Radio România Internațional

Tag: Romanian Naval Forces

  • August 5, 2018

    August 5, 2018

    UPDATE (14.12): NATO’s Resolute
    Support Mission in Afghanistan on Sunday announced that three of its soldiers
    were killed by
    a suicide bomber in eastern Afghanistan. A US military and two Afghan soldiers
    were also injured in the attack. Afghan officials announced the blast occurred
    in the region of Parwan and said the suicide bomber targeted foreign forces on a
    patrol mission. The attack has been claimed by the Taliban, who fight for the reintroduction
    of the strict Islamic law in Afghanistan after they were removed from power in
    2001.


    NAVY DAY – Celebrations of the Romanian Navy Day have started in Galati, south-eastern Romania with an anniversary concert given by the band of the Romanian Naval Forces. This is the first in a series of events to be held this year, for the first time in seven cities across the country: Constanţa, Galaţi, Mangalia, Tulcea, Brăila, Bucharest and Cernavodă. Celebrations will be held in the coming days in all the countrys military ports and will culminate with a big naval show in Constanta, on August 15. All throughout this period, tens of ships and vessels, armament and military equipment will be put on show, for visitors. Navy Day is also an opportunity for the representatives of navy education institutions to make public their educational offer. The event will be held on Constantas seafront on Monday. The timetable of events marking Navy Day will be completed by military ceremonies, exhibitions, shows and scuba diving workshops.



    SCORCHER– Over 1,000 fire-fighters are making sustained efforts to put out wildfires in Portugal and Spain, where temperatures exceed 46 degrees Celsius. The Iberian peninsula is under code red alert. The Portuguese region of Algarve, well known for its beautiful beaches, as of Friday has been affected by wildfires, the most powerful on the peninsula. The current wave of high temperatures favours the spreading of fire. In Spain, over 1,000 people had to flee their homes and travel destinations in Marbella, because of the high risk posed by wildfires. Other countries are also affected by scorcher. Traffic has been temporarily halted on the highway linking France and Spain, in the region of Jonquera, in the Pyrenees, after a fire which broke out on the French-Spanish border. In the Netherlands, several highway segments have been closed because of high temperatures and in France, four nuclear reactors have been halted for safety reasons. Red and orange code alerts are still valid today in several European countries, including the Swiss Alps. Three people died in Spain and another one in Italy because of heat.



    SWINE FEVER – Two new African swine fever hotbeds have been confirmed in Galati county, south-eastern Romania. Meanwhile, two pig farms in Tulcea, the most affected county, have been taken out of quarantine, after the test results were negative, and the approximately 4,000 pigs there can be used for consumption. Some 60,000 animals have been slaughtered in Tulcea county alone, in an effort to contain the spread of the epidemic. Nationwide, some 550 African swine fever hotbeds have been confirmed so far, in some 100 small towns and villages in 8 counties. In south-eastern Romania, the swine fever is spreading at a very fast pace, experts from the National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority have warned. African swine fever is not transmittable to humans, but it has a huge social and economic impact. The epidemic has had an explosive evolution since its outbreak, in early June.





    BREXIT- British trade minister Liam Fox said intransigence from the European Union was pushing Britain towards a no-deal Brexit, in an interview published Saturday by the Sunday Times.
    “With less than eight months until Britain quits the EU, the government has yet to agree a deal with Brussels and has stepped up planning for the possibility of leaving the bloc without any formal agreement, Reuters reports. “Fox, promising Brexit supporter in Prime Minister Theresa May’s cabinet, put the odds of Britain leaving the European Union without agreeing to deal over their future relationship at 60-40. If Britain fails to agree on the terms of its divorce with the EU, it will return to trade under the World Trade Organization rules in March 2019 without even a transitional arrangement. Most economists think this would cause serious harm to the world’s No.5 economy, as trade with the EU, Britain’s largest market, would become subject to


    tariffs, Reuters also reports.


    ELLIE WIESEL – The Romanian Foreign Ministry
    expresses regret and firmly condemns any anti-Semitic gestures, after the Memorial
    House of the late Nobel Peace Prize Winner and Holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel,
    was vandalised. Also, the Romanian Foreign Ministry condemns any behavioural
    slippage and discourse which promotes intolerance and xenophobia. The Romanian
    Police has started an investigation, after anti-Semitic comments in pink paint
    were scrawled on the facade of the Elie Wiesel Memorial House in Sighetu
    Marmaţiei, on Friday to Saturday night. In 2016, the Romanian born American writer
    and philosopher Elie Wiesel received the distinction of Honorary Citizen (post
    – mortem) of Maramureş County.

