MILITARY The first shipment of French military equipment to join the NATO battle group deployed to Cincu, in central Romania, reaches the country on Sunday, the defence ministry announced. A second convoy, comprising a Leclerc main battle tank company, is set to arrive in November. The NATO Battle Group Forward Presence in Romania (BGFP) was created in May by transforming the Allied multinational elements of the NATO Response Force deployed to our country. Upon France's proposal to take over the framework-nation role, the French battalion deployed to Romania, considered the Spearhead of the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF), built up the BGFP on our national territory by integrating, on rotational basis, Belgian and Dutch troops. BGFP contributes to the increase of the Romanian military cooperation with France and, implicitly, to the consolidation of the Euro-Atlantic space security on the Eastern Flank. Cooperation with the strategic partners and the deployment of relevant combat structures on national territory contribute to the increase of defence and deterrence capacity in the context of the Ukraine war and the Black Sea region crisis, the defence ministry explains.
BORDER Romania's border police announced that over 97,000 people entered Romania on Saturday, of whom more than 9,500 were Ukrainian nationals, up 15.6% since the previous day. According to current data, over 2.6 million Ukrainian citizens have entered Romania since February 10, and nearly 4,400 of them have applied for asylum here.
NRRP Romania is set to receive EUR 2.6 bln in the coming days under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, to be channelled into the country's economic recovery. The funds are transferred after the European Commission authorised the payment of the first instalments of the non-reimbursable aid and loan components. Romania submitted the first payment request in May, after meeting the targets and benchmarks for the 4th quarter of 2021. In September, the European Commission's assessment of these targets was approved and submitted to the Economic and Financial Committee, which also approved it. The Romanian minister for investment and European projects Marcel Boloş believes this is just the beginning of a long road, which, if successfully completed, will translate into investments in motorways, railways, schools and hospitals. The next payment request will amount to EUR 3.2 bln, for which over 50 targets will have to be met, related to the first half of this year. Romania may access a total of nearly EUR 30 bln under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, of which it has already received 2 pre-financing instalments amounting to a rough EUR 3.8 bln.
COAL Romania has increased its coal output to mitigate the energy crunch. The amounts extracted in the first 8 months of the year went up 1.7% and imports rose by 13.5%, the National Statistics Institute reports. The National Strategy and Forecast Commission estimates for this year a coal output 10% higher than in 2021 and a 2.8% rise in imports. For 2023, the Commission forecasts an 8% increase in output.
CHINA The Chinese president Xi Jinping was re-elected on Sunday as leader of the ruling Communist Party, thus becoming China's strongest leader since Mao Zedong, the founder of the Chinese communist regime, international news agencies report. Xi Jinping was appointed for a 3rd five-year term in office by a largely reshuffled Central Committee, and is very likely to be re-elected president as well in March. 'China cannot develop without the world, and the world also needs China,' he said, and praised what he called the two miracles achieved by his country-rapid economic development and long-term social stability. Xi Jinping appointed many of his close allies in the Standing Committee, a 7-member group in power in China. The all-powerful Politburo includes no women among its members for the first time in 25 years.
HANDBALL The Romanian women's handball champions, Rapid Bucharest, play at home today against Storhamar, of Norway, in a Champions' League Group B match. Rapid is 3rd in the ranking, after the Hungarian side Gyor and the French side Metz. On Saturday, vice-champions CSM Bucharest lost their first game in the group, away from home, to defending champions Vipers Kristiansand of Norway, 35-29. CSM ranks 3rd in Group A, after the German side Bietigheim and Kristiansand. (AMP)