Radio România Internațional

Tag: defense ministers meeting

  • August 26, 2020

    August 26, 2020

    DECISION – Bucharest authorities today might decide on the possible
    re-opening of theatres, cinemas and restaurants, during a meeting of the
    National Committee for Emergency Situations. Prime Minister Ludovic Orban on
    Tuesday said keeping these venues closed in areas where the virus is spreading
    rapidly is still a possibility. Attending today’s meeting are also
    representatives of the hospitality sector in Romania. The Government will also
    discuss health safety measures linked to the election campaign.






    COVID-19
    IN ROMANIA – 1.256 new infections with SARS CoV-2
    were reported in the last 24 hours in Romania, taking the total number of infections
    to some 81.600, the Group for Strategic Communication has informed. Over 3.400
    people have died to the virus so far, while the number of patients in intensive
    care stands at 500. According to the latest report of the National Center for
    Surveillance and Control of Communicable Diseases, the number of infections
    dropped slightly over August 17-23 compared to previous weeks, but remains high
    compared to the March-June period.




    ELECTION – The Bucharest Election Bureau has validated 18 candidacies for the
    position of Mayor General in the upcoming local election of September 27.
    According to the Bureau, 22 lists of candidates were submitted by political
    parties or alliances, as well as independent candidacies, for the General
    Council and the six district councils in the capital city. The order of
    appearance on the voting ballots will be drawn on Friday, when the official
    campaign is also due to kick off. The campaign will end on September 26 at 7
    AM, 24 hours before the voting process is set to start. Originally slated for
    June, the election was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.






    DEFENSE
    – Romania’s Defense Minister Nicolae Ciuca on
    Wednesday had a bilateral meeting with his German counterpart, Annegret
    Kramp-Karrenbauer, on the sidelines of the EU Defense Ministers meeting, held
    in Berlin. Talks focused on the development of defense cooperation with NATO,
    the EU and the UN. Minister Ciuca expressed Romania’s readiness to support the
    German presidency of the EU Council and highlighted the importance of
    consolidating cooperation between NATO and the European Union. The two
    officials also tackled a series of elements on NATO’s defense and deterrence
    capabilities, as well as the security context in the Eastern Mediterranean and
    in the Black Sea. The two ministers also agreed on intensifying bilateral
    cooperation in the field of defense. The agenda of the meeting in Berlin
    includes debates on the EU’s operational commitments, developing cooperation
    with partners, the Strategic Compass – the EU’s upcoming instrument in the
    field of security and defense, and debates on the concept of European Defense
    and Security Culture post-COVID.




    BACCALAUREATE – The autumn session
    of the Romanian Baccalaureate exam continues today with the test in the
    optional subject. On Thursday, graduates representing national minorities will
    take their mother tongue test. Scheduled for next week is the validation of
    linguistic and digital skills. Initial results will be made public on September
    2. On the same day, candidates are free to file for re-examination. The final
    results will be listed on September 5. Over 42.700 students are sitting the
    autumn session of the Baccalaureate, accounting for nearly 60% of the total
    number of graduates this year.




    FOOTBALL – Romanian champions CFR Cluj is today playing Dinamo Zagreb of
    Croatia in the one-leg second preliminary round of Champions League. In the
    first round, CFR defeated FC Floriana of Malta 2-nil away from home. Tomorrow,
    in the first preliminary round, FC Botosani will take on FC Ordabasy of
    Kazakhstan away from home, FCSB will play FC Shirak of Armenia at home.
    Finally, CS Universitatea Craiova will play FC Locomotive Tbilisi of Georgia.




    TENNIS – The Romanian-Dutch pair Horia Tecau and Jean-Julien Royer is
    toadying taking on Steve Johnson and Austin Krajicek of the United States in
    the doubles quarterfinals at the ATP tournament in Cincinnati, hosted by New
    York and totaling some $4.2 million in prize money. On Monday Tecau and Rojer
    ousted Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Oliver Marach of Austria, 6-3, 6-4.
    Their upcoming opponents, Johnson and Krajicek, knocked out second-seeds Lukasz
    Kubot of Poland and Marcelo Melo of Brazil, 6-3, 7-6.


    (Translated by V. Palcu)





  • June 8, 2018

    June 8, 2018

    Warsaw — The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis and his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda are today participating in Warsaw in the Bucharest 9 meeting, which includes NATO members from central and Eastern Europe. The participants will tackle ways to consolidate the NATO military presence on the eastern flank of the Alliance, to extend dialogue on security and strengthening cooperation between NATO and the EU, including military mobility. On Thursday, on the first day of his visit to Poland, President Iohannis stated, after talks with his Polish counterpart, that Romania and Poland had a common interest in defending NATO’s eastern flank, given the threats and difficult situation in the region. The two heads of state also talked about the excellent bilateral relations, especially in the economic and military fields.



    High Court – The High Court of Cassation and Justice of Romania might give its verdict today in the case in which the speaker of the Chamber of Deputies and leader of the Social Democratic Party Liviu Dragnea is accused of corruption. Last month, the prosecutors of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate asked the court for a sentence of 7 years and 5 months in prison for abuse of office and of 2 years and 6 months for intellectual forgery. They accuse Liviu Dragnea that, when he held the position of president of the Teleorman county council, he ordered the fictitious employment of two Social Democratic party members at the Directorate for Social Assistance and Child Protection. The two were paid from public money although they worked exclusively for the Social Democratic Party. Dragnea claimed he was innocent and denied prosecutors’ accusations. In 2016 Dragnea received a definitive, suspended 2-year prison sentence for attempted electoral fraud.



