Attack – “Neither the region nor the world can afford more war,” António Guterres told the body’s Security Council as it met to discuss Saturday’s Iranian attack. “The Middle East is on the brink,” he warned. “The people of the region are confronting a real danger of a devastating full-scale conflict. Now is the time to defuse and de-escalate” insisted Antonio Guterres. The Iranian attack, called “Operation Honest Promise”, was a response to the strike that destroyed the Iranian consulate in Damascus on April 1, an attack in which seven members of the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological army of the Islamic Republic, lost their lives. Iran has put the blame on Israel, which has neither confirmed nor denied. Since the Iranian revolution of 1979, Israel has been the avowed enemy of the Islamic Republic. So far, Tehran has not attacked Israel head-on, and the two countries have usually clashed through third parties, such as the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah.
Visit – The Romanian Prime Minister, Marcel Ciolacu, is paying an official visit to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates this week. The main topics of discussion concern the fields of energy, port infrastructure, agriculture and IT. Investment opportunities in Romania, in the field of renewable energy, both offshore and on-shore, will also be addressed. The parties also intend to develop the public-private partnership to support large-scale projects, both in the highway and railway infrastructure. One such project, said Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, is Moldavia’s Highway. Topics of regional and international interest will also be discussed.
Energy – The Romanian Energy Ministry is organizing, on Monday, in collaboration with several entities, an event dedicated to the first cyber security exercise organized in Romania. According to the institution, the purpose of the exercise is to establish the level of preparation of the energy companies in order to face potential cyber attacks. Based on the exercise, a risk assessment will be made, and according to the results, procurement plans for goods and services in cyber security will be established, said the quoted source.
Strike – The Romanian employees of the National Trade Register Office, on Thursday, will go on a Japanese-style strike, at the national level, according to a press release sent to AGERPRES news agency on Monday. They request the Government to take urgent steps to increase salaries by 15%, given that the Office is the public institution with the lowest salary level in the judiciary field. At the same time, the trade unionists demand the granting of increased benefits for risk and neuropsychological overload, a right that is granted to all other categories of employees from the ‘Justice’ occupational family. The trade unionists announced, for the period April 23-25, rallies at the national level in all counties, and on April 26 a rally at the headquarters of the Justice Ministry. In August, the collective labor conflict will be started, the trade unionists also announced.
Price – In Romania, the average price of one liter of gasoline increased, compared to last month, by 3.2%, while one liter of diesel oil increased by one percent. With an average price of one liter of gasoline of 1.47 Euros and of diesel oil of 1.51 Euros, Romania ranks 3rd in the European Union, in the top of the countries with the cheapest fuel, after Bulgaria and Malta. The price of oil could increase, today, after Iran’s attack on Israel, according to some analysts, quoted by the Reuters news agency. Everything depends on how Israel and the West choose to fight back.
Art – The Romanian Culture Minister, Raluca Turcan, is starting today a five-day visit to Italy, in the context of Romania’s participation in the 60th edition of the Venice Art Biennale. Raluca Turcan will participate in the opening of the exhibition “What Work Is” by Şerban Savu, presented at the Romanian Pavilion at this year’s edition of the Biennale, as well as at the New Gallery of the Romanian Institute of Culture and Humanistic Research in Venice. According to a Ministry of Culture press release, Romania’s participation in the Venice Biennale is a constantly renewed declaration of membership to European and world culture. The Culture Ministry traditionally supports the Romanian presence at the Venice Biennale, one of the most prestigious cultural events in the world. (LS)