Radio România Internațional

Tag: military exercises

  • Romanian Naval Forces assume command of the NATO Group in the Mediterranean Sea

    Romanian Naval Forces assume command of the NATO Group in the Mediterranean Sea

    An additional three single-command F-16 Fighting Falcon jets of the Royal Dutch Air Forces landed on June 19 at the 86th “Lieutenant Aviator Gheorghe Mociorniţă” Air Base  in Fetești (southeast). The aircraft will serve the Training Center established as a result of the collaboration between the Romanian and Dutch Defense Ministries, in partnership with Lockheed Martin and with the support from Denmark, the coordinator of the F-16 International Coalition alongside the Netherlands.

     

     

    After nearly 6 months away from home, the 3rd tour of the Military Contingent of the Republic of North Macedonia handed over command. The transfer of authority took place in Caracal (southern Romania), on June 19, 2024, in the presence of representatives of the South-East Multinational Division, the South-East Multinational Brigade and other training structures.

     

     

    Some 50 multinational representatives from NATO’s command structures participated in the Council meeting charged with planning the training program and military exercises of allied operations, as well as in the Exercise Budget User Group over June 18-20, as part of key training events hosted by the Southeast Multinational Corps Command in Sibiu (center). The purpose of these meetings was to identify resources, synchronize and sequence collective training and exercises.

     

     

    Also with respect to NATO, the Training, Simulation, Evaluation and War Games Center of the Naval Forces hosted, over June 10-14, the 48th edition of the NATO MAREVAL maritime evaluation course. Organized by the Allied Maritime Command in Constanța (southeast), the course was attended by 22 servicemen, including 4 trainers from Spain and Germany, 10 Romanian servicemen and 8 servicemen from Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Greece and Ukraine. Participants developed their knowledge of NATO standards, criteria and assessment procedures used in the maritime field. At the same time, the participating staff familiarized themselves with planning exercises and evaluation activities, in compliance with NATO standards.

     

     

    In other news regarding the navy, Romania is taking command of a NATO naval group for six months. The “Vice-Admiral Constantin Bălescu” 274 mine and net sweeper set sail on June 20 from the Constanța Military Port, headed for the Mediterranean Sea to join the permanent NATO mine-fighting naval group. In a military ceremony scheduled for June 28, in Salamis, Greece, the command of the naval group will be taken over by Romania, for the second time in 4 years. The “Vice-Admiral Constantin Bălescu” 274 mine and net sweeper is commanded by Lieutenant-Commander Bogdan Iosif. It has a crew of 85 Romanian and foreign servicemen, and for the next six months it will lead a permanent NATO naval group, including military watercraft from Italy, Spain and Turkey. By participating in this mission, the Romanian Naval Forces contribute to the fulfillment of our country’s commitment to ensuring regional security and strengthening international cooperation with a view to maintaining stability in the Mediterranean. (Constantin Herțanu & VP)

  • May 10, 2022

    May 10, 2022

    MAY 10 – On May 10, Romania
    celebrates Independence Day, the day Romania obtained its independence from the
    Ottoman Empire in 1877 at the end of the Russian-Ottoman war. On this occasion,
    president Klaus Iohannis said independence is one of the pillars of the
    Romanian modern state, while celebrating Independence Day is a suitable
    opportunity to commemorate the milestones that helped create the Romanian
    nation. Also today Romania marks Monarchy Day, which was the National Day of
    Romania from 1866 to 1947. May 10 marks the start of the 48-year-long rule of
    Charles I of Hohenzollern Sigmaringen, the first in a dynasty of four kings.
    The Royal Train is today on a symbolic tour of the country to mark this event.
    The train was first used by the Royal House of Romania in 1928. May 10 also
    marks Balkan Romanianness Day. In 2021, president Klaus Iohannis ratified a law
    establishing this day as a public holiday. The event seeks to raise public
    awareness regarding national and cultural solidarity with the Megleno-Romanians
    and Aromanians living in Balkan countries. Over the years, Bucharest
    authorities have provided support to Romanian schools and churches in the
    Balkans by means of various programs and funding projects.




    BANKING – The National Bank of Romania is
    expected to increase the monetary policy interest rate from 3% to 4%. This is a
    substantial increase determined by inflation, which has now reached the highest
    levels of the last decade. The last time the Central Bank increased the
    monetary policy interest rate by 1% was in February 2008. The Bank thus follows
    a wider regional trend, considering that the monetary policy rate is closing in
    on 6% in Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. Commercial banks will next
    increase their interest rates in order to discourage loan-taking and diminish
    consumption.




