UN At the UN Security Council in New York, Romania’s Foreign Minister,
\nBogdan Aurescu, spoke about Romania’s contribution to mitigating the effects of
\nthe Russian war against Ukraine, at a debate titled ‘Maintaining international
\npeace and security – conflict and food security’. The Bucharest diplomacy chief
\nThursday participated, at the invitation of the American Secretary of State
\nAntony Blinken, in the open debate organised by the USA, the country that is
\nholding the monthly presidency of the UN Security Council. Bogdan Aurescu
\nreiterated the need for a wider effort at international level to create a
\ntransport corridor that would include Romanian routes and ports, in order to
\nfacilitate Ukrainian exports to third-party destinations. At the same time, the
\nRomanian minister firmly rejected the completely unfounded accusations made by
\nthe Russian Federation’s representative during the debate that there was an
\nagreement for Ukraine to export grains to the West in exchange for
\nmilitary assistance. The head of the Romanian diplomacy also announced that
\nstarting with 2023 Romania will host a Regional Agro-meteorology Centre for
\nEurope, approved by the World Meteorological Organisation.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
LABOUR The labour ministry in Bucharest plans to constantly monitor the
\nsituation of Romanian workers abroad, especially seasonal workers, who have
\nsometimes been victims of exploitation. Four million Romanians are officially
\nregistered as working abroad, in European Union states, but the actual number would
\nbe close to 5 million. The labour minister Marius Budai has stated that
\nRomanian seasonal workers mainly work in agriculture, constructions or in the
\nmeat industry, and have faced various issues related to working conditions,
\noccupational health and safety, or the fact that they have not been granted
\neven the minimum wage in Germany. Other issues include salary withholdings,
\ndismissals with repatriation requests, non-payment of salary, non-compliance
\nwith labour protection regulations, non-compliance with hygiene conditions,
\nimproper accommodation and food.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
POLL Most Romanians perceive Russia as an enemy state, and the war in
\nUkraine is seen as a critical or important problem for the country in the
\nmedium and long run. These are the findings of an opinion poll conducted this
\nmonth by the Avangarde social and behavioural research. According to the
\nsurvey, 64% of the Romanians see Russia as an enemy state, and only 2% see it
\nas a friendly country. In a ranking of friendly states, first comes the Republic
\nof Moldova, followed by Germany and the US. More than half of the respondents
\nalso see France, the UK, Spain and Italy as friendly states, while Serbia, Hungary
\nand China are seen rather as competitors. Among the problems seen as important
\nfor Romania in the medium and long run, the respondents mentioned climate
\nchange, Hungary’s investments in Transylvania, the fact that nearly half of the
\nRep. Moldova’s population are pro-Russian, the war in Ukraine, as well as the
\nfact that Germany, Austria and Hungary rely on Russian natural gas. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
UKRAINE The industrial region of Donbas in Ukraine has been completely
<\/p>\n
G7 The members of the Group of 7 of the world’s largest advanced
<\/p>\n
TENNIS The Romanian tennis
Click here for a roundup of local and world news<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":105208,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[34959,33637,29100,31991,29089,29310,28939,28905,29724,36582,33784],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-105921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-abroad","tag-assistance","tag-g7","tag-labour","tag-roland-garros","tag-russia","tag-tennis","tag-ukraine","tag-un","tag-war","tag-workers"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\ndestroyed by the Russian forces, the president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky
\nsaid. Donbas is the main target of Russian troops after being pushed back from
\nthe regions of Kyiv and Kharkiv. The Russian army resorts to intense shelling,
\nincluding over towns, in an attempt to break through the Ukrainian frontline. Odessa
\nhas been also a preferred target of Russian bombings lately, president Zelensky
\nalso said. Odessa is Ukraine’s main port city and has been under Russian
\nblockade since the war started, which prevents Ukraine’s exports and affects
\nglobal food supplies and food prices. On the other hand, the last Ukrainian
\nsoldiers in the Azovstal plant have been ordered by Kyiv to stop defending the
\ncity of Mariupol, the leader of the Azov Regiment announced. After the recent
\nevacuation of the civilians, including women and children, who had taken refuge
\nin the plant, nearly 2,000 Ukrainian fighters surrendered to the Russian troops
\nas of Monday, including wounded soldiers, according to the latest figures
\nannounced on Friday by the Russian defence ministry.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\neconomies promised on Friday to mobilise USD 19.8 billion to support the budget
\nof Ukraine, which has been struggling under the Russian invasion since February
\n24. The decision was announced by the German finance minister Christian
\nLindner, after a meeting with his counterparts from the US, Japan, Britain,
\nFrance, Italy and Canada. Germany currently holds the presidency of the G7.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nplayer Simona Halep will face the Croatian Ana Konjuh in the first round of the
\nRoland Garros Grand Slam tournament, which starts on Sunday in Paris, according
\nto the draw held on Thursday night. Halep won the French Open in 2018 and was a
\nfinalist in 2014 and 2017. She did not attend last year’s edition due to an
\ninjury. Sorana C\u00eerstea will play against the German Tatjana Maria, Gabriela
\nRuse will face the Belgian Elise Mertens, and Irina Begu will take on the
\nItalian Jasmine Paolini. Another Romanian, Ana Bogdan, will have a difficult
\nmission in the match with the Belarusian Victoria Azarenka. Irina Bara has also
\nqualified for the tournament. On Friday, Mihaela Buz\u01cernescu lost the last round
\nof qualifiers to Mirjam Bjorklund of Sweden (6-1, 6-3). (AMP)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"