Radio România Internațional

Tag: defence

October 15, 2019

GOVERNMENT The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, carries on today his consultations with parliamentary parties on the appointment of a new prime minister and the formation of a new Cabinet. The talks began on Friday, one day after Viorica Dancilas government was dismissed through a no-confidence vote in Parliament, and continued on Monday in a narrow format. Today the head of state is discussing with the leaders of Save Romania Union, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians and the National Liberal Party. So far the talks point to a government formed by or around the National Liberal Party, which pleads for a Cabinet of 16 ministries at most. The Liberals announced they are ready to take over power, and the party leader Ludovic Orban is their nomination for prime minister. Save Romania Union spoke in favour of early elections and has several requests in exchange for supporting a new government, including a two-round local election system and a law abolishing compensatory appeals. The Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians on the other hand wants mayors to continue to be elected in one round, while the ex-PM Victor Pontas Pro Romania party says it would support the good projects initiated by a new cabinet. The Peoples Movement Party is willing to be part of the new government alonside the Liberals, but will not work with ALDE and Pro Romania. The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats says they will not be part of a new government, and supports a Liberal Cabinet. The Social Democratic Party turned down the invitation to consultations, and its leader Viorica Dăncilă announced the partys parliamentary group would not vote for the new government.

DEFENCE Representatives of the South-East European defence ministries (SEDM) convene in Bucharest on Wednesday. Romania is represented by the state secretary with the Defence Ministry Doru Claudian Frunzulică. According to a Defence Ministry news release, the meeting is an opportunity for Bucharest to reconfirm its commitment to the projects implemented as part of this initiative, as well as to support proposals for the consolidation of the SEDM as the main cooperation platform in South-East Europe. SEDM is a regional initiative designed to help maintain peace and strengthen neighbourhood and close cooperation among East-European countries, by fostering political-military dialogue and involvement in practical projects in the field of regional security and stability.

PRICES In Romania, the Foodstuff Price Monitor has been launched today. It is a platform designed to help citizens to contrast food prices charged by stores across the country. The users will be able to choose between around 30,000 types of products, accounting for half of the total foodstuffs in the market. The project is similar to the one that compares fuel prices, launched in June. The new platform is available as a mobile phone app and on the internet at monitorulpreţurilor.info.

BREXIT Londons most recent proposals regarding Brexit are not good enough, the EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier said on Tuesday, at the General Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg, according to diplomatic sources quoted by Reuters. Barnier also said that he needed a legal text by the end of the day, in order to be able to recommend that EU leaders approve an agreement at the European Council due on October 17 and 18. Otherwise, Michel Barnier is likely to suggest additional negotiations with London after the EU summit concluding on Friday. Without an agreement between London and the EU by October 19, a law passed in September forces the British PM Boris Johnson to request a 3-month postponement of UKs exit. London and Brussels are trying to reach common ground on means to prevent a post-Brexit return to a physical border between Northern Ireland, a part of the UK, and the Republic of Ireland, which will still be an EU member.

FOOTBALL Romanias football team plays against Norway in Bucharest today, in Group F of the 2020 European Championship qualifiers. Spain tops the group ranking with 19 points, followed by Sweden with 14, Romania – 13, Norway – 10, Malta – 3 and Faroe Islands with 0 points. The top 2 teams in each group qualify into the final tournament. On Monday night, Romanias Under 21 team defeated Northern Ireland on home turf, 3-0, in Group 8 of the 2021 European Youth Championship. On Thursday, also on home turf, Romania beat Ukraine, 3-0, after last month it had lost to Denmark, 1-2, away from home. In June Romania Under 21 qualified for the first time in the semi-finals of the continental tournament in Italy and San Marino, thus securing their ticket to the Tokyo Olympics.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

15 October 2019
September 4, 2019 UPDATE

REPATRIATION All diplomatic personnel of the Embassy of Romania in Kabul will be brought back to the country as soon as possible, in the wake of Monday nights terror attack. A 43-year old Romanian member of the security team was killed, while another member of the diplomatic mission was wounded and is currently stable. The embassy headquarters was damaged severely and is out of use. In Bucharest, the Foreign Ministry, President Klaus Iohannis and PM Viorica Dăncilă firmly condemned the attack and reiterated Romanias support to the fight against terrorism. The head of state awarded the Romanian killed in Kabul the Star of Romania order in the rank of Knight. Romania is one of the top 5 contributors to the NATO mission in Afghanistan, with over 760 troops deployed so far to that theatre of operations.

CONFERENCE NATO will continue to make long-term investments, in line with its commitment in the Western Balkans, the chairman of NATOs Military Committee, Air Chief Marshal Stuart Peach said in Bucharest on Wednesday, at the end of the conference of Balkan defence chiefs on military cooperation. In turn, the Romanian chief of staff, Gen. Nicolae Ciucă, said maintaining appropriate military cooperation and the provision of real support would help Balkan countries to build efficient institutions and to reform their defence sectors in order to cope with the challenges generated by poverty, terrorism, social and inter-ethnic tensions. President Klaus Iohannis in turn said in a message that Romania, as a NATO and EU member country, pays special attention to the countries in this region and supports closer ties between them and the European and trans-Atlantic family. Attending the conference were delegations from Albania, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Turkey, with Croatian and Slovenian officials as observers. This has been the 13th edition of this event designed to improve regional cooperation, strengthen security in the Balkans, identify and develop a regional crisis management mechanism and enhancing the interoperability of military forces in the region.

VOTE A total of 20,040 Romanians living abroad had registered to vote by mail and 19,430 for polling station voting until Wednesday, ahead of the November presidential election, the Permanent Electoral Authority has announced. According to the same source, the registration deadline may be postponed from September 11 to 15, which means that Romanian citizens who live abroad have another 11 days to enrol as voters abroad on a dedicated platform, www.votstrainatate.ro. Around 9.7 million Romanians are currently living outside the country, according to data provided by the 70 diplomatic missions and centralised by the Ministry for the Romanians Abroad.

