Radio România Internațional

Tag: airports

  • November 9, 2024 UPDATE

    November 9, 2024 UPDATE

     

    FLOODS The Romanian foreign ministry announced that, according to information from the Spanish authorities, two other Romanian citizens initially reported missing following the floods in Valencia have been found dead. The ministry sends its condolences to the bereaved families. According to the ministry, following the devastating floods in Spain, four Romanian nationals have died and seven are still missing. The embassy of Romania in Madrid and the consular office in Castellon de la Plana continued to check public information regarding the death of several Romanian citizens in the recent floods in the region of Valencia, but so far no confirmations have been received from the Spanish authorities.

     

    VISIT The Romanian PM Marcel Ciolacu will visit the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on November 12 and 13. He will have a meeting with his British counterpart, Keir Starmer, and will participate in the Romania-UK Economic Forum, the Romanian government announced. The government spokesperson Mihai Constantin explained that, ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit to London, the Romanian government approved a memorandum that updates the Convention between the two countries in the field of taxation and prevention of tax evasion. According to Constantin, the new document takes into account the changes made in the Romanian legislation during the year 2023, as well as those related to Romania’s goal of joining the OECD. The leader of the Social Democratic Party (in power in Romania as part of a coalition with the National Liberal Party), Ciolacu is running for the presidency of Romania this month, on behalf of his party.

     

    UKRAINE The EU foreign policy coordinator, Josep Borrell, assured Ukraine of Europe’s unwavering support on Saturday in Kyiv. The European Union has already provided EUR 122 billion in military and financial support to Ukraine and has trained about 60,000 Ukrainian soldiers, Josep Borrell said, adding that the bloc aimed to reach 75,000 by the end of winter. Josep Borrell, whose term in office ends in December, announced that EU defence ministers will meet next week to discuss continued military and diplomatic support for Ukraine, and will call for “increased support at this critical time”. European leaders, convened in Budapest recently, called on US President-elect Donald Trump to maintain support for Ukraine, to avoid trade wars and preserve global order.

     

    SCHENGEN A meeting attended by Austria, Romania and Bulgaria will be organised in Budapest, Hungary on November 22, when Vienna might give up its opposition to the full accession of the two countries to the Schengen Area, Austrian media announced. The accession decision could be announced on December 12, at the upcoming Justice and Internal Affairs Council. The Austrian minister of the interior, Gerhard Kärtner, confirmed participation in the meeting with his Romanian and Bulgarian counterparts, and said discussions with both countries are ongoing. He reiterated that the essential condition for Romania’s and Bulgaria’s full Schengen accession remains the effective protection of external borders and, if necessary, controls at internal borders. According to Austrian media, the change in attitude is due to the decrease in migration in the Balkans and in the number of asylum applications in Austria.

     

    STRIKE The Romanian foreign ministry warns Romanian citizens who are in Italy or transiting or planning to travel to that country that on November 12 a 4-hour national strike will be organised by airport staff, between 1 PM and 5 PM. The strike will affect Rome’s Fiumicino International Airport, as well as the Pescara, Naples and Perugia airports. In this context, flight delays or cancellations are possible. Romanian citizens can request consular assistance at the telephone numbers of the Embassy of Romania in Italy, with calls being forwarded to the Contact and Support Center for Romanian Citizens Abroad (CCSCRS) and answered by Call Center operators around the clock.

     

    TOURISTS Over 300 American and Canadian tourists arrive this weekend in Constanța Port at the Black Sea, on board two cruise ships, the National Maritime Port Agency announced on Saturday. The 2 vessels are Viking Kadlin, with 178 American and Canadian passengers on board, and the River Adagio, with another 144 American tourists. “The tourist programme will include trips in the Danube Delta, wine tasting sessions in Murfatlar, walks in the old center of the city of Constanţa and in Mamaia,” the agency explained.