    UNTOLD – The largest electronic music festival in Romania, “Untold, hosted by the western Romanian city of Cluj Napoca is coming to a close. Performing on the 10 stages of the festival have been over 250 musicians and performs. The main stage has been two times larger than last year, by over 80 m wider and 31 m higher. The guests of the Untold festival included The Chainsmokers, Armin van Buuren, Tiesto, Tujamo şi Afrojack. For the first time, concerts were broadcast live on YouTube. According to the organisers, hundreds of thousands of spectators from both the country and abroad have come to Cluj, for this years edition of the festival. Over 1,100 gendarmes, policemen, fire-fighters and medical staff have ensured order, public and health safety measures.



    TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Mihaela Buzărnescu (no.24 WTA) is today facing Greeces Maria Sakkari (no.49 WTA), in the finals of the San Jose tennis tournament in California, with some 800,000 USD in prize money up for grabs. On Saturday in the semi-finals, Sakkari defeated American Danielle Collins (no.42 WTA), whereas Mihaela outperformed Belgiums Elise Mertens (no.15 WTA). In the doubles, Buzărnescu and British Heather Watson were defeated in the semi-finals by the Ukrainian twins Lyudmyla and Nadiia Kichenok.

  • Romania to debate status of military personnel

    Romania to debate status of military personnel

    The Romanian Defence Minister Mihai Fifor on Thursday attended the homecoming ceremony of the 400 military of the Brave Hearts 280th Force Protection Infantry Battalion. Between August 2017 and February 2018 they carried out a mission in the Kandahar region in Afghanistan, where they ensured the security of the coalition army base and staff, assisted and counselled Afghan armed and security forces, provided humanitarian assistance to the Afghan population, maintained the dialogue with the local authorities and leaders and carried out actions together with the Afghan National Security Forces.



    A member of the 280th Infantry Battalion was killed and two others injured during a patrol mission in September, when their armoured vehicle was attacked with an improvised explosive device (IED). On his return home, the commander of the battalion was promoted to the rank of colonel and the two injured military were decorated by the Romanian president with the Faithful Service National Medal Third Class. Defence Minister Mihai Fifor used the opportunity to announce that the status of the military personnel would be modified in the coming period. He said a bill to this effect was already submitted to Parliament, its aim being to improve the lives of Romanian military and make sure the Army receives all due respect from the state institutions and the population.



    “All were doing is making sure our military feel motivated on all accounts, because thats the only way we, politicians, can say that we have done our duty before those who go on missions, such as the 280th Infantry Battalion, said Minister Fifor. He recalled that this is the second year in a row that the government has allocated 2% of the GDP to defence, which demonstrates its responsible commitment to the equipping of the army. 2018 will be an important year for the modernisation of the navy with the launch of the procedure for the production of four multifunctional corvettes at a naval shipyard in Romania.



    Also, the two frigates Romania bought from Britain will be modernised and the conditions will be prepared for the purchase of mobile anti-ship missile systems. Romania is the most important security provider in the Black Sea area, so it needs to consolidate its military capabilities. In Bucharests opinion, Romania is actually neighbouring Russia after the latters annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014, and must be prepared to face all challenges. (Translated by C. Mateescu)

  • February 4, 2018

    February 4, 2018

    NAVY – The Romanian Defense Minister Mihai Fifor has said that the modernisation of the country’s Naval Forces can no longer be postponed, and the equipping programmes start from the negotiable condition that the state-of-the-art technology is manufactured in Romania. Previously, Mihai Fifor said that 2018 would be a year devoted to the equipping of the Romanian Naval Forces. Fifor also said that a project would be presented at Wednesday’s government meeting, regarding the purchase of four multifunctional corvettes. The contract could be signed until the end of the year, and the corvettes are to be produced in Romania. The Naval Forces’ two frigates will also be upgraded.



    COOPERATION – The British Ambassador in Bucharest, Paul Brummel, says that the presence in Constanta, in south-eastern Romania, of the Standing NATO Maritime Groups, that also include two British ships, sends a strong safety signal for navigation on the Black Sea. The British military are supporting their Romanian colleagues in guaranteeing the security of Europe and its allies, the British Ambassador also said. Brummel has pointed out that 2017 was the most intense year in the history of the Romanian-British defense cooperation. He also mentioned the two visits of the “Duncan” destroyer to Constanta, the dispatch at the Mihail Kogalniceanu air base of four Typhoon aircraft, to contribute to the security of NATO’s airspace, and the participation of one thousand British military in Romanian-British joint military drills.



