Radio România Internațional

Tag: withdrawal

  • July 1, 2023

    July 1, 2023

    Russia — 40 employees of the Russian Embassy in Bucharest, together with their family members, are to leave Romania on board a civil aircraft belonging to a Russian airline. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry, Romanias decision to reduce the staff of the Russian diplomatic mission reflects the current level of bilateral relations, in the context of Moscows launching a war of aggression against Romanias neighboring Ukraine. We remind you that, at the beginning of this month, the Romanian diplomacy announced Russia that it must reduce the number of posts in Romania by 61%. It was Russia’s choice to reduce posts and to ask its officials to leave Romania.



    Shipyard — The Severnav shipyard from Drobeta-Turnu Severin (south-west of Romania) launched the first fully equipped ship on Friday, after a 12-year production break. The cargo named “Napoleon” was made for a Romanian ship owner. It is a chemical tank, equipped with the latest technologies and equipment, dedicated to river transport of petroleum products – gasoline, diesel or bio-components. The shipyard on the Danube, with an experience of about 170 years, is trying to resume the construction of turnkey ships. This year, at Severnav, at least nine more ships are going to be launched for the Romanian market as well as for the Western European market.




    B-FIT Street! — This weekend July 1 and 2 promises to be a festive one in Bucharest, where the biggest international street theater festival in the city, B-FIT in the Street! is scheduled. After a three-year break, the event returns to Bucharest and transforms the central streets into pedestrian areas, where spectators can witness aerial acrobatics and interactive music performances. They will also enjoy sound installations, street musicians, cabaret dancers, fantastic characters who perform in itinerant shows, creative workshops and sports activities.



    Migration — The European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, said that the management and strengthening of the Union borders are among the main elements in the fight against illegal migration. She hopes that the ongoing pilot projects in Bulgaria and Romania will serve as a model of good practices for other external borders as well. The European leaders, gathered on Thursday and Friday, in Brussels, had heated debates on the issue of migration management, without reaching an agreement. Poland and Hungary are opposed to the pact that provides for the relocation of asylum seekers on the principle of solidarity. However, the reform continues its course, after last month it was approved by the Council through a qualified majority, instead of consensus.



    Attack – A citizen from Tajikistan shot dead two people, on Friday, at the Chisinau airport, after the Moldovan authorities refused him entry into Moldova. The head of the Moldovan Police said that there is no evidence that the 43-year-old man belongs to foreign military or paramilitary structures. The interim chief prosecutor stated that the incident is, however, being investigated as a terrorist act. The attacker opened fire after he managed to take the weapon of a border policeman, then barricaded himself in a room at the airport. The special forces captured him, the man is injured and was hospitalized under guard. Flights and commercial activity at the Chisinau airport were temporarily suspended. (LS)

  • February 15, 2022

    February 15, 2022

    Covid Ro — Romania is considering lifting the anti-Covid restrictions according to certain criteria, such as the drop in the number of new cases of infection, and in the number of patients in intensive care, the health minister Alexandru Rafila announced. He said, however, that there was no timetable for relaxation. The Romanian authorities have reported today almost 22,000 new COVID-19 cases out of 91,500 tests in 24 hours, and 204 deaths, 9 of which from previous days. 1,155 patients are in ICUs.



    Energy — The Romanian PM Nicolae Ciuca is today chairing a meeting of the Inter-ministerial Committee for Energy, to later participate in a working meeting with officials in the field. Last Wednesday, the prime minister had a similar meeting with several ministers, in which they assessed the measures necessary to protect the population and the business environment from the effects of rising electricity and gas prices. On Monday, the Romanian government adopted a financial scheme that will help the local authorities to get through the winter months, when they received high energy bills.



    Ukraine — The Russian troops deployed for several weeks near the border with Ukraine have started returning to their garrisons, the Russian Defense Ministry officials have announced today amid Western fears of an imminent military operation. According to AFP, the announcement is the first sign from Moscow in this crisis with the West, which has lasted since the end of 2021. Since December, Russia has deployed more than 100,000 soldiers on the Ukrainian border, raising fears in Kiev over an imminent invasion of that country. Moscow has always denied any intention to start a war, but has asked for guarantees for its security, such as the promise that Ukraine will never join NATO, which the West has refused to do. The announcement of the troops’ withdrawal comes ahead of talks scheduled for today in Moscow between the Russian President Vladimir Putin and the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, as part of the efforts to deescalate the situation on the Ukrainian border. On Monday, in Kiev, the German chancellor had called on Russia to take advantage of the dialogue offers meant to defuse the crisis and at the same time gave assurances that Germany would resolutely continue its economic aid and support for Ukraine. In turn, the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky declared February 16 as a day of “unity” against the backdrop of US warnings of a possible imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine at this time. The West has repeatedly warned Moscow of unprecedented sanctions if it attacks Ukraine, and the US and several other countries have deployed new forces in Eastern Europe.



