Radio România Internațional

Tag: Attack

November 24, 2017 UPDATE

SUMMIT – Romanias president Klaus Iohannis said in Brussels on Friday that the EU must continue to support in a consistent manner the modernisation and reform efforts of the 6 Eastern Partnership countries. He encouraged a solid EU policy for its eastern neighbours, a region that must become predictable, stable and prosperous, committed to the European principles and values. At the 5th Eastern Partnership summit, 20 goals were agreed on and included in a roadmap for 2020. Launched in 2009, the Eastern Partnership is designed to promote political association and economic integration between the EU and 6 partners in Eastern Europe – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

PRESIDENCY – The president of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, had a meeting in Brussels on Friday with his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Porosenko, on the sidelines of the Eastern Partnership summit. The main topic approached was Romanian-language education in Ukraine, in the context of president Porosenko promulgating a controversial education law in September. President Iohannis said his counterpart promised that all the recommendations of the Venice Commission with respect to this law will be taken into account, and that before being endorsed the prospective changes of the act will be discussed with Romanian officials and representatives of the Romanian community in Ukraine. Also on the sidelines of the summit, president Iohannis had talks with the prime minister of the Republic of Moldova, Pavel Filip. On this occasion, Iohannis reiterated that Romania supports Moldovas pro-European aspirations.

LABOUR – The Romanian Labour Minister, Lia Olguta Vasilescu, said on Friday that Romania is struggling with a severe deficit in the labour market, particularly in the IT sector, healthcare, constructions and agriculture. She added that the country needs to find solutions to this problem, and one of them would be to persuade the Romanians working abroad to come back home. These statements were made during a debate on the economic, social and cultural development of Romanian rural areas, organised in Bucharest and attended, among others, by the Agriculture Minister, Petre Daea.

JUDICIARY – The Chamber of Deputies Speaker and leader of the leftist Social Democratic Party, Liviu Dragnea, Friday challenged at the High Court of Cassation and Justice a protective asset seizure by the National Anti-Corruption Directorate in the case known as “Tel Drum. Prosecutors sought to make sure that the over 25 million euros worth of damages in this case will be recovered. Dragnea is charged for offences that include the setting up of an organised crime group, abuse of office and fraud, which he allegedly perpetrated when he chaired the Teleorman County Council. According to the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, the case was based on a notification sent by the European Anti-Fraud Office, OLAF, with respect to several misdeeds, including the use of false documents to illegally obtain European funding for county road repair works.

ATTACK – Egypt observes 3-day national mourning after more than 200 people were killed on Friday in an attack on a mosque in the north of Sinai Peninsula. According to international news agencies, the perpetrators detonated a bomb then started shooting the believers in the mosque located in a region where authorities are fighting an Egyptian group affiliated to the Islamic State. Since the Egyptian Army ousted the Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, in 2013, the jihadists have attacked security forces and civilians in northern Sinai on a regular basis, news agencies also report.

RUGBY – Romanias national rugby team is playing a test match against Tonga on Saturday in Bucharest. If it wins, Romania, currently ranked no 14th in the world, will go one place up. A week ago, Romania won a test match against Samoa, 17-13, on home turf.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

24 November 2017
August 9, 2017 UPDATE

ATTACK — The anti-terror department of the Paris prosecutor’s office on Wednesday took over the investigation of the incident involving the French soldiers hit by a car in a Paris suburb. We remind you that a car ploughed into a group of soldiers in a suburb of the French capital city earlier on Wednesday, in what the local mayor said was “without a doubt” the work of a “terrorist.” Six soldiers were injured, with three left in critical condition. An ample police search was launched. The suspect, a 36-year-old man of North African origin who lives in the Paris suburb of Sartrouville, was captured, according to the Paris prosecutors office. France is still under a state of emergency, declared in November 2015, after Jihadists launched attacks that left 239 people dead, apparently targeting security forces.

FOOD SAFETY – The Romanian Food Safety Authority has announced there is no information according to which eggs contaminated with insecticide entered the Romanian market and that no such products have been sold in the supermarkets. The statements came in the context of retailers in several European countries having pulled millions of eggs from supermarket shelves as the scare over the use of the insecticide fipronil widened. The European Commission said it had first learned about the contamination in late July when it received an official notification from Belgium but had not yet established whether the country had broken any rules by not notifying sooner.

WARNING — The US President, Donald Trump, on Wednesday warned that the American nuclear arsenal is now far stronger and more powerful than ever before. “Hopefully we will never have to use this power, but there will never be a time that we are not the most powerful nation in the world!” Trump tweeted. Donald Trumps messages about the nuclear arsenal came after North Korea said it was considering plans for a missile strike on the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam. That in turn followed Trumps comments on Tuesday that any North Korean threat to the United States would be met with “fire and fury.”

TAXES — The National Union of Road Transporters in Romania believes that increasing excises on fuel would negatively affect the state budget, and call on the government to refrain from issuing such a measure, which was planned to be implemented starting September 1st. According to a planned executive order, diesel fuel excises would go up 24.9%, while unleaded gasoline excises would go up 22.8%. Transporters point out that about 70% of vehicles could fill up abroad, gravely affecting domestic revenue.

DEFICIT — Romania registered a trade deficit worth 5.8 billion Euro in the first 6 months of this year, up 30% compared to 2016, according to the National Institute of Statistics. Exports amounted to 30.9 billion Euro, up 9.6% from last year, while imports amounted to 36.7 billion, 12.4% more than the same period in 2016. In June alone, the deficit was 1.4 billion.

WEATHER — In Romania in the next 24 hours the weather will continue to be very hot over the entire country, especially in the west and south. Thunderstorms are announced in mountain areas. Maximum temperatures will be between 29 and 39 degrees Celsius. For Thursday, a code orange alert for high heat has been issued for 6 counties, and a code yellow alert has been issued for another 13. Over the next two weeks, the weather is expected to be variable, with maximums over an average of 34 degrees, with a high probability of rain.

(Translated by Elena Enache)

9 August 2017
June 19, 2017 UPDATE

BUCHAREST – In Bucharest, less than 6 months after
taking office, the cabinet led by PM Sorin Grindeanu is faced with its first
motion of no-confidence, initiated by the parties that formed the government in
the first place, the Social Democrats and ruling coalition partners ALDE. The
text of the motion was read in full Parliament session on Sunday, and will be
debated and submitted to a vote on Wednesday. The initiators of the motion
claim that withdrawing their political support means the end of the government’s
mandate, and that PM Grindeanu should have resigned when the government
coalition made the decision, after an evaluation of the executive’s activity.

