September 13, 2023
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 13.09.2023, 13:55
Schengen. In her state of the union address in the European Parliament
in Strasbourg, the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen
said Bulgaria and Romania proved that they are part of the Schengen area,
showcasing best practices on asylum and returns. She urged that the two
countries be admitted to the free movement area without further delay. Earlier,
European Parliament president Roberta Metsola told
the European Parliament that delaying the admission of Romania and Bulgaria to
Schengen translates into restrictions to their right to freedom of movement and
additional costs for their economies. The Romanian government plans to request
compensations from the European Union arguing that keeping the country outside
Schengen leads to economic losses of up to 2% of GDP. In July, European MPs
passed a resolution urging for Romania’s and Bulgaria’s admission into Schengen
by the end of the year. Spain, the current holder of the EU presidency, also
put this objective on its list of priorities. The decision must be taken by the
heads of state and government of the 27 EU member states and Austria is the
only country still opposed.
Defence. The Romanian defence ministry has begun
building shelters for the residents of Plauru, the village in Tulcea county, in
south-eastern Romania, near the border with Ukraine, where fragments were found
of Russian drones used in strikes on Ukrainian river ports. A detachment of army
engineers are building two concrete air-raid shelters, which will be then
handed over to the local authorities. In another move, the residents of eight
villages in the area last night received their first text alerts on their
mobile phones warning them that objects may fall from the air given the strikes
of the Russian army against Ukraine. The message was sent following a decision
by the National Committee for Emergency Situations. People are advised to keep
calm and take refuge in their cellars or in civil defence shelters. The defence
ministry today said new possible drone parts were found in Tulcea county
scattered over several dozen metres.
Tennis. The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep said she would appeal
her 4-year ban from professional tennis on doping charges. She was suspended
for two separate violations of the anti-doping regulations. Aged 31, Halep has
24 tournament titles to her record, including two Grand Slam trophies, at
Roland Garros in 2018 and at Wimbledon one year later. First suspended provisionally
in October last year, she has repeatedly denied consciously ingesting the
banned substance for which she was charged and has criticised the delaying of
the case.
Football.
Romania defeated Kosovo last night at home, 2-nil, in Group I as part the
qualifying matches for the European championship to be hosted by Germany next
year. In other group fixtures, Switzerland defeated Andorra 3-nil and Israel
defeated Belarus 1-nil. Switzerland top the group with 14 points, followed by
Romania with 12 and Israel with 11. The two best-ranked teams in each group
will qualify for the final tournament. The last time Romania played at a European
championship was in 2016, while their last World Cup qualification was back in
1998. (CM)
