July 18, 2023 UPDATE

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Newsroom, 18.07.2023, 20:00

SUMMIT Romania’s efforts to mitigate the effects of the humanitarian and
food crisis caused by Russia’s war against Ukraine was one of the topics
discussed by president Klaus Iohannis at the the EU – Latin America summit held
in Brussels on Monday and Tuesday. In his addresses during the meeting, the
Romanian official praised the organisation of this summit as a necessary
moment of reconnection of regional communities with largely converging
interests and approaches, the Romanian Presidency says. Klaus Iohannis stated
that Romania firmly supported dialogue and constructive cooperation with the
partners in the region, as well as regular top-level meetings between
representatives of the 2 blocs. President Iohannis also presented Bucharest’s views on the most
efficient measures to fight climate change. He pleaded for the concentration
of bilateral cooperation both on the more efficient combating of the risks
entailed by climate change, and on capitalising on the clean energy transition
as a new shared opportunity. The Romanian president also presented Romania’s
outlook on the consequences of Russia’s war against Ukraine, the
multidimensional support provided by Romania and the importance of joint action
in order to defend a rule-based international order. On the sidelines of the
summit, the Romanian official had a meeting with the head of the Community of
Latin-American and Caribbean States, Ralph Gonsalves, to discuss strengthening
the relations between Romania and the countries in that region.

ROMANIA – MEXICO Romanian foreign minister Luminiţa Odobescu had talks
with her Mexican counterpart Alicia Barcena Ibarra on Monday on the sidelines
of the EU-CELAC summit. Talks focused on giving a new impetus to bilateral
relations, including by top level contact, identifying new areas of sectoral
cooperation, the presentation of Romania’s position on Russia’s military
aggression against Ukraine and an exchange of views on the future of EU-Mexico
relations. The areas in which Romania is seeking to improve cooperation with
Mexico include civil protection, cyber security and boosting economic ties with
emphasis on enhancing investments. The talks also highlighted the importance of
the Romanian community in Mexico and the support given by Romania in the
evacuation of Mexican nationals from Ukraine.

GRAIN NATO’s
deputy secretary general Mircea Geoană condemned, in a Facebook post, Russia’s
unilateral decision to pull out of the agreement that had guaranteed Ukraine’s
grain exports via the Black Sea for the past year. In spite of the efforts of
the UN and Turkey, the 4-party agreement signed by Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and
the UN expired at midnight on Monday, after it was last extended for 2 months
in May. Russia declined a new extension of the deal signed on July 22 last year,
on grounds of the obstacles faced by the trade in Russian agricultural
products. The last shipment of agricultural products from Ukraine via the Black
Sea was inspected on Monday night in Istanbul, a few hours before the expiry of
the international agreement. The EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borell also
condemned Russia’s decision to withdraw from the agreement which, in spite of
the war, allowed the export of over 3 million tonnes of Ukrainian grain and
agricultural products.

MONEY LAUNDERING Moneyval calls on Romanian authorities to
strengthen its measures to counter money laundering and terrorism financing, reads
a report released on Tuesday by the Council of Europe’s monitoring body on
money laundering. Since 2014, when MONEYVAL last evaluated Romania, the country
has taken a number of actions to strengthen its legal and institutional
framework to tackle money laundering and the financing of terrorism. According
to Moneyval, Bucharest has achieved moderate levels of effectiveness in all
areas assessed except for international cooperation, where it has achieved a
substantial level of effectiveness and has been commended by other countries
for its constructive assistance. Romania has improved its ability to freeze,
seize and confiscate the proceeds and instrumentalities of domestic crime, the
report also says.

FOOTBALL The
Romanian Football Federation Tuesday announced submitting its candidacy for
organising the 2026 or 2027 Europa League final on the National Arena in
Bucharest. After having successfully organised the EURO 2020 and this year’s
Under-21 European Championship matches, the Federation seeks to continue
promoting Romania as a destination for major sports events, reads a news
release posted on the Federation’s official website. EURO 2020 brought us the
largest public investments in infrastructure, a solid heritage that influences
the development of Romanian football. Also, the Romanian Football Federation
has proved that it has developed its organisational capacity and it is a
competitive partner for UEFA in the European football circuit, and now we aim
to move to a new stage, one fostering further development for Romanian
football, the RFF president Răzvan Burleanu said. The National Arena has
already hosted a Europa League final in 2012, when Atletico Madrid defeated
Athletic Bilbao 3-0. For the next 2 years, the hosts of the Europa League final
are already known: Dublin (Irland), in 2024, and Bilbao (Spain), in 2025. (AMP)