May 21, 2023 UPDATE

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Newsroom, 21.05.2023, 20:00

EDUCATION On Monday the staff in Romania’s public undergraduate
education will go on strike, the trade unions in the sector announced after
Sunday’s talks with government officials. The protest will continue until
unions have received a credible solution from the government, the leader of
the Spiru Haret Trade Union Federation, Marius Nistor, said. The government put
forth a clear roadmap for the endorsement of the new salary law and promised pay
raises for non-teaching staff, which according to unionists would only amount
to EUR 20 a month. Financial incentives for entry-level teachers and experienced
staff teaching in underprivileged areas have also been proposed. The higher
education staff will also go on token strikes as of Monday, the head of the Alma
Mater National Trade Union Federation Anton Hadăr announced. Trade unions said
negotiations would continue in the coming days.

MOLDOVA
A large-scale rally was held in Chişinău on Sunday, at the initiative of
president Maia Sandu, in order to prove Moldovans’ support for the country’s EU
accession. Europe is the Republic of Moldova. The Republic of Moldova is
Europe. Moldova is not alone, the president of the European Parliament, Roberta
Metsola said in Romanian at the European Moldova National Assembly. Participants
adopted a resolution confirming the support of Moldovan citizens for the
country’s EU accession efforts. The rally takes place as the Republic of
Moldova, an EU accession candidate country, would like to begin accession
negotiations by the end of this year. For this stage to begin, Moldova must
complete 9 recommendations, which will be assessed by this autumn in a European
Commission report. In Bucharest, the Organisation of Moldovan Students
organised a similar rally in front of Moldova’s Embassy. Scores of people
watched the speeches in Chisinau jointly with the Moldovan Ambassador to
Bucharest, Victor Chirila.

DIPLOMACY The Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu takes part on
Monday in the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels. The EU
foreign ministers will discuss measures to mitigate the effects of Russia’s
aggression in Ukraine and the situation in the Horn of Africa. The EU officials
will also touch on the bloc’s commitment in Central Asia, developments in Tunisia,
the relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the context of high-level EU
diplomatic contacts with both countries. According to the Romanian foreign
ministry, Bogdan Aurescu will reiterate Romania’s firm, multidimensional and
continuing support for Ukraine and will express hopes that an agreement will be
reached as soon as possible on the 8th support package for the
Ukrainian air forces under the EU Peace Facility. Minister Aurescu will also
highlight the importance of keeping pressure on Russia by consolidating
sanctions, and will reiterate the idea of setting up a special international tribunal
for the crime of aggression to prosecute Russian crimes of aggression during
the war in Ukraine.

RAILWAYS The president of Romania’s Competition Council, Bogdan
Chiriţoiu, made statements concerning Carpatica Feroviar, a new company that
will take over the operations of the state-owned railway freight corporation CFR
Marfă. The new company will take over the profitable contracts and the
equipment needed for completing them, while the other assets will be sold in order
to cover as much as possible of the old company’s debts to the state budget
Chiriţoiu explained. He emphasised that current operations will not be
discontinued. The financial performance of CFR Marfă improved slightly in 2022,
but the company still owes some EUR 400 mln to the state budget and social
security budget.

BEEKEEPERS Romanian beekeepers say they are left with large amounts
of unsold honey because of imports of cheaper and poorer-quality honey. The
head of the Romanian Beekeepers Association, Ioan Fetea, says the situation is
particularly serious as last year’s yield was a lot smaller than in previous
years. Last year beekeepers saw modest yields, but they could not even sell those,
precisely because of these dumping practices, obviously explained by the fact
that that honey is not in line with EU regulations. Almost half of the honey
imported into Europe is adulterated, counterfeit, and obviously sold very
cheaply, which puts tremendous pressure on local producers, Fetea explained. Beekeepers
are also struggling with a fall in the number of bee families, because of the
use of insecticides in agriculture.

UKRAINE The US president Joe Biden Sunday announced new military aid
measures for Ukraine, following talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy,
on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima. The new aid package will
consist of ammunitions, artillery and armoured vehicles, Joe Biden explained, just
days after approving the provision of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. According
to Reuters, this new package is worth up to USD 375 mln and is designed to
strengthen Ukraine’s defence in the war against Russia. The British PM Rishi
Sunak also announced in Hiroshima that his country would start training
Ukrainian pilots this summer, to support Ukraine’s air forces in the conflict.
Rishi Sunak added that no one wants peace more than Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but
the terms for peace, he added, should be based on Ukraine’s principles. In the
3-day summit in Japan, the G7 nations voiced their willingness to stand by
Ukraine in the long run.

ROWING Romania won 2 gold and 3 silver medals at
the 2023 European Rowing Under 19 Championships in Brive-la-Gaillarde, France,
in which it took part with 11 boats. Romania came out second in the overall nations
tables, behind Italy and ahead of Turkey. In last year’s competition, Romania
had won 5 medals (3 gold, one silver and one bronze), and finished top of the
ranking by nations. (AMP)