October 23, 2023

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Newsroom, 23.10.2023, 13:55

FOODSTUFFS The cap on mark-ups for
basic foodstuffs will be extended by another 90 days, under a draft emergency order posted on the
home page of the Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry. Nine other products
will be added to the list, including tomato broth, margarine, yeast, sour cream.
On August 1 a government order took effect, under which prices for 14 basic
foodstuffs were capped, following discussions with processors, distributors and
retailers. PM Marcel Ciolacu said the cap on basic foodstuffs contributed to
reducing the inflation rate below 9% last month.

NATO
Romania will continue to contribute to improving regional and Euro-Atlantic security,
including, among others, as a stability pillar at the Black Sea, president
Klaus Iohannis Monday told the participants to the opening ceremony of the
fully operational NATO Multinational Corps South-East command centre in Sibiu,
central Romania. The president mentioned that in 2018, at the NATO Summit in Brussels, he
communicated Romania’s intention to add a land corps to the Allied command and
control structure in Romania, in order to strengthen the planning and operation
of NATO’s forces and structures in Romania-the NATO Force Integration Unit, the
Multinational Division South-East Command and the Multinational Brigade
South-East. Mr. Iohannis also said that strengthening NATO’s deterrence and
defence posture at the Black Sea remains a top long-term objective. The
Multinational Corps South-East in Sibiu is part
of the NATO force structure and ensures the command
and control of Allied land operations in any situation, including crises and
war, to bolster the NATO deterrence and defence posture in Romania and
Bulgaria.

FAC The Romanian foreign minister Luminiţa Odobescu takes
part today in the Foreign Affairs Council meeting held in Luxembourg. According
to the Romanian foreign ministry, the agenda includes talks on the situation in
Israel and the region following the terrorist attacks of Hamas, Russia’s
aggression against Ukraine and the relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The
EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, will also discuss his visit to China, on October 12 to 14, the Belgrade – Pristina Dialogue, and the Sahel region.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Luminiţa Odobescu will take part in the
EU-Central Asia ministerial meeting.

EDUCATION Public education staff in Romania are to receive
these days the annual bonus obtained following the strike at the end of the
previous academic year. Over 326,000 employees in the sector will benefit from
this annual bonus, amounting to EUR 300 for teaching staff and EUR 100 for
administrative staff. The government has also decided to extend the deadline
for the submission of educational voucher applications, through which EUR 100
vouchers are given once a year to an estimated 410,000 underprivileged children
for the purchase of clothes and school supplies.

RALLIES Protesters took to the streets on Sunday as well
across Europe, to support either the Palestinian or the Israeli cause and the approx.
200 hostages taken by Hamas. In London, 20,000 people demanded the release of
the people kidnapped by the Islamists, after the previous day nearly 100,000
demanded an end to the slaughter in Gaza. In Paris, nearly 15,000 protested
against Israel’s shelling civilian areas, with similar rallies in Sarajevo and Istanbul,
while in Geneva the families of the hostages contacted the headquarters of the
Red Cross and the High UN Commissioner for Human Rights. In Germany, president
Frank-Walter Steinmaier and PM Olaf Scholz pleaded for the eradication of antisemitism.

THEATRE Bucharest is hosting the National Theatre
Festival until October 30th. The theme chosen for this year’s edition is Laboratories
of the Sensitive. The plays chosen for the festival were selected out of over
150 performances that premiered in the 2022-2023 season in state and
independent theatres in Romania. (AMP)