GOVERNMENT The first joint meeting of the Romanian and Ukrainian governments takes place in Kyiv today. The agenda includes the development of
\ninfrastructure in the border region, economic cooperation and regional security.
\nThe main topic is a mechanism allowing Ukraine to export grains to Romania. First
\nof all, the grain quality must be similar to that of grains in Romania and the
\nEU, and secondly, only the Romanian farmers who prove they no longer have grain
\nstocks will be authorised to import from Ukraine. Another topic is the ethnic
\nminorities in Ukraine, with Bucharest requesting that their rights be the same
\nas the rights enjoyed by minorities in Romania. The Romanian government
\nbelieves Ukraine should no longer recognise the Moldovan language, arguing that
\nin fact it does not exist. Marcel Ciolacu is accompanied by the minister of
\ndefence, Angel T\u00e2lv\u0103r, the minister of public health, Alexandru Rafila, the
\neconomy minister, Radu Oprea, the agriculture minister, Florin Barbu and the
\nsecretary of state with the interior ministry, Raed Arafat. The Romanian PM
\nwill have talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Denys Shmyhal, and with the
\nchairman of the Ukrainian parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk. Marcel Ciolacu is also
\nscheduled to meet the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was in
\nBucharest last week. <\/p>\n
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BUDGET The Constitutional Court dismissed the
\nnotification filed by Save Romania Union and the Force of the Right in
\nopposition in Romania with respect to the bill on fiscal and
\nbudget-related measures for which the Government has undertaken responsibility
\nbefore Parliament. The Constitutional Court president, Marian Enache, said the
\nCabinet’s responsibility concerned a sole and unified purpose, namely to
\nincrease revenues to the public budget and to cut down on expenditure, and that
\nthe responsibility procedure was in line with the requirements of the
\nConstitutional Court and its case law. Marian Enache also says the Court’s
\ndecision was made on a majority of votes. After the decision of the
\nConstitutional Court, the bill may be signed into law by the president of
\nRomania, Klaus Iohannis.<\/p>\n
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GAZA
\nThe Romanian foreign ministry voices shock and deep sadness at the news of the
\nblast and loss of innocent lives on Tuesday night at
\nthe Al Ahli hospital in Gaza. In a message issued on Wednesday, the
\nministry emphasises that all civilians and civilian infrastructure must be
\nprotected at all times, and that responsibility must be
\nclearly identified. Hundreds of people were killed or wounded
\nin a missile strike on the hospital in Gaza, for which Israel and the
\nPalestinians blame each other. The Israeli army denies that its forces were
\nresponsible for the attack, and blames the incident on a failed launch of a
\nmissile from Gaza by the Islamic Jihad, another Palestinian armed group, which
\nin turn denies the allegations. The attack was condemned by the international
\ncommunity, with several Arab leaders accusing Israel of war crimes. The US leader Joe Biden, who is on a solidarity
\nvisit to Israel today, has voiced regret and anger at the event. Jordan has
\ncancelled a summit in which Joe Biden was to discuss the war with King Abdullah II, with
\nMahmoud Abbas and the president of Egypt Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. On the other hand, the UN secretary general
\nAntonio Guterres will be in Cairo on Thursday, for talks with Abdel Fattah al-focusing
\non the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza. The talks take place as Egypt calls on Israel to allow aid
\nshipments to that territory. On Tuesday,
\nthe US authorised its non-essential embassy staff to leave Beirut, as security
\nworsens in Lebanon as well, in the context of the war between Israel and Hamas.<\/p>\n
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ALERT Belgium,
\nFrance, Italy and Spain have raised their terrorist alert levels to a maximum, following
\nattacks in western Europe over the past few days. On Monday 2 Swedish nationals
\nwere killed in Brussels by a Tunisian illegal migrant, later on identified and
\nshot by the Belgian police. The Islamic State group
\nclaimed the attack and said it targeted Sweden because of its affiliation to
\nthe global coalition against Jihad movements. On Tuesday, Versailles palace
\nin Paris was evacuated and stayed closed for the day after a new bomb alert,
\njust as it happened with the Louvre Museum on Saturday. The president of France
\nEmmanuel Macron said Islamic terrorism is rising once again and that all
\nEuropean countries are vulnerable to this threat. Over 100 people have been
\narrested over the past week in France under anti-Semitism charges and for
\nterrorism support. On Tuesday, EU leaders, including the president of Romania
\nKlaus Iohannis, discussed the conflict between Israel and Hamas which killed more
\nthan 4,000 people in the last 10 days, and agreed to do whatever they can to
\navoid a regional escalation of the conflict. (AMP)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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