EDUCATION On Monday the staff in Romania’s public undergraduate
\neducation will go on strike, the trade unions in the sector announced after
\nSunday’s talks with government officials. The protest will continue until
\nunions have received a credible solution from the government, the leader of
\nthe Spiru Haret Trade Union Federation, Marius Nistor, said. The government put
\nforth a clear roadmap for the endorsement of the new salary law and promised pay
\nraises for non-teaching staff, which according to unionists would only amount
\nto EUR 20 a month. Financial incentives for entry-level teachers and experienced
\nstaff teaching in underprivileged areas have also been proposed. The higher
\neducation staff will also go on token strikes as of Monday, the head of the Alma
\nMater National Trade Union Federation Anton Had\u0103r announced. Trade unions said
\nnegotiations would continue in the coming days.<\/p>\n
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MOLDOVA
\nA large-scale rally was held in Chi\u015fin\u0103u on Sunday, at the initiative of
\npresident Maia Sandu, in order to prove Moldovans’ support for the country’s EU
\naccession. Europe is the Republic of Moldova. The Republic of Moldova is
\nEurope. Moldova is not alone, the president of the European Parliament, Roberta
\nMetsola said in Romanian at the European Moldova National Assembly. Participants
\nadopted a resolution confirming the support of Moldovan citizens for the
\ncountry’s EU accession efforts. The rally takes place as the Republic of
\nMoldova, an EU accession candidate country, would like to begin accession
\nnegotiations by the end of this year. For this stage to begin, Moldova must
\ncomplete 9 recommendations, which will be assessed by this autumn in a European
\nCommission report. In Bucharest, the Organisation of Moldovan Students
\norganised a similar rally in front of Moldova’s Embassy. Scores of people
\nwatched the speeches in Chisinau jointly with the Moldovan Ambassador to
\nBucharest, Victor Chirila.<\/p>\n
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DIPLOMACY The Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu takes part on
\nMonday in the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels. The EU
\nforeign ministers will discuss measures to mitigate the effects of Russia’s
\naggression in Ukraine and the situation in the Horn of Africa. The EU officials
\nwill also touch on the bloc’s commitment in Central Asia, developments in Tunisia,
\nthe relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the context of high-level EU
\ndiplomatic contacts with both countries. According to the Romanian foreign
\nministry, Bogdan Aurescu will reiterate Romania’s firm, multidimensional and
\ncontinuing support for Ukraine and will express hopes that an agreement will be
\nreached as soon as possible on the 8th support package for the
\nUkrainian air forces under the EU Peace Facility. Minister Aurescu will also
\nhighlight the importance of keeping pressure on Russia by consolidating
\nsanctions, and will reiterate the idea of setting up a special international tribunal
\nfor the crime of aggression to prosecute Russian crimes of aggression during
\nthe war in Ukraine. <\/p>\n
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\n
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RAILWAYS The president of Romania’s Competition Council, Bogdan
\nChiri\u0163oiu, made statements concerning Carpatica Feroviar, a new company that
\nwill take over the operations of the state-owned railway freight corporation CFR
\nMarf\u0103. The new company will take over the profitable contracts and the
\nequipment needed for completing them, while the other assets will be sold in order
\nto cover as much as possible of the old company’s debts to the state budget
\nChiri\u0163oiu explained. He emphasised that current operations will not be
\ndiscontinued. The financial performance of CFR Marf\u0103 improved slightly in 2022,
\nbut the company still owes some EUR 400 mln to the state budget and social
\nsecurity budget. <\/p>\n
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BEEKEEPERS Romanian beekeepers say they are left with large amounts
\nof unsold honey because of imports of cheaper and poorer-quality honey. The
\nhead of the Romanian Beekeepers Association, Ioan Fetea, says the situation is
\nparticularly serious as last year’s yield was a lot smaller than in previous
\nyears. Last year beekeepers saw modest yields, but they could not even sell those,
\nprecisely because of these dumping practices, obviously explained by the fact
\nthat that honey is not in line with EU regulations. Almost half of the honey
\nimported into Europe is adulterated, counterfeit, and obviously sold very
\ncheaply, which puts tremendous pressure on local producers, Fetea explained. Beekeepers
\nare also struggling with a fall in the number of bee families, because of the
\nuse of insecticides in agriculture. <\/p>\n
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\n
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UKRAINE The US president Joe Biden Sunday announced new military aid
\nmeasures for Ukraine, following talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy,
\non the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima. The new aid package will
\nconsist of ammunitions, artillery and armoured vehicles, Joe Biden explained, just
\ndays after approving the provision of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. According
\nto Reuters, this new package is worth up to USD 375 mln and is designed to
\nstrengthen Ukraine’s defence in the war against Russia. The British PM Rishi
\nSunak also announced in Hiroshima that his country would start training
\nUkrainian pilots this summer, to support Ukraine’s air forces in the conflict.
\nRishi Sunak added that no one wants peace more than Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but
\nthe terms for peace, he added, should be based on Ukraine’s principles. In the
\n3-day summit in Japan, the G7 nations voiced their willingness to stand by
\nUkraine in the long run.<\/p>\n
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\n
\nROWING Romania won 2 gold and 3 silver medals at
\nthe 2023 European Rowing Under 19 Championships in Brive-la-Gaillarde, France,
\nin which it took part with 11 boats. Romania came out second in the overall nations
\ntables, behind Italy and ahead of Turkey. In last year’s competition, Romania
\nhad won 5 medals (3 gold, one silver and one bronze), and finished top of the
\nranking by nations. (AMP)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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