 20 in case of persons with previous convictions for crimes against sexual freedom and integrity, child pornography, people trafficking, child trafficking and pimping. The bill amends and supplements the Criminal Code in respect of the criminalization of people trafficking and pimping. The crime of exploitation will also include obliging a person to commit acts covered by criminal law.

     

    Tennis – The Romanian-Spanish pair Monica Niculescu/Cristina Bucşa qualified, on Tuesday, in the round of 16 of the doubles of the WTA 1,000 tennis tournament in Wuhan (China), which has total prizes worth over 3.2 million dollars. The two athletes defeated the pair Demi Schuurs (Netherlands)/Luisa Stefani (Brazil) 6-0, 3-6, 10-4. Niculescu and her partner born in Chişinău, in the Republic of Moldova, champions this year in Strasbourg, will play, in the round of 16, against the pair Ana Danilina (Kazakhstan)/Irina Hromaceva (Russia).

     

    Nobel – John Hopfield, from the United States, and Canadian Geoffrey Hinton won the Nobel Prize in Physics for their work in the field of machine learning using artificial neural networks. According to a press release from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, “This technology was originally inspired by the structure of the brain. In an artificial neural network, the brain’s neurons are represented by nodes that have different values. These nodes influence each other through connections that can be likened to synapses and which can be made stronger or weaker. The network is trained, for example by developing stronger connections between nodes with simultaneously high values.”

     

    Heritage – Top heritage experts and European and Romanian high-ranking officials gathered in Bucharest to discuss public policy priorities for the protection of cultural heritage at EU level as part of the European Cultural Heritage Summit held between the 6th and the 8th of October. The event was organized by the Europa Nostra network under the patronage of the Romanian president and with the support of the European Commission, the Ministry of Culture and Bucharest City Hall. Researchers, decision makers, artists, historians and leading figures from civil society and the community of European heritage met on Tuesday for an event entitled “European Heritage Policy Agora – Upholding Quality Principles in Heritage Conservation”. Talks focused on the concept of quality in the restoration and preservation of cultural heritage, as well as the priorities for the future agenda of the European Commission. The participants analyzed the links between the EU’s major policies, such as the Green Deal and New European Bauhaus, and the key documents on the preservation of heritage, such as the European Quality Principles and the Davos Baukultur Quality System.

  •  One year since the October 7 attacks

     One year since the October 7 attacks

    Israel commemorates  the victims of last year’s unprecedented attack by the Islamist organization Hamas.

     

    Israel marks one year since the October 7 attack by Hamas, the bloodiest in the country’s history and which triggered the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. On that day commandos of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, penetrated to southern Israel, using explosives and bulldozers to pass the barrier that surrounds the Palestinian territory, randomly killing people in kibbutzim, in military bases and at the site of a music festival, on a Jewish religious holiday. The surprise attacks were not directed against an army, as in conventional warfare. Hamas militants took their anger out on civilians.

     

    On that fateful day, hundreds of innocent people died, massacred in their own homes, on the street, or in their cars. The terrorists shot everything that moved around them. Almost 1,200 Israelis were killed in a single day. The brutality shown by Hamas was unprecedented. It was just the beginning of the disaster. Thousands of rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip in a short period of time, and the famous “Iron Dome” anti-aircraft shield could not cope with the pace of the strikes. Cities such as Ashkelon, Ashdod or Tel Aviv strongly felt the impact of the shells. As a result, the Israeli military launched a forceful intervention to eliminate the danger.

     

    Although it managed to stop the Hamas incursion, the army failed to rescue on time 251 civilians taken hostage. Subsequently, the Israeli army launched a strong offensive against the Palestinian territory, with the objective of destroying Hamas, in power since 2007, an organization designated as a terrorist group by the United States and the EU.

     

    The paralysis, on October 7, 2023, for more than eight hours, of the Israeli military’s ability to respond to aggression is still inexplicable. The operation had been secretly prepared for two years and the Israeli intelligence services said they were not aware of the existence of such a plan. In retaliation, Israel vowed to annihilate the Hamas organization. Since the beginning of the war until today, hundreds of Israeli soldiers have lost their lives.

     

    Israel’s objective to destroy Hamas has had an enormous impact on civilians and infrastructure in the Palestinian enclave, one of the most densely populated areas in the world. This ongoing war has killed more than 41,000 people, mostly civilians, according to Hamas, and triggered a major humanitarian crisis.

