Radio România Internațional

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  • September 11, 2022

    September 11, 2022

    9/11 In Bucharest, PM
    Nicolae Ciucă Sunday addressed a message of solidarity with the people of the
    USA, 21 years since the terrorist attacks of 2001. The tragedy of the American
    nation, shared by the entire planet, struck at the heart of freedom and democracy: the trust in and respect for the other. We honour the memory of
    those who passed away and we stand by the survivors and rescuers in the
    terrorist attacks of 9/11, the Romanian Prime Minister said. Mr. Ciucă also
    mentioned Romania’s continued solidarity with the US, as reflected in the
    military cooperation between the 2 countries. Our troops, in increasingly
    complex missions, have proved professionalism and dedication, contributing to
    the safeguarding of peace and democratic values. In the most important
    missions, in Iraq and Afghanistan, Romanian troops showed solidarity with their
    American partners, fighting together with the world’s democracies against terrorism
    and defending fundamental rights and liberties, reads the message. Nearly 3,000 people were killed 21 years ago
    by 19 Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacking 4 aircraft.


    QUEENThe state funerals for Queen Elizabeth II,
    who passed away on Thursday, aged 96, will take place on the 19 September. Meanwhile,
    Britons will have several days to pay their respects to their former sovereign,
    first in Edinburgh and then in London, where the Queen’s coffin is scheduled to
    arrive on Tuesday. On Saturday, King Charles III was proclaimed monarch, and
    today he was officially proclaimed head of state of Australia and New Zealand. The
    British monarch is the sovereign of 14 other countries apart from the UK, although
    with a largely ceremonial role. The King is also the head of the Commonwealth, an
    association of 56 countries, most of them former British colonies. For over 4
    decades, King Charles has been involved in charities lobbying for environment
    and heritage conservation, but as head of state he will take on exclusively
    constitutional responsibilities. As a Prince of Wales, the new King visited
    Romania almost every year for 2 decades, supporting a number of organisations
    and projects, especially in Transylvania, where he owns several estates. The UK
    Embassy in Bucharest opened an online condolence book for members of the
    public, but hundreds of Romanians went to the embassy offices to bring flowers
    and light candles for the Queen. The flag at the embassy office was flown at
    half-mast.


    FLIGHTS The national airline
    TAROM continues to repatriate the Romanians stranded in international airports
    after the private operator Blue Air suspended flights. Today around 200 people
    will be brought from Greece’s Zakynthos and Rhodes islands, with another 200 to
    be repatriated on Monday, after 350 Romanian nationals were repatriated from
    Greece on Saturday. Four other special flights had previously been organised to
    Israel, Greece, Cyprus
    and Spain. Several thousand Romanians have been stranded in international airports
    since Tuesday night, when Blue Air announced it was suspending flights. Although
    the authorities have unfrozen the accounts of the airline, which had excessive
    debts to the Romanian state, Blue Air said it would only resume flights on 10 October.
    Blue Air’s current estimated debts amount to EUR 230 mln.


    UKRAINE Since early September
    the Ukrainian army has freed some 2,000 sq.km of the country’s territory,
    president Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced. Ukrainian forces are currently engaged
    in 2 counter-offensive campaigns, one in the south, targeting Herson, and the
    second one in the Kharkiv area in the north-east, where they entered the key
    cities of Kupyansk and Izyum. According to international media, these are the
    most important gains for Ukraine since early April, when the Russians were
    pushed out of Kyiv area. Reuters quotes a former chief of pro-Russian militias
    in eastern Ukraine, Igor Girkin, as talking about a major defeat for Russia.



