September 29, 2024
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 29.09.2024, 14:00
Visas. Romania’s foreign minister Luminiţa Odobescu emphasised how important it is for Romania to join the US Visa Waiver program. On a trip to the US to attend the UN General Assembly in New York, Odobescu said that, despite a series of procedures yet to be finalised, she received positive signals in respect of Romania’s application. She said the team effort of the foreign and interior ministries and the prime minister’s office must continue until the goal is achieved that Romanian citizens will no longer need visas to travel to the US. The government pledged to fulfil the technical criteria for joining the US Visa Waiver program by September 30th this year, which is when the US fiscal year comes to an end. The conditions include a refusal rate below 3% of visa applications for business or tourism travel to the US during the previous fiscal year.
Weather. Bad weather warnings have been updated and extended in Romania. A red code alert for torrential and heavy rain is in place in Galaţi county, in the south-east, from Sunday night until Monday morning. Heavy rain and wind are in fact expected until Tuesday morning across most than half of Romania. The yellow and orange code alerts remain in place today and are extended until tomorrow morning. The south-west is under a yellow code, and the north-east, south-east, the south and the mountains are under an orange code, while snow is expected in the mountains at altitudes of over 1,700 m. The weather is also becoming unstable and significantly colder in the capital Bucharest. Rain is expected later in the day, while temperatures will not go beyond 25 degrees Celsius.
Flooding. The Bucharest-Ilfov Inspectorate for Emergency Situations warned of extreme weather events on Sunday and Sunday night and urged people to seek protection and comply with the advice given by the authorities. The Inspectorate said text alerts were issued for the inhabitants of Bucharest. Across the country, the fire fighting services have despatched more equipment to boost their operational capacity. The Romanian Waters National Administration says it is keeping a close eye on the Romanian section of the Danube, with waters expected to swell in the coming days following heavy rain. A water flow of 9,000-9.500 cubic metres per second is expected as a result. Sandbag barriers have been created along the river in the sections more vulnerable to flooding to protect nearby settlements.
Middle East. The Romanian foreign ministry has again urged Romanian citizens to avoid travelling to Lebanon owing to the deterioration of the security situation in the region and those who find themselves there and cannot leave the region to inform the Romanian embassy of their whereabouts. The ministry says it is in constant contact with the embassy staff and via its consulates, with the embassies of the other EU member states and other partners in the region. The conflict between Israel and the Lebanese terrorist organisation Hezbollah has escalated after the Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed by the Israeli security forces. Iran-backed Hezbollah responded with a new rocket attack against Israel and promised to continue the fight. After the Hamas attack on Israel on 7th October 2023 and Israel’s operations in Gaza, Hezbollah has carried out air strikes from the south of Lebanon to the north of Israel, in solidarity with
Journalist. The National Audiovisual Council in Bucharest on Saturday called for the protection of the Romanian journalist Mircea Barbu, a correspondent for the online publication HotNews. The Council also condemned the decision of Russia’s Federal Security Service to start criminal investigations against the Romanian journalist and two other foreign journalists, who only did their duty in the areas of conflict between Ukrainian and Russian forces. The Romanian foreign ministry also emphasised on Friday that the the media must be protected, not silenced. Moscow says the three journalists illegally crossed the Russian border from Ukraine to conduct reports in the occupied region in Kursk where the Ukrainian army launched a surprise attack on 6 August, the first by a foreign army into Russia since WWII.