    COMMEMORATION — The memory of the great Romanian politician Iuliu Maniu, is today honoured in his native village, Badacin, in Salaj county, north-western Romania. A series of commemorative events are held in Badacin, which are also part of a public campaign of raising funds for the refurbishment of the Iuliu Maniu Memorial Huse. Commemoration events to mark 65 years since the death Iuliu Maniu started on Saturday at the Memorial to the Victims of Communism and to Resistance in Sighet (northwestern Romania). The political personality of the leader of the National Peasant Party, who was Romania’s prime minister in the interwar period and also a member of the Romanian Academy, was evoked in a number of speeches and papers presented during the events. An activist for union, a promoter of democratic principles and an adversary of Communism and Nazism, Iuliu Maniu was arrested in 1947 by the regime instated by the Soviet occupation and died in 1953 at the age of 80 in the Sighet prison, where most of the former Democratic dignitaries were detained.




    CHEVRON – The American oil company Chevron will pay to the National Agency for Mineral Resources in Romania around 74 million dollars following the annulment of three oil concession agreements without observing the financial obligations stipulated by the oil law, the Romanian government announced Saturday in a press release. The decision was made by the International Court of Arbitration, a branch of the International Chamber of Commerce based in Paris, which was asked to solve the conflict between Chevron and Romania’s National Agency for Mineral Resources. In 2011, the two sides concluded three concession agreements for exploitation, development and exploration in certain areas in southeastern Romania, which three years later Chevron decided to terminate.




    TENNIS — The Romanian men’s tennis team leads Luxembourg, 2-1, after the pair Florin Mergea/Horia Tecău defeated Ugo Nastasi/Christophe Tholl, 6-0 6-1, in the first round of Europe/ Africa Zone Group II of the Davis Cup. In the last two singles’ matches Copil will play against Nastasi and Frunza against Tholl. In the first singles match on Saturday Ugo Nastasi of Luxembourg defeated the Romanian tennis player Nicolae Frunza 7-6, 1-6, 6-3. In the second match, Marius Copil defeated Christhope Tholl 6-3, 6-2. The Davis Cup matches unfold according to the new format announced by the International Tennis Federation with matches consisting of maximum 3 sets being played for two days not three, as has happened so far. Romania was demoted last year to Group I for the first time after 1993, after it lost the match against Israel 0-5. detained. (Translated by Elena Enache)




  • February 2, 2018 UPDATE

    February 2, 2018 UPDATE

    CORRUPTION — The Prosecutors’ Office with the High Court of Cassation and Justice in Bucharest on Friday announced it made public the irregularities with which an anti-corruption prosecutor was prosecuting a famous corruption case as early as last September. The reaction comes against the background of concern voiced by civil society and mass media in Romania over the solutions in the so-called Microsoft case. We recall that six former Romanian ministers have been acquitted in a big corruption case as the statute of limitation has expired. In the case of the 7th minister involved with the file, the anti-corruption prosecutors have ruled to close the case. Three of the officials involved in the case, who had occupied portfolios at the Ministries of Education and Finances, were being investigated in the so-called Microsoft case, which caused 70 million dollars in prejudice to the state. The seven officials are accused of having resorted to illegal actions over 2003-2004 to sign a contract with a private company for operating Microsoft licenses in schools.



    BREXIT — Romanian Minister Delegate for European Affairs Victor Negrescu said the rights of Romanians currently living in the UK will be fully guaranteed post-Brexit, in the wake of the first round of Brexit negotiations. The statement comes as British Prime Minister Theresa May spoke of possibly limiting the rights of EU citizens who will settle in the UK after Brexit. The statement refers to citizens arriving after March 2019, so that these provisions cannot apply to citizens currently residing in the UK.



    DEFENCE — 2018 will be devoted to modernizing the Romanian Naval Forces, Defense Minister Mihai Fifor on Friday said in the military port of Constanta on the Black Sea coast. The Romanian official said Wednesday’s government session will occasion a presentation of a project devoted to the purchase of four multi-purpose corvettes. The contract could be signed by the end of the year and the corvettes will be manufactured at a shipyard in Romania. Two frigates will also be upgraded, while most of Romania’s naval military could be fitted with anti-ship missiles. In turn, Vice-Admiral Alexandru Mirsu said Romania needs a strong and well-equipped naval force, considering Russia’s increased military presence in the Black Sea. The two officials met in Constanta with the crews of British and Turkish naval forces, who are part of NATO’s permanent military force, currently taking part in joint maritime surveillance operations.



