COOPERATION
\nFrance and the Netherlands are eagerly waiting
\nfor Romania’s Schengen accession as soon as possible. This is one of the main
\nelements in a joint statement on security cooperation signed in Bucharest on
\nFriday by the foreign ministers of the 3 countries. The message was also
\nhighlighted by the Dutch diplomacy chief, Wopke Hoekstra, in the bilateral
\ntalks with his Romanian counterpart, Bogdan Aurescu. The 2 officials, together
\nwith the French foreign minister, Catherine
\nColonna,Friday visited the Getica National Joint Training Centre in
\nCincu, where French and Dutch troops are deployed as part of the NATO Battle
\nGroup created in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In fact, after the
\ntrilateral talks concerning Moscow’s armed aggression, Catherine Colonna said
\nUkraine must be helped to defend itself, to regain its independence and
\nsovereignty. In Bucharest, the foreign officials were also received by
\npresident Klaus Iohannis and PM
\nNicolae Ciuc\u0103.<\/p>\n
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\n
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CINEMA Two
\nRomanian films, ‘Metronome’ by Alexandru Belc and ‘M.R.I.’ by Cristian Mungiu, are
\nin the competition of the Gothenburg International Film Festival in Sweden, which
\nstarted on Friday. According to the Romanian Cultural Institute in Stockholm,
\nthe event brings together around 400 works from around the world every year,
\nwith 160,000 viewers attending. ‘Metronome’, the debut feature of the director Alexandru
\nBelc, is a love story in 1972 communist Romania, and critics describe it as a
\nsocial and historical analysis of a generation forced to live in a society
\nmarred by suspicion and distrust. Cristian Mungiu’s ‘R.M.N.’ is set in a
\nTransylvanian village, where a small factory hires new workers, troubling the
\napparent peace of the locals. The over 40-year old
\nfilm festival in Gothenburg is the most important such event in the
\nregion.<\/p>\n
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\n
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SURVEY As many as 80% of Romanian consumers allow the use of their
\npersonal data for advertising purposes, according to a survey conducted on the
\nEuropean Data Protection Day. The latest data in the Survey on the usage of ITC
\nin households and by individuals indicate that 1 of 2 Europeans aged between 16
\nand 74 do not allow the use of their personal data for advertising purposes
\nwhen using the internet. As many as 46% reported having allowed only restricted
\naccess to their location or having denied access to their data altogether. The
\ncountries where the use of personal data for advertising is mostly denied by
\nusers include the Netherlands (73%), Finland (70%), Denmark and Germany (63%
\neach), Spain (62%). At the opposite pole, the lowest rates were reported in
\nBulgaria (10%), Romania (20%), Greece (29%), Slovakia (30%) and Latvia (32%).<\/p>\n
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\n
<\/p>\n
ELECTION
\nPetr Pavel looks set
\nto win the runoff of the presidential elections in the Czech Republic, ahead of
\nex-PM Andrej Babis, AFP reports. Polling
\nstations opened on Friday and close today. Petr
\nPavel, 61, a retired general who held a senior NATO post, is running as an
\nindependent candidate and has the support of the right-of-centre government. Billionaire
\nAndrej Babis, 68, who was the country’s PM between 2017 and 2021, promised to
\nforce the government to help citizens handle the rising inflation. The winner
\nof the vote will replace the controversial Milos Zeman, who had had close ties
\nwith Moscow before changing course during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n
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\n
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WEATHER In Romania, weather experts issued code orange and yellow alerts
\nfor heavy snowfalls, snowstorms and rainfalls in over 20 counties in the east
\nand centre of the country. The bad weather left thousands of households without
\nelectricity, road, railway and air traffic was disrupted and several national
\nand county roads were closed. (AMP)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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