Radio România Internațional

Tag: heavy

  • 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)

  • Extreme weather phenomena in Bucharest on Tuesday

    Extreme weather phenomena in Bucharest on Tuesday

    Red and orange alerts had been issued for
    Bucharest and its surroundings, which were hit by heavy rainfalls, gale-force
    winds and small and medium-sized hail.


    Streets, underground stations and passages were flooded
    forcing the city’s water & sewerage supplier to intervene in some areas.
    Gale-force winds brought down trees, which fell on streets and vehicles.


    Railway traffic was disrupted close to Bucharest
    after several trees had fallen on the tracks. The storm also disrupted the air
    traffic and three flights scheduled to land on the Bucharest Henri Coanda airport
    had to be redirected to Craiova, Timisoara and Belgrade in Serbia.


    A Tarom flight from Bergamo, due to touch down at
    17 hours in Bucharest had to fly over the area and wait for better weather conditions.


    Similar weather phenomena were
    registered in several other locations, in the counties of Giurgiu and Ilfov.
    Meteorologists have activated local bad weather alerts for several areas in the
    country as numerous localities have been affected. Broken electrical wires
    caused the risk of fire and fallen trees disrupted road traffic. Many yards and
    households were flooded by the heavy downpours. Rescue teams, road workers and
    volunteers needed to intervene in certain areas to reduce the effects of
    extreme weather phenomena. Representatives of the Inspectorate for Emergency
    situations have reminded people that after receiving bad weather alert
    messages, they must find shelter and close the doors and windows of their homes
    and if they are in open spaces, they must stay away from posts, pillars or
    billboards, which can cause them harm.




    Numerous nowcasting alerts have been issued by
    meteorologists in Romania since the beginning of this month. Experts believe
    that raising temperatures and high humidity are responsible for this type of
    extreme weather phenomena.


    (bill)

  • July 18, 2021

    July 18, 2021

    COVID-19 The number of coronavirus infections in Romania remains low, with 49 new cases reported on Saturday out of over 25,000 tests conducted in 24 hours. Two new COVID-related deaths were also reported, and 32 patients are in intensive care. In related news, the European Commissioner for Health Stella Kyriakides, who was recently on a visit to Romania, urged the authorities to step up the vaccine rollout, to protect against the new coronavirus variants. Since 27 December 2020, when the vaccination campaign began in Romania, over 9,200,000 vaccine doses have been given to more than 4,800,000 people. Around 4.7 million people are fully vaccinated at present.




    AID In the regions severely affected by flooding in Alba County, central Romania, efforts continue to help the over 200 people left without homes. The Romanian PM Florin Cîţu announced that after an assessment of the damages, the government will provide immediately any form of aid for the families affected. Meanwhile, private persons, volunteers and Red Cross representatives are involved in distributing water, food and other supplies. Record amounts of precipitations have been reported in the region over the past few days, with 223 litres of rainwater per square metre within 5 hours causing unprecedented flooding, the authorities say.




    FLOODS The death toll of the devastating flooding in Germany has reached 156 today, bringing the total number of deaths in Western Europe up to at least 183, AFP reports. In Germany, people have been urged to stay away from basements and underground garages and passage ways, and authorities warned that flooded roads are a danger to citizens. Chancellor Angela Merkel described the situation as a ‘national tragedy and promised state aid for reconstruction and repair works. These efforts are expected to cost several billion euros. In Austria, fire fighters are in standby in the regions of Salzburg and Tirol, while the town of Hallein is under water. ‘Unfortunately, the heavy rainfalls and storms have caused severe damage in several parts of Austria,’ PM Sebastian Kurz has tweeted.




    PESTICIDE Several batches of ice-cream have been recalled from the Romanian market. The products contained small amounts of a carcinogen. The European Commission decided that products containing the additive locust bean gum (E410) contaminated with ethylene oxide must be withdrawn from the EU market even if the pesticide is not detected. After 3 emergency meetings held on the 29 and 30 June and on 13 July, the Commission also decided that the products already purchased by consumers should be recalled.




    VISIT The president of the Republic of Moldova Maia Sandu will be on an official visit to Gergia on 19-20 July, MOLDPRES reports. The Moldovan president will attend an international conference in Batumi, entitled ‘Three states – one choice: Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine on the move. The event aims to improve cooperation between the 3 EU associated partners. In Batumi, Maia Sandu will have meetings with her Georgian counterpart Salome Zourabichvili, with the Ukrainian PM Volodimir Zelenski, and with the president of the European Council, Charles Michel.




