Out of the EU countries, Cyprus, Malta and Romania have the highest values, over 20% (the EU average is 5.8%) of the Water Exploitation Index (WEI), 20% being the threshold from which the index shows water deficit, writes on Friday Eurostat, the statistics office of the EU. The Water Exploitation Index (WEI+) measures total freshwater consumption as a percentage of renewable freshwater resources (groundwater and surface water) at a given time and place. It quantifies how much water is abstracted and how much water returns to the environment after use. The difference between water abstraction and return is considered as water use and illustrates the pressure on renewable freshwater resources due to water demand. It is true, the regional differences and the seriousness of the water deficit during summer months are not visible in these annual national average values. Last year, one of the engines for inflation in Romania was the lack of products due to lengthy drought. In Romania, a World Bank report shows that water suppliers do not have the training and the capacity to manage droughty periods. Thus, during the drought of 2022, the Romanian Water Association and the National Authority for Regulation for Community Services for Public Utilities – ANRSC received several referrals to services suppliers in Romania with regards to the challenges they face to keep water supply. The Romanian officials say that safe drinkable water supply needs more work during droughts, but supplementary personnel hiring is not possible. Starting with 1951, Romania has passed through several prolonged droughty periods and two droughts at national level (2012 and 2022). The drought indicators for medium and long terms show that Romania has experienced longer periods of drought at least for three times between 1951 and 2022. We mention the fact that 22nd March is the World Water Day.
The United States has temporarily suspended the implementation of the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) for Romanian citizens as it conducts a review of Romania’s recent designation into the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that the review is aimed at ensuring compliance with the VWP’s security requirements. […]
A team of students from the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration (FSEGA) at Babeș-Bolyai University (UBB) in Cluj-Napoca won the gold medal at the 29th edition of the international economics case study competition titled ‘NIBS Worldwide Case Competition.’ The competition held in Nanchang, China, brought together 16 university teams from 13 countries, qualified through […]
Metrorex, the public authority managing Bucharest’s subway system, will install protective panels on platforms, starting with the Line 4 (Gara de Nord 2 - Gara Progresul) currently under construction, Profit.ro reported. The new stations will be equipped...
Romania has the lowest budget allocation for research among European Union (EU) member states, according to the latest infographic published by the Social Monitor, a project of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation Romania. In 2023, Romania allocated just...
Pavel Popescu, the vice president of media regulator ANCOM, said in an interview with Politico published March 24 that Romania is fighting an information war with Russia to stop election meddling, and not censoring speech, as many US officials and figures like Elon Musk have said. The Politico article names Romania “ground zero in a […]
More than 2,300 military personnel from Romania and 11 allied nations, namely Albania, Bulgaria, Canada, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Turkey, will take part in the multinational military exercise Sea Shield 25, set to take place from March 31 to April 11. Training sessions will be conducted […]