     

    UKRAINE Drones launched by the Russian invasion army hit Odessa, the largest Ukrainian port city at the Black Sea, where they killed one person and wounded 13, including two children, the regional governor Oleh Kiper said on Saturday, according to international news agencies. Residential buildings, private homes, shops and dozens of cars were damaged. Russia launched 51 drones, focusing on Odessa and the surrounding region, the Ukrainian air forces announced, claiming to have shot down 32 enemy aircraft.

     

    GAZA The Gaza Strip Civil Defence Saturday announced the death of 14 people, killed in 2 Israeli strikes, one on “a school”, the other in a camp of “tents for displaced persons”. A rocket fire on the Fahad al-Sabah school in Gaza City, turned into an emergency accommodation centre like most schools in the Strip, left “5 dead, including children, and 22 wounded”. The other Israeli airstrike targeted “tents for displaced people in Khan Younis” and resulted in “9 dead and 11 wounded”. The Israeli army fighting the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza Strip, said it had struck 50 terrorist targets in the last 24 hours in Gaza and Lebanon, where it says it plans to eliminate the Hezbollah Shia Islamists. Sources endorsed by the UN claim that more than 43,500 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war in Gaza on October 7, 2023. (AMP)

  • January 9, 2018 UPDATE

    January 9, 2018 UPDATE

    CABINET – Romanias Social Democratic Prime Minister Mihai Tudose has sent to President Klaus Iohannis the nomination of Senator Ioan Deneş for the Water and Forestry Minister post. In Mondays meeting of the National Executive Committee of the Social Democratic Party Deneş was chosen to replace Doina Pana, who last week resigned because of health reasons. The Social Democrats postponed for the end of this month discussions on a possible reshuffling, after the Prime Minister announced he would like his Cabinet downsized from 27 to 16 ministries.



    SECURITY CHALLENGES – Romanian foreign minister, Teodor Melescanu, said on Tuesday in Bucharest that the states and societies in the region, are to Russia, a trial range for new forms of manifestation. According to Melescanu, these include hybrid tactics, cyber attacks, propaganda and fake news campaigns or military activities extended close to NATO territory, which leads to deeper regional instability. The foreign minister has said, in this context, that strategic relations with the Black Sea countries should be tightened, their own military capacities should be boosted and projects on energy security should be stepped up. The Romanian foreign minister has made that declaration at the debate on “Security Challenges in the Black Sea Region organised by Hudson Institute.



    HEALTHCARE – Romanian PM Mihai Tudose said on Tuesday that the public health system needs a shock treatment, which should be administered in the medical infrastructure, in modern devices and to motivate the medical staff. He also underlined his cabinets intention to build the eight regional hospitals and a republican hospital, as is stipulated in the governing program. In another move, also on Tuesday, health minister Florian Bodog signed several contracts, worth some 20 million Euros, based on which 34 hospitals in the country will be equipped with new medical devices.



    TRADE – Romania continued to import more than it exported last year, and the trade deficit deepened by nearly 3%, according to the National Statistics Institute. Although exports grew by around 9%, they remain below imports, generating a trade deficit of 1.12 billion euro. The most important trade partners were EU member states.



    AIRPORTS – Bucharests 2 international airports, Henri Coandă and Băneasa, reported for 2017 record-large passenger numbers: nearly 13 million, which is 16.8% more than in 2016. According to the National Airport Corporation, in 2017 the number of take-offs and landings was also 7.7% higher than in the previous year, reaching 130,000. In fact, Airports Council International-Europe has ranked Henri Coandă as one of Europes top 5 airports in terms of the increase in air traffic figures in the first 10 months of the year, in the category of airports with 10-25 million passengers a year. Henri Coandă airport came ahead of the international airports in Lisbon, Berlin, Brussels, Athens, Milan, Prague and Budapest.



