Radio România Internațional

Tag: air strikes

  • May 8, 2024 UPDATE

    May 8, 2024 UPDATE

    VISIT The Romanian President, Klaus Iohannis, was on an official visit to the US on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Tuesday he was received at the White House by his American counterpart Joe Biden. The talks focused on the situation in Ukraine and the Black Sea area, as well as on strengthening security in the Euro-Atlantic area. Klaus Iohannis thanked for the substantial contribution of the United States to ensuring the security of Romania and the entire eastern flank of NATO, as well as for the recognition of the strategic role of the Black Sea in the context of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. In turn, Joe Biden expressed his special appreciation for the consistent efforts that Romania has been making for the benefit of the allied space and, at the same time, for the continuous support it gives to Ukraine. The issue of Romania’s admission to the Visa Waiver program was also addressed.

     

    EUROPE DAY The National Parliament building in Bucharest is illuminated on Wednesday and Thursday, alongside many other landmarks in over 60 European cities, to mark 9 May, Europe Day, and the one-month countdown for the European Elections (6-9 June), the Romanian Chamber of Deputies announced. Every year, May 9 marks the anniversary of the historic ‘Schuman declaration’ that set out his idea for a new form of political cooperation in Europe. On May 9th, 1950, the French foreign minister Robert Schuman proposed the creation of a European Coal and Steel Community, whose members would pool coal and steel production, to prevent a new war between Europe’s nations. The declaration is regarded as the foundation of the European Union, which Romania joined in 2007.

     

    DEFENCE The Romanian defence minister Angel Tîlvăr Wednesday received his Georgian counterpart Irakli Chikovani, who is on an official visit to Romania. During the talks, the two officials tackled regional security issues, in the context of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the measures taken by Romania to ensure Black Sea traffic security, and the bilateral cooperation in the defence sector. The Romanian defence minister also assured his counterpart of Romania’s support for Georgia’s European accession efforts. In turn, Irakli Chikovani emphasised the importance of the EU’s monitoring mission (EUMM Georgia).

     

    ISRAEL Romania’s Senate and Chamber of Deputies will convene next Tuesday in a special meeting devoted to the Day of Solidarity and Friendship between Romania and the state of Israel. The decision was made on Wednesday by the joint standing bureaus of the two parliamentary chambers. A law has recently taken effect, proclaiming May 14th as the Day of Solidarity and Friendship between Romania and the state of Israel.

     

    CRIMINALITY The Romanian police reports a decrease in the number of crimes registered this year during the Labor Day and Orthodox Easter break. The number of robberies, serious traffic accidents, as well as the number of the victims of such incidents dropped, said the spokeswoman for the Ministry of the Interior, Monica Dajbog. She also announced that law enforcement agencies would continue to focus on ensuring the smooth running of public events on Europe Day and Romania’s Independence Day, on May 9, as well as during the election campaign for the parliamentary and local elections, which starts on May 10.

     

    OLYMPIC GAMES After several days of sea travel on board a boat from Greece, the Olympic flame Wednesday arrived in Marseille, in the south of France, where it was welcomed by approximately 150,000 people. The former Romanian fencer Ana-Maria Brânza, an Olympic champion in the team event and twice silver medalist in the individual event, is to carry the Olympic flame together with other athletes from the 27 EU countries. Lit on April 16 in the ancient Greek site of Olympia, the flame – a symbol of the Olympic Games – will cross all of France, passing through the Antilles and French Polynesia, to reach Paris on the day of the opening ceremony, July 26. The Summer Olympics will run until August 11.

     

    RED CROSS Every year, around the world, World Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement Day is marked on May 8 with local and international events and activities. They recognise the significant contribution of the movement to the provision of humanitarian aid, medical assistance and protection for those in need around the world. The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement was founded at the initiative of Henry Dunant (1828-1910), a Swiss businessman, after one of the bloodiest battles of the century, that of Solferino (Italy), where the Austrian and French armies clashed causing 40,000 victims. He understood the urgent need to organise medical services to provide neutral humanitarian assistance during wars. As such, the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement aims to protect life and health, to prevent and alleviate human suffering without any discrimination based on nationality, race, religion, social class or political opinion. Currently, it provides vital assistance in armed conflicts, natural disasters and epidemics.

