SCHENGEN The EU Justice and Home Affairs Council Thursday
\ndenied Romania’s and Bulgaria’s accession to the Schengen free movement area,
\nwith 2 votes against. Accession requires a unanimous vote. Of the 27 member
\ncountries, the Netherlands and Austria voted against, with the former specifying
\nthat it only opposed Bulgaria’s accession. Austria argued that it feared an
\nincrease in illegal migration. Croatia, on the other hand, received the green
\nlight for accession on January 1, 2023. The European Commissioner for home
\naffairs, Ylva Johansson, congratulated Croatia on its accession and said
\nBulgaria and Romania also deserved to be accepted. In Bucharest, the president Klaus
\nIohannis said the lack of consensus regarding Romania’s bid was profoundly
\nunfair. The Liberal PM Nicolae Ciuc\u0103 said he was ‘deeply disappointed’ and
\nemphasised that Austria’s vote was ‘unjustified’. The president of the Social
\nDemocratic Party in power, Marcel Ciolacu, said the European unity and
\nstability had received a harsh blow from Austria, which in difficult times
\nchose to forsake its European friends and serve Russia’s interests instead. Austria’s
\nveto to Romania’s Schengen accession is an unfair and immoral attitude, lacking
\nsolid reasons, the deputy PM and leader of the Democratic Union of Ethnic
\nHungarians in Romania Kelemen Hunor said in his turn. In the opposition, the
\npresident of USR party, C\u0103t\u0103lin Drul\u0103, sees the JHA Council’s decision as ‘profoundly
\nunfair’, and argues that the Austrian government’s position will go down in
\nhistory as an instance of discrimination. In turn, George Simion the head of AUR
\nparty, also in opposition, defines the decision as a ‘failure of Romania’s current
\ngovernment and of president Klaus Iohannis’. <\/p>\n
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FARMERS Romanian farmers will benefit from around 16 billion
\neuros under the strategic plan for 2023-2027 approved on Wednesday by the
\nEuropean Commission. Some 10 billion euros account for direct payments and
\nsectoral interventions, while 6 billion will be allocated to rural development.
\nRomania’s agriculture minister Petre Daea said the plan also includes an
\ninstrument to support farmers who suffered losses as a result of natural
\ndisasters, with 400 million euros being earmarked to this end.<\/p>\n
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REFUGEES The Border Police said almost 65,500 people crossed
\nthe border into Romania on Wednesday, including more than 7,300 Ukrainian
\nnationals, down 1.2% compared with the previous day. Since 10th February 2022,
\ntwo weeks before the Russian army invaded Ukraine, more than 3 million
\nUkrainians have crossed the border into neighbouring Romania. Most of them have
\ncontinued their journey to countries in western Europe, but over 80,000 have
\nchosen to stay, according to official figures.<\/p>\n
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GAUDEAMUS The 29th edition of the Gaudeamus Book Fair
\norganised by Radio Romania is under way in Bucharest until Sunday. The event
\nbrings together 200 participants and a variety of editorial products on
\ndifferent formats, for all ages and areas of interest, including music and
\neducational games. The line-up features 600 different events and related
\nprojects. As a first, the fair also has special areas dedicated to interactive
\nactivities for young visitors. All stands are also available online on the
\ngaudeamus.ro website. The fair’s honorary president this year is poet Ana
\nBlandiana. (AMP, CM)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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