Radio România Internațional

Tag: US troops

  • Departure from Afghanistan

    Departure from Afghanistan

    Chaos grips Afghanistan after the withdrawal of US troops. The international community seems to have been taken by surprise and is now forced to take emergency measures. In just a few days, the Taliban conquered the countrys major cities and overthrew the government in Kabul. They have announced that the war is over and have called on the international community not to isolate them. In the meantime, more than 60 states are asking the Taliban to allow all citizens who want to flee the country to leave. In the context of the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, the Romanian Foreign Ministry — MAE has announced that the Inter-institutional Crisis Cell summoned by the Romanian FM, Bogdan Aurescu, continues its activity to support and provide assistance to the Romanian citizens from Afghanistan, in order to evacuate them safely. At the same time, the Cell is monitoring the latest developments and is keeping in contact with Romanias international partners.



    A MAE communiqué recalls that the activity of the Romanian Embassy in Kabul was suspended in 2019, following an attack that severely damaged the mission’s headquarters. Given the lack of an operational mission in Kabul and the fact that the Romanian Embassy in Islamabad has taken over the countrys representation in relation to Afghanistan, the intervention capacity of this mission in Afghanistan is limited, especially in the context of the deteriorating security situation there, the MAE communiqué shows. As early as Friday, when Romania instated the highest crisis alert level over Afghanistan, MAE officials have strongly recommended the Romanian citizens traveling to Afghanistan or who are already on the territory of that state to address the Romanian Embassy in Islamabad and announce their presence in the region, communicating their own contact details so that they can be contacted in emergency situations. The PM Florin Cîțu also asked all Romanian citizens in Afghanistan to leave that country.



    Florin Cîțu: “I would like to urge to all Romanians who are still there and have not contacted our diplomatic mission in Pakistan to do so as soon as possible. At this point, we have instated the highest crisis alert level over Afghanistan. Leave Afghanistan immediately!”



    Romanias participation in the missions in Afghanistan has marked the history of the last 19 years and has played a decisive role in strengthening the eastern flank – foreign policy analysts say. According to them, by participating in Afghanistan, Romania has consolidated its relationship with the US as well as with the European states, with those who would later become its allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and in the European Union. From 2002 until now, over 32,000 Romanian soldiers have participated in the theaters of operations in Afghanistan. 27 Romanian soldiers have died and over 200 have been injured in the almost two decades of the Romanian armys presence in that country. The presence of the Romanian Army in Afghanistan cost the Romanian state approximately 3 billion lei (about 600 million Euros). )LS)


  • The Week in Review: February 13-19

    The Week in Review: February 13-19

    Romanias 2017 Budget


    On Thursday Romanias President Klaus Iohannis promulgated the laws on the 2017 state budget and social security budget. The President has explained he decided to promulgate the laws only because Romania needed a budget, but has stressed the fact that in this budget revenues are overestimated and expenses are very high. That is why the President has called on the coalition Government made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania to be responsible when implementing its governing program.



    Klaus Iohannis: “Some people say the revenues in this budget are optimistic, I would say they are overestimated. Also, expenses are very high. This hyper-optimistic approach to the state budget is visible if, for instance, we make a comparison between last years consolidated budget revenues and what has been provided for this year, which is 14% more than last year, without providing any explanation whatsoever as to what are the grounds for such a phenomenal growth. 14% is a lot for the consolidated budget.



    On the other hand, Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu has stated that the budget law is an ambitious project and the Executive has earmarked money for all the measures it has announced.



    Sorin Grindeanu: “Id say we have managed to come up, in a record time, with a budget that takes into account our governing program and all the measures that we have committed to implementing. We have done our job, we have adopted all the necessary legislative documents and we have included the money in the budget for all these measures.



    But which are the economic indicators that the Government can count on? According to the National Institute of Statistics, Romanias GDP went up by 4.8% in 2016 as compared to the previous year. For 2017, economic growth forecasts range between 3.7% according to the World Bank, 3.8% as estimated by the IMF, and 4.4% according to the European Commission. In its winter forecast, published on Monday, the European Commission warns, though, that the public deficit would reach 3.6% of the GDP this year, to stand at 3.9% in 2018.



    Emergency Decree and Referendum


    The emergency decree issued by the Romanian Government to abrogate the controversial amendments to the criminal law, which triggered a large-scale political crisis, has been on the agenda of the Chamber of Deputies as of Wednesday. One day before, the Senate endorsed the bill unanimously.



    Since the beginning of the crisis, on January 31st, hundreds of thousands of Romanians in the country and abroad have been calling for the resignation of the Grindeanu Cabinet, whom they accuse that, by trying to amend the criminal codes, actually intended to clean the criminal records of several influential politicians and local and central administration officials. The Social Democratic Party has denied the accusations, saying the Government only wanted to put the legislation in line with the Constitutional Courts rulings.



