July 27, 2023

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Newsroom, 27.07.2023, 13:55

WILDFIRES
Forty Romanian fire fighters are
relocated today from Attica region on Greece’s Rhodes Island, heavily affected
by uncontrolled wildfires, the Romanian General Inspectorate for Emergencies
announced. They travel by sea together with 3 fire engines and a 10-ton fire
truck, as well as a personnel transport vehicle. According to the Romanian Foreign
Ministry, high fire risks continue to be reported today in several parts of
Greece, while the weather is expected to change radically, with strong storms
forecast especially in Thrace, Macedonia, Khalkidhiki and the north-eastern
Aegean coast. Romanian citizens who plan on traveling to Greece in this period
are advised to get fully informed of the situation ahead of leaving, and those
who are already in the affected areas are urged to comply with the instructions
issued by local authorities and follow official sources of information.

NATURAL GAS Romanians will have safe access to natural gas, even in
the case of lower temperatures than usual in the winter season, as Azerbaijan guaranteed
Romania access to a capacity of up to 1 billion cubic metres of natural gas if
necessary. The statement was made by the energy minister, Sebastian Burduja, who
had a meeting in Bucharest with his counterpart E.S. Parviz Shahbazov. The
filling level for Romanian storage facilities is over 75.5%, significantly over
the level promised by Romania to the EU, and nearly 700 million cubic metres
more than we had at the same time in 2022, the minister said in a social media
post on Thursday. He added that he discussed with the energy minister of Azerbaijan about ways
to develop the strategic partnership, bilateral investments and joint projects in the energy sector, including a green corridor to connect the Caspian Sea to
the Black Sea. The cooperation between Romania and Azerbaijan in the energy
sector entails major benefits not only for the two countries, but for the
security of Europe as a whole, Sebastian Burduja pointed out.

UKRAINE The Russian army hit the port
infrastructure in the region of Odessa (southern Ukraine) in an overnight
missile attack that killed a security guard and damaged a cargo terminal, the
local authorities announced on Thursday morning. The ports in the Odessa region,
at the Black Sea or the Danube River, have turned into the preferred targets of
the Russian army, after Moscow recently terminated a deal allowing Ukraine to
export grains to international markets.

MOLDOVA The Russian
Federation will have to downsize its Chişinău Embassy personnel, according to a
decision made by the Moldovan authorities and already communicated to Russia’s
ambassador in that country. Russia will keep 10 diplomats and 15 technical and
support personnel, on a par with the number of staff of the Moldovan embassy in
Moscow. According to Moldova’s foreign minister Nicu Popescu, Moldova has been
for decades the target of hostile policies and activities on the part of the
Russian Federation, and many of the Russian embassy’s activities were aimed to
destabilize the country. In Moscow, the foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria
Zaharova, said the decision was ungrounded and a further step taken by Chişinău
towards deteriorating bilateral relations.

WEATHER The weather cools
significantly in Romania, where after a heat wave with temperatures above 40
degrees Celsius, the highs are expected to range only between 19 and 28
degrees, with some 25 degrees reported in Bucharest at noon. Thunderstorms
made victims the previous day, with a 64 year old woman dead as a tree uprooted
by the wind fell over her car on the Transalpina
road in Alba County, and two siblings in Botoşani County struck by lightning on
a field. In Harghita County railroad transport was disrupted after several
trees fell on the tracks, several localities in Iaşi County were left without
drinking water and the Black Sea port of Constanţa was closed because of the
strong wind.

SPORTS
The athletes Constantin Popovici and Cătălin Petru Preda won the first medals
for the Romanian team at the 2023 World Swimming Championships in Fukuoka
(Japan). Today they ranked first and second in the high diving competition.
Popovici, 34, is Romania’s first world high diving champion. Twenty-three
athletes took part in this event. (AMP)