Radio România Internațional

Tag: Romanian military in Afghanistan

December 18, 2019 UPDATE

GOVERNMENT
– The Government in Bucharest on Wednesday adopted the draft state budget and
the social security budget for next year. Romanian PM Ludovic Orban has
officially announced that the Bucharest Government will seek Parliament’s vote
of confidence over the two bills. Next year’s draft national budget and social
security budget have been published on the finance ministry’s website for debate.
The national budget is built on a 4.1% economic growth rate, a budget deficit
of 3.59% and an average inflation rate of 3.1%. Nine ministries will receive
more money, among which labor, defense, home affairs while smaller amounts will
be allocated to regional development. President Klaus Iohannis, who chaired the
Higher Defense Council meeting on Tuesday, where the budgets of the military
institutions were decided on, said he is satisfied with the draft law.

COMMEMORATION
– Events marking 30 years since the anti-communist revolution continued on
Wednesday in the city of Timisoara, in western Romania. On December 18, 1989,
protesters were shot on the stairs of the Orthodox Cathedral, while 43 corpses
were stolen from the morgue of the county hospital and taken by the Securitate,
the former political police, to the crematory in Bucharest, in an attempt to
hide the truth. Tuesday was a day of mourning in Timisoara, in memory of the
victims.

MINORITIES
– By promoting policies based on respect, mutual observance of rights and
values, dialogue and democratic representation at political and institutional
level, Romania has become one of the most appreciated models of minority rights
protection, Prime Minister Ludovic Orban said on Wednesday, on the occasion of
the National Minorities Day. The Romanian society has evolved in the last 30
years from multiculturalism to interculturalism, by proving that diversity does
not mean division, but a plus for all, Orban has also said. As many as 18
ethnic minorities live in Romania at present. In Romania’s Parliament, 17
minorities have one MP while the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in
Romania holds 21 deputy seats and 1 senator seat.

VISIT – Defense Minister
Nicolae-Ionel Ciuca, Interior Minister Marcel Vela and the Chief of General
Staff, General Daniel Petrescu paid a working visit to Afghanistan. According
to a Defense Ministry release, Nicolae Ciuca visited the military bases in
Kandahar, in the south, and in Kabul, where he met with the military deployed
to these areas. Nicolae Ciuca met with General Giles Hill, deputy commander of
NATO Resolute Support. The two officials looked the security context in
Afghanistan, Romania’s contribution to the Resolute Support Mission, the
sixth-largest contributor to this theatre of operations, US support to Romanian
military as well as the prospects of the 2020 Multinational Command. In turn,
Interior Minister Marcel Vela met in Kabul with the 24 Romanian gendarmes who
are taking part in the Resolute Support mission. The Romanian gendarmes are
trusted by their partners and are completing their missions with
professionalism. Right now, the Romanian Army has deployed over 1,200 military
in external missions, of whom 775 in Afghanistan. Since 2002, 30 Romanian
military were KIA in theatres of operations in Afghanistan, Irak and Kosovo, 27
in Afghanistan alone.

FIGHTER JETS – President Klaus Iohannis on Wednesday ratified the law on the
procurement of an additional five F-16 fighter jets from Portugal. The law was
passed as a top priority in Parliament, as the offer to the Government expired
at the end of the year, Defense Minister Nicolae Ciuca has said. Romania right
now has 12 F-16 fighter jets, all bought from Portugal.

