Radio România Internațional

Tag: ships

  • August 12, 2023

    August 12, 2023

    VACATION
    Romanians are in a four-day mini-holiday as August 14th is a bank
    holiday in Romania where St. Mary is being celebrated a day later on August 15th.
    Various events have been staged on this occasion all over the country and tens
    of thousands of pilgrims are expected at the Nicula Monastery in Cluj,
    north-western Romania. The Summer Well festival is underway until August the 13th
    in Buftea close to Bucharest and the days of the Braila city are being
    celebrated in this town in south-eastern Romania. Numerous tourists are being
    expected in the mountains resorts in the Prahova Valley, southern Romania these
    days, as well as on the Romanian Black Sea coast, which will be seeing its
    busiest weekend. Hotel owners in the seaside resorts are expecting to provide
    accommodation to over 100 thousand tourists. Over 8 thousand police troops and
    6 thousand gendarmes have been deployed to ensure safety and order during this
    mini-holiday.






    NAVY Romania’s naval forces are these
    day staging a series of activities devoted to Romania’s Navy Day culminating on
    August 15th when the Romanians are celebrating the Dormition of the
    Mother of God, St. Mary, who is the protector of sailors. Events are underway
    in the capital city and the port-cities on the Black Sea, Constanta and
    Mangalia as well as on the Danube at Braila, Tulcea and Galati. These events
    will reach the climax on august 15th in Constanta, where the sailors
    will be presenting after a four-year recess the demonstrative exercise
    ‘Romanian Naval Forces 2023’. After the opening ceremony involving helicopters
    and fast boats carrying the flags of Romania, NATO and the EU, the school-frigate
    Mircea will be sailing in front of the participants. The aforementioned vintage
    vessel has for decades been Romania’s honorary ambassador on the world’s seas
    and oceans.






    GRAIN Romania will be
    taking additional measures aimed at doubling the Ukrainian grain transit
    through its facilities. The Romanian authorities want to supplement the number
    of pilots guiding the Ukrainian vessels carrying grain on the Danube to the
    Black Sea. Upon a meeting held in Galati, eastern Romania, on Friday, an event
    that brought together representatives of Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, the
    United States and the European Commission, the Romanian transport minister
    Sorin Grindeanu spoke about the possibility for Ukraine to use other ports on
    the Danube besides Braila and Galati. According to him the number of pilots
    guiding the aforementioned grain shipments is to increase to 60 until the end
    of August. The United States has pledged financial assistance to the neighbours
    of Ukraine helping them to buy pilot boats to support regional efforts in this
    respect, the US embassy has announced. According to the same sources, the
    United States remains committed to the partnership with the Ukraine’s
    government and people – including by providing financial support and supplies
    by expanding alternative transport routes and streamlining the border crossing
    points.




    (bill)

  • No Russian ships in EU ports

    No Russian ships in EU ports

    Russian vessels are no longer allowed to enter ports in the EU, including Romania. The ban also applies to ships that have replaced the Russian flag with another countrys colours since February 24, when the war in Ukraine started, but not those who need assistance or refuge for safety reasons or those who have rescued lives at sea.



    This is one of the EU sanctions against Russia which will be extended. The new measures will also target Russian banks, particularly Sberbank, as well as the oil sector, the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen told the German paper Bild am Sonntag, quoted by Reuters.



    “We are looking further at the banking sector, especially Sberbank, which accounts for 37% of the Russian banking sector. And, of course, there are energy issues,” Ursula von der Leyen detailed. She explained the EU was working on clever mechanisms in order to include the oil sector in the next sanctions.



    “What should not happen is that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin collects even higher prices on other markets for supplies that would otherwise go to the EU. The top priority is to shrink Putins revenues,” she emphasised.



    Brussels has so far exempted Russias largest bank from the previous sanctions, because Sberbank and Gazprombank are the main payment channels for the oil and natural gas from Russia, which EU member countries continue to buy in spite of the invasion of Ukraine.



    On the other hand, on Sunday the Union announced EUR 50 million would be earmarked for humanitarian aid to be sent to Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova.



    “As heavy fighting and missile strikes continue to destroy critical civilian infrastructure, humanitarian needs in Ukraine remain extremely high,” reads an EU news release quoted by DPA.



    Some EUR 45 million will go into humanitarian programmes in Ukraine, while the Republic of Moldova, where hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian nationals have taken refuge since the start of the war, is set to receive EUR 5 million.



