Radio România Internațional

Tag: UN resolution

  • The UN condemns Russia

    The UN condemns Russia

    The UN General Assembly
    has overwhelmingly condemned Russia’s proclaimed annexation of four Ukrainian
    regions in eastern and southern Ukraine, calling it illegal. The resolution
    was initiated by Ukraine and Albania, following the Russian Federation’s
    rejection of a similar resolution in the Security Council at the end of
    September. The text was co-sponsored by Romania, along with 75 other UN member
    states. Of the organization’s 193 member states, 143, including Romania,
    adopted Wednesday’s resolution. It is the largest number of votes obtained
    since the beginning of the war against Ukraine in favor of a UN General
    Assembly resolution on this topic.






    US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the vote
    showed international unity against Russia and repeated Washington would never
    recognize the sham referendums.






    The vote is a powerful reminder that the overwhelming
    majority of nations stand with Ukraine, in defense of the UN Charter and in
    resolute opposition to Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine and its people,
    Blinken said in a statement. With very few nations voting with Russia today,
    it is clear that international unity on this question is resolute and support
    for Ukraine at the UN and beyond is unwavering, Blinken also said.






    It came as no
    surprise that five countries, namely Russia, Belarus, Syria, North Korea and
    Nicaragua, voted against. 35, among which China, India, Pakistan and South
    Africa abstained, despite the diplomatic efforts of the United States. Before
    the vote, the US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, asked as many
    countries as possible not to abstain. Today it is Russia invading Ukraine. But
    tomorrow it could be another nation whose territory is violated. It could be
    you. You could be next. What would you expect from this chamber?, she said.





    Through this resolution, co-edited by the European Union and presented by Ukraine, the Westerners state that, seven months after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, they have proved that President Vladimir Putin’s Russia is isolated on the international stage. The text urges that no state recognizes these annexations and demands the immediate withdrawal of the Russian troops, who entered Ukraine on February 24.


    Romanian
    Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu welcomed the adoption of the
    resolution condemning the illegal annexation by Russia of the four Ukrainian
    territories. The Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated that Bucharest
    condemned in the strongest terms the signing of the so-called agreements of
    accession to the Russian Federation of some Ukrainian regions under the
    illegal occupation of Russian troops. These actions cannot produce any kind of
    effect from the point of view of international law, and Romania does not
    recognize their validity, especially with regard to the operation of any change
    regarding the territorial membership of the Ukrainian regions concerned , the Romanian
    Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also stressed. (MI)







  • Ukrainian refugees in the attention of international organizations

    Ukrainian refugees in the attention of international organizations

    Romania will set up a civil protection center in the country to distribute humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Thus, humanitarian aid will be collected and delivered to the most affected areas in the neighboring country. Bucharest will also access EU funds for the management of the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, to be granted under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund and the Integrated Border Management Fund. The announcement was made by President Klaus Iohannis, who welcomed on Thursday in Bucharest the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.


    Klaus Iohannis: “It is a logistical hub for humanitarian aid set up under the umbrella of the RescEU programme, so under the umbrella of European humanitarian aid. Romania will host this hub and will have to carry out most tasks. This hub will be built progressively, stating with a centre that collects humanitarian aid and will keep developing to a big and sophisticated hub that will involve all actors needed in granting humanitarian aid. “



    Romania is an example of solidarity in Europe, the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. She also said: “Romanians have given such a moving example to the world. As the war started, Romanians were rushing in droves to the Vama Siret crossing point to welcome refugees with food, water, blankets and baby milk. People are opening their homes for families. They are organising collections and fund-raising on social media. Romania has really stepped up to welcome the refugees and I really thank you for that. But Romania is not only welcoming the refugees, it is also helping their neighbors, like Moldova. (…) You are a shining example of European solidarity and I really want to commend and thank you for that. “



    According to the United Nations, at least 1 million Ukrainians fled war and crossed the border into Romania in seven days alone, and the country has offered many of them food and shelter. The Bucharest authorities have announced that more than 1,400 Ukrainian citizens have applied for asylum in Romania since the start of the conflict more than a week ago.