FOOTBALL Romanias national football team plays against Spain in Bucharest on Thursday, in the Euro 2020 qualifying campaign. Organisers say over 50,000 tickets have been sold. Spain is the unchallenged leader of Group F with 12 points, followed by Sweden with 7 points and Romania, also with 7 points but a worse goal difference. The group also includes Norway (5 points), Malta (3 points) and the Faroe Islands (0 points). Romanias next match is against Malta, on September 8, on home turf. The Romanian U21 team is to take on Denmark on September 10 in Aalborg, in the first qualifier for the EURO 2021.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

4 September 2019
August 27, 2019 UPDATE

GOVERNMENT Three Liberal Democratic members of the Government Tuesday resigned from office, after on Monday night the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats decided to break their alliance with the Social Democratic Party and move into the opposition. They are the environment minister Graţiela Gavrilescu, the energy minister Anton Anton and Viorel Ilie, liaising with Parliament. The party leader Calin Popescu-Traiceanu also announced he would step down as Senate Speaker. PM Viorica Dancila said the Social Democratic Party would stay in power in order to further implement the governing programme that won the 2016 parliamentary election. She added that Social Democratic ministers will temporarily fill the vacancies, and that Foreign Minister Ramona Mănescu, nominated into the Government by ALDE, would stay in office, in spite of Tariceanus call for her resignation.

DIPLOMACY President Klaus Iohannis said at the Annual Meeting of Romanian Diplomacy on Tuesday that joining the Schengen area and the Euro zone remain Romanias priorities, and called on Romanian diplomats to take advantage of the confidence the country has won during its presidency of the Council of the European Union. As for the relationship with the USA, the head of state explained that the strategic partnership with the US remains a core pillar of Romanias foreign policy, and that bilateral relations are at their best after the 2 visits to the White House in 2017 and August 2019. Klaus Iohannis also told Romanian ambassadors that protecting the interests of the Romanians living abroad must be their top priority. The annual meeting of Romanian diplomats takes place in Bucharest until Thursday and is organised by the Foreign Ministry. The main topics approached include the future of the EU and its role in the world, trans-Atlantic relations, Romanias relations with its eastern neighbours, European affairs, Romanias political and economic relations with the countries in Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Africa and South America, humanitarian aid and development, global peace and security.

PARLIAMENT The judicial committee in the Chamber of Deputies unanimously rejected a bill on amnesty and pardons for certain offences. The committees negative report is to be discussed and voted on by the Chamber on Wednesday. Also on Tuesday, the committee postponed talks on the bill regarding compensatory appeals. In turn, the budget-finances committee postponed on Tuesday its report on a bill endorsing Government Emergency Order 114 on fiscal and budgetary measures and on public investments. The Social Democratic Party in power criticised the Opposition, and mentioned that the Ordinance stipulated a rise in pensions as of September 1 and introduced a cap on natural gas and electricity prices for households. The Chamber of Deputies is holding a special session this week at the request of the Opposition.

DEFENCE The Romanian Defence Minister Gabriel Leş takes part in an informal meeting of EU defence ministers held in Helsinki, Finland on Wednesday and Thursday. According to the Romanian Defence Ministry, the meeting will be chaired by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini. Also attending will be the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, and the UN under-secretary general for peace operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix. The participants will discuss coordinated maritime presence, artificial intelligence and new technologies, as well as the impact of climate change and the environment on security and defence. On Thursday, a joint meeting with the EU foreign ministers will be held, focusing on the topic of hybrid threats.

GENDARMES Another Romanian Gendarme unit Tuesday left on a six-month NATO mission in Afghanistan. The 16 officers and NCOs will provide training and assistance to the Afghan security forces and institutions. Attending the departure ceremony, inspector general Constantin Florea said that Romanian gendarme units have taken part in specific missions in Afghanistan since 2011, and their achievements prompted international organisations to request Romanias participation in the training and counselling of the local security forces. So far, Romanian gendarmes have taken part in the training of over 17,000 Afghan military and police troops.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

27 August 2019
26 June 2019, UPDATE

Moldova. In a joint session on
Wednesday, the two chambers of Romania’s Parliament adopted a declaration
supporting the new government in the Republic of Moldova and the firm
commitment to this neighbouring country’s European path. The Romanian senators and deputies reiterated
Romania’s constant support for the European aspirations of the Republic of
Moldova, an ex-Soviet state with a majority Romanian-speaking population, and expect
a firm commitment from the Moldovan government to continue on this path. They
also called on the Romanian government to go ahead with the implementation of
the bilateral strategic partnership with the Republic of Moldova. Also on
Wednesday, Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis talked on the phone with
Moldova’s prime minister Maia Sandu and her deputy prime minister Andrei
Nastase, both of them pro-Europeans, as well as with Moldova’s pro-Russian
Socialist president Igor Dodon. According to the president’s office in
Bucharest, the talks were held after the EU leaders meeting at a summit last
week hailed, at the initiative of the Romanian president, the peaceful transfer
of power in Moldova and agreed to consolidate EU support for the republic based
on concrete measures. The Moldovan officials thanked Romania for its constant
support. President Dodon said he was in favour of a continuation of the
strategic partnership with Romania, a country which is also Moldova’s main
trade partner.

Defence. Between June
25-27, the Romanian defence Minister Gabriel Les is taking part in Brussels in
a series of official events, such as the meeting of NATO defence ministers and
of the global coalition against ISIS. Minister Les also meets his counterparts
from Georgia and France. On Tuesday, he attended the 15th
anniversary of the European Defence Agency, where he emphasised the excellent collaboration
with the agency during Romania’s rotating presidency of the Council of the EU.
The defence agency was set up in 2004 in Brussels as a joint government agency
of the Council of the EU. The agency currently brings together all EU member
states, except Denmark.

Ombudsman. The two chambers of the Romanian Parliament
on Wednesday validated the former MEP Renate Weber as new Ombudsman. Backed by
the ruling coalition formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of
Liberals and Democrats, Weber got 208 votes in favour and 134 against. Her
rivals for the post, the former MP Peter Eckstein-Kovacs, supported by the National Liberal Party, the Save
Romania Union and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, and the
lawyer Catalin Voinea Mic, proposed by the People’s Movement Party, were
rejected. Renate Weber will succeed the former Christian Democrat prime
minister from the 1990s Victor Ciorbea, whose performance as Ombudsman has come
under frequent criticism from the opposition, civil society and the media. A
lawyer and human rights activist, as well as Liberal politician, 63-year-old
Renate Weber also served as an advisor to the former president Traian Basescu
and as chair of the Soros Foundation Romania.

Football. Romania face Germany on
Thursday night in the semifinals of the European Under-21 Championship hosted
by Italy and San Marino. In the other semifinal, Spain take on France, also on
Thursday. The final will be held on Sunday. Romania reached the semifinals
after winning Group C with two clear wins, against Croatia, 4-1, and then
against England, 4-2, and a goalless draw against France. The qualification
also secures Romania’s ticket, after 55 years, to the Olympic Games hosted by
Tokyo next year. This is the second time Romania take part in a European Under-21
final tournament after 1998 when it was hosted by Bucharest.

