Radio România Internațional

Tag: Defense Ministry

  • HIMARS maintenance facility in Bacău

    HIMARS maintenance facility in Bacău

    The first maintenance facility for HIMARS systems in Europe was inaugurated in Bacău (northeast), with Minister of Defense Angel Tîlvăr attending the opening ceremony. Romania thus benefits from a strategic advantage by securing the maintenance of its own HIMARS systems, the Romanian official said. In addition, the new facility also has an impact on the economic development of the area, the Minister of Defense also said:

     

     

    “We have managed to have the best quality, state-of-the-art technological equipment and, last but not least, and I refer to the efforts to endow the Romanian Army, equipment to ensure our operational needs. I hail the fact that 2,000 people were given jobs here in Bacău. We had the opportunity to visit the places where they carry out their activity and, together with other colleagues part of our delegation, we believe these workplaces offer good work conditions. Last but not least, I appreciate the company’s concern for specialized education. Dual education has a place to flourish here, in Bacău, and that’s a very good thing”.

     

     

    In 2021, Romania became the first European country to use this type of system. HIMARS has proven its operational effectiveness in real conflicts, being tested during military operations, the Ministry of National Defense says. The facility in Bacău was developed in partnership with Lockheed Martin, an American company that Romania also contracted for the maintenance of Romania’s Black Hawk gunships and F-16 aircraft. Angel Tîlvăr hailed the establishment of the center as an exceptional achievement, which puts Romania on the global map of maintenance facilities and logistic support for one of the best performing and most advanced artillery systems at present. Minister Tîlvăr reiterated his Ministry’s determination to connect the national defense industry to all the endowment programs it plans, both in terms of maintenance of cutting-edge equipment designed to equip the armed forces, and, above all, in terms of integrating production lines at national level to the largest possible share. Romania has procured three such systems. The first two were delivered in 2021 and 2023, with the third expected to arrive this year. HIMARS is a long-range multi-missile launcher operated by a three-man team – a driver, a gunner and a commander. Missile systems are mounted on vehicles with light armor protection. They are light enough to be transported by air, thus being ideally suited to changing warfare tactics. With remarkable strike accuracy, the system can launch GPS-guided missiles that can hit targets 80 km away. Moreover, HIMARS is capable of launching missiles weighing 1.7 tons with a maximum range of 310 km. (VP)

  • Romania. The Eastern Flank

    Romania. The Eastern Flank

    The headquarters of the Ministry of National Defense hosted a meeting between the new head of the National Guard of the State of Alabama, Brigadier General David Prichett, and the Romanian Defense Minister, Angel Tîlvăr. The agenda of the meeting included discussions on security in the Black Sea region in the context of the Russian Federation’s war of aggression in Ukraine. During the meeting, aspects related to the Romanian-American cooperation in the field of defense were also addressed, through the lens of the Strategic Partnership between Romania and the USA and the State Partnership Program with the Alabama National Guard, launched more than three decades ago.

     

    The agenda of the American delegation’s visit to Romania also included the 57th Air Base in Mihail Kogălniceanu (southeast Romania). The commander of the air base, Commandant Nicolae Crețu, presented the main short, medium and long-term objectives, detailing the areas of responsibility and highlighted the extremely active and important role played by the partnership with the National Guard of the State of Alabama, in the creation, operationalization and maintaining the base capabilities. Those present at the event learned about the role of the 57th Air Base in the current security context, the challenges encountered in integrating plans and operations with the detachments belonging to the allied states deployed at the base and the accelerated way in which the capacity to host allied forces is being developed in order to strengthen the eastern flank and consolidate the deterrence posture.

     

    The American delegation also visited the Multinational Corps Southeast Command in Sibiu (center). The commander of this structure, Major General Cristian Dan, gave the American guests an overview of the mission, objectives and current challenges of the Corps, also highlighting the areas of collaboration, as an essential objective for achieving collective security. General David Prichett assured the representatives of the Multinational Corps of the support of the Alabama National Guard in the planned training activities.

