President Iohannis promulgating a law that allows trophy hunting could have negative effects while leaving unsolved the problem of conflicts with bears, according to World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF Romania), which announces that it will send to the European Commission a notification regarding Romania violating the Habitats Directive by passing the law.WWF Romania said on Wednesday that Iohannis promulgated the trophy hunting law by ignoring the recommendations of the Romanian Academy and the scientific arguments brought by environmental organisations.They draw attention to the fact that the law sets hunting quotas that have no scientific basis, as evidenced by the confusing figures that are carried in the public space from various sources, including official ones, going from 4,500 to 12,000 bears, which they call unsettling.Given the circumstances, they said, the results of the genetic study promised by the Ministry of Environment, Watercourse and Forestry to find out the number of bears are delayed. The long-awaited study could be the starting point for achieving real management for the bear species.According to the organisation, in Romania there have been prevention and intervention quotas so far, which, year after year, have been missed. Therefore, the legislative framework for the management of problematic specimens existed, but it was not applied. In 2017-2022, between 8 and 93 derogations per year were requested and between 7 and 63 specimens were harvested per year, according to data posted on the website of the Ministry of the Environment. However, the new law increases the quota, allowing preventive hunting, including by foreign hunters of 426 specimens per year, based on a study that has been hotly contested.In addition, Romania would be the only country that does not carry out an evaluation of the effectiveness of lethal interventions, which would show how conflicts have decreased, if any, in the areas where they have been extracted.The organisation says it believes that the problem of conflicts with bears can be managed through a complex of measures, which does not exclude hunting, but which emphasises prevention, which effectiveness has been proven at Baile Tusnad, where, through the implementation of a human-bear coexistence programme, red alert messages dropped from 238 at the beginning of the project, to only four in 2024.
The Bucharest National Opera will open the Romania–Italy Cultural Year 2026 with a gala concert in Rome on December 1, Romania’s National Day. The event, hosted at the prestigious Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, is organized by the Romanian Embassy in Italy in partnership with the Bucharest National Opera and supported by Romania’s Ministry of Foreign […]
German company Henkel, with over 500 employees in Romania, has opened a new headquarters in Bucharest, marking a fresh chapter in its three-decade presence in the local market. The space blends Henkel’s “Smart Work” concept with Romanian cultural design elements inspired by Constantin Brâncuși and traditional motifs, while a dedicated quiet zone pays tribute to […]
A couple of years ago, Romania’s Defense Ministry concluded a USD 400 million deal with Israeli company Elbit for the development of seven Watchkeeper X systems, which will be used to detect Russian operations near the border areas. The drones will be delivered in a few months, according to the manufacturer, as reported by Digi24. […]
Ruling on the draft law on the disbursement of privately-managed pensions, namely 2nd and 3rd Pillars, inked by the Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF), promoted by the Romanian government and approved with amendments by the Parliament, the Constitutional Court (CCR) concluded that the capping the single payment granted before the start of the monthly payments to […]
The revised bill that bans the cumulation of the public pension of a special (non-contributive) nature with a wage paid in the budgetary sector, currently available for public debate, will be amended so as to restrict the exceptions provisioned in the original form, labor minister Florin Manole said, according to
The Romanian business community reiterated its firm call to decision-makers to eliminate the minimum turnover tax (IMCA), in view of the discussions on the construction of the state budget for 2026, according to a statement signed by more than 100 employers' federations, business associations, and chambers of commerce in Romania. The Romanian government will address […]
