December 4, 2022

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 04.12.2022, 13:47

Schengen. The European Union’s Justice and Home
Affairs Council is expected in a few days to decide on the entry into Schengen
of Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia. A unanimous vote is required, but Austria’s
home affairs minister Gerhard Gartner told the Austrian
newspaper Kurier that his country is opposed to Romania’s and Bulgaria’s
admission on account of their unresolved problems with the protection of the
EU’s external borders, and the rejection of asylum applicants and their
distribution. Austria has in fact requested that the admission of Romania and
Bulgaria should not be put to vote during the upcoming meeting on 8th
December. Austria is now the only EU member state to still oppose the admission
of Romania and Bulgaria into Schengen. The Dutch government announced on Friday
that the Dutch Parliament would approve the admission of Romania and Croatia
but has objections with respect to Bulgaria because of issues relating to
corruption and the rule of law. Sweden has also spoken in favour of Romania’s
entry. The European Commission called on the Council to take the necessary
decisions without delay to allow for the full entry of Romania, Bulgaria and
Croatia to the Schengen area.

Oil.
The European Union will impose from Monday a 60-dollar-per-barrel price cap on
Russian oil. The cap was established by the European Union, the G7 countries
and Australia in order to reduce the revenues obtained by Russia from its oil
sales in the context of the war this country generated in Ukraine. Ukraine’s
president Volodymyr Zelensky described the decision as not serious, given that
the current price is 65 dollars per barrel. He called for a lower cap of 30
dollars per barrel. Many experts believe, however, that this would destabilise
the global oil market and lead to an uncontrolled rise in prices. According to news agencies,
Russia has already warned it will no longer deliver oil to the countries that
impose price caps.

Technology.
Google Romania conducted a study on how the Romanians living abroad use
technology to stay in touch with their home country. The survey shows that 9 in
10 respondents believe it is important to remain in contact via computers, and
more than 70% follow Romanian content at least two or three times a week. They
listen to Romanian music, spend time on social media and follow TV and radio
channels and newspapers from Romania. In terms of type of content, more than
80% of respondents follow the news, while 50% follow sports, culture, personal
development and children contents. The most popular Google search subjects for
the Romanians abroad speak of their strong connection to their home country and
homesickness and Romanian customs and traditions. The most frequent Notions
searches in 2022 were the recipes for sarmale, doughnuts, roast peppers and
apple pie. Romanians abroad stay in touch with their loved ones mainly through
messaging apps. 57% of respondents communicate with their relatives in Romania
on a daily basis via voice and text messages using such apps, and 51% through
daily video calls. The Google survey published by Agerpress news agency was
conducted on a sample of 400 Romanians living in Germany, Spain, Italy and the
UK and who are Internet users.

Football. France are playing Poland and England
are playing Senegal today in the round of last 16 at the football world cup hosted
by Qatar. The winners of yesterday’s matches, The Netherlands, who beat the US
3-1, and Argentina, who beat Australia 2-1, will be facing each other in the
first quarterfinal on Friday. (CM)