August 13, 2024
A roundup of news from Romania and the world
Newsroom, 13.08.2024, 13:55
Drought – The Agriculture Minister, Florin Barbu, requested the European Commission to grant urgent compensation to Romanian farmers, affected by the prolonged drought that Romania has been facing. According to him, over two million hectares of corn and sunflower crops have been compromised, the average loss being estimated at 200 – 230 Euros per hectare. He requested that the total budget of over 75 million Euros, intended for crops cultivated in the fall of 2023, be reimbursed to farmers through a single community legal act, which should include technical rules and sources of financing, both from the European Union, and additional national aids. The loss of income of agricultural producers endangers the viability of farms and Romania’s security interests, the minister Florin Barbu also said.
Fires – On Tuesday Romania sent a second contingent of firefighters to support the efforts to fight the vegetation and forest fires affecting Greece’s Attica region. According to the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations, 40 firefighters and two special extinguishing and rapid intervention vehicles were supplied to Greece by air and two other 3,000-liter forest fire extinguishing machines and 4 rescuers, by land. On Monday, the Inspectorate announced that a Romanian firefighter, who participated in putting out a fire in Greece, suffered superficial injuries to his face, but did not require specialized treatment. Emergency services in Greece are battling the biggest fire this year, with multiple outbreaks, spread over an area of 200 square kilometers of vegetation and forest northeast of Athens. Entire towns have been evacuated. Meteorologists have warned that almost half of the country will be under a code red alert for fire, due to high temperatures that will reach 40 degrees Celsius in many regions of the country, and to the strong winds. EU states, as well as Turkey and Serbia, sent firefighters, planes and intervention trucks to Greece, after the Greek government activated the European Mutual Civil Protection Mechanism.
Mini-holiday – Romanians will have a new mini-holiday this week on the occasion of the Christian feast of the Dormition and the Day of the Romanian Navy, celebrated on August 15. The coast will be the favorite destination, the Black Sea resorts expecting one of the busiest weekends of this summer season, with an estimated number of over 140,000 tourists. According to statistics, the occupancy rate in the seaside hotels will be over 90%. 122 years after the first anniversary, the Romanian Naval Forces announce that the Day of the Romanian Navy will be celebrated in the Black Sea and the Danube cities as well as in Bucharest through various events that include demonstration exercises, technical and armament exhibitions, interactive workshops, cultural activities with maritime specificity as well as military music concerts.
Tarom – The Romanian airline TAROM maintains the suspension of flights to and from Tel Aviv, Amman and Beirut until August 16, the national airline operator announced in a press release. The company suspended, as of August 6, flights to these destinations following the travel alerts issued by the authorities, the recent developments in the Middle East area and the deterioration of the security context in the region. “TAROM advises all passengers to follow the official communications for the latest updates and to contact the company to reschedule their trip to a later date. Passengers may also request a refund of the cost of the plane ticket”, the press release states.
Baccalaureate – The autumn session of the Baccalaureate continues today and tomorrow with the assessment of language skills in an internationally spoken language. The written exams will start on August 19 with the Romanian language and literature. On August 20, the obligatory written test of the profile is scheduled, and on August 21, the optional written test of the profile and specialization. The first results will be published on August 26, and the final results will be issued on August 30. Almost 34,000 high school graduates registered for the autumn session of the Baccalaureate this year. In the summer session, the exam pass rate was a little over 78%.
Barometer – Young people in Romania want to be supported in relation to the labor market, housing and access to education, as well as to guidance and career counseling, show the conclusions of an opinion barometer regarding the situation of youth and their expectations, carried out at the order of the Ministry of Family, Youth and Equality of Chance. Another conclusion is that, for young people, high incomes and job security are the most important aspects. Young people considered the quality of life problematic and in terms of mobility and emigration, the barometer shows that going abroad is still a desire for many young Romanians. (LS)
