April 13, 2023
A roundup of domestic and international news
Radio România, 13.04.2023, 13:55
NATO – The Chair of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Rob Bauer, is on a visit to Romania until Friday. His talks with the Romanian officials focus on the security situation in the Black Sea region, the allied deterrence missions and the defense of the Euro-Atlantic space, as well as the major training events of 2023. The NATO official talked with the Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu about the preparation of the summit in Vilnius due in July and the implementation of the decisions of the allied meeting in Madrid. At the Romanian Defense Ministry the NATO official had talks with the Defense Minister, Angel Tîlvăr, and the Chief of the General Staff, General Daniel Petrescu. Admiral Rob Bauer’s agenda in Romania also includes visits to the allied commands located in Bucharest (south) and Sibiu (center), to the NATO battle group deployed in the Cincu area (center) and to the Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base (southeast).
Black Sea – Bucharest once again becomes the international capital of diplomacy as it hosts today the first Conference on the security of the Black Sea under the aegis of the International Crimea Platform and a new meeting of the Romania – Republic of Moldova — Ukraine Trilateral, said the Romanian Foreign Minister, Bogdan Aurescu. The conference is the first event dedicated to the Black Sea, co-organized by Romania and Ukraine. More than 250 delegates from more than 30 countries and international organizations will attend, along with guests who join the conference online. The discussions focus on the multidimensional impact of Russias war of aggression and on finding solutions to secure the Black Sea region. Issues related to information warfare and cyber attacks will also be addressed. In a press conference, the Romanian foreign minister reiterated that he condemned the war waged by the Russian Federation in Ukraine.
Smart Diaspora – The Smart Diaspora 2023 international conference comes to an end today in Timişoara, in western Romania. It is an event that creates a space for dialogue and collaboration between Romanian researchers, irrespective of where they live and work. The 4-day event included 38 workshops, with approximately 400 participants from the Diaspora, 550 from Romania and 300 from universities that are members of the Timișoara University Alliance. The workshops were organized on various topics, from education and psychology, to global economy, governance, smart cities, entrepreneurial culture, technological transfer, sustainable food, intercultural communication, Romanian language and literature studies, artificial intelligence, cyber security, migration and mobility. Attending the events of the first day of the conference, the Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă said that the Minister of Research, Innovation and Digitization, Sebastian Burduja, should rapidly find solutions for debureaucratization and for managing the grants for research. He also launched the idea for researchers to propose five priority fields in the sciences, that should receive funding first. Smart Diaspora is part of a series of events included on the agenda of the Timisoara European Capital of Culture 2023.
Inflation – In Romania, the annual inflation rate dropped to 14.53% in March, from 15.5% in February, as the prices of foodstuffs increased by 21.56%, of non-foods by 11.06%, and of services by 10.83%, show data provided by the National Institute of Statistics, published on Thursday. The National Bank of Romania expects the annual inflation rate to drop faster than previously anticipated, especially starting from the third quarter of the current year, against the backdrop of the extension of energy price capping and compensation schemes until March 31, 2025 and of the redefinition of their characteristics as of January 1, 2023.
Visit – President Klaus Iohannis is visiting, today, the Renewable Energy School of Skills (RESS) – the International School of Competences in Renewable Energy from Constanta (south-east). At this school courses are taught for the training and retraining of adults, being dedicated to technicians working in the renewable energy industry, especially in the wind and photovoltaic solar energy fields. According to the Presidential Administration, acquiring skills for climate transition and international cooperation in relation to climate education are important objectives that are part of the President’s vision for a cleaner environment. RESS has trained more than 10,000 people in 14 years, and thousands of people from Romania and abroad attend the courses every year and end up working in the renewable energy sector all over Europe, shows the aforementioned source.
Alliance – Romania will join the Global Offshore Wind Alliance, which promotes the production and use of wind energy, under the auspices of the International Renewable Energy Agency. The Romanian government has approved the association with this Alliance, which aims to increase the share of renewable energy sources in the final consumption and to gradually abandon coal. According to a World Bank study, Romanias offshore wind resources potential in the Black Sea region is 76 GW. To become a member of this alliance, Romania must establish a national strategy regarding offshore wind energy — shows a government press release. (LS)
