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We want clean air: Ilfov county residents protest air pollution, call for a Green Belt around Bucharest romania-insider.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from romania-insider.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The National Forestry Strategy 2030, which is part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), was presented in Romania on Monday. According to Environment Minister Tanczos Barna, the strategy comes with a new approach in terms of control and restrictions and provides for raising the forested areas by 56 thousand hectares until the year 2026. The national forestry strategy builds a new future for Romania's forests; the minister went on to say. In his opinion, the new strategy lays emphasis on increasing the responsibility of the owners, on protection and biodiversity and also provides for subsidies to owners whose forests are in the protection area.
Tanczos Barna: The strategy comes with a new approach in terms of control and restrictions so that the increased responsibility of the owners may lead to a better implementation of this strategy. At the same time the forest's role of protection, of biodiversity, this social service the forests provide to the entire community, continues to be very, very important. So we are going to raise the surface of forests and strictly protect them but the sate must also provide subsidies and offer support to owners whose forests are in the protection areas.
The aforementioned strategy will have to be endorsed by the government until September 30th. Then a new legislation is needed. According to Barna, Parliament must endorse a new forestry code in 2023. And because the forestry strategy has been included in the National Plan of Recovery and Resilience, its most important objectives will benefit from EU funds.
The forestry strategy comes after 400 thousand hectares of farmland in 34 Romanian counties have been affected by drought this year and many Romanian farmers want to build their own irrigation systems.
Under the latest legislative amendments, farmers are allowed to build local irrigation systems. The state pledges to cover 50% of the price of electricity used by such local irrigation systems while the water used in the process is free of charge.
The surface affected by wildfires fueled by the drought has this year been 10 times higher than the average of the past 15 years. The former chief of the Environment Guard, Octavian Berceanu, has cautioned that the ashes will eventually affect the urban areas, which presently lack any forest barriers. According to the European information system, roughly 150 thousand hectares of land have been destroyed by fire in Romania this year as compared to 15 thousand between 2006 and 2021. With 0.63% of its surface affected by fire, Romania comes second at EU level after Portugal and is followed by Spain and Croatia.
Inflation – In Romania, the annual inflation rate will have minor fluctuations until the end of September and then it will take a downward path for 3 quarters, according to the National Bank of Romania - BNR. It expects the inflation rate to reach 13.9% in December. On the other hand, the BNR warns that the forecasts regarding the economic activity for next year are significantly revised downwards. According to the Central Bank, next year Romania will experience a significant drop in private consumption, under the influence of the gradual increase in interest rates on the population’s loans and deposits. The government has recently adopted the first budget rectification of 2022, a positive one, which takes into account an economic growth of 3.5%, the budget revenues for the first six months and the budget execution during this period. The Finance Minister, Adrian Caciu, claims that the budget deficit can be kept under control and that the target of 5.84% for the end of the year is achievable. The Fiscal Council, an independent body that analyzes the sustainability of fiscal and budgetary policies, warned that the rectification could lead to a figure exceeding the target deficit of 7% of GDP, because the government allegedly overestimated the receipts and underestimated part of the expenses.
Fires - This year's fires affected 150,000 hectares in Romania, i.e. ten times more than the average for the period 2006 - 2021, the former head of the Environmental Guard Octavian Berceanu has warned. He drew attention, in a Facebook post, to the fact that the ash resulting from the fires risks affecting the inhabitants of the cities, given the lack of protective curtains and green belts of the localities. There have been 715 fires in Romania this year, in the context of a previous multi-year average of 49. The biggest number of fires this year (266 in one week) occurred at the end of March, when more than 61,000 hectares were affected. Romania, with 0.63% of the country's area affected by fires, ranks second in Europe, after Portugal (0.95%), and Spain and Croatia (0.56%).
