March 14, 2024 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 14.03.2024, 19:52
Treasure – The European Parliament adopted, on Thursday, a resolution by which it asks Russia to fully return Romania’s national treasure, which it illegally appropriated. This is an unprecedented international case of illegal appropriation of gold reserves and heritage objects and represents a permanent concern for the Romanian society, the MEPs emphasize. According to the resolution, the Parliament welcomes the substantial efforts of the European Union to protect the national, cultural and historical heritage, through the implementation of the legislation and of the cooperation mechanisms that regulate the restitution of cultural and heritage assets illegally appropriated from the territories of the Union countries, as well as its efforts to fight the trafficking in cultural assets. The MEPs request the European Commission and the European External Action Service to include the restitution of the Romanian national heritage on the bilateral diplomatic agenda that regulates EU-Russia relations, as soon as the regional context allows the resumption of political dialogue between the parties. During the First World War, between 1916 and 1917, Romania sent the national treasure (which included significant amounts of gold, heritage items, art collections, jewels, archives) to allied tsarist Russia, to be protected in case of occupation of the national territory by German, Austro-Hungarian, Bulgarian and Turkish enemy troops. After the Bolshevik regime founded by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin came to power, Russia seized the treasure and refused to return it, most of the values remaining unreturned to this day. The issue of returning the Treasure has been discussed, unsuccessfully, for decades by a joint Romanian-Russian commission.
Inflation – The annual inflation rate in Romania fell to 7.2% in February, from 7.4% in the previous month – according to the data of the National Institute of Statistics. The prices of non-food stuffs increased the most, on average, followed by service and food prices. In the top of price hikes in the last 12 months, postal services and detergents are on the first places, followed by water, sewage, and sanitation services and the hygiene, cosmetic and medical services and articles.
Searches – The Romanian prosecutors and police officers found pyrotechnic materials, lethal firearms and white weapons at the residences of supporters of the football team Rapid Bucharest, one of the most popular in the country, following searches carried out on Thursday in Bucharest and the counties of Ilfov, Prahova (south) and Iasi (northeast). According to judicial sources, the president of the Rapid club, former international footballer Daniel Niculae, is a suspect in the case. According to a press release from the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the Bucharest Court, 17 people were charged with the crimes of forming an organized crime group, operations with pyrotechnic articles carried out without having the right, non-compliance with the weapons and ammunition regime and destruction. The Prosecutor’s Office attached to the Bucharest Court notes that in the course of 2023, an organized crime group was established in the city of Bucharest, which was joined by several people and whose purpose was to introduce and use pyrotechnic materials in the football stadiums, during the matches, disturbing public order through violence against property and destruction of the grass court through the use of pyrotechnic materials, causing degradation of the grass through the explosion of pyrotechnic materials, endangering the physical integrity of other people (ball girls, stewards, football players, firefighters, reporters). On the occasion of the home searches, several pyrotechnic materials, lethal firearms, white weapons and sums of money were discovered and seized.
Hungary – The circulation of all vehicles heavier than 7.5 tons will be restricted on Friday in Hungary. The measure will apply to Romania’s borders with the neighboring state starting Thursday evening, from 11:00 p.m. The restrictions will not apply to means of transport that carry dangerous goods, live animals or perishable food products or that have a special temperature regime. The border authorities of the two states will keep in constant contact with a view to establishing common measures, so that when the traffic restrictions for motor vehicles on the territory of Hungary are lifted, the border control should be carried out efficiently. March 15 is the Day of Hungarians Everywhere. (LS)
