July 30, 2024 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 30.07.2024, 20:00

SENATE – The Romanian Senate was informed, on Monday, during an extraordinary session, about several normative acts adopted by the government that entered the parliamentary circuit. Among them, the draft law on the measures needed for the organization of this year’s presidential and parliamentary elections. The normative act aims to create a separate electoral infrastructure for the two types of elections, the method of appointing the members of the electoral offices, but also their payment at the level of allowances that the representatives of the electoral offices benefited from in the local elections of June 9. The deadline for tacit adoption expires at the end of September.

FIREFIGHTERS – Requests made from abroad for Romanian firefighters are proof that the civil defense system is working, Romanian Interior Minister Cătălin Predoiu said Tuesday. The statements were made on the occasion of the departure to Greece of a contingent of rescue firefighters from Romania. They have proven their ability to save lives, to protect communities, in the country and abroad, the official also said. The missions are carried out within the framework of the European Civil Protection Mechanism, with European funding, and the Romanian firefighters are requested for the 4th time in a row to send teams to Greece. This first contingent consisting of 40 firefighters have travelled to Greece, with 8 technical means. They will be replaced after a period of several weeks by two other series of firefighters. They will operate in the Athens area, to help the Greek authorities manage the situations caused by the fires.

 LEBANON –  Several countries, including Romania, Germany, Great Britain and the Netherlands, are urging their citizens to leave Lebanon urgently, due to growing concerns about a possible large-scale retaliation by Israel, after Saturday’s rocket attack that killed 12 young people on the Golan Heights, for which Hezbollah is blamed. At the same time, more and more airlines are suspending their flights on the Beirut route. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited, on Monday, the place where the rocket launched from Lebanon fell and stated that Israel’s response would be harsh. Hezbollah denies the accusation of having masterminded the attack. The White House has voiced confidence that a full-scale Israel-Hezbollah war could be avoided. In a conversation with the Israeli president, Itzhak Herzog, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed the importance of preventing an escalation. In turn, the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, talked with Masoud Pezeshkian, the president of Iran, Hezbollah’s main ally, who warned that an attack on Lebanon would have serious consequences. The head of the Italian diplomacy has also spoken with his Israeli and Lebanese counterparts, and estimated that stopping violence is possible.

PROGRAM – The Romanian Ministry of Economy announces the start of a new edition of the “Women Entrepreneur” program, intended to finance the activity of commercial companies in which a woman owns at least 50% of the shares. Registrations are open for a period of 45 days, but the term can be extended, depending on the availability of funds. For each approved file, funding can reach up to 40 thousand euros, the total budget being calculated for one thousand beneficiaries. The eligibility criteria refer to the length of time as a shareholder, the value of the contribution to the investment, or the profitability of the company in the last two years. The fields that are not eligible for this program are forestry and agriculture, but also the production of ammunition and armaments.

 AID –  500 tents and 2,000 blankets made available by the Romanian National Administration of State Reserves and Special Problems were offered free of charge to the Gaza Strip, the Department for Emergency Situations announced on Monday. The equipment was transported with the help of the European Commission, through the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations. Romania has announced that, in this way, it continues to observe its international commitments, remaining a reliable partner to the states that face major emergency situations. We recall that on April 19, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu convened the National Committee for Emergency Situations, and a Decision was approved on granting free international assistance to the affected civilian population in Gaza.

 UKRAINE –  Washington has announced a new security assistance package for Ukraine, worth up to 200 million dollars. According to White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby, the package includes “key combat capabilities for Ukraine, including air defense interceptors, munitions for rocket systems and artillery and anti-tank weapons”. The US Department of Defense also announces significant funding for the Security Assistance Initiative to support Ukraine’s long-term defense capability. Kyiv has been urging its allies for months to provide more air defense systems so that Ukraine can counter missile and drone attacks by Russian forces on its territory. The US has provided Ukraine with more than $50 billion in military aid since 2022. (EE)