BERLIN – To Romania, the relationship with Germany is not
just strategically important, but also a privilege, said in Berlin Romania’s
President Klaus Iohannis during a press conference he held alongside Chancellor
Angela Merkel on Monday. Germany, the Romanian head of state also pointed out,
has remained Romania’s most important trading partner. As regards the
trans-Atlantic relation, Romania and Germany agree that there should be no
choosing between the EU and NATO, and that the Union is important to the US,
just like the US is important to the EU. In turn, the German chancellor sated
that Bucharest and Berlin share the same view on Brexit, border security,
terrorism and migration. According to the German Chancellor, Romania has made
significant progress in defending the rule of law and in the fight against
corruption, also stressing that slowing the pace would not be a good thing. On
Monday, the Romanian president also held talks with his German counterpart
Frank Walter Steimeier. The Romanian president’s three-day visit to Germany
bears particular significance, as 2017 is the
year when Romania celebrates 50 years of diplomatic ties with Germany on
embassy level, 25 years since the signing of the partnership and cooperation treaty
with Germany and also 10 years since Romania joined the EU.

BRUSSELS – Negotiations have begun in Brussels for
Britain’s exit from the European Union. British voters stood in favour of the
so called Brexit in a referendum held in June last year. Almost three months
ago, PM Theresa May activated Article 50 of the Lisbon treaty, which regulates
a member state’s exit from the community.
The negotiation process, which is supposed to end before 30 March 2019, is
expected to be convoluted, considering the different perspectives of the
parties on essential issues, such as Europeans living in Britain, and Brits
living in the EU. Other points of contention are the Irish frontier, and the
debts that the UK may have to pay on account of its EU commitments.

PARIS- French PM Emmanuel Macron’s centrist party En
marche and its ally, MoDem, have emerged victorious in the second round of
Parliament elections on Sunday. They now hold the majority in the National
Assembly, which would allow the implementation of the social liberal platform
of the newly elected head of state. The two parties won 350 seats of the total
of 577. However, the elections were marred by absenteeism, with only 43% of
voters showing up to the polls. The first law to be voted in the Paris
legislative assembly will be on reducing privileges for dignitaries. Changes
are also expected to be proposed in terms of labor regulations and taxation. At
the same time, President Macron wants to bolster security contingents, in order
to support the fight against terrorism.

LONDON – British PM Theresa May has stated that the
police are treating the latest attack in London as a potential terror attack,
and has called an emergency cabinet meeting. One man was killed and ten people
were injured after a van plowed into a group of people in the north-east of
London exiting a mosque after a religious service for Ramadan. The victims are
all Muslim. The driver, 48 years old, was immobilized by by-standers and then
arrested. The mosque was known since the early 2000s as a place favored by
Islamists in London, who came there to attend sermons by Egyptian cleric Abu
Hamza, who was in the meantime given a life sentence by the United States for
terror related activities. The fresh attack came against high tensions, as the
UK is in the aftermath of three terror attacks in three months, two of which
have involved vehicles driven into crowds of pedestrians.

19 June 2017
June 19, 2017 UPDATE

BUCHAREST – In Bucharest, less than 6 months after
taking office, the cabinet led by PM Sorin Grindeanu is faced with its first
motion of no-confidence, initiated by the parties that formed the government in
the first place, the Social Democrats and ruling coalition partners ALDE. The
text of the motion was read in full Parliament session on Sunday, and will be
debated and submitted to a vote on Wednesday. The initiators of the motion
claim that withdrawing their political support means the end of the government’s
mandate, and that PM Grindeanu should have resigned when the government
coalition made the decision, after an evaluation of the executive’s activity.

BERLIN – To Romania, the relationship with Germany is not
just strategically important, but also a privilege, said in Berlin Romania’s
President Klaus Iohannis during a press conference he held alongside Chancellor
Angela Merkel on Monday. Germany, the Romanian head of state also pointed out,
has remained Romania’s most important trading partner. As regards the
trans-Atlantic relation, Romania and Germany agree that there should be no
choosing between the EU and NATO, and that the Union is important to the US,
just like the US is important to the EU. In turn, the German chancellor sated
that Bucharest and Berlin share the same view on Brexit, border security,
terrorism and migration. According to the German Chancellor, Romania has made
significant progress in defending the rule of law and in the fight against
corruption, also stressing that slowing the pace would not be a good thing. On
Monday, the Romanian president also held talks with his German counterpart
Frank Walter Steimeier. The Romanian president’s three-day visit to Germany
bears particular significance, as 2017 is the
year when Romania celebrates 50 years of diplomatic ties with Germany on
embassy level, 25 years since the signing of the partnership and cooperation treaty
with Germany and also 10 years since Romania joined the EU.

BRUSSELS – Negotiations have begun in Brussels for
Britain’s exit from the European Union. British voters stood in favour of the
so called Brexit in a referendum held in June last year. Almost three months
ago, PM Theresa May activated Article 50 of the Lisbon treaty, which regulates
a member state’s exit from the community.
The negotiation process, which is supposed to end before 30 March 2019, is
expected to be convoluted, considering the different perspectives of the
parties on essential issues, such as Europeans living in Britain, and Brits
living in the EU. Other points of contention are the Irish frontier, and the
debts that the UK may have to pay on account of its EU commitments.

PARIS- French PM Emmanuel Macron’s centrist party En
marche and its ally, MoDem, have emerged victorious in the second round of
Parliament elections on Sunday. They now hold the majority in the National
Assembly, which would allow the implementation of the social liberal platform
of the newly elected head of state. The two parties won 350 seats of the total
of 577. However, the elections were marred by absenteeism, with only 43% of
voters showing up to the polls. The first law to be voted in the Paris
legislative assembly will be on reducing privileges for dignitaries. Changes
are also expected to be proposed in terms of labor regulations and taxation. At
the same time, President Macron wants to bolster security contingents, in order
to support the fight against terrorism.

