Radio România Internațional

Tag: Patriot systems

  • Europe – focus on Ukraine

    Europe – focus on Ukraine

    Russia is and will remain the most significant and direct threat to NATO security, and allies will work on a strategy to challenge, restrict and counter Russia, including by limiting Moscow’s ability to rebuild its military, the co-chairs of the B9 summit hosted by Riga said on Tuesday. The summit was chaired by the presidents of Romania, Poland and Latvia, Klaus Iohannis, Andrzej Duda and Edgars Rinkevics, respectively. “We remain committed to our efforts to maintain international pressure on Russia, including by means of sanctions and other measures, as long as Russia continues its hostile policies and actions, including blatant violations of international law”, the joint statement signed by the three officials reads. At the same time, the three presidents reiterated their unwavering support for “independent and sovereign” Ukraine. It is important that NATO’s deterrence posture remains strong, and that the defense capacity is at maximum potential. Romania supports Ukraine, Romania stands with NATO, with Ukraine, together with other NATO allies, as long as it is required, president Klaus Iohannis pointed out.

     

     

    In this context, the Romanian official announced that next week the Supreme Defense Council will discuss whether or not Romania will grant Ukraine a Patriot military system. The Biden administration called on European NATO member states that have this type of systems to examine the possibility of donating some of them to Ukraine. Germany has already announced it will give Kyiv such a system. Last month, the Romanian president addressed a possible transfer of a Patriot system to Ukraine, dismissing the possibility Romania should remain without anti-missile defense. If Romania gives something up, it should receive something else in return, the president said.

     

     

    In Berlin, Western allies attending the International Conference for the Reconstruction of Ukraine promised support for this country, although concrete solutions are yet to be established. One such solution would be to boost investments in Ukraine. So far, the European Commission has announced agreements with various banks worth 1.4 bln EUR and an assistance package of 1.9 bln EUR. Italy announced 140 mln EUR in aid. Germany and Ukraine signed a Declaration of Intent to support Kyiv after the war. Chancellor Olaf Scholz also promised Ukraine IRIS-T systems, missiles and ammunition in the coming months, in addition to 100 Patriot missiles, in a joint initiative with Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway. Romania also offered its assistance. Attending the conference in Berlin, the Romanian Foreign Minister, Luminița Odobescu, said Bucharest supports Ukraine with electricity and construction works designed at improving interconnectivity. Bucharest’s approach is regional, also targeting the Republic of Moldova, the Romanian Foreign Minister said. (VP)

  • December 14, 2017 UPDATE

    December 14, 2017 UPDATE

    KING MICHAEL I – Three days of national mourning have been declared
    in Romania to honor the memory of its last sovereign, King Michael I. King
    Michael’s coffin will be lying in state
    in the Throne Room of the Royal Palace in Bucharest until Saturday, when the
    funeral is scheduled. The body of King Michael was brought to Romania on
    Wednesday, and the coffin was taken for a few hours to the Royal Peles Castle
    in Sinaia mountain resort, where Romanian and Moldovan officials paid their
    last respects to the former King. Many people lined the route of the funeral
    procession between the airport and the mountain resort of Sinaia to bid
    farewell to the last King of Romania who ruled between 1940 and 1947. King
    Michael died on December 5 in Switzerland at the age of 96. He will be laid to
    rest at the royal necropolis in Curtea de Arges (in the south). The funerals
    will be attended by personalities from all over the world. According to the
    site romaniaregala.ro, attending the funerals, besides the Royal Family of
    Romania, will be representatives of the Royal Families of Great Britain,
    Sweden, Spain, Belgium, Jordan, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Bahrain, Bulgaria,
    Greece, Serbia, Albania, France, Prussia and Portugal. Also attending the
    funerals will be representatives of the Imperial Families of Russia, Austria
    and Germany, the Grand Duchy of Baden and the Princely House de Ligne.


















    BREXIT – The
    developments in the Brexit process and the issues caused by migration are the main
    topics on the agenda of the winter European Council which started on Thursday
    in Brussels. Romania is represented by President Klaus Iohannis. The EU leaders
    will look at the progress made in the negotiations with London in three
    specific fields, namely citizens’ rights, dialogue with Ireland and Great
    Britain’s financial commitments to the EU budget. The participants will also
    adopt the guidelines that will facilitate the passing to the 2nd stage of
    Brexit negotiations, in the context in which the EU chief negotiator Michel
    Barnier confirmed that sufficient progress was reported in the 1st stage. On
    the sidelines of the European Council, President Iohannis will participate in
    the Euro+ Summit, which will be attended also by EU countries that are not in
    the Euro zone. As regards security and defense, the summit will discuss the
    instrument of Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO). President Iohannis will
    reiterate Bucharest’s commitment to help render PESCO operational and will show
    that the implementation of this instrument should lead to a more efficient
    development of military capabilities and to an increased cohesion among EU
    states. President Iohannis will also advocate the deepening and extension of
    EU-NATO cooperation, the presidential administration reports.


















