March 19, 2023

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Newsroom, 19.03.2023, 14:00

VISIT The president of Romania Klaus Iohannis, currently
on an official visit to the United Arab Emirates, has traveled today to Masdar
City, a model of sustainable urban development with solutions centered around
energy efficiency and environment protection. The Romanian official was presented
solutions for transport and urban cooling and ventilation, building energy
generation and optimum usage of natural light in schools and research
institutions. The solutions tested in Masdar City may be an inspiration for
other cities increasingly interested in sustainability, including in Romania. Contributions
to these solutions come, among others, from Romanian researchers as well,
affiliated to research institutes in Masdar City, the Romanian presidency said
in a news release. President Iohannis will be in the UAE until Tuesday, at the
invitation of his counterpart, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The main
goals of the visit include strengthening the political and diplomatic dialogue
on topics of mutual interest, encouraging bilateral economic relations, which
are already on a significant positive trend, and attracting investments in the
Romanian economy through projects in fields like infrastructure, energy,
climate change, cybersecurity and food security.

REFUGEES The Romanian Border Police Inspectorate General
announced that on Saturday as many as 86,342 people entered Romania using
border checkpoints around the country. Of them, 8,510 were Ukrainian nationals.
Since February 10, 2022, two weeks before the Russian invasion of their
country, nearly 3.8 million Ukrainian citizens entered Romania. Most of them have travelled
further on to western European countries, but around 100,000 of them have
chosen to stay in Romania, according to the authorities in Bucharest.

CHILDREN Border police prevented over 5,300 Romanian
underage nationals from crossing the border out of the country in 2022, because
their parents or the adults accompanying them were unable to produce the
documents required for taking minors out of the country. The interior ministry
announced on Sunday that the number is twice as big as in the previous year. Also,
since the beginning of 2023, more than 800 Romanian minors have been stopped at
the border because they lacked valid travel documents, the accompanying parent
lacked the consent of the other parent or because the adults accompanying them,
other than their parents, failed to present clear criminal records. Under the
law, underage Romanian nationals can only leave the country based on a valid
travel document, passport or identity card, provided that they are accompanied
by an adult and have the consent of their parents.

RUGBY Romania’s
national rugby team takes on Spain today in a match for the 3rd
place in Rugby Europe Championship 2023, the second-tier European competition
after Six Nations. The match is played in Badajoz, Spain. The competition final,
pitting Georgia against Portugal, is played tonight as well. In August Romania’s
rugby team is scheduled to play test matches against Georgia and Italy, ahead
of the World Cup in France, organised between September 8 and October 28. Romania will play in Group B, alongside Ireland, South Africa,
Scotland and Tonga.

HANDBALL Romania’s women’s handball champions, Rapid Bucharest, are
playing today away from home against Slovenia’s Krim Ljubljana, in the first
leg of the playoffs for the Champions’ League quarter-finals. The second leg
takes place in Bucharest. This is Rapid’s first presence in the Champions’
League, and the match against the Slovenian champions is also the team’s first
march in European competitions with the Danish manager Kim Rasmussen, who
replaced Carlos Viver (Spain). 150 Romanian fans will attend the game. If they
qualify into the quarter-finals, Rapid will be facing Kristiansand (Norway). Romania’s
vice-champions, CSM Bucharest, have already qualified into the quarter-finals,
where they will take on the winner of the playoff between the French side Brest
and the Danish team Esbjerg. (AMP)