SECURITY Romania has constantly worked to identify solutions to enhance security at the Black Sea, the Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu said in Ankara on Tuesday, when he had a meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Mervlut Cavusoglu. The two officials discussed the best avenues for cooperation, both at bilateral level and within the NATO framework. They finalised and agreed on the text of the political declaration setting up the Romania – Turkey High Level Strategic Cooperation Council, organised as a regular meeting of the two countries’ governments and focusing on strategic areas of mutual interest, which will be launched in 2023. Another topic approached in the meeting was cooperation in the energy sector, recognised by both officials as a priority, particularly in light of the recent challenges. An agreement was reached to strengthen joint efforts to ensure the security of Romania’s energy supplies by transiting Turkish territory. Also, the multidimensional effects of the war in Ukraine have been analysed, with special attention paid to the refugee crisis and food security.
OIL Global oil prices dropped to the lowest level this year, in spite of the estimates of some international experts that expected the EU and G7 ban on Russian crude and the cap on crude prices to trigger market turbulence. In Romania, the lowest petrol price is EUR 1.3, and diesel is sold for EUR 1.54. On the other hand, neighbouring Hungary is facing a fuel crisis caused, according to AFP, by the price cap introduced by Viktor Orbán’s government a year ago. The fuel shortage comes in the context of a 30% decrease in imports as foreign companies cut down their sales to Hungary as a result of the price cap, the country’s association of independent petrol stations said.
