November 26, 2023

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 26.11.2023, 14:00

Kyiv. Romania has assumed a role of utmost importance in ensuring the transit of Ukrainian grain to international markets and remains in solidarity with that country, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said on Saturday, in an online intervention at the Kyiv Summit on world food security. More than 60% of the total Ukrainian exports of agricultural products were made through the transport corridors in Romania, the head of the Bucharest government also said, and in the next period an increase in the transport capacity would follow, with the direct support of the international partners and the European Union. Ciolacu condemned in the strongest terms the illegal and unjustified attacks by Russia in Ukraine, which constitute war crimes, as well as the Russian bombings near the border with Romania, which affect the infrastructure necessary for the transport of grain to international markets.

Abuse of office. The legal Committee of the Romanian Senate must react by Wednesday to the National Anticorruption Directorates request for the prosecution of the former Prime Minister, Liberal Senator Florin Cîțu. Former Health Ministers Vlad Voiculescu and Ioana Mihăilă, members of the Save Romania Union, are also accused of abuse of office, and president Klaus Iohannis would have to green-light the lifting of their immunity. Prosecutors say the three purchased 52 million doses more than necessary, causing a prejudice of 1 billion EUR. The vaccines were purchased at a very difficult time during the pandemic, dominated by uncertainty regarding the evolution of the virus, the availability of mass-production of vaccines and the need for re-vaccination, Vlad Voiculescu explained. The former Health Minister blamed Florin Cîțu for taking the final decision, and in turn the former Liberal Prime Minister said that every decision made during his mandate was in good faith and in compliance with the law. The President of the Save Romania Union, Catalin Drula, claims that the case against Vlad Voiculescu is an alarming evidence of how state institutions are used against the political opposition, given that elections are due next year. In turn, the Liberal Justice Minister Alina Gorghiu has criticized the accusations brought by the leader of SRU.

Gaza. Two hostages with dual citizenship, Israeli and Romanian, residing in Israel, are among those released from the Gaza Strip, the Romanian MFA announced today. Thus, currently, four people with dual citizenship, Israeli and Romanian, are still hostages in the Gaza Strip, a context in which the ministry reiterates the need to release all hostages from Gaza. At the same time, the MFA welcomes the diplomatic efforts of the USA, the State of Qatar and the Arab Republic of Egypt for the release of the hostages from the Gaza Strip. The Embassy of Romania in Tel Aviv and the Consulate General of Romania in Haifa stay in contact with the Israeli authorities.

Hostages. A new exchange of Israeli hostages with Palestinian prisoners is planned for today, on the third day of the truce between Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas. Saturdays group of hostages was belatedly released, to the dismay of desperate families, following a dispute between Israelis and Palestinian Islamists over the implementation of the four-day ceasefire. It came into force on Friday, when Hamas released a first group of 24 hostages – 13 Israelis, 10 Thais and a Filipino. In return, Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners. On Saturday evening, the Islamist group released a second group – 13 Israeli hostages and 4 Thai citizens. In turn, the Israeli authorities released another 39 Palestinian people from prisons. The ceasefire agreement should lead to the release of a total of 50 Hamas hostages and 150 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. In addition, every day of the truce, trucks with food, medicine and fuel will enter Gaza. The war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip was triggered by an attack of unprecedented scale and violence committed by Hamas, on October 7, in southern Israel. According to the authorities, 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and about 240 people kidnapped on the day of the attack. In retaliation, Israel has bombed the Gaza Strip ever since, and almost 15,000 people were killed, including over 6,000 children, according to Hamas. At the same time, Israel started a ground operation, in the north of the Gaza Strip, for the total destruction of Hamas.

Vehicles. The Romanian state offers the biggest subsidies in the European Union for the purchase of electric and hybrid cars, the state secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests, Bogdan Balanişcu, said on Friday. These are vouchers that can reach over 10,000 euros, benefiting those Romanian citizens who want to buy an electric car. It is a way to remove 250 thousand cars from the streets and to stop the pollution that these old cars create, the official explained. According to the latest data provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, approximately 8,000 vehicles with zero CO2 emissions were registered in Romania in the first semester of 2023. This past summer, there were some 33 thousand electric vehicles and 154 thousand hybrid vehicles registered in Romania.

Gaudeamus. The Gaudeamus Radio Romania fair, the longest-running event of its kind in the country, is coming to an end. Today is the last day of the 30th edition. As usual for the visitors, the organizers prepared over 100 events for all ages: launches, debates or workshops. Despite the bad weather, the visitors came in large numbers to the fair on Saturday as well. In the central pavilion at Romexpo, in Bucharest, the public was attracted by the editorial offer, but also by the significant price reductions. On an area of ​​thousands of square meters, stands and event spaces have accommodated the nearly 200 participants, who have come with an extremely varied range of editorial products, on different supports, suitable for all ages and fields of interest, music and educational games.

Handball. Romanian womens national handball team won, on Saturday, in Bistrita (north), the Carpathian Trophy, after defeating Austria with a score of 41-35, in the last match of the competition. Previously, Romania won against Switzerland 33-28 and Portugal with 32-22. The tournament in Bistrita was a final check before participating in the World Championship in Denmark, Norway and Sweden (November 29-December 17), where Romania will play in Group E. The Romanians will face Chile on December 1, Serbia on December 3 and Denmark on December 5. The top 3 will qualify for the main groups and then, from those, the top two are bound for the quarter-finals. The national team aims to rank among the first 7 places, in order to be able to participate in the pre-Olympic tournament. Romania is the only team that has participated in all 26 editions of the Womens Handball World Championship. (MI)