LONDON – British PM Theresa May has stated that the
police are treating the latest attack in London as a potential terror attack,
and has called an emergency cabinet meeting. One man was killed and ten people
were injured after a van plowed into a group of people in the north-east of
London exiting a mosque after a religious service for Ramadan. The victims are
all Muslim. The driver, 48 years old, was immobilized by by-standers and then
arrested. The mosque was known since the early 2000s as a place favored by
Islamists in London, who came there to attend sermons by Egyptian cleric Abu
Hamza, who was in the meantime given a life sentence by the United States for
terror related activities. The fresh attack came against high tensions, as the
UK is in the aftermath of three terror attacks in three months, two of which
have involved vehicles driven into crowds of pedestrians.

19 June 2017
June 4, 2017 UPDATE

REACTIONS – The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, firmly condemned on Sunday the terror attack that killed 7 and wounded nearly 50 people in London on Saturday night, and expressed compassion for the victims. In Bucharest, the Royal House learned with profound sadness about the tragedy that hit the British capital once again. The new terror attack is an act targeting humanity, human freedom and dignity, Crown Princess Margareta of Romania says in a news release. The Romanian Embassy in London is closely monitoring the incident and has taken emergency measures to get additional information from the local authorities and establish whether Romanian citizens were among the victims. London received condolence messages from around the world. The US President, Donald Trump, who had a phone conversation with the British PM after the attack, offered his countrys full support in the face of what he called a brutal terror attack. The leaders of Germany, France, Canada and Russia also sent compassion and support messages.

STATE VISIT – The President of Romania Klaus Iohannis is, as of Sunday, on an official visit to the United States, where he has a meeting scheduled with his US counterpart, Donald Trump on June 9. According to the Radio Romania correspondent in Washington, Klaus Iohannis is the first Central and East European head of state to be received at the White House since Trump took office. The talks are intended to strengthen bilateral relations and the strategic partnership between the two countries, 20 years after it was signed. Over the past 2 decades Bucharest has grown into an important ally for Washington in the region. The agenda of the Romanian Presidents visit to the US also includes meetings with the Romanians living in that country. On Monday, Klaus Iohannis will be the guest of honour in the Global Forum of the American Jewish Committee, where he is to receive the highest distinction of this organisation.

PENTECOST – 50 days after Easter, Christians around the world, including in mostly Orthodox Romania, are celebrating the Pentecost, the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and the birth of the first Christian community. The holiday is also known as White Sunday, or Whitsunday. The biblical narrative of Pentecost is given in the Book of Acts. 50 days after Resurrection, about one hundred and twenty followers of Christ, including the Twelve Apostles, heard a sound from heaven and saw tongues of fire. The Apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in languages they had not known before. On that day, following Apostle Peters address, 3,000 people were baptised, coming together into the first Christian community, which was the core of the future Christian Church.

TURIN PANIC – 1,500 people were injured as they fled in fear on Saturday night in a piazza in Turin, Italy, where thousands of supporters were watching the Champions League final. According to some reports, a handrail that people had been leaning against collapsed, creating the panic. Others say people mistook firecrackers for a bomb.

JUDO – The Romanian athlete Daniel Natea Sunday won the gold in the +100 kilo category of the European Judo Open in Bucharest, defeating the Azeri Ushangi Kokauri by ippon. In the 90 kilo category, Cristian Bodîrlău won the broze, while on Saturday Monica Ungureanu won the gold in the 48 kilo category. Romania ranks 3rd in the medal standings, after France and Ukraine. 376 athletes from 29 countries took part in the competition.

ROLAND GARROS – The best ranking Romanian tennis player, Simona Halep (no. 4 WTA), is facing Spains Carla Suarez Navarro, no 23 WTA in Mondays eighth-finals Roland Garros. This will be the 12th direct match for the two, six of which were won by the Romanian. In the womens doubles event, the Romanian Irina Begu and the Chinese Saisai Zheng Sunday qualified into the quarter-finals, after defeating the Chinese pair made up of Ying-Ying Duan/Shuai Peng.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

4 June 2017
June 4, 2017

LONDON ATTACK – Terror attacks are a distortion of Islam, and Britain “cannot and must not pretend that things can continue as they are, the British PM Theresa May said on Sunday, after the terror attack on Saturday night in London, which killed 7 and wounded nearly 50 others. After a meeting of the Governments emergency response committee on Sunday, the British PM emphasised that the 3 recent attacks in Britain are not connected, although all are linked by radical Islamist ideology. May said there was far too much tolerance of extremism in Britain, and added the anti-terrorism strategy would be reconfigured. According to the British PM, the parliamentary election will still be held on June 8, as scheduled. Three attackers rammed a van into pedestrians on London Bridge on Saturday night, before getting out and attacking people with knives. They were shot dead by police. This is the third terror attack in UK in less than 3 months, after the Westminster Bridge one less than two weeks ago and Manchester Arena. The international community, including the President of Romania Klaus Iohannis, firmly condemned the attack. The Romanian Embassy in UK is closely monitoring the incident, and has taken emergency measures to obtain further information on whether Romanian citizens were among the victims.

STATE VISIT – The President of Romania Klaus Iohannis is, as of Sunday, on an official visit to the United States, where he has a meeting scheduled with his US counterpart, Donald Trump on June 9. According to the Radio Romania correspondent in Washington, Klaus Iohannis is the first Central and East European head of state to be received at the White House since Trump took office. The talks are intended to strengthen bilateral relations and the strategic partnership between the two countries, 20 years after it was signed. Over the past 2 decades Bucharest has grown into an important ally for Washington in the region. The agenda of the Romanian Presidents visit to the US also includes meetings with the Romanians living in that country. On June 5, Klaus Iohannis will be the guest of honour in the Global Forum of the American Jewish Committee, where he is to receive the highest distinction of this organisation.

PENTECOST – 50 days after Easter, Christians around the world, including in mostly Orthodox Romania, are celebrating the Pentecost, the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and the birth of the first Christian community. The holiday is also known as White Sunday, or Whitsunday. The biblical narrative of Pentecost is given in the Book of Acts. 50 days after Resurrection, about one hundred and twenty followers of Christ, including the Twelve Apostles, heard a sound from heaven and saw tongues of fire. The Apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in languages they had not known before. On that day, following Apostle Peters address, 3,000 people were baptised, coming together into the first Christian community, which was the core of the future Christian Church.

