Radio România Internațional

Tag: Rosatom

  • NATO and the war in Ukraine

    NATO and the war in Ukraine

    The situation has
    become routine already:
    whenever
    the Russian invasion troops are attacking the Ukrainian ports on the Danube at
    Reni, Izmail and the big port-city of Odessa heads-up are also given in
    neighboring Romania, a NATO and EU member country. Ro-Alert messages were issue at
    the end of last week for the counties of Tulcea and Galati, over the Danube,
    the first of this kind this year, the inspectorate for emergency situations has
    announced. People have been cautioned about the possibility of falling objects
    from the sky and they have been advised to take measures of protection and
    prevention.




    Many of the
    residents have reported on social networks long and powerful blasts. But a
    different kind of noise has produced among the North Atlantic Alliance, the
    former US Republican president Donald Trump, whose comeback to the White House has
    become more and more plausible. Even his Republican colleagues have criticized
    him after he said the United States should not defend the allied countries
    which do not pay their NATO contributions.




    The former
    president also criticized the countries which do not invest enough money in
    their defence in the past years as well, but now he shocked the allies by
    saying that he would ‘encourage’ Russia to attack countries, which do not pay
    their bills. His statements have attracted a lot of heat from the incumbent
    Democratic President Joe Biden and NATO Secretary General Jens
    Stoltenberg, who underlined that such suggestions are
    undermining the Alliance’s entire security, which is based upon common defence
    and are endangering the US and European troops.




    According to various publications, Trump has for years now inaccurately described the way in which NATO funding
    is functioning. The alliance has established a 2% of the GDP target for each
    member country and most countries do not clear this target. The figure though
    is only a recommendation and not a mandatory contract, no ‘bills’ have been
    issued and no bills are overdue concerning the NATO budget.




    In the meantime, on Sunday, the Alliance’s newest member, Finland elected
    a new president in the person of the former conservative Prime Minister
    Alexander Stubb who has been a supporter of the North Atlantic Alliance after
    Russia invaded Ukraine and his country renounced its strict neutrality. A Prime
    Minister between 2014 and 2015, Stubb has confessed that one of his biggest mistakes as head of the government in
    Helsinki was to give the green light for the construction of a nuclear power
    plant in cooperation with the Russian company Rosatom.




    Romanian president Klaus Iohannis has
    immediately congratulated his Finnish counterpart voicing his eager readiness
    for cooperation and the development of the tight European partnership between
    Romania and Finland, to defend together their Euro-Atlantic values.


    (bill)

  • April 3, 2018 UPDATE

    April 3, 2018 UPDATE


    TALKS – On Tuesday, Romanias President Klaus Iohannis warned the Executive that the salary law for public sector employees ran counter to the principles of equality and predictability and called for caution in approaching economic policies. The head of state also said that transferring the obligation to pay social security contributions from employers to employees and reducing the tax on salaries lead to an insignificant increase in the net salaries, and the effect was annulled by the growing inflation rate. The president made the statements during the meeting he had with the Social Democrat Prime Minister Viorica Dancila and the Labour Minister Lia Olguta Vasilescu. In turn, the latter ensured the president of the fact that the financial resources needed for the application of the salary law and the subsequent pay rises were stable. We recall that lately, the coalition government formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats has been the target of many protests triggered by the new salary law.



    MOTION – The Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest on Tuesday discussed the simple motion tabled by the opposition National Liberal Party against the Culture Minister George Ivascu. The Liberals have denounced negligence in preparing the events dedicated to the anniversary of 100 years since the Great Union and have voiced concern over what they see as the Governments inability to ensure a proper celebration of the day of December 1st. The Liberals say that a public debate is needed in order to put together a national plan for the celebration of the centennial. The Save Romania Union and the Peoples Movement Party are also supporting the motion. The vote has been scheduled for Wednesday.



    GENDARMERIE – A special military ceremony was held on Tuesday in the capital Bucharest, marking the anniversary of 168 years since the establishment of the Romanian Gendarmerie. Many cities in the country have been hosting events devoted to this anniversary, with activities for both kids and adults. In Bucharest people were invited to participate in the Gendarmerie Race over a distance of 5 kilometers.



    MOLDOVA – As many as four parties would make it to Parliament in Chisinau, if early elections were called, according to the results of a poll presented by the Moldovan Association of Sociologists and Demographers. These are President Igor Dodons pro-Russian Party of Socialists, the pro-European Action and Solidarity Party, the ruling Democratic Party and the pro-European Dignity and Truth Platform. The poll shows that the pro-Moscow president Igor Dodon enjoys the trust of 50% of the people interviewed, followed by the leader of the Action and Solidarity Party Maia Sandu and the former communist President Vladimir Voronin. More than half of the respondents do not trust any politician.



    HACKERS – 20 hackers have been arrested in Romania and Italy after stealing approximately one million Euros from bank clients, the European Unions Judicial Cooperation Unit (Eurojust) announced on Tuesday. The hackers have stolen from more than 100 clients of banks from both countries. According to Eurojust, the hackers sent to those banks clients e-mails resembling those sent by banks or fiscal authorities and thus obtained personal data and information about their bank accounts.



    CONSTRUCTION – The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday launched the construction of the first nuclear power plant in Turkey, by the Russian giant Rosatom. According to France Presse, this is evidence of the two countries flourishing relationship. The 20 billion Euro project is part of a development plan initiated by Erdogan, who wants to turn Turkey into one of the worlds ten richest countries by 2023, when the Turkish Republic celebrates its 100th anniversary. On Wednesday, the two presidents will be joined by the Iranian president Hassan Rohani to discuss Syria. Ankara and Moscow have overcome the diplomatic crisis triggered by the incident of 2015, when Turkish warplanes shot down a Russian military aircraft on the border with Syria.