March 24, 2023 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 24.03.2023, 19:47

EU — A two-day meeting of European leaders ended on Friday in Brussels. High on the agenda was mainly the situation in Ukraine, the energy issues and measures to stimulate the competitiveness of EU economies. Romania managed to obtain, at the summit, more funds for the farmers affected by the cheap grain imports from Ukraine. President Klaus Iohannis raised this issue at the meeting and was promised by the Commission that initial funds would be supplemented. As regards the Republic of Moldova, European leaders agreed that the EU would further grant this country its full support including to strengthen security, achieve economic stability and ensure energy supplies in the context of destabilizing activities of external actors. Moldova was also reassured as regarding support for its EU accession and the Commission was invited to present a support package ahead of the next meeting. All these had Romania and its efforts as starting point, the Presidential Administration in Bucharest said.

EDUCATION – Romanias government on Friday approved a bill on the countrys participation in the 2025 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The government says Romanias participation is intended to “bring the Romanian education in line with developments in high-performing education systems in the world, and to review ones own performances in relation to the other participating countries.” The initiators argue this participation is important given Romanias EU membership and its current observer status and future membership of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. PISA tests indicate the extent to which students are prepared to face current society challenges, and measures the basic skills of 15 year olds in areas like reading, maths and sciences.

SCRAPPING – In Romania, the Rabla Clasic and Rabla Plus scrapping programmes were launched on Friday. They are designed to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by promoting the use of non-polluting vehicles. The vouchers provided by the government may reach EUR 10,000 for the purchase of electric cars worth up to EUR 75,000.

VISIT – While in Chişinău, PM Nicolae Ciucă reiterated Romanias support for neighboring Republic of Moldovas European accession efforts. In a meeting with his counterpart, Dorin Recean, Ciucă announced the building of new bridges across Prut river and the set up of new border checkpoints. In turn, PM Recean announced that very soon EUR 25m out of a non-reimbursable EUR 100m assistance package provided by Romania will be used for the development of village schools and infrastructure.

FOOTBALL – Romanias national football team plays against Andorra away from home on Saturday, in the first round of the EURO 2024 qualifiers. The final tournament will be hosted by Germany. Also on Saturday in Group I, which includes Romania, Belarus takes on Switzerland and Israel faces Kosovo. On March 28, the national team faces Belarus in Bucharest. The top 2 teams in each of the 10 preliminary groups qualify into the final tournament, with the last 3 participants to be decided in March 2024, after the Nations League play-offs. (EE/AMP)