TURIN PANIC – Hundreds of people were injured as they fled in fear on Sunday night in a piazza in Turin, Italy, while watching the Champions League final. What led people to stampede is still unclear, as media reports diverge: one points to people mistaking firecrackers for a bomb, others that a handrail to an underground parking collapsed, creating the panic. Around 400 people were treated for injuries, while 5 are seriously injured.

JUDO – The Romanian Monica Ungureanu won the gold in the 48 kilo category of the Bucharest Judo Open, after defeating the Italian Francesca Milani in Saturdays final. Ungureanu is a two-time winner of bronze in the European Championships, in 2016 and 2017. This is the most important judo competition organised in Romania, with 438 athletes from 31 countries on 4 continents taking part. Romania is represented by 52 athletes, 34 men and 18 women.

ROLAND GARROS – The best ranking Romanian tennis player, Simona Halep (no. 4 WTA), is facing Spains Carla Suarez Navarro, no 23 WTA in Mondays eighth-finals of the Roland Garros. This will be the 12th direct match for the two, six of which were won by the Romanian. In the womens doubles event, the Romanian Irina Begu and the Chinese Saisai Zheng are playing on Sunday, in the eighth-finals, against the Chinese pair made up of Ying-Ying Duan/Shuai Peng, while the Romanian Raluca Olaru and Ukrainian Olga Savchuk are taking on Gabriela Gabrowski of Canada / Yi Fan Xu of China.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

4 June 2017
May 23, 2017 UPDATE

MANCHESTER ATTACK – A suicide bomber is the perpetrator of Monday nights terrorist attack on Manchester Arena at the end of a concert, the British PM Theresa May announced on Tuesday. The attack, claimed by the IS terror group, killed 22 people and wounded some 60 others, some of whom are in a serious condition. Many of the victims are children. The presumed attacker was identified as Salman Abedi, 22, Reuters reports, quoting several American officials. Born in Manchester, he was the son on Libyan refugees who had come to Britain to escape the Gaddafi regime. Security was tightened in Manchester and in the British capital, London. The Conservative PM Theresa May and the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn suspended their campaigns for the early parliamentary elections of June 8. This is the worst attack in Britain since the one in London on July 7, 2005, when 52 people died and nearly 700 were wounded. Two months ago, a radical Islamist rammed a vehicle into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, killing 5 people, including a Romanian. Bucharest joined the international community in condemning Mondays attack, and expressed solidarity with the British people. According to the authorities, there are no Romanians among the victims.

SALARIES – On Tuesday the Romanian Senate passed the unified pay scale bill, which is supposed to raise salaries gradually for state employees until 2022. The Labour Minister Lia Olguta Vasilescu told Senators that the bill was correlated with the new Fiscal Code, and that it would provide a 56% average salary increase. The minister explained that the law was necessary in order to fix a dysfunctional public wage system. The bill goes next to the Chamber of Deputies, the lower chamber. Public administration trade unions expressed their dissatisfaction at the bill, and announced widespread protests next week across the country, including the capital. Union leaders said they expect 120,000 to take part.

BY-ELECTIONS – In Romania, in 49 localities in 32 counties, local by-elections will be held on June 11, for mayor posts, given that some of the incumbent officials were elected into Parliament in December 2016, and others were sentenced for various offences and can no longer act as mayors. The election campaign begins on May 27 and ends on June 10. Eligible voters in the local elections are only those citizens who live or reside in the respective constituency.

ECONOMY – The Romanian economic model within the EU was a topic for debate at a conference held at the Parliament Palace in Bucharest by the Association for Economic and Social Studies and Forecasts. Representatives of the government, business people, academics, and civil society activists presented their perspective for the next 10 years with regard to standards of living, education and workforce. According to the latest statistics, Romania has the highest economic growth in the Union. At the same time, the EC has warned Bucharest on the risk of overstepping the stated budget on medium term.

INVESTIGATION – The former Social Democratic Party chairman Mircea Geoana, defeated in the presidential elections in 2009, and his campaign manager, former Social Democratic MP Viorel Hrebenciuc, were heard on Tuesday by the Parliament committee investigating the elections of 2009. After the hearings, Geoana said there had been a deliberate and coordinated effort at top level to influence the outcome of the 2009 election. In turn, Viorel Hrebenciuc said there had been problems with the polling stations abroad and that he suspected the election had been rigged. On Monday, the committee heard the vice-president of the Permanent Election Authority, Marian Muhulet, and the controversial journalist Dan Andronic, whose allegations led to the creation of the committee. The latter said he has no further information beyond what he had published, and no evidence that the 2009 elections had been tampered with. Andronic used to be a political adviser to former president Traian Basescu, who won the 2009 election. Andronic claimed that, on the night of the second round of elections in 2009, he met in an informal setting with the Prosecutor General Laura Codruta Kovesi, the former director of intelligence George Maior and his first deputy, Florian Coldea, and that the meeting looked like the gathering of a crisis committee. He further claimed that all the people mentioned risked being fired in case Geoana won the elections.

OO7 – The famous British actor Roger Moore, 89, died on Tuesday in Switzerland after a brief battle with cancer, The Telegraph reports. He shot to fame with his part as agent 007 in several films in the James Bond franchise, between 1973 and 1985. Roger Moore played more than 91 parts in film and television productions, and devoted much of his time to humanitarian work.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

23 May 2017
23 May, 2017

ATTACK — 22 people have been killed and around 60 more injured in an explosion in Manchester on Monday, at the end of a concert on the Manchester Arena. British authorities have confirmed that a suicide bomber carried out the attack. Security measures have been bolstered, and the British government met today in emergency session. Prime Minister Theresa May and Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn have suspended their campaigns for the snap elections on 8 June. This is the worst attack in Britain since the July 7, 2005 attack in London, which left 52 dead and almost 700 injured. Two months ago, an Islamist rammed pedestrians with an automobile on Westminster Bridge, killing five, including one Romanian. Bucharest joined the international community in condemning Mondays attack, expressing solidarity with the British people. The Romanian authorities have said that no Romanians were among the victims.