     

    We continue with information from the 86th Air Base in Fetești (south-east), where the Romanian and Turkish Air Forces, located in our country for the joint missions of reinforced air policing carried out a demonstration exercise. According to the scenario, the F-16 planes intercepted a foreign aircraft that had entered the Romanian airspace and had lost communication links. In the Fetești Air Base there was also a detachment of the French Air Force, consisting of 40 soldiers and three Rafale aircraft, one of which was also used in the joint training exercise with the Romanian and Turkish pilots.

     

    The joint reinforced air policing missions under NATO command contribute to increasing the allied capacity for rapid reaction and deterrence, and the presence of French pilots in our country is part of the new NATO concept of rapid deployment of forces.

     

    The last piece of news in today’s program comes from Sibiu, where the Association of Reserve Officers from Romania, with the support of the Defense General Staff, organized, at the headquarters of the “Nicolae Bălcescu” Land Forces Academy, the International Seminar for young reserve officers from NATO and partner countries. The meeting was attended by reserve officers from Romania, respectively from Austria, Canada, Switzerland, Georgia and the Netherlands. The presentations were made by the members of the committee for reserve officers, representatives of the “Nicolae Bălcescu” Land Forces Academy, as well as of the Multinational Corps Southeast Command. The topic of the seminar was aimed at knowing the particularities of NATO, how to plan operations, the general process of crisis management and the analysis of the geostrategic situation. (Andra Barbul) (tr. LS)

  • September 11, 2023

    September 11, 2023

    School — The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis announced that the issue of drug consumption among young people will be included on the agenda of the next meeting of the country’s Supreme Council of National Defense. Attending today the opening of the new pre-university year at a school in Bucharest, he has emphasized that this phenomenon represents a serious challenge to national security. Klaus Iohannis has also said that he continues to support the increase in teachers salaries as of January 1, 2024. He has given assurances that he remains firm and will support all measures to make the commitments made by the Government this summer come true. The new school year started, today, in Romania, for approximately 3 million pupils and preschoolers. It will have 36 weeks of courses, and it is organized in five modules, just like the previous one. “The Green Week” and “Doing School Differently” will take place between September 11, 2023 – April 26, 2024 and can be set by schools in any of modules 1, 2, 3 or 4, in intervals of 5 consecutive working days. The school year will end on June 21, 2024. The pupils entering the 5th grade will be the first to take an additional high school entrance exam in the summer of 2027.



    Drone — The Romanian Defense Ministry announced that the presence of drone fragments in a different area than those investigated previously was not confirmed. The armed forces remain on alert and will continue investigations in the areas of the national territory located in the vicinity of the areas where the Russians are carrying out attacks on the Ukrainian port infrastructure on the Danube, the Defense Ministry announced on Sunday. According to the quoted source, in the last 48 hours, forces and equipment of the Naval Forces, the Land Forces and other structures acted with research teams in the field and with aerial surveillance devices on an area of ​​more than 80 square kilometers in three localities of Tulcea and Galati counties, on the Romanian bank of the Danube, near the port of Reni in Ukraine. On the other hand, the Defense Ministry strongly condemns the attacks carried out by the Russian Federation against some objectives and elements of civil infrastructure in the Ukrainian ports on the Danube. These attacks are unjustified and in serious violation of the rules of international humanitarian law, being war crimes, the Defense Ministry emphasizes. Previously, the chargé daffaires of the Russian Federation Embassy in Bucharest was urgently summoned to the Foreign Ministry where he was informed that Romania protests the violation of Romanias airspace. NATO, through Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, expressed its solidarity with Romania. The official stated that there are no indications of Russia’s intention to attack NATO, but that the attacks are destabilizing.



    Volleyball — Today, the Romanian national team faces France, the defending Olympic champion, in the quarter-finals of the European Mens Volleyball Championship. The Romanians reached this stage after a dramatic victory over Croatia. Romania also met France in the groups stage, managing to defeat it surprisingly, score 3-1. The national volleyball team has not been among the top eight teams of the continent for 40 years, after finishing on 8th place in 1983. The European Championship takes place in Israel, Italy, Bulgaria and North Macedonia. The record of the Romanian players includes a European title, two silver and two bronze medals.



