Radio România Internațional

Tag: US-Romania relations

  • August 23, 2021

    August 23, 2021

    COVID-19 -
    Romania remains in the green scenario in terms of the number of infections,
    which is going up. On Monday, 415 new infections were reported, in addition to
    13 related fatalities. 193 people are currently in intensive care. At national
    level, the vaccination rate remains low. Over 5 million people in Romania have
    completed the full vaccination scheme.




    CRIMEA – The
    Crimea Platform is today being launched in Kiev, a Ukrainian initiative aimed
    at drawing more global attention to Russia’s illegal annexation of the Crimean
    Peninsula and returning the territory to Ukraine. A total of 44 countries and
    international organizations, including 14 heads of state and government and EU
    leaders have confirmed their presence at the Crimea Platform summit. Kiev officials
    say the militarization of the peninsula and Moscow’s aggressive policy in the
    area are affecting all countries in the Black Sea region. Romania is
    represented by Prime Minister Florin Cîţu and Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu.
    The Prime Minister will also give a speech and attend the ceremony marking the
    official launch of the Platform. On the sidelines of the event, Minister Aurescu
    will meet Volodymyr Zelensky and will also hold talks with his Ukrainian
    counterpart, Denis Shmyhal. Florin Cîţu and Bogdan Aurescu will also visit the headquarters
    of the Crimea Platform and attend the launch of the Permanent Executive Agency,
    which will be enacting the summit’s decisions.




    AUGUST 23 -
    President Klaus Iohannis today conveyed a message marking Black Ribbon Day,
    also known as the Europe-wide Day of Remembrance for the victims of all
    totalitarian and authoritarian regimes. The president said the infamous
    Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, signed on August 23, 1939, marked the beginning of
    Europe’s tragedy, a milestone that paved the way for a string of deadly abuses,
    tearing apart territories by dividing Central and Eastern Europe into spheres
    of influence. The so-called non-aggression pact shattered the hopes and ideals
    of European nations, triggering the Second World War, with devastating
    consequences for mankind, the president’s message reads. Klaus Iohannis also
    referred to King Michael I’s act of courage, on August 23, 1944, when he broke
    ties with Nazi Germany, supported by the Romanian Army. Let us keep in mind the
    lesson of that great moment of political prowess as a symbol of vertical
    thinking, unity and morality, the president said. The European Parliament in
    2008 designated August 23 as a Europe-wide day of Remembrance for the victims
    of all totalitarian and authoritarian regimes. In 2011, the Romanian Parliament
    designated August 23 the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Fascism and
    Communism.

    US-ROMANIA RELATIONS – Defense Minister Nicolae Ciucă and the head of general staff, General Daniel Petrescu, on Sunday met with a delegation of the US Congress, discussing security in the Black Sea region and major investment projects aimed at consolidating military infrastructure in Romania. The US delegation was led by Senator Richard Shelby, the head of the US Senate Committee on Appropriations. According to a Defense Ministry release, talks focused on hot topics on the security and defense agenda and elements pertaining to US-Romanian cooperation, at bilateral level as well as at NATO level. Minister Nicolae Ciucă said the American military presence on Romanian soil is evidence of the USA’s firm commitment to ensuring security and stability, reiterating the importance of consolidating this presence.




    FESTIVAL -
    27 events are scheduled today on the sidelines of the International Theatre
    Festival in Sibiu. The Play Stock Exchange opens its doors today in Sibiu,
    titled Outdoor performing arts: purpose and relevance at local, national and
    international level. Over 100 performances and events have brought together
    thousands of spectators from across the world during the first three days of
    the festival. Performances were held on outdoor stages, as well as online. The
    28th edition of the Festival runs until August 29 under the slogan
    Building hope together. Over 2,000 artists from 38 countries will be
    attending the festival, the biggest such event in Romania and one of the most
    important of its kind in Europe. (VP)





  • July 31, 2021 UPDATE

    July 31, 2021 UPDATE

    COVID-19 – 156 new cases of
    COVID infection were reported on Saturday, in addition to 3 related fatalities.
    56 people are now in intensive care. We recall that, starting August 1,
    teenagers aged 12-17 can receive the anti-COVID vaccine produced by Moderna, in
    addition to the Pfizer vaccine. Romania is closing in on the 5 million
    vaccinated people mark, of whom most have completed the full vaccination
    scheme. The number, however, is below the authorities expectations.