    Talks — Romania and Canada have similar views on the worrying security situation in the vicinity of Ukraine and the Black Sea region and on the need to continue action towards de-escalation, shows a communiqué of the Romanian Foreign Ministry, after Monday’s telephone conversation between the Romanian FM, Bogdan Aurescu, and his Canadian counterpart, Mélanie Joly. The two ministers welcomed the concrete measures taken within NATO and together with the allied states, which prove the solidity of the collective commitment towards the security of the allies on NATO’s eastern flank.



    Tennis — The Romanian tennis player Irina Begu (54 WTA) was defeated by Ukrainian Daiana Iastremska in three sets, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, today, in the first round of the WTA 500 tournament in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, which has total prizes up for grabs worth almost 770 thousand dollars. Begu, a semi-finalist in St. Petersburg last week, was defeated after two hours of play. Also today, another Romanian, Gabriela Ruse (59 WTA), coming from the qualification rounds, plays against Paula Badosa (Spain), 3rd seed and 5th in the world. The winner of this match will face in the eighth finals the best ranked Romanian tennis player, Simona Halep (23 WTA). A champion in Dubai in 2015 and 2020, Halep defeated, on Monday, in the first round, in two sets, the American Alison Riske. (LS)

  • November 19, 2021

    November 19, 2021

    GOVERNMENT The Social
    Democrats and the Liberals are resuming negotiations today on the structure and
    governing programme of the cabinet they intend to form jointly with the
    Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians.Yesterday the 2 parties agreed to have a cabinet in
    place by next Thursday. The National Liberal Party once again nominated the
    interim defence minister Nicolae Ciucă for the PM post. In turn, the Social
    Democrats nominated their president Marcel Ciolacu. He said the order in the
    prime-minister rotation is yet to be decided, but the party that will have the
    first PM designate will allow the other party to appoint the finance minister.


    COVID-19 In the past 24 hours Romania saw 2,889 new COVID-19
    cases and 281 related fatalities, 27 of
    them from an earlier date. Intensive care units across the country
    remain overcrowded, in spite of the drop in infection rates. In the capital city Bucharest the rate reached 4.34 per
    thousand, as against the 16.54 per thousand peak reported on October 22. According
    to official data nearly 89,000 people received COVID vaccines on Thursday, of
    whom around 24,000 got the first dose. As of recently Romania has more than 7
    million fully vaccinated citizens.


    TRAVEL The National
    Committee on Emergency Situations updated the list of countries and territories
    by COVID-19 incidence rates. Germany, Greece, Hungary, Bulgaria and the UK are now red-list countries,
    while France, Portugal, Monaco, Chile, Lebanon and Guyana were included in the
    medium-risk category. The updated list comes into force on November 21, at
    midnight.


    TENNIS The Romanian tennis player Horia Tecău announced on
    Thursday the end of his professional career at the age of 36. He has won 38
    doubles tournaments, including the Wimbledon and the US Open, together with
    Jean-Julien Rojer (Netherlands), and played another 24 finals. He also won the
    silver in the Rio Olympics in 2016, teaming up with Florin Mergea (Romania), and
    a mixed doubles final at the Australian Open, with Bethanie Mattek-Sands (US).
    Horia Tecău’s last match will be for the Romanian team in the Davis Cup match
    against Peru, at the end of November. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • Romanian soldiers in foreign theaters of operations

    Romanian soldiers in foreign theaters of operations

    The Romanian soldiers in Afghanistan are coming back home. The head of state, Klaus Iohannis has sent a letter to the Romanian Parliament informing it about the end of the Romanian Army’s participation in the NATO Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan and the redeployment in the country, starting with May 1, of the Romanian military contingent, at the end of their mission, according to the timetable agreed with the allies and strategic partners. The Doha peace agreement, signed in February last year between the US government and the Taliban movement, paved the way for the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and, implicitly, the end of the mission, according to the letter signed by the head of state.

    Klaus Iohannis says in the letter that, following the US’s announcement of the intention to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan, starting May 1, made at the NATO foreign and defense ministers’ meeting held in April this year, the North Atlantic Council decided to begin the withdrawal of NATO troops, to be completed by September 11. The Resolute Support mission was launched on January 1, 2015, as a continuation of the international Security Force Assistance (ISAF) mission, the main objective being to train and advise the Afghan security forces.

