November 9, 2023 UPDATE

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Newsroom, 09.11.2023, 19:47

Gaza – Romania will continue the dialogue with the Israeli and Egyptian authorities for the evacuation of the other Romanian citizens and their family members in the Gaza Strip, depending on the developments on the ground and the agreement of the parties involved, the Romanian Foreign Ministry announced. A consular team will remain available in the area of ​​the Rafah border-crossing to Egypt to provide further assistance. The border was reopened on Thursday, when the evacuation procedures continued for foreign citizens who received permission from the Israeli and Egyptian authorities to transit this point, to Egypt, including 51 Romanian citizens and their family members. In the past few days, several groups of Romanian citizens and their family members were evacuated from the Gaza Strip and transported to Romania by a TAROM aircraft from Cairo. In another development, the White House shows that Israel on Thursday announced a four-hour daily break in fighting in the northern Gaza Strip to allow civilians to withdraw – a first since the beginning of the war. Previously, the NATO allies said they support the humanitarian pauses in the war between Israel and Hamas, to allow the access of aid to the Gaza Strip. According to the NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, international law must be respected and civilians must be protected in this conflict.

NATO — Germany will deploy four Eurofighter planes to Romania to support NATOs air policing mission starting at the end of November. The decision comes a few weeks after the Russian attacks on Ukrainian ports on the Danube. The attacks, carried out right next to the Romanian border, as well as the remains of drones found in Romania, have increased the security risks for the military alliance whose members have a mutual defense commitment. In September, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg described the Russian strikes near the border as “destabilizing,” even though there were no indications that Russia intended to strike a NATO member. The German air forces have previously supported NATO’s air policing mission in Romania, in the context in which the alliance strengthened its military presence along the eastern flank, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in February 2022.

Schengen — One of the major objectives of Hungary’s EU presidency in the second half of 2024 will be to promote Romania’s integration into Schengen, unless progress is made on the matter before, the Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said. According to a press release issued by the Hungarian Foreign Ministry, he emphasized that the Hungarian government attaches strategic importance to the cooperation between the two countries. “The most important base and resource of this strategic cooperation is the Hungarian community that lives in Romania, said Szijjarto. He added that Romania becoming a member of the Schengen area is a clear national interest of Hungary. Romania, the Hungarian foreign minister said, “is Hungary’s second-largest export market and its Schengen membership will obviously make our economic and trade relations much stronger.” Hungary will take over the rotating presidency of the European Council in the second half of 2024.

EU – The European Commission recommended the start of EU accession negotiations with Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova (ex-Soviet state with a majority Romanian-speaking population) and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Commissions favorable opinion must be approved by the 27 members at the December 14-15 EU summit. Until then, the states in question will have to carry out some key measures. From Bucharest, the NATO deputy general secretary, the Romanian Mircea Geoană, welcomed the EC announcement. The official expressed certainty that Ukraine will become a member of the North Atlantic Alliance and showed that there is no fatigue regarding the efforts of the allied countries to support Kyiv in facing the Russian aggression.

Tourism –Bucharest will see, between November 9 and 12, the autumn edition of the Romanian Tourism Fair, considered the most important tourism event in the country that takes place in a physical format. Besides discounts for early booking, some agencies also promote Black Friday discounts. Those interested can find offers both in the country and abroad, complex tour on all continents, including to new or exotic destinations. This year there are two new destinations for the Romanian market: Gran Canaria, in the Spanish Canary Islands, and Faro, in Portugal.

Pensions — The Romanian government adopted, during Thursdays meeting, the new pension law, which provides for two increases in the coming year. The document also establishes the recalculation of all pensions according to new criteria, so that inequities in the system are eliminated. The executive wants the pension law to be adopted by the Parliament by November 20. According to PM Marcel Ciolacu, the new pension law will remove the threshold of 9.4% of the GDP, representing pension expenses. At the same time, the prime minister announced that next year there will be no tax increases, but requested a plan of measures to increase revenue collection to the state budget.

Tennis – The Romanian tennis player Gabriela Ruse will play against the Serbian Mia Ristic, on Friday, in Kraljevo, in the first singles match of the play-off of the Billie Jean King Cup competition between Romania and Serbia. In the second singles match, which will also take place on Friday, the Romanian Jaqueline Cristian will play against Aleksandra Krunic. On Saturday, Cristian will be up against Ristic, and then Ruse will play against Krunic. The doubles match will pit Katarina Kozarov/Natalija Stevanovic from Serbia against Irina Bara/Monica Niculescu from Romania. The winning team will qualify for the final tournament of the competition, and the losing team will play in Group I. Serbia leads Romania 2-1 in direct matches, after winning with the score 2-1 in 2007, in the first round of Group I, Europe/Africa zone, and with the score 2-1 in 2008, in the same phase. In 2014, in Bucharest, Romania won 4-1 and advanced to the Fed Cup World Group, the current Billie Jean King Cup. (LS)