Tag: Palestinians

  • October 23, 2023

    October 23, 2023

    FOODSTUFFS The cap on mark-ups for
    basic foodstuffs will be extended by another 90 days, under a draft emergency order posted on the
    home page of the Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry. Nine other products
    will be added to the list, including tomato broth, margarine, yeast, sour cream.
    On August 1 a government order took effect, under which prices for 14 basic
    foodstuffs were capped, following discussions with processors, distributors and
    retailers. PM Marcel Ciolacu said the cap on basic foodstuffs contributed to
    reducing the inflation rate below 9% last month.


    NATO
    Romania will continue to contribute to improving regional and Euro-Atlantic security,
    including, among others, as a stability pillar at the Black Sea, president
    Klaus Iohannis Monday told the participants to the opening ceremony of the
    fully operational NATO Multinational Corps South-East command centre in Sibiu,
    central Romania. The president mentioned that in 2018, at the NATO Summit in Brussels, he
    communicated Romania’s intention to add a land corps to the Allied command and
    control structure in Romania, in order to strengthen the planning and operation
    of NATO’s forces and structures in Romania-the NATO Force Integration Unit, the
    Multinational Division South-East Command and the Multinational Brigade
    South-East. Mr. Iohannis also said that strengthening NATO’s deterrence and
    defence posture at the Black Sea remains a top long-term objective. The
    Multinational Corps South-East in Sibiu is part
    of the NATO force structure and ensures the command
    and control of Allied land operations in any situation, including crises and
    war, to bolster the NATO deterrence and defence posture in Romania and
    Bulgaria.



    FAC The Romanian foreign minister Luminiţa Odobescu takes
    part today in the Foreign Affairs Council meeting held in Luxembourg. According
    to the Romanian foreign ministry, the agenda includes talks on the situation in
    Israel and the region following the terrorist attacks of Hamas, Russia’s
    aggression against Ukraine and the relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The
    EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, will also discuss his visit to China, on October 12 to 14, the Belgrade – Pristina Dialogue, and the Sahel region.
    On the sidelines of the meeting, Luminiţa Odobescu will take part in the
    EU-Central Asia ministerial meeting.


    EDUCATION Public education staff in Romania are to receive
    these days the annual bonus obtained following the strike at the end of the
    previous academic year. Over 326,000 employees in the sector will benefit from
    this annual bonus, amounting to EUR 300 for teaching staff and EUR 100 for
    administrative staff. The government has also decided to extend the deadline
    for the submission of educational voucher applications, through which EUR 100
    vouchers are given once a year to an estimated 410,000 underprivileged children
    for the purchase of clothes and school supplies.


    RALLIES Protesters took to the streets on Sunday as well
    across Europe, to support either the Palestinian or the Israeli cause and the approx.
    200 hostages taken by Hamas. In London, 20,000 people demanded the release of
    the people kidnapped by the Islamists, after the previous day nearly 100,000
    demanded an end to the slaughter in Gaza. In Paris, nearly 15,000 protested
    against Israel’s shelling civilian areas, with similar rallies in Sarajevo and Istanbul,
    while in Geneva the families of the hostages contacted the headquarters of the
    Red Cross and the High UN Commissioner for Human Rights. In Germany, president
    Frank-Walter Steinmaier and PM Olaf Scholz pleaded for the eradication of antisemitism.


    THEATRE Bucharest is hosting the National Theatre
    Festival until October 30th. The theme chosen for this year’s edition is Laboratories
    of the Sensitive. The plays chosen for the festival were selected out of over
    150 performances that premiered in the 2022-2023 season in state and
    independent theatres in Romania. (AMP)

  • Foreign Ministry discusses topical issues

    Foreign Ministry discusses topical issues

    Romania has ‘exceptionally good relations with Israel, which is a strategic partner to Bucharest, but it also has ‘very good relations with the Palestinian side. The statement was made on a private tv station by the foreign minister, Bogdan Aurescu, who discussed the severe security situation in Israel and Gaza.



    The Romanian diplomat firmly condemned the rocket attacks from the territory controlled by the Islamist group Hamas over civilian targets in Israel. “We have voiced our deep regret for the loss of human lives and the hopes that this will not happen again. Unfortunately, such situations still occur, the Romanian official said.



    According to Aurescu, around 320-350 Romanian nationals, including people with dual citizenship, are currently in Gaza Strip, and the diplomatic missions in the region have been instructed to provide support to them, should such support be requested.



    Apart from this most important international issue at the moment, the Romanian diplomacy chief also discussed the delicate topic of the visas still required for the Romanian citizens who want to travel to the US, in spite of the strong strategic partnership between Washington and Bucharest and the EU criticism of the US.



    Bulgarians, Croatians, Cypriots and Romanians are the only EU citizens who need visas in order to enter the US, and the European Parliament has requested the Commission to activate the visa reciprocity mechanism and to suspend for one year the waiver of visa requirements for US citizens.



    This however is not a file of special political and diplomatic nature, but rather a technical matter. Minister Bogdan Aurescu explained that Romanians still need visas for the US because the rejection rate of 9-10% of the total number of applications is higher than the 3% ceiling admitted under the US law. Romania meets all the other criteria stipulated by the American legislation, except for the one concerning the rejection rate.



    This situation cannot be blamed on either the Romanian or the US authorities, but is related to the failure of some Romanian visa applicants to meet relevant requirements, Aurescu emphasised.



    He added that he had discussed the matter with the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken. The two agreed that a joint Romanian-American information campaign is needed for the Romanian nationals who want to travel to the US, so as to make applicants seeking short-term stay visas in the US aware of the prerequisites for obtaining one. Those who find they do not meet these prerequisites might thus refrain from applying, and the rejection rate would therefore drop.



    There have been initiatives in the US Congress regarding possible exceptions from the visa requirements for citizens of allied countries, but such initiatives have failed, the foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu also said. (tr. A.M. Popescu)