    The UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi who traveled to Bucharest on Thursday, commended Romanian authorities for their quick reaction and efforts to help Ukrainian refugees. He said it is high time for guns to be silenced so that humanitarian aid can save lives also inside Ukraine. We remind you that the UN General Assembly has adopted earlier this week, by an overwhelming majority, a resolution asking Russia to immediately cease its use of force against Ukraine. Civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected and spared and safe access must be granted to the personnel used for humanitarian relief operations, Filippo Grandi said, warning that not doing so will only increase human sufferance. (EE)


  • September 11, 2017

    September 11, 2017

    SCHOOL – A new school year
    started in Romania today for some 2.3 million pupils and high-school students.
    Authorities have prepared several changes, including with regard to the
    baccalaureate exam, which will start earlier. Also, teachers will be able to
    check online, from home, the papers of the applicants to the national
    evaluation and baccalaureate examinations. Many school in Romania, in
    particular in the rural areas, have not been able to obtain the necessary
    licenses and equipment to properly start the new school year, and the 5th
    grade pupils still do not have textbooks. Attending the festivities at a
    prestigious high-school in Bucharest, Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis has
    stated that the education law must stop being just a puzzle with pieces that keep
    changing all the time. In his opinion, we cannot speak of an educated Romania
    in the absence of an education system that is predictable and centered on the
    student.








    9/11 – The US
    is today commemorating the 9/11 attacks. 16
    years ago, some three thousand people, including Romanians, were killed
    by Al Qaeda terrorists, who hijacked four planes and used them to destroy
    emblematic buildings. The number of victims has grown in the years that
    followed the attack, as during those days many people inhaled carcinogens.






    IRMA – Hurricane Irma,
    which is currently tearing through the western coast of Florida, has been
    downgraded to category 1, but it is still extremely dangerous according to the US weather services. Storm
    tide warnings are still in place for large areas in Florida, where at least 5
    people have died and 6 million have received evacuation orders. Reuters reports
    that some one million households have no electricity. Although Miami is not in
    the way of the hurricane, the strong wind and heavy rain accompanying the storm
    have caused damage, with dozens of streets flooded and trees felled down. There
    are some 30,000 Romanians living in Florida, and the Romanian Foreign Ministry
    has already activated a crisis team to provide them with support if necessary.




    NORTH-KOREA – Following intense
    negotiations carried out in the past
    four days, with Beijing and Moscow in particular, Washington has revised
    the resolution draft by including new sanctions against North Korea. The draft
    is to be endorsed by the UN Security Council this afternoon. The new document
    provides for a progressive embargo on oil to Pyongyang, eliminating the full
    and immediate embargo. Also, the document stipulates a ban on textile imports
    from North-Korea, applicable to all the UN member states. Washington has changed
    the initial draft also with regard to the North-Korean expatriates and has
    accepted to no longer freeze the assets of the North-Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.
    The new sanctions proposed by the US come after the nuclear test conducted by
    North Korea on September 3rd at an unprecedented level. The UN Security Council
    has already adopted 7 resolutions including sanctions against North Korea, in a
    bid to convince Pyongyang to negotiate its nuclear and conventional weapons
    programmes.




    TRADE – Romania’s trade
    deficit went up by 33.1% in the first seven months of the year, as compared to
    the similar period in 2016, to 6.824 billion Euros, reads a communiqué issued
    by the National Statistics Institute. The value of the intra-EU trade in goods
    stood at more than 27 million Euros in exports and 32 billion in imports. As
    for the extra-EU trade, exports stood at some 8.7 billion Euros, and imports at
    10.3 billion. A major share of the exports is held by the machine and transport
    equipment industry.




    GEORGE ENESCU FESTIVAL – The ‘George
    Enescu’ International Classical Music Festival continues in Bucharest today
    with a performance by the London Phylarmonic Players and concerts by the
    Russian National Orchestra and the Radio Academic Choir. The programme of the
    ‘George Enescu’ Festival, which has become one of the most prestigious in
    Europe, includes 80 concerts and events, with more than three thousand artists
    attending. Radio Romania is the only media institution in the country that is
    broadcasting live the festival concerts, through the Radio Romania Music and
    Radio Romania Culture stations. The festival is held every two years and lasts
    three weeks.