Marathon - 250 runners from ten countries have registered for the most difficult ultra-marathon in Romania, 2X2 Race, which will take place today, at Bâlea Lac, in the Făgăraş Mountains, at an altitude of more than 2,000 meters. The race is one of the most difficult mountain ultra-marathons in the world. The 2X2 Race takes place entirely at over 2,000 m, which makes it unique in Europe and one of the few in the world. This year, runners from Romania, Moldova, Hungary, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, Great Britain, France, Israel and Russia have entered the competition. The competitors will run on some of the most technical routes in the Carpathians, reaching the second highest peak in Romania, Negoiu (2,535 m). Such competitions take place on rugged terrain, from dirt paths through forests and alpine plains, to ridges and cliffs.
Customs – At least 346 thousand people, Romanian and foreign citizens, with over 86 thousand means of transport, crossed Romania’s border points on Friday, the Border Police informed. Almost 142 thousand people, of whom 12,500 Ukrainian citizens (down by 0.6% as compared to the previous day) entered Romania. Thus, as of February 10 (the pre-conflict period), until July 15, at national level, more than 2 million Ukrainians entered Romania. Control at the border crossing points upon entering Romania is being carried out promptly, in accordance with the provisions of the national and community legislation, with the Border Police working at the maximum capacity, as allowed by the infrastructure of the border-crossing points.
Rushdie – Hundreds of people gathered in New York on Friday to express their solidarity with the writer Salman Rushdie, who survived an assassination attempt a week ago. Fellow writers read excerpts from his works on the front steps of the Manhattan Public Library. Passages from his controversial novel "The Satanic Verses", considered by some Muslims as a blasphemy, were also read. The novel was banned in India, was burned at some demonstrations in the United Kingdom, and caused violent riots in Pakistan. On August 12, Salman Rushdie was going to speak at a conference in New York when a young man went on stage and stabbed him several times, in the neck and abdomen. Arrested immediately after the incident, the attacker, a 24-year-old American of Lebanese origin, pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder and assault charges in a first court appearance. Born in India in 1947, Salman Rushdie lived in New York for twenty years, becoming an American citizen in 2016. In 1989, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa, a decree requiring all good Muslims to kill Rushdie or help with his and his publishers’ assassination.
Ukraine – The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the restoration of full security at the Zaporozhe nuclear power plant - under the control of Russian forces - may begin with the international mission, warning that if the Russian blackmail with radiation continues, this summer could go down in the history of various European countries as one of the most tragic. The Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed with inspectors from the International Energy Agency visiting the plant, still operated by Ukrainian personnel. It remains close to the front line and has been hit by shells several times in recent weeks, raising fears of a nuclear disaster. Ukraine and Russia have blamed each other for the bombings in and around the nuclear reactor complex in the south. On the ground, Kyiv reports that, on Friday, the Ukrainian air forces struck several times the positions of the Russian occupiers in the south of the country. At the same time, the city of Nikopol (south) was bombed by the Russians this morning. Explosions were also heard in Yevpatoria, a city in Crimea, and also in Dnipro (center). Meanwhile, Cyprus and Greece are rallying behind Germany to oppose blocking visas for the Russian tourists who want to visit the EU, rejecting Ukraine's call for such a ban. At the same time, the mayors of Marseille, Lyon, Athens, Florence, Helsinki, Oslo, Riga and Tirana signed, on Friday, in Kyiv, an agreement protocol for the sustainable reconstruction of Ukrainian cities. (LS)
FiscalCode. The Romanian Government is discussing, today, in first reading, the ample amendments to the Fiscal Code proposed by the Ministry of Finance, aimed to increase the amounts collected into the state budget. The document, currently under public debate, contains some measures that would apply starting August 1. Others are scheduled to take effect early next year. They include raising taxes on gambling winnings, raising excise duties on cigarettes and alcoholic beverages, lowering the ceiling to which tax facilities apply in construction, agriculture and the food industry, or waiving the specific HoReCa tax and returning to taxation on turnover. The introduction of new taxes and fees for the population is not being considered, and a new austerity plan in response to the economic crisis has been ruled out, President Klaus Iohannis has said.
