December 7, 2023
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 07.12.2023, 13:55
Gaza. Another 30 Romanian citizens have been evacuated from the Gaza Strip and brought back home on board a military plane, the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced. 4 citizens from the neighboring Republic of Moldova were also brought to Romania. Until now, 279 people with Romanian citizenship and members of their families with another citizenship have been evacuated from Gaza. Romanian diplomacy continues the dialogue with the Israeli and Egyptian authorities for the evacuation of Romanian citizens who wish to do so, depending on the developments on the ground and the agreement of the parties involved.
Visit. On the last of the four days of his visit to the United States, Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu had meetings, on Wednesday, with the president of the World Jewish Congress, Ronald Lauder, and with representatives of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. On this occasion, the Romanian Prime stated that preventing and combating anti-Semitism was among the priorities of the Romanian Government, and that a new national strategy on this topic for 2024-2027 was being developed at the level of the Prime Ministers Office. Marcel Ciolacu reaffirmed his solidarity with the Israeli people and condemned the violence committed by Hamas, which has consequences on Israeli and Palestinian civilians alike, but also on some citizens of other countries. Also on Wednesday, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu had meetings with Antonio Guterres, the Secretary General of the United Nations, and with Dennis Frances, the president of the General Assembly of this forum. The need to strengthen the international order based on norms, with the United Nations in a central role, the consequences of Russias military aggression in Ukraine, global food security and the conflict in the Gaza Strip were the main topics of the discussions.
Investigation. The former Romanian Prime Minister Florin Cîţu (PNL) was put under criminal investigation by the National Anticorruption Directorate for complicity in a case of abuse of office concerning the purchase of vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic. The prosecutors claim that far too many doses were ordered, the damage caused to the Romanian state being estimated at over one billion euros. Currently a senator, whose parliamentary immunity has been lifted, Cîţu claims that he fulfilled his duties in compliance with the legislation in force. The vaccine case also concerns the former Save Romania Union Ministers of Health, Vlad Voiculescu and Oana Mihăilă, who will appear before the prosecutors in the following days.
Eurobarometer. About 70% of Romanians believe that the country has benefited from the fact that it is a member of the European Union, and 60% believe that their lives are directly influenced by the actions of the EU institutions. It is the result of the latest Eurobarometer conducted at the request of the European Parliament. The study also shows that Romanians are better informed than other Europeans when it comes to the date of the European Parliament elections.
Handball. Romanias national womens handball team is playing, tonight, against Germany, in Main Group 3 of the World Championship. In this group, the Romanian women will also take on Poland and Japan. In order to reach the quarters of the World Championship and, implicitly, the Pre-Olympic Tournament, the Romanian national team must rank first or second in the Main Group 3. We recall that, previously, in Group E, the “tricolors” defeated Chile 44-19 and Serbia 37-28. They were, however, defeated by Denmark, 23-39.. (MI)