Tennis. Simona Halep of Romania has reached
the quarterfinals of the grass court tennis tournament in Eastbourne, the UK,
after she defeated Slovenia’s Polona Hercog in three sets. She will play next Germany’s
Angelique Kerber. The tournament in Eastbourne is a good test ahead of Wimbledon,
the third Grand Slam tournament of the year which begins on Monday.

Weather. A warning is in place in Romania
until Thursday night for humid and hot weather, with the temperature-humidity
ratio expected to exceed the critical threshold. Rains will return, first in
the north and the hilly and mountainous regions and then spreading across the
country. The General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations said on Wednesday
that fire fighters were deployed to help clear the effects of dangerous weather
phenomena in 40 towns and villages in 13 counties and the capital Bucharest.
They helped pump out the water from dozens of homes, courtyards and cellars and
remove the trees felled by the storm on roads and streets.

26 June 2019
February 12, 2019 UPDATE

STATE BUDGET The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, said on Tuesday that the 2019 state budget bill drafted by the left-of-centre Power is “rushed and based on unrealistic economic estimates. The head of state warned that this is not the budget of the Social Democratic Party, but of Romania, and that stability and prosperity in the years to come depend on this, reads a news release issued by the Presidency. Iohannis is particularly critical of the funding cuts affecting national security institutions, which he sees as an irresponsible decision. Similar comments had been made previously by the right-wing Opposition as well. In Parliament, debates on the budget bill continued in the specialised committees, with the final vote scheduled for Friday. The budget is based on an estimated economic growth rate of 5.5%, a budget deficit of 2.5% of GDP and a GDP of over 200 billion euros.

BANKING The Governor of the National Bank of Romania, Mugur Isarescu, Tuesday assured Parliament that there is no deviation of the ROBOR index from the true market level. In a hearing at the Senates committees on budget-finances and the economy, Isarescu explained that the current level of ROBOR, the index used in calculating floating interest rates for national currency loans, can only fluctuate within the 1.5% to 3.5% range, because this is the only way the central bank can attract deposits from and provide loans to commercial banks. On the other hand, the chair of the Senates economic committee Daniel Zamfir (ALDE, a junior party in the ruling coalition), said the Romanian banking sector had the lowest financial intermediation rate in the EU, and profit rates twice the EU average. The dispute between Zamfir and Isarescu deepened after in January the local currency, the leu, dropped to all-time lows against the euro for several consecutive days. During the same period, ROBOR came close to 3%, pushing up the interests for national currency loans.

EU The EU member states committed on Tuesday to consolidate the legal framework for the supervision of financial institutions, in order to find the best means to fight money laundering. The Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union was invited to initiate as soon as possible negotiations with the European Parliament on the relevant legislative package. According to the Radio Romania correspondent in Brussels, the Romanian Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici, who chaired the ECOFIN meeting, emphasised that the rules for combating money laundering will be fully implemented in all EU member countries.

DEFENCE The Romanian defence minister Gabriel Leş is taking part on Wednesday and Thursday in a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels. According to a news release, topics of major interest are on the agenda, concerning the implementation of the decisions made in the latest NATO summit last year. On the sidelines of the meeting, the Romanian official will also have bilateral talks with his counterparts from the UK, Canada, and other NATO member and partner countries, including Georgia and Ukraine.

FRAUD Bucharests “Carol Davila Medical and Pharmacy University announced that a woman working as a volunteer physician in a public hospital in Bucharest does not appear in its records as a graduate of Bachelors and Masters degrees. The Healthcare Minister, Sorina Pintea, says the documents presented by the individual, who had been practicing gynaecology for 10 years, are forged, and that a criminal investigation will be initiated in this case. Prompted by a media investigation, the new case follows the one involving an Italian citizen who worked unlawfully as a plastic surgeon in private clinics in Romania. A secondary school graduate working as a parking valet in Italy, he already had a 1.5-years suspended sentence in his own country, for claiming to be a physician for a long time.

DIPLOMACY The US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, Tuesday travelled to Slovakia as part of his on-going European tour. In Bratislava, he reiterated the statements made previously in Hungary, concerning the importance of supporting Ukraines sovereignty and integrity, and said that Western Allies must not allow Russia to create division between NATO member states. Moscow is not the only power intent on eroding freedom in the region, Pompeo also warned, hinting at China. The US officials tour also includes Warsaw and Brussels, where he will have talks with the EU diplomacy chief Federica Mogherini.

TENNIS Romanias womens tennis team went up 3 places and is currently ranked 5th with 8,912.5 points, in the Fed Cup standings released by the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The increase is owing to the away win against trophy holder the Czech Republic on Sunday. Romanias next opponent in the Fed Cup semis is France, ranking 4th with 12,995 points, after defeating Belgium (3-1), in Liege. Romania outplayed the Czech Republic, 3-2, thanks to Simona Haleps 2 wins and to Irina Begu and Monica Niculescus victory in the doubles. Romania will take on France away from home on April 20th and 21st, in its first presence in the Fed Cup semi-finals since 1973.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

12 February 2019
February 4, 2019 UPDATE

Budget bill 2019 — Romania’s budget bill for 2019 will be debated Friday by the government, although the finance minister, Eugen Teodorovici, had announced late last week that the bill would be passed on Tuesday and sent to Parliament on the same day. According to the finance minister, the budget bill mainly focuses on the healthcare, education and investments domains. On Sunday the Social Democrats’ leader said that part of the sums additionally allotted to the intelligence services should be re-channeled towards important domains such as healthcare. In turn, the PM Viorica Dancila said that funds will be allotted according to realities and to not electoral observations made by the mayors of the big cities. Mayors of cities and towns are discontented with the budgets received and are asking for more money, because local administrations are to take over from the central budget a great deal of the social expenditure. The budget bill provides for a 5.5% economic growth rate, a 2.8% inflation rate and a deficit of 2.5% of the GDP. The draft budget has been criticized by the opposition.

JAI — The meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council to be hosted by Bucharest is an opportunity for Romania to show that Schengen accession is a national target, said Monday the interior minister Carmen Dan. She added that Schegen accession was an important issue for Romania, worth discussing with the European interior ministers. According to minister Dan, the agenda of the meeting also includes such issues as migration, the anti-terror fight and police cooperation, issues that are also on the agenda of Romania’s presidency of the Council of the EU. The meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council to be held this week in Bucharest will be attended by more than 30 ministers as well as by delegations from all member states, ministerial delegations from Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, and also by representatives of the General Secretariat of the Council of the EU.