    In this context, President Klaus Iohannis, criticized for embracing the cause of the anti-Government protesters, initiated a referendum on continuing the fight against corruption. On Monday, the initiative was endorsed by Parliament. In order to assure Romanias European partners that the fight against corruption is one of the priorities of the Government formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu paid a short visit to Brussels later this week, where he said:



    Sorin Grindeanu: “In the future, as regards regulations in the field of the judiciary, we would like to have such things decided in Parliament, after thorough debates involving public institutions, NGOs and, of course, the MPs, in order to have the rulings of the Constitutional Court regarding the criminal codes approved in Parliament.



    In turn, the First Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans recommended more transparency in the activity of the Romanian Executive. According to Frans Timmermans it is a good thing that the Government wants to get the Romanian legislation in line with the EU regulations, but this can only be done with complete openness and transparency.



    Romania and NATOs eastern flank


    As many as 500 US troops have arrived this week at the Mihail Kogalniceanu military base in Constanta, southeastern Romania, along with a shipment of tanks, combat vehicles and artillery equipment for multinational drills. Colonel Romeo Feraru with the Romanian Land Forces has more:



    Romeo Feraru: “The 500 soldiers and artillery from the 1st Battalion ‘Fighting Eagles’ will station in Romania for a period of 9 months, after which they will be replaced by soldiers from another unit, thus ensuring a constant presence in Europe.



    The US military will take part in multinational training exercises as part of the Atlantic Resolve military operation aimed at consolidating NATOs eastern flank.



    In a statement made public by the NATO press office, the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg congratulated Romania for its huge effort to increase the budget for defense to 2% of the GDP in 2017, saying it is an example for other alliance members.



    Entry visas for Romanians traveling to Canada to be lifted as of December 2017


    Romanians will no longer need entry visas for Canada starting December 1st, 2017. The decision is part of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between the EU and Canada, approved by the European Parliament this week. Eliminating visas for Romanians was a condition imposed by Bucharest in order to sign the free trade agreement. The agreement is to be ratified by all EU national and regional parliaments. Romanian MEP Iuliu Winkler has said that, besides eliminating visa requirements, the agreement also has numerous economic advantages.



    Iuliu Winkler: “If we refer to the very complex part of the agreement, such as trade and economic cooperation, the medium sized companies in the energy sector or in other technological sectors will have the chance to cooperate on the Canadian public services market. The protection of intellectual property, copyright, inventions and innovations will be covered by the CETA agreement.



    According to Iuliu Winkler, this may be the most important free trade agreement of the 21st century.

  • February 8, 2017 UPDATE

    February 8, 2017 UPDATE

    CENSURE MOTION – The first censure motion filed by the National Liberal Party and the Save Romania Union, in opposition, against the sitting coalition Government made up of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE), was rejected by the Romanian Parliament in a plenary session held on Wednesday. 161 yeas and 8 nays were registered. At least 233 votes were needed for the motion to be adopted. PSD, ALDE and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania abstained from voting. The motion titled the Grindeanu Government-Government of national defiance. Do not legalise theft in Romania was tabled last week and read out on Monday, in a plenary session of Parliament. The initiators of the motion called on the Social Democratic Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu to assume responsibility for the error of adopting the emergency decree amending the Criminal Codes and of drawing up a pardon bill. Also, the signatories to the motion called on the cabinet to resign, accusing it of having committed institutional abuse. We recall that the adoption of the emergency decree amending the criminal law, later repealed, triggered wide-scale protests across Romania and among the Romanian communities living abroad.



    CONSTITUTIONAL COURT – Romanias Constitutional Court on Wednesday ruled there is no legal constitutional conflict between the state powers following the adoption by the Government of an emergency decree amending the Criminal Codes. The Court drew that conclusion after having discussed the requests made by the countrys president, Klaus Iohannis, and the head of the Higher Council of Magistracy, Mariana Ghena. Earlier, the Government had rescinded the emergency decree and had announced it temporarily abandoned the idea of amending the Criminal Codes. On Tuesday, President Iohannis attended a plenary session of Parliament, calling on the left wing Government to come up with solutions to the crisis it generated by adopting the emergency decree amending the Criminal Codes.



    PROTESTS – Protests against the Government continued in Bucharest and other cities across the country, for the ninth day in a row, against the backdrop of changes being brought to the criminal law. The protesters, who gathered in a lower number than in the previous days, called for the resignation of the left-wing Government. The largest number of protesters was registered on Sunday, when half a million people protested in Bucharest and other big cities across the country and abroad, against an emergency decree amending the Criminal Codes, even though the emergency decree had been rescinded earlier on that day. Also on Wednesday, President Klaus Iohannis tried to start a dialogue with the protesters calling for his resignation in front of the Cotroceni Palace. It is for the fourth day that people gather near the offices of the Presidential Administration to back the Grindeanu Government.