     

    The expansion of the Israeli colonies to the Palestinian territories, the isolation of the Arab population in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip by erecting separation walls, the strong social exclusion of the Palestinians in the Israeli society, the ethnic segregation in the government institutions and the lack of equal opportunities fuelled the inter-ethnic conflict.

     

    The magnitude of the October 7 attack has been fuelling division and hatred around the world: virulent demonstrations, extreme polarization and an explosion of anti-Semitic acts, to the point where European and American officials recently evoked at the UN “a tsunami of anti-Semitism” in the last year.

     

  • October 1, 2024

    October 1, 2024

    A roundup of local and international news.

     

     

    NATO – A ceremony marking the transition to the new NATO Secretary General is being held in Brussels, in which Jens Soltenberg hands over the mandate to the new chief of the Alliance, Mark Rutte, the former Prime Minister of the Netherlands. With 10 years at the helm of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg is the second longest-serving Secretary-General of the Alliance, since its establishment 75 years ago. His mandate began in the context of the annexation of Crimea by Russia, then went through the withdrawal of allies from Afghanistan, the COVID crisis, and now through the war started by Russia. NATO  expanded to 32 members, after the accession of Montenegro, North Macedonia, Finland and Sweden.

     

    VISA WAIVER – Romania formally meets all technical criteria in order to be included in the Visa Waiver program, the Romanian ambassador to the United States, Andrei Muraru, announced on a social network. The fiscal year in the United States ended on Monday, and the last condition that Romania had to fulfill was satisfied. We are waiting for a confirmation from the American partners in the upcoming period, but our assessment, based on the number of visa applications this year, as well as the strong downward trend in recent years, is that Romania has dropped below the 3% rejection rate, Muraru explained. According to the ambassador, the first Romanians will most likely be able to travel without visas to the United States, in the first part of next year.

     

    LAW – The head of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Romanian Laura Codruţa Kövesi, has called on the European Parliament to change the institution’s regulations, to allocate a bigger budget and for a better collaboration with the member states. She says that the number of cases of cross-border financial fraud has doubled year on year, and the information collected about organized crime exceeds the analytical power of the Prosecutor’s Office and even Europol. Last year, following the investigations of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, court sentences were given for the recovery of 1.7 billion euros, and 600 million euros have already been returned to the member states, Kövesi explained. At the moment, over 2,000 cases are under investigation, with damages estimated at 23 billion euros. Romania was involved in 260 cases, with a damage of almost 2 billion euros.

     

    INVESTMENT – The net flow of direct foreign investments in Romania in 2023 was almost 6.75 billion euros, down by 36.3% compared to the record value recorded in the previous year, the National Bank of Romania (BNR) has announced. BNR experts say that this development is part of the current international context, marked by economic risks and geopolitical tensions. The main sectors that attracted foreign money in Romania were industry, financial intermediation, insurance and trade.

     

    PARLIAMENT – Convened in joint session, the Romanian deputies and senators are appointing, today, the members of the Board of Directors of the National Bank of Romania. According to political sources, the current governor Mugur Isărescu, who has been holding this position since 1990, is supported for a new mandate at the helm of BNR. Also today, the Parliament submits for approval two requests from President Klaus Iohannis – the participation of the Romanian Army in the NATO Security Assistance and Training Mission for Ukraine and the establishment, on the Romania territory, of a maritime training facility for the Ukrainian personnel. The two Parliament chambers will be informed, on the other hand, about the approval of the transit, through Romania, of equipment and material goods donated by Sweden to Ukraine, but also about the presence on the Romanian territory, for a period of two years, of an American contingent of naval forces for special operations.

     

    ISRAEL – The Israeli military launched a ground operation in a number of villages in southern Lebanon, saying it focused on clearing out militant infrastructure prepared by the elite force of the Hezbollah for the invasion of Israeli territory. The invasion was being supported by the Israeli air force, which targeted the southern suburbs of Beirut, an area considered the stronghold of the Shiite movement. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had previously indicated that the army was ready for a ground operation, telling troops near the border with Lebanon that Israel was ready to use air, sea and land forces against Hezbollah targets. In turn, the deputy leader of the Hezbollah said that his militants are prepared for any Israeli operation in Lebanon.