December 24, 2022 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 24.12.2022, 20:00

ACCIDENT -
All patients injured in Friday’s accident in Bucharest are now stable and
conscious, with the single exception of a patient who is still in intensive
care. We recall one person died and another 20 were injured on Friday after a
coach carrying Greek tourists crashed into a height restriction barrier at the
entrance of a tunnel. All passengers had come to Romania on a Christmas
holiday.

MILITARY -
Romania’s Defense Minister, Angel Tîlvăr and chief of General Staff Daniel
Petrescu on Saturday spoke to the commanding officers of Romanian Army units
deployed in Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Kosovo and Poland. COs briefed
Minister Tîlvăr regarding the security developments in the area of operation
and progress in accomplishing their mission. The two officials thanked the
nearly 500 Romanian servicemen engaged in theatres of operation for the way
they accomplished their missions and for collaborating with peers from allied
and partner states.

VISIT -
Chamber of Deputies Speaker, Marcel Ciolacu, and Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă
ended their three-day visit to South Korea with a round table with South-Korean
businessmen. Talks with the multinational giant Samsung focused on developing
projects in a plethora of fields, such as nuclear energy, semi-conductors and
electronics, IT and communications, as well as national transport
infrastructure. Marcel Ciolacu and Nicolae Ciucă said Romania wants
South-Korean business people to invest in Romania in such fields as green
energy and digital technologies. On Friday, the two Romanian officials also
visited the demilitarized zone separating South Korea from North Korea. Romania
supports, alongside South Korea, the prospect of achieving long-lasting peace,
the two officials said. During their meeting with the president of the National
Assembly, Kim Jin-pyo and with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, the Romanian
officials also tackled topics related to the development of Romania’s defense
industry and exchanged views regarding ways of coping with the effects of
Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, as well as NATO-South Korea cooperation at all
levels.

BLACK SEA -
For the first time, the US administration will devise a working strategy with
its Allies devoted to the Black Sea region, the US Congress has decided. The
law stipulating this provision has been submitted for ratification, a press
release issued by the Romanian Embassy in the USA reads. US Congress adopted
the Omnibus Law on budget allocations for the 2023 fiscal year. One of its
provisions requires the Secretary of State and the heads of the relevant
federal agencies to present before Congress within six months of the law being
ratified, a working strategy with NATO allies in the Black Sea region, designed
to further economic relations, consolidate economic and security assistance to
states in the region, as well as to support efforts to boost democratic
resilience. A US strategy for the Black Sea region will be a substantial move
Romania will firmly back. The USA consolidating its foreign policy with respect
to the Black Sea region is a welcome decision designed to increase the USA’s
commitment for this region, in such strategic fields as defense, economy,
democratic resilience, a direction Romania has constantly supported.

SCHOLARSHIPS – The
Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has launched its annual scholarship
program, addressing foreign citizens from non-EU states. Applications for the
academic year 2023-2024 can now be submitted by accessing the online
platform, or by accessing the website of the Study in Romania program run by the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, or the ministry’s website.
The deadline for applications is March 1, 2023. The Romanian MFA will announce
the results by July 15, 2023.

CHRISTMAS – Christians in Romania on Saturday made their last preparations before the