The President of Romania participates in the „This is Europe” debate in Strasbourg
President Klaus Iohannis will be in Strasbourg on Wednesday, where he will attend in the European Parliament’s plenary debate „This is Europe”. The „This is Europe” debate series was launched in 2022, shortly after the outbreak of war of Russia against Ukraine, and since then have been held 12 such meetings with European leaders. The aim of these debates is to reaffirm European values and unity, to generate a consistent vision for the future of the European project. MEPs will also discuss the situation of farmers and the prices of agricultural products. Amid growing protests in several EU countries, including Romania, MEPs will urge the European Commission and the Belgian Presidency of the European Council to engage in a dialogue with farmers to maintain a sustainable agricultural sector, including fair compensation for producers. Farmers are particularly concerned about European environmental and trade policies because of their alleged negative impact on agriculture. After almost two years of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, MEPs will reaffirm the need for the European Union to stand firm and united in support of Kiev, especially in the current situation when additional US aid is suspended by the US Congress.
Romania ran its first test of the National Assessment exam simulation for students with digital checking and marking
Students in the 8th grade took on Monday the first test of the National Assessment exam, the Romanian Language and Literature test. For the first time, the papers are checked digitally, with the Romanian Ministry of Education stating that the digitised assessment does not affect the types of subjects, the marking scales or the pupils’ working time. The questions are distributed in the form of a double-sided printed booklet, but ofcorse students can request additional pages if necessary. Romanian Education Minister Ligia Deca claimed that digital checking eliminates mistakes. The results obtained in the simulation will be analysed in each educational establishment, through individual discussions with pupils, meetings with parents, as well as at teacher council level, with a view to adopting measures to improve school performance ahead of the summer exams.
Romanian Railways to be equipped with new trains and locomotives
The Romanian Railways (CFR) will receive new trains and locomotives after the Railway Reform Authority signed a 760 million lei contract, with European funds, for 16 new locomotives and a 3.2 billion lei contract for 62 electric Regio short-distance trains. The first of these, already delivered at the end of last year, is undergoing tests at the Făurei test site and could be put into service this summer if it passes all the compliance tests. „I believe that the investments that our Authority is carrying out on behalf of the Romanian state are essential to decrease, on the one hand, the age of the fleet as a whole, to introduce new comfort elements that we are practically starting to get used to in our daily life – from the seemingly banal air conditioning system to plugs, including USB, but also the train driving area should be modern, comfortable, and, of course, equipped with computerized train diagnosis systems”, said Ștefan Roșeanu, President of the Railway Reform Authority. „We will have the first train in the summer, and after that we will have a series of up to 37 trains which, in the latter part of 2025 – early 2026, will start to be brought to Romania and put into service. All these trains we are talking about at this stage, about 120 in number, are destined for electrified lines, so they can serve big cities”, said Ștefan Roșeanu.
Magda Baciu
