May 15, 2025
A roundup of local and world news
Daniel Bilț, 15.05.2025, 14:05
TALKS The Kremlin on Wednesday announced the members of the delegation, which today goes to Istanbul for direct talks with the Ukrainians, without mentioning the name of President Putin, who was invited there by his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, AFP reports. The Russian delegation includes a presidential adviser and two deputy ministers from the Ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs. According to the Russian President’s foreign policy adviser, the Russian-Ukrainian talks will have high on the agenda political and technical issues. The Kremlin leader had the initiative of these talks after he had rejected an ultimatum, in which the main European allies of Ukraine’s had threatened with more sanctions unless Russia accepted a 30-day ceasefire. The latest direct Russian-Ukrainian talks were also hosted by Istanbul, in March-April 2022, a month after the onset of the Russian invasion.
CAP The European Commission on Wednesday launched a large package of measures targeting the administrative burden, controls, implementation, crisis response and investment needs of the sector in an attempt to simplify the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and boost the competitiveness of the Union’s farmers. The changes could save up to 1.58 billion Euros annually for farmers at the same time making payments, certain requirements and crisis tools more flexible and easier to manage. According to the same sources, the aforementioned initiative is part of a broader simplification effort aligned with the EU’s Competitiveness Compass and supports the competitiveness, resilience and digitalisation of the agricultural sector as well as young and organic farmers specifically. The competitiveness compass is the Commission’s roadmap for restoring Europe’s dynamism and boosting economic growth.
FOOTBALL CFR Cluj, a football side from western Romania won the Romanian Football Cup after a 3-2 win against Hermannstadt, a team from central Romania. This has been the fifth trophy for CFR, which will be up against the champions FCSB in Romania’s Football Supercup.
MEETING NATO Foreign Ministers have convened in Antalya, Turkiye for a two-day informal meeting devoted to raising military expenses, insistently requested by the US President, Donald Trump. The United States has asked the military bloc of the 32 allies to earmark at least 5% of their GDP for defence, a very significant increase, many countries are considering impossible to achieve. As a potential compromise, NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte, has come up with an offer in stages, which maintains Trump’s objective of 5% of the GDP, but includes expenses, which aren’t exclusively military. At the talks in Antalya, Romania is being represented by its Foreign Minister, Emil Hurezeanu. The meeting in Turkiye will be preparing the complete agenda of the future NATO Summit, staged in the Hague over June 24 and 25. The officials will be tackling the consolidation of a joint approach of sharing the responsibilities between the allies and shaping a strategic direction for the European security.
INVESTMENT According to the Central Bank, direct foreign investment in Romania dropped by more than 30% in the first quarter of the year, as compared to the same period of 2024. Practically, the sum invested stood at roughly 1.7 billion Euros in the first quarter of 2025, whereas in the same period last year it was 2.5 billion. According to the National Trade Registry Office, over 15 hundred companies with foreign capital were set up in the first quarter, a 6.5% drop as compared to the similar period of 2024.
(bill)