    EXCLUSION – The Department for Judges with the Higher Council of Magistracy, CSM, on Wednesday decided to exclude judge Camelia Bogdan from magistracy. Camelia Bogdan is the judge who, back in 2014, sentenced tycoon Dan Voiculescu to 10 years in prison in the case of the fraudulent privatisation of the Food Research Institute (ICA) in Bucharest. CSMs ruling is not final and can be appealed at the High Court of Cassation and Justice. Judge Camelia Bogdan is accused of committing the disciplinary offence of violating the legal provisions on incompatibilities and interdictions regarding judges and prosecutors. She was accused of attending a specialisation course in Romania, sponsored by the Agriculture Ministry, which was a damaged party in the ICA case, at the time.



    JOINT DRILLS – The 500 US ground troops to be deployed in Europe, who left Poland on Monday, heading for Romania, are being stationed these days at the Mihail Kogalniceanu air base in Constanta county, in the south-east of Romania, a communiqué issued by the Romanian Defence Ministry shows. The American soldiers of the Fighting Eagles Battalion 1 will participate in joint drills alongside Romanian soldiers, as part of the US commitment to ensure the security of NATOs eastern flank, a component of the Atlantic Resolve Operation.



    QUAKE – An earthquake measuring 5 degrees on Richters scale rocked Romania at 17:08:20 local time, on Wednesday, according to the National Institute for Earth Physics. The tremor, with the epicentre in Buzau County, eastern Romania, was felt in Bucharest, too. This is the second quake registered on the same day, after a first tremor measuring 4.2 degrees, with the epicentre in Vrancea County, in the east, rocked Romania at 11:52:06. The quake registered on Wednesday at 5.08 PM is the most powerful this year.



    WEATHER – It is getting colder in Romania, particularly in the south-eastern half of the country. It will snow lightly in the south, south-east and the mountains. Rain and sleet are reported in the west and the centre. Gale force wind is reported, in places, in the south and south-east and on mountain crests. The highs will range between minus 8 and plus 7 degrees Celsius. (Translated by D. Vijeu)

  • May 2, 2016 UPDATE

    May 2, 2016 UPDATE

    Orthodox and Greek-Catholic Christians, which make up the religious majority in Romania, celebrate as of Monday the Bright Week, the first week after Easter, when light is seen as the symbol of the Resurrection of Christ. In churches, on the second day of Easter, the same religious service was celebrated as the one on Resurrection night.



    More than 35,000 tourists were in Romanian seaside resorts for the first two days of the summer season, which started officially on May 1. Hotel had attractive offers during this period, with prices including various facilities. As a result, for instance, the resort of Mamaia was almost fully booked. High occupancy rates were also reported in the resorts of Vama Veche, Eforie and Costineşti. During the Easter holiday, tourists also had access to the new beach sections on the Romanian sea coast. The beaches on the south of the Romanian Black Sea coast were extended by several tens of hectares, as part of EU-funded projects with a combined budget of 170 million Euros.



    The Prime Minister of Romania, Dacian Cioloş, will submit to President Klaus Iohannis on Tuesday a request to discharge Vlad Alexandrescu as Culture Minister and a nomination for his replacement. The dismissal comes against the backdrop of a scandal at the Romanian Opera House in Bucharest, triggered by discontent with the successive appointments for the director post as well as with the substantial imbalances between the salaries paid to the Romanian and the foreign dancers. Protests led to the cancellation of three shows, and PM Ciolos asked for Vlad Alexandrescu’s resignation. In messages posted on Facebook or published in the media, Vlad Alexandrescu says he was forced out because he upset various interest groups. The head of government said he had not been informed of the problems Vlad Alexandrescu claimed to have been facing and promised he would urge the new minister to carry on the reforms initiated by Alexandrescu.



    Some 200 US troops will reach the Republic of Moldova from Romania, for joint military exercises, between May 3 and 20, signalling a stronger American military presence in the region, Associated Press reports. According to the Defence Ministry in Chisinau, the US troops are accompanied by armoured vehicles. Taking part in the drills are 165 troops from the former Soviet republic. The US Embassy in Chisinău has announced that the exercises, which illustrate the on-going cooperation between Moldova and the USA, will include first aid and evacuation training, with a view to providing on-site maintenance and demolition assistance. The Republic of Moldova joined the NATO Partnership for Peace in 1994.



    The Romanian tennis player Patricia Ţig (134 WTA), Monday scored a surprising win against American Sloane Stephens (16 WTA), whom she defeated 6-2, 6-3, in the second round of the WTA Premier tournament in Madrid, which has 4.7 million US dollars in prize money. In the eighth-finals, Ţig will be facing the winner of the match between Madison Keys and Barbora Strycova. Also qualified in the second round of the Madrid tournament are two other Romanians, Simona Halep, seed no. 6, and Sorana Carstea. Halep played the final of the Madrid tournament in 2014, when she lost to Russia’s Maria Sharapova.