August 22, 2023

Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 22.08.2023, 13:59

STRIKE Trade unionists from Romania’s
Fiscal Administration this morning staged a warning strike also picketing the
Finance Ministry in order to protest the measures proposed by the Executive in
Bucharest to cut budget expenses. Trade union leader Dorin Modure said that
among the claims there are also those on maintaining the employees’ incomes as
well as a proper statute. He said there were several abortive attempts at
negotiating with the government and does not rule out the idea of an all-out
strike unless the protesters’ claims are met.

ATHENS At the informal
meeting staged in Athens by the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, on
the bloc’s enlargement towards the Western Balkans, Prime Minister Marcel
Ciolacu has presented Romania’s support for Ukraine, as well as the challenges
the Romanian farmers are facing against the background of the situation caused
by the Ukrainian grain exports and has proposed the setting up of a European
mechanism to manage these exports. He has also briefed the European Commission
president Ursula von der Leyen on the situation at Romania’s borders, adding
that the country needs additional financial support in order to step up the
process of streamlining its infrastructure. Ciolacu has also requested the
European official to step up joint efforts for Romania’s accession to Schengen.
In Athens, the Romanian official also held talks with his Greek counterpart as
well as with president Zelenski to whom he has given assurances that Romania
supports Ukraine until its final victory and after that for the country’s
reconstruction.

WIN The
Romanian women’s national volleyball side defeated Bosnia-Herzegovina 3-2 in
Turin on Monday night in a match counting towards the European Championship’s
Group B. This has been the second win of the national side at the 2023 edition
of the European Championship in a group led by the en-titre European champion
Italy, which boasts 9 points. Italy is followed by Bulgaria, Romania and
Switzerland, each with 6 points, Bosnia-Herzegovina with 5 points and Croatia
with only one. Romania is today playing a decisive match against Bulgaria as
the first four sides will qualify for the round of 16. The European Women’s
Volleyball Championships takes place until September 3rd in Belgium,
Italy, Estonia and Germany. We recall that at the previous edition in 2021, the
Romanians occupied the last but one position, ranking 23rd.
Romania’s best result in a suchlike competition was in 1963, when the national
side obtained the bronze medal.

ART The famous
sculpture The Kiss of the great Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi has
arrived in Bucharest, where it stays for ten days. The work, which is part of
the collection of the Art Museum in Craiova, southern Romania, is on display at
the Art Safari Love exhibition in downtown Bucharest where it could be admired
until August 30th. This masterpiece was made in 1907 and was
presented to the public in 1910 during the Young Artists’ exhibition in
Bucharest. The Kiss is an internationally important masterpiece being
considered the first modern sculpture of the 20th century. The
sculpture is the first in a series the artist worked on for more than 40 years.

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