\n
\n<\/p>\n
ELECTIONS – The ruling
\ncoalition wants to organize the local election on June 9, simultaneously with
\nthe European Parliament election. Social-Democrats also want the national
\nparliamentary election to be held concurrently with the first or second round
\nof the presidential election. Social-Democrat leader and Prime Minister Marcel
\nCiolacu wants a clear timetable backed by the coalition. The opposition has
\ncriticized the idea, saying it would refer a potential decision to the
\nConstitutional Court. AUR president George Simion says such a decision would
\nbreach international recommendations. In turn, USR announced it will notify the
\nVenice Commission regarding the decision to merge the election less than six
\nmonths before the date of the vote. European Parliament elections, local
\nelections, parliamentary elections and presidential elections will be held in
\nRomania in 2024. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
FARMERS – The European
\nCommission on Friday adopted a financial assistance package worth 241 mln EUR
\naddressing Romanian farmers in the context of Russia’s war in Ukraine. The aid
\nwill be disbursed until June 30 as direct grants and will not exceed 280
\nthousand EUR for each beneficiary. The measure addresses Romanian farmers, in
\nparticular those who grow winter grain and rapeseed and who risk going
\ninsolvent due to the difficulties the grain market is experiencing as a result
\nof Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The measure is necessary, adequate and
\nproportional to remedy a serious disruption of the Romanian economy, the
\nEuropean Commission argues. Romania was also allotted 34 mln EUR from the EU
\nSolidarity Fund to compensate damages incurred after the 2022 drought. The
\nfunds were wired in December 2023, and Romania must implement this aid over the
\nnext year and a half. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
UKRAINIAN
\nCITIZENS – Over 7 million Ukrainian citizens have entered Romania in the last
\ntwo years in the context of Russia’s war of aggression. The Romanian Border
\nPolice reported 40,000 new arrivals in the last week alone. Most of these
\ncitizens are merely transiting Romanian territory in route to other countries. Accommodation
\nunits provided by the Immigration General Inspectorate are filled to one third
\nof capacity. Nearly 4,500 Ukrainian citizens have filed for asylum in Romania. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
EXPOSIONS – Residents of
\nTulcea County (southeast) received alerts via the emergency service regarding
\nthe possibility of falling debris. The alerts were meant to notify the local
\npopulation regarding the proper conduct in such situations, recommending calm
\nand self-protection. People signaled several explosions were heard in areas
\nclose to the Ukrainian border, where new Russian drone and missile attacks were
\nreported. The General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations was notified by the
\nDefense Ministry regarding possible risks associated with Russian drone strikes
\non Ukrainian port infrastructure in Izmail and Reni, close to the Romanian
\nborder. In this context, Turkish F-16 jets were dispatched from the air base in
\nFete\u0219ti to survey national airspace. Jointly with Romanian Air Forces aircraft,
\nthe Turkish jets are carrying out enhanced air policing missions under NATO
\ncommand. The Romanian Defense Ministry firmly condemned Russia’s attacks on
\ncivilian infrastructure objectives and elements in the Ukrainian ports on the
\nDanube. No drone has reached Romania, the Defense Ministry also reports. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
MAGISTRACY – The Superior
\nCouncil of Magistracy announced a new vacancy-filling contest for over 100
\navailable positions. Applications can be submitted until February 26, and the
\ncontest will unfold in several phases until the end of June. 75 positions of judge
\nwill be unlocked, with the possibility of opening up an additional 30 positions
\nto public contest. 42 positions of prosecutors will also be made available,
\nwith the possibility of supplementing that number by another 11 positions. In
\n2023 the Council reported a shortage of 20% of judges, estimated this figure
\nwould increase to 40% by the end of 2025. Romanian magistrates can retire much
\nearlier than most other social categories. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
TENNIS – Romanian tennis
<\/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":[30247,116420,116419,116421,33694,64659,37280],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-612149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-elections","tag-explosions-in-tulcea","tag-financial-aid-for-farmers","tag-magistracy-contests","tag-ruling-coalition","tag-transylvania-open","tag-ukrainian-citizens"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nplayer Ana Bogdan (65 WTA) on Saturday qualified to the final of the
\nTransylvania Open hosted by Cluj-Napoca, offering some 267 thousand USD in
\ntotal prizes. In Saturday’s semi-final, Bogdan knocked out another Romanian
\nplayer, Jaqueline Cristian (81 WTA), 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. In the quarterfinals, Ana
\nBogdan had knocked out the top seed Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands (45 WTA),
\n2-6, 7-6, 7-6, whereas Cristian has ousted Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia (656
\nWTA), 6-3, 7-5. In the final Ana Bogdan will take on the winner of the match
\npitting Harriet Dart of the UK (103 WTA) against Karolina Pliskova of Czechia
\n(78 WTA). She is the third Romanian player to reach this phase of the competition after Simona Halep (2021) and Gabriela Ruse (2023), neither of which won the trophy. In the women’s doubles, the Romanian pair Jaqueline Cristian \/
\nAndreea Mitu lost in the semi-finals to the American pair Caty McNally \/ Asia
\nMuhammad, 6-3, 6-2. (VP)<\/span><\/p>\n