    EBRD – The European Bank
    for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has lowered its estimate regarding Romania’s
    economic growth in 2022 and 2023, after an economic recovery of 5.9% reported
    in 2021, determined mainly by private consumption, an EBRD reports reads.
    Romania’s economy is expected to grow by 2.5% this year compared to the
    original forecast of 2.8% issued in March, and by 3% next year, compared to the
    previous estimate of 4.1%. The EBRD also believes that Romanian economy was
    weakened in 2022, the GDP reporting a slump of 0.1% in the last quarter of
    2021.




    EXERCISES – The Getica Training Center in Cincu
    is today hosting the opening ceremony of Resolute Castle 22, a multinational
    exercise involving the participation of military engineers with Romanian Land
    Forces and structures of the US Land Forces Command for Europe and Africa and the
    British Ministry of Defense, the Romanian Ministry of Defense reports. The
    purpose of Resolute Castle 22 is to increase the level of interoperability
    means of constant training and implementing innovative solutions to joint
    engineering problems. Also starting today, the village of Comăneşti in Bacău County is hosting a multinational
    military exercise the will unfold over the course of five days, involving
    military personnel and equipment of the Romanian Defense Ministry and NATO.




    GOVERNMENT – The Government on
    Monday adopted the disbursement of meal vouchers to people with low income. The
    50-meal vouchers will be paid on special cards once a month. Cards will be
    distributed starting June 1. The measure is backed with non-reimbursable EU
    funds. Also on Monday, the Government adopted measures to boost investment,
    such as adjusting prices for construction materials for ongoing projects funded
    by the EU.




    REFUGEES – Approximately 900
    thousand Ukrainian refugees have entered Romania since the start of the war in
    neighboring Ukraine, the Border Police announced. On Monday some 5,530
    Ukrainian citizens entered the country (down by 27.9% compared to the previous
    day). The border police has deployed additional units to the border areas,
    working together with other institutions with a view to sharing data and
    information and taking joint action.




    EUROVISION – The first semi-final of
    the 66th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest is held tonight in
    Turin. This is the third edition of Eurovision hosted by Italy, after the ones
    held in Naples in 1965 and Rome in 1991. The first 10 best-ranked countries will
    advance to Saturday’s final. Romania’s representative, WRS, will perform the
    song Llámameˮ in the second semi-final on Thursday. Romania’s best ranking in
    the Eurovision Song Contest was third place in 2006 in Kyiv and in 2010 in Oslo
    (Luminiţa Anghel & Sistem; Paula Seling & Ovi) and fourth place in Athens
    in 2006 (Mihai Trăistariu).




    CHESS – The best-ranked Romanian chess
    player, Bogdan Deac, world no. 59, drew against Iranian-born French player
    Alireza Firouzja, world no. 2, in the fifth round of the Superbet Chess Classic
    Romania 2022 on Monday. Tuesday is a rest day, while tomorrow matches will
    resume as part of round 6. Superbet Chess Classic romania 2022 is the first of
    the five-stage edition of this year’s Grand Chess Tour, being held over May
    5-15. Total prizes stand at some $350,000. (VP)





  • May 13, 2017 UPDATE

    May 13, 2017 UPDATE

    UPDATE-TENNIS (22.58): The best Romanian woman tennis player, Simona Halep, (no.8 WTA) has defeated Kristina Mladenovic of France (no. 17 WTA), winning the Madrid tennis tournament, with over 5 million dollars in prize money up for grabs. The Romanian tennis player has also managed to secure qualification to the final of the Madrid tennis tournament in 2012 and 2016. Last year she managed to win the trophy,too.


    UPDATE-FOOTBALL(21.51): One of the most
    important sports events at the weekend has
    undoubtedly been the final leg of the Romanian football championship, which has given us the name of the new champion:
    Viitorul Constanta, c    oached by Gheorghe Hagi. Viitorul defeated CFR Cluj, 1-0, on
    home turf. Before the final leg of the championship, Constanta had been best
    placed to secure the championship title. In its turn, FCSB (former Steaua), coached by Laurentiu
    Reghecampf, defeated CSU Craiova on the National Arena, 3-0. Although FCSB defeated CSU Craiova and accumulated
    the same number of points as Viitorul, the team based in Constanta has had an
    advantage on account of their face-to-face record, a 3-1 win over FCSB. After
    winning against CFR Cluj, Viitorul Constanta became champions for the first time in the
    club’s history.


