SCHENGEN – The Interior
\nMinistry has reached a political consensus with its counterparts in Vienna and
\nSofia for the partial extension of the Schengen Area to include air and
\nmaritime borders with Romania and Bulgaria starting March 2024. Negotiations
\nare expected to continue in 2024 for the two countries’ full Schengen
\naccession. On Tuesday and Wednesday, diplomatic talks were held at the level of
\nthe Interior and Foreign Affairs ministries, with the participation of
\ndiplomatic missions to the EU, regarding a Justice and Home Affairs Council
\nresolution that would make this political agreement legally binding. Talks will
\ncontinue today. A positive decision on the two countries’ Schengen accession
\nrequires a unanimous vote in the Justice and Home Affairs Council. We recall
\nthat last year the decision was postponed due to lack of unanimity in the
\nJustice and Home Affairs Council regarding the Schengen accession of Romania
\nand Bulgaria, due to opposition voiced by Austria and the Netherlands. <\/p>\n
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GOVERNMENT – On its last
\nsession of 2023, the government is examining a draft decree on cutting public
\nspending starting January 1, 2024. The number one measure is excluding all
\npublic sector employees who this year benefited from salary increases from the
\n5% increase in salaries to be operated next year. The targeted institutions are
\nthe Finance Ministry, the national health insurance agencies, but also Education
\nMinistry employees, whose salaries will go up 20% next year. The government
\nwants to use the savings to increase low salaries in the public sector. Imports
\nof sugar and flour from Ukraine are also on today’s agenda. The government this
\nyear passed an emergency decree setting clear terms under which Romanian
\ncompanies can buy grain from Ukraine. The government wants to pass a new decree
\nsetting similar terms for the purchase of flour and sugar from neighboring
\nUkraine. Also today the government wants to adopt an emergency decree for the
\ngradual introduction of new electronic ID cards, which will replace older ones
\nthat don’t comply with EU security standards.
\n<\/p>\n
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WAR IN GAZA – Israel is
\nexpanding its ground offensive to include Palestinian refugee camps in Gaza,
\nwarning the war against Hamas will last for months. Powerful bombings were
\nreported in the camps of Bureij, Maghazi and Nuseirat, where dozens of people
\nwere killed in strikes in recent days. Heavy fighting is also continuing to the
\nsouth, in the city of Khan Younis, whereas in the north, the IDF continues to
\nuncover tunnel shafts used by Hamas. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent
\nin Israel, the tunnels discovered yesterday were blown up by Israeli military
\nengineers. Meanwhile, 22 of the 129 people still held hostage by Hamaz in Gaza
\nhave been executed, a spokesman of the Israeli government has announced. Hamas
\ncaptured approximately 240 people in the October 7 surprise attack, which
\nkilled 1,200 people. Following a ceasefire mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the
\nUnited States, Hamas released 110 hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinians
\nheld in Israeli prisons. <\/p>\n
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WAR IN UKRAINE – The United States
\nhas announced the disbursement of an additional 250 mln USD in military aid for
\nUkraine. International media writes this will be the last military aid package
\nfor Ukraine before a new vote in Congress, where the Republican majority has
\nshown reluctance towards the initiatives of the Biden administration, which has
\npromised Ukraine over 61 bln USD. It is imperative that Congress act swiftly,
\nas soon as possible, to advance our national security interests by helping
\nUkraine, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken Said. This aid package includes
\nair defense munitions, other components for air defense systems, additional
\nammunition for high-mobility artillery rocket systems, 155mm and 105mm
\nartillery ammunition, anti-armor munitions, and over 15 million rounds of
\nammunition, according to a US Department of State release. Thank you for your
\nhelp. We will win, the former head of the Ukrainian presidential administration,
\nAndrii Yermak wrote on X. (VP)<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A roundup of domestic and international news<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":105208,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[29548,42338,30037,116280,36572],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-612060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-government-session","tag-public-sector-salaries","tag-schengen-accession","tag-war-in-gaza","tag-war-in-ukraine"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n