June 16, 2024

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 16.06.2024, 13:58

UKRAINE. Russia could end the war of aggression against Ukraine, but it does not wish to do so, said the Romanian Foreign Minister Luminiţa Odobescu at the World Peace Summit which is taking place in Switzerland. The Romanian official explained that, despite the Kremlin’s propaganda, which claims that Russia wants peace, the war was imposed on Kyiv by Moscow and Russia is politically, legally and morally responsible for its consequences. Consequently, Odobescu pointed out, the Russian Federation must be judged by its deeds, not by its words. Participants in the Summit have firmly rejected Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statement that he would immediately stop the war if the Kyiv administration agreed to remain outside NATO and without the regions occupied by the Russian army. Also, the US pledged $1.5 billion in aid to Ukraine, and the peace declarations included the condition of respecting Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. More than 90 countries are participating in the Summit, and the biggest absentees are Russia and China.

OSCE. Romania has decided not to allow the Russian Federation delegation to participate in the annual session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, which will take place in Bucharest between June 29 and July 3. The measure will be applied to all members of the Russian delegation, parliamentarians and technical staff. The same ban will apply to the delegation of Belarus, a country that supports the war started by Russia in Ukraine. The spokesperson for the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Radu Filip, explained on Radio Romania News and Current Affairs that the decision is based on the known and consistent position of Romania in relation to Russia, in the context of the war of aggression against Ukraine. Moreover, some of the members of the Russian delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly are subject to restrictive measures at the European level, so they cannot be received on Romanian territory.

CONGO. A Romanian citizen died and two others were injured in the clashes between the rebel groups and the government army of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that one more person, a citizen of another state, was injured in the incident, which occurred near the city of Goma, on the border with Rwanda. The spokesperson for the institution, Radu Filip, has stated that the representatives of the Romanian diplomatic mission in Angola urged the Congolese authorities to obtain information in this case. At the same time, the Romanian MFA has stressed that a level eight travel warning is in place for Congo and that Romanian citizens must avoid any trip to that country.

ELECTIONS. The Central Electoral Bureau has reported that it still has to centralize the votes from 28 polling stations before communicating the final results of the European Parliament and local elections, held a week ago in Romania. The most recent data centralized by the CEB show that the alliance between the Social Democratic Party and the National Liberal Party leads the ranking for the European legislature with 48.55%, followed by the Alliance for the Union of Romanians, with 14.93%, the United Right Alliance, with 8, 71%, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, with 6.48% and the party S.O.S. Romania, with 5.03%.

CARD PAYMENT. All merchants in Romania now are obliged to accept payment by card, as the law on increasing financial inclusion has come into force today. The normative act stipulates that all natural or legal persons registered with the National Trade Register Office have the obligation to ensure the implementation and accept at least one non-cash payment instrument. At the same time, merchants can also offer a cash advance service at payment terminals, in a maximum amount of 500 lei (around 100 euros) and can charge the cardholder a commission that cannot exceed 1% of the amount of the advance granted.

CAMPAIGN. The Romanian Police is carrying out a national campaign to combat crimes generated by discrimination based on race. The action, which takes place between June and July, is aimed at preventing the spread of messages motivated by prejudice and hatred against the Roma minority in the press and on social media. The campaign’s goal is to promote tolerance, under the slogan “It is in our power to discourage hatred”. Also, a department specialized in the investigation of crimes based on discriminatory criteria was established within the Criminal Investigation Department. The project is financed from European and national funds.

TOURISM. Romania is being promoted as a tourist destination in Germany, given that, last year, most foreign tourists visiting Romania were German. More than 600 taxis on which images from our country have been posted are driving around Hamburg, Berlin, Munich and Frankfurt on the occasion of the European Football Championship, which Germany is hosting. The Romanian Minister of Tourism, Radu Oprea, has stated that this initiative continues the campaigns started in Paris, Rome and Milan. He believes that the selected images will increase the visibility of Romania and will attract foreign tourists eager “to see green, nature and (…) culture”. Each sticker placed on taxis in Germany has a QR code by means of which one access a brochure in German, with the help of which visitors can obtain relevant information about the various destinations in our country. The first match of the Romanian national football team at EURO 2024 will take place tomorrow against the national team of Ukraine. Romania is part of Group E and its opponents include Belgium and Slovakia. (MI)