July 27, 2024

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 27.07.2024, 14:06

OLYMPICS – Nadia Comaneci was last night one of the surprises of the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympic Games in Paris, along with other world sports legends. The Romanian, alongside Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams and Carl Lewis, held the Olympic torch while aboard a boat on the River Seine, before handing it to various French athletes that took it the place where the Olympic Cauldron was lit. 90 heads of state attended the festivities. The fight for medals started a few days ago in certain disciplines. The first Romanian to enter the competition is the rower Mihai Chiruţă, who has qualified, this morning, in the quarter-finals of the men’s single rowing event, after winning the second series. Also, the rowers Andrei Cornea and Marian Enache qualified directly for the semifinals of the men’s double rowing event, after clearly winning the second series. Romania is participating in the Summer Olympic Games in Paris with 106 athletes.

DISBURSMENT – The European Commission approved the release for Romania of 1.7 billion euros for strategic projects in research and innovation. The Minister of Digitization, Bogdan Ivan, announced that after 2 years of negotiations, the Commission considerers fulfilled the condition called “Good governance of the national or regional smart specialization strategy”, coordinated by the ministry. The European money is for investments in all regions of the country, and the goal is, according to the minister, “an ecosystem of innovation that supports entrepreneurs in the field, Romanians who develop last-generation technologies and bring value to the economy and industry”.

INVESTMENT – The funds to be granted to Romanian farmers whose crops have been compromised by drought will almost triple the budget allocations for subsidies in agriculture, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said. Ciolacu visited, together with the Minister of Agriculture, Florin Barbu, the counties of Vrancea and Galati, some of the most affected by the weather conditions, where corn and sunflower crops are over 90% lost. Around 2 million cultivated hectares are compromised by drought in the entire south and east of the country. Ciolacu gave assurances that Romania does not have any problem regarding food security, because it has a fairly large irrigated agricultural area. On the other hand, he said the Government would present a plan to reduce expenses on September 1. Neither the increase in VAT nor in the social contributions is considered, Ciolacu said. We remind you that the European Union announced that it maintains the excessive deficit procedure for Romania. Similar actions were launched on Friday for six other member states, including France, Poland and Hungary.

SCHENGEN – Hungary, which holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union until the end of the year, will put Romania’s accession to the Schengen area with its land borders, back on the European agenda. This is what the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who participated, on Thursday, in Bucharest, in a working breakfast with PM Marcel Ciolacu, promised. The Hungarian leader is in Romania today to participate in the Summer University in Baile Tuşnad (center). Hungary is Romania’s third largest trade partner. Trade between the two neighboring countries amounts to approximately 13 billion euros, and the two prime ministers agreed that there is still potential for development. They also decided, at the meeting, to start the feasibility studies for a high-speed railway between Bucharest and Budapest, a strategic project of regional interest.

GAZA – Israel and Hamas are preparing for a new round of negotiations for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, the United States, through several officials, including President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, insisted during Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the United States, on the need for a quick agreement on the release of hostages and a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. During the meeting on Friday evening at the residence of former US President Donald Trump in Florida, Prime Minister Netanyahu confirmed that the Israeli delegation of negotiators will go to Rome next week, where the next high-level conference of mediating countries is held. (EE)