Moldova. The 73rd anniversary of the biggest wave of Stalinist deportations is commemorated in the Republic of Moldova (ex-Soviet, mostly Romanian-speaking), today. On the night of July 5-6, 1949, the Soviet communist regime deported tens of thousands of peasant families, including women, children, and the elderly. Their fortunes were seized by the Bolshevik regime. The so-called Operation South was the culmination of mass terror in Bessarabia and affected about 40,000 people. Last month marked the 81st anniversary of the first wave of Soviet deportations from Bessarabia and northern Bukovina, when 25,000 people were taken to Siberia and Kazakhstan. Less than a year after the annexation, following an ultimatum, the repressive bodies displaced, from the night of June 12 to 13 and until June 22, 1941, tens of thousands of Bessarabians, most of them ethnic Romanians. The wealthiest people, as well as those who were perceived as a threat to the USSR, were taken to the most remote regions of the former Soviet Union. According to historians, the deportations aimed at destroying the local elites, so that, later, the occupants would have those left at home accept the collectivization and expropriation of goods.
USR. Online elections for the leadership of the opposition Save Romania Union (USR) are underway in Bucharest. There are six candidates left in the race, including the interim president Catalin Drula, deputy Catalin Tenita and the former head of the Environment Squad, Octavian Berceanu. The first round, in which all the party members can participate, will be held until Sunday. If neither of the contenders gets over 50% of the votes, a second round will be held next week. The validation congress is scheduled for July 16, also online. Last year, the Save Romania Union left the governing coalition and has been marked by lots of internal scandals ever since, which culminated with the departure of its former leader, the EMP Dacian Ciolos, who set up his own party, REPER.
UK crisis. The UK is faced with a government crisis. Two key secretaries - Finance and Health - resigned last night, saying they no longer trusted Prime Minister Boris Johnson as leader. He replaced the two secretaries immediately, a sign that he would not resign easily, but political pressure increased on him, along with questions he would have to answer today in the House of Commons and then before a special parliamentary committee on the need for integrity in public life. Boris Johnson has been in power for two and a half years, during which time his government has been shaken by a number of scandals, including corruption. Most often, however, the prime minister is accused of lying and lack of character. According to the Radio Romania correspondent in London, the political history of Great Britain shows that, when important ministers start a revolt against the prime minister, it is extremely difficult for that person to remain in power.
Swimming. The town of Otopeni, near Bucharest, is hosting the European Junior Swimming Championships. Yesterday, on the first day of the competition, the men's medley relay, made up of David Popovici, Vlad Stancu, Ştefan Cozma and Patrick Sebastian Dinu, brought Romania the first gold medal in the 4x100 m freestyle final, after an exciting duel with Great Britain, ranked second. Nine finals have been schedule for today. As of July 10, 494 athletes from 42 countries have been competing in the European Junior Swimming Championships. Romania is represented by 26 athletes - 14 boys and 12 girls, led by the two-time world champion David Popovici (17 years old.
Tennis. Romanian tennis player Simona Halep is taking on today the American Amanda Anisimova, in the quarterfinals of the Grand Slam tennis tournament at Wimbledon. On Monday, in the eighth round, Halep defeated, in less than an hour, 6-1, 6-2, the Spaniard Paola Badosa, and Amanda Anisimova defeated the French Harmony Tan 6-2, 6-3. Former world leader, Simona Halep won the London tournament in 2019 and, a year before, the one at Roland Garros, in France. (MI)
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Waste has been disposed of illegally in Europe for years – with billions of euros in turnover. In Romania, toxic smog in Bucharest stems from German waste being incinerated along the city’s outskirts.
Romania ignoring scale of pollution to avoid sanctions, activist claims - Business & Human Rights Resource Centre business-humanrights.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from business-humanrights.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.