Radio România Internațional

Tag: fighters

  • May 15, 2023 UPDATE

    May 15, 2023 UPDATE

    MIG-21 On Monday Romania retired its aging Russian-made
    MIG-21 LanceR fighters it inherited from the communist regime and replaced them
    with more modern F-16s. The measure is part of the process of strengthening of
    NATO’s eastern flank, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Romania now relies
    on 17 second-hand F-16s purchased from Portugal. We recall that in November
    last year the government in Bucharest signed a contract with Norway for another
    batch of 32 F-16 fighters. A NATO member since 2004, Romania also wants to buy
    the latest generation of F-35 fighters but experts believe this expensive
    project will become reality in years. The total number of MIG 21 fighters
    Romania has is secret but according to unofficial estimates it somewhere around
    25. However, the communist Romania boasted nearly 400 of these famous Russian
    fighters. According to Romania’s Defence Ministry, 30 Mig-21s sustained damage
    in various flight incidents between 1991 and 2022.






    STRIKE The SANITAS trade union
    federation is gathering signatures in order to call for an all-out strike in
    the country’s healthcare and social assistance systems, starting June 15.
    Representatives of the federation believe that, in spite of the pressure put by
    the authorities, the laws governing wages in the area are not applied in full.
    They also claim that there are still categories of employees who have not been
    properly compensated, and the line authorities show no real intention to comply
    with the legislation.






    VISIT President Klaus Iohannis is
    taking part on Tuesday and Wednesday in Reykjavik, Iceland, in the fourth
    summit of the Council of Europe. The meeting comes against the background of
    the Russian invasion in Ukraine, and the council was one of the first
    international institutions to react, by excluding the Russian Federation as a
    member, according to the Presidential Administration in Bucharest. The summit
    will inaugurate an international registry of damage caused by the Russian
    invasion, and Romania will be a founding member state. This event has a special
    significance for Romania, as this year is the thirtieth since it joined the
    organization.


    LAWS The draft education laws were submitted to
    the Senate’s special committees, on Monday, which are expected to issue an
    opinion. The laws are expected to be debated in the Education Committee on
    Tuesday. A final vote on the education laws is scheduled for May 22 in the
    Senate, the decision-making body in this case. According to Education Minister Ligia
    Deca, the laws seek to prevent and combat school dropout and functional
    illiteracy, to implement a pupil-oriented education, to ensure safety in
    schooling units and provide teachers with better training and support
    opportunities and observe professional ethics standards. Ruling coalition
    parties say the laws will reform the education system, but the opposition has
    voiced criticism, arguing the laws fail to provide solutions to the problems of
    the education system and represent a failure of the Educated Romania project
    endorsed by the presidency.




    (bill&VP)

  • NATO continues to beef up its eastern flank

    NATO continues to beef up its eastern flank

    Two French military convoys entered
    Romania on Sunday night consisting of light and heavy armoured vehicles to beef
    up the NATO Battle Group deployed to Cincu, in central Romania, where a 750 strong
    French contingent has been deployed. Colonel Alexandre de Féligonde, the new
    commander of the French battalion has told the Romanian public radio that the latest
    military beef-up takes place against the escalation of the conflict Russia initiated
    8 months ago.




    Colonel de Feligonde said that at the
    beginning of the conflict light infantry was deployed, but later France and
    NATO opted for a different posture in this part of Europe, and a heavy armoured
    battalion has been deployed here. We are going to move from light to
    heavy-armoured vehicles. We are here for a joint training with Romanian and
    Dutch troops, part of the French battalion which will be training in Cincu and in
    other parts of Romania as well.




    Romanian colonel Tiberiu Cojocaru
    with the Headquarters Multinational Division South-East has welcomed the convoy
    and explained that the first convoy was part of the third rotation of the NATO
    battle group deployed to Romania, to the joint training camp here. We are
    looking forward to seeing the joint training of French and Romanian troops, in
    Cincu and in other places to strengthen the allied cohesion and ensure the
    security of the territories of all NATO member countries.




    The NATO Battle Group was set up in
    May by transforming the multinational allied elements of the NATO Response
    force deployed to Romania. Upon the French proposal to take over the role of the
    Framework Nation, the French battalion deployed to Romania, considered the
    spearhead of the high-readiness NATO Response Force, is actually forging this
    group through the rotational integration of troops from Belgium and the
    Netherlands.


    Spain will also be contributing to
    the consolidation of NATO’s eastern flank against the background of the war in
    Ukraine. Madrid announced the deployment of F-18 and Eurofighter jets to
    Romania and Bulgaria. The planes are to land in Fetesti, southern Romania and until
    March next year they will be doing patrolling missions in the region.


    This is Spain’s response
    to the allies’ request for an increased contribution to NATO’s response and preemptive
    capabilities, the Spanish Defence Ministry has announced. Spain has already
    installed a long-range radar in Dobrogea, south-eastern Romania.


    (bill)