    Exercise — The Romanian and US Naval Forces are jointly organizing, as of Monday until Friday, September 15, a multinational exercise called Sea Breeze. It will take place in the area of ​​responsibility of the Romanian Naval Forces in the Black Sea and the Danube Delta and aims to develop teamwork between the participating countries in the field of combating explosive devices, especially sea mines, so that navigation can take place freely. Soldiers from Bulgaria, Turkey, Ukraine, France and the UK are also taking part in the exercise.



    Rowing – Romania won five medals, of which two gold, at the World Rowing Championships in Belgrade, and finished the competition on fourth place in the overall ranking. The gold was won by the womens double scull team and the women’s eight plus one. The Romanian rowers won one silver and two bronze medals. Also, 11 of the 13 Romanian crews that participated in the world championships in Serbia qualified for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.



    Earthquake – Rescue teams from Morocco, supported by colleagues abroad, continue to race against time to find survivors and provide aid to hundreds of people left homeless after Friday nights earthquake, which killed more than 2,100 people and wounded more than 2,400, according to the most recent official toll. Four countries received favorable answers to their aid offers: Great Britain, Spain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The Romanian Foreign Ministry announced that, from the information it has, there are no Romanians among the victims of the earthquake in Morocco. (LS)

  • Resignation from the Romanian Government Coalition

    Resignation from the Romanian Government Coalition

    Holding the Defense Minister portfolio, the Social Democrat Adrian Tutuianu on Tuesday submitted his resignation following a series of controversial events. First an NGO representing the professional military informed their members that they would receive less money this month. Journalists have asked the Defense Ministry officials for information and have received a communiqué according to which the employees of the Romanian Defense Ministry were to receive their full salaries but without the meal vouchers and the money for rent.



    Also the defense ministry officials found out that the ministry was no longer paying their social security contributions and the income tax to the state budget. The situation was to be settled by September 25 when arrears were to be paid off. The press and the rightwing opposition jumped to the conclusion that the state had run out of money for the military’s salaries.



    The president of the National Liberal Party, Ludovic Orban, said that despite the “commitments made to Romania’s strategic partners, the Social Democratic Party left the Romanian army without wages” and thus the Defense Minister became a scapegoat, as he did not know how to hide the truth. On the other hand, the Finance Minister promptly announced that there were no difficulties regarding the payment of salaries to the employees of the Defense Ministry or any other ministry. A party colleague of outgoing defense minister Adrian Tutuianu and incumbent Prime Minister, Mihai Tudose was shocked with the whole situation. Mihai Tudose:



    “I asked the defense minister to explain the situation. I have asked for his resignation. His mistake was to let such things happen. He was aware of the talks going on at ministry level, and nevertheless he lost control of the situation. This is unbelievable since we are talking about an important element of national security, we are talking about Romania’s army, Romania being a NATO member. It’s unacceptable to allow such messages to emerge in the press.”



    The Prime Minister has given assurances that the state budget has enough money for the Defense Ministry, which has been allotted 2% of the GDP. He said the situation would be solved in two weeks’ time at the most, upon the budget rectification, which is going to be positive. The press abounds in speculations over the resignation of the defense minister. Some political commentators argue that this resignation is a settling of accounts inside the Social Democratic Party where two power poles had allegedly been formed around the Prime Minister and the Social Democrats’ leader Liviu Dragnea.



    Other commentators claim that the outgoing minister had become too close to the supreme commander of the armed forces, namely the country’s president Klaus Iohannis, which has made him a persona non grata among the Social Democrats. Economic analysts have nevertheless drawn a warning signal. They fear that the situation at the Defense Ministry might be indicative of a real lack of funds and that, despite record economic growth figures, the Government might be unable to comply with the very generous promises with which the Social Democrats won the elections. (Translated by L. Simion)

  • The rebirth of a symbol?

    The rebirth of a symbol?

    Set up in 1921, the “Cantacuzino” National Institute of Research and Development for Microbiology and Immunology is operating in the field of public healthcare, which it promotes through activities of research and development, as well as through its offer of products and services. Before 1990, the Cantacuzino Institute had a consistent portfolio of vaccines. Later on, because of a lack of funds, improper management and for failing to observe the norms established by the World Health Organisation, the institute had to gradually stop production for each vaccine at a time.



