26 February 2017, UPDATE

The Romanian authorities to check for double standards in respect of the food products marketed in eastern and western Europe, says agriculture minister Petre Daea.

Newsroom, 26.02.2017, 18:43

Food. The
Romanian authorities will from now on also check for double standards in respect
of the food products marketed in eastern and western Europe, says agriculture
minister Petre Daea. The decision comes as the governments of a number of
eastern European countries have complained that some food producers have been
using cheaper ingredients for the products sold on central and eastern European
markets, without lowering the price. European legislation does not ban this practice and some producers say the difference in the content of the products is a
result of local flavours. The leaders of the countries in the Visegrad Group,
namely the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, will meet in
Bratislava next week to request the European Union to take measures against
food producers that sell poorer quality food in the Union’s poorer member states.

Hungary visit. Romania’s foreign minister Teodor Melescanu travels to
Budapest on Monday for talks with his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto and
prime minister Viktor Orban. Talks will focus on ways to expand political and
diplomatic dialogue and boost economic cooperation. The protection of ethnic
minority rights will also be tackled. Teodor Melescanu is to meet
representatives of the Romanian ethnic community in Hungary and discuss their
efforts to maintain their ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic identity
and how the Romanian state can help. Melescanu will also become the first
Romanian minister to address the annual meeting of the Hungarian diplomats.

Drills. 20
military from the Romanian Land Forces are taking part in the Dynamic Front II
military exercise under way in Germany until the 10th of March. Some
1,400 military from the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Britain,
Romania, the US and Turkey are taking part in this exercise. In another move,
Romanian and US military will train together over the coming day at the Mihail
Kogalniceanu air base in south-eastern Romania as part of Operation Atlantic
Resolve for the consolidation of NATO’s eastern flank. Drills involving assault
helicopters will be held on Tuesday. The 10th Brigade of the US land
forces is the first big unit deployed to Eastern Europe as part of Operation
Atlantic Resolve.

Handball. Defending Romanian and European women’s
handball champions CSM Bucharest lost to the Norwegian side Larvik 35-33 on
Saturday night in an away match as part of main round Group 2. CSM will next
face RK Krim Mercator Ljubljana on Thursday at home. We recall that CSM’s
Swedish player Isabelle Gullden and the Romanian player
Cristina Neagu, who will join the team next season, have been nominated for
Best Player of the Year in 2016, which is awarded by the International Handball
Federation based on a survey carried out until the 9th of March.
Cristina Neagu won the Best Player title in 2010 and 2015, while Isabelle
Gullden was the top scorer at the previous edition of the Champions League.