November 20, 2022

A roundup of local and international news

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Newsroom, 20.11.2022, 13:49

Conference — The Romanian Foreign Minister, Bogdan Aurescu, will co-chair on Monday, in Paris, the third Ministerial Conference of the Support Platform for the Republic of Moldova, a permanent support tool created at the initiative of the foreign ministers of Romania, Germany and France this spring to mobilize the financial contributions of the international community and to support the necessary reforms for EU accession. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry — MAE, Minister Aurescu will co-chair this event together with the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France, Catherine Colonna, and the Foreign Minister of Germany, Annalena Baerbock. The conference will enjoy the participation of the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, and the President of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu. The meeting in Paris takes place in the context in which the Republic of Moldova is facing major energy, economic, humanitarian challenges and challenges to its resilience, against the background of the brutal war of aggression waged by the Russian Federation against Ukraine.

Summit — During the Francophonie Summit, held in Djerba, in Tunisia, Romania has emphasized the serious impact on security and stability at the regional and global level generated by Russias military aggression against Ukraine, as well as the particularly vulnerable situation of the Republic of Moldova (an ex-Soviet state with a majority Romanian-speaking population) in this context. At the Conference of Heads of State and Government from the French-speaking countries, Romania was represented by presidential adviser Sergiu Nistor, the Francophonie representative of Romanias president, Klaus Iohannis. Sergiu Nistor emphasized the need to urgently address the issues of the risk of manipulation and propagation of false information, disinformation and narratives on social networks in the French-speaking digital space. He also highlighted Romanias solid contribution to the promotion of the French language and the values ​​of the Francophonie, underlining Bucharests active commitment to international cooperation and assistance for development in the French-speaking space, by financing programs carried out in French-speaking Africa or in the member states of the International Organization of La Francophonie from Central and Eastern Europe. The representative of the President of Romania for La Francophonie also highlighted the continuation of the main emblematic programs of La Francophonie, run by Romania, such as the “Eugene Ionescu” doctoral and postdoctoral scholarship program or the course intended for officers who will operate within the UN peacekeeping operations carried out in Francophone areas.

Football — The World Football Cup in Qatar, the first to be held in the Middle East, starts today with the match between the representative of the host country and Ecuador, in Group A. The final tournament in Qatar, with 32 teams, will have 64 matches, which will be hosted by 8 stadiums, and it will end on December 18. This final tournament will be the last with 32 participating teams — as from 2026, 48 countries will participate. The holder of the world title is France. Romania is not participating in this years tournament. Instead, three Romanians will be present on the list of referees – István Kovács, in the center, and Ovidiu Artene and Vasile Marinescu, as assistant referees. Kovacs was appointed the fourth official referee in the opening match. The press agencies note that, since Qatar was designated, at the end of 2010, for the organization of this global event, it has been the constant target of numerous criticisms regarding accusations of corruption, inhuman working conditions for migrants, criticisms related to the respect for the women’s rights and the LGBTQ+ community, as well as the impact on the environment. The accusations were categorically rejected by the authorities in Doha, who emphasized that they had reformed labor laws, as well as by the World Cup organizers, who gave assurances that members of the LGBTQ+ community would be accommodated without discrimination, despite laws that criminalize sexual relations between people of the same sex in this country.

COP27 — COP27, the annual UN climate conference, adopted on SUnday a resolution that provides for the creation of a fund to finance climate damage already suffered by “particularly vulnerable” countries, a decision described as historic by its promoters. The decision was adopted by consensus, in the plenary assembly, at the end of the conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. The resolution emphasizes the immediate need for new, additional, predictable and adequate financial resources to help developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the economic and non-economic impact of climate change. The ways of implementing the decision are to be developed by a special committee and will be adopted at COP28 at the end of 2023, in the United Arab Emirates.

Statistics – In the last 4 years, more than half of the companies in the EU have carried out innovation activities, according to a Eurostat report. Investing in innovation means investing in the future of Europe, the EU officials say, and most companies in the community space are already implementing strategies based on technology, science and research. According to the latest Eurostat report, 73% of large companies with over 250 employees are the most interested in completely new strategies. They are followed by medium-sized companies, 60% of which have introduced new elements in their production processes. In the top of the countries with the biggest number of enterprises using new technologies are Greece, Belgium and Cyprus, and countries such as Hungary, Spain and Poland register values ​​below the European average of 53%. Romania is ranked on last position, with only 11% of companies interested in innovative activities. (LS)