July 20, 2023 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 20.07.2023, 19:43

Care homes. 47 criminal cases were opened following checks conducted at
care homes for older persons, children and persons with disabilities in
Romania, said the government’s spokesman, Mihai Constantin. He said 627 persons
of the 60,000 residents of these centres have been relocated, 125 required
hospital treatment, 234 were moved to other centres and 184 were taken over by
their carers. 110 care homes were closed. Prime minister Marcel Ciolacu said
serious problems were identified at various care homes in seven counties and
the capital Bucharest. He asked the new labour minister Simona Bucura Oprescu
to finalise the legislative amendments on the authorisation, monitoring and
control of care homes for older persons, children and persons with
disabilities.

Army. The
Romanian Minister of Defence, Angel Tîlvăr, said on Thursday on Romanian Aviation and Air Force Day that
Ukraine’s dramatic experience shows that defence starts at home, and that is
why the Romanian Army is carrying out the most ambitious modernisation
programme in its history. Angel Tîlvăr also said that the Romanian Air
Force is going through one of the best periods in its history. Fighter and
transport planes, military helicopters and civilian aircraft have flown over
the capital Bucharest on Thursday. Romanian Aviation and Air Force Day is
celebrated every year on July 20, on the religious holiday of the Feast of
Saint Elijah, the spiritual protector of pilots. Currently, the Romanian
detachment Carpathian Vipers, consisting of four F-16 aircraft, is deployed to
Lithuania carrying out an Enhanced Air Policing mission in the Baltic States.

EU. Russia
wants to provoke a global food crisis by refusing to extend the agreement on
the export of Ukrainian cereals via the Black Sea, said the Romanian foreign
minister Luminiţa
Odobescu at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels. Romania will
continue to do everything in its power to support Ukraine. What Russia is doing
these days, by shelling ports, striking Odessa, destroying the infrastructure
and in effect threatening the vessels in the Black Sea, is unacceptable, she
added. Odobescu said she would support the consolidation of sanctions against
Russia and Iran, which supports Russia in its war against Ukraine. With respect
to the relationship between the European Union and Turkey, she spoke of the
need for a balanced and pragmatic approach.

Health.
The packaging of warm and flavoured tobacco products will carry health warnings
in Romania from autumn, in keeping with a new emergency order issued on
Thursday. Romania will thus align to the European directives in the field. Such
products are in growing demand in Romania, with almost 20% of the country’s
adult population smoking electronic cigarettes according to the latest data,
and consumers must be accurately informed about their effects. According to the
World Health Organisation, more than 43,000 Romanians died in 2019 because of smoking-related
diseases.

Teleworking. President Klaus
Iohannis on Thursday signed into law a bill stipulating that employees who have
in their care children below the age of 11 can work remotely four days a week.
The right can be obtained upon request and only one parent or legal guardian at
a time benefit from it.

Culture. On
Thursday and Friday, the famous American actor John Malkovich is performing on
the stage of the National Theatre in Timisoara (western Romania), the European
Capital of Culture in 2023. He is starring in the production Infernal
Comedy, which was performed in countries on three continents. It is a
show that its author, Michael Sturminger, who also signs the stage direction,
wrote especially for the famous actor, building a dialogue between spoken and
sung language. A double Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominee, John Malkovich
has starred in numerous films with worldwide impact. Thursday also saw the
start of the Electric Castle music festival at the Banffy Castle in Bonţida, in
Cluj county (north-west). This year’s edition will be bigger than last year,
the organisers said, hosting acts such as The Chemical Brothers, Iggy Pop,
Macklemore, Sigur Ros, Tash Sultana, Peggy Gou, REZZ, George Ezra, and Jamie
xx. In 2019, Electric Castle was named Best Medium-Sized European
Festival. (CM)