    RANSOMWARE– A wave of simultaneous cyber attacks has targeted tens of thousands of computers in some 100 countries, including Romania. The most affected seems to be the UKs NHS, the national healthcare system, followed by the American giant FedEx, the German public railway company and the French car manufacturer Renault. At the Dacia factory owned by the Renault group in Romania, part of the activity has been hampered by some IT systems which have been affected and several employees have been sent home. Also, a crisis cell has been set up to monitor the situation. The European Police Office, Europol, has said the wave of attacks is without precedent, adding that a complex international investigation is needed to identify the culprits. Most cyber attacks in the world are based on a blackmailing principle: access to a computers files is denied until a ransom is paid. Owners of affected computers are advised not to pay any money to the hackers. Experts in the field also advise computer users to upgrade their operating systems, to use anti-virus programs and to store their important or sensitive information on external hard-drives. On Friday, the Romanian Intelligence Service announced it had foiled a cyber attack against a government institution in Romania. The Intelligence Service did not disclose the exact name of the target, but media sources in Bucharest say it was the Foreign Ministry.



    VACCINE CRISIS – Romanian PM Sorin Grindeanu on Friday called for urgently setting up an operative group made up of representatives of the government, professionals societies, associations and civil society to find immediate solutions to the vaccine crisis in Romania. The operative group will have a clear mandate, including the responsibility of coming up with a set of proposals to amend the legal framework, to allow, on short term, for purchasing the necessary vaccine shots, and on medium term, to assure the necessary stocks. The vaccine crisis has become a recurrent problem in Romania, as from time to time hospitals and pharmacies are running out of mandatory vaccines for babies.



    MILITARY DRILLS – Romanian, British and US military, on board ships and aircraft are carrying out exercises in the Black Sea until Tuesday. Romanias “King Ferdinand Frigate and two sea dredgers, alongside the US destroyer USS Oscar Austin will perform anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface warfare procedures. Anti-aircraft warfare training exercises are also scheduled during this time span, with two MIG-21 Lancer aircraft belonging to the Romanian Air Forces and two Taifun fighters belonging to the British Air Forces simulating an air attack. The military exercises are aimed at enhancing the level of training of all participating teams and at strengthening interoperability between the NATO member countries.



    FATIMA SHRINE – Pope Francis, greeted by hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from the world over in the Portuguese town of Fatima, has canonised two of the three shepherd children, who reported seeing Virgin Mary, while tending their sheep 100 years ago. Virgin Mary is said to have appeared six times to the two shepherd children and their cousin, Lucia. Jacinta and Francisco died at 9 and 10 years of age, respectively. Virgin Mary is believed to have revealed three secrets to the children. Two of them were written down by Lucia, who became a nun and who died in 2005, aged 97. The prophecies are said to refer to the 20th century world wars. The third vision, although published by the Vatican, is still contested and refers either to the assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II, or to the Apocalypse or the fall of the Catholic Church. On Sunday, the Pope will attend masses devoted to 100 years since the revelations. Unprecedented high security measures have been taken on the occasion of the Popes visit, with Portugal temporarily suspending the Schengen open borders pact and reintroducing border checkouts.

  • March 24, 2017 UPDATE

    March 24, 2017 UPDATE

    THE FUTURE OF THE EU– Romania’s President, Klaus Iohannis, on Saturday is attending the EU Summit in Rome, where a Declaration on the future of the EU will be adopted. According to a communiqué issued by the Presidential Administration, Romania will plead for a stronger, more consolidated Europe. Early this month, Bucharest sent a document to the EU member states, expressing its stand on the issue. “The fact that there is no alternative to a European solution, which places the stability of our economies and societies and the prosperity of our citizens at the center of the Union’s actions, should be clearly expressed”, the document also writes. The president’s agenda on Friday also included a visit to Pope Francis at the Vatican, alongside other European leaders.



    LONDON ATTACK — The latest death toll of Wednesday’s terror attack in London, issued by the British Police on Friday, takes the number of fatalities to four. 50 other people, of 12 nationalities were injured in the attack. Two Romanian tourists, a man and a woman are among those injured. The man has been released from hospital, whereas his partner is still in critical condition in hospital, although according to the Romanian Embassy her condition has somewhat improved in the last hours. She fell off Westminster Bridge into the Thames River, after the attacker rammed the car into people crossing the bridge. According to the British Police, the terrorist, who was shot dead, is Khalid Masood, 52, born in Great Britain and who embraced radical Islam. The attack has been claimed by the Islamic State group. Romania’s President, Klaus Iohannis, has firmly condemned the attack and, in a phone conversation with the British Prime Minister Theresa May, he expressed full solidarity with the United Kingdom. Klaus Iohannis also sent a message of condolence to the families of the victims and wished a fast recovery to those injured. In turn, Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu has said the government, via the Romanian Embassy in London, is monitoring the health condition of the two Romanian nationals who sustained injuries. In a message on Twitter, the British ambassador to Bucharest, Paul Brummel, sent a message to the Romanians, thanking them for their reaction to the attack.



