July 3, 2024 UPDATE
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 03.07.2024, 19:49
Powerplant. The project for the building of Units 3 and 4 of the Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant (in south-eastern Romania) has received the positive opinion of the European Commission regarding the technical and nuclear safety aspects, the Romanian Energy Ministry has announced. The project is carried out by the company EnergoNuclear, fully owned by Nuclearelectrica National Company. According to the Euratom Treaty, the developers of nuclear projects have the obligation to submit investment projects to the European Commission in advance and demonstrate their compliance with the highest nuclear safety standards. Romania sent a notification in May of last year, and the point of view of the European Commission is, according to the Ministry of Energy, the result of a thorough assessment.
OSCE. The works of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly hosted by Bucharest have come to an end. A final declaration was adopted containing the resolutions of the internal committees, including one on the deterioration of the human rights situation in the break-away region of Transnistria, in the Republic of Moldova. Another important subject discussed over the five days of the session was the war waged by Russia against Ukraine. It was for this reason that the delegations of Russia and Belarus were not present at this annual meeting, explained the Romanian foreign minister Luminita Odobescu. Until Russia halts this unjustified aggression against a sovereign state, this organisation, including its parliamentary assembly, cannot resume its normal works and remains a forum where Russia is held responsible for violating international law, Odobescu emphasised.
Expulsion. A member of the Romanian embassy in Russia was declared persona non grata by Moscow. The Russian foreign ministry says the move is in response to a previous unjustified decision by the Romanian side to declare a Russian diplomat to Bucharest persona non grata. The Romanian foreign ministry confirmed that the Romanian ambassador to Moscow Cristian Istrate was summoned at the Russian foreign ministry where he was handed a memo stating the above. Bucharest has described Moscow’s decision as “unfounded” and recalled that the decision to expel a Russian diplomat on 24th May was motivated by the latter’s carrying out activities that run counter to the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. More precisely, the diplomat in question was involved in a case of espionage and treason, in which a Romanian citizen is accused of providing the Russian embassy with military intelligence and photographs of combat technology taken from Romanian or NATO military facilities in Tulcea county. Foreign diplomats benefit from immunity and expulsion is the most severe measure a state can take.
Elections. The calendar for the presidential and parliamentary elections in Romania could be set on Thursday, when the ruling coalition formed by the Social Democratic Party and the National Liberal Party are to meet again. The talks come after the discussions that the Social-Democratic Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu had for two days with the main political competitors. Most delegations requested that the elections take place on the legal deadline, towards the end of the year, and not be held at the same time. Others agreed that the first round of the presidential elections should be held simultaneously with the parliamentary elections, either on December 1 or 8, with the second presidential round being held on either December 15 or 22. In March, the Liberals and the Social Democrats had agreed that the presidential elections should be scheduled for September, and the legislative ballot for December.