    FINANCE — Romania has attracted €2 billion from external markets by issuing Eurobonds with maturities of 12 to 20 years in two installments. The transaction covers part of the minimum financing capital on external markets for this year, at the same time consolidating Romania’s hard currency reserves, the Finance Ministry has announced. The Ministry plans to attract Eurobonds up to €5 billion and issue government bonds worth €11 billion on the internal market. Romania has a positive investment rating with a stable outlook from the world’s top three financial rating agencies, Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch.



    HEARING — Romania’s Ambassador to the United States, George Maior, will appear before Parliament’s Romanian Intelligence Service Control Committee on February 27, the Committee chairman Claudiu Manda has said. On Friday Manda met with Maior in Bucharest, saying talks were short. A former Social-Democrat MP, Maior acted as head of the Romanian Intelligence Service over 2006-2015. Maior said he does not refrain from appearing before the Committee and wants to clarify information appeared in the media, without saying exactly what. More and more journalists speculate the intelligence service is allegedly serving political interests.



    MOLDOVA — Moldovan President Igor Dodon on Friday called an official meeting to launch the so-called “Stephen the Great” Year. According to our correspondents in Chisinau, the move is seen as an extension of his pro-Russian policy, an attempt to undermine the Great Union Centennial in Romania. His initiative is in no way connected to any event in the life of Moldovan Ruler Stephen the Great, historian and political expert Octavian Tacu said, adding that Dodon wants to promote Moldovan identity, imposed by his political patrons in Moscow. Dodon is known for his anti-unionism and his plans to ban numerous organizations and parties calling for the reunification of Moldova and Romania.



    DAVIS CUP — On Saturday and Sunday in Piatra Neamt, eastern Romania, the country’s tennis team will be playing the selection of Luxembourg in the first round of group two, of the Davis Cup’s Europe-Africa zone. The Romanian line-up includes Marius Copil who will play in the single contest, Horia Tecau and Florin Mergea in the doubles, Nicolae Frunza and Bogdan Borza in the singles. Romania has been relegated from group one for the first time since 1993 after a five-nil defeat by Israel. Romania has to win three rounds to make a comeback to world group one. Unless they win against Luxembourg, our tennis players are to join a play-off to maintain their position or be demoted. (Translated by D. Bilt & V. Palcu)

  • June 13, 2016

    June 13, 2016

    Italian President, Sergio Mattarella, is paying a two-day official visit to Bucharest, upon an invitation extended by his Romanian counterpart Klaus Iohannis. The two officials will discuss about consolidating bilateral ties at political, economic and cultural level, but also about migration and security at the EU’s external borders. Sergio Mattarella will attend on Tuesday in Bucharest an economic forum on Italian investment in Romania. Romania’s is Italy’s second most important economic partner with trade worth 13 billion euros. According to Italian Ambassador to Bucharest, Diego Brasioli, Italy is one of the EU countries supporting Romania’s joining the Schengen area. Over 1,200,000 Romanians are currently living in Italy, while the number of Italians in Romania stands at around 20,000.




    World leaders, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis included, voiced solidarity with the United States after the deadliest mass shooting in the history of this country, which left 50 people dead and 53 injured. “We know enough to say this was an act of terror and act of hate,” President Obama said in an address to the nation from the White House. Authorities identified the attacker as Omar Mateen, an American citizen of Aafghan origin aged 29. The IS sympathizer, was killed by SWAT officers. He had been interviewed by the FBI in 2013 and 2014 but was not found to be a threat, the FBI said.




    The Romanian foreign minister Lazar Comanescu is today attending a ministerial meeting to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the signing of the comprehensive nuclear-test-ban treaty. The document was negotiated between 1993 and 1996 and adopted in September 1996. The signatory parties undertake not to test nuclear weapons and take every necessary measure to prevent and ban such actions on their territory. Romania signed the treaty in 1996 and ratified it in 1999. In Vienna, minister Comanescu also chairs the opening of the ministerial segment of the Preparatory Committee of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation and give a talk on the global efforts to implement the treaty as an essential component of the international security architecture.