     

    UKRAINE Russia Wednesday launched a new large-scale air attack against energy infrastructure in several parts of Ukraine, military and energy officials from Kyiv have announced. The Ukrainian army said that its air defence systems were involved in countering the attacks and intercepted the missiles launched towards Kyiv. Blasts were reported in the cities of Lviv and Zaporizhzhia. In another move, preparations are being made for the Global Peace Summit aimed at finding a solution to the war that has been going on for more than two years. The summit, to which Russia was not invited, will take place in Switzerland on June 15-16, and Ukraine hopes to garner broad support to persuade Moscow to agree to terms that Kyiv deems acceptable.

     

    GAZA The Israeli army strengthened its air attacks on Gaza Strip, after taking control of the strategic crossing point to Egypt, Rafah. Meanwhile, mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the United States convened in Cairo, in the presence of Israeli officials, to discuss a ceasefire agreement in exchange for the release of the hostages captured by Hamas. An official for the Palestinian group told France Presse that it could be the last chance for Israel to recover the captives alive. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the recent proposals by Hamas to agree on a ceasefire do not come close to meeting Israeli demands, but Israel is participating in the negotiations. Tuesday marked seven months since Hamas attacked Israel. 1,200 Israelis died then and 250 were taken hostage, of which about 100 were released later. In response, Israel launched a large-scale offensive that practically destroyed Gaza and killed around 35,000 Palestinians. (AMP)

  • December 30, 2023 UPDATE

    December 30, 2023 UPDATE


    INVOICING Electronic invoicing will become compulsory in Romania as of January 1 for all B2B transactions. The system entails benefits particularly in terms of curbing VAT frauds, the finance minister Marcel Boloş told a press conference. He also said that those who will not use the e-Invoicing system may receive penalties of 3 to 10 years in prison, if the new law on fighting economic and financial crime passes the Constitutional Court review. The authorities count on additional revenues of EUR 1 bln. Minister Boloş also said that in December the national tax authoritys directorate for large taxpayers secured a record-high total of EUR 3.2 bln in state budget revenues. In fact, this month was also exceptional in terms of revenues from EU funding, which exceeded EUR 2.6 bln.



    INSURANCE The government extended a cap on the price of compulsory motor insurance policies, which will stay at the level in February 2023 until March next year. The cap will stay in place for as long as it is necessary for market regulation, but in 3-month stages, the government spokesman Mihai Constantin announced. The Cabinet also passed a bill making insurance compulsory for electric bikes and scooters, but exempting electrically powered wheelchairs used by people with disabilities from compulsory insurance.



    POLICE Close to 24,000 interior ministry staff will be on duty during the 4-day New Years holiday, while road traffic will be monitored by 360 radar speed guns and DUI check teams. Also, around 5,000 fire-fighters are on duty every day around the country, to provide emergency assistance if necessary. The border police also took steps to enhance border monitoring and to streamline vehicle and person transit at checkpoints. Meanwhile, the authorities announced having seized over 100 tonnes of fireworks kits and opening more than 500 criminal investigations in this respect, and have once again called on parents not to buy firecrackers for their children as such materials may be extremely dangerous.



    POLL The activities carried out part of the Timişoara – European Capital of Culture 2023 programme, including the Constantin Brâncuşi exhibition, received the most votes (29%) to be designated the event of the year 2023 in Romania, in a survey carried out by the Romanian Institute for Evaluation and Strategy (IRES). According to the poll, the second event that marked Romania in 2023 was the qualification of the national football team to the final tournament of the European Championship – UEFA EURO 2024, which will take place next summer in Germany (24% of responses). Regarding culture and free time, 58% of the survey respondents said that they read at least one book in 2023, and 41% that they also bought books, 36% went to a show, and 20% went to a stadium or attended a sports competition. More than three quarters of the survey participants (76%) stated that they went to church this year.