FOOTBALL
– At the Romanian Football Awards, Razvan Lucescu has been designated coach of
the year for having won the championship and cup of Greece with PAOK
Thessaloniki and the Asian Champions League with the Saudi side Al-Hilal. From
the beginning of his career Lucescu proved to be one of the best Romanian coaches.
Aged 37, Lucescu in 2006 coached Rapid Bucharest to the quarterfinals of the
UEFA Cup after beating teams like Feyenoord Rotterdam, Shaktar Donetsk, Hertha
Berlin and SV Hamburg. Rapid failed to qualify to the semifinals after two
draws against Steaua Bucharest. Between 2009 and 2011 Lucescu coached Romania’s
national team

(Translated by Elena Enache & V. Palcu)

18 December 2019
Romanian military in international operations

President Klaus Iohannis decided to
award the post-mortem Romanian Star National Order to the Romanian military who
was killed in Thursday’s car bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan. Corporal
Cirprian-Stefan Polschi was 38 years old, married with two children. He had
been an employee of the National Ministry of Defense since 2004, and this was
his third tour in Afghanistan. Early this week, an assault of Taliban rebels
targeted the Romanian Embassy in Kabul. A Romanian embassy employee died in the
attack, sacrificing his life to save the others, Foreign Ministry Ramona
Manescu said. He was born in 1976 and was part of the embassy’s security team.
Coincidently enough, this Friday the city of Galati in southeastern Romania
hosted a ceremony marking the safe return of the 480 Romanian military who have
been taking part in a NATO support mission in Afghanistan since February. Their
job was to ensure the security of Kandahar airport as well as the protection of
counterterrorist NATO troops deployed on the ground.

Most are part of a
mechanized infantry battalion, together with troops from artillery, tank and
marine units, which marked a first for the history of Romanian military navy.
We are grateful to our military stationed in Afghanistan and other theatres of
operations, who are doing their job, putting their lives on the line, together
with our allies. By deploying military to conflict areas, our country is
actively taking part in maintaining international peace and security, which is
an important element of our NATO membership, President Klaus Iohannis said.

After nearly half a century of Soviet membership, Romanians finally found their
Western aspirations confirmed in 2000, at the end of post-communist transition.
Romania joined NATO in March 2004 with the biggest wave of NATO enlargement
recorded in history. Three years later our country joined the European Union.
Our troops were deployed to Afghanistan even before NATO accession. Since 2003,
nearly 30 Romanians have been killed in the line of duty, with scores of others
being killed in other international missions. Defense Minister Gabriel Les
recently stated that nearly a 1,000 Romanians are deployed in international
missions, although their number exceeded 2,500 in recent years. Of them, over
700 are deployed to Afghanistan. A few dozen are taking part in the UN mission
in Kosovo, an anti-air defense unit totaling 120 soldiers is stationed in
Poland, while 21 military are part of the general staff tasked with liaising
with NATO.

(Translated by V. Palcu)

6 September 2019
Romanian military in international operations

President Klaus Iohannis decided to
award the post-mortem Romanian Star National Order to the Romanian military who
was killed in Thursday’s car bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan. Corporal
Cirprian-Stefan Polschi was 38 years old, married with two children. He had
been an employee of the National Ministry of Defense since 2004, and this was
his third tour in Afghanistan. Early this week, an assault of Taliban rebels
targeted the Romanian Embassy in Kabul. A Romanian embassy employee died in the
attack, sacrificing his life to save the others, Foreign Ministry Ramona
Manescu said. He was born in 1976 and was part of the embassy’s security team.
Coincidently enough, this Friday the city of Galati in southeastern Romania
hosted a ceremony marking the safe return of the 480 Romanian military who have
been taking part in a NATO support mission in Afghanistan since February. Their
job was to ensure the security of Kandahar airport as well as the protection of
counterterrorist NATO troops deployed on the ground.

Most are part of a
mechanized infantry battalion, together with troops from artillery, tank and
marine units, which marked a first for the history of Romanian military navy.
We are grateful to our military stationed in Afghanistan and other theatres of
operations, who are doing their job, putting their lives on the line, together
with our allies. By deploying military to conflict areas, our country is
actively taking part in maintaining international peace and security, which is
an important element of our NATO membership, President Klaus Iohannis said.

