VISIT The Romanian foreign
\nminister Bogdan Aurescu is having talks in Bucharest today with his Israeli counterpart
\nYair Lapid, focusing on the management of the effects of the Russian military
\naggression in Russia. According to a news release issued by the foreign
\nministry, Mr. Yair Lapid’s visit to Romania takes place at the invitation of
\nthe Romanian minister, prompted by the deepening crisis in Ukraine and in the
\ncontext of the excellent cooperation with the Romanian authorities in the
\nevacuation of Israeli citizens from Ukraine. Israel is one of Romania’s main
\npartners in the Middle East, and strategic bilateral relations have developed
\nsteadily over the past few years. According to the foreign ministry, talks will
\nalso touch on the development of bilateral relations between the 2 countries,
\nwith a focus on the political, economic and security areas. The 2 officials
\nwill also assess preparations for the 3rd Romania-Israel joint government
\nmeeting (G2G) scheduled to take place this year. During his visit to Romania,
\nthe Israeli foreign minister will also have talks with PM Nicolae Ciuc\u01ce.<\/p>\n
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UKRAINE The Romanian transport ministry launched an app for the Ukrainian
\nrefugees. The app includes information in Ukrainian, English and Romanian on
\nthe green transport corridors in Romania, covering areas like the road, railway
\nand air network, customs offices, train stations, petrol stations and airports. Ukrainian
\nrefugees may travel free of charge in Romania, based on a government resolution
\nin this respect. Moreover, the emergency number 112 and the special children
\nemergency number, 119, are available for calls in Ukrainian as well. Additional
\nmeasures were taken in border checkpoints to prevent human trafficking. As of
\nFriday, another online platform has also been available, centralising
\nassistance offers for displaced Ukrainians. On Saturday, several cities in
\nRomania saw various solidarity actions with Ukraine. In Bucharest, the National
\nArena hosted a charity concert for refugees, with over 35 Romanian and foreign
\nartists taking part, which raised some EUR 800,000. Solidarity events were also
\norganised in Constan\u0163a, Ia\u015fi, Cluj-Napoca, Piatra Neam\u0163 and Roman. Around 400,000
\nUkrainian nationals have entered Romania since the start of the Russian
\ninvasion. Many of them have already left for western Europe.<\/p>\n
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FOODSTUFF The agriculture minister Adrian Chesnoiu has a meeting today with
\nrepresentatives of retail chains and Romanian sunflower oil producers, to
\nassess stocks and reserves. The meeting comes amid substantial amounts of
\nsunflower oil were purchased in recent days for fear that shops would run out
\nof this product. Speculations on the topic are fuelled by the fact that
\nwar-affected Ukraine is the world’s biggest sunflower seed exporter. Romanian
\nauthorities promised that Romania has sufficient foodstuff stocks, including
\nsunflower oil. They also recommend that people refrain from buying more than
\nthey need, so that everybody may have access to basic food stuffs. Just days
\nbefore, for fear of skyrocketing fuel prices, unprecedented queuing was
\nreported in petrol stations. The previous weekend, foreign currency was heavily
\npurchased in Romania, amid rumours that the national currency would plummet. Romanian
\nauthorities warned once again that such fake news is designed to create panic
\namong people.<\/p>\n
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CENSUS Beginning on March 14, for 4 months, data will be collected for a
\npopulation and household census in Romania. The operation is conducted every 10
\nyears and is necessary for the production of official national and European
\nstatistics. The census was originally scheduled to take place last year, but
\nwas postponed over the COVID-19 pandemic. This year brings a novelty, in that
\nself-census options are available. Self-census is done online, based on a
\nsimple procedure, according to the authorities. Citizens are to fill in an
\nonline pre-registration form at www.recensamantromania.ro, followed by the
\nquestionnaires for each member of the household. Those who do not want or
\ncannot fill in those forms will be assisted by census operators in door-to-door
\nvisits. (A.M.P.)<\/p>\n
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