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.
Several bear-resistant bins, the first of this type in Romania, were put into use at Băile Tuşnad resort in Transylvania with the intention of keeping bears from rummaging through the leftovers. Bear-proof shelters, also necessary for human-bear cohabitation in many Romanian towns, have not been installed yet. "These have been tested on bears in Slovakia, […]
District 4 of Bucharest will set up a company together with the neighbouring Giurgiu county local authorities to develop a new airport under an investment estimated at EUR 2 billion, announced district’s mayor Daniel Baluta - expected to hold his seat after the local elections this June. The results of the pre-feasibility study will be […]
The revenues generated by the telecommunications operators in Romania stagnated at RON 16.9 billion (EUR 3.4 billion) in Romania amid diverging dynamics of the number of subscribers in separate segments, according to a report published by the National Authority for Communications Administration and Regulation (ANCOM). Out of the total, fixed and mobile internet generated 37% […]
The value of goods purchased by Romanian customers from local and foreign online stores increased by 10% y/y to EUR 7 billion in 2023, according to the estimates of GPeC, ARMO, and the main players in the sector quoted by Profit.ro. This amount...
The capacity of the PV panels installed by Romanian households (prosumers) reached 1,554MWp at the end of February, according to the head of the market regulating body ANRE, George Niculescu, and reached 1,650MWp currently, according to sources quoted by Economica.net. The figure nearly matches the capacity of the dispatched PV parks...
Moldova's largest financial group, Moldova Agroind Bank (maib), which plans to list its shares at Bucharest Exchange, reported its net profit increased by 50% y/y to MDL 349 million (EUR 18.1 million) in Q1. The bank’s listing depends on legislative amendments in Moldova related to the mandatory disclosure of shareholders that turned particularly restrictive after […]