After nearly half a century of Soviet membership, Romanians finally found their
Western aspirations confirmed in 2000, at the end of post-communist transition.
Romania joined NATO in March 2004 with the biggest wave of NATO enlargement
recorded in history. Three years later our country joined the European Union.
Our troops were deployed to Afghanistan even before NATO accession. Since 2003,
nearly 30 Romanians have been killed in the line of duty, with scores of others
being killed in other international missions. Defense Minister Gabriel Les
recently stated that nearly a 1,000 Romanians are deployed in international
missions, although their number exceeded 2,500 in recent years. Of them, over
700 are deployed to Afghanistan. A few dozen are taking part in the UN mission
in Kosovo, an anti-air defense unit totaling 120 soldiers is stationed in
Poland, while 21 military are part of the general staff tasked with liaising
with NATO.

(Translated by V. Palcu)

6 September 2019
August 24, 2017

MACRON — A reform of the status and rights of workers in the European Union, one of the foundations of his election campaign, is the aim of the tour of Central and Eastern Europe French President is making this week. After visiting Austria yesterday, Emmanuel Macron is today visiting Romania, where he is meeting President Klaus Iohannis. Talks will focus on developing bilateral relations and the strategic partnership as well as on hot topics on the European and international security agenda. Emmanuel Macron and Klaus Iohannis will have an open dialogue about boosting trade and exchanges under the 2018-2019 Romania-France season, an important bilateral project. Another topic on the agenda for talks is Romania’s Schengen accession.

MILITARY — A Romanian infantry battalion has started a six-month operation in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan. The Romanian military are to undergo an accommodation period and are expected to be fully operational by the end of the month. The battalion will take part in three important missions NATO is carrying out in Afghanistan as part of its Resolute Support operation: protecting Kandahar airport, ensuring the security of the airport premises and accompanying high-ranking officials. At present some 626 Romanian military are deployed to Afghanistan, making Bucharest the fourth-largest contributor to the North-Atlantic Treaty Organization.

DRILL — Romanian Naval Forces are conducting a joint military exercise in the Black Sea alongside the US battleship USS Porter. The exercise is due to end on August 28. USS Porter arrived on Tuesday in the port of Constanta.

MIGRANTS — 53 people, of which 16 children, were rescued by the Romanian border police on a mission to Greece as part of Poseidon Sea 2017, a FRONTEX maritime operation. The people were travelling on an overcrowded boat in the Aegean Sea, carrying Afghani, Irani and Iraqi nationals. They were safely transported to shore and handed over to the authorities in Chios port where ID-ed and registered. Since their deployment to Greece in January this year, the Romanian coast guard police have rescued over 900 people travelling in small-sized boats in Greek waters, both individually and as part of joint rescue operations.

ACCIDENT — Eight Romanian citizens sustain minor injuries in a car accident in northwestern Germany, the Foreign Ministry reports. A bus carrying 40 Romanians veered off road and capsized in Lower Saxony. According to the German Police, the majority of people on the bus were Romanian season workers. The Romanian Embassy in Berlin is working with the local authorities with a view to ascertaining the identity of the victims and the state of their health and is ready to offer any consular assistance.

FOOTBALL — Romanian champions Viitorul Constanta are today playing the return leg of the playoffs for the Europa League main group phase against Red Bull Salzburg away from home. In the first leg Viitorul lost 1-3 at home. On Wednesday, vice-champions FCSB lost 1-5 at home to Sporting Lisbon in the return leg of the playoffs for the Champions League main group phase. The first leg was a blank draw.

TENNIS — Two tennis players are taking part in the second preliminary round of the US Open, the last Grand Slam tournament of the year. In the first round, Mihaela Buzarnescu, 133 WTA, edged out Maria Bouzkova of the Czech Republic, and will take on Grace Min of the US in the next round. Irina Bara, 192 WTA won the first match after Myrtille George of France withdrew from the competition. Bara will play Bernarda Pera of the US in the next round. Alexandra Cadantu and Patricia Tig were eliminated in the first round. Another three Romanian players are in the US Open main draw: Simona Halep, Sorana Carstea and Ana Bogdan. US Open will kick off on August 28 and is offering 50 million dollars in prize money. (Translated by V. Palcu)

24 August 2017