    The money is part of the EUR 1 billion package pledged by the European Commission in a donor conference last week, called Stand Up For Ukraine. So far, the EU said, EUR 143 million of this amount has already been spent in humanitarian aid funding in response to the war. The funding announced on Sunday will address the most pressing humanitarian needs by providing emergency medical services, access to safe drinking water and hygiene, shelter and protection, cash assistance, and support against gender-based violence. (AMP)

  • April 17, 2022 UPDATE

    April 17, 2022 UPDATE

    EASTER Catholic and
    Protestant Christians celebrate the Resurrection of Christ. At the Vatican,
    Pope Francis once again called for peace, describing Easter as the gift of hope
    during the Mass held in a basilica with thousands of believers. On Sunday, the
    service took place in San Pietro Square after 2 years of Covid-related
    restrictions. For Orthodox and Greek-Catholic believers, who celebrate Easter
    next weekend, it was Palm Sunday, commemorating the moment when Jesus Christ
    entered Jerusalem. In Romania, a mostly Orthodox country, nearly one and a half
    million people celebrated their name day on Sunday. President Klaus Iohannis
    wished happy and peaceful holidays to all those who celebrate Easter or Palm
    Sunday.


    UKRAINE As of midnight
    Russian vessels are no longer allowed to enter EU ports, Romanian ports
    included. The ban also covers ships that replaced the Russian flag with the
    colours of another state after February 24 when the war in Ukraine started, but
    not those which need assistance or shelter for safety reasons or those which
    have saved lives at the sea. In an interview to Sunday’s issue of the German
    magazine Bild am Sonntag, the head of the European Commission Ursula von der
    Leyen said the next stage of EU sanctions will target Russia’s oil and banking
    sectors, particularly the country’s largest bank, Sberbank. She added that
    Brussels was working on smart mechanisms to include Russian oil in the new list
    of sanctions, so as to reduce the financing for Vladimir Putin’s invasion army.
    EU member states are currently paying for Russian gas and oil via Sberbank and
    Gazprombank, which have so far been exempt from Europe’s sanctions, Reuters
    explains. The EU announced on Sunday that EUR 50 million would be earmarked for
    humanitarian aid to be sent to Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova. Some EUR 45
    million will go into humanitarian programmes in Ukraine, while the Republic of
    Moldova, where hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have taken refuge since the
    start of the war, is set to receive EUR 5 million.


    REFUGEES The number of Ukrainian nationals who reached
    Romania on Saturday was 12.4% higher than on the previous days, the Romanian
    border police announced. Since the start of the crisis, over 730,000 Ukrainian
    citizens have entered the country, most of them leaving Romania for other
    destinations.


    POLL The Church ranks first in a public confidence
    poll in Romania. The survey conducted by CURS at the end of March indicates
    that 67% of the respondents trust the Church, up 4% since January. The Army, on
    the other hand, has lost 8% in the same survey. The most significant increase
    in public confidence was reported for the National Bank of Romania, with 42% of
    the respondents saying they trust the central bank, as opposed to half this
    figure in January. The poll was commissioned by the National Liberal Party and
    has a +/- 1.9% margin of error.


    DIPLOMACY The Romanian Foreign Ministry celebrates 25 years
    since the Joint Statement on the Romania-Italy Strategic Partnership was
    signed. The genuine friendship between the 2 countries is facilitated by the
    presence of over 1 million Romanians in Italy, making up the largest foreign
    community in that country and also the largest Romanian community abroad, reads
    a news release issued by the institution.


    NORTH KOREA North Korea announced
    the successful test firing of a new type of tactical guided weapon aimed at boosting
    the country’s nuclear capabilities, which may indicate that Pyongyang is ready
    to resume nuclear testing. North Korea suspended nuclear testing in 2017, and
    the following year it blew up the tunnels in its underground nuclear test site,
    but recent satellite imagery indicates digging and construction activities have
    been resumed.



    INVICTUS A
    group of 20 Romanian military wounded in battle fields are taking part in the
    one-week long Invictus Games, hosted his year by The Hague in the Netherlands.
    They will compete in 7 sports, 6 of them individual competitions (hand archery,
    athletics, rowing, powerlifting, cycling
    and swimming) and a team sport (sitting volleyball). The
    Invictus Games promote respect and empathy for the sacrifice and traumas of
    wounded military, whose involvement in these activities is an opportunity for
    social reintegration and for regaining self-confidence, the Romanian Defence
    Ministry says. For Romanian troops, this year’s Invictus participation is the
    third, after the ones in Toronto, in 2017, and Sydney, one year later. (AMP)