April 26, 2023

Visit. The Austrian Minister of the Interior, Gerhard Karner, has held talks in  Bucharest, today, with his Romanian counterpart Lucian Bode,  the Romanian Ministry of the Interior says in a press release. Before the meeting, the Austrian official stated that the Schengen area was non-functional and that he couldn't "offer" a date for Romania's accession. According to him, the interest of both countries is that this system works. "It is very important that we meet in order to be able to discuss security issues that concern both countries. We had very clear, difficult discussions, but we had them. There are also many common points", he said. Gerhard Karner added that the two countries need the support of the European Commission for safer borders. We recall that at the Justice and Home Affairs Council held at the end of last year, the Austrian minister opposed the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to Schengen.  

Bucharest 9.  The Romanian Minister of Defense, Angel Tîlvăr, co-chairs, today, together with his Polish counterpart, Mariusz Blaszczak, a new meeting of the Defense Ministers in the Bucharest 9 Format, held in Warsaw, Poland. According to a press release, this is an opportunity to harmonize the positions of the B9 states on the eastern flank of the Alliance in order to promote and reflect common security interests on the allied agenda, including in run up to the NATO Summit in Vilnius, this summer.  Also, both aspects regarding the current security challenges triggered  by the latest developments of the war in Ukraine and the regional and Euro-Atlantic implications will be addressed, as well as the need to keep supporting the most vulnerable partners in the region, subject to hybrid threats from Russia, namely the  Republic of Moldova, Georgia, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Protest. Education trade unionists picketed on Tuesday the  headquarters of the Government in Bucharest, dissatisfied with salaries in the system,  but also with the talks over the Executive's intention to cap personnel expenses at the level of 2022, with additional negative impact for employees in the education system. A protest has also been announced for today. The trade union federations have also planned a large-scale protest on May 10th, with some 15 thousands participants. If their demands are not resolved, the unions are warning that,  at the end of May, a general strike could be staged, leading  to the disruption of the training-educational process, including by impacting the national exams.

Russia.  Moscow is pursuing a hostile policy towards the Republic of Moldova - said the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the pro-Western Government in Chisinau, Nicu Popescu, commenting on the ban on entering Russia for a number of Moldovan officials. "For many years, Russia has resorted to a hostile policy towards the Republic of Moldova. It has supported separatism, imposed an embargo, and there are troops of the Russian army on the territory of our republic. The Russian Federation regards the Republic of Moldova as an enemy", Popescu said. Previously, the first secretary of the Embassy of the Republic of Moldova in Moscow, Valeriu Manea, was declared persona non grata in Russia, as a measure of retaliation against a decision adopted by Chisinau against a Russian diplomat who had behaved inappropriately towards  the border police.

Exercises. "EAGLE SHIELD" and "EAGLE ROYAL" exercises are taking place at the Capu Midia Range, in Constanța county (south-east), led by the French soldiers from the NATO Battle Group stationed in Romania. Romanian, American, Luxembourgish and Dutch soldiers are also participating in the two training sequences, the objective being the joint training of the allied troops. The exercises focus on practicing anti-aircraft defense capabilities through combat firing with rocket launcher systems and anti-aircraft artillery guns against aerial targets. After the launch of the Russian invasion in neighboring Ukraine, on February 24, 2022, France deployed a MAMBA air defense system at Capu Midia, which can launch medium-range surface-to-air missiles that can hit targets up to 100 km away.

Gopo Gala. The Gopo Awards Gala - the most important event dedicated to cinema in Romania - awarded, on Tuesday evening, the best films from the industry released in cinemas or on 'View on Demand' platforms in 2022. The film "Metronome" won most of the awards, while the audience award went to  the film "Teambuilding". The Gopo Awards ceremony was also marked by special moments, occasioned by the celebration of 100 years since the birth of the renowned filmmaker Ion Popescu Gopo (1923-1989). Through his artistic creations, Ion Popescu Gopo became a great personality of Romanian cinema, winning, in 1957, the "Palme d'or" award at the Cannes International Film Festival. (MI)