September 15, 2023
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 15.09.2023, 13:55
CVM – The European Commission has officially lifted the
Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) for Bulgaria and Romania. CVM was
introduced upon the two countries’ EU accession in 2007, as a measure to help
them reform their judiciaries and combat corruption and organized crime.
President Ursula von der Leyen congratulated Romania and Bulgaria for the significant
progress reported since their accession, and pointed out that the rule of law
is one of the fundamental EU values, a field in which both Romania and Bulgaria
have implemented major reforms. In turn, Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis
said the lifting of CVM is a great achievement for Romania. We can conclude
Romania has changed, it is a rules-based democracy with a functional
judiciary, the president added.
STRIKE – Some 300 passenger and freight trains were suspended on Friday morning
following a two-hour strike staged by rail infrastructure employees. Trade
unions say some problems can no longer be talked about only at the level of the
Transport Ministry and the Government. Rail employees are disgruntled over the
lack of revenue and spending budgets adopted for 2023, as well as the absence
of strategic and coherent funding of the Romanian railways.
SCHENGEN – In an interview to the Austrian publication Der Standard, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said Romania will refer
Austria’s opposition to Romania’s Schengen accession to the European Union
Court of Justice. The Romanian official said losses due to the repeated
postponements stand at 2% of GDP, something which Transport Minister Sorin
Grindeanu had said earlier this week. Romania says she will seek justice in
court should Austria again oppose Romania’s Schengen accession at the upcoming
informal meetings in October and December. We recall that in December 2022,
Austria again vetoed the Schengen accession of Romania and Bulgaria at the
Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting, invoking the high flows of illegal
immigrants passing through the two countries.
PLAN – The Government has updated its emergency plan on securing natural gas
supplies. The document falls in line with European regulations and was drafted
following consultations with the main market players. Measures to cap and
subsidize natural gas bills will remain in effect until spring next year. The
current legislation stipulates state aid will remain in place until 2025. On
the other hand, according to the Energy Ministry, the government is also
considering the growing influence of prosumers in covering nationwide
consumption.
MOLDOVA – Moldova belongs in Europe, in the family of Western democracies, NATO
Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană said on the sidelines of a meeting he
had in Chișinău with Moldova’s Prime Minister, Dorin Recean. Mircea Geoană
hailed the Moldovan authorities’ plea for extended interoperability with
NATO, underlining that the military alliance is the strongest structure of its
kind in the world. The NATO official denied the existence of Russian military
risks facing the Republic of Moldova, but pointed out this country is fighting
a hybrid war triggered by the Russian Federation.
TENNIS – Nicholas David Ionel is today playing Chin-Hsin Tseng in the first match
of the Davis Cup encounter pitting Romania against Taiwain in World Group 1,
hosted by Mamaia on the Black Sea coast. Ionel (226 ATP) and Tseng (326 ATP)
have only played each other once before, in 2021, Tseng winning 6-3, 6-4. In
the second singles match today, Marius Copil (327 ATP) will play Yu Hsiou Hsu
(180 ATP). On Saturday, the pair made up of Marius Copil and Victor Cornea will
play Yu Hsiou Hsu and Tsung-Hao Huang in the doubles match. In the singles,
Ionel will play Hsu whereas Copil will take on Tseng. This is the first match
pitting the two teams in the Davis Cup. In February, in the World Group
playoffs, Romania defeated Thailand 3-2 away from home, whereas Taiwan defeated
Mexico 3-1, also away from home. (VP)
