COMMEMORATION Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis has today laid wreaths of flowers
at a monument in memory of the victims of the Romanian anti-communist
revolution of 1989 in Bucharest. ‘Let’s
keep alive the memory of the heroes of the December 1989 revolution and carry
on the ideals they fought for!’ the president wrote in a Facebook message.
‘To the martyrs of the Romanian
Revolution and to all those who suffered during the communist dictatorship we
owe the liberty we enjoy today and we must thank them through our taking care
of Romania and for the consolidation of the democratic process’ – Prime
Minister Nicolae Ciuca says in a message. In another development, the Belgian
ambassador to Romania, Philippe Benoit, the ambassador of Britain Andrew Noble
and the director of the French Institute Julien Chiappone-Lucchesi on Tuesday
participated in the inauguration of a new monument in the memory of three
foreign journalists who lost their lives in the 1989 anti-communist revolution
in Romania, Danny Huwe of Belgium, Jean-Louis Calderon of France and the
British Ian Henry Parry. We recall that the anti-communist revolution started
in Timisoara, western Romania on December 16th 1989, and a couple of
days later expanded to Bucharest and to other major cities across the country.
One thousand people were killed and roughly three thousand wounded in the only
east-European country in which the change of regime ended up in bloodshed.
VISIT Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is being received today in
Washington by his US counterpart Joe Biden and is expected to hold a speech
before Congress, the White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has
announced. The visit will underscore the United States’ steadfast commitment
to supporting Ukraine for as long as it takes, including through the provision
of economic, humanitarian and military assistance the White House official
added. According to experts, the US has already granted 50 billion dollars to
support Ukraine’s war efforts out of which 20 billion in military equipment and
assistance. Biden and Zelensky have constantly talked on the phone in the past
10 months but have never met face to face since the beginning of the Russian
invasion. This is also Zelensky’s first visit abroad since the beginning of the
conflict on February 24th.
TALKS Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca and the president of the Chamber
of Deputies in Bucharest, Marcel Ciolacu are paying a three-day visit to South
Korea. The two are heading a delegation of ministers and MPs who will be
holding talks with the local officials over energy, investment, education and
the defence industry. During the talks he had with the president of Korea’s
National Assembly Kim Jin-pyo, Prime Minister Ciuca has referred to ways of
strengthening Romanian-Korean cooperation. ‘We are determined to strengthen
Romanian-Korean cooperation, capitalize on the entire economic potential and
foster investment in the field of energy’ Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca writes
on the government’s Twitter page. During his visit, the head of the Romanian
government will be having talks with his South-Korean counterpart Han Duck-soo
and together with Ciolacu will be meeting representatives of the Romanian
community in South Korea. The Romanian officials on Thursday will be visiting
two companies and a day later the demilitarized zone separating the country
from the communist North.
MEDICINES Romania is presently facing a shortage of anti-inflammatory drugs used
in the treatment of respiratory infections mainly in children. The shortage is
the result of a growing consumption against the background of the rising number
of infections in the present cold season after two years in which the measures
imposed by the pandemic had limited the spread of these viruses. The country’s
health Minister Alexandru Rafila says that in order to improve the situation he
is considering a limited export of the aforementioned drugs.
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