    CYBER ATTACKS – Romanian
    hospitals are vulnerable to cyber-attacks, while their level of digital
    security is low, the Romanian Intelligence Service has warned, after last week
    a hospital in Bucharest was the target of a ransomware attack. According to the
    Service, such attacks are used by hackers to demand ransom for crypted data.
    Although of medium or low complexity, the attacks may severely disrupt the
    activity of healthcare institutions. The Service recommends the adoption of
    centralized measures to impose the implementation of minimum cyber security at
    the level of these institutions.




    ATTACK – The Foreign
    Ministry in Bucharest announced it would provide all the necessary assistance
    and will actively monitor the investigation into the circumstances of the
    violent attack that killed a Romanian national on Thursday in the Arabian Sea.
    The Ministry recalls that so far Romania’s missions have received no requests
    for consular assistance. One Romanian citizen and a British one were killed
    during an attack on Thursday onboard the Mercer Street oil tanker off the Oman
    coast in the Arabian Sea. According to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade
    Operations, an anti-piracy organization, the attack took place some 280
    kilometers southeast of Oman’s capital city. Zodiac Maritime issued a statement
    saying the ship was Japanese-owned.




    AMBASSDOR – Romania’s new
    ambassador to the United States, Andrei Muraru, was on Friday received at the
    US State Department where he presented copies of his letters of accreditation.
    In a post on Facebook, the Romanian diplomat said the reception is a rare
    exception made by the US State Department, which is a clear indication of the
    special importance of US-Romanian relations. Andrei Muraru said that, during
    his meetings with US officials, he expressed Romania’s firm commitment to
    consolidating the strategic partnership at military, political, economic,
    cultural and educational levels.




    DEFICIT – Romania’s
    budget deficit stood below 3% of the GDP after the first six months of the
    year, which signals a drop according to centralized data published by the
    Finance Ministry. Budget revenues are 20% higher compared to the similar period
    of last year. Spending also went up by 10%, compared to 2020. The largest share
    represented investment, followed by COVID-related spending. Personnel spending
    also went up 4.5%, while social welfare expenses also increased by some 9%.




    VISIT – Principal
    Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy, Kathryn Huff and David Muniz,
    Charge d’affaires of the US Embassy in Bucharest on Friday visited the Nuclear
    Power Plant at Cernavodă. According to a US Embassy release, the visit was
    aimed at starting bilateral talks over the recent ratification by president
    Klaus Iohannis of the US-Romanian inter-government agreement, also marking the
    10th anniversary of the Strategic Partnership between the two
    states. The US Embassy also says the agreement allows for cooperation in key
    sectors for Romania as well as in the field of civilian nuclear energy,
    particularly as regards projects to build Units 3 and 4 and modernizing Unit 1
    at the Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant. The USA and Romania in October 2020
    signed an extended inter-government cooperation agreement regarding the
    development of nuclear energy projects at Cernavodă and in the field of
    civilian nuclear energy in Romania. In November 2020, the European Commission
    ratified the US-Romanian agreement that provides for the building of reactors 3
    and 4 at Cernavodă. The project will be using the CANDU 6 technology, which is
    similar to the current one being used in units 1 and 2.




    FESTIVAL – Cancelled last
    year due to the COVID pandemic, the Medieval Sighişoara Festival, the
    longest-lasting festival of its kind in Romania, will this year bring together
    artists, craftsmen and a large number of guests. The only medieval citadel
    still inhabited in southeastern Europe, Sighişoara will this weekend see
    warriors, knights, ladies of the court and master craftsmen pouring in from all
    corners of the country and from abroad. On Friday, the medieval play The Farce
    of Master Pathelin, stage directed by our colleague from the Aromanian
    Service, Toma Enache, who is also the festival’s stage director, was premiered.
    A concert by the band Phoenix is scheduled for Sunday. Entry is free of charge,
    face masks are mandatory and only vaccinated people or those presenting a negative
    PCR test for COVID-19 can attend the performances.




