PLANES Three F-16 jet fighters Romania bought from Norway landed at the Air Base 71 in Campia Turzii, central Romania on Friday. This has been the second batch of these multi-role fighters Romania bought from Norway; the first batch arrived in November, last year. According to the National Defence Ministry, the 32 F-16s Romania is going to receive by the end of next year are meant to consolidate the country’s air defence adjusted to the regional security challenges. They are going to play a major role in keeping an allied posture of defence and deterrence on the eastern flank and will ensure transition towards the fifth generation, the F-35 planes Romania is going to get, as minister Angel Tilvar says. The Romanian air forces now boast 20 F-16 jet fighters.
RATING In the past year agencies have reconfirmed Romania’s sovereign rating and stable prospect, but there is room for improvement, such as the lower-cost access to funding on international capital markets and for attracting foreign investment – the country’s Finance Minister Marcel Bolos says in a Facebook post. During a working visit he paid to Washington, the Romanian official held talks with representatives of famous rating agencies, such as Standard&Poor’s and Moody’s on Romania’s economic particularities and the strategies aimed at ensuring macro-economic stability. Bolos also attended the spring proceedings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. According to Bolos, in order to raise economic competitiveness and create an appropriate environment for durable investment, Bucharest is focusing on fiscal consolidation, on raising investment in infrastructure and education, on boosting private investment and the promotion of an effective and transparent economic governance.
HOLIDAY The Romanian Black Sea resorts are stepping up preparations for the upcoming mini-holiday on May 1st and the Orthodox Easter, to be celebrated on May 5th and which actually opens the summer holiday season in Romania. Owners of hotels, restaurants and guest houses in the region are expecting a large number of tourists as many rooms have already been booked. According to Corina Martin, secretary general of the Federation of Employers’ Associations, over 80 thousand people are expected to spend the mini-holiday in the aforementioned seaside resorts. The largest number of tourists is expected in the resort of Mamaia. Between May 1st and 7th the resort will be hosting the International Electronic Music Festival, Sunwaves, which is expected to bring together roughly 6 thousand tourists from abroad, a gastronomic festival and outdoor concerts given by Romania’s top artists.
VISIT Over April 22 and 24, the Romanian president Klaus Iohannis will be paying a formal visit to the Republic of Korea, upon the invitation of his counterpart Yoon Suk Yeol. The Republic of Korea is the first country in the Asia-Pacific area with which Romania raised its relations at the level of strategic partnership in 2008. On the occasion of Iohannis’ upcoming visit to Seoul, this partnership will be consolidated through a document, which sets the cooperation directions for the next 10 years. Relevant documents are expected to be signed in the field of defence, nuclear energy, investment and foreign trade, cooperation in emergency situations and disaster management, cooperation in the field of culture, mass-media, youth and sports. In the Republic of Korea, the Romanian president will be meeting representatives of the Romanian community and business environment and will be visiting an exhibition of Romanian traditional art.
SPORTS According to the Facebook page of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee, Romanian athlete Bianca Ghelber managed to clear the Olympic qualification threshold in the hammer throw event in Nairobi, Kenya. Ghelber’s third throw measured 74.06 m, 6 centimeters over the threshold imposed by the World Athletics. She ended the contest on the second position after Janee Kassanavoid of the USA, which threw 75.99 meters. For Bianca Ghelber, that would be the fourth participation in the Olympic Games, after Beijing 2008, London 2012, and Tokyo 2020. Team Romania now boasts 79 qualified athletes in ten sporting contests, athletics, swimming, boxing, kayak-canoe, rowing, gymnastics, water polo, table tennis, wrestling. Weightlifters Mihaela Cambei and Loredana Toma have also qualified, but are still to be officially recognized.
ROAD A 2.2 kilometer section of modernized motorway was opened in Galati, a Romanian port on the Danube, on Saturday. The new section will ease the access to Europe of transporters from Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova. The section is part of a complex 140 million euro project, which also includes a goods terminal in the port of Galati, the only Romanian one along the Rhine-Danube corridor benefitting from a double-gauge rail infrastructure. The other investment stages are scheduled to unfold by the end of next year.
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