March 26, 2023 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 26.03.2023, 19:19

Visit. Romanian president
Klaus Iohannis is receiving the president of the European Council Charles
Michel on Monday in Bucharest. According to the Romanian president’s office,
the two officials are expected to have one-on-one official talks, after which
they will hold a joint press conference. The trip by the EU official comes two
days after a meeting of EU heads of state and government in Brussels which
mainly focused on the situation in Ukraine.

Pensions. The Senate’s legal and
labour committees are debating a government bill on Monday on the reduction of
workplace pensions expenditure. The reduction of expenditure connected to
pensions and indemnities is a condition laid down in the National Recovery and
Resilience Plan. Under the bill proposed by the government, workplace pensions
can no longer exceed the income obtained before retirement and they are to be
calculated based on contribution.

Reading. The European Commission is
launching a new initiative led by Commissioner Mariya
Gabriel to encourage reading and help young people in particular
discover European literature and its linguistic and cultural diversity, with
the first edition of the Day of European Authors to be launched on Monday in
Sofia. More than 1,000 schools from across the continent are holding reading
sessions, with 100 European authors taking part in reading aloud events.
Everyone is also invited to share on their social media images of books by
their favourite European writer with the hashtag Read with Europe. In Romania,
among other events, the Central University Library in Bucharest is hosting an
event where readers can meet writers Gabriela
Adameşteanu and Matei Vişniec.

Defence. Romania’s chief of defence staff, general Daniel Petrescu, was
on a visit to Italy between 21st and 23rd March at the invitation of his
counterpart, admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone. Talks focused on the regional
security situation, ways to consolidate bilateral relations and in allied
format and the development of defence capabilities. Other topics were the
dynamics of the two armies’ participation in NATO and EU missions and
operations and the intensification of joint training for all types of forces so
as to enhance interoperability. The Romanian defence official thanked his
Italian counterpart for how the Italian Air Force military deployed to Romania since
2019 have fulfilled their missions. Since the start of Russia’s war of
aggression against Ukraine, Italian Air Force military are at their second participation
in enhanced air policing and enhanced vigilance activity missions in Romania.

Handball. The Romanian women’s handball champions Rapid Bucharest on
Sunday defeated the Slovenian side Krim Ljubljana 30-24 at home to reach the Champions League quarterfinals. In the
fist leg, Rapid lost 29-24. Rapid will next face the European defending
champions Vipers Kristiansand of Norway. Romanian vice-champions CSM Bucharest have already secured their place
in the competition’s quarterfinals, where they will be playing the Danish side Esbjerg. In the men’s competition, title holders Dinamo Bucharest only have
theoretical chances to advance to the next stage, having lost at home 41-28 to
four-time European champions THW Kiel of Germany. (CM)