October 2, 2024
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 02.10.2024, 13:55
VISA WAIVER – Romania meets all the technical conditions to be part of the Visa Waiver Program, the Romanian ambassador to the US, Andrei Muraru, said on a social network. He also said that Romanians would most likely be allowed to travel visa-free in the first part of next year. “Should all the conditions and preparations proceed successfully, the program could take effect sometime in 2025” the US ambassador to Romania, Kathleen Kavalec, said on Tuesday. However, Ambassador Kavalec said, a number of important steps still need to be completed in the coming months to establish whether Romania is, in fact, eligible to participate in the Visa Waiver Program.
BNR – The Governor of the National Bank of Romania, Mugur Isarescu, was entrusted by Parliament on Tuesday, with a new 5-year mandate at the helm of the financial institution. He has led the Bank almost uninterruptedly since 1990. He only stepped down for one year, to serve as prime minister of Romania. He is the longest-serving governor of a central bank in the world. Isărescu said before Parliament that the institution would try to ensure price stability without discouraging long-term economic growth.
WARNING – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bucharest strongly advises Romanian citizens who are in Lebanon to leave this country by the air routes still available. The travel warning regarding the existence of major security risks is still valid. These can also affect commercial flights and travel routes, according to the Ministry. Some 1,136 Romanian citizens and their family members have so far registered their presence in Lebanon, at the Romanian Embassy in Beirut. On the ground, Iran announced that its attack on Israel had ended, after, on Tuesday evening, it launched more than 180 missiles in its direction. Tehran says that it targeted the infrastructure of the enemy state. International media says that among the targets were the headquarters of the Israeli intelligence service, Mossad, as well as the most important air base, Nevatim, which is also used by Israel F- 35 long-range stealth strike fighter fleet. According to the Radio Romania correspondent in Israel, there is no information regarding the loss of human life and damages.
ALERT – A new RO-Alert message was issued for the northern part of Tulcea county (south-eastern Romania), after the national defense and security structures detected a possible attack by the Russian Federation on some targets on the territory of Ukraine. These messages have the role of informing the population in the border area between Romania and Ukraine about the fact that there are possible Russian attacks on the Ukrainian territory and that some objects might fall on the Romanian national territory. The Romanian Defense Ministry firmely condemns once more these attacks carried out by the Russian Federation against some objectives and elements of Ukrainian civil infrastructure, which are unjustified and are serious breaches of international law.
UNEMPLOYMENT – The unemployment rate in Romania rose, in August, to 5.5%, up by 0.1% compared to the one recorded in July 2024, according to data published on Wednesday by the National Institute of Statistics (INS). By gender, the unemployment rate for men exceeded that of women by 0.7% (the values being 5.8% for men and 5.1% for women). The unemployment rate among young people (15-24 years old) continues to be high – 23.2%. The number of unemployed (aged 15-74) was 452,300 in August, and went up both compared to the previous month (451,200 people) and to the same period of last year (449,500 people). The number of unemployed aged 25-74 accounted for 76.3% of the total number of unemployed estimated for August 2024.
SUPPORT – Romania will support Greece by sending 50 firefighters and equipment specialized in putting out fires. According to a press release by the Government, following the activation of the European Civil Protection Mechanism, the Government of Romania responded to the request of the Greek authorities for international assistance.
MEETING – The Romanian Minister of Defense, Angel Tîlvăr, had, on Wednesday, in Bucharest, an official meeting with his Portuguese counterpart, Nuno Melo. The two ministers reviewed the state of Romanian-Portuguese cooperation in terms of security and defense from a bilateral perspective and from that of their countries’ NATO and EU membership. Topics related to the security situation in the Black Sea region and measures to strengthen the allied defense position and deter aggression on the Eastern flank were also addressed.
