Radio România Internațional

Tag: Romanian Minister of National Defense Angel Tîlvăr

  • June 19, 2024 UPDATE

    June 19, 2024 UPDATE

    Visit. The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, received, on Wednesday, his Italian counterpart, Sergio Mattarella, who paid a formal visit to Bucharest. We have deep ties, an exceptional economic dynamic, and the soul of the relationship are the Romanian communities in Italy, who are very well integrated, said Iohannis. At the same time, the head of state expressed his appreciation for the solid community of Italian entrepreneurs in Romania. He specified that, last year, the two countries had bilateral exchanges worth 20 billion euros. In terms of security, Klaus Iohannis stated that Romania and Italy would continue to work together to strengthen NATO’s deterrence role on the eastern flank, but also on the southern one. For his part, President Mattarella stated that bilateral relations were excellent on all levels. Romania is an extremely important bilateral, European and international partner for Italy, and we want the country to join the Schengen free movement area also with the land borders, the Italian guest also said. In 2024, Romania and Italy celebrate 145 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations, as well as 60 years since their elevation to embassy level.

    NATO. Romania will take over, between July and December 2024, the command of a NATO Countermeasures Maritime Group, which will carry out specific missions in the Mediterranean basin, the Romanian Naval Forces have announced. Romania will participate in this group with the ship “Vice Admiral Constantin Bălescu”, which has a crew of 85 Romanian and foreign soldiers. The maritime group will also include military ships from Italy, Spain and Turkey. The main goals of this mission of the Allied Maritime Command of NATO are to ensure the immediate response capacity of the North Atlantic Alliance, to increase the interoperability between the allied naval forces, as well as to promote the image of NATO, the press release states.


    Election results.     The final results of the European Parliament elections have been announced by the Central Electoral Bureau and published in the Official Gazette of Romania. The Social Democratic Party (PSD) – National Liberal Party (PNL) alliance ranked first with 48.5% of the votes, followed by the Alliance for the Union of Romanians, with a little under 15%, the United Right Alliance, with 8.7%, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania with almost 6.5% and the SOS Romania party with a little over the required threshold of 5%. The independent candidate Nicolae Ştefănuţă was voted by 3.08% of Romanians and managed to obtain another European Parliament mandate. The voter turnout was 52.4%. The Central Electoral Bureau pointed out that, of the 33 MEP mandates going to Romania, 19 went to the PSD-PNL alliance, 6 to the Alliance for the Union of Romanians, 3 to the United Right Alliance and 2 to the SOS Romania Party and another 2 to the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania.

    Law. The Romanian Senate has adopted, as the first chamber notified, a bill to amend the Citizenship Law, initiated by the Government, which establishes that the Romanian citizenship can be granted, upon request, to a foreign person who is married and lives outside the borders with a Romanian citizen for at least 10 years. The current legislation stipulates that, in order to grant citizenship to a foreign citizen married to a Romanian citizen, he or she must live in Romania for at least five years, which represents, in the opinion of the initiator, ‘an obstacle’. The law also provides for the necessary measures needed to acquire the Romanian citizenship and for rules to prevent its fraudulent acquisition. Thus, biometric checks are provided for persons who apply for Romanian citizenship. The bill will be debated by the Chamber of Deputies, which is the decision-making body in this matter.

    USA. The Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luminiţa Odobescu, will pay a working visit to the USA on June 20-21.. On this occasion, she will have bilateral political consultations with the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, meetings with representatives of the National Security Council, opinion leaders and American think-tanks. At the same time, the head of the Romanian Diplomacy will participate in the opening of the Romania-USA Economic Forum, where, as a keynote speaker, she will emphasize the potential for the development of Romanian-American economic relations, including through bilateral cooperation in the field of energy and reconstruction efforts for Ukraine. Organized in the context of the 20th anniversary of Romania’s accession to NATO, the visit will provide an opportunity to review the progress made in the bilateral relationship, in the cooperation for strengthening Euro-Atlantic security, with an emphasis on the Black Sea region and on identifying ways to strengthening the Romania-USA Strategic Partnership.

    Korea. The Romanian Minister of National Defense, Angel Tîlvăr, had a working meeting in Bucharest, on Wedesday, with his South Korean counterpart, Won-sik Shin, who paid a formal visit to Romania. The agenda of the bilateral discussions covered issues regarding the international security situation and the prospects for bilateral cooperation in the field of defense between the two states, against the backdrop of the signing, in April, in Seoul, of the Agreement between the Government of Romania and the Government of the Republic of Korea on cooperation in the field of defense. During the discussions, the Romanian Minister of Defense presented the main threats and risks from the Black Sea and Western Balkans regions against the backdrop of the Russian Federation’s war of aggression against Ukraine. At the same time, the Romanian official highlighted Romania’s support for Ukraine. The two defense ministers laid wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Bucharest.