SALARIES — The Romanian Senate passed the Unified Pay Scale bill today, which is supposed to raise salaries gradually for state employees until 2022. Labor Minister Lia Olguta Vasilescu told senators that the bill was correlated with the new Fiscal Code, and that it would provide a 56% average salary increase. The minister explained that the law was necessary in order to fix a dysfunctional public wage system. The bill goes next to the Chamber of Deputies, the lower chamber. Public administration trade unions expressed their dissatisfaction at the bill, and announced widespread protests next week all across the country, including the capital. Union leaders said they expect 120,000 to attend the protests.

INVESTIGATION — Former Social Democratic Party chairman Mircea Geoana, defeated in the presidential elections in 2009, and his campaign manager, former Social Democratic MP Viorel Hrebenciuc, are being heard today by the Parliament committee investigating the elections of 2009. On Monday, the committee heard the vice-president of the Permanent Election Authority, Marian Muhulet, and controversial journalist Dan Andronic, whose allegations led to the creation of the committee. The latter specified that he has no further information beyond what he published, and no evidence that the 2009 elections were tampered with. Andronic used to be a political adviser to former president Traian Basescu, who in 2009 won as an incumbent. Andronic claimed that, on the night of the second round of elections in 2009, he met in an informal setting General Prosecutor Laura Codruta Kovesi, former director of intelligence George Maior and his first deputy, Florian Coldea, and that the meeting looked like the gathering of a crisis committee. He further claimed that all the people mentioned risked being fired in case Geoana won the elections.

TRUMP — US President Donald Trump was today in Bethlehem, in the West Bank, and said that he would do everything in his power to help Israelis and Palestinians reach a peace agreement. Trump met Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on the last day of his tour of the Middle East. The Palestinian president pleaded for the two state solution, along the 1967 borders. Israelis and Palestinians have not held direct talks in over 3 years. On Monday in Jerusalem, Trump emphasized the close ties between the US and Israel. He insisted on the threat posed by Iran against world peace, which he also emphasized during his visit to Saudi Arabia. This is Donald Trumps first international tour as president. He continues his tour visiting the Vatican, then attending the NATO summit in Brussels, and the G7 meeting in Sicily.

BUCHAREST — The Romanian economic model within the EU is a topic for debate at a conference held at the Parliament Palace in Bucharest by the Association for Economic and Social Studies and Forecasts. Representatives of the government, business people, academics, and civil society activists are presenting their perspective for the next 10 years with regard to standards of living, education and workforce. According to the latest statistics, Romania has the highest economic growth in the Union. At the same time, the EC has warned Bucharest on its risk of overstepping the stated budget on medium term.

NAVAL — Romanian training ship The Mircea goes today, until 22nd September, on an international training expedition lasting 122 days. It will stop over in 11 ports in 9 countries at the Mediterranean, the North Sea, the Baltic Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean. The 163 members of the crew, of them 70 Romanian students will be joined by 8 cadets from naval academies in Bulgaria, China, Greece and Poland. The crew will go on official visits to the naval academies in Holland, Germany, Portugal and Spain. It will also take part in two prestigious naval events. This year, the Romanian and German military naval forces have signed an agreement on training future officers, unfolding for the duration of this international expedition. 110 cadets and 13 German trainers will be on board the Mircea.

23 May 2017
May 18, 2017

CYBERATTACK- The cyberattack against the Foreign Ministry in Bucharest, countered last Friday, was a surgical strike against specific employees, according to Anton Rog, the head of the national cyberintelligence center of the Romanian Intelligence Service. According to him, such attacks are usually the act of a state agency. Previously, the RIS had said that, most likely, the attempt originated with the cybercrime group APT28/ Fancy Bear, identified with previous events of this kind. Also according to Rog, the event was different from the WannaCry ransomware attack last week, which has touched Romania too.

COMMISSIONER — European Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager, is on a visit to Romania, meeting the Prime Minister, Sorin Grindeanu. The visit comes after the EC passed new regulations on granting state aid, waiving the right of the EC to endorse state aid for ports and airports and certain cultural initiatives. The aim is to facilitate public investment, creating jobs and economic growth, without affecting competition. Commissioner Vestager said that Brussels wants to create an optimal context on the common market to encourage fair competition.

WARSAW — Romanian Speaker of the Senate Calin Popescu-Tariceanu is on a visit to Poland, attending the summit of heads of Parliament from Central and Eastern Europe. On the agenda are issues like regional security, development of infrastructure on the north-south axis, as well as the role of legislative assemblies in international politics. He will hold a speech on the importance of observing fundamental values for a modern identity, which Romania adopted when joining the EU in 2007, when he was Prime Minister.

TENNIS — Simona Halep, the Romanian tennis player now ranked 4th in the WTA, plays today against Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, ranked 17th, in the eighth finals of the Rome tournament, with 2.7 million USD at stake. This is their sixth face-off, with the Romanian winning every game. Halep has previously emerged victorious in Madrid. In the mens doubles, Florin Mergea, pairing up with Pakistani Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi, plays against the Polish-Brazilian pair Lukasz Kubot- Felipe Melo.

WASHINGTON — The US Department of Justice appointed former FBI director Robert Mueller as special prosecutor in the investigation on alleged ties between the Trump election campaign and Russia, according to the Guardian. This comes eight days after President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey. This new scandal comes shortly after the one involving the president allegedly conveying highly classified information to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

ATHENS — The Greek Parliament votes today on new austerity measures demanded by international lenders. Yesterday, a general strike was staged in Greece in transportation, public administration and health. Thousands took to the streets in Athens to protest proposed budget reforms. The country needs financing to pay its 7.5 billion Euro debt by July. The government promised it would slash pensions in 2019. PM Alexis Tsipras, who won the 2015 elections on promises he would end austerity, was forced a few months later to accept a new rescue plan negotiated with lenders in order to avoid insolvency.

18 May 2017
April 22, 2017

SIREN WARNING DRILL – The outcomes of the alarm drill carried out in Romania this week indicate that the coverage of siren signal is below 50% of the total national territory. According to data provided by the Inspectorate for Emergency Situations, hundreds of sirens could not be tested because of breakdowns or of a shortage of siren operators. In the capital city Bucharest, less than a quarter of the sirens were operational during the drill. Under these circumstances, the Inspectorate, jointly with the Communications Ministry, is analysing the option of setting up a complementary citizen information system for disaster situations. Mobile phone texting is one of the options, which will be discussed until mid-May with telecoms operators, said the Communications Minister Augustin Jianu.

