July 18, 2022

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 18.07.2022, 13:50

Visit. The President of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, will pay a formal visit to Romania on Tuesday, at the invitation of President Klaus Iohannis. The two leaders will assess opportunities to stimulate and strengthen sectoral aspects of bilateral cooperation in all areas of common interest, with a focus on political dialogue, home affairs, education, economic and trade. The agenda will also include an exchange of views on developments with a regional impact in the Middle East, the stage and prospects of the Peace Process, the security situation and the effects of Russia’s illegal and unprovoked aggression against Ukraine, a presidential communiqué reads. Also on Tuesday, President Iohannis will receive the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defense of Ireland, Simon Coveney.

FAC. Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu is attending in Brussels a meeting of the heads of diplomacy of the EU member states – the Foreign Affairs Council, where he will plead for further supporting Ukraine, including by allocating a new financial tranche through the European Peace Facility. According to a statement from the MFA, Bogdan Aurescu will support the idea of maintaining pressure on Russia and strengthening the sanctions regimem against it. The head of the Romanian diplomacy will also present the latest measures adopted by Bucharest to facilitate grain exports from Ukraine, including the opening of new border crossing points, as well as Romania’s agreement for the transit of Chilia and Bâstroe canals by ships carrying grains under third country flags. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba will also give a video speech at the meeting. At the same time, the foreign ministers are to approve a political agreement to unblock the fifth tranche, worth 500 million euros, under the European peace instrument to finance the purchase of arms supplied to Ukraine. The debate comes in the context in which the European Commission proposed, on Friday, new sanctions against Russia, including a ban on Russian gold exports to the EU.

Ambassador. Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca has today received Japan’s ambassador to Romania, Hiroshi Ueda. According to a Government communiqué, fundamental issues of bilateral relations were addressed, the Japanese side emphasizing the importance of updating the future framework of the Romanian-Japanese Strategic Partnership, in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and given Japan’s direct interest in the region, in supporting the humanitarian aid for Ukraine and the neighboring states, Romania and Poland in particular. Regarding bilateral projects, objectives were reviewed such as the construction of the bridge over the Danube in Braila, which is to be completed by the end of the year, and a metro line, which will be started soon, with Japanese management. The Romanian Prime Minister once again conveyed Romania’s condolences for the tragic death of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Refugees. According to the Romanian Border Police Inspectorate, some 152 thousand people crossed Romania’s borders on Sunday. Of them, 11.100 were Ukrainian citizens. Since the war broke out in neighboring Ukraine, more than 1.6 million Ukrainian citizens have crossed Romania’s borders.

Drought. This week, the Government of Bucharest starts preparing a longer-term strategy to combat drought, in the context in which the effects of climate change are increasingly affecting agricultural crops. The executive wants to use European money, but also money from the state budget to develop the irrigation system and to support farmers who have been affected by the drought. Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca has announced that an inter-ministerial commission has been set up to that end, which will start working this week.

Wildfires. Part of Western Europe continued to fight devastating wildfires this weekend, a consequence of a heat wave that, according to meteorologists, could break several temperature records earlier this week. Record temperatures are expected in Portugal, France and the United Kingdom. In France, the red code alert for extreme temperatures has been activated in 15 departments and the orange code in another 51. Britain could have the hottest day today, with temperatures estimated to reach up to 41 degrees Celsius. The Met Office has issued a red heat warning in large parts of England, from York and Manchester to London and the south-east. In Spain, the heat wave that has hit the country for several consecutive days has so far killed more than 300 people, according to local media.

Olympiads. Romanian students won four gold and one silver medal at the International Physics Olympiad, organized online by Switzerland and which brought together 369 competitors. They now rank second in the world, along with South Korea. The Chinese team won first place and the USA the third place. Romania’s mathematics team also won first place in Europe and fifth place in the world at the International Mathematical Olympiad in Oslo, with two gold and four silver medals. China and Korea came in first, followed by the United States and Vietnam. The competition in the Norwegian capital was attended by 105 countries. We recall that in May, the Romanian Olympic mathematics team won six medals and the first place in teams at the 39th edition of the Balkan Mathematical Olympiad which took place in Agros, Cyprus.

Rugby. The Romanian rugby national team was defeated by the Uruguayan team 26-20, on Sunday, in a test match held in Montevideo. The South Americans thus got their revenge after the defeat a week ago, when the Romanians won 30-22. The national rugby team has already qualified for the 2023 Rugby World Cup, which will take place in France. It is part of Group B, along with South Africa, Ireland, Scotland and the Asia-Pacific qualifying team. (MI)