    In Romania, direct foreign investment went up by 112 million euros in April as against the same month of 2015, accounting for 887 million euros in the first four months of the year. The announcement has been made today by the National Bank of Romania. According to the same source, direct foreign investment exceeded 3 billion euros last year, by 25% more than in 2014.




    The International Theatre Festival, one of the biggest events in the world devoted to performing arts, continues in the Romanian city of Sibiu. The 23rd edition of the festival, that has brought together over 2800 artists from 70 countries, ends on June 19th. The theme of this year’s edition of the festival is Building Trust. Many of the performances to be presented celebrate the work of William Shakespeare, marking 400 years since his death.




    The Romanian Naval Forces and the US Navy are carrying out drills in the Black Sea as of today, to exercise standard procedures and enhance interoperability between the fleets of the two states. Romania participates with the Queen Marie Frigate, a corvette, two dredgers, two rocket vessels, a Puma Naval helicopter and divers from the Special Operations unit. Two MiG21 Lancer planes belonging to the Romanian Air Forces will also be used in combat simulations. The US participates with its USS Porter destroyer, which will be exercising standard communications procedures with the Romanian Navy. The vessel first arrived in the Constanta port in 2006, and this is its third trip to Romania.




    Croatia defeated Turkey 1-nil in their Euro 2016 Group D opener on Sunday. Also in Group D, defending European champions Spain meet the Czech Republic today. In Group E, Belgium face Italy, while Ireland take on Sweden, also today. We recall that Romania lost their opening Group A match against France 1-2, while Switzerland defeated Albania 1-nil, also in Group A. On Wednesday, Romania face Switzerland.


    (Translated by Elena Enache)

  • December 11, 2015 UPDATE

    December 11, 2015 UPDATE

    Romania, that held the presidency of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organisation for the past six months presented an activity report at a meeting on Fiday in Bucharest. The main goals of the Romanian mandate were to capitalize on the potential of economic cooperation and make the best out of the organisation’s cooperation instruments, said the cheif of Romanian dipomacy Lazar Comanescu. Special importance was paid to strengthening ties between the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organisation and the European Union. The Russian Federation has taken over the Organisation’s presidency from Romania.




    The annual inflation rate in Romania remained negative in November, although it rose from minus 1.6% in October to minus 1.1%, according to data released by the National Statistics Institute on Friday. Last month, the National Bank of Romania lowered by 0.4% its annual inflation forecast, to 0.7% negative, and for next year the inflation forecast was revised up to 1.1%. The central bank governor, Mugur Isărescu, mentioned that the negative inflation rate was prompted by the lowering of the VAT for foodstuffs to 9% this summer.




    The expert committees in the Romanian Parliament discussed on Friday the draft budget for 2016. Talks will continue during the weekend, and the final vote in the Parliament plenum is scheduled for Wednesday. The Social Democratic Party, in power, voiced satisfaction with the bill, which they say concurs with the previous government’s views on fiscal relaxation and economic growth. In turn, the Liberals in opposition say the overall budget structure is reasonable, and slight amendments are possible during the debates in the Parliament committees, although no major changes are expected.




    The population of Romania dropped in 2014 below the 20-million threshold, a level similar to the one reported in 1966. According to the National Statistics Institute, until 2013 the number of people fell particularly as a result of labour migration, whereas last year the main cause was the wide gap between the birth and death rates. If this trend continues, in 30-40 years the population of Romania will go down to around 14 million.




    Romania must fully implement the Directive on Deposit Guarantee Schemes, under which bank clients will benefit from quicker disbursements and a better safety mechanism. The deadline for transposing these provisions in the national legislation was July, and the European Commission has officially requested Romania to conform. Ten EU member countries are yet to introduce the European Directive in their national legislation, and unless they take appropriate measures within two months, the Commission may decide to notify the EU Court of Justice.




    The Romanian Naval Forces frigate “Regina Maria” is taking part, alongside vessels from the US, Turkey and Ukraine, in a Black Sea exercise scheduled to conclude on December 16. The exercise is part of the NATO measures designed to enhance confidence among the allies, reads a news release issued by the Naval Forces Command. “Regina Maria,” with a 220-strong crew, the American destroyer USS Ross, a Turkish frigate and a Ukrainian auxiliary ship will conduct exercises to prepare response to multiple air, naval and submarine threats, to impose sea embargoes and monitor naval transportation. The exercise takes place at a time when the security situation at the Black Sea requires enhanced interoperability between the Romanian Naval Forces and its partners.



    (Translated by Elena Enache)