According to Reuters, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on Tuesday the United States is considering adding four countries to its visa waiver program that allows citizens to come to America without a visa for a stay of up to 90 days. "We have four candidates in the pipeline: Israel, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Romania," Mayorkas said on Tuesday at a travel industry event. "We're very, very focused on the program," he added, saying it provides significant economic and security benefits. In September, the United States added Croatia to the visa waiver program. U.S. Travel Association Chief Executive Roger Dow said on Tuesday adding Croatia is a $100 million boost to the U.S. economy. "Each time you add one of these countries, the travel just booms," Dow said. The White House said in August after a meeting between President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett that Biden emphasized "his administration would strengthen bilateral cooperation with Israel in ways that would benefit both U.S. citizens and Israeli citizens, including by working together towards Israel’s inclusion in the Visa Waiver Program." Mayorkas also met with Israel's U.S. ambassador in August and discussed the waiver issue. In February, Mayorkas spoke with the European Commission’s Commissioner for Home Affairs and both "expressed their continued interest in maintaining the U.S.-EU Passenger Name Record Agreement and working with Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, and Romania to meet the qualifications for the Visa Waiver Program." To participate in the program, a country must meet requirements related to counterterrorism, law enforcement, immigration enforcement, document security, and border management. There are currently 40 countries in the program. "These requirements include having a rate of nonimmigrant visa refusals below 3%, issuing secure travel documents, and working closely with U.S. law enforcement and counterterrorism authorities," DHS said last month.
Only 145 companies in Romania, out of more than 800,000 active businesses, managed to grow their revenues and remain profitable every year between 2008 and 2024, according to an analysis published by business intelligence platform Termene.ro. The study found that these firms, representing just one in every 5,500 companies (or 0.02% of the total), generated […]
The secretary-general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD, Mathias Cormann, was on a visit to Romania on Monday, September 15. The representative had talks with president Nicusor Dan and prime minister Ilie Bolojan, after which he said that Romania may succeed in joining the organization in 2026. Founded in 1961, the […]
Romania’s anti-corruption prosecutors have indicted Timișoara Airport’s former general manager Iulian Daniel Idolu and five board members on charges of abuse of office, alleging they illegally extended Idolu’s mandate without a competitive selection process. The National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA) said Iulian Daniel Idolu, who served as general manager of “Traian Vuia” Timișoara...
Romanian car rental company Klass Wagen said that it launched the Autozentrum brand and opened its first subsidiary in Germany, becoming the first Romanian company to sell used cars on the German market. The move marks the beginning of the Klass Wagen Autozentrum European network, through which the group intends to sell used cars directly […]
The Romanian men's tennis team defeated El Salvador 3-1 over the weekend of September 13-14 and secured a spot in the Davis Cup World Group I Play-offs. The tie between the two teams was played within World Group II. In the first match of the tie, Romanian Radu Țurcanu defeated Marcelo Arévalo, 6-7 (3/7), 6-3, […]
France has introduced a pilot program to teach Romanian as a mandatory foreign language in its public school system, marking the first such initiative in the country’s education sector, the Romanian Embassy in Paris announced. The project began at Collège Aimé et Eugénie Cotton in Blanc-Mesnil, a town in the Seine-Saint-Denis department, where many students […]