EARTH DAY – On April 22nd, every year, International Earth Day is celebrated. This year the event is held under the motto Environmental and climate literacy, launching a 3-year world education campaign, according to a UN resolution. In Bucharest, Earth Day is marked with an open door day at the National Geology Museum. Special activities for children, concerts and street art events are also organised, and in other cities in Romania people are also invited to take part in events, competitions and exhibitions on environmental topics.

MILITARY – Romanian troops from Battalion 307 Marines are taking part, until April 30th, in a multinational exercise in Latvia, called “Summer Shield. Alongside the Romanian troops, over 1,000 military from Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, the US, Canada, UK, Luxembourg, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Germany and Switzerland are taking part. Air defence, exploration and artillery support exercises will be held, as well as weapons of mass destruction defence, anti-tank defence and military engineering exercises. “Summer Shield has been held in Latvia since 2004. Starting 2014, when Russia annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, the exercise became part of NATO manoeuvres. As many as 1,300 troops took part in it in 2016.

FRENCH PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION – Thursday nights attack on police forces on Champs-Élysées Boulevard in Paris was the main topic of the last hours of election campaign in France, upsetting the agendas of the candidates and bringing the fight against terrorism back to the forefront of the debate. A poll run after the Champs-Élysées attack finds Emmanuel Macron at the top of voter preferences, with 24.5%, followed by the far-right leader Marine Le Pen, with 23%, and François Fillon and Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who share the third place, with 19% each. Over 50,000 police and gendarme are working to ensure safety and order during the presidential election period, PM Bernard Cazeneuve has announced.

TENNIS – Romanias womens tennis team is playing the UK at home, in the playoffs for the Fed Cup World Group II. The games are scheduled for April 22 and 23, in the Black Sea coast resort of Mamaia. Romanias team is made up of Simona Halep (5 WTA), Irina-Camelia Begu (33 WTA), Monica Niculescu (47 WTA) and Sorana Cîrstea (61 WTA). The British team has 2 players in the world top 100: Johanna Konta (10 WTA) and Heather Watson (72 WTA). Romania and Britain have so far played against each other in Fed Cup five times, with Romania winning four of them. Meanwhile, Romanias FED Cup captain, the former world no 1 player Ilie Nastase, has caused a scandal ahead of the play-off tie, through reportedly racist comments about Serena Williams and inappropriate conduct in relation to the British team captain Anne Keothavong. The ITF has begun an investigation.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

22 April 2017
March 19, 2017, UPDATE

PARTY ELECTIONS – The special congress in which the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania, the junior partner in the ruling coalition, will elect a president, will take place on April 21, one of the partys current co-presidents, the Senate Speaker Calin Popescu-Tariceanu announced on Sunday. The other co-president is the incumbent Environment Minister, Daniel Constantin. Calin Popescu Tariceanu also said that Sundays meeting of the party leaders was organised in keeping with party regulations, and added that he would run for party president. News agencies have reported that the two co-presidents were at odds with respect to the date of the planned congress. Tariceanu wanted quick preparations for an election in late April, whereas Constantin argued that party elections should begin in local branches, and the newly elected county leaders should decide who the next party president will be.

LA FRANCOPHONIE – The Romanian Foreign Ministry will organise two public diplomacy events in Bucharest on Monday, on the occasion of the International Francophonie Day. A bust of Leopold Sedar Senghor, co-founder of La Francophonie, and a leading political and cultural personality of Senegal, will be unveiled in the Francophonie Square, completing this unique site in Europe. The Francophonie Night will be hosted later on Monday by the I. L. Caragiale National Theatre. The programme includes a concert by Cantata – The Romanian Youth Orchestra and the Francophonie Awards ceremony, organised by the group of Francophone embassies, delegations and institutions in Romania. As a member of the International Organisation of La Francophonie, Romania celebrates the International Francophonie Day on March 20th.

ORLY AIRPORT ATTACK – Flights were resumed at Orly Airport, near Paris, one day after a shooting triggered the temporary closing down of two terminals, AFP reports. An armed man was shot dead on Saturday while attempting to steal a soldiers gun on that airport. According to the authorities, Ziyed Ben Belgacem, a 39-year old Frenchman held an air pistol at the soldiers head, saying he wanted to die for Allah. Earlier the same day the man had been involved in a shooting and car theft.

PERU FLOODS – More than 70 people died in the worst floods and landslides in 20 years in Peru, the authorities have announced. The heavy rainfalls that lasted for several days have caused flooding and mudslides in large parts of the country, news agencies reported. A state of emergency has been declared in over 800 towns. According to authorities, this years rainy season brought precipitations 10 times more intense than usual. Over 500,000 people were evacuated as floods washed away homes, and many are stranded and depend on bottled water deliveries, after drinking water sources were contaminated or supply was cut off.

CHUCK BERRY DIES – The American rock legend Chuck Berry died on Saturday at the age of 90. During a 7-decade long career the guitarist, singer and songwriter refined rhythm and blues music and enriched it with elements that made rock&roll an independent music style. Chuck Berrys first hit, the 1955 Maybellene, was followed by other famous songs like Roll Over Beethoven, Sweet Little Sixteen and Johnny B Goode. In 1984 he won a Grammy for lifetime achievement, and in 1986 he was one of the first musicians inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Chuck Berry was planning a studio album release in 2017, after a 38-year break.

RUGBY EUROPE – Romania defeated Georgia 8 – 7, in Bucharest, in the last leg of Rugby Europe Championship, and won the ”Antim Ivireanu” Cup, granted to the winning team in direct matches. Previously in Rugby Europe, also known as Six Nations B, Romania had won its away games against Belgium and Russia and the match against Spain on home turf, but it surprisingly lost to Germany away from home. The performance in Rugby Europe Championship is a qualification criterion for the 2019 World Cup in Japan.

