A roundup of local and international news.
EU-Russia. In a joint position paper, Germany and France have rejected a blanket ban on Russian citizens entering the European Union, as proposed by several member states, notes the dpa news agency. While accepting that visa applications from Russian citizens should be carefully examined for potential security risks, the paper warns against underestimating the "transformative power of experiencing life in democratic systems at first-hand". The French-German paper added that a blanket ban could lead to a rise in nationalist and anti-European sentiments in Russia. Romania said it will back the suspension of EU's visa facilitation agreement with Russia, which will be discussed by EU foreign ministers meeting in Prague from today. The Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu backs the restriction of the movement of Russian citizens within the bloc, including for tourism. The Czech Republic, which is holding the Union's rotating presidency, hopes the 27 EU member states will reach a consensus to implement this measure by October.
Schengen. The Romanian authorities have welcomed Germany's support for Romania's accession to the EU's passport-free Schengen area and thanked chancellor Olaf Scholz for his support. In his address at the EU summit in Prague, Scholz said Romania, Croatia and Bulgaria meet all technical criteria for full membership and that the Schengen area must be protected and developed, which means closing the remaining gaps. During a visit to Romania in June, the French president Emmanuel Macron also stated his support for this idea.
Moldova. Moldova's former pro-Russian president Igor Dodon is to remain under house arrest after his appeal against this measure was rejected by the Court of Appeal. Dodon, who is now the honorary president of the Socialists' Party he founded, was detained on 24th May and placed under house arrest two days later. He is suspected of acquiring illicit wealth, passive corruption, illegal party funding and treason. Dodon's wife and mother are also under investigation, as well as his brother-in-law, who is in temporary custody.
Ukraine. The Ukrainian army has launched a strong counteroffensive against the invading Russian troops in the occupied south, seeking to retake Kherson, a city of 280,000 inhabitants occupied by the Russian troops in the early days of the invasion. The Ukrainian military are already speaking about the withdrawal of a unit of pro-Russian separatist fighters from the region. Russia says, however, that it rejected the Ukrainian attempts to advance into Kherson and Mykolaiv, with a Russian defence ministry statement saying the counteroffensive failed and the Ukrainians suffered heavy losses.
Tennis. 24-year-old Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania, ranked 101 in the world, reached the second round at the US Open as she defeated world no. 58 Daria Saville of Australia 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. In the next round, Ruse will face world no. 12 Coco Gauff of the US. In one of the biggest upsets of the tournament so far, the former world no. one and current world no. 7 Simona Halep lost to Ukrainian qualifier Daria Snigur 6-2, 0-6, 6-4. Jaqueline Cristian also lost her first-round match against world no. 2 Anett Kontaveit of Estonia in a match that lasted 66 minutes and ended 6-3, 6-0. Two other Romanian players are in action at the US Open on Tuesday, in the first round: Sorana Cîrstea, who plays Germany's Laura Siegemund, and Irina Begu, who plays Belgium's Elise Mertens. (CM)
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