    UKRAINE Fridays massive Russian strikes on Ukraine, which killed at least 30 people and wounded over 160 others, are “appalling assaults” the UN deputy secretary general Mohamed Khiari said in a Security Council meeting in New York. Ukraines president Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the situation as the largest Russian air attack since the start of the war, with close to 160 missiles and drones hitting a maternity ward, educational facilities, and other industrial, military and civilian targets. NATO member Poland also reported the violation of the Polish airspace by a Russian missile. The strikes triggered large-scale international condemnation, with the US president Joe Biden calling on Congress to take immediate steps to send fresh aid to Kyiv. Meanwhile, Russias ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya blamed the toll on the misuse of Ukraines air defence systems, “the use of which has led to the deaths of civilians.” (AMP)


  • December 30, 2023

    December 30, 2023


    AUTONOMY Romanias Senate Friday dismissed 3 bills tabled by the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romaniaregarding the autonomy of the Szeklers Land, a region in the centre of the country. At the plenary talks, the MPs from all the other parties stressed that the bills came against several articles in the Constitution and harmed the rule of law, while the initiators argued the opposite, saying that territorial autonomy did not entail changes in the national borders, but was a right which worked in a number European states. The bills provided for the “Covasna and Harghita counties and a part of Mureş county becoming autonomous, as part of a region with legal personality.” In that presumed autonomous entity, the Hungarian language would have had the same status as the official language of the Romanian state. The land would also have its own president. The so-called Szeklers Land, the only area in Romania where the Hungarian population is the majority, was autonomous between 1952 and 1968. According to historians, this was an experiment imposed in Soviet-occupied Romania by the dictator Joseph Stalin, at the insistence of the communist leaders in Budapest. The ethnic Hungarian population in Romania has been represented, without interruption, in the Parliament of post-communist Romania, by the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians. Since 1996, the UDMR has been part of numerous coalition governments in Bucharest, whether right-wing or left-wing.



    INSURANCE The government extended a cap on the price of compulsory motor insurance policies, which will stay at the level in February 2023 until March next year. The cap will stay in place for as long as it is necessary for market regulation, but in 3-month stages, the government spokesman Mihai Constantin announced. The Cabinet also passed a bill making insurance compulsory for electric bikes and scooters, but exempting electrically powered wheelchairs used by people with disabilities from compulsory insurance.



    POLICE Close to 24,000 interior ministry staff will be on duty during the 4-day New Years holiday, while road traffic will be monitored by 360 radar speed guns and DUI check teams. Also, around 5,000 fire-fighters are on duty every day around the country, to provide emergency assistance if necessary. The border police also took steps to enhance border monitoring and to streamline vehicle and person transit at checkpoints. Meanwhile, the authorities announced having seized over 100 tonnes of fireworks kits and opening more than 500 criminal investigations in this respect, and have once again called on parents not to buy firecrackers for their children as such materials may be extremely dangerous.



    POLL The activities carried out part of the Timişoara – European Capital of Culture 2023 programme, including the Constantin Brâncuşi exhibition, received the most votes (29%) to be designated the event of the year 2023 in Romania, in a survey carried out by the Romanian Institute for Evaluation and Strategy (IRES). According to the poll, the second event that marked Romania in 2023 was the qualification of the national football team to the final tournament of the European Championship – UEFA EURO 2024, which will take place next summer in Germany (24% of responses). Regarding culture and free time, 58% of the survey respondents said that they read at least one book in 2023, and 41% that they also bought books, 36% went to a show, and 20% went to a stadium or attended a sports competition. More than three quarters of the survey participants (76%) stated that they went to church this year.



