The Netherlands have officially given the green light for Bulgaria and Romania’s full Schengen membership, following a vote in the Dutch parliament which took place on Wednesday and supported this recent decision of the government, relates the news site of the Bulgarian public television, says News.ro. On Wednesday, the Freedom party of the extremist Geert Wilders, the largest party in the Dutch government coalition, tried to introduce a parliamentary motion through which to urge the government to vote against Bulgaria and Romania’s full Schengen membership. However, this motion was rejected. The other parties in the government coalition of the country voted, similarly, against this. For years, the Netherlands stood in the way of the two countries becoming part of the Schengen Area. They were joined in this by countries like Austria. But the previous Cabinet, who were in caretaker status at the time, changed their opinion on this last year. They felt that Bulgaria would help better protect Europe's borders along Turkey. They also believed that Bulgaria would combat corruption and would do a good job at safeguarding the rule of law. Austria stipulated that controls at the country's borders should remain in place, but also withdrew the latter resistance last month. All vetoes against both countries, which had been agreed to join the Schengen Area together, have thus been removed. EU interior ministers are due to vote in Brussels on Thursday on whether Bulgaria and Romania should be fully admitted to the Schengen area. If the decision on Romania and Bulgaria's full Schengen membership is approved by the JHA Council on Thursday, land border controls between and with Romania and Bulgaria will be lifted from 1 January 2025. However, the two countries have pledged to continue random border checks for another six months.
Daniel Christian Hulea, a Romanian man accused of contributing to the NetWalker ransomware attacks, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit computer fraud and wire fraud, according to a public announcement from the US Department of Justice. NetWalker was a Ransomware-as-a-Service operation launched in 2019, which recruited […]
The new Romanian government, headed by the same Social Democratic prime minister, Marcel Ciolacu, recently made its governance program public. Among its objectives are reducing the level of bureaucracy, maintaining the flat tax rate, and reducing the budget deficit to 7% in 2025. To reach its goals, the government reduced the number of ministries to […]
The European Commission (EC) announced on Monday, December 23, that it disbursed payments under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) to Czechia, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Romania, totaling EUR 26.8 billion in loans and grants. Under this latest disbursement, Romania received EUR 37.05 million as part of its second payment request. By comparison, according to the...
Romanian film trilogy Moromeții, directed by Stere Gulea, will be presented at the 54th edition of the Rotterdam International Film Festival, taking place from January 30 to February 9, 2025. This renowned European event, which annually presents hundreds of films across more than 20 sections, will feature the three films - Moromeții (1987), Moromeții 2 […]
Romania issued state aid worth EUR 1.3 billion during 2019-2023, with 62% of the projects being granted to foreign companies, according to an analysis conducted by EY Romania. The sectors that benefited the most from aid were the automotive industry, technology, manufacturing (light industry), medical industry, and the food and beverage industry. According to the […]
The Abracadabra – Secrets of Magic interactive exhibition will transform Arcub – Hanul Gabroveni in Bucharest into a magical universe starting December 27, 2024. Running until May 4, 2025, the event offers visitors the opportunity to explore a labyrinth of magic, featuring over 20 interactive attractions and more than 500 live performances by MAGITOT and […]
