March 22, 2024

EC – The European Council meeting continues in Brussels. Romania is represented by President Klaus Iohannis, who also participates in the Euro Summit held in the same city. The EU accession negotiations of Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, as well as ways to support Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression, were on the agenda of the first day of the European Council. Bosnia-Herzegovina was also invited to start accession negotiations, but in this respect the Council did not recommend the adoption of the negotiation framework, because it is waiting for a number of reforms to be first implemented. On the other hand, the EU leaders have agreed, in principle, to commandeer a large majority of the profits generated from frozen Russian assets, worth several billion euros per year, and use them to support Ukraine. Moscow’s assets were frozen in the European area by the sanctions imposed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. At the same time,  the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, says that the European executive will propose an increase in tariffs for the import of cereal, oilseeds and other derived products that are exported by Russia and Belarus to the EU market. The EU has eliminated, until June 2025, customs duties for Ukrainian agricultural exports to the EU, in order to support Ukraine economically.

Newsroom, 22.03.2024, 15:05

CLIMATE – Today, climate change is an indisputable truth, which is why immediate measures must be taken, the  Minister of the Environment, Water and Forestry, Mircea Fechet said Friday, at a conference held in Bucharest, on the occasion of the World Water Day and the World Meteorological  Day. At the same time, the minister mentioned the conflict in Romania’s vicinity, which also has environmental effects. On Friday, at the event in Bucharest, specialists focused on ways to ensure access to drinking water for all people, and discussed sustainable development, public health and food security.

ELECTIONS – The two parties making up the ruling coalition in Romania, PSD and PNL, have validated their candidates who will be on the joint list for European Parliament elections scheduled for June 9. Initially at the top of the list of  20 eligible positions, the independent candidate Ramona Chiriac, head of the European Commission Representation in Bucharest, has withdrawn her candidacy for personal reasons. Both parties keep most of the current MEPs, but new names also appear on the list. From the PSD, the joint list includes, among others, former Prime Minister Mihai Tudose,  former Minister of Family and Equal Opportunities Gabriela Firea, the current State Secretary with the Department for Romanians Everywhere Gheorghe Cârciu, and MEPs Dan Nica and Victor Negrescu. Among the PNL candidates for the European Parliament are Adina Vălean, the current EU transport commissioner, Virgil Popescu, the former Minister of Energy and MEPs Rareş Bogdan, Siegfried Mureşan, Dan Motreanu, Gheorghe Falcă, and Daniel Buda. The list will be finalized next week.

CONVICTS – Convicts who fled Romania will be forced to pay the cost of their repatriation, in keeping with a draft ordinance passed by the government and sent to the parliament for debate and adoption. The new provisions also refer to persons under investigation, Justice Minister Alina Gorghiu said. She explained that there are two situations that the law provides for, namely when the fugitives try to avoid prosecution or trial and the second situation, when the fugitives avoid serving their sentence, after the Court delivers the final ruling. The Minister of Justice said that last year the Romanian state spent around 2 billion euros to bring back to the country 800 convicts.

FOOTBALL – Romania’s national football team is playing, this evening, in Bucharest, a friendly match against the national team of Northern Ireland. On Tuesday, Romania will meet Colombia, in Madrid. For the Romanian footballers, these are the first two training matches this year, before the participation in EURO 2024, in the summer, in Germany.  At the European championship Romania is part of Group E, alongside Belgium, Slovakia and the winner of Tuesday’s tie between Ukraine and Iceland. (EE)