This weekly overview brings you the main topics from Romania, in pictures. Maia Sandu, the president of Moldova, met with Romanian president Klaus Iohannis during her visit to Bucharest last week. Meanwhile, the new uniforms of the Romanian Police were revealed, military divers located and destroyed a naval mine in the Black Sea, and Cluj-Napoca launched a campaign that allows citizens to swap recyclable items for free bus tickets. See the photo collection for the July 25-31 week below. (Opening photo: Klaus Iohannis and Maia Sandu in Bucharest; photo source: Presidency.ro)

Romanian president Klaus Iohannis and the Moldovan leader Maia Sandu met in Bucharest late last week to discuss Moldova's European path and the country's economic struggles amid the war in Ukraine, ways Romania can support its neighbour, and other topics of interest for the region. In the joint press conference held after the meeting, Sandu said that the war destabilized the energy market and, with it, Moldova's energy security. That, combined with record inflation and the drought, made the situation even more difficult for Moldova. She also thanked Romania for the help offered so far and expressed hopes for further support.  

During the same press conference last Friday, the Romanian president also reacted to the racist comments made by Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán. During a visit to Romania's Transylvania region, Orbán argued against the "mixing" of European and non-European races, arguing that the Hungarians were racially pure and that they intended to stay that way. Romania's Klaus Iohannis responded last week, saying: "It is a major error, and it is inadmissible for a European dignitary to make such statements built on the theory of races, a theory that led to the most terrible catastrophe of the 20th century, the Second World War."  

The new uniforms of the Romanian Police were revealed last week. It is a significant change for the police officers, as the old uniforms had not been changed for 20 years. One of the new versions is darker and slimmer, looking somewhat similar to the one worn by the American policemen. 

On Sunday, July 31, a naval mine was spotted and destroyed about 3.6 km off the Romanian Black Sea coast. The Ministry of Defence said it was a YAM-type marine mine, "which represented a danger to safe navigation in Romanian territorial waters." Military divers took the mine to a safe area and destroyed it by explosion. 

The Romanian Red Cross, with the support of the National Red Cross of the Republic of Korea, opened in Bucharest a multicultural center to help people affected by the crisis in Ukraine. Inaugurated on Friday, July 29, the center will offer integrated humanitarian assistance, including activities aimed at covering the urgent and basic needs of people in difficulty, such as hot meals, health services and psychosocial support, thematic workshops for children and parents, and Romanian and English language courses. It is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 to 18:00.

A new sports complex opened on July 29 in Cluj-Napoca. Named La Terenuri, the new base covers 4.2 hectares and offers city residents free access to a variety of indoor and outdoor activities, such as table tennis, squash, tennis, basketball, yoga, or pilates. The investment amounted to over EUR 6 million.

Also in Cluj-Napoca, a new pilot project launched last week allows citizens to swap empty bottles or cans for free bus tickets. A special collecting machine was installed at the Zorilor agro-food market in the city. Fifteen glass or plastic packages bring the person a free ticket for two trips on public transport, which can be picked up from ticket sales points or centres of the CTP - Cluj-Napoca's Public Transport Company.  

Another good news came from the Zoo in Oradea, a city in northwest Romania, which said two Siberian tiger cubs were born there. It is a premiere for the Romanian Zoo, and the two cubs have quickly become the main attraction for visitors. They are healthy and weigh about 7 kilograms, feeding on milk, chicken or beef, and eggs. 

irina.marica@romania-insider.com