    TENNIS – The Romanian tennis player Mihaela Buzărnescu Tuesday qualified into the quarter-finals of the Hobart tournament in Australia, which has 226,750 US dollars in total prizes, while Monica Niculescu has reached the eighth-finals. Buzărnescu outplayed Germanys Anna-Lena Friedsam, and is to play next against the American Alison Riske. Monica Niculescu will take on Varvara Lepchenko, also of the USA. On Monday the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, the Australian Open, begins, with world no. 1 Simona Halep seeded first. (Translated by D. Vijeu and AM Popescu)

  • January 9, 2018

    January 9, 2018

    CABINET – Romanias Social Democratic Prime Minister Mihai Tudose this morning sent to President Klaus Iohannis the nomination of Senator Ioan Deneş for the Water and Forestry Minister post. In Mondays meeting of the National Executive Committee of the Social Democratic Party Deneş was chosen to replace Doina Pana, who last week resigned because of health reasons. The Social Democrats postponed for the end of this month discussions on a possible reshuffling, after the Prime Minister announced he would like his Cabinet downsized from 27 to 16 ministries.




    DIPLOMACY – The Minister Delegate for European Affairs, Victor Negrescu, discussed in The Hague on Monday with the Dutch Foreign Minister Halbe Zijlstra about Romanias Schengen accession and the relations between the two countries as EU members, particularly the good economic relations. The two officials also looked at the key elements currently on the European agenda, including the Multiannual Financial Framework, the future of the EU and the common defence policy, in the context of Romania holding the rotating presidency of the EU Council in the first half of 2019. Known for the successive EU-wide campaigns for Romanias Schengen accession, including a petition, #RomâniaCereSchengen, signed by tens of thousands of Romanians and submitted to the European Parliament, the Minister Delegate for European Affairs suggested a vote in the Justice and Home Affairs Council. The Netherlands has repeatedly opposed Romanias joining the border-free area, on grounds of insufficient judicial reforms.




    AIRPORTS – Bucharests 2 international airports, Henri Coandă and Băneasa, reported for 2017 record-large passenger numbers: nearly 13 million, which is 16.8% more than in 2016. According to the National Airport Corporation, in 2017 the number of takeoffs and landings was also 7.7% higher than in the previous year, reaching 130,000. In fact, Airports Council International-Europe has ranked Henri Coandă as one of Europes top 5 airports in terms of the increase in air traffic figures in the first 10 months of the year, in the category of airports with 10-25 million passengers a year. Henri Coandă airport came ahead of the international airports in Lisbon, Berlin, Brussels, Athens, Milan, Prague and Budapest.




    TRADE – Romania continued to import more than it exported last year, and the trade deficit deepened by nearly 3%, according to the National Statistics Institute. Although exports grew by around 9%, they remain below imports, generating a trade deficit of 1.12 billion euro. The most important trade partners were EU member states.




    ETHNIC AUTONOMY – Officials for 3 political entities representing the interests of ethnic Hungarians in Romania, including the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, a parliamentary party, Monday agreed to propose territorial, local and cultural autonomy for the so-called Szeckler County, a region in central Romania where ethnic Hungarians outnumber the other communities. The leaders of the other parliamentary parties in Power and in Opposition dismissed the idea as unconstitutional. They argued that Romania is one of the countries where the Hungarian minority enjoys the most extensive rights, and ruled out any autonomy negotiations. According to them, the initiative stands no chances because it comes against the requirements of a democratic system and fuels division within society.




    TENNIS – The Romanian tennis player Mihaela Buzărnescu Tuesday qualified into the quarter-finals of the Hobart tournament in Australia, which has 226,750 US dollars in total prizes, while Monica Niculescu has reached the eighth-finals. Buzărnescu outplayed Germanys Anna-Lena Friedsam, and is to play next against the American Alison Riske. Monica Niculescu will take on Varvara Lepchenko, also of the USA. On Monday the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, the Australian Open, begins, with world no. 1 Simona Halep seeded first.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • February 18, 2017

    February 18, 2017

    DIPLOMACY – The Romanian Foreign Minister, Teodor Meleşcanu, is taking part until Sunday in the 53rd Munich Security Conference. He will present Romanias stand on the European and global security situation and will emphasise the importance of the trans-Atlantic relations and of the role of NATO and the EU in the current international context. On Friday, on the side-lines of the Conference, the Romanian official had talks with his French counterpart, Jean-Marc Ayrault, who invited him to Paris in the forthcoming period, an invitation accepted by Melescanu. The Romanian FM also had a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart, Pavlo Klimkim, with whom he discussed regional developments. The Munich Security Conference is a prestigious security forum, which traditionally brings together leaders and decision-makers in the field of security and defence from around the world.



