Radio România Internațional

Tag: planes

  • October 31, 2023

    October 31, 2023

    VOTE The Chamber of
    Deputies in Bucharest is today voting on the simple motion tabled by the
    opposition against Finance Minister Marcel Bolos. The opposition USR has been criticizing
    the fiscal measures endorsed by the government of late and has accused Minister
    Bolos of having promoted legislative initiatives at the expenses of the Romanian
    employees. In response Minister Bolos says the decisions made by the PSD-PNL
    coalition government are needed against an accentuated budget imbalance with a
    deficit of over 11 billion euros and a public debt reaching 160 billion euros.






    COMMISSIONER
    Romanian president Klaus Iohannis on Monday held talks with the European
    Commission Vice-president for Values and Transparency, Vera Jourova. According
    to a Facebook post of the presidential administration, high on the agenda were Romania’s
    accession to Schengen, the rule of law and reforms in the country’s legal system,
    as well as the support for Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East.
    Commissioner Jourova has also met Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu and other
    ministers for talks over the digitization programmes part of the National Plan
    of Recovery and Resilience, AI and fighting misinformation.






    SALARIES In a special session today, the government in Bucharest has
    endorsed the minimum salaries in the fields of construction, agriculture and
    food industry. As of November 1, the minimum gross salary in the field of
    construction will see a rise of 14.6%, reaching the equivalent of 9 hundred
    euros. The rise will be of 14.53% up to 7 hundred Euros, in the country’s food
    and farm industries. According to official data, 590 thousand employees from
    agriculture and the food industry have been paid the minimum salary. And the
    latest government move is meant to allow the aforementioned categories of employees
    to remain unaffected by the elimination of the exemption from paying the health
    insurance, which is to come into effect as of November 1. We recall that, a new
    series of fiscal-budgetary amendments are to come into effect in Romania, on
    November 1.


    PLANES A first batch of the
    F-16 fighters the Netherlands donates to Ukraine will arrive at the training
    center set up in Romania in a fortnight – the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte
    has announced. In a videoconference with Ukrainian president Volodymyr
    Zelensky, the Dutch official said the present situation in the Middle East must
    not and cannot distract the Netherlands from Ukraine’s fight against the
    Russian aggression. Reuters recalls that Denmark, Norway and Belgium have pledged
    F-16 jet fighters to Ukraine. Romania, the Netherlands and the US giant
    Lockheed Martin on August 29 signed a letter of intention for setting up a center
    for the training of the F-16 personnel. The aforementioned facility has been
    designed as a regional center for NATO countries at the air base in Fetesti,
    southern Romania, which will also benefit the Ukrainian pilots.

    ISRAEL
    Clashes continued in the Gaza Strip last night where explosions and machine gun
    fire was heard. Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes in the past days
    and its tanks have entered deep into the Palestinian territory, where for a
    short period of time they interrupted an evacuation route to the south.
    According to international publications, 600 thousand people could still be in
    the northern part of the Strip, and the UNO believes that most of them have
    taken refuge in the 10 hospitals in the area, which have received evacuation
    orders. According to Phillipe Lazzarini, the head of the UN Palestinian refugee
    Agency, the Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip were being subjected to
    forced displacement and collective punishment. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
    Netanyahu has rejected the humanitarian agencies’ appeals for a ceasefire,
    arguing this would be tantamount to capitulation to Hamas and terrorism. During
    a military operation in Gaza, a young IDF woman held captive by Hamas has been
    liberated in what Prime Minister Netanyahu has described an emotional success adding
    that all efforts must be made to free all the hostages taken by Hamas.

    (bill)

  • AWACS aircraft in Romania

    AWACS aircraft in Romania

    The
    most severe security crisis of the past decades, triggered at NATO’s eastern
    borders with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, forced the Alliance to move
    quickly to strengthen its eastern flank, which includes Romania as well.


    As
    many as 5,000 Allied troops are now on Romanian territory, and the
    multi-national Allied elements which were part of NATO’s Response Force prior
    to the conflict were turned into a NATO battle group spearheaded by France.


    The
    eastern flank bolstering process does not end here. As Russia’s illegal war in
    Ukraine continues to threaten peace and security in Europe, there must be no
    doubt about NATO’s resolve to protect and defend every inch of Allied territory,
    the Alliance emphasised in a recent news release announcing the deployment of 3
    AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) planes to Romania.