    WEATHER – A heat wave
    continues to grip Romania, with code orange and yellow alerts having been
    issued in most regions. Meteorologists expect extremely high temperatures,
    thunderstorms, but also strong wind and hail during the interval. Highs may
    exceed 38 degrees locally. (VP)







  • June 27, 2020 UPDATE

    June 27, 2020 UPDATE

    Coronavirus RO — The Romanian authorities on Saturday announced only 325 new cases of coronavirus infection, a lower figure than that reported on Friday, namely 411. The Strategic Communication Group shows that only 10 new deaths have been registered, which takes the death toll to 1,589. The total number of cases of infection on Romania’s territory is 26,022. At present 199 patients are in intensive care. Of the contaminated people, more than 18,530 have recovered. In this context, the Liberal PM Ludovic Orban has asked the authorities to mobilize and undertake more checks. In another development, Romanian researchers say that people who have been contaminated and recovered from COVID-19 infection are quite unlikely to get infected again. They have reached this conclusion after having analyzed the SARS-CoV-2 virus identified in Romania and which was proved to originate in Wuhan, China. Most probably the spread of the virus in Romania occurred at community level, across the country’s regions.



    US-Romania relations — The American Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, has conveyed to the Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu a letter on the occasion of the anniversary, this month, of 140 years of diplomatic relations between Romania and the US. A Romanian Foreign Ministry communiqué issued on Saturday writes that the message of the US official focused on bilateral cooperation meant to promote the two countries’ common interests. Mike Pompeo considers that the longstanding relation between Romanian and the US has reached its highest level and he thanked Romania for being a stalwart ally and friend of the United States. In turn, Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu says that the celebration of 140 years of diplomatic relations is a good opportunity to reconfirm the durable strategic relation between Romania and the US as well as the two countries’ will to respond together to the current challenges and threats.



    Annexation — Romania, the Republic of Moldova (with a majority Romanian-speaking population) and the Diaspora are commemorating on Sunday 80 years since the annexation of the Romanian eastern territories by the Soviet Union. On June 28, 1940, following an ultimatum, the Soviet troops occupied Bessarabia and the north of Bukovina, two Romanian provinces that measured about 55 thousand square kilometers and that were inhabited by a majority Romanian ethnic population. Hundreds of thousands of families then took refuge in ‘smaller Romania’ and tens of thousands of other families were deported by the occupying troops to Siberia and Kazakhstan. The territories annexed by Moscow currently belong to the former Soviet Republics of Moldova and Ukraine.



    Weather –— Hundreds of people have been evacuated and hundreds of households, plots of land and roads in the southwest of Romania have been flooded by the Jiu River which outburst its banks. In the northeast, on the Prut River, the high flood propagating from Ukraine is now subsiding, after having reached its maximum level on Friday. The weather in Romanian remains warm but unstable in the north, center and east. The highs of the day will range from 28 to 34 degrees C.



    Elections — Poland will see the first round of the presidential election on Sunday. Opinion surveys show that the incumbent president Andrzej Duda, supported by the Conservative Party Law and Justice (PiS) is seen as favorite with 41% of the votes. His main challenger, the mayor of Warsaw and a representative of the Liberal Civic Platform Rafal Trzaskowski comes 2nd with 26% of the votes. (tr. L. Simion)

  • January 21, 2017

    January 21, 2017

    FIRE — Over 40 people were wounded in a fire on Saturday morning that burned down one of the largest clubs in the capital city Bucharest. One person is in critical condition. The list of wounded includes Israeli and Bulgarian citizens. Eye-witnesses say they sensed a smell of burned electric wires, others say the people inside were smoking. Prosecutors have started criminal proceedings for aggravated criminal damage. Representatives of the District 2 City Hall say the club did not own a functioning permit, although it had a certified emergency evacuation plan. President Iohannis said that rules and regulations were violated on Saturday night, and society will always be at risk unless everyone observes the law. We recall that in October 2015, some 64 people were killed and over 100 were wounded in the Colectiv nightclub fire in Bucharest, which led to massive anti-government protests.



    AVALANCHE IN ITALY — Four people were rescued on Saturday night from under the snow and rubble covering the remains of the hotel in Pescara province, central Italy, which was hit by an avalanche on Wednesday. Rescuers have discovered the bodies of two women, raising the toll victim to four. Rescue teams say another 15 people, both tourists and hotel employees, are still missing. The Romanian Foreign Ministry reports that the third Romanian citizen, a minor, has also been rescued, and will join her mother and brother, who are also alive and well. The three were in the hotel along with some 27 other people when the avalanche hit.



    PARTNERSHIP — Romania’s ambassador to Washington, George Maior, said after meeting with members of the Congress, the Congress leadership and Republican politicians, as well as with members of the new Trump administration, that he is confident Romania’s Strategic Partnership with the United States will continue to develop. George Maior made the statement on the public television station on Friday night, after the swearing-in of Donald Trump as President of the United States. Maior also said he had talks with Donald Trump’s new security advisor, General Michael T. Flynn, who knows Romania well, and who promised he would visit the region and Bucharest soon. Additionally, George Maior said that in terms of intelligence services, Romania ranks third or fourth as regards cooperation with the US at international level, adding however that this is an assessment of US intelligence agencies.