Visit — Pope Francis, the first pontiff to visit the Arabian Peninsula, on Monday participated in an inter-religious meeting in the United Arab Emirates. In his speech, the pontiff said that religions could not renounce the urgent task of building bridges between people and cultures. Pope Francis also met with the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The Pope talked about the situation in Yemen, a poor country in the Arabian Peninsula, which is being faced with the most serious humanitarian crisis in the world, according to the UN, because of a devastating war. On Tuesday Pope Francis will hold a service on a stadium in Abu Dhabi. According to the Vatican’s estimates, as many as one million Catholics are living in the United Arab Emirates (almost 10% of the population, mostly Asian workers), a country with the largest number of Catholic churches in the region.

Venezuela — Several European states on Monday announced they recognized the opposition leader, Juan Guaido, as interim president of the country. On Thursday, the European Parliament had recognized Guaido’s authority and urged the EU countries to do the same. The EU does not have a common stand related to the status of Juan Guaido as interim president of Venezuela, as some states are being cautious. The foreign ministers of the EU members states have recently talked in Bucharest about this issue and have decided to support Guaido until elections are held in Venezuela, as they fear they might set an example for other opposition leaders. The EU wants Venezuela to hold free, fair and democratic presidential elections. (news update by L. Simion)

4 February 2019
Romania, the EU and NATO

The defence ministers of the EU states met in Bucharest to look into the prospects of implementing the EUs Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy. The meeting was organised by the Romanian presidency of the Council of the EU. The efforts to consolidate the strategic partnership between the EU and NATO were the focus of the talks. The High Representative of the European Union Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini urged the participants to finalize an agreement, in the weeks to come, that should allow for the continuation of the “SOPHIA operation in the Mediterranean Sea, designed to fight human trafficking.

A special guest of the meeting, NATOs Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met with the Romanian president Klaus Iohannis, who underscored that defence on the Alliances eastern flank and in the Black Sea region was a priority, while pointing to the fact that the relations between NATO and the EU should be based on close cooperation. He also said that Romania would continue to comply with the responsibilities it assumed as part of its relationship with NATO.

Klaus Iohannis: “There has been much talk lately of ‘burden sharing in terms of budget expenditure for defence. Romania has committed to earmark 2% of the GDP to defence and we are keeping our promise. A large part of this money will be channelled, as decided during the meeting of Romanias Supreme Council of National Defence, into the modernisation of the army, and this has been deemed as a positive example within NATO.

Jens Stoltenberg has hailed the increase in expenditure for the Romanian army, pointing out that these contributions make the Alliance stronger and Romania safer. NATOs Secretary General also mentioned the presence of the Romanian military in Afghanistan, who are working for that countrys stability, and the European efforts in the field of defence. Jens Stoltenberg appreciated the EU efforts in defence, because, he said, that can help develop new military capabilities, address the fragmentation of the European defence industry and also improve defence spending across Europe. He also said that the Europe Union and NATO are cooperating more closely than they have done ever before, and that it is important that EU efforts on defence complement, rather than compete with NATO.

NATOs Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg added that the EU can never replace NATO, which remains the bedrock of European security. He added that after Brexit 80% of NATOs defence expenditure would come from non-EU Allies and that 3 of the 4 battlegroups in the Baltic region and Poland would be led by non-EU NATO Allies: the US, Canada and the UK.

(translated by: Lacramioara Simion)

1 February 2019
December 27, 2018 UPDATE

DEFENCE The Supreme Defence Council convenes in Bucharest on Friday to review the request made by the Defence Minister, Gabriel Leş, regarding the filling of high-level vacancies in the Romanian Army, the Presidency announced. The Defence Minister had previously announced he would not extend Gen. Nicolae Ciucăs term in office as Chief of Staff, due to conclude on December 31st. The latest Supreme Defence Council meeting was held on December 19th, when the Armys procurement plan for 2019 – 2028 was approved, along with the forces and equipment that Romania will deploy next year for missions and operations abroad. 1902 Romanian troops will take part in international operations, which is 127 more than this year, while the Interior Ministry will contribute 759 troops and police to EU, OSCE, NATO and UN missions. Romania will continue to take part in NATOs Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan and will maintain its contribution to Allied operations in the Western Balkans. Also, for the first time, a transport and evacuation helicopter unit will participate in the UN mission in Mali.

JUDICIARY The Prosecutor General of Romania, Augustin Lazar, says his dismissal as requested by the Justice Minister Tudorel Toader disregards the law and the EU recommendations, and is of a strictly political nature. Lazar argues that Minister Toaders statements and measures are liable to undermine the public confidence in the ability of the judicial system to perform its constitutional role. The Justice Minister had announced he would send President Klaus Iohannis the documents to complete Lazars removal from office, initiated in October. The head of state described the measure as a mistake, and the prosecutor section of the Higher Council of Magistracy did not agree with the dismissal. Lazar, accused by the Justice Minister of professional and managerial underperformance, filed a lawsuit against the decision, which is to be tried by the Supreme Court. The Opposition in Bucharest says that the attempt to dismiss Lazar, after this summer the National Anti-Corruption Directorate chief Laura Codruta Kovesi was also sacked, is a form of political retaliation and a move designed to hinder the fight against corruption.

BORDER Border police from Romania and the Republic of Moldova will set up joint teams to monitor the common state line. The joint patrols will help improve cooperation in view of combating cross-border crime, the authorities of the 2 states explain. A protocol in this respect was signed on November 22nd in Bucharest, during a joint meeting of the 2 national governments. The Republic of Moldova has a similar agreement signed with its other neighbour, Ukraine.

HANDBALL Romanias mens handball team is playing against the Czech Republic on Friday, in the semi-finals of the “4 Nations Cup held in Poland. In the other semi-final, the host country is facing Japan. On Saturday the 2 winners will play against each other, and so will the other 2 semi-finalists. After New Years the national team, coached by Spains Manuel Montoya and the Romanian Eliodor Voica will be on a training session in Slovakia, followed by a tournament with Croatia and Netherlands also taking part. The Romanians failed to qualify to the World Championship due in Germany and Denmark next month. The Romanian womens team however has already booked its ticket to next years World Championship in Japan, after finishing 4th in the European Championship in France this month.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

27 December 2018
November 2, 2018 UPDATE

PRESIDENCY -The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, will have a meeting on November 14th in London with the British PM, Theresa May, at the latters invitation, official sources told AGERPRES news agency on Friday. On the same day, Klaus Iohannis will attend a reception at Buckingham Palace, in honour of Charles, Prince of Wales 70th birthday, at the invitation of Queen Elizabeth II.

