September 17, 2023

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Newsroom, 17.09.2023, 13:55

FARMERS An alliance of Romanian farmers, unhappy
with the European Commission’s decision not to extend the ban on grain imports
from Ukraine, asks the Romanian government to suspend imports of several
Ukrainian agrifood products. The government, which has already promised
subsidies for the Diesel fuel used in farming works, announced that before
taking further measures it was waiting for Kyiv to make public on Monday a plan
regarding efficient export control to prevent the disruption of the Romanian
grain market. Depending on that plan, Bucharest will take adequate steps to
support Romanian farmers. The EC decided
not to extend its ban on Ukrainian grain imports, in exchange for certain
commitments from Kyiv. Poland, Slovakia and
Hungary have introduced unilateral restrictions, while Bulgaria announced it
did not want the embargo on Ukrainian grain imports extended.

PENSIONS A new
version of the special pension law, comprising the amendments requested by the
Constitutional Court, will be endorsed by the end of September, said the
interim Chamber of Deputies speaker, Alfred Simonis. He added the law covers
all categories of special pensions, but because the special benefits paid to
magistrates and other categories cannot be scrapped, as it happened in the case
of MPs, taxation will be introduced, which the Court has accepted. Also,
Simonis said, ceilings must be introduced for each particular profession, so as
to eliminate special pensions of EUR 8,000 or even EUR 14,000 a month. The
Constitutional Court last month sent back to Parliament the new draft pension
law, on grounds that pension benefits currently being paid cannot be readjusted
to different principles than the ones in the law under which they have been
granted.

SCHENGEN Austria’s opposition to Romania’s Schengen
accession is not targeted against Bucharest, but against this freedom of
movement system, said the Austrian minister for the EU, Karoline Edtstadler. The
statement comes after Bucharest warned it would sue Vienna over its veto to
Romania’s accession. Karoline Edtstadler told the media she understood the
position of Romanian authorities, but added Austria cannot close its eyes to an
already flawed system. She explained the EU should ensure efficient protection of its external
borders before envisioning a Europe without internal
borders. In
an interview to Austrian mass media, Romania’s PM
Marcel Ciolacu said that in case of further opposition from Austria, Romania
will have to take the matter to court and demand compensation for the losses
incurred because of its failure to join the Schengen area.

NATO NATO’s secretary general
Jens Stoltenberg has warned that we must not expect a swift end to the war in
Ukraine, in an interview published on Sunday, as Kyiv carries on its
counteroffensive against Russian forces, AFP reports. The war began in February 2022, when
Russian troops invaded Ukraine. As for Ukraine’s efforts to join NATO, Jens Stoltenberg promised
that sooner or later, Ukraine will be a NATO member. In July’s NATO summit in
Vilnius, Alliance leaders agreed that Kyiv may join NATO once
certain conditions are fulfilled, with the US and Germany emphasising that
these conditions include reforms to protect democracy and the rule of law. In
mid-June the Ukrainian army launched a counteroffensive to push out the Russian
troops from the south and east of the country, but so far only a limited number
of localities have been freed.

RUGBY Romania’s national rugby team play their second
World Cup match in Bordeaux (France) today, against defending champions, South
Africa. A week ago Romania lost to Ireland 82-8 (33-8). Romania’s
rugby team is next to play against Scotland on September 30 and against Tonga on
October 8, in Lille. The 2023 Rugby World Cup
ends on October 28. The competition has been held every 4 years since 1987, when
the first edition of the World Cup was hosted by Australia and New Zealand. (AMP)