    Football. The Romanian football champion FCSB will play in the first preliminary round of the Champions League with the San Marino team AC Virtus 1964, according to the draw held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon. FCSB will play the first away match on July 9 or 10, and the decisive leg in Bucharest on July 16 or 17. The winner of the Romanian Cup, the second division Corvinul Hunedoara (south-west), will face the Hungarian vice-champion, Paksi FC, in the first preliminary round of the Europa League. Corvinul will play the first away match on July 11, with the second leg scheduled in Romania on July 18. (MI)

  • May 2, 2023

    May 2, 2023

    Anti-Semitism. The fourth meeting of the Working Group for the implementation of the European Union strategy on combating anti-Semitism and fostering Jewish life begins today in Bucharest. Over 80 national and European officials, as well as representatives of Jewish communities and international organizations from EU member states, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova will debate, for three days, topics of interest such as the development and implementation of national strategies in the field, the progress made in the implementation of the European strategy on fighting anti-Semitism and fostering Jewish life or the dangers posed by anti-Semitism. The Romanian government has stated that the organization of this meeting in Bucharest represents, among other things, a good opportunity to highlight the progress that Romania has made in this field. 2 years ago, the European Union adopted the first strategy on combating anti-Semitism and fostering Jewish life for the 2021-2030 timeframe. The strategy aims to prevent and combat all forms of anti-Semitism, to protect and promote Jewish life, education, research and the memory of the Holocaust.



    Green energy. The 2023 stage of the “Photovoltaic green house” program has started in Romania. As of May 2, companies and individuals who install such alternative green energy systems can register for this program. Afterwards, the procedures will begin for the people who want to benefit from the 20 thousand lei (4 thousand euros) from the State budget for the installation of photovoltaic panels. Especially after the increase in electricity and natural gas prices, in Romania the demand for solar panels has rocketed.



    Visit. The Romanian Minister of National Defense, Angel Tîlvăr, is paying a formal two-day visit to the neighboring Republic of Moldova. The agenda of the first day of the visit includes meetings with President Maia Sandu, Prime Minister Dorin Recean and with Igor Grosu, the president of the Moldovan Parliament. The Wednesday agenda of the foreign ministry delegation includes a visit to the headquarters of the 1st Motorized Infantry Brigade in the municipality of Bălţi (north).



    Ukraine. 20,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in Ukraine since December 2022, and another 80,000 have been wounded, according to the White House spokesperson for national security, John Kirby, quoted by the BBC. He stated that the biggest Russian losses were recorded in the battle for the city of Bakhmut. He also said that the Russian offensive in Donbas has exhausted the Kremlins military stocks and armed forces. In turn, the Ukrainian forces have reported that 460 Russian invaders have been neutralized in the last 24 hours. According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the number of Russian army soldiers killed on the front, since the beginning of the war on February 24, 2022, has exceeded 190,000.



    Education. Deputies from the Romanian Parliaments Education Committee are resuming debates on the education bills today. The deadline for the adoption of the bills, originally set for April 26, has already been extended and, although the documents are under emergency procedure, the discussions have been suspended several times in order to request points of view from other institutions. The debates on the pre-university education bill have been completed though, and important changes have been made regarding admission to high school or the baccalaureate exam, but also regarding sanctions for disciplinary violations. At the same time, the members of the Specialized Committee adopted several amendments to the new higher education law and will consider finalizing the report this week. The two bills will then be submitted to the plenary vote of the Chamber of Deputies and, subsequently, to the Senate, which is the decision-making body in this matter.



    Protest. The Federation of Trade Unions from the National Administration of Penitentiaries in Romania has announced that it is considering starting protest actions, for an indefinite period, this month, as a result of information appearing in the public space related to salary cuts and layoffs. The organization draws the attention of the Social Democrats and Liberals, the main political party that make up the current governing coalition, that cutting the salaries of state employees, including the police, military and penitentiary police, and laying off budget officers means electoral suicide for them. Unions in penitentiaries urge the government to increase the level of tax collection, to declare war on the underground economy, to attract foreign investment and to materialize the reforms and investments included in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.