    JUSTICE – The Romanian Chamber of Deputies has passed the
    amendments modifying the justice laws that refer to the organization of the
    judiciary and the functioning of the Superior Council of Magistracy. The bill
    on the organization of the judiciary provides, among other things, for the
    setting up of a unit for investigating prosecutors and judges and for the
    possibility of solutions adopted by prosecutors being rejected by their
    superiors, if the latter consider them illegal or ungrounded. The second bill
    that was passed, related to the functioning of the Superior Council of
    Magistracy, states that the Judicial Inspection, which will remain a part of
    the institution, is the only body allowed to take disciplinary actions against
    a magistrate, eliminating from this procedure the justice minister and the
    president of the High Court of Cassation and Justice. The two bills will be
    sent to the Senate, which is currently analyzing, in emergency procedure, the
    bill on the status of magistrates.






    BUDGET – The
    joint budget and finance committees of the Romanian Parliament on Thursday
    continued debates on the budgets to be allotted in 2018 to the main public
    institutions. The committees endorsed the budgets earmarked for justice, defense, internal affairs and
    agriculture. The majority coalition wants to finalize debates and
    the joint committees’ report by Saturday, so as to be able to debate the draft
    budget law during Monday’s plenary session. The final vote on the 2018 budget
    and social security bill is scheduled for December 21. The budget was built on
    an estimated 5.5% economic growth rate,
    and additional revenues are to be distributed to healthcare, education and
    investment. The government has also allotted resources for the rise in the
    minimum salary and pensions. The opposition has contested the budget, claiming
    that revenues are overestimated.






    FDI – Foreign Direct
    Investments in Romania went up by 17% in the first ten months of 2017, as
    compared to the same period in 2016, reaching 4.09 billion Euro, according to
    data made public on Thursday by the National Bank of Romania. Between January -
    October 2017, the current account of the balance of payments registered a
    deficit of 5.3 billion Euros, 87% more than in the same period in 2016, the
    Central Bank has also announced. Romania’s external debt grew by 1.3 billion
    Euros in the first ten months of this year.




    EUSDR – Romania will hold the
    presidency of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR) between November
    2018- November 2019, the Romanian Minister Delegate for European Affairs Victor
    Negrescu announced on Thursday. He said that the term will coincide with the
    Romanian presidency of the EU Council as of January 2019. EUSDR is one of the
    four EU macro-strategies, co-initiated by Romania and Austria and launched in
    2011. It was developed in order for the Danube Region countries and
    stakeholders to address common challenges together. The participating countries
    are Austria, Romania, Bulgaria, the Czcek Republic, Croatia, Germany, Slovakia,
    Slovenia, Hungary, Bosnia-Hertegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, the Republic of
    Moldova and Ukraine.




    PATRIOT
    – Romania has already paid for the first Patriot missile system and next week
    will make another payment, this time for armored vehicles. The announcement
    was made on Thursday by the Romanian Defense Minister Mihai Fifor in the
    Senate’s budget-finance committee. Romania wants to purchase six Patriot
    systems, worth a total of 3.9 billion dollars, VAT not included. The first
    system costs 756 million dollars. The Patriot air and missile defense systems
    will become part of the Romanian Army’s equipment in the second half of 2019,
    and the first one will be rendered operational in mid 2020.






    NATO – Canadian pilots at the Mihail Kogalniceanu airbase
    in the southeast of Romania on Thursday participated alongside Romanian pilots
    in an Air Policing drill, which is part of the NATO Plan to strengthen the
    eastern flank of the Alliance. MiG-21 LanceR and CF-18 Hornet planes carrying
    missiles are prepared to intercept potential unidentified aircraft nearing
    Romania’s airspace. The drill is meant for the joint training of
    military, with a view to meeting NATO’s specific inter-operability requirements
    and boosting the level of cooperation with the allies.



  • Romanian-American military cooperation

    Romanian-American military cooperation

    Romania’s President, Klaus Iohannis, has promulgated the law on the purchase of seven Patriot US missile systems. The normative act was adopted last week by the Chamber of Deputies, the decision-making body on this issue, after having previously been endorsed by the Senate. According to the defence minister, Mihai Fifor, the Romanian Army might soon use the new systems, which haven been deemed by experts as state-of-the art. “The first system will arrive in Romania in the second half of 2019, and it will be rendered fully operational in the first half of 2020. The program is practically spanning seven years, and the systems will be ready to use at the end of this time span”- the minister has explained.