    MUNICH SECURITY CONFERENCE – The Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, has today called on the world powers, including the US, not to abandon international cooperation against the new challenges to global security. Addressing the Munich Security Conference, Merkel emphasised that multi-national organisations like the EU, NATO and the UN provided a vital framework for addressing the refugee crisis and Islamist terrorism. The German Chancellor also said the European Unions relations with Russia remained challenging, but that cooperation with Moscow was still important in the fight against Islamist terrorism. Attending the Conference, the US Vice-President, Mike Pence, pointed out, in the first major foreign policy statement of the new American Administration, that Washington would support NATO and stand by Europe, even as it looked for new ways to cooperate with Russia.



    BUSINESS – The government is the main promotion element for Romania, because American investors look at taxes, stability, predictability and efficiency, and the competition between the countries in the region is tough, said Eric Stewart, head of the American-Romanian Business Council (AMRO). In an interview to the Romanian news agency Agerpres, Stewart said there are investment opportunities in Romania for the American companies in fields like defence, energy, agriculture and healthcare, considering that we will see a shift in focus of the Trump administration towards Europe. He announced that the American-Romanian Business Council would organise an economic mission in Romania in late March, in which 10-12 major American companies will take part, some of them already present in the Romanian market.



    AIRPORTS – Romania tops the rankings of the European airports with the quickest increase in passenger flows in 2016, according to a report of the Airports Council International (ACI Europe). The first places are held by the airports in Oradea (with an increase of nearly 500% in passenger numbers compared to 2015) and Iasi (with more than 130%). Third comes the “Aurel Vlaicu International Airport, the second-largest airport in Bucharest, with 122% more passengers than in 2015. Airports Council International Europe is an association representing more than 500 airports in 45 countries.



    ROMANIA-US RELATIONS – The USA appreciates the strategic partnership with Romania and pays increasing attention to the security developments at the Black Sea, says the chair of the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee in the US House of Representatives, the Republican Rob Wittman. In a meeting in Washington with the Romanian Ambassador George Maior, the US Congressman appreciated Bucharests commitment to trans-Atlantic security, including its hosting of the ballistic missile defence facility at the Deveselu Base. Rob Wittman added that Washington firmly supported the continuation of the European Reassurance Initiative and a relevant rotating presence of American troops on NATOs eastern flank.




    BERLINALE – The award ceremony of the 67th Berlin International Film Festival takes place tonight. Selected in the official competition for the Golden Bear trophy is, among other works, the film “Ana, mon amour, by the Romanian director Călin Peter Netzer, which was screened on Friday night. Netzer won the Golden Bear in Berlin in 2013, with his film, Childs Pose. The Romanian actor Tudor Istodor was also nominated in this years “shooting stars category, while the director Ilinca Călugăreanu, actor Alexandru Potocean, director Ioana Mischie, producer Andra Popescu, camera operator Carmen Tofeni, film distributor Matei Truţă and script writer Monica Stan are also representing Romania in the ‘Berlinale Talents’ Programme. “The Dear, a project by Bogdan George Apetri, also took part in the Coproduction Market section.




    TENNIS – The Romanian Horia Tecău and the Dutch Jean-Julien Rojer will play on Saturday the doubles semi-finals of the Rotterdam tournament in the Netherlands, which has over 1.7 million euros in total prize money. They will be facing the Dutch Wesley Koolhof and Matwe Middelkoop. In the quarter-finals, Tecău and Rojer outplayed Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez of Spain, seeded 2nd in the tournament, 6-4 / 6-4. The Romanian-Dutch pair won the Rotterdam tournament in 2015.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)