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.
Oana Gheorghiu, co-founder of the non-profit organization Dăruiește Viață, which built a hospital for children entirely with private donations, was officially sworn in as deputy prime minister on Thursday, October 30. Her appointment followed the proposal by prime minister Ilie Bolojan to fill the post left vacant after the resignation of Dragoș Anastasiu. President Nicușor […]
Romanian prime minister Ilie Bolojan said the government is unlikely to raise the minimum gross basic salary in 2026, arguing that such a move would trigger a chain reaction of wage increases across the public sector and impose an unsustainable burden on the state budget, Ziarul Financiar reported. ...
Russian operatives with ties to the Kremlin are reportedly attempting to prevent the extradition of Horatiu Potra, a former French Foreign Legionnaire and bodyguard turned alleged financier of Romanian isolationist leader Călin Georgescu,
Romania's e-commerce platform eMAG will use the cloud hosting and AI services provided by Tencent Cloud, the cloud division of the Chinese group and the world's largest gaming company Tencent, Profit.ro reported. The partnership is aimed "to provide smooth and highly...
Romanian state-controlled power producer Hidroelectrica (BVB: H2O) reported a 23% year-on-year decline in net electricity generation to 8,473 GWh in the January–September period, according to operational data published on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. The company, valued at RON 55 billion (EUR 11 billion), said the reduction was largely driven by lower hydrological flows,
The agro-industrial conglomerate Trans-Oil Group, one of the largest players in the Black Sea region, with a focus on the Republic of Moldova but also active in Romania, Serbia, Turkey, and Asia, is analysing a possible listing on the Bucharest Stock Exchange as part of its strategy to diversify its financing sources, according to
