March 12, 2023 UPDATE
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 12.03.2023, 19:10
ACCIDENT – Five Romanians, of whom one with dual citizenship, were involved in a serious car accident on Saturday evening on motorway M1 connecting Budapest to Vienna, the Romanian Foreign Ministry reports. Of them, two were hospitalized and one has already been discharged. The other one is still in hospital but his life is not threatened. According to the Hungarian Police, visibility was suddenly reduced due to a dust storm, prompting a truck to lose direction and collide with other cars. 42 vehicles crashed due to poor visibility conditions. One person died and several dozens were injured.
EXPLANATIONS – The Romanian Foreign Ministry Bogdan Aurescu is invited to appear before the Chamber of Deputies on Monday to give explanations regarding the works on the Bystroye canal and the strategy for Romanias Schengen accession. The biodiversity of the Danube Delta is not affected by dredging works on the Bystroye Canal, and no significant water flow changes on the river Danube were reported compared to statistics published in recent years, said the Environment Minister Tanczos Barna after the first measurements conducted by Romanian authorities on the branch of Chilia and Romanian sections of the Danube. Authorities from Romania and Ukraine have agreed to measure the depth of Danube River canals after Kyiv started dredging the Bystroye canal. The Ukrainian Infrastructure Ministry said that, once dredging works were completed, the depth of Bystroye grew from 3.9 to 6.5 meters. Kyiv has however denied that the works violated any agreement. Bucharest wants to make sure Ukraine’s operation does not impact ecosystems in the Danube Delta, a protected UNESCO World Heritage site. As regards the Schengen area, Bucharest maintains its objective to join it this year after having failed to do so in 2022 due to Austrias opposition.
SCHENGEN – Romania is neither a source of migration nor a transit country, President Klaus Iohannis has said on numerous occasions. Iohannis will travel to Bulgaria next week to discuss Schengen accession with his counterpart. We know how to protect our borders, but the problem is a European one and we want to take part in finding the best solutions to it, Iohannis has said. Meanwhile, Bulgaria is making efforts to secure its border with Turkey in collaboration with the European authorities and also with Ankara. Bulgarian Interior Minister, Ivan Demergiev has explained that at the European Council, the idea of building a protection fence was not accepted but that equipment such as drones and radars can be used and the FRONTEX presence can be increased.
CHINA – The National People’s Congress on Sunday approved the members of Chinas new government. On Saturday, at the proposal of the Chinese President, Xi Jinping, Li Qiang was confirmed as PM, a day after Xi had been unanimously re-elected for a third mandate as head of state. Economic expert He Lifeng was appointed deputy PM in charge with supervising the financial and economic policy, Finance Minister Liu Kun and Minister of Trade Wang Wentao kept their posts while Yi Gang remained head of the Central Bank. The Chinese government is making efforts to revitalize economy after an economic growth of only 3% last year, one of the smallest in decades.
FRANCE – After ten days of heated debates, the French Senate passed the highly contested pension reform, which had sparked protests and strikes. PM Elisabeth Borne did not hide her satisfaction after this first success, at the beginning of a decisive week during which the government hopes to see this reform fully adopted, France Presse reports. President Macrons second flagship project during his current mandate will be submitted to a crucial vote in the National Assembly, most likely on Thursday. Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets to protest the reform and the increase in the retirement age from 62 to 64.
SPACE – Four crew members aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule landed off Florida’s Gulf coast on Saturday, returning safely from a five-month science mission on the International Space Station, Reuters reports. The Crew-5 team that conducted routine science aboard the station, included cosmonaut Anna Kikina, who became the first Russian to fly on an American spacecraft in 20 years, NASA flight commander Nicole Aunapu Mann, the first Native American woman sent into orbit, NASA pilot Josh Cassada and Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata. The Crew-5 team launched from Florida on October 6.
TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Sorana Cirstea qualified to the 3rd round of BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, when American Madison Keys, the No 19 seed, had retired on Saturday evening. Cirstea, ranked No 83, led 6-1 when Keys, ranked No 20, pulled out of the clash at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. The Romanian will face American Bernarda Pera.
