UKRAINE The Romanian foreign ministry firmly criticised the move of
\nthe deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, who posted
\non social media a map assigning current Ukrainian territories to Romania and
\nother neighbouring countries. The foreign ministry regards such attitudes as
\npart of the Russian Federation’s propaganda and disinformation campaign, which
\nhas intensified since the start of the illegal and illegitimate war against
\nUkraine. Such ‘proposals’ and ‘analyses’ concerning the random resetting of
\nnational borders and promoting violations of international laws are just failed
\nattempts to justify Russia’s breaches of the international order based on
\nrules. The institution reiterates Romania’s full support for the independence,
\nsovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally
\nrecognised borders, and once again condemns Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked
\nmilitary aggression against that country. Romania is and will remain a partner
\nof Ukraine and reconfirms its full support and deep compassion for the
\nUkrainian people, the victim of a brutal aggression, the institution’s news release
\nalso reads.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
FUNDS The prime minister Nicolae Ciuc\u0103 has said Romania’s absorption
\nrate of European funds as part of the 2014-2020 financial exercise stands at
\n64.5%, a level similar to that of Germany and only slightly lower than France,
\nbut ahead of older member states like Belgium (59%) and Italy, Spain and The
\nNetherlands (each with a little over 56%). According to Ciuc\u0103, Romania absorbed
\n22 billion Euros out of the 35 billion it is allocated in the 2014-2020 period.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
DROUGHT Drought has so far affected 150,000 hectares of farmland in
\n20 different counties across Romania, said the agriculture ministry, based on
\ndaily reports on the state of the crops. The irrigation systems are struggling
\nto cope, owing to the drop in the level of the water used to feed the
\nirrigation stations. The biggest such station, in Br\u0103ila county, in the
\nsouth-east, was shut down because of the low Danube water flow. The station was
\nproviding water for 250,000 hectares of land in the region. The water flow of
\nthe river Prut, in the east, is also dropping, having already reached a record
\nlow level. Agriculture minister Petre Daea said the animal breeding sector is
\nalso affected by drought.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
WHISTLE-BLOWERS The president of Romania Klaus Iohannis Thursday sent
\nback to Parliament for reconsideration the Law on the protection of whistle-blowers,
\nstating that some of the legislative solutions must be revised. Previously, a coalition
\nof 20 NGOs, civil associations and trade unions, as well as whistle-blowers,
\nhad sent an open letter to the president, urging him not to sign the bill into law.
\nCivil society organisations argue that in the form passed in Parliament, the
\nact reduces the protection mechanisms for whistle-blowers, and Romania risks
\ninfringement procedures for the selective transposition of the relevant EU
\nDirective. Save Romania Union, in opposition, also called on Iohannis to send
\nthe law back for urgent reconsideration, stating that the current text
\ndissuades corruption reporting and poses a major risk of Romania being left
\nwithout the funding under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. In
\nmid-July the Constitutional Court had dismissed USR party’s complaint
\nconcerning the law, as unconstitutional.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
DRILL Over 20 aircraft from 7 NATO member states Thursday took part
Click here for a roundup of local and world news<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":105194,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[36915,35655,36914,34812,29120,32234,29721,36913,30557,34585,29310,36916,28905,36582,36887,34085],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-106060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-absorption","tag-air","tag-divided","tag-drill","tag-eu","tag-funds","tag-law","tag-map","tag-olympics","tag-protection","tag-russia","tag-space","tag-ukraine","tag-war","tag-whistleblowers","tag-youth"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nin a joint drill as part of the enhanced Vigilance Activities – eVA headed by
\nNATO AIRCOM based in Germany. According to the defence ministry, the goal of
\nthe exercise is to prove NATO’s capacity to plan, coordinate and execute a
\ncomplex air space security mission in the event of any type of attack or threat
\non Allied territory. In response to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, NATO significantly
\nenhanced its defence and deterrence capability, including by means of
\nstrengthening its presence on its eastern flank. (AMP)<\/span><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"