    Romania has participated with troops in Afghanistan since 2002, when a Romanian infantry battalion was deployed on a combat mission outside the national territory, in a theater of operations, for the first time since WWII. Last week, the first 70 Romanian soldiers arrived in the country. The plan to withdraw the 600 soldiers is coordinated together with the commanders from the theater of operations, for the process to take place in conditions of maximum safety. Since 2002, over 32,000 Romanian Army soldiers have participated in the mission in this country, in rotations of six months each. During this time, the Romanian air force has ensured, in two different missions, the command of the international airport in Kabul.

    In the 19 years of participation with military structures in this theater of operations, 27 soldiers have lost their lives and over 200 have been injured, according to the Ministry of Defense. In another move, President Klaus Iohannis has informed Parliament about the participation of the Romanian Army with troops, means and equipment in the extended NATO mission in Iraq, in the second half of this year. Against the background of the declining US presence in Iraq and Baghdad’s interest in strengthening its partnership with NATO, the North Atlantic Council has approved an increase in NATO’s expanded mission in Iraq to some 4,400 troops, the Romanian head of state’s letter also reads.(MI)

  • August 5, 2017

    August 5, 2017

    HEAT WAVE – A quarter of Romanias territory has been placed under code red alert for extreme heat until Saturday night; in 12 counties in western Romania temperatures are expected to soar to 42 degrees Celsius. This is the second code red alert issued this summer, after the one in early July. The rest of the country remains under a code orange alert with temperatures of 39 degrees Celsius. The code red alert will stay in place on Sunday in 2 counties in the south-west, and nearly 3-quarters of the country will remain under a code orange warning. The thermal discomfort index went over 80 and could reach 82-84 units. Over the past two days 2 people died and hundreds required assistance because of the extreme heat. First-aid tents have been set up in all major cities to provide fresh cold water to people. Mobile ambulance and medical services have been placed on high alert and speed restrictions are in place on the national railway network as well as on the countrys main roads with a view to avoiding accidents. The drought Romania is currently facing has severely damaged the corn and sunflower crops. Weather experts say that the heat wave will last until mid-next week, but only in the south, while atmospheric instability will increase, particularly in the mountains and in the north of the country.




    ALERT – Extreme temperatures are also reported across Europe this weekend. Code red alerts are in place in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Hungary, in most of Slovenia, south of Poland, south of Slovakia, south of Switzerland, in central and south-eastern Italy as well as in the islands of Sicily and Sardinia. High wildfire risks are reported in Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Albania, Hungary, Serbia, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus and Turkey. The Foreign Ministry recommends that areas under alert should be avoided, and says that Romanian diplomatic missions abroad are prepared to provide assistance to those who request it.



    SAXONS – The city of Sibiu in central Romania is hosting, until Sunday, the 27th and largest so far meeting of Transylvanian Saxon ethnics, under the motto “Home around the world, heart in Transylvania. Taking part are around 12,000 Saxon ethnics, most of them living at present in Germany, Austria and the USA. More than 50 events will take place in the medieval squares of Sibiu, from exhibitions and book launches to music and dance performances. The most eagerly awaited of them is a parade of Saxon traditional costumes, an event scheduled for today and in which the President of Romania Klaus Iohannis, himself a German ethnic, is expected to take part. The head of state said this years meeting is an opportunity for the younger generation of Saxons living in Germany to get to know and like more their parents home country. The Saxon ethnics settled in Transylvania starting in the mid-12th Century.



    HEROES Romania continues to commemorate today its WWI heroes through a series of ceremonies held all over the country. The peak of these events organised by the National Defence Ministry and the Vrancea County Council will be on Sunday, when the country marks 100 years since the Battle of Marasesti, a watershed moment for Romania in the Great War. Regarded as one of the most impressive monuments in the country, the Mausoleum in Marasesti was built in the place where, in the summer of 1917, the Romanian soldiers stood their ground against a technically superior and better-trained German army, losing 480 officers and over 21,000 troops.



    CLIMATE – The USA notified the UN on the intention to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change, but will continue to take part in international negotiations, the American State Department announced. Washington will take part in the forthcoming annual UN conference on climate, due in November in Bonn, Germany. On June 1, the US President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of the country from this agreement aimed at containing global warming and signed in 2015 by 195 states. Trump says the deal damages the American economy, but he does not rule out the US rejoining the process after renegotiations or even the signing of a new agreement able to protect the US. Under the Agreement, an official withdrawal notification can only take effect 3 years after the agreement has come into force, that is on November 4, 2016. Donald Trump will therefore be able to renounce the deal only at the end of 2019, with a one-year notice, AFP reports.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)