UKRAINE Romania condemns in the strongest terms Russia’s blatant violation
\nof the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and of its obligations
\nunder international law, the PM of Romania Nicolae Ciuc\u0103 said after Tuesday’s
\nmeeting in Kyiv with his Ukrainian counterpart Denys Shmyhal. Mr. Ciuc\u0103 announced
\non Wednesday that Romania is considering opening new checkpoints on the Ukrainian
\nborder. He emphasised the importance of the opening of the Isaccea-Orlivka
\ncheckpoint in the south-east in 2020, and of deregulating freight transport for
\nUkrainian operators on April 5. The number of Ukrainian nationals to enter
\nRomania was 50% higher on Tuesday than on the previous day, the Border Police
\nannounced on Wednesday. <\/p>\n
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CONSTITUTIONAL COURT The
\nlegal committees in the Senate and Chamber of Deputies Wednesday passed a
\nfavourable opinion on all candidacies for judge posts with the Constitutional
\nCourt of Romania. Parliament is due to vote on the candidacies next week. This
\nJune, the terms in office of 3 judges come to an end: Valer Dorneanu, nominated
\nby the Chamber of Deputies, Mona Pivniceru, nominated by the Senate, and Daniel
\nMorar, nominated by the Presidency. The Constitutional Court comprises 9 judges
\nappointed for non-renewable 9-year terms in office, with one-third of the
\nmembers replaced every 3 years. <\/p>\n
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GOVERNMENT The
\nfinance minister Adrian C\u00e2ciu stated at the Government Hour debates that the
\nmeasures included in the Support for Romania package pave the way for
\npreserving the country’s economic growth trend. Invited to the talks by USR
\nparty in opposition, Mr. C\u00e2ciu emphasized that in order to have a high economic
\ngrowth rate this year, Romania must primarily encourage the agriculture and
\nconstructions sectors. Adrian C\u00e2ciu also mentioned that Romania, which relies on imports in many sectors, needs to
\nincrease its domestic output and invest in processing. <\/p>\n
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NATURAL GAS Russia’s decision to discontinue natural gas supplies to Poland and
\nBulgaria is an aggressive and unacceptable move, seen by the EU as a form of
\nblackmail, said the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen. We
\nwill make sure that Gazprom’s decision has the smallest possible impact on
\nEuropean consumers, she told a press conference on Wednesday. The
\nEuropean Commission chief advised European energy providers not to give in to
\nRussia’s request to have natural gas supplies paid for in rubles, and
\nemphasised that this would most likely be a violation of the EU sanctions
\nagainst Russia. After they refused to pay for natural gas in the Russian
\ncurrency, Poland and Bulgaria are the first EU member states targeted by a
\nsuspension of Russian gas supplies. In this context, Greece announced it would
\nassist Bulgaria, while Poland announced current gas supplies cover the
\ncountry’s domestic demand.<\/p>\n
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RECOVERY
\nRomania has fulfilled all the goals set out in the National Recovery and
\nResilience Plan approved by the European Commission, the economy minister
\nFlorin Sp\u0103taru said in Bucharest. He emphasised that certain benchmarks related
\nto the reforms undertaken as part of the plan will have to be revised in the
\nforthcoming period, and along with the investment element they will contribute
\nto a major progress of the Romanian economy, which has the potential of growing
\nup to four-fold by 2030, provided that the principles in the Recovery Plan are
\nobserved and funding is used wisely. According to the economy minister, the
\nopportunities offered by the Recovery Plan are not only the money, but also the
\neconomic and administrative reform principles, which will lead to reshaping
\nRomania’s economy in line with the principles of digitisation and green economy.
\n<\/p>\n
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TENNIS Three Romanian athletes play in the WTA Madrid tournament’s main
\ndraw. Romania’s Irina Begu (62 WTA) Wednesday qualified into the tournament
\nafter defeating Kamila Rakhimova (96 WTA) of Russia, 6-1, 6-0. In the first
\nround, Simona Halep will play against Shuai Zhang of China, and Sorana C\u00eerstea
\nagainst Nuria Parrizas Diaz of Spain. WTA Madrid Open takes place between April
\n28 and May 7. Simona Halep won the 2016 and 2017 tournaments. (AMP)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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