December 3, 2022 UPDATE
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Radio România, 03.12.2022, 18:28
Meeting — During his two-day working visit to Greece, where he participated in the meeting of the leaders of the European Peoples Party, the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis had talks with his Greek counterpart, Mrs. Katerina Sakellaropoulou, and the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Talks focused on the diversification of energy, road and railway interconnection projects in the Balkans, Romanias actions in support of Ukraine and the Ukrainian refugees as well as the bilateral and European measures and actions, through the Solidarity Corridors, meant to facilitate the transit of Ukrainian grains, in order to prevent food crises in vulnerable third countries. The Greek officials reiterated, during the talks, Greece’s full support for Romania’s accession to the Schengen Area.
Disability — ‘People with disabilities have the same rights as anyone else and they should not be affected because of their special needs’ – the Romanian Prime Minister, Nicolae Ciucă, said Saturday in a message on the International Day of People with Disabilities. He mentioned that the Government had a special project through which people in this category benefit from support worth 5,000 Euros to purchase assistive devices and technologies, other than those financed by the Social Health Insurance Fund. At the same time, in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) almost 197 million Euros are provided for projects related, among other things, to the creation and modernization of the social infrastructure for people with disabilities and to the integration of inactive people and disadvantaged workers into the labor market.
Schengen – The Netherlands is getting closer to a vote in favor of admitting Romania and Croatia to the free movement Schengen Area, but not Bulgaria, which it believes does not meet the necessary conditions for the time being. A final decision will be made by the Government, after the debates in Parliament – the Dutch press announces. On the other hand, Sweden no longer opposes Romanias entry into the area of free movement of people and goods. A vote on this topic was given in the Commission for European Affairs of the Swedish Parliament, based on a proposal made by the Executive. In Bucharest, the decision was welcomed by the Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă and the Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu. The only country that seems, at present, to have objections is Austria. The decision regarding the admittance of Romania, Croatia and Bulgaria into Schengen would be made at the meeting of the European Ministers of Interior and Justice on December 8, a unanimous vote being needed.
Gaudeamus — The 29th edition of the Gaudeamus Book Fair, organized by Radio Romania, will take place in Bucharest, from Wednesday to Sunday. 200 participants will offer the public an extremely varied range of editorial products, on different supports, suitable for all ages and fields of interest, music and educational games. More than 600 editorial events and related projects have been announced. All stands will also be found in virtual format on the gaudeamus.ro website. Radio Romanias Gaudeamus book fair is financed by the Ministry of Culture.
G7 — The head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, Andrii Iermak, said that the price ceiling for Russian oil agreed upon by the G7 countries, together with Australia, should be reduced to 30 dollars per barrel to hit the Russian economy hard. The G7 countries and Australia, as well as the EU countries, decided to cap the price at 60 dollars per barrel. The measure, aimed at reducing Russias income in the context of the war against Ukraine, is complementary to the European embargo on Russian oil imported by sea that comes into force on Monday. More specifically, through this capping measure, the EU forbids European companies involved in the delivery of Russian oil by sea (transportation, insurance, etc.) to offer their services, if the delivered oil exceeds the threshold of 60 dollars per barrel. The price of Russian oil is currently around 65 dollars per barrel, so this measure will have, at least for now, a limited impact on Russian oil exports. Moscow has already warned that it will not deliver oil to the countries that impose price caps.
Export – Romania started, on Saturday, the export of gas to the Republic of Moldova (ex-Soviet state with a majority Romanian-speaking population) through the Iaşi-Ungheni pipeline, the Transgaz representatives said. According to them, it is the first time that gas is transported from Romania to the Republic of Moldova through this pipeline. On November 22, Chişinău officials stated that Gazprom would reduce natural gas deliveries to the Republic of Moldova by 56.5% from December 1, accusing that only a part of the amount of gas that Russia delivers to this country through the pipelines that cross Ukraine actually reaches the Republic of Moldova. (LS)