    Sibiu — Almost 13 million Euros is the budget of this year’s edition of the Sibiu International Theater Festival, which kicks off today. Until June 17 the participants in the festival will be able to see 524 shows. The 25th edition of the Sibiu festival will bring to Sibiu 3,300 artists from 73 countries. This is the first year when the festival has two honorary patrons: the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, a former mayor of Sibiu and Prince Charles, the Heir to the British Crown, who is famous for his passion for the region of Transylvania, in central Romania.



    ASEF — The 38th ASEF Board of Governors’ Meeting continues in Bucharest. ASEF – Asia- Europe Foundation is the only institution within the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) cooperation format and the main platform for the consolidation of inter-human cooperation between Europe and Asia in the fields of culture, education, durable development and good governance. Romania became a member of ASEF and ASEM on January 1, 2007, when it joined the EU. This meeting currently held in Bucharest announces future meetings to be held in Bucharest in the first 6 months of 2019, namely the Forum of Students, the Conference of ASEF rectors and the Meeting of ASEM education ministers. The meetings will unfold under the auspices of the Romanian presidency of the EU.



    G 7 — The German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated that she expected controversies at the G7 summit to take place on Friday and Saturday in Canada, given the current context of differences between Washington and its partners, France press reports. We’ll have controversies mainly in relation to international trade, environmental protection and development and foreign polices, Mrs. Merkel warned. According to France press, the biggest differences are related to the Iranian nuclear deal, from which Donald Trump has recently withdrawn the US, and to Washington’s decision to impose heavier taxes on aluminum and steel imports for all G7 members.



    Brussels — At the defense ministers’ meeting of the NATO member states held in Brussels, the Romanian defense minister Mihai Fifor evoked the importance of the full implementation of decisions adopted at NATO level. He referred mainly to the need for a coherent approach, at strategic level, of an advanced presence on the entire eastern flank, including in the Black Sea region, from the perspective of planning, training, drills as well as command. Minister Fifor also reiterated Romania’s commitment to developing military capabilities necessary for NATO’s missions and operations, and underscored the importance of the allied forces’ interoperability. (news translated by Lacramioara Simion)

  • April 27, 2017

    April 27, 2017

    Constitutional Court — Romania’s Constitutional Court will analyze on May 4 the Ombudsman’s notification regarding the law that forbids a person with a criminal sentence to be a member of the government. It is the 4th time that the Romanian Constitutional Court postpones making a decision, as they invoke the complexity of the case, claiming that the issue should be analyzed from a political point of view. The Law that forbids people with a criminal sentence to be part of the government is the law that prevented the leader of the Social Democratic Party, Liviu Dragnea, to request the position of prime minister after the elections the Social Democrats won in December 2016. In 2016 Dragnea received a 2-year suspended sentence for attempting to rig the referendum of 2012 on the impeachment of the then president Traian Basescu. The Ombudsman made the notification in early January.



    Cooperation — The Romanian President, Klaus Iohannis, underlined Georgia’s contribution to euro-Atlantic security, including through its participation in NATO missions, during a meeting, in Bucharest, with the Georgian prime minister, Giorgi Kvirikashvili. The Georgian official has previously met with his Romanian counterpart Sorin Grindeanu with whom he signed a political declaration of cooperation. Romania and Georgia cooperate in such domains as tourism, economy, agriculture, sea trade, culture, science and sports. In the first quarter of 2017, the volume of trade exchanges between the two countries stood at more than 44.3 million dollars. PM Grindeanu has also given assurances to his Georgian counterpart that Romania supports the European aspirations of his country. In turn, the Georgian PM thanked Romanian authorities for the support provided also for the elimination of visas to the EU for the Georgian citizens.



    Defense ministers meeting — The Romanian defense minister, Gabriel Leş, has reiterated Romania’s commitment to actively contribute to the consolidation of the Security and Defense Policy of the EU. He made this statement at the meeting he had in Malta with the Chief Executive of the European Defense Agency, Jorge Domecq. In turn, the European official thanked Romania for its involvement in the Agency’s programs. The talks were held on the sidelines of the informal meeting of the defense ministers of EU states.



    Vaccines crisis — The Romanian PM Sorin Grindeanu on Thursday said the resolution of the vaccines crisis was essential for Romania. He said he was determined to take all necessary measures in this respect, following consultations with the institutions in the field. The statements was made at the conference “The European Week of Immunization- Vaccination: a public health issue. Children beyond figures” organized in Bucharest.



    US — North Korea — The US will toughen sanctions against North Korea and will intensify diplomatic efforts meant to persuade the regime in Pyongyang to give up its nuclear and ballistic program. The strategy of President Donald Trump was announced after a special meeting at the White House with all the 100 American senators. In another development, according to France Press, the US is looking into the possibility of reintroducing North Korea on the list of countries that support terrorism. The list currently includes Iran, Syria and Sudan, as North Korea was eliminated from the list in 2008 during the term in office of president George W. Bush. (translation by L. Simion)