GOVERNMENT- The PM of Romania, Viorica Dăncilă, said in Varna on Friday, that at the 4-party meeting between Romanian, Bulgarian, Greek and Serbian officials she had underlined that more must be done for Europes energy security, especially by diversifying supply sources and stepping up the interconnection process. In the field of transport, she reiterated Romanias interest in the building of new motorways and bridges across the River Danube. Attending the meeting were the PMs of Bulgaria and Greece, Boiko Borisov and Alexis Tsipras, the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, and the Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu. Prior to the talks, Dǎncilǎ and her Israeli counterpart agreed on the organisation of an economic forum, ahead of the joint meeting of the 2 countries governments. PM Dăncilă presented to her Israeli counterpart the changes operated on the legislation regulating public-private partnerships, which have made the Romanian investment climate more attractive. The Romanian official also reconfirmed Romanias interest in strengthening and deepening relations with Israel in energy and cyber security, healthcare, research and innovation. The 2 prime ministers also discussed means of cooperation between Romania and Israel, in the context of the Romanian presidency of the EU Council as of January 2019.

BUDGET -The leaders of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, which make up the ruling coalition in Romania, convened on Friday for talks on this years budget adjustment and on 2019 budgetary projections. Attending the meeting was also finance minister Eugen Teodorovici. The agenda also included plans for setting up a Sovereign Development and Investment Fund and the companies that should be part of this fund, personnel downsizing measures in certain ministries and governmental agencies, and a possible increase in minimum salaries as of December 1.

EU FUNDING -The European Commissioner for regional development Corina Creţu reiterated that Bucharest has so far submitted no funding applications for any major project that could be financed by the European Commission, except for the M6 underground line which is currently being analysed. We are long past the deadlines Romania has set itself for applying for EU funds for regional hospitals, for 3 motorways, for the Braila bridge and for the Bucharest ring road, Corina Creţu says. In a social network post, the European Commissioner dismisses the accusations made against her after she had repeatedly warned that the EU fund absorption by the Romanian Government has slowed down. Darius Vâlcov, adviser to PM Viorica Dăncilă, claimed on Thursday that the funding provided by the EU only accounts for 10% of the costs of building a regional hospital, and that the balance must be supplied by the Romanian state.

LABOUR- Switzerland will lift all labour market restrictions for Romanian workers in May next year. The announcement was made during a visit to Bucharest on Thursday by the president of the Swiss Confederation, Alain Berset, who was received by President Klaus Iohannis. Alain Berset said, on the other hand, that Switzerland supports Bucharests bid for OECD membership, and that, although it is not an EU member, it will stand by Romania during the countrys presidency of the EU Council, in the first half of 2019.

PROSECUTOR GENERAL – Romanias Prosecutor General, Augustin Lazăr, has demanded in court the suspension of procedures to remove him from office, started by the Justice Minister, Tudorel Toader. Lazar had earlier filed a complaint at the Justice Ministry against the assessment report drafted by Tudorel Toader. On October 24, the line minister started the procedure to remove Romanias Prosecutor General from office, mentioning 20 points against Lazar, among which signing a secret protocol with the Romanian Intelligence Service in 2016 and hiding the truth about this protocol.

DEFENCE –Romanian defence minister Mihai Fifor said on Friday that Romania has reached the objectives set for this year in terms of the Armys endowment. The official claims that from this point of view, and not only, Romania is one of NATOs trustworthy partners. Mihai Fifor has recalled that this is the second year in a row that the Romanian Government allots 2% of the GDP for defence. The line minister has also said the Romanian military are still present on theatres of operations, and are also dispatched to Poland, under a partnership within NATO.

VETERINARY The Romanian Veterinary Board has organised a rally at the Government headquarters on Friday, in order to draw attention to the major problems facing this profession and jeopardising public health. Veterinary physicians demand the immediate amendment of the law regulating their profession, which must be brought in line with a ruling of the EU Court of Justice. Otherwise, the protesters warn, public health is at grave risk in Romania, where anybody may open a veterinary dispensary and sell medications, without the need for veterinary physician supervision, and anybody may purchase such medication and give it to animals.

FARMING Hundreds of companies from 25 countries are taking part in Bucharest, until Sunday, in the international farming trade fair INDAGRA, the largest of this kind in Romania. As part of the trade fair, the Rural Investment Financing Agency has organised a national conference on “Rural Development: A fundamental element of economic competitiveness and cohesion at EU level. Taking part in the conference was the Minister for Agriculture and rural Development, Petre Daea. The participants discussed the elements supporting the transformation of Romanian agriculture and rural communities, so as to be able to contribute to the competitiveness of the national economy.

PROTEST – Over 100 workers from the ArcelorMittal Hunedoara steelworks in south-western Romania protested on Friday against the delayed negotiations on pay-rises. The protesters claim that most of them will earn next year the national minimum wage, if the Government increases this wage. The president of the “Steelworker Trade Union, Petru Vaidoş, said the trade union will brief the ArcelorMittal European Enterprise Committee, that will convene in Luxembourg next week. This is the second protest started by the steelworkers from ArcelorMittal Hunedoara, after that organised on October 18. The company based in Hunedoara has some 700 employees. (Translated by AM Popescu and D. Vijeu)

2 November 2018
October 24, 2018 UPDATE

DISMISSAL The Romanian Justice Minister, Tudorel Toader, Wednesday initiated the procedure to remove from office the Prosecutor General of Romania Augustin Lazar, whom he accuses of exceeding his duties. Toader presented an assessment of Lazars managerial performance, in which he criticises the latter, among other things, for having overlooked crisis situations, for generating conflicts of a constitutional nature and for making political statements containing unprecedented accusations targeting public authorities, the legislative bodies and the government. Toader announced that he would submit the assessment report and the proposal to dismiss the Prosecutor General to the Prosecutors Section of the Higher Council of Magistrates for an official opinion, and to the President of Romania for a decision in line with his powers. In February the Justice Minister also requested the removal from office of the head of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, Laura Codruta Kovesi, accused of overstepping her powers. The head of state did not agree with the request, but the Constitutional Court found that a constitutional conflict between Presidency and Government had emerged, and issued a ruling forcing the President to remove Kovesi from office in July.