    LOANS — The National Bank on Friday announced that loans for businesses and natural persons amounted to some 3 billion euros in late February, down by 35% as compared to the same period of last year. At the end of last month, overall debt in national currency stood at over 1.3 billion euros, of which 1.1 billion were reported in Bucharest. In January, the number of natural persons with debt exceeding 30 days rose to some 650 thousand, the National Bank reports.



    SUMMER TIME — On March 26, the last Sunday of March, Romania will switch to summertime or daylight saving time (DST). This is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that evening daylight lasts an hour longer. In Romania clocks will be advanced by one hour, from 03.00 to 04.00, local time. Consequently, this will be the shortest day of the year, with only 23 instead of 24 hours. This practice is aimed at saving electricity, using instead sunlight for a longer period of the day. Natural light is also a booster of people’s mental and physical health. DST is currently used by over 100 countries the world over.



    EXERCISES — The French frigate “La Fayette” is starting Friday taking part in military exercises alongside similar Romanian ships, in the Black Sea. French and Romanian marines will work together to put into practice NATO standard operation practices, according to scenarios of ensuring free navigation and a maritime traffic flow. On Monday, the frigate “La Fayette” will take part in an exercise meant to consolidate interoperability with the Romanian Navy. There will be a busy timetable, including live fire exercises. Becoming militarily operational in 1996, “La Fayette” is equipped with anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles and has a self-defense arsenal. A Panther helicopter is also onboard the ship, which increases the frigate’s action range.



    FOOTBALL — Romania’s national team is training in Cluj, north-western Romania, ahead of Sunday’s match against Denmark. The match counts towards preliminary Group E as part of the qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup to be hosted by Russia. Also on Sunday, Armenia is playing Kazakhstan while Montenegro is facing Poland. After trouncing Armenia 5-nil, drawing 1-all against Montenegro at home and nil-all against Kazakhstan away from home, losing nil-3 against Poland in Bucharest, Romania is ranked 4th in the group tables, with 5 points. We recall that Romania is coached by German Cristoph Daum, the first foreign coach in the history of the Romanian team, after last year’s subpar performance at the 2016 European Championships in France. (Translated by V. Palcu)

  • March 7, 2016 UPDATE

    March 7, 2016 UPDATE

    The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, who is on a state visit to Israel, met on Monday in Jerusalem with his counterpart, Reuven Rivlin. Romania, the President said, pays special attention to its relations with Israel, and his visit is intended to honour the tradition of the 68 years of constant diplomatic ties and, more importantly, to pave the way for further bilateral cooperation. The President added that Romania intends to become a regional centre in fighting anti-Semitism and promoting Holocaust education. Also on Monday, Iohannis had talks with PM Benjamin Netanyahu. On Tuesday, Iohannis will have a meeting with the president of the Israeli Parliament, Yuli-Yoel Edelstein, and will visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial. From Jerusalem, Iohannis will travel to the Palestinian territories, for official talks with President Mahmoud Abbas.



    Five thousand employees of Dacia, the largest carmaker in Romania, controlled by the French group Renault, took part in a protest on Monday in Mioveni, in the south of the country. People are primarily disgruntled with the delays in the building of the Pitesti-Sibiu motorway. This is a major route, because it reduces the way out of Romania for the vehicles intended for export. The Mioveni-based plant loses 30 euro/vehicle because of the infrastructure. The unionists also demand legislative measures to discourage the imports of second-hand cars, changes in the labour legislation and in healthcare laws.



    The largest military exercises ever organized by South Korea began on Monday, against the backdrop of tensions with the communist regime in Pyongyang. Some 300,000 South-Korean troops and 15,000 American ones take part in the manoeuvres, which will end in late-April. The UN Security Council decided last week to impose new sanctions on Pyongyang, after its recent nuclear and ballistic tests. The draft resolution introduced by the USA was unanimously approved, including by North Koreas only ally, China.