    The Defence Ministry’s procurement plan also includes the purchase of Piranha 8×8 armoured vehicles. The first 30 such vehicles will be purchased also from the US, and the next ones might be manufactured at the Bucharest Mechanical Plant. The money earmarked for these purchases come from the state budget. Thanks to a political pact backed by all parliamentary parties, both in Power and in Opposition, of right or left wing orientation, two percentage points of Romania’s GDP have been allocated for defence.



    This is what both the US President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, have wanted from all the NATO member states. Just as experts have pointed out, after tens of years under NATO’s safety umbrella, the Europeans have expected the Americans to defend and protect them from foreign threats. And, against the backdrop of rising threats in the East and the South, there is high time for Europe to invest more consistently into its own security. Romania is considered to be one of the best-performing countries from this standpoint and its military cooperation with the US is deemed excellent, the more so as the two countries boast a 20-year Strategic Partnership.



    As the US ambassador to Bucharest, Hans Klemm, has underlined, Romania is currently the fourth largest contributor as part of the NATO Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan, exceeding for instance Great Britain. Hans Klemm also says the US military consider the over 620 Romanian colleagues deployed to that Central-Asian country to fight terrorism to be very valuable. Actually, although it was not a member of NATO, an alliance which it joined as late as 2004, Bucharest rallied, from the very first moment, the international anti-terror coalition set up in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Furthermore, Romania is hosting NATO-led multinational exercises, military bases and elements of the US missile defence shield, which makes it one of the US’ most important partners in the region. (Translated by D. Vijeu)

  • November 21, 2017

    November 21, 2017


    PATRIOT – The bill on the purchase of Patriot missile defense systems from the US has been fully endorsed today by the Romanian Chamber of Deputies, which is the decision making forum in this matter. Previously, the bill was endorsed by the Senate. Romania wants to purchase seven Patriot systems, whose total value stands at some 3.9 billion dollars. The first system, costing 765 million dollars is to be purchased by the end of the year.



    MOTION – The Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania has decided to abstain from voting on the no-confidence motion filed by the right-wing opposition against the Government formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania. The leader of the union Kelemen Hunor has stated that he agrees with some of the statements included in the motion, but has blamed the initiators for not providing alternatives to the current prime-minister and his governing programme. Signed by senators and deputies members of the National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union and the Peoples Movement Party, the motion accuses the Executive that, through its policies, has deeply disturbed Romanian economy. In response, the Prime Minister Mihai Tudose has stated that, thanks to the latest fiscal reform, more money will get to the state budget and to the pension fund and companies will benefit from simplified procedures.



    EMA/EBA – Gathered in Brussels on Monday, the EU foreign ministers decided that the European Banking Authority (EBA) would have its headquarters in Paris. Also, Amsterdam will host the European Medicines Agency (EMA). The EU officials have chosen the Dutch capital through a competition in which Bucharest ran too. The two institutions, currently based in London, will be relocated after Brexit, in March 2019. EMA has 900 employees and supervises the safety of medicines sold on a market of more than 500 million consumers. As regards EBA, the French president Emmanuel Macron has stated that choosing Paris is a recognition of Frances attractiveness and commitment. EBA regulates and supervises the banking system across the EU.



    GERMANY – Consultations have started today in Germany on ways to exit the political crisis triggered by the Conservatists, the Liberals and the Greens failing to reach consensus on the formation of the new Government. The president of the country Frank Walter Steinmeier, who, according to the Constitution, must manage the crisis, has announced his intention to hold talks with all the political parties that could be part of the Government headed by Angela Merkel. We recall that her party won the legislative elections of September 24th. Steinmeier has excluded the participation of the far-right Alternative for Germany and the far-left Die Linke parties, as Angela Merkel refuses to engage in a dialogue with them. Also, the president has rejected the idea of early elections. According to the outcome of the September elections, Angela Merkel can only head a coalition government, as she excludes the alternative of a minority executive.



    GAUDEAMUS – For the first time in its history, the GAUDEAMUS International Book Fair, organised this year by Radio Romania between the 22nd and the 26th of November, will have as the guest of honour not a country, but a Union, namely the European Union, through the Representation of the European Commission in Romania. This years edition is special, as it marks 60 years since the signing of the Roma Treaty, 30 years since the launch of the Erasmus programme and also 10 years since Romania joined the European Union. Under the motto “unity in diversity”, the European Union encourages people to discover and explore the rich cultural heritage of the old continent. This years edition will enjoy the participation of 300 exhibitors and will host more than 800 events.