    UKRAINE Fridays massive Russian strikes on Ukraine, which killed at least 30 people and wounded over 160 others, are “appalling assaults” the UN deputy secretary general Mohamed Khiari said in a Security Council meeting in New York. Ukraines president Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the situation as the largest Russian air attack since the start of the war, with close to 160 missiles and drones hitting a maternity ward, educational facilities, and other industrial, military and civilian targets. NATO member Poland also reported the violation of the Polish airspace by a Russian missile. The strikes triggered large-scale international condemnation, with the US president Joe Biden calling on Congress to take immediate steps to send fresh aid to Kyiv. Meanwhile, Russias ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya blamed the toll on the misuse of Ukraines air defence systems, “the use of which has led to the deaths of civilians.” (AMP)


  • April 14, 2018 UPDATE

    April 14, 2018 UPDATE

    SYRIA– President Klaus Iohannis said on Saturday in a message he posted on Twitter that Romania further condemns the use of chemical weapons in Syria and expresses solidarity with the actions taken by its strategic partners. The Romanian Foreign Ministry also firmly condemns the use of chemical weapons in any circumstances, as the carrying out of such actions is totally unjustifiable and pleads for bringing to justice all those proven guilty of perpetrating such an act, following an investigation.The statements are made after the US, the UK and France on Sunday night launched the most massive attack against Syrian targets since the start of the civil war, in response to the alleged use of chemical weapons by the regime in Damascus against its own citizens. US President Donald Trump has confirmed overnight precision strikes had been launched against targets associated with the chemical weapons capabilities of the Syrian government. British PM Theresa May has said it is about a limited and targeted strike that does not further escalate tensions in the region and that does everything possible to prevent civilian casualties, whereas the French President, Emmanuel Macron, said the Syrian actions were a threat to collective security. Russia, which supports the regime of Bashar Al-Assad, has deplored the attack on a sovereign state but it made clear that its military facilities in Syria have not been affected by the air strikes. On the ground, also on Saturday, the security forces of the Syrian regime entered the town of Douma, the last fiefdom of the rebels in Eastern Ghouta, near Damascus. A week ago, the town was the target of an alleged chemical attack, which left over 40 people dead. The Syrian regime has denied any responsibility



    EC – The European Commission has never intervened in the trials unfolding in Romanian courts-says the EC President, Jean Claude Juncker. Thus, he answered the letter he received last month from the Romanian PM Viorica Dăncilă, in which she called for clarifications from the EC about a notification sent in 2012 to the then justice minister, regarding certain files. Juncker underlined the information requested six years ago was meant to help prepare the technical mission of November 2012, without Brussels requesting information related to the cases proper. He recalls that the CVM of the Romanian justice system included from the very beginning cooperation between the EC and the Bucharest authorities.



    STEEL MARKET – The ArcelorMittal has confirmed it might sell the Steelworks in Galati, south-eastern Romania. Alongside five other works in Italy, Macedonia, the Czech Republic, Luxemburg and Belgium, the steelworks in Galaţi is on a list that the group has forwarded to the EC. Until May 23, European experts will analyse whether the selling of the six steel works manages or not to redress the steel output of the ArcelorMittal group, as ArcelorMittal is interested in buying the largest steelworks in Europe, located in Ilva, Italy. The EC says that by purchasing the Italian steelworks, ArcelorMittal will hold a dominant position on the continental steel market, a situation which might be redressed only by selling other steelworks the group owns in Europe. Arcelor Mittal is a multinational company, considered to be the largest steel producer in the world, with 310,000 employees in 60 countries. Disquieted by the arrival of another investor, which might resort to restructuring, the trade unions on the Galati steelworks platform, with a total number of some 7,000 workers, have stated their intention to discuss the situation with PM Viorica Dăncilă.



    MADRID – The minister for the Romanians Worldwide, Natalia Intotero, is currently on a visit to Spain, where she is having talks with representatives of the central and local authorities, of the Romanian associations and religious denominations. The number of Romanian residents in Spain exceeded one million, according to official data made public at the end of 2017 by the Spanish Permanent Immigration Observer. An increase of 2.4% was registered, as compared to 2016.



