Romania is advised to focus on the energy transition from coal to renewable sources
The European Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson has recommended to the authorities in Bucharest to consider EU energy policies as instruments of support and financing, not as obstacles to economic development. In a debate organized by the Romanian Energy Center, she advised our country to focus on developing the wind power capacity, but also on energy transition from coal to renewable resources. During the same debate, the Romanian Energy Minister Virgil Popescu has requested support from the Commissioner in order to fund Romanian natural gas projects, as a solution in this transition.
Virgil Popescu: We support the ambitions of the European Green Pact and we will do everything we can to reach our targets, but you have to take into account the fact that 35% of energy in Romania comes from the use of coal, so we cannot simply eliminate coal. The use of gas as a transitional resource is a viable solution for us and this is why we need financing lines for gas by means of as many European financial instruments as possible. That is why, Madame Commissioner, we ask you to support the financing of gas projects in all countries that are energy dependent on coal.
Updated tally of COVID-19 pandemic in Romania
The Romanian authorities have reported 3,400 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, out of almost 30,000 tests performed in the last 24 hours. Most of the new infections were in Bucharest – 545, where the 14 day infection rate has reached 3.23 cases per one thousand inhabitants. The threshold of 3 infections per one thousand inhabitants was also exceeded in Alba county. 65 deaths were also announced, and 768 patients are currently admitted to intensive care units.
Romania presses for a change in the current fragmented approach of NATO defense and deterrence posture in the Eastern Flank
The Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu has told his American counterpart, the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, that Romania wants a greater cohesion and the removal of the current fragmented approach of NATO’s defense and deterrence posture in the Eastern Flank, between the Northern and Southern area at the Black Sea. Minister Bogdan Aurescu believes that a balanced approach would mean an increase in American military presence on the Romanian territory:
Bogdan Aurescu: We are working together with the American side, including in preparation of the NATO ministerial meeting at the end of this year. We talked about enforcing the concept of defense and deterrence in the Euro-Atlantic region, we talked about enforcing the package related to the Black Sea area. All these aspects are relevant for our joint action in the next period. We have similar assessments on the need to strengthen the Eastern Flank, the need to balance the approach between the Northern and Southern part of the Eastern Flank, at the Black Sea, where Romania is located. The US has increased its interest, especially this year, in how important security is in the Black Sea area as an integral part of transatlantic security.
Mădălina Brotăcel, RADOR