CONSULTATIONS President Klaus Iohannis Wednesday held talks with Romanian parliamentary parties on the justice laws recently modified by the governing coalition made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, but fiercely criticized by the opposition and civil society. Ahead of the talks, the President had said the justice laws had to be rethought, modernised and improved, and that the law-making cycle should be resumed. The Social Democratic Party disagrees with resuming the legislation process for the justice laws because a Government order has been submitted to Parliament in this respect, the party president Liviu Dragnea said at the end of the consultations with the head of state. Calin Popescu Tariceanu, president of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, in power, said that consensus on the justice laws was necessary, but so were a set of shared assumptions, such as the need to end the abuse in the judiciary perpetrated under the secret protocols. The National Liberal Party, in the opposition, has voiced support for the resumption of parliamentary debates on the justice laws, as suggested by the head of state. Also in opposition, the leader of Save Romania Union, Dan Barna believes the Presidency could be a good mediation platform for debates between magistrates, politicians, civil society and the citizens of Romania who want the judiciary to remain independent and effective. The Peoples Movement Party, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania and the group of ethnic minorities also took part in the consultations with President Klaus Iohannis. Last week, the Venice Commission, the Council of Europe consultative body for the judicial sector, said in a report that the changes to the justice laws and Criminal Codes are undermining the fight against corruption and organised crime.

LAW – The Romanian Chamber of Deputies Wednesday endorsed the Offshore Bill, after the ruling coalition made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats reached an agreement on it last week. In early August, President Klaus Iohannis did not sign the bill into law and sent it back to Parliament for a review. What is at stake is, first and foremost, the profit that Romania will make from natural gas extraction in the Black Sea. Under the new bill, 50% of the natural gas output will be traded on the Romanian exchange, and the investments made by operators will be deducted from the tax on additional incomes up to a 30% ceiling. The Opposition argues that once again the bill has been passed without exact data and impact analyses regarding the use of the natural gas in the domestic market.

3-PARTY MEETING President Klaus Iohannis will take part next week in Vienna in a 3-party meeting with the heads of state of Bulgaria and Austria. According to the Presidency, the meeting is aimed at ensuring the continuity of the 3 presidencies of the EU Council. In his talks with Rumen Radev and Alexander Van der Bellen, Klaus Iohannis will emphasise Romanias interest in working together with Bulgaria and Austria to meet the shared goal of promoting the European agenda, to the best interest of the EU citizens. During its presidential term, Romania will focus on promoting a pragmatic approach and feasible objectives, so that European citizens may benefit from concrete results. Romania will hold the rotating presidency of the European Union Council between January 1 and June 30, 2019.

DEFENCE – The Romanian Government has earmarked 2% of the GDP for defense, for the second consecutive year, and it will keep doing so at least until 2026, Romanian Defence Minister Mihai Fifor said in Bucharest on Wednesday. He also said that this amount allows for one of the most solid army modernisation and development processes in NATOs eastern flank. Minister Fifor has announced that on Thursday, October 25, on the Romanian Army Day, ceremonies will be held in memory of the Romanian heroes who died for the country. A Romanian military delegation will take part on Thursday in the funeral ceremonies for 633 Romanian troops, to be re-buried in the Romanian Honorary Cemetery in Rossoshka, Volvograd region, in the Russian Federation. October 25th was also the birthday of Romanias former sovereign, Michael I who died in 2017 aged 96.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

24 October 2018
October 4, 2018 UPDATE

JUSTICE – Romanias President, Klaus Iohannis, on Thursday signed the decree under which he promulgated the controversial law on the functioning of the Superior Council of Magistracy. The president has however reiterated that he does not support the changes brought to the bill, which alongside the Law on the judicial organisation, promulgated in July and the one on the status of magistrates, is part of a package called the Justice Laws. The president claims the changes brought to the existing legal framework in the field of justice is a downfall for democracy in Romania. The president requests that the three laws be re-analysed. We recall that the Justice Laws, in the form proposed and adopted by the ruling majority made up of the Social Democratic Party-the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats have been criticised by civil society, also through large protests, and by the Opposition, and have made the subject of significant reproaches by the European institutions. This week, the First Vice-President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, has said in the European Parliament during a debate on the rule of law in Romania, that the country has taken steps backwards in the reform of the judiciary and the fight against corruption, also through the changes brought to the Justice Laws.

CORRUPTION – The Romanian police have confirmed that the former tourism minister Elena Udrea and the former head of the Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT), Alina Bica, have been detained in Costa Rica, following intelligence sent from Bucharest. According to judicial sources, the two are to be heard in court. They have applied for asylum in Costa Rica, and that is why judges might postpone a decision regarding their extradition. Udrea and Bica were under investigation, surveillance and monitoring by the Costa Rican authorities, as they were wanted internationally by Interpol, following the sentences they had received in Romania for corruption. For a long time seen as the most influential character in the former president Traian Basescus entourage, Udrea received from the High Court of Cassation and Justice a final 6-year prison sentence for bribe taking and abuse of office. The same court sentenced Bica to 4 years in prison, in a case in which she was accused of aiding and abetting a criminal.

NATO- Bucharest will pay special heed to strengthening transatlantic relations, during the Romanian presidency of the EU Council, in the first half of 2019, defence minister Mihai Fifor has said in Brussels. Attending the NATO defence ministers meeting in Brussels, minister Fifor has drawn attention to the importance of fighting hybrid and cyber attacks and underlined the importance of military mobility, a domain in which Romania supports the idea of adopting common NATO-EU standards. On Wednesday, the first day of the meeting, the participants analysed the stage of implementation of the decisions made by the allies at the July summit in Poland and assessed NATOs relation with Georgia.

REFERENDUM – The campaign for the referendum on redefining family in the Romanian Constitution, due on October 6-7 ends on Friday, 7 a.m. local time. Romanian citizens are called to the polls to say whether they agree to see the definition in the Constitution, which currently reads ‘the consented marriage between spouses, changed into ‘the consented marriage between a man and a woman, the definition proposed by Parliament. The initiative to change the phrasing in the Constitution came from the Coalition for Family, which comprises several Christian organizations. The coalition gathered 3 million signatures to support their initiative. The referendum has been criticized by associations that protect the rights of sexual minorities. For the referendum to be valid, at least 30% of the voters registered on electoral lists must take part, and 25% of the votes must be valid.

