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.
Romanian non-profit Dăruiește Viață has completed a new renovation project at the “Louis Țurcanu” Emergency Children’s Hospital in Timișoara, upgrading the Pediatric Onco-Hematology Transplant Unit to modern medical standards. The investment, worth approximately EUR 150,000, was funded by Linde Gaz Romania and Atos Global Delivery Center. The organisation has been working with the Timișoara hospital […]
The multimedia exhibition Aici Se Vede Jazz (Here You Can See Jazz), set to open at SAC Berthelot in Bucharest, explores how jazz found its way in the pre-1990 Bucharest and “the contemporary ways to listen, visualize, perform and relate artistically to its world of sounds and ideas.” Bucharest had improvised studios, rehearsals with the […]
Aon Romania, part of the global group Aon plc, draws attention to the urgent need for structured solutions to protect trade receivables in an economic context characterized by high volatility and geopolitical uncertainty. The subject was central to the discussions at TRADE CREDIT TALKS - Receivable Protection in the Age of Volatility, where business leaders […]
Bucharest’s shopping centres posted mixed financial results in 2024, with major discrepancies between the city’s largest malls and mid-sized retail centres, according to financial analysis platform RisCo.ro. The data shows contrasts in profitability and turnover, as well as significant losses among some of the capital’s biggest retail projects. AFI Cotroceni recorded the highest turnover of […]
Nearly nine in ten Romanians expect to spend less or no more than last year on Christmas shopping, according to a new survey by tbi bank that highlights the impact of rising prices on household budgets ahead of the winter holidays. The nationwide poll, conducted in October on a sample of 1,011 respondents, shows that […]
A total of 77% of homeowners who answered a survey by ING and Ipsos said they implemented measures in the past three years to improve energy efficiency. The need to save on energy bills was the main driver of household modernization, the survey showed. Most respondents (62%) said they did so to reduce energy costs, […]
