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EDUCATION On Monday the staff in Romania's public undergraduate education will go on strike, the trade unions in the sector announced after Sunday's talks with government officials. The protest will continue until unions have received a credible solution from the government, the leader of the Spiru Haret Trade Union Federation, Marius Nistor, said. The government put forth a clear roadmap for the endorsement of the new salary law and promised pay raises for non-teaching staff, which according to unionists would only amount to EUR 20 a month. Financial incentives for entry-level teachers and experienced staff teaching in underprivileged areas have also been proposed. The higher education staff will also go on token strikes as of Monday, the head of the "Alma Mater" National Trade Union Federation Anton Hadăr announced. Trade unions said negotiations would continue in the coming days.
MOLDOVA A large-scale rally was held in Chişinău on Sunday, at the initiative of president Maia Sandu, in order to prove Moldovans' support for the country's EU accession. "Europe is the Republic of Moldova. The Republic of Moldova is Europe. Moldova is not alone," the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola said in Romanian at the "European Moldova" National Assembly. Participants adopted a resolution confirming the support of Moldovan citizens for the country's EU accession efforts. The rally takes place as the Republic of Moldova, an EU accession candidate country, would like to begin accession negotiations by the end of this year. For this stage to begin, Moldova must complete 9 recommendations, which will be assessed by this autumn in a European Commission report. In Bucharest, the Organisation of Moldovan Students organised a similar rally in front of Moldova's Embassy. Scores of people watched the speeches in Chisinau jointly with the Moldovan Ambassador to Bucharest, Victor Chirila.
DIPLOMACY The Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu takes part on Monday in the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels. The EU foreign ministers will discuss measures to mitigate the effects of Russia's aggression in Ukraine and the situation in the Horn of Africa. The EU officials will also touch on the bloc's commitment in Central Asia, developments in Tunisia, the relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the context of high-level EU diplomatic contacts with both countries. According to the Romanian foreign ministry, Bogdan Aurescu will reiterate Romania's firm, multidimensional and continuing support for Ukraine and will express hopes that an agreement will be reached as soon as possible on the 8th support package for the Ukrainian air forces under the EU Peace Facility. Minister Aurescu will also highlight the importance of keeping pressure on Russia by consolidating sanctions, and will reiterate the idea of setting up a special international tribunal for the crime of aggression to prosecute Russian crimes of aggression during the war in Ukraine.
RAILWAYS The president of Romania's Competition Council, Bogdan Chiriţoiu, made statements concerning Carpatica Feroviar, a new company that will take over the operations of the state-owned railway freight corporation CFR Marfă. The new company will take over the profitable contracts and the equipment needed for completing them, while the other assets will be sold in order to cover as much as possible of the old company's debts to the state budget Chiriţoiu explained. He emphasised that current operations will not be discontinued. The financial performance of CFR Marfă improved slightly in 2022, but the company still owes some EUR 400 mln to the state budget and social security budget.
BEEKEEPERS Romanian beekeepers say they are left with large amounts of unsold honey because of imports of cheaper and poorer-quality honey. The head of the Romanian Beekeepers Association, Ioan Fetea, says the situation is particularly serious as last year's yield was a lot smaller than in previous years. "Last year beekeepers saw modest yields, but they could not even sell those, precisely because of these dumping practices, obviously explained by the fact that that honey is not in line with EU regulations. Almost half of the honey imported into Europe is adulterated, counterfeit, and obviously sold very cheaply, which puts tremendous pressure on local producers," Fetea explained. Beekeepers are also struggling with a fall in the number of bee families, because of the use of insecticides in agriculture.
UKRAINE The US president Joe Biden Sunday announced new military aid measures for Ukraine, following talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima. The new aid package will consist of ammunitions, artillery and armoured vehicles, Joe Biden explained, just days after approving the provision of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. According to Reuters, this new package is worth up to USD 375 mln and is designed to strengthen Ukraine's defence in the war against Russia. The British PM Rishi Sunak also announced in Hiroshima that his country would start training Ukrainian pilots this summer, to support Ukraine's air forces in the conflict. Rishi Sunak added that no one wants peace more than Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but the terms for peace, he added, should be based on Ukraine's principles. In the 3-day summit in Japan, the G7 nations voiced their willingness to stand by Ukraine in the long run.
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