    TURKEY — The Parliament in Ankara has adopted a draft law on constitutional reform aimed at extending the prerogatives of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, also creating the context of holding a referendum in spring. The reform allows the president to issue decrees, declare state of emergency, appoint ministers and other officials and to dissolve Parliament. Erdogan claims the reform is aimed at ensuring stability in Turkey, at a time of great turmoil. Meanwhile his detractors say the draft law will allow him to stay in power until 2029 and will fuel totalitarianism in Turkey, a NATO Member State and an EU candidate state.



    TENNIS — Romanian tennis players Irina-Camelia Begu and Horia Tecau on Saturday qualified to the second round of the mixed doubles at the Australian Open, the first grand slam tournament of the year. The two ousted Vania King of the US and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan, 6-3, 6-4. In the next round, the two will go up against Abigail Spears of the US and Juan Sebastian Cabal of Columbia. Also on Saturday, Raluca Olaru of Romania and Olga Savchuk of Ukraine lost to Raquel Atawo of the United States and Yifan Xu of China in three sets, 7-6, 7-6, 6-4. (Translated by V. Palcu)

  • January 21, 2017

    January 21, 2017

    FIRE — Over 40 people were wounded in a fire on Saturday morning that burned down one of the largest clubs in the capital city Bucharest. One person is in critical condition. The list of wounded includes Israeli and Bulgarian citizens. Eye-witnesses say they sensed a smell of burned electric wires, others say the people inside were smoking. Prosecutors have started criminal proceedings for aggravated criminal damage. Representatives of the District 2 City Hall say the club did not own a functioning permit, although it had a certified emergency evacuation plan. President Iohannis said that rules and regulations were violated on Saturday night, and society will always be at risk unless everyone observes the law. We recall that in October 2015, some 64 people were killed and over 100 were wounded in the Colectiv nightclub fire in Bucharest, which led to massive anti-government protests.



    AVALANCHE IN ITALY — Four people were rescued on Saturday night from under the snow and rubble covering the remains of the hotel in Pescara province, central Italy, which was hit by an avalanche on Wednesday. Rescuers have discovered the bodies of two women, raising the toll victim to four. Rescue teams say another 15 people, both tourists and hotel employees, are still missing. The Romanian Foreign Ministry reports that the third Romanian citizen, a minor, has also been rescued, and will join her mother and brother, who are also alive and well. The three were in the hotel along with some 27 other people when the avalanche hit.



    PARTNERSHIP — Romania’s ambassador to Washington, George Maior, said after meeting with members of the Congress, the Congress leadership and Republican politicians, as well as with members of the new Trump administration, that he is confident Romania’s Strategic Partnership with the United States will continue to develop. George Maior made the statement on the public television station on Friday night, after the swearing-in of Donald Trump as President of the United States. Maior also said he had talks with Donald Trump’s new security advisor, General Michael T. Flynn, who knows Romania well, and who promised he would visit the region and Bucharest soon. Additionally, George Maior said that in terms of intelligence services, Romania ranks third or fourth as regards cooperation with the US at international level, adding however that this is an assessment of US intelligence agencies.



    TURKEY — The Parliament in Ankara has adopted a draft law on constitutional reform aimed at extending the prerogatives of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, also creating the context of holding a referendum in spring. The reform allows the president to issue decrees, declare state of emergency, appoint ministers and other officials and to dissolve Parliament. Erdogan claims the reform is aimed at ensuring stability in Turkey, at a time of great turmoil. Meanwhile his detractors say the draft law will allow him to stay in power until 2029 and will fuel totalitarianism in Turkey, a NATO Member State and an EU candidate state.



    TENNIS — Romanian tennis players Irina-Camelia Begu and Horia Tecau on Saturday qualified to the second round of the mixed doubles at the Australian Open, the first grand slam tournament of the year. The two ousted Vania King of the US and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan, 6-3, 6-4. In the next round, the two will go up against Abigail Spears of the US and Juan Sebastian Cabal of Columbia. Also on Saturday, Raluca Olaru of Romania and Olga Savchuk of Ukraine lost to Raquel Atawo of the United States and Yifan Xu of China in three sets, 7-6, 7-6, 6-4. (Translated by V. Palcu)