Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer stated that Austria opposes the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen area. He made this statement during the EU-Western Balkans summit in Tirana, https://www.novinite.com/ reports. "The Minister of the Interior made it clear. There is no approval from Austria for the enlargement with Bulgaria and Romania. More time is needed. We have 75,000 unregistered illegal immigrants in Austria. This means that they have crossed the external border of the European Union and ended up in a landlocked country like Austria. We have to answer these security questions first," Nehammer said. The migration issues that Austria is facing are not imputable to Romania, Internal Affairs Minister Lucian Bode said in response to Austria saying it opposes Romania joining the passport-free Schengen area due to the many migrants that pass through the country, euractiv.com reads. “Categorically, Romania should not be undeservedly and unjustifiably punished,” Bode wrote in a Facebook post. Migration flows do not pass Romania and Romania is not the generator of this flow, the minister added, in reply to reports that Austria is the sole obstacle on Romania’s path to Schengen. “Without a doubt, Romania meets all the technical conditions for joining the Schengen area,” said Bode, adding that he discussed with his Austrian counterpart, Gerhard Karner, the matter of Schengen expansion and European migration data. Meanwhile, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer reiterated Vienna’s opposition to Romania and Bulgaria joining the Schengen Area. “More time is needed… there are still many requests from Austria’s part,” the chancellor said on Tuesday, just before the EU-Western Balkan summit in Tirana. According to Austria, more than 75,000 immigrants reach its territory, including through Romania and Bulgaria. Bucharest, however, denies that a large number of migrants have passed its borders. The decision on the extension of the Schengen area will be taken at the meeting of the Council of Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs of the EU on Thursday and Friday.
Romania was formally designated the 43rd country to join the US Visa Waiver Program (VWP) on Friday, January 10. According to the Romanian ambassador to Washington, Andrei Muraru, Romanian citizens will be able to travel to the US without the need for a visa starting March 31, 2025. "Romania becomes the first country in the […]
Cluj-Napoca, the city in Romania with some of the highest rents and a fast-growing IT industry, is closer to banning smoking in playgrounds and parks after mayor Emil Boc expressed his support for the measure. The mayor cited the prioritization of public health as the reason behind such a ban. He mentioned that he has […]
Romania's Sibiu County Emergency Clinical Hospital will receive a robotic system to prepare cytostatic drugs needed by cancer patients, along with other equipment, after the County Council obtained funds from the European Regional Development Fund. With an estimated value of EUR 1 million, the "Robotic Composition System for Sterile Preparations of Cytostatic Drugs" is among […]
Romania’s government adopted in its January 10 meeting a decision granting an extra day off to public sector employees at the beginning of May. Thus, Friday, May 2, will be an official day off for public sector workers, linking the legal holiday of May 1 (Labor Day) with the weekend (May 3-4). This...
The Ministry of Environment announced that 2024 was the hottest year in the history of Romania's meteorological records. Red alerts for heat waves began in June of 2024, with the longest consecutive periods of persistent and intense heat waves, six consecutive days, between July 13-18 and August 15-20. "The year 2024 is the hottest year...
Supporters of former presidential candidate Călin Georgescu gathered outside the Parliament Palace in Bucharest, which houses the Constitutional Court, on January 10, demanding a rerun of the second round of the presidential elections. The protest, dubbed "The Great Judicial Union," was initiated by Georgescu, who called on his supporters to challenge the election annulment, as […]
