June 15, 2024 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 15.06.2024, 20:00

OSCE – Romania has decided not to allow the Russian Federation’s delegation to participate in the annual session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, to take place in Bucharest between June 29 and July 3, 2024. The measure will apply to all members of the Russian delegation, such as parliamentarians and technical staff. The same ban will apply to the delegation of Belarus, a country that supports the war started by Russia in Ukraine. The spokesman of the Romanian Foreign Ministry, Radu Filip, explained on Radio Romania News channel that the decision is based on Romania’s firm position in relation to Russia, in the context of the war of aggression against Ukraine. Moreover, some of the members of the Russian delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly are subject to restrictive measures at the European level, so they cannot be accepted on Romanian territory.

BUCHAREST – PSD and PNL, the parties that make up the ruling coalition in Romania, will each have their own candidate in the presidential elections this year. The leaders of the two political parties, the Social-Democratic prime minister Marcel Ciolacu and the former Liberal prime minister Nicoale Ciucă, expressed their wish that the ruling formula be preserved, saying that this collaboration can work even if the political partners will be contenders in the presidential elections. However, the two did not rule out a collaboration with other parliamentary parties. Ciucă was open to receiving any support for liberal policies, while Ciolacu said that the social democrats have the ability to build a new political alliance. On the other hand, the Alliance for the Union of Romanians decided that its leader, George Simion, should run for the position of president of Romania. He is the first officially announced competitor in the race for the presidency. In Romania, presidential elections will take place on September 15 and 29 and parliamentary elections on December 9.

DECISION – As of Sunday, June 16, all merchants in Romania must accept payment by bank card. A law on increasing financial inclusion enters into force, which stipulates that all natural or legal persons registered in the Trade Register have the obligation to ensure the implementation and accept at least one non-cash payment instrument. In addition, merchants can offer the cash advance service at payment terminals, in a maximum amount of 500 lei (around 100 euros) and can charge the cardholder a commission that cannot exceed 1% of the value of the advance granted.

PATRIOT – As of Friday, the Romanian Air Forces have two operational Patriot anti-missile systems, after the first one entered the combat service in 2022. The US Embassy in Bucharest hailed the moment and said that Romania now has the air defense capacity to protect its citizens and its territory. The NATO exercise RAMSTEIN LEGACY 24 took place between June 3-14, in the Capu Midia range, integrating air and anti-missile defense structures. About 1,300 Romanian and allied military participated in it. The exercise contributed to increasing interoperability and practice tactics, techniques, and procedures for defensive operations. According to the US Embassy in Romania, with these exercises, Romania has demonstrated high levels of technical expertise and competence to defend against advanced air threats.

MEDAL – The Romanian athlete Cătălin Chirilă won the gold medal in the 1,000-meter single canoe race, on Saturday, at the European Kayak-Canoe Championships in Szeged (Hungary). He was followed by the Czech Martin Fuksa and Serghei Tarnovschi from the Republic of Moldova. In the 500-meter single canoe, Chirila took fourth place.

JOBS – In 2023, Romania was the country in the European Union with the highest rate of young people who do not study or have a job, according to Eurostat data. Figures show that 19.3% of the young Romanians aged between 15 and 29 are neither employed nor studying. Romania is followed by Italy, Greece and Bulgaria, the latter with approximately 14%. In the Netherlands, on the other hand, only 4.8% of young people are not involved in the two activities. Sweden, Malta and Slovenia follow, all with less than 7%. At European level, this indicator decreased by 0.5% compared to the previous year and by 5% compared to 10 years ago and stands at 11.2%. The European target is 9% for the year 2030 and already a third of the member states have reached this threshold. (EE)