CYBERCRIME – The Romanian Foreign Ministry expresses its solidarity with Great Britain, following Londons denouncement of hostile cyber actions. ‘Romania, in its capacity as EU and NATO member state, situated in the proximity of regions marked by instability, is facing such challenges too reads a communiqué issued by the ministry. Bucharest has reconfirmed its commitment to supporting the fight against cyber attacks and has voiced interest in cooperating with Great Britain and the other allies in implementing firm and concrete measures aimed at preventing and curbing such phenomena. Previously, the British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt had accused the Russian military intelligence services (GRU) of perpetrating cyber attacks against companies and institutions across the world. Hunt has also announced that Great Britain and its allies will discuss about imposing new sanctions on Russia.

MONETARY POLICY – The Romanian Central Bank has decided to maintain the monetary policy interest rate at 2.5% per year, and the one for bank deposits at 1.5%. The interest rate for loans will stand at 3.5%. These interest rates are used in the relations between commercial banks and the Central Bank. The values of the current rates for minimum reserve requirements applicable to liabilities in RON and in hard currencies have also been maintained. (Translated by M. Ignatescu and D. Vijeu)

4 October 2018
September 26, 2018

UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY — Romania’s President, Klaus Iohannis, will give a national address during the general debate of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly. He will refer to the current challenges to peace, equitability and sustainability of the UN member states and to the role played by the UN in tackling these issues. The Romanian president will also dwell on Romania’s commitments as a member state, the more so as the country will hold the rotating presidency of the EU Council in the first half of 2019, underlining that strengthening the relationship between the EU and the UN is a priority. Last but not least, Klaus Iohannis will also approach the issue of Romania’s candidacy for a new mandate of non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2020 — 2021 period. The UN General Assembly this year is focussing on gender equality, migration and refugees, working in decent conditions, the role of young people with respect to peace and security, supporting the rights of disabled people, actions taken in the field of climate change and revitalising the activity of the organisation.

VISIT– Romanian PM Viorica Dăncilă is currently on a working visit to Brussels. During the talks she will approach topical issues on the European agenda, in the run up to Romania’s taking over the rotating presidency of the EU Council. Dancila will also reiterate Bucharest’s readiness to actively contribute to the process of reflecting on and building Europe’s future. On Tuesday, Viorica Dăncilă held talks with European officials, among whom Udo Bullmann and Manfred Weber. The Romanian PM has also made a presentation of the reforms initiated by the government in key domains for Romania and has shown that they are the result of transparent inter-institutional cooperation, the opinion of European partners having been requested when drafting them. The talks in Brussels are unfolding ahead of the EP plenary session due in Strasbourg, next week. The Romanian PM has been invited to attend a debate on the anti-governmental protests of August 10 in Bucharest, which were ended by the forceful gendarme intervention.

MOTION– The Chamber of Deputies has today rejected the simple motion tabled by the National Liberal Party, in opposition, against the agriculture minister, Petre Daea. The document was debated on Tuesday. The Liberals denounce minister Daea’s lack of action to contain the African swine fever epidemic in Romania and demanded his resignation. The National Liberal Party says the population’s food safety was at risk and that the pork industry has been compromised in Romania for a long time from now on. In response, the agriculture minister said the relevant authorities had taken the measures established at European level for such cases and the evolution of the Swine fever, for which there is no vaccine or cure at the moment, is strictly monitored. Some 900 outbreaks have been confirmed in several counties across the country since the emergence of the first outbreak in Romania in late July 2017.

DEFENCE — Romanian defence minister Mihai Fifor underlined in Washington on Tuesday Bucharest’s efforts to consolidate security on NATO’s eastern flank. He also mentioned Romania’s commitment to observe the equitable role, risk and responsibility sharing principle within the Alliance. According to a communiqué issued by the Defece Ministry, during his visit to the US, Fifor has had a series of meeting with representatives of companies active in the defence industry, together with whom he approached issues related to prospective cooperation in the field. On that occasion, the Romanian official restated the Romanian government’s intention to develop all national strategic acquisition programs, through the Romanian defence industry.

CONSTITUTIONAL COURT — Romania’s Constitutional Court has today postponed until October 16 the discussion on the notification sent by president Klaus Iohannis relative to the changes brought to the Law on the Status of local officials. The president says the changes introduce new sanctions for local and county counsellors, which are stipulated by another law, namely that referring to the conflict of interest. Klaus Iohannis also shows in the notification he sent to the Constitutional Court that these provisions run counter to the Constitution, which provides for law clarity.

RadiRo — Season tickets are available as from today for the symphonic concerts given during the RadiRo International Festival, the only festival in Europe and the world devoted to radio orchestras, organised by Radio Romania. The festival runs between October 18 and 25, in Bucharest. The musical highlight of the autumn in Bucharest will bring together some of the best known radio symphony orchestras in Great Britain, Switzerland, Ireland and Germany, Big-Bands from Denmark and Croatia, alongside Radio Romania’s National Orchestra and the Big Band. The novelty this year is a series of jazz concerts given among others by the Romanian-born vocalist, Aura Urziceanu.

26 September 2018
August 29, 2018 UPDATE

DEFENCE Romanian Defence Minister Mihai
Fifor has joined his EU counterparts for an informal meeting in Vienna staged
under the Austrian presidency of the EU Council on Wednesday and Thursday.
According to the Defence Ministry in Bucharest, the participants will be
discussing the EU’s commitment to security in the Western Balkans. According to
the same sources the next meeting in the same format is due in Bucharest in
January, when Romania will be holding the EU’s half-yearly presidency.

ADMISSION All the 6 applicants for the
position of Romania’s Chief Anti-corruption prosecutor have been declared
admitted and are to be interviewed by Justice Minister Tudorel Toader next week,
sources with the Justice Ministry announced on Wednesday. According to the same
sources, the results of the selection for the head of the country’s main
Anti-corruption Agency (DNA) are to be made public on September 6th.
The Justice Minister’s nominee is to be endorsed by the Supreme Court of
Magistracy and by the country’s president. We recall the former DNA head, Laura
Codruta Kovesi was sacked in July through a presidential decree forced by a
decision made by the country’s Constitutional Court.

FOOTBALL Romania’s football champions
and vice-champions, CFR Cluj and FCSB respectively, will be playing on their
own ground the return games in the Europa League’s play-off. CFR will be up
against Dudelange of Luxembourg after their surprising two-nil defeat in the
first round, while FCSB will be playing Rapid Vienna. The Austrians have
secured a three-one win in the first round. Unless neither of the two sides manages
to qualify, Romania will be left without representation in Europe’s football competitions.