  • December 19, 2016 UPDATE 2

    December 19, 2016 UPDATE 2

    BREAKING NEWS – A lorry ploughed into shoppers at a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12people and injuring over 50 others. According to the German local media, there are suspicions of a deliberate act. The German police confirmed the driver of the lorry has been arrested. Apparently, the co-driver has died in the incident.



    PARLIAMENT –President Klaus Iohannis has announced that he will convene the new Parliament on Tuesday, and will hold talks with the parliamentary parties on Wednesday and Thursday. This week the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania, which together hold 54% of the seats in the new parliament, will announce their proposal for the new prime minister. After the President has appointed the PM, the latter will have 10 days to put together a cabinet and the governing program, after which he is to request Parliament’s vote of confidence.




    COOPERATION — Social-Democrat and ALDE leaders Liviu Dragnea and Calin Popescu Tariceanu and Daniel Constantin respectively signed the cooperation protocol between the two parties making up the governing coalition for development and democracy. The coalition will have three main objectives: ensuring sustainable economic growth and making new jobs available, observing citizens’ rights and liberties and increasing financial welfare and living standards. The governing program compiles the two parties’ election programs. The cooperation protocol also shows the two parties will nominate a single candidate for the position of Prime Minister. Liviu Dragnea said the president will be notified in a letter regarding the protocol and the fact that the two parties will come for consultations on Wednesday, when they are also expected to nominate a Prime Minister candidate.



    COMMEMORATION – The western Romanian city of Timişoara on Monday commemorated the fourth day of the anti-communist revolution of December 1989, with a conference organised by the Romanian Academy. Twenty-seven years ago, protesters were killed and wounded, and on December 20, Timişoara became the first Romanian city free from communism. Sparked by the locals’ opposition to an abusive measure of the city authorities, the protests quickly spread across the country, culminating on December 22nd in Bucharest, when the protesters stormed the headquarters of the central committee of the Romanian communist party. This is when dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu and his wife attempted to flee by helicopter. They were caught and executed on December 25, after a summary trial. Over 1,000 people died and nearly 3,400 were wounded in the clashes, and Romania remains the only Eastern Bloc country where the communist regime was brought down through violence and the communist leaders were executed.



    ASSASSINATION — The Russian ambassador to Ankara Andrey Karlov died on Monday in a hospital in the Turkish capital after being shot while attending a photo exhibition opening at the Contemporary Art Centre. According to the Turkish media, the attacker impersonated a member of the ambassador’s security detail. The attack comes ahead of Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoglu’s visit to Moscow, where he is expected to hold talks with his Russian and Iranian counterparts.



    RSF — This year 57 journalists have been killed around the world, especially in countries affected by war, according to a report made public by Reporters without Borders, an NGO based in Paris. The largest number of deaths, 19, was reported in Syria, followed by Afghanistan, Mexico, Iraq and Yemen. Most journalists lost their lives in their own countries, and one-third of them were targeted by deliberate attacks. Apart from the 57 journalists, 9 bloggers and 8 media collaborators were assassinated. As for the journalists incarcerated or detained this year, their number has increased particularly because of the situation in Turkey, where more than 100 media workers are currently imprisoned.



    UN — The UN Security Council passed a resolution calling for deploying UN observers in rebel-held eastern Aleppo. Observers will oversee the evacuation of civilians and combatants. The US ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, called on the immediate implementation of the resolution and for overseeing the evacuation from eastern Aleppo, currently host to tens of thousands of people. Some 50 children, blocked in an orphanage, were among to the first to be evacuated, BBC reports.



    HANDBALL — Norway’s women’s team Sunday won the gold medal at the European Handball Championship in Sweden, after having defeated the Netherlands, 30-29 in the final. Norway thus won the 7th European champion title in 12 editions of this competition. In the match for the 3rd place, France beat Denmark, 25-22. Romania came out 5th in this edition of the European championship. The national team had a good performance overall, but failed to qualify into the semi-finals after losing the match against Denmark. In this competition the Romanian players defeated the Olympic champions Russia, as well as Hungary, Croatia and the Czech Republic, and lost a tightly contested match against the European and world champions, Norway.


    (Translated by V. Palcu, updated by D. Vijeu)