    NUCLEAR Operations
    at the Zaporozhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, controlled by Russian
    forces, have been fully stopped as a safety measure, Ukraine’s nuclear operator
    Energoatom announced on Sunday. Another emergency shut-down had been ordered in
    August. Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of shelling the nuclear plant, while
    president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for the region around
    it to be demilitarised. (AMP)

  • September 10, 2022 UPDATE

    September 10, 2022 UPDATE


    KING Senior British MPs Saturday swore an oath of allegiance to King Charles III, officially proclaimed king by the Accession Council,a body convened to confirm the new British monarchs throughout history. Both chambers of the British Parliament held special sessions, so that lawmakers may honour the Queen. Thousands have gathered in front of Buckingham Palace, the main residence of British monarchs in London, to pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away on Thursday, aged 96, at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. King Charles III confirmed that the day of the Queens funeral will be a banking holiday in the United Kingdom. The funeral will take place at Westminster Abbey in London, on Monday, 19 September. The Queens coffin will be brought to Edinburgh on Sunday and later on to London, where the Queen will lie in state at Westminster Hall. After the service, which will be attended by heads of state and government from around the world, the Queens coffin will be taken to Saint Georges Chapel at Windsor Castle, where the Queen is to be buried.



    ENERGY EU energy ministers voiced support for emergency measures in response to the energy crisis, and even mentioned price capping for natural gas imports. At Fridays extraordinary meeting in Brussels, officials for the 27 Member States agreed that a “unified approach” was needed to address the rise in energy prices caused by Russias invasion in Ukraine. They gave the European Commission several days to come up with a solid and concrete plan, said the Czech industry minister Jozef Sikela, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the Union. Romania, which was represented by the energy minister, Virgil Popescu, pleaded for measures such as a price cap on Russian gas imports or an EU-wide platform for the joint procurement of natural gas. As for cutting down consumption, Bucharest said this should be voluntary, depending on national capacities and market developments.



    FLIGHTS The national airline TAROM Saturday scheduled 2 additional flights to Greece to repatriate the Romanian passengers abandoned by the low-cost operator Blue Air, which announced it lacked funding even for fuel. TAROM has so far organised 4 other special flights, to Israel, Greece, Cyprus and Spain. Several thousand Romanians have been stranded in international airports since Tuesday night, when Blue Air announced it was suspending flights. Although the authorities have unfrozen the accounts of the airline, which had excessive debts to the Romanian state, Blue Air said it would only resume flights on 10 October. The transport minister Sorin Grindeanu urged Blue Air customers to try to find other options to return, and pointed out TAROM could not replace all the flights that had been cancelled. In 2020, during the COVID pandemic, Blue Air took out a state-guaranteed loan of over EUR 60 mln. This summer, it was fined EUR 2 mln by the Consumer Protection Authority, for cancelling over 11,000 flights in 2021 and 2022. Blue Airs current estimated debts amount to EUR 230 mln.



    UKRAINE Romania and 3 other EU member states (Greece, Poland and Lithuania) call on the European Commission to grant them exemptions from the budget deficit rules, with respect to military expenditure, in order to be able to make the investments required after the Russian invasion in Ukraine. They want this expenditure excluded from the deficit calculation, so that the 3% of GDP ceiling required by the EU may be observed. The 4 countries argue that this would help them mitigate the risks facing the Union. Meanwhile, a report made public by the World Bank, the Ukrainian government and the European Commission indicates that Ukraines reconstruction after the Russian invasion may cost around USD 350 bln, with figures set to increase in the coming months, as the war continues. According to the report, reconstruction and revamping needs in the social, industrial and infrastructure fields are 1.5 times higher than Ukraines GDP in 2021. Russias aggression had caused direct damages of over USD 97 bln by 1 June, with the most affected areas including housing (40% of the total damages), transports (31%), trade and industry (10%). The regions of Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv are the most heavily hit, followed by Kyiv, Chernihiv and Zaporizhzhia.



    RUSSIA A number of Russian Deputies from the Sankt-Petersburg area were summoned to the police after requesting the impeachment of president Vladimir Putin for high treason, in relation to the Russian aggression in Ukraine. In a rare show of dissent, they called on Russias parliament to impeach the president for the death of Russian youth sent to war, for Russias economic downturn and brain drain, and for NATOs eastward expansion. Not least, they argued, the invasion of Ukraine had the opposite effects to those expected by Moscow. (AMP)