SWINE FEVER Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis
has called on the Government to urgently adopt all measures to contain the
number of African swine fever outbreaks and to offer compensations to the
affected producers, as soon as possible. Because of the mismanagement of this
crisis situation, the government has pushed local producers to the brink of
bankruptcy, the President writes in a communiqué. According to him, tens of
million of Euros in losses have already been registered, thousands of jobs have
slashed and the country missed on significant trade opportunities. At present
there are over 700 hotbeds in Romania, in 10 counties, mostly in the south-east
and north-west. Hundreds of thousands of
pigs have been slaughtered because the virus was spreading at a fast pace,
including in a pig farm in Braila, in the south-east, the largest in Romania
and the second largest in Europe.

(translated by bill)

29 August 2018
Romanian-British Strategic Relations

Romania plays a key role within NATO, says the British Defence Secretary, Gavin Williamson, who paid a visit to Romania on Thursday. He had a meeting in Bucharest with his Romanian counterpart, Mihai Fifor. During the talks, the Romanian defence minister requested British support in the process of rendering the NATO army corps headquarters operational, as Roamnia has expressed its readiness, at the recent summit of the alliance, to host such a structure on its territory. The security situation in the Black Sea region was also one of the focal points of the talks in Bucharest.

Mihai Fifor: “Weve mentioned the Russian Federations political and military aggressiveness and its intention to militarise the Black Sea by increasing the number of military troops in the region and deploying new capabilities with a predominantly offensive potential, from all categories of the armed forces. The Russian Federation focuses its efforts on hybrid tactics and actions, with the aim of undermining the internal stability of both former Soviet states and of the allied countries situated in its vicinity, fuelling the so-called ‘frozen conflicts.

In turn, Gavin Williamson said his country will provide military support to the NATO Brigade in Craiova, south-western Romania, and gave assurances that Great Britain will further contribute to consolidating European security, post-Brexit, as it had actually done long before the EU took shape.

The two officials paid a visit to the RoAF 57th Air Base in Constanta County, in the south-east. They met with British military operating the aircraft belonging to the Royal Air Force and with the Romanian personnel of the military base. Mihai Fifor thanked the approximately 160 British military who carry out air police missions by August 31, flying four Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, alongside the MIG 21 Lancer aircraft operated by their colleagues from the Romanian Air Forces.

Mihai Fifor: “It is an immense pleasure to me to reiterate our appreciation for the presence in Romania of Great Britains Royal Air Force. I take this opportunity to restate our common wish to continue this cooperation, which is extremely valuable to Romania; it is a team effort made by a team of professionals. I wish you good luck in your future missions, smooth flights and clear skies!

Mihai Fifor has also said the British partners presence in Romania is a message of solidarity within the North-Atlantic Alliance, a fact also confirmed by Gavin Williamson. The efforts made by the military are extremely important as they bring more safety to the people living on the whole European continent, and the partnership between the two nations will be brought to a higher level, the British official has also underlined. The two officials have also had another private meeting, afterwards they talked to the military stationed at the base before flying back to Bucharest.

3 August 2018
July 28, 2018 UPDATE

AIR SHOW – Baneasa International Airport Saturday hosted the 10th edition of the most impressive aviation event in Romania, Bucharest International Air Show & General Aviation Exhibition (BIAS). This years edition was devoted to the centennial of the Romanian nation state. Attending BIAS were 150 military and civilian aircraft, over 100 pilots and parachute jumpers from 13 countries – Romania, Turkey, Poland, Hungary, Britain, Germany, USA, Greece, Austria, Italy, Spain, the Czech Republic and Lithuania. Visitors were invited to watch elite demonstrations and air stunts, and to see the aircraft on display as part of the exhibition. The special guests were the aerobatics demonstration team of the Turkish Air Forces, the Turkish Stars, the only such team in the world using 8 supersonic fighter jets.

NAVY – Three NATO military vessels are docked between July 28th and 31st at the Constanta military port at the Black Sea. After having stopped at the Burgas port in Bulgaria and Odessa in Ukraine, the Romanian dredger ‘Lt. Lupu Dinescu’, the Turkish mine sweeper ‘TCG Anamur’ and the German tender ‘FGS Rhein’ are in the third port these days, taking part in the multinational exercise BREEZE 18 in Bulgarian waters and in international Black Sea waters, as well as in joint naval exercises with Ukrainian vessels. On Sunday, the Romanian, German and Turkish ships will be open to the general public.

JUDICIARY – Serbia denied Romanias request for the extradition of its former MP Sebastian Ghiţă. The High Court of Justice in Belgrade also ruled that Ghita was eligible for asylum. Subject to several criminal cases pending in Romania, Sebastian Ghiţă left the country in December 2016. He was apprehended in April 2017 in Belgrade, while trying to use a forged Slovenian passport, and was subsequently released on bail.

ANTHEM DAY – National Anthem Day will be celebrated on Sunday in all military units around the country, the Romanian Defence Ministry announced. Bucharests Tricolour Square will host a religious service and an anthem related music show. July 29th was proclaimed the National Anthem Day in 1998. The current anthem is called “Wake up, ye, Romanian and was chosen after the fall of the communist regime in December 1989. The anthem is based on a patriotic poem written and published by Andrei Muresanu in 1848.

ARMY – The Romanian Defence Ministry carries on an army equipment upgrade programme, for which over one-third of this years total defence budget will be allotted, the line minister Mihai Fifor has announced. He added that a system of anti-ship missile launchers will be purchased. “We want any major equipment upgrade project of the Romanian Army to be able to channel as much money as possible back into the national defence industry, Mihai Fifor said. For example, he added, of the 36 Piranha 5 armoured vehicles to be delivered to the Army this year, 6 will be produced at an industrial facility in Bucharest.

GREECE – The 2 Romanian military planes, one fitted with fire-extinguishing equipment and another to provide logistic support, which were sent to wildfire-ravaged Greece this week, have completed their mission and returned to the country on Saturday. According to a news release issued by the National Defence Ministry, the planes sent to Athens on Wednesday conducted fire extinguishing missions on mainland Greece and on the island of Crete. The Romanian aircraft were serviced by around 20 military staff. Meanwhile in Athens, PM Alexis Tsipras has taken full political responsibility for the tragedy caused by the devastating fires east of Athens, which killed at least 88 people last week. Amid accusations of utter failure to protect the citizens, Alexis Tsipras promised a national plan to fight decade-long building code violations.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

28 July 2018