November 6, 2023 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Vlad Palcu, 06.11.2023, 20:00

HOSTAGES – The Romanian
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luminiţa Odobescu, had a telephone conversation
with her Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukri, about the situation of the
Romanian citizens in Gaza who requested support for their evacuation. The
Romanian official appealed to the Egyptian authorities to treat with priority
the evacuation requests of the Romanian citizens, when the Rafah border point
becomes functional again. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is prepared to
provide consular support for the safe evacuation of Romanian citizens and
family members who requested this, Luminita Odobescu said, and the Egyptian
official assured that the authorities in Cairo are paying special attention to
the request. Luminita Odobescu mentioned that more than 260 Romanian citizens
and members of their families want to be evacuated from Gaza, and negotiations
are underway. Previously, the Romanian foreign minister had a conversation with
her Israeli counterpart, also approaching the situation of the six Romanians
with dual citizenship held hostage in the Gaza Strip. The Embassy of Romania in
Tel Aviv and the Consulate General of Romania in Haifa maintain contact with
the Israeli authorities.

AID – The European
Commission will disburse an additional 25 mln EUR to Palestinians in Gaza, the
second such assistance package in the last month, which raises total aid to 100
mln EUR. Prior to the outbreak of the conflict between Israel and Hamas,
European Commission assistance stood at 25 mln EUR. The European Union remains
the largest donor to the Palestinians in terms of humanitarian aid. Commission
spokesman for humanitarian aid and crisis management, Balazs Ujvari, said the
assistance will be delivered to NGOs that cooperate with the European Union in
this process. The assistance will consist in medicine, water and food. Two
weeks ago, the European Union organized a series of eight flights carrying
humanitarian aid, six of which have already landed, delivering approximately
260 tons of aid.

ELECTION IN MOLDOVA – The acting mayor
of Chișinău, former Socialist Ion Ceban, one of the rivals of president Maia
Sandu, has won the first leg of the local election in Chișinău, according to
results made public by the Central Election Committee. Ceban grabbed 50.6% of
the vote and was followed by the Action and Solidarity Party candidate, Lilian
Carp, withg 28% of the vote. At national level, PAS won most of the city halls
in 19 districts in the center and south of the Republic of Moldova, with a
total of 25.5% of the votes. Ranking second in the overall standings is the
Party of the Socialists in the Republic of Moldova of the former president Igor
Dodon, which won 18.5% of the votes, mostly in the north. The National Alternative Movement, created
around Ion Ceban, won 7%, which is enough to meet the election threshold. PAS
spokesman Igor Grosu says Sunday’s election in the Republic of Moldova saw
unprecedented interference from the Russian Federation. The authorities accuse
Moscow of illegally funding parties, corrupting voters and candidates. The
Chance Party, controlled by the wanted oligarch Ilan Shor, was declared
ineligible on the eve of the election.

BANKS – Romania’s Prime
Minister, Marcel Ciolacu, on Monday discussed with representatives of the
Romanian Association of Banks about the new cap on cash payments. The Prime
Minister previously wrote on Facebook that it is unacceptable that banks should
increase fees artificially. The Prime Minister wants to keep the measure in
place and warns Romania ranks first at EU level in terms of tax evasion.
Limiting cash transactions should be reviewed as soon as possible, Senate
Speaker Nicolae Ciucă has said, adding that not all people are responsible for
tax evasion and have a right to use their money as they please. The limit on
transactions operated with cash might be reviewed at coalition level. The
measure was supposed to take effect on November 11. In turn, the Competition
Council president, Bogdan Chirițoiu, said that cash payments present two
drawbacks: first, tax evasion, as they are more difficult to monitor and
second, procedures to make cash available are very costly. Bogdan Chirițoiu
said there are countries in the EU that almost never use cash. (MI & VP)