August 17, 2023
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 17.08.2023, 13:55
Ukraine – The Romanian
authorities firmly condemn Russia’s repeated aggressions against innocent
people and civilian infrastructure after the attack on the Ukrainian ports of
Reni and Izmail, located near Romania. The Romanian Foreign Minister, Luminiţa
Odobescu, underlined that through these blatant violations of international
law, Russia continues to endanger global food security and the safety of navigation
in the Black Sea. The structures of the Romanian Defense Ministry, which ensure
the monitoring of the airspace, state that they have not identified any threats
of a military nature to Romania’s national territory or territorial waters following
the attack, and have announced increased measures to monitor the national terrestrial,
maritime and air space, in cooperation with the NATO structures.
Trade – Germany is Romania’s most
important commercial partner, the value of bilateral trade exchanges in 2022 standing
at 40.68 billion Euros, higher by 17%, shows a press release of the Economy Ministry.
In the same period, Germany was the first destination for Romanian exports,
with a share of 20% of Romania’s total exports. At the same time, Germany represents
for Romania the second source of foreign direct investments, with over 25,000
investing companies, mostly in the high tech industrial sectors. On Wednesday,
the Economy Minister, Ştefan-Radu Oprea, met with the ambassador of the Federal
Republic of Germany in Bucharest, Peer Olav Gebauer. The talks focused on
boosting bilateral economic cooperation, aiming both at attracting German
investments in Romania and at encouraging national companies that want to
initiate and develop projects on the territory of Germany.
Football – Romania’s
football champions, Farul Constanţa (south-east), qualified for the Europa
Conference League play-off, on Wednesday evening, after defeating the Estonian
team Flora Tallinn with the score 2-0, away from home, in the second leg of the
third preliminary round of the competition. In the first match, Farul had won
3-0. Farul will play in the play-off against the loser of the match pitting Qarabag
FK (Azerbaijan) against HJK Helsinki (Finland), a match that takes place in the
third preliminary round of the Europa League. The other two Romanian teams
present in the Conference League, Sepsi Sfântul Gheorghe (central Romania) and
FCSB, are playing today. Sepsi will play in Kazakhstan against FC Aktobe, after
a one-all score in Romania, and FCSB will play in Norway against FC
Nordsjaelland, with whom they ended the first match from Bucharest in a tie,
0-0.
Baccalaureate
– In Romania, high school graduates enrolled for the autumn session of the
Baccalaureate took the test in Mathematics or History today. On Wednesday, they
took the written test in Romanian Language and Literature. Friday will see the exam
in the optional subject chosen and on August 21 the candidates of the national
minorities will take the written test in their Mother Tongue Language and
Literature. The final results will be announced on August 29. Almost 34,000
students signed up for this session where, for the first time, papers are
assessed in a digitized system.
Meeting – The
Secretary of State for Strategic Affairs with the Romanian Foreign Ministry,
Iulian Fota, had a meeting with the Undersecretary of State for Arms Control
and International Security from the US State Department, Bonnie Jenkins. The
two firmly condemned the military aggression of the Russian Federation against
Ukraine and the continuation of Moscow’s attacks on the Ukrainian population
and civil infrastructure. Secretary of State Iulian Fota reiterated Romania’s
commitment to promoting the international agenda regarding arms control, disarmament
and non-proliferation. At the same time, he expressed Romania’s major concern
over the worrying developments at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which
endanger both the civilian population and regional security. (LS)
