June 24, 2024 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 24.06.2024, 20:00
FAC – On the sidelines of the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) meeting in Luxembourg, EU Foreign Ministers on Monday adopted a new package of sanctions against Russia, the 14th since the start of the invasion in Ukraine. EU Foreign Ministers also adopted a military assistance package for Ukraine worth 1.4 bln EUR. For the first time, the funds will be disbursed from the frozen assets of Russia’s Central Bank. The EU plan to use frozen Russian assets is separate from the decision taken by G7 leaders this month to use future Russian frozen assets to fund 50 bln EUR worth of loans to Ukraine. Representing Romania was Foreign Minister Luminița Odobescu.
FUNDS – The European Union disbursed nearly 3 bln EUR from the Modernization Fund to 39 energy projects to be implemented in 10 Member States, including Romania. This is the largest such disbursement so far. The funds will help Member States attain their climate and energy goals and will contribute to attaining EU’s long-term objective of becoming climate neutral by 2050.
EU ACCESSION – The European Union on Tuesday is expected to launch EU accession negotiations with the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, the Belgian presidency has announced. The two countries’ negotiation chapters will be assessed separately. We recall the EU officially launched negotiation talks with Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova in mid-December 2023. Earlier this month, the European Commission announced Kyiv and Chișinău have officially met all requirements to open negotiation talks.
BLOUSE – June 24 marks the International Day of the Romanian Blouse, a specific item of traditional clothing. Last weekend, Romanian and Moldovan communities in Belgium celebrated this special day. A symposium was held at Château de la Solitude, a heritage building in Auderghem, Brussels. Two debates were also held on this occasion, attended by a large audience, interested to learn more about ethnography and folklore, the process behind the manufacturing of the Romanian blouse and the transition from tradition to modernity. The connection between the Romanian blouse and the celebration of the Sânziene, gentle fairies in Romanian mythology, as well as literature on related folk stories were also topics of debate.
RECORD – The Romanian-Moldovan-German Cultural Center in Nuremberg, Germany, entered the Guinness Book of Records twice for the longest belt manufactured within the space of three months, measuring over 1,600 meters and the heaviest belt, weighing 70 kg. The initiative was launched at the end of February, and since then over a thousand Romanians from all over the world have joined the project and helped manufacture the longest chain belt. Each segment displays the motif of a specific area of Romania, Ionela van Rees-Zota, coordinator of the Cultural Center, told Radio Romania. “We have a representative or an association from almost every county in Romania. We have people from all over the world, from New Zealand to the Republic of Moldova and from Norway to Asia”, Ionela van Rees-Zota said.
FITS – The International Theatre Festival in Sibiu (FITS) continues. Over 830 events involving 5,000 artists from 82 countries, including reputed theatre directors and playwrights such as John Malkovich, Tim Robbins, Pippo delBono or Neil LaBute are expected to take part. The “Performance Exchange” was opened on the sidelines of the festival on Monday. Having reached its 27th edition this year, the event brings together over 80 representatives of cultural institutions and organizations in over 30 countries to establish connections and carry out joint projects. (VP)
