Radio România Internațional

Tag: victim

  • September 5, 2023

    September 5, 2023


    VICTIM – Another patient severely injured in the explosions in Crevedia (southern Romania) has died this morning, bringing the number of deaths to 5, the Health Ministry announced. The victim was of Nepalese origin and had burns on more than 90% of his body. We remind you that powerful explosions followed by a fire took place, a week ago, at an LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) station in Crevedia, south of Bucharest, which was operating illegally.




    SUMMIT – Romania and President Klaus Iohannis are getting ready to host in Bucharest, as of Wednesday, a summit and a business forum of the Three Seas Initiative, a political platform that brings together 12 EU countries bordering the Adriatic, Baltic and Black seas. Talks will focus on the promotion of economic growth and strategic interconnections, but also on redefining the Initiatives relationship with its neighborhood, which has undergone geopolitical reconfiguration. President Klaus Iohannis has announced that at the summit in Bucharest, the Three Seas Initiative will expand with a new member, while two other countries will receive the associate status. The US reaffirmed its support for the objectives of the Three Seas Initiative and also its willingness to collaborate closely with partner countries. The US special presidential envoy for climate, John Kerry, will head the American delegation to the summit in Bucharest.




    DECISIONS – The PSD-PNL Government in Bucharest will assume responsibility in Parliament for the measures aimed at reducing the budget deficit. According to PM Marcel Ciolacu, the legislative package will cover the fight against evasion, the reforms in the local administration, and fiscal changes. The Liberals want to maintain the flat tax and do not agree with measures such as increasing the tax on dividends or reducing the ceiling for SMEs. The main opposition parties, however, criticize the Executives intention to assume responsibility and threaten with motions of no-confidence. The Government assuming responsibility for a legislative bill is a procedure that allows the bill to pass without being debated in Parliament.




    EXHIBITION — It is less than a month until the opening of the exhibition “Brâncusi: Romanian sources and universal perspectives”. The exhibition, on display between September 30, 2023 and January 28, 2024 will be hosted by the National Art Museum in Timisoara. It will bring together emblematic sculptures from the mature period of the Romanian sculptor Constantin Brâncuşi, brought from renowned museums such as the Pompidou Center or Tate Gallery, but also works from his youth, who are part of private collections. The exhibition, the largest one dedicated to Brâncusi in the last 50 years, is the peak moment of the programme Timișoara 2023 European Capital of Culture.




    MEETING — Romanian President Klaus Iohannis is today receiving the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Xavier Bettel, on the occasion of his visit to Cincu (centre), at the invitation of the Romanian side, the Presidential Administration announced. The two officials will have political consultations and will visit together the troops stationed at the Getica National Joint Training Center in Cincu. They will address the soldiers from Luxembourg who are part of the NATO battle group in Romania. President Iohannis and Prime Minister Xavier Bettel will discuss about the consolidation of the deterrence posture on NATO’s Eastern Flank, the continuation of the multidimensional support offered to Ukraine, as well as about the support for vulnerable partners in the region, with an emphasis on the Republic of Moldova, a country seriously affected by the consequences of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.




    TENNIS — Romanian tennis player Sorana Cîrstea is playing tonight against the Chech Karolina Muchova in the quarterfinals of the US Open, the last Grand Slam of the year. Cîrstea defeated the Swiss Belinda Bencic in the previous round, 6-3, 6-3. The Romanian athlete, (33 years old, 30 WTA), seed number 30, played only one quarterfinal at a Grand Slam tournament, in 2009, at Roland Garros, when she was 19 years old. (EE)






  • The Republic of Moldova – collateral victim of the war

    The Republic of Moldova – collateral victim of the war

    Ever since the beginning of Russia’s war against Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova – the poorest state in Europe – has been a collateral victim. On the one hand, the ex-Soviet Republic must be cautious about its own pro-Russian population and, in parallel, it has to manage the problem of the Russian-speaking separatist region of Transdniester – a powder keg that is all the more dangerous in this extremely tense context. On the other hand, compared to the small number of its inhabitants, the Republic of Moldova has received the largest number of Ukrainian citizens. Not to mention the economic crisis that has been added to the refugee crisis. Chisinau’s commercial relations with the East have been affected, and it had to redirect its exports to other destinations – to the West or to the Arab states. The most serious is, however, the energy crisis, given Moldovas dependence on Russian gas and Ukrainian electricity. Tuesdays Russian bombings in Ukraine have had repercussions on the electricity supply of the Republic of Moldova.



    Dozens of localities and many consumers, including the capital Chisinau, have been temporarily left without electricity: one of the power lines that ensure the transport of electric power in the Republic was automatically disconnected, as a safety measure, which led to a massive blackout in almost the entire country. Although Chisinau did not specify which power line was affected, it seems that it is the Isaccea-Vulcăneşti-Chisinau high-voltage power line, through which the Republic of Moldova receives electricity from Romania and which crosses the Ukrainian territory. Tuesday’s situation calls attention to the vulnerability of Moldova’s energy system. Until recently, the small republic has purchased the needed electricity from Ukraine and from the Cuciurgan plant, located in the Transdniester region. Now, it can no longer import electricity from Ukraine, whose energy infrastructure was seriously destroyed, and since November 1, it no longer receives electricity from Cuciurgan either, after the Gazprom consortium halved gas supplies to the Republic of Moldova.



    What is the solution? The authorities in Chisinau identified it by connecting to the European energy system ENTSO-E and by purchasing energy from Romania, which delivers to Moldova up to 90% of what it needs. On Tuesday, after the massive blackout, the energy supply in the Republic of Moldova was restored. However, there remains the fear that the scenario might be repeated at any time. Works are currently under way on an air line for direct electricity transport from Romania to the Republic of Moldova. But the project is to be finished in the next 2 or 3 years.