Romania

Romanian farmers once again blocked the movement of trucks at Siret checkpoint, near Ukranian border, asking the government to provide assistance, including subsidies, to counter high insurance rates and to compete with Ukrainian products entering the EU

A political agreement with Ministries of Internal Affairs of Austria and Bulgaria for the country's entry into the Schengen Area with air and maritime borders from March 2024 has been reached; negotiations for land border accession will continue this year

Over 1,2 million people, both Bucharest residents and tourists, visited the Christmas Market in Constitution Square this year; admission to the event was free and lasted for almost a month

Employees of the provincial Agriculture Payments and Interventions Agency centres will begin an indefinite general strike starting 21 December, announced the Agrostar Federation, affiliated to the National Trade Union Bloc

Ahead of next year's elections, the government has increased taxes for businesses, notwithstanding calls for financial reform to cut state spending and refrain from raising public sector salaries

The Romanian team won the Balkan Computer Olympiad held in Slovenia, taking first place in the individual and team rankings, both in terms of medals and cumulative scores

The Romanian competition authority is investigating Apple for a possible abuse of a dominant position, as the company does not allow any app store other than its own, limiting access to user data for advertising purposes

The Romanian health network Regina Maria has declared that it has inaugurated 'the largest and most modern clinic in Cluj-Napoca', the Eremia Grigorescu Polyclinic, following an investment of around €4,5 million

Boys up to the age of 18 will be able to receive free HPV vaccinations, like girls, with the vaccine included in the reimbursement system by the end of the year

Romanian dog-training enthusiast Adrian Stoica won the America's Got Talent show with a million-dollar prize