    APPOINTMENT – Israeli doctor Zvi Herman Berkowits has been appointed honorary counsellor of Romanian PM Viorica Dăncilă, according to a decision published in the Official Gazette. He will not receive money for his activity. Berkowits is Romania’s honorary consul in Israel and the personal physician of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He was born in Târgu-Lăpuş, Maramureş (north-western Romania), in 1947 and graduated from the Medical School in Cluj-Napoca, central Romania. He is a specialist paediatrician and leads his own general and paediatric medicine clinic in Jerusalem.

    SPORTS- The Romanian women’s handball team SCM Craiova
    (in the south) on Saturday qualified for the EHF Cup finals, after ending in an
    18- draw the decisive match against the Turkish team of Kastamonu, on home
    turf. The Romanians had won the first match, played away from home,
    23-22. This will be the first finals to be played in the city of
    Craiova, by the local team, during its second participation in the European
    cups. The Romanian team will meet Norway’s Vipers
    Kristiansand. On Sunday in the Champions League, the
    Romanian champion, CSM Bucureşti, plays away from home, the round match in the
    quarter-finals, with the French team of Metz.In the first round played in
    Bucharest, CSM secured a clear victory, 34-21. The Romanian handballers won the
    Champions League in2016. (Translated and updated by D. Vijeu)

  • July 29, 2015 UPDATE

    July 29, 2015 UPDATE

    The Romanian Defence Minister Mircea Duşa takes part on Thursday in a ceremony occasioned by the departure of the Romanian troops of the Infantry Battalion 811 “Dej on a mission to Afghanistan. According to the Defence Ministry, for six months the Romanian military will carry out primarily protection missions at the Kandahar air base in the south, will secure communication routes and advise the Afghan security forces. Between 2002 and 2005 the Dej Battalion took part in missions in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as in many national and international exercises. Another 623 Romanian troops are also deployed in Afghanistan, where 23 Romanians died in international missions in the past few years.



    The Romanian diplomat Traian Hristea was appointed head of the EU delegation in Kazakhstan, the Romanian Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday. The decision was made by the EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, which on July 28th announced the new organisational chart of the European External Action Service. Traian Hristea previously held the same position in Armenia, between 2011 and 2015. He was the Ambassador of Romania to Kiev between 2005 and 2010. At present 14 Romanian officials work with the European External Action Service, eight of them in the central offices in Brussels and six in EU delegations.



    In Expo Milano 2015 Wednesday was Romanias Day, celebrated concurrently with the National Anthem Day. A number of events were organised in order to spark interest in the Romanian culture and business environment. Attending the event, the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Valeriu Zgonea said the presence in Italy of the largest community of Romanians living abroad, as well as the excellent bilateral economic relations, are the foundation of a consolidated strategic partnership. Italys Deputy Minister for Agricultural Policies, Andrea Olivero, said Romania and Italy are strategic partners in the EU, which explains the improved level of bilateral economic exchanges. The events devoted to Romania included a business and investment forum, attended by Romanian and Italian business people, and traditional music and dance performances.



    The Turkish military aviation Wednesday carried on its raids on Kurdish sites in northern Iraq. Also on Wednesday Ankara officially authorised the USA to use the air base in Incirlik to launch air strikes against the Islamic State group in Syria. The attack launched Tuesday night by the Turkish air forces against the Kurdish rebels came just hours after Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the de facto suspension of the 2013 truce with PKK, stating that it was “impossible for negotiations to go on as long as Kurdish fighters attack Turkeys security forces. Last week Ankara moved against the IS and Kurdish rebels after a suicide attack killed 32 people in Suruc, near the Syrian border on July 20th.



    The Romanian athlete Georgiana Aniţei Wednesday won the gold and set a new competition record in the triple jump event of the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF), held in Tbilisi. This is the second gold medal for Romania in this years festival, after the one brought by the swimmer Maria Claudia Gâdea, in the 400-m freestyle event. Sixty-six Romanian athletes take part in six of the nine sports in the competition: athletics, judo, gymnastics, swimming, handball (girls) and tennis. Taking part are over 3,800 athletes from 50 countries.