April 24, 2023 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 24.04.2023, 19:47

VISIT.
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis is paying an official visit to Argentina on
Tuesday, the last leg of his South-American tour that ends on Wednesday. The main goal of the visit is to find domains
where trade can be boosted and to draw new investment. The Romanian President’s
visit to Argentina is the first at this level in the last 30 years. His tour of
South America began on April 18 with a 2-day official visit to Brazil, where
Iohannis had talks with his counterpart, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and, in Rio
de Janeiro, with local authority representatives. The official visit to Chile
on April 22 was part of the second leg of the tour, when the Romanian President
met his Chilean counterpart, Gabriel Boric.

EU. The Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu welcomed the political
agreement reached over establishing a EU sanctions regime to counteract
attempts to destabilise the Republic of Moldova and its constitutional order,
an initiative made by Romania. He said the creation of this sanctions regime in
record time helps increase the security and resilience of the Republic of
Moldova, as well as the security of Romania and its citizens. Romania and
Moldova are already working on a first list of persons to be subject to
sanctions. Minister Aurescu also hailed the decision to establish a European
Union Partnership civilian mission in the Republic of Moldova and said he hoped
it would be implemented as soon as possible, which would enhance this state’s
resilience. Romania will support this mission, including by providing
personnel. Aurescu on Monday attended a meeting of EU foreign ministers which
discussed Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, with Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba
attending by video-conference. Aurescu emphasised the need to continue to
support Ukraine as long as necessary and to further isolate Russia
internationally. EU foreign ministers also discussed the situation in Iran and
Sudan and China’s position with respect to Russia’s war.

CARS. The
registration of new cars has gone up in Romania in the first three months of
2023 by more than a quarter, as compared with the same period of last year. The
most recent data made public by the Association of Car Producers and Importers
shows an increase by almost 35% in green vehicles to enter in circulation in
Romania, which brings their market share to 20%. Most car purchases were made
in the first three months of 2023 by companies and institutions, accounting for
58%.

GRAIN. Romania
is Ukraine’s only neighbour that still allows the import of farm products from
this country, but makes quality controls at the border, and seals and monitors shipments
in transit. The Romanian authorities are waiting for a European Commission
decision before considering whether to impose restrictions on imports from
Ukraine. A meeting of the EU agriculture ministers will be held on Tuesday,
when a decision as regards grain imports from Ukraine is expected. Farmers in
central and east European countries have complained that they cannot compete
with the lower prices of Ukrainian grain.

BEEKEPERS. Romanian beekeepers join farmers who
request more financial support from the European Union. They are calling for a
ban on imports of honey from neighbouring Ukraine and from other non-EU states
given that Romania has a surplus of honey. According to Romanian beekeepers,
the domestic honey production cannot be marketed because of unfair competition
from non-EU beekeepers who sell their honey at very low prices. (CM)