AGENDA Romania managed to introduce for the first time on the agenda of an EU
\nForeign Ministers meeting, the one that ended in Lisbon on Thursday, the issue
\nof the frozen conflicts of the EU’s eastern neighbourhood. Romania’s Foreign Ministry
\nBogdan Aurescu has told Radio Romania the measures proposed focus on setting up
\nthe position of EU special envoy for frozen conflicts and resilience of the
\nstates in the Eastern partnership, the idea of imposing sanctions in areas like
\nTransdniester, a breakaway region in the neighboring, ex-soviet
\nRomanian-speaking Republic of Moldova, as well as providing post-pandemic assistance.
\nThe head of diplomacy in Bucharest has explained that the entire bloc is aware
\nof the danger posed by the frozen conflicts and of the fact that Russia is
\nbehind all these conflicts. Also high on the agenda of the latest informal
\nGymnich meeting in Lisbon was the enlarged Black Sea region, the EU-Africa
\nrelations and the EU strategic vision for India-Pacific. <\/p>\n
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TENNIS Eighth seeded Magda Linette, a tennis player from Poland, is today up
\nagainst Romanian Sorana Cirstea in the semis of the WTA tournament in
\nStrasbourg, a competition with roughly 200 thousand euros in prize money. In
\nthe round of 16, Cirstea clinched a two-set win against Shuai Zhang of China
\nand qualified for the semifinals after Canadian player of Romanian descent
\nBianca Andreescu had withdrawn. Cirstea has a 2-1 head-to-head lead against
\nLinette. <\/p>\n
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COVID-19 The number of people infected with Sars-CoV-2 in Romania has been going
\ndown for quite some time now. Authorities on Thursday announced 307 new cases
\nout of over 31 thousand tests conducted. Capital city Bucharest and all the
\nother regions are now in the so-called green zone. Since the vaccine rollout
\nkicked off in Romania in late December, 3.3 million have been fully vaccinated.
\nOver 1,000 physicians, nurses and administrative personnel have volunteered for
\nthe second edition of the vaccination marathon due to last in Bucharest until
\nMay 31st. New relaxation measures are to come into effect as of June
\n1st. The government has specified the conditions under which mask
\nwearing is no longer mandatory in indoor places, how many people can attend an
\nevent and what entertainment facilities can be opened. <\/p>\n
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AID The government in Bucharest has endorsed a new humanitarian aid for the
\nneighboring Romanian-speaking Republic of Moldova in an attempt to help the
\nauthorities there to contain the coronavirus pandemic. According to a
\ncommuniqu\u00e9 issued by the Health Ministry, the aid consists of 100 thousand
\ndoses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. In another development, state secretary with
\nthe Romanian Foreign Ministry, Dan Neculaescu is presently on a working visit
\nin Cernauti with a view to providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine. On this
\noccasion Neculaescu will be meeting representatives of the Romanian community
\nin Ukraine and is expected to have talks with Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Vasyl
\nBodnar and with officials from the Regional State Administration in
\nCernauti. <\/p>\n
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PLAN Parliaments in Austria and Poland on Thursday approved Europe’s 672
\nbillion euro recovery plan aimed at offsetting the economic impact of the
\npandemic, which is a step forward towards ratifying the project at EU level.
\nThe 672 billion euros in subsidies and loans are to fund investment in the
\ngreen and digital transition. The first installments are most likely expected
\nby the end of July. Every member state is to come up with an investment plan in
\nBrussels. 19 countries have already presented their plans and Ludovic Orban,
\npresident of the National Liberal Party, the main ruling political party has
\nsaid in Bucharest that Romania will make public its plan on June 2nd,
\nshortly after its presentation in Brussels. The opposition PSD has said that
\nthrough the aforementioned plan the Executive has assumed a series of austerity
\nmeasures and the opposition is going to table a censure motion. <\/p>\n
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(bill)<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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