    Consequently, from one of the best research institutes in Europe, Cantacuzino started following a downward trend. If they produced millions of vaccine doses annually before 2010, the institute experts were able to produce only several hundred thousands doses of anti-flu vaccine per year from that year onward. The situation became critical in 2014, the institute being rocked by an unprecedented scandal, after the National Medicines Agency forbade the distribution on the market of the anti-flu vaccine produced by the Cantacuzino Institute. The measure was taken after test results showed the vaccine had a high concentration of endotoxins, which might have produced such side effects as high fever and anaphylactic shock.



    “Practically, the institute is unfolding its activity in three fields: the production of vaccines and other biological product materials, the production of bacterial culture media and reagents. Currently, the institute is only carrying out research activities and its functioning is possible thanks to grants. Relative to production, the institute is further producing culture media and a vegetal food supplement called SOD”, says the President of the Romanian Microbiology Society, Alexandru Rafila.



    In the effort to render the institute properly functional once again, the government decided at the end of 2014, to pass the institute into the subordination of the Education Ministry, from the subordination to the Health Ministry. A month later, a memorandum was signed on the restructuring of the institute. The document provided for clearing the institute’s debts to the National Fiscal Administration Authority. Later on, through a budget rectification, the institute received money to cover its debts to the state and other spending with salaries, as well as to ensure proper functioning until the end of 2015. In 2016, another government came to power, bringing along another vision. The institute was again passed into the subordination of the Health Ministry.



    Now, the incumbent PM Mihai Tudose has made public the decision to turn the institute into a military institution, subordinated to the Defence Ministry. The Prime Minister explains his decision by saying the institute plays a strategic role in ensuring Romania’s independence in the field of vaccine production, the Cantacuzino Institute being a Romanian brand with a century old history and boasting great achievements along the years.


    (Translated by D. Vijeu)

  • Activity report and commitments of the Romanian army

    Activity report and commitments of the Romanian army

    2016 was a year of transition for the Romanian Army, both in terms of the implementation of the decisions taken by NATO at the summits in Wales and Poland and in terms of its budget, which has reached 2% of the GDP this year. On Tuesday, the defence ministry presented its activity report for last year, an event attended by president Klaus Iohannis, prime minister Sorin Grindeanu and the speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Liviu Dragnea. In the opinion of the defence minister Gabriel Les, Romania is ready to face the existing security challenges, including the threats on its eastern border, as well as the cyber threats. He said the Romanian Army must maintain a high level of reaction for the purpose of national defence. President Klaus Iohannis said the Army’s priorities remain the strategic partnership with the United States and the consolidation of its position with the North Atlantic Alliance.



    The Romanian military fully deserve to be appreciated, said the President: “The army is a fundamental institution of the Romanian state, one that our citizens view with trust and pride. This level of appreciation is the result of the professionalism of the military and civilian staff who carry out their missions with patriotism and dedication.”



    The President highlighted the importance of the army within a complex international context with geopolitical and security developments that have complicated the international environment in recent years: the protraction of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, the war in Syria, Islamic fundamentalist terrorism and the migration crisis generated by the instability in the Middle East. Prime minister Sorin Grindeanu said the local defence industry should be involved in the programmes to modernise the army and that his government is determined to keep its commitments in respect of the army budget.



    Sorin Grindeanu: “In keeping with the commitments made, the defence budget should benefit from 2% of the GDP. We aim to maintain this level in the 2018-2020 period. This budget ensures solid ground for accelerating the modernisation of the Romanian Army.”



    The prime minister also reiterated his cabinet’s firm commitment to carry out its defence policy objectives and to achieve the modernisation and consolidation of the army. The Romanian military are an example of determination, promptitude and professionalism, said the speaker of the Chamber of Deputies and president of the Social Democratic Party Liviu Dragnea. He added that the 2% allocated to the army starting this year is a minimum level that should be maintained in the next 10 years.


    (Translated by Cristina Mateescu)