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TALKS The president of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas is on an official visit to Romania today, at the invitation of president Klaus Iohannis. The 2 leaders will discuss ways to encourage and strengthen bilateral cooperation in areas of mutual interest, particularly political dialogue, home affairs, education, economy and trade. The agenda of talks also includes regional developments in the Middle East, the progress and prospects of the Peace Process, the security situation and the consequences of Russia's illegal aggression against Ukraine, the Romanian Presidency says. Also today, president Iohannis is scheduled to receive Ireland's minister for foreign affairs and minister for defence, Simon Coveney.
DIPLOMACY The Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu had a meeting on Monday with his Greek counterpart, Nikos Dendias, on the sidelines of the Foreign Affairs Council held in Brussels. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry, the Greek party thanked Romania for the assistance given by Romanian fire-fighters in containing the recent wildfires in Greece. The 2 officials also discussed the situation in Ukraine, with a focus on the consequences and impact at regional and EU level of Russia's unjustified and unprovoked military campaign in that country. They highlighted the importance of ensuring energy security, a sector in which Romania and Greece have converging interests and approaches. Bogdan Aurescu welcomed the consolidation of bilateral dialogue and cooperation in this field, mentioning the recent opening of the Greece-Bulgaria natural gas interconnecting pipeline, a major step in consolidating the energy security of the countries in the region.
EDUCATION Romanian students won 3rd place in the world, after Singapore and Lithuania, at the International Geography Olympiad. As many as 209 students from 54 countries took part in this year's competition. This success comes after the outstanding performances of Romanian students in other international competitions. They won 2nd place at the International Physics Olympiad organised online by Switzerland, while Romania's team won 1st place in Europe and 5th in the world at the International Maths Olympiad in Oslo, out of 105 competing countries.
LOAN The World Bank and Romania Tuesday signed a EUR 600 mln development policy loan, with a focus on inclusive green economic growth, the WB announced. This is the first of 2 such financing operations, and is accompanied by USD 24.2 mln non-reimbursable financial assistance. The WB is currently running 10 investment projects in Romania, totalling USD 1.78 bln, in addition to 31 technical and analytical assistance projects worth USD 104 mln.
COVID The Romanian health ministry Tuesday announced 7,658 new SARS-CoV-2 infections in the last 24 hours, over 4,000 more than on Monday. The number of patients in intensive care has also increased to 136, and 9 people died from the disease in 24 hours.
EU ACCESSION The European Union Tuesday opened the accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen announced. The 27 EU member states Monday night agreed to open accession talks, after Skopje and Sofia signed a protocol that eliminates the last remaining obstacles. North Macedonia has been a candidate country since 2005, and Albania since 2014.
UKRAINE The president of Russia Vladimir Putin and the president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, are attending a summit in Tehran today, together with their Iranian counterpart Ibrahim Raisi. According to the BBC, following the sanctions introduced by the West, Putin will use this opportunity to prove that Moscow still has strong allies. Putin will also have separate meetings with the leaders of the two states. Turkey negotiated with Russia and Ukraine to unblock Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea, while Iran and Russia are looking for new trade routes to bypass sanctions, the BBC also says. Meanwhile, in Ukraine, Russian forces carried on the shelling of Nikopol, with scores of attacks launched during the night. Several people, including a child, were also wounded after Russian missiles hit Odessa.
DROUGHT Nearly half of the EU territory is facing drought risks, the European Commission warns, as a new heat wave has hit the continent. "France, Romania, Spain, Portugal and Italy will likely have to handle a drop in agricultural yield," especially grains, the Commission explains. Germany, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia will also be affected. In turn, the European Commissioner for crisis management Janez Lenarčič said that the worst is yet to come. Europe is struggling with an extreme heat wave these days, with temperatures of over 40 degrees Celsius reported in France and the UK, and even 43 degrees in some areas in the north of Spain. Wildfires also destroyed thousands of hectares of land in France, Greece, Portugal and Spain, forcing thousands of residents and tourists out of those regions. (AMP)
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