Radio România Internațional

Tag: drug

  • Europe takes coordinated measures to fight drug trafficking

    Europe takes coordinated measures to fight drug trafficking

    Drug trafficking is
    becoming an acute problem not only in Romania, but in Europe as a whole. This
    is why coordinated measures are required, in order to efficiently fight
    trafficking in illegal substances, the use of which destroys lives.


    To this end, a new
    platform was created in Antwerp, Belgium to step up the fight against drug
    trafficking. Attending the launch meeting was, among others, the Romanian interior
    minister, Cătălin Predoiu. He said that, in spite of the extremely complex
    political agenda in Romania this year, fighting drug trafficking remains a
    priority.


    Cătălin Predoiu mentioned
    he would tackle this through specific actions by the Romanian police, the
    border police and the public institutions that coordinate transportation,
    logistics and financial activities in Romania. The interior minister also
    discussed the need for coordinated action in the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanţa.


    He warned that every year
    Europe is flooded by large amounts of illegal drugs entering member states through
    their major ports, facilitated by organised crime, corruption, blackmail and racketeering,
    which are essentially threats to the security of the EU member countries.


    Cătălin Predoiu said that
    last year a number of operations were initiated by the Romanian Police, which
    led to the dismantling of organised crime groups, and that such operations will
    continue in 2024 as well.


    The Supreme Defence
    Council comprises a task force that will coordinate the integrated efforts of
    several institutions to fight drug trafficking, the interior minister said. He
    also pointed out that this scourge must be curbed through domestic,
    inter-institutional cooperation and international cooperation between member
    states and at European Commission level.


    Cătălin Predoiu also
    emphasised once again that drugs are a national security threat, a threat
    against Romania’s citizens, and fighting it has become a multi-disciplinary
    science. It combines law enforcement skills with knowledge related to money
    circulation and laundering, with financial, accounting, management and
    logistics skills, the interior minister explained.


    Drug consumption has
    become a serious problem in Romania, and it has been the topic of extensive
    public discussion since a car crash at the seaside last summer, when a young
    man driving under the influence of psychoactive substances killed two people
    and injured several others. Drug consumption, especially among the youth,
    remains an issue, and as recently as on Wednesday prosecutors apprehended a
    number of young people involved in illegal drug trafficking in Bucharest and
    Oradea (west). (AMP)

  • December 24, 2021 UPDATE

    December 24, 2021 UPDATE

    CHRISTMAS For Orthodox, Greek and Roman Catholic Christians around the world,
    Saturday is Christmas, celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, one of the
    biggest holiday for the Christian world. On Christmas Eve, a common tradition in Romania
    is caroling, a ritual that includes ceremonial texts, dancing and singing.
    Carolers, especially children and youth, convey good wishes and are rewarded by
    hosts with fruit, pretzels, sweets or money. Priests go from house to
    house anouncing the birth of Christ. Christmas calls on all of us to be generous, like the shepherds who
    adored Christ, to give humble love to all around us, to give presents to children
    as well as to the elderly, to the poor, to the lonely, to the mourning and to
    the suffering, said Daniel, the Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church. Christmas
    is marked by special services in churches and monasteries, and family
    gatherings and traditions.Old Style Orthodox believers in Russia, Ukraine, Serbia,
    and Georgia celebrate Christmas on 7th January.


    COVID-19 The fifth wave of the pandemic, which is more
    severe than the previous one, is expected to hit in Romania in less than three
    weeks, the country’s Interior Minister Lucian Bode has announced. The spread of
    the Omicron variant will be accelerated by the presence of Romanian workers
    from abroad, who are arriving in large numbers for the winter holidays. The
    number of new infections is still low in Romania, with 717 new cases
    announced on Friday. 44 related fatalities were also announced. Since the
    beginning of the pandemic, 1.8 million Covid infections have been reported in
    Romania and 58,000 related fatalities. Shortly after the authorisation of the
    anti-Covid drug, Paxlovid, in the USA, Romania’s health minister, Alexandru
    Rafila is making moves to import the new drug as soon as possible. Rafila has
    already had a series of meetings with representatives of Pfizer, the company
    that produces the vaccine. According to the latest surveys, the drug reduces the
    risk of hospitalization and death by almost 90%. The US has also authorised an
    anti-viral pill produced by Merck.




    LIST The National Committee for Emergency Situations
    has updated the list of the countries with a high infection risk. Malta entered
    the red tier due to its high infection rate, whereas Romania’s neighbour, the
    ex-soviet Republic of Moldova is now a green-list country. The committee has
    also approved the categories of employees who are exempted from quarantine
    rules, including the crews of ships sailing under Romanian flag, as well as
    drivers of freighters up to 2.4 tons and of passenger buses over 9 seats coming
    from the EU or the EU economic area.




    POLICE Over 8,000 policemen are on duty during the
    Christmas period in Romania, to discourage and prevent crime. Policemen will be
    patrolling together with gendarme troops and in some cases they will be
    accompanied by representatives of the Food Safety Authority to various shopping
    areas to check the observance of the Covid-19 safety rules. Road police will be
    assisted by helicopters to monitor the traffic and prevent any wrongdoing on
    Romania’s motorways. (tr. A.M. Popescu)