GYMNASTICS WORLD CUP – The Romanian Catalina Ponor has won the beam and floor finals of the Gymnastics World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan. In the finals, the 2004 Olympic champion outperformed the Australian Emily Little and the Azeri Marina Nekrasova. Catalina Ponor was the only member of the Romanian team to have qualified into the finals of the competition. 120 athletes from 21 countries took part in the gymnastics World Cup in Baku, which marks the start of preparations for the European competitions to be hosted by the north-western Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca in April.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

19 March 2017
March 19, 2017

PARTY ELECTIONS – The leaders of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania (ALDE), a junior partner of the Social Democrats in the ruling coalition, convene today to set a date for the congress in which the party will elect its president. ALDE is currently headed by the Senate Speaker, Calin Popescu Tariceanu, and the Environment Minister, Daniel Constantin. According to news agencies, the two disagree over the date of the congress. Tariceanu wants quick preparations for an election in late April, whereas Constantin argues that party elections should begin in local branches, and the newly elected county leaders should decide who the next party president will be.

ORLY AIRPORT ATTACK – Flights have been resumed at Orly Airport, near Paris, one day after a shooting triggered the temporary closing down of two terminals, AFP reports. An armed man was shot dead on Saturday while attempting to steal a soldiers gun on that airport. According to the authorities, Ziyed Ben Belgacem, a 39-year old Frenchman held an air pistol at the soldiers head, saying he wanted to die for Allah. Earlier the same day the man had been involved in a shooting and car theft.

PERU FLOODS – More than 70 people died in the worst floods and landslides in 20 years in Peru, the authorities have announced. The heavy rainfalls that lasted for several days have caused flooding and mudslides in large parts of the country, news agencies reported. A state of emergency has been declared in over 800 towns. According to authorities, this years rainy season brought precipitations 10 times more intense than usual. Over 500,000 people were evacuated as floods washed away homes, and many are stranded and depend on bottled water deliveries, after drinking water sources were contaminated or supply was cut off.

CHUCK BERRY DIES – The American rock legend Chuck Berry died on Saturday at the age of 90. During a 7-decade long career the guitarist, singer and songwriter refined rhythm and blues music and enriched it with elements that made rock&roll an independent music style. Chuck Berrys first hit, the 1955 Maybellene, was followed by other famous songs like Roll Over Beethoven, Sweet Little Sixteen and Johnny B Goode. In 1984 he won a Grammy for lifetime achievement, and in 1986 he was one of the first musicians inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Chick Berry was planning a studio album release in 2017, after a 38-year break.

RUGBY EUROPE – Romania is playing against Georgia in Bucharest today, in the last game in the current season of Rugby Europe Championship. The match is seen as a virtual final of the competition, given that the Georgians lead the standings with 18 points, followed by Romania with 15. Rugby Europe Championship has replaced, as of this year, the former European Nations Cup, the second-tier continental rugby competition after the famous Six Nations. So far in the competition, Romania won against Belgium and Russia away from home and against Spain on home turf, but surprisingly lost its away match against Germany. The performance in Rugby Europe Championship is also taken into account for qualification to the 2019 World Cup in Japan.

GYMNASTICS WORLD CUP – The Romanian gymnast Catalina Ponor is competing today in the beam and floor finals of the World Cup in Baku, Azerbaidjan. She is the only member of the Romanian team to have reached the finals of this competition. 120 athletes from 21 countries are taking part in the Gymnastics World Cup in Baku, which marks the start of preparations for the European competitions to be held in the north-western Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca in April.

19 March 2017
4 January, 2017

PRIME MINISTER — The 26 ministers in the cabinet put together by the newly elected majority in Parliament, headed by Sorin Grindeanu, are being under confirmation proceedings in Parliament in Bucharest. If a confirmation vote comes through, the new government can be sworn in today in the presence of President Klaus Iohannis. The president previously rejected the Social Democratic candidate for prime minister, Sevil Shhaideh. As part of the coalition, the Social Democratic Party proposed ministers for education, the economy, health, justice, transportation and the interior ministry, while the partner Alliance of Liberal and Democrats proposes ministers for foreign relations, parliament relations, energy and environment.

MEASLES — The measles outbreak may be widening, according to experts with the main infectious disease hospital in Timisoara, in the west of Romania, the main city in the region with the most cases. According to them, 124 children have been stricken by the disease. In the first three days of the year alone, 30 patients have been admitted into hospital for the disease, the youngest being six weeks old. The epidemic broke out in Romania in the autumn, with 10 confirmed deaths and over 2,000 infections throughout the country. According to the Ministry of Health, the main reason for the outbreak is parents refusing to vaccinate their children, which physicians warn is hazardous.

TURKEY — The Turkish Foreign Minister said the authorities have identified the perpetrator in the attack that left 39 dead on New Years Eve in Istanbul, without providing details. Turkish media alleged on Tuesday that he is from a Central Asian country. 16 people, including the wife of the attacker, have been detained. The attack occurred as Turkish forces are attempting to retake the northern Syrian city of Al-Bab, a stronghold of the so-called Islamic State, where Ankara leads an offensive against Jihadists, as well as Kurdish militias.

MINING — The miners in Lupeni, in Romanias coal country, have gone today on a spontaneous protest against the economic situation of their employer, the Hunedoara Energy Complex. The protesters claim that they work for low wages only four days a week. The complex, which employs 5,200 people, has filed for insolvency proceedings, and awaits a court decision, which is the only way it can continue work.

TENNIS — Romanian tennis star Simona Halep, right now ranking fourth in the world, has been defeated by Czech player Katerina Siniakova, 52nd seeded, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, in the eighth finals of the WTA tournament in Shenzhen, China, with 625,000 dollars in prize money. Romania has no other representative in the competition, after Sorana Carstea, 78th seeded, was defeated by Polish player Agnieszka Radwanska, 3rd seeded, and Monica Niculescu, 38th seeded, lost to Wang Qiang, 73rd seeded. In the womens doubles, the Romanian-Ukrainian pair Raluca Olaru- Olga Savchuk will be playing in the quarter finals against the Chinese pair Chen Liang- Jing Jing Lu. We recall that Simona Halep was the winner of the Shenzhen tournament in 2015.

EU PRESIDENCY — This year, Malta takes over the rotating presidency of the EU. Over the next six months, the new team will have to grapple with major issues such as migration, security, and social inclusion, as well as the expected Brexit crisis. Malta joined the EU in 2004, and is right in the path of refugees trying to reach Europe through the Mediterranean Sea.