    The
    aircraft, regularly stationed in Germany, have been deployed to an air base
    near Bucharest, together with 180 specialised troops. They will conduct recon
    and surveillance missions in the Alliance’s eastern part. The planes are
    equipped with state-of-the-art equipment able to track and identify other
    aircraft over 400 km away. But they do not carry weapons, and are only used as
    air command posts. General Daniel Petrescu, chief of staff, spoke about the
    importance of this mission:


    Daniel
    Petrescu: Since February 2022, AWACS planes have conducted regular patrol
    missions in Eastern Europe and in the Baltic Sea region. The joint missions to
    be carried out here will also bring value added in terms of enhanced cohesion
    between the Romanian staff and the personnel of the NATO fleet, as well as in
    terms of inter-operability.


    The
    German troops’ AWACS mission in Romania is an important signal of
    trans-Atlantic and European solidarity, the German Ambassador to Bucharest said
    in his turn. According to him, this mission being commanded by the German
    brigadier general Stefan Neumann and the large number of German servicemen
    participating in it once again prove that we stand by our Romanian partners.


    With
    the help of the surveillance planes, the German diplomat added, an important
    contribution is made to strengthening the south-eastern flank and to supporting
    the NATO early warning system. Brigadier general Stefan Neumann said he was
    impressed with the professional and flexible support provided by the Romanian
    forces to this mission, which in his opinion once again proves how well NATO
    operates. With the Airborne Early Warning and Control System, NATO has a strong
    and flexible airborne and maritime surveillance capacity, the German official
    added. (AMP)

  • May 6, 2017

    May 6, 2017

    TAROM — Romania’s National Air Company TAROM has signed a contract for the purchase of two new planes BOEING 737-800 Next Generation, each having 189 seats. The planes will be delivered this month. The purchase was necessary due to the fact that two Airbus A310 planes have been removed from the company’s fleet, the Romanian Transport Ministry has announced.




    MIGRANTS — As many as 12 Iraqi citizens have been seized by Romanian border police while trying to illegally enter the country, from Serbia. They said they wanted to get to western Europe. The group of migrants was made up of three men, five women and four children aged between 1 and 17. According to a release by the Romanian Border Police, the Serbian authorities were notified for the event to be jointly investigated and the readmission accord applied.




    COLLABORATION — The governments of Romania and the United States will collaborate to ensure the exchange of information between the authorities in charge with preventing, discovering and investigating serious crimes, including terrorism. The accord stipulates that Romanian and American authorities will provide reference data from their national identification systems, such as fingerprints and DNA. The document is part of Romania’s political and diplomatic efforts to become part of the Visa Waiver Programme. In another development, over 150 American companies will visit Romania during Trade Winds, an event organized in October in Bucharest by the Embassy of Romania to the US and the American Department of Commerce. Trade Winds is an annual event of the US Department of Commerce organized together with partner states that show an attractive economic and business profile for US companies. It represents a large-scale economic mission with a regional character.




    TOURISM — Romania’s 14 tourist promotion offices abroad might be closed down after the Tourism Ministry in Bucharest launched a public debate on this matter. Previously, Romania’s Court of Accounts found some problems as to how the funds allotted to these offices were used. Over two thirds of the offices’ budget were spent on the rent. Tourism Minister Mircea Dobre has said that the country’s tourist promotion might be hosted by the Romanian diplomatic missions.




    FRENCH ELECTION – Today is a day of reflection in France, ahead of the decisive round of the presidential elections due on Sunday. The election campaign for the French presidential office ended on Friday, against a tense background. The centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron has consolidated his position as favorite in Sundays presidential election. According to several polls, he has managed to draw on his side half of the far-right electorate, which accounted for 20% of the votes in the first round of elections. According to the Radio Romania correspondent, the second round, dubbed by the French media as historic and unique, will bring not only a winner, but many dilemmas on the political scene. As in June legislative elections will be held in France, the main question is with what kind of government will the next president run the country.




    HANDBALL – The city of Budapest is playing host to the Final Four tournament of the Champions League in women’s handball. Romania’s champions CSM Bucharest are today taking on Macedonian champions Vardar Skopje. Last year CSM defeated Vardar Skopje 27-21, andwon the final against Gyori Audi ETO 29-26 after extra time and the penalty shootout.