    FILM The French director Julia Doucournau last night won the Palme d’Or for her film Titane, at the Cannes Film Festival, thus becoming the second woman awarded in this category in the festivals 7-decade long history. According to Radio Romanias correspondent in Paris, the award for best director went to Leos Carax, for Annette. Caleb Landry Jones and Renate Reinsve won the awards for best actor and actress. Romanian films were also appreciated in Cannes, with Carina Gabriela Daşoveanu winning 3rd place in the Cinefondation category and Teodora Ana Mihai taking the Courage Prize in the Un certain regard category. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • June 19, 2021 UPDATE

    June 19, 2021 UPDATE

    RAINFALLS New code orange and code yellow alerts for heavy rainfalls, storms and flash floods have been issued in Romania for most of the Romanian territory, except for the north-west. Hydrologists have also warned against possible flooding along 11 rivers until Monday night. Thousands of households were flooded or left without electricity following recent heavy rainfalls in Romania. According to the Inspectorate General for Emergency Situations, 49 towns and villages and the capital city were affected, with firefighters moving in to pump out the water in several households, over 100 yards and scores of streets in Bucharest alone. The wind caused several trees to fall over parked vehicles, and road traffic was also disrupted.



    COVID-19 The number of new Covid-19 cases
    in Romania
    continues to drop, with 63 new infection cases reported on Saturday, and 164 patients
    in intensive care. Hospitals are gradually resuming their regular activity and,
    according to some managers, they are better prepared for a possible surge in
    cases. Meanwhile, experts warn against the risk of a 4th wave of the
    coronavirus pandemic in Romania. The health minister Ioana Mihăilă said the Indian
    strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus may come to prevail in Romania as well, which is
    why it is all the more important that as many people be immunised. According to Romania’s representative in the World Health
    Organisation Alexandru Rafila, with the current vaccination trend, only 7
    million people at most will have been immunized by autumn, which is below the
    authorities’ target. Some 25,500 people received the vaccine in the past 24
    hours. So far over 8.7 million Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered in
    Romania, with nearly 4.35 million people having received both doses of vaccine.



    DEFICIT The EUs Economic and Financial Council extended to 2024 the deadline for Romania to put an end to the excessive deficit situation. The Council said that an extension to the original deadline for Romania to correct its public deficit would be important in order not to compromise the economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic. The recommendation also says that, in order to meet the new deadline, Romania would need to achieve a general government deficit target of 6.2% of GDP next year, 4.4% of GDP in 2023, and 2.9% of GDP in 2024. Romania is expected to present the European Council with a report on its strategy regarding these targets by 15 October, the Romanian Finance Ministry announced.



    ACCIDENT At least 3 workers, one of them from Romania, died when a school under construction partly collapsed in Antwerp, Belgium, AFP reports. Nine others were injured in the incident on Friday afternoon. The school was still under construction, so no students were present.



    OECD The Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu reconfirmed Romanias commitment to join the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development as soon as possible. Aurescu had a meeting on Saturday with the organisations new secretary general, Mathias Cormann, on the sidelines of the Diplomatic Forum in Antalya (Turkey). On the same occasion, the Romanian diplomat discussed the Black Sea security situation with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba.



    IRAN Hardliner Seyyed Ebrahim Rais al-Sadati won Fridays presidential election in Iran from the first round, with over 62% of the votes, according to preliminary results made public on Saturday. A former magistrate, the Conservative al-Sadati is close to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Reuters comments. The new president will have to resume the negotiations started in Vienna for the restart of the 2015 deal regulating the countrys nuclear activities.



    TENNIS Horia Tecău (Romania) / Kevin Krawietz (Germany) qualified into the doubles final of the tennis tournament in Halle (Germany), ATP 500, after defeating the Belgians Sander Gille / Joran Vliegen, 7-6, 7-5. Tecău and Krawietz are playing their 3rd final this season, after having lost the ones in Rotterdam and Barcelona. Also in tennis, the Romanians Monica Niculescu and Elena Gabriela Ruse Friday qualified into the doubles final of the ITF tournament in Nottingham (UK). They will play against the Australians Priscilla Hon and Storm Sanders. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • June 19, 2021

    June 19, 2021

    RAINFALLS A person died and another one went missing, thousands of households were flooded or left without electricity following recent heavy rainfall in Romania. According to the Inspectorate General for Emergency Situations, 49 towns and villages and the capital city Bucharest were affected by last nights rainfalls. An orange-code alert for further precipitation remains in place in most of the country until Sunday night, and flood warnings have also been issued in some regions.



    COVID-19 The number of new Covid-19 cases
    in Romania
    continues to drop, with 63 new infection cases reported on Saturday, and 164 patients
    in intensive care. Hospitals are gradually resuming their regular activity and,
    according to some managers, they are better prepared for a possible surge in
    cases. Meanwhile, experts warn against the risk of a 4th wave of the
    coronavisur pandemic in Romania. These experts include Romania’s representative
    in the World Health Organisation Alexandru Rafila, who says that with the
    current vaccination trend, only 7 million people at most will have been
    immunized by autumn, which is below the authorities’ target. So far some 4.6
    million people have received at least one dose of anti-Covid vaccine.