4 January 2017
August 14, 2016 UPDATE

ROYAL FUNERAL Queen Anne, the
consort of Romania’s last sovereign Michael I, was buried on Saturday in Curtea
de Arges, southern Romania, the necropolis of Romanian Royalty. A burial
service was celebrated in the Orthodox rite, the faith of the Romanian Royal
House and of most Romanians. Among those attending the funeral were Romanian
high officials as well as members of the Imperial Families of Russia, Austria
and Germany, of the Royal Houses of the Netherlands and Belgium, of Luxembourg,
Baden, Württemberg and Bourbon-Parma. Aged 94, and himself severely ill, King
Michael could not attend the funeral of his wife, whom he visited every day in
the Swiss hospital where she died on August 1.

FDI Foreign
direct investments in Romania reached 2 billion Euros at the end of the first
semester, up by 22.7% as compared to the same period last year, the National
Bank has recently announced. On the other hand, the number of foreign capital
companies newly established in the first six months of 2016 dropped by 12%. According
to data provided by the National Statistics Institute, there are only 2,687
such companies now.

NAVY DAY
Sunday was open gates day in the Danube ports of Braila and Tulcea, on the
eve of Romanian Navy’s Day, which for
115 years has been celebrated on August 15th. August 15th is also
the day when Christian believers celebrate the Assumption of Virgin Mary.
Several events have been organized to mark the day, such as interactive
workshops, a technique and armament exhibition, brass brand shows and open air
concerts, contests and tours of navy ships. Military and religions
ceremonies were held in garrisons, in memory of the navy heroes who died in
battle.

ANONIMUL The Land of the
Enlightened by Pieter-Jan De Pue won the big trophy of the 13th ‘Anonimul’
International Independent Film Festival. The event, which ended on Saturday
night, was held in Sfantu Gheorghe in the Danube Delta for a week. The Land of
the Enlightened, a Belgium-Ireland-Netherlands-Germany- Afghanistan co-production
tells the story of a group of Afghan children from the Kuchi tribe, who dig for
old Soviet mines and sell the explosive materials to other children. The
audience’s award for best Romanian short reel went to One Night in Tokoriki
by Roxana Stroe. The special guest of the 2016 edition was director Park
Chan-wook, who got the ‘Anonimul’ Trophy for his contribution to enriching
world cinematography.

SUMMER UNIVERSITY The 14th
Summer University in Izvorul Muresului, Harghita County, is taking place over August
15th – 21st. The theme of this year’s edition is The
Romanian State and the Romanians on the Borders of the EU and NATO. There are
over 100 participants, including representatives of the academic environment,
of the main political parties in Romania, of various Romanian community
associations and foundations.

ATTACK A woman who was in
a serious condition, following Saturday’s attack on a passenger train in
north-eastern Switzerland, has died. The attacker has died too, because of the
many injuries he sustained. Another three people are in a critical
condition. A 27 year old Swiss citizen
set a train car on fire and attacked passengers with a knife, near the Salez
station in Saint-Gall. The police have stated that there are no indications
that the attack was terrorist or politically motivated. In the past few months,
Europe has been faced with several attacks, many of which claimed by the
Islamic State terrorist organization.

TENNIS Between the 15th
and the 21st of August,
Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, ranked 3rd in the WTA
classification, will play at the Cincinnati tournament in the US, with 2.8
million dollars in prize money. She goes straight into the second round.
Another Romanian player, Irina Begu, number 24 in the WTA rankings, will also
take part in the tournament, but she will start in the first round. In 2015,
Simona Halep played the final in Cincinnati, but she was defeated by Serena
Williams. This tournament is the last before the famous US Open, which is the
last grand slam competition of the year.

14 August 2016
July 18, 2016 UPDATE

CLEANSING Turkish security forces on Monday continued the “cleansing” operation ordered by president Recep Tayyp Erdogan following Friday night’s attempted coup. After a faction of the army failed to take over power, Erdogan launched a cleansing campaign among the army and the judiciary, which has been met with concern by the international community. Almost 9,000 interior ministry staffers, mostly police and gendarmes, have been sacked. Earlier, around 6,000 people had been arrested, most of whom military, as well as 3,000 magistrates, including judges and prosecutors, who are suspected of involvement in the coup. Also on Monday Prime Minister Binali Yildirim decided that the annual holiday of more than three million public servants all over Turkey be suspended until further notice. According to the latest toll, at least 290 people have been killed in the coup, while more than 1,400 have been wounded.

MEETING The EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and the EU foreign ministers on Monday called on Turkey to refrain from possible general repression in the wake of the failed coup. Mogherinin said the rule of law must be protected in the interest of the country. A meeting of the EU External Affairs Council was held in Brussels on Monday to discuss the failed military coup in Turkey, the attacks in France and the UK’s leaving the European Union. Talks also looked at the Union’s global strategy in respect of China. EU foreign ministers held an informal meeting with the US state secretary John Kerry. Romania was represented in Brussels by its Foreign Minister, Lazar Comanescu.

SEARCH French and Romanian authorities are still looking for a Romanian national reported missing after the terrorist attack in Nice last week. His wife, who was also missing, was found in a hospital in serious, but stable condition. Their minor son, who was also wounded, is in a hospital in Nice. Two other Romanians, husband and wife sustained injuries in the attack. A third day of national mourning was observed in France on Monday. The perpetrator of the attack was a 31-year-old Franco-Tunisian man who, investigators say, minutely planned his Bastille Day attack. This is the third terrorist attack taking place in France after January 2015, when 17 people died, and November last year, when 130 people were killed, both times in Paris.

DRILL 1,000 Romanian military and another 1,000 from Bulgaria, Canada, Greece, Poland, the US, Turkey and Ukraine are taking part in the biggest multinational exercise held this year by the Romanian Naval Forces. Called Sea Shied 16, the drill is being carried out between the 18th and the 22nd of July in Romania’s territorial waters and the Black Sea international waters. The 2,000 troops will conduct joint training and apply NATO standard operational procedures to fight sea, underwater and aerial threats. In another move, the Romanian Naval Forces are taking part in an exercise held and coordinated by the United States Naval Forces Europe and the Ukrainian Naval Forces which takes place starting Monday until the end of the month in the Black Sea and on Ukrainian territory. Participating in this exercise are military from NATO states such as Bulgaria, Germany, Lithuania, Britain, Poland, Romania, the US and Turkey, and the signatory countries of the Partnership for Peace, namely the Republic of Moldova and Georgia.

18 July 2016