January 20, 2024 UPDATE
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 20.01.2024, 19:03
PROTESTS – Romanian farmers and transporters will hold protests on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday in the capital Bucharest. The authorization was issued for 5,000 people, 100 tractors and 100 tractor trailers. The protest will not disturb traffic in the capital city, mayor Nicuşor Dan said. On the other hand, through the Siret Customs (Ukraine) in the north of Romania, traffic unfolds as normal in both directions. The protest of Romanian farmers and transporters in the area, dissatisfied with the drop in the grain prices due to imports from the neighboring country, had temporarily blocked road traffic. Normal traffic has also been reported in Halmeu customs (Ukraine), where protests also took place. On Thursday, the Bucharest Government passed a first package of measures in support of transporters and farmers, who have been protesting in several regions in Romania in recent days. In Brussels, the European Commission is working on measures to solve the problems caused by the export of cheap Ukrainian grain to the states bordering Ukraine, such as Romania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria. European Commission representatives confirmed that they received a letter from the five countries, one of the requests being the introduction of import taxes for Ukrainian grain.
WEATHER — Romania has been in the grip of bad weather since Friday afternoon, which has mostly affected counties in the centre, north, northeast and south of the country. Road traffic was temporarily blocked on certain segments due to the layer of snow and ice formed on the road. Railway traffic unfolds in winter conditions due to strong wind, snow, blizzard and low temperatures. Train speed has been reduced in certain areas. As regards air traffic on Bucharest airports, no disruptions have been reported. The Bucharest Airports National Company has announced that aircraft land and take off safely and no flights are canceled due to bad weather. Some flights may, however, experience delays due to de-icing operations, which are usually carried out after passengers have boarded.
JUSTICE – The Romanian Justice Minister, Alina Gorghiu, said that, last week, 17 fugitives from Ireland, Italy, France, Austria, Germany, Poland and Britain were brought to the country. She reminded, in a Facebook post, that in 2021 the state spent over 1.9 million euros to bring back fugitives from abroad, in 2022 over 1.7 million euros while last year the amount rose to over 2 million euros. Alina Gorghiu also said that a draft law was put up for public debate on the Ministry’s website a few days ago, according to which fugitives will pay the cost of their repatriation to Romania, where they must serve their sentences.
WARNING – A code orange alert for severe weather is in place in Bulgaria, the entire territory of that country being affected by strong wind and heavy precipitation in the form of snow. The Romanian Foreign Ministry recommends citizens to monitor the situation of flights from Bulgarian airports, while those traveling by car should have their vehicles equipped for winter. During weather alert codes, some roads may be closed to road traffic, and the flight schedule may suffer disruptions.
ENERGY – Romania exported Saturday morning, almost 1,400 megawatts, mainly due to the record wind power production of over 2,000 megawatts. The national production of electricity was 8,900 megawatts, while the consumption was 7,500, the national company Transelectrica has announced. (EE)
