September 13, 2024
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 13.09.2024, 14:00
Energy. The Romanian government will ask for compensations from the European Union for the significant differences in energy prices between the west and the east of Europe, said energy minister Sebastian Burduja. He gave assurances that the domestic energy production is sufficient in the event of a mild or moderately cold winter, and in the event of a harsh winter, Romania has an interconnection capacity that allows it to supply the needed demand. According to official data, natural gas storages are filled up to 96.53%, which is 177.7 million cubic metres more than last year. Romania is still the European Union’s second largest gas producer.
Visa Waiver. Romania is very close to fulfilling all technical criteria to enter the Visa Waiver Program, said the country’s ambassador to Washington, Andrei Muraru. He had talks with the US secretary of homeland security Alejandro Mayorkas about the joint actions to be carried out by the two countries in the coming period for Romania to join the Visa Waiver Program. Muraru said Romania is weeks away from meeting the last technical requirement, the rejection rate. Under US law, an obligatory condition for a country to be considered eligible for the Visa Waiver Program is for the rejection rate of visitor visas to be under 3% in the year before joining the program.
Russia strike. The Romanian foreign ministry firmly condemns the Russian strike against a grain vessel in the Black Sea waters. “This is an unprecedented escalation of the actions of the Russian Federation in its illegal and unjustified war against Ukraine. The deliberate attack against a commercial vessel is a grave violation of humanitarian international law regarding warfare at sea”, said the foreign ministry in a statement. The ministry calls on the Russian Federation to put an end to all attacks against commercial vessels and to comply with the freedom of navigation in the Black Sea. A Russian missile hit a commercial vessel in the Black Sea that was carrying grains from Ukraine to Egypt, with no casualties reported, said Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday.
Tennis. Romania’s Cezar Creţu will face Yunchaokete Bu in the opening march of the Davis Cup World Group II in tennis held on Friday and Saturday in Craiova, in the south. In Friday’s second match, Filip Cristian Jianu will face Yi Zhou. Saturday begins with a doubles match between Victor Cornea and Bogdan Pavel of Romania and Fajing Sun and Rigele Te of China. In the final singles matches, Jianu will be playing Bu, while Creţu will be playing Zhou. The Romanian team, whose non-playing captain is Gabriel Trifu, also features Gabi Adrian Boitan, while China’s team, with Di Wu as non-playing captain, also features Aoran Wang. Romania and China never faced each other in the Davis Cup before.
Handball. The Romanian men’s handball champions Dinamo Bucharest categorically won their first match in the new Champions League, as they defeated the Danish side Fredericia Handbold Klub 37-28 in Group A, on Thursday evening at home. On Wednesday, in the first two group matches, Sporting Lisbon defeated Orlen Wisla Plock cu 34-29, while Paris Saint-Germain Handball defeated RK Eurofarm Pelister Bitola 31-29. Dinamo will next face the Polish side Orlen Wisla Plock away on the 18th of September. Romania also has three women’s teams in competition in the Champions League, all of whom played last weekend: Gloria Bistriţa defeated CSM Bucharest, while Rapid Bucharest defeated Buducnost Podgorica.
