June 21, 2024
A roundup of the latest local and international news
Daniel Bilț and Newsroom, 21.06.2024, 13:45
VISIT Romanian Foreign Minister, Luminita Odobescu, is continuing her working visit in the United States, where she held talks with Secretary of State, Antony Blinken. On Thursday she held talks with Michael Carpenter, Senior Director for Europe at US National Security Council. The two tackled a series of interest issues on the Romania-USA bilateral and security agenda such as the latest regional developments including in the context of the upcoming NATO summit in Washington. Odobescu and Carpenter underlined the consolidation of the support for Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and the other partner countries in the Black Sea region. The head of the diplomacy in Bucharest also met USAID Administrator, Samantha Power. The two mentioned the joint Romanian and US interest for the consolidation of the resilience of the partners in the Black Sea area with emphasis on the Republic of Moldova. The visit comes against the background of Romania’s celebration of 20 years of NATO membership.
FITS The 31st edition of the International Theatre Festival, FITS, kicks off today in Sibiu, central Romania. For 10 days, the public will have to choose from the 830 events taking place during the festival such as theatre and circus performances, music, dance, exhibitions and lecture-shows, which are going to bring together over 5,000 artists from 82 countries. Actors and directors of world repute are expected to attend the festival in Sibiu, such as John Malkovich, Tim Robbins, Pippo delBono or Neil LaBute. Many of the international productions will be available online at a platform called “the Digital Stage” of the local ‘Radu Stanca’ National Theatre, the main organizer of FITS 2024.
INVESTMENT Seven out of 10 investors have forecast an increase in Romania’s attractiveness as an investment destination in the following three years, shows a survey conducted by the financial consultancy and audit company Ernst & Young. 46% of the CEOs interviewed believe that Romania remains a robust and resilient investment market in 2023 and have mentioned their intentions to consolidate or expand their operations in the near future. Bucharest continues to remain the main investment destination with a significant rate of 40%. Iasi, in north-eastern Romania, and Timisoara, in the west, each registered three investment projects while Cluj-Napoca, in the north-west and Brasov in the center each have two.
CSAT Romania will donate an air defence system Patriot to Ukraine, the country’s Higher Defence Council (CSAT) has decided, a communiqué of the presidential administration has announced. The CSAT has ruled that the donation will be made on the condition of continuing negotiations, mainly with the US strategic partner, with a view to obtaining a similar or equivalent system to meet the need of ensuring the protection of the country’s air space. According to the presidential administration, the decision has been based on a deep technical assessment by the authorities and all the measures have been taken to eliminate the risks of creating vulnerabilities for Romania.
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