    Tennis. Today, the Romanian tennis player Irina Begu takes on Maria Sakkari of Greece, in the quarter-finals of the WTA 1,000 tournament in Madrid, with more than 7.7 million euros in prize money. Previously, the Romanian has defeated the Russian athlete Liudmila Samsonova. Begu has not lost a single set at the current edition of the Spanish tournament. Thanks to the results in Madrid, she became, this week, the best-ranked Romanian player, surpassing Simona Halep, which is currently suspended for doping. (MI)


  • March 30, 2023

    March 30, 2023

    Bill. The leaders of the ruling National Liberal Party and Social Democratic Party in Romania, Nicolae Ciucă and Marcel Ciolacu, have announced that they decided to support the proposal made by the Ministry of Justice regarding the establishment of a threshold of 9,000 lei (about 1,800 euros) up to which abuse of office is decriminalized. The announcements of the two come after the Senate approved a draft law that provides for a value threshold for abuse and neglect in the service in the amount of 250,000 lei. The change caused criticism and a street protest in Bucharest. The opposition Save Romania Union has warned that the value threshold of 50,000 euros for damage to the public budget to be considered a criminal offense was also provided for by the well-known Ordinance 13 of 2017, which the government at the time abandoned after massive street protests.



    OECD. The Secretary of State for Romanias Accession to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Luca Niculescu, was appointed to the Steering Committee of the new OECD Regional Center in Istanbul. He welcomed the initiative to establish the Center, aimed at encouraging inter-regional cooperation, providing a platform for dialogue on public policies and supporting the states in the region to face the main economic and social challenges. According to a release by the Foreign Ministry in Bucharest, Luca Niculescu expressed, at the same time, the availability of the Romanian authorities to contribute with sectoral expertise to the activity of the OECD Regional Center in Istanbul, recalling that Romania provides financial support for the main regional programs of the organization.



    Visit. The Romanian Minister of National Defense, Angel Tîlvăr, starts a visit to the USA, today, together with the Chief of Staff, General Daniel Petrescu, and other officials. According to the Romanian Embassy in the USA, the delegation will have meetings in Washington with the Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, with General Mark Milley, the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces, as well as at the White House – the National Security Council. Also, meetings are scheduled with the presidents of the Committees on Armed Services of the US Senate and the House of Representatives, as well as with representatives of the American defense industry and of the strategic reflection and expertise environment. On the occasion of the visit, the Romanian delegation will mark 30 years of partnership between the Romanian Armed Forces and the Alabama National Guard. The Romanian officials will travel to the state of Alabama, where, between April 2 and 4, they will have meetings with the governor of the state, the leadership of the Alabama National Guard, as well as with representatives of the local authorities.



    Pensions. The special pension reform project was endorsed by the Bucharest Senate on Wednesday and is now going to the Chamber of Deputies, the decision-making body in this matter. In the Senate, the document was adopted in the form approved by the specialized commissions, including the amendments initiated by the representatives of the governing coalition. There are changes aimed at the overtaxation of very large special pensions, which the beneficiaries cannot accumulate. The opposition says, however, that it is not enough, that the system of special pensions should be eliminated entirely, and the principle of contribution applied to all pensions. Reforming the law on special pensions is a milestone in the National Recovery and Resilience plan, on which the disbursement of European money depends. Almost 200,000 Romanians currently benefit from special pensions, the majority – over 170,000 – from the defense and public order system. But the highest special pensions benefit former magistrates – judges and prosecutors, who can end up receiving a pension even 10 times higher than the average one granted by the State.



    Education. In Romania, the new education laws have been approved by the Government and will be submitted to Parliament for debate and adoption. The bill has maintained the provision according to which, in addition to the National Assessment, high schools will be able to organize their own admission competition, with specialized tests, for 60% of the places. Also, the Baccalaureate will include an additional test, from the opposite profile to the one studied by the students. The new education laws are based on the “Educated Romania” project, initiated by President Klaus Iohannis, and for the implementation of the reforms stipulated in these laws, more than 3 billion euros will be allocated from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.



    Tennis. Romanian tennis player Sorana Cirstea (74 WTA) has qualified for the semi-finals of the WTA 1000 tournament in Miami Florida, with some 8.8 million dollars in prize money. She defeated the worlds number two, the Belarusian Arina Sabalenka, 6-4, 6-4. This is the second semifinal for the Romanian player, since 10 years ago, in Toronto. At the Miami Open, Cirstea has lost no match, defeating Fernanda Contreras Gomez of Mexico, number four Caroline Garcia of France, the Check Karolina Muchova and Marketa Vondrousova and now Arina Sabalenka. (MI)