January 8, 2020 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 08.01.2020, 19:57
Brussels — The Liberal PM Ludovic Orban on Wednesday met in Brussels with the president of the EP, David Sassoli. PM Orban reiterated Romania’s wish to join the Schengen area. Romania’s objective is supported with determination by the EP, and David Sassoli underlined that this would benefit the entire EU. The two officials also talked about the implementation of the agreement on fighting climate change. Romania has called on the European authorities to introduce provisions which should maintain the competitiveness of European companies after the implementation of the agreement and that should allow each country to access the necessary resources to reach the set targets. Ludovic Orban also reiterated Romania’s firm and clear commitment to continuing to act as a loyal partner deeply attached to the European project and expressed Bucharest’s interest in having an active and decisive role in the decision –making process in Brussels. In turn David Sassoli said that Romania was a fundamental state for the EU thanks to its political weight, its adherence to the western culture and its geopolitical relevance.
Iran — The US will immediately impose additional sanctions on Iran unless the latter changes its behavior, President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday speaking from the White House. He called on NATO to become ‘much more involved in the Middle East process’ and on Europe, China and Russia to give up the nuclear agreement with Iran, taking the US’s example. The American President underlined that Iran should give up its nuclear ambitions and its support for terrorism. He also conveyed a message to the Iranian people, saying that America was ready to make peace with those who want it. He gave assurances that no Americans were harmed in last night’s attack on two Iraqi bases housing US troops. Previously, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had condemned the Iranian attack on the Iraqi bases housing US troops, the first retaliatory action after the killing of the influential Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in a drone airstrike on January 3. He called on Iran to abstain from any further violence. NATO suspended its operations of training the Iraqi army and will temporarily transfer part of its personnel outside Iraq out of security reasons. Several West European leaders also condemned the attack and called for reticence. Bucharest officials also made an appeal for calming tensions in the region, the Romanian Foreign Ministry warning that the Iranian attack on the Iraqi bases housing US troops could lead to the deterioration of the security situation in the region. The Romanian military that are part of the international coalition deployed in the area were not affected by the attacks and neither was the 180-strong community of Romanian citizens in the Erbil region in Iraq, which was also targeted by the Iranian missiles.
TurkStream — The Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Wednesday officially inaugurated TurkStream gas pipeline that will annually deliver more than 30 billion cubic meters of Russian natural gas to Turkey and Europe. On the occasion of a ceremony held in Istanbul, Erdogan considered the inauguration a historic moment for the Turkish-Russian relations and for the region’s energy map. The partnership between Russia and Turkey is being consolidated in all domains, in spite of the efforts of those who are opposed to it, said the Russian president Vladimir Putin. TurkStream gas pipeline is part of Russia’s effort to bypass Ukraine and deliver gas to Europe. The new gas pipeline has two lines: one for the local market in Turkey and another one that will cross Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary for customers in South and Southeastern Europe, France Press reports.
Climate — 2019 was second warmest year on record and the hottest in Europe, shows data provided by Copernicus’ climate change service. The findings show that in 2019 the global average of surface air temperature was only 0.04 degrees C lower than in 2016, the hottest year on record. Also, the 2010-2019 decade was the warmest on record. In 2019 Europe reported the highest temperature on record which exceeded the temperatures reported in the years 2014, 2015 and 2018. The European Service also confirmed that the level of CO2 concentrations continued to grow. (update by L. Simion)