    TOURISM – According to official data, Romanian tourism has grown by 10% in 2017 and the total number of tourists choosing Romania as one of their holiday destinations is likely to exceed 12 million this year, a value that has not been reached since 1990. The announcement was made by the first-vice president of the National Association of Travel Agencies Adrian Voican. He has stated that, in the first nine months of the year, the number of Romanians who chose Romania as a tourist destination increased by one million, reaching 9.5 million. Also, the number of foreign tourists is expected to exceed 2.6 million this year. Spa tourism has become a particular attraction, and the sales on this segment have doubled. (Translated by Mihaela Ignatescu)




  • May 2, 2017 UPDATE

    May 2, 2017 UPDATE

    AIR DEFENCE – US ambassador to Bucharest, Hans Klemm, has said talks on Romanias purchasing some US Patriot air defence systems might be finalised by the end of the year. He has explained that Romanian PM Sorin Grideanu has recently met with a delegation of the Romanian-US Business Council, during which the officials discussed ways to boost cooperation in the field of defence industry, as well as investments in Romania. In another move, Hans Klemm has said the US hails Romanias decision to increase defence spending to 2% of the GDP, in agreement with the commitments it has made within NATO. This also grants opportunities to US companies to cooperate with the Romanian ones in the field of defence, to develop new, state-of-the art equipment, to help Romania and the Alliance, including the US, to provide better defence, Hans Klemm has said.



    UNIFIED PAY BILL – The Romanian Senate on Tuesday decided to debate the unified pay bill, in an emergency procedure. Also on Tuesday, the bill was sent by the Senates Standing Bureau, for endorsement, to the Government, the Economic and Social Council, the Legislative Council and to other institutions. The deadline set for securing these endorsements is of one week. The bill provides among others for the gradual increase, in the following five years, of the salaries of state sector employees. The first pay rise is to be applied as of July 1st.



    MOLDOVA – The IMF Executive Board has completed the first reviews under the Extended Credit Facility and Extended Fund Facility Arrangements for the Republic of Moldova, that allow for the disbursement of 21.5 million dollars for that country. According to the report, the authorities continue to make significant progress in tackling long-standing vulnerabilities in the financial sector and advancing structural reforms. These efforts have helped strengthen financial stability and growth has been resumed. The report also says that the 2017 budget and the medium-term budget framework are consistent with the program targets. In November 2016 the Republic of Moldova signed a new programme with the IMF, worth almost 179 million dollars for a three-year period.



    BREXIT – Britains plan to leave the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) when it exits the European Union will severely hinder nuclear trade and research, and threaten power supplies, a UK parliamentary committee said in a report on Tuesday. The government says Britain must leave Euratom as part of its goal to end the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice when the country leaves the EU. Experts have said that if Britain leaves Euratom, there is a risk of new projects being delayed or put on hold while new stand-alone nuclear cooperation treaties are negotiated with countries in the EU and outside it.



    UNEMPLOYMENT – The unemployment rate registered in Romania in March 2017 stood at 5.3%, down by 0.1% as against February, while the number of unemployed people went down to 486,000, according to the National Institute for Statistics. The figure is by 3,000 people smaller than in February, and also smaller than in March 2016, when it stood at 561,000. The unemployment rate among men is 5.7% while among women is 4.9%.



    LABOUR MARKET – Of all EU member states, Romania registered in 2016 the lowest number of people in the 15-64 age bracket who had an employment contract on a definite period of time, that is 1.4%, whereas the European average stood at 14.2%, a report issued by Eurostat on Tuesday shows. According to the figures, Spain is ranking at the opposite end of the classification with 26.1% and Poland with 27.5%. As regards the 15-24 year age bracket, the European average of people who have an employment contract on a definite period of time stood at 43.8%. The lowest percentage points were also reported by Romania – 5.3%.



    TRAVEL ALERT – The U.S. Department of State issued a travel alert for Europe on Monday, citing the continued threat of terror attacks. In the alert, the Department of State mentioned recent incidents in France, Russia, Sweden and the United Kingdom, saying Islamic State and al Qaeda have the ability to plan and execute terrorist attacks in Europe. Malls, government facilities, hotels, clubs, restaurants, places of worship, parks, airports and other locations are all possible targets for attacks, the State Department’s alert said. The alert is valid until September the 1st. Washingtons previous alert of this kind expired in February.



    EUROVISION – Over 200 competitors from 20 countries have arrived in Kiev these days to get ready for the Eurovision Song Contest, including Romanias representatives, Ilinca and Alex Florea. In the second semi-final, due on May 11, the two will be performing the song “Yodel it! composed by Mihai Alexandru. The head of the Romanian delegation, Iuliana Marciuc, told a press conference that the song has already caught public interest.