SCHENGEN The EU member countries on
\nSaturday night unanimously endorsed the gradual accession of Romania and
\nBulgaria to Europe’s passport-free area Schengen, after Austria, the last EU-27
\ncountry opposing the decision, had lifted its veto. Starting March 2024 controls
\nat the interior air and sea borders with these two countries will be lifted,
\nAustria, Bulgaria and Romania pledging to convene later over a date on also lifting
\ncontrols at land borders, the Spanish presidency of the EU Council has
\nannounced. The decision also stipulates a series of measures on strengthening
\nborder control and fighting illegal migration so that Romania and Bulgaria will
\ncontinue to get significant financial support as well as FRONTEX assistance.
\nAmong the European leaders to first hail the two countries’ partial accession
\nto Schengen is the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, of the
\nEuropean Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the European Parliament,
\nRoberta Metsola and the European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson. The
\nEU Council’s decision is a first major step, Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis
\nhas said. Romania’s key objective remains that of applying the Schengen aquis
\nby eliminating controls at the land borders. The Council’s decision has also
\nbeen hailed by the government and by Romania’s Foreign and Interior Ministers.
\nThe country’s Social Democratic Prime Minister, Marcel Ciolacu, has underlined
\nthat this government has kicked off an irreversible process adding that the
\nefforts to completely close this chapter will continue the next year. In turn,
\nthe president of the Senate, Liberal Nicolae Ciuca said that Romania’s
\naccession to Schengen is a fulfilled promise. <\/p>\n
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HIKES The new year kicks off with
\nhigher prices in food products and fuel but also in a series of services. The
\nVAT for traditional and organic food that is produced at altitudes over 1,000
\nmeters will rise from 5% to 9%. Excises for tobacco, alcohol and sweet drinks
\nwill also rise while some small enterprises will be paying higher taxes as well
\nas banks, hotels and restaurants. Excises for fuel will be also on the rise in
\n2024 and so will real estate, whose VAT rises from 5% to 9% for units with a
\nvalue over 120 thousand euros. Analysts believe the effects of the latest price
\nhikes will be higher on the market, and consumers are expected to buy cheaper
\nproducts, whereas producers will have to trim output in an attempt to cap
\nprices. <\/p>\n
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POLICE Roughly 24 thousand employees of the Romanian Interior
\nMinistry will be on duty during the New Year mini-holiday. Traffic police units
\nare monitoring the motorways with 360 radars and have set up checkpoints in an
\nattempt to discover drunk and drugged drivers. 5000 firefighters and paramedics
\nare ready to intervene in any emergency situations that might occur. Border
\npolice have also implemented a series of measures aimed at easing the traffic
\nof people and vehicles at the border checkpoints. In an attempt to protect
\ncitizens, the policemen from the units specialized in Guns, Explosives and
\nDangerous Substances, jointly with their colleagues from other structures have
\nstepped up their actions of preventing and fighting the illegal trade with
\npyrotechnic devices. Authorities have seized over 100 tons of pyrotechnic
\nmaterials have opened 500 criminal cases and have renewed their appeal to
\nparents to avoid the purchase of fire crackers, which could be extremely
\ndangerous. <\/p>\n
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TAROM Romania’s air carrier, TAROM, will resume its flights to Tel Aviv
\nstarting January 1 2024. According to company sources, Tarom continues to
\nmonitor the security situation in Israel and keeps in touch with the local and
\ninternational authorities with a view to resuming its biweekly flights to that
\ncountry. The flights will be adjusted according to the security situation in that
\nMiddle East country and be visible in the flight-booking schedule. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
(bill)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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