    DEFICIT The EUs Economic and Financial Council extended to 2024 the deadline for Romania to put an end to the excessive deficit situation. The Council said that an extension to the original deadline for Romania to correct its public deficit would be important in order not to compromise the economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic. The recommendation also says that, in order to meet the new deadline, Romania would need to achieve a general government deficit target of 6.2% of GDP next year, 4.4% of GDP in 2023, and 2.9% of GDP in 2024. Romania is expected to present the European Council with a report on its strategy regarding these targets by 15 October, the Romanian Finance Ministry announced.



    OECD The Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu reconfirmed Romanias commitment to join the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development as soon as possible. Aurescu had a meeting on Saturday with the organisations new secretary general, Mathias Cormann, on the sidelines of the Diplomatic Forum in Antalya (Turkey). On the same occasion, the Romanian diplomat discussed the Black Sea security situation with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba.



    IRAN Hardliner Seyyed Ebrahim Rais al-Sadati won Fridays presidential election in Iran from the first round, with over 62% of the votes, according to preliminary results made public today. A former magistrate, the Conservative al-Sadati is close to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Reuters comments. The new president will have to resume the negotiations started in Vienna for the restart of the 2015 deal regulating the countrys nuclear activities.



    TENNIS Horia Tecău (Romania) / Kevin Krawietz (Germany) qualified into the doubles final of the tennis tournament in Halle (Germany), ATP 500, after defeating the Belgians Sander Gille / Joran Vliegen, 7-6, 7-5. Tecău and Krawietz are playing their 3rd final this season, after having lost the ones in Rotterdam and Barcelona. Also in tennis, the Romanians Monica Niculescu and Elena Gabriela Ruse Friday qualified into the doubles final of the ITF tournament in Nottingham (UK). They will play against the Australians Priscilla Hon and Storm Sanders.



    FOOTBALL The European Football Championship continues. Today, Hungary is scheduled to play against France in Budapest, in Group F, Portugal takes on Germany in Munich, in the same group, and Spain plays against Poland in Seville, in Group E. on Friday, Sweden defeated Slovakia 1-0, in Sankt Petersburg, in Group E; Croatia and the Czech Republic drew 1-1, in Glasgow, in Group D, while in London, also in Group D, the match between England and Scotland ended in a blank draw. The Czech Patrik Schick is currently the championships top scorer. The Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen was discharged from hospital, after successful surgery, 6 days after collapsing on the pitch 43 minutes into the match against Finland. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • Flash floods hit Romania

    Flash floods hit Romania

    News reports in Romania have been focusing on rainfalls, floods and flash floods, as the country is facing the rainiest month of June in 60 years. Rivers have overflown and killed people, destroying households, crops, bridges, and in some places disrupting road and railway transport.



    Where the danger is over, people are taking stock of whats left behind, and trying to fix what they can. Teams from the Inspectorate for Emergencies have been deployed to the flooded areas, and the Romanian Water Administration authority continues to monitor the rivers that are under warnings.



    The National Hydrology and Water Management Institute has lifted the code red alerts issued a few days ago for the rivers Prut, Timiş and Jiu, in the north and centre of the country, but they replaced them with code yellow or orange alerts.



    Special attention is still paid to Prut River, as flash floods occurring upstream, in neighbouring Ukraine, are quickly advancing towards Romania. Considerable flow rate increases have also been reported in the centre of the country, in counties Harghita and Covasna, where heavy rainfalls are expected to cause flash floods and mudslides. The danger is even greater on Timiş river, in the west.



    Meanwhile, military firefighters and gendarmes are carrying on assistance and support operations in the Jiu Valley area, where mining towns like Uricani and Aninoasa were badly hit. Hundreds of households were flooded and hundreds of people were evacuated.



    The Lupeni coal mine was also flooded. Almost 400 workers were evacuated after water went into the underground galleries, reaching one and a half metres high. Coal production was suspended until the situation is addressed.



    The heavy flooding reported in recent days in Romania is a consequence of chaotic exploitation of the forests and building materials along rivers, the Minister for the Environment, Waters and Forests Costel Alexe warned, after inspections on site. It is vital that we understand we need to take better care of the environment in the near future, so as to avoid situations like these, Costel Alexe said.



    Also while on site, the Interior Minister Marcel Vela called on local authorities in all the counties affected by flooding to step up the damage assessment and to submit relevant documentation to prefect offices.



    Weather experts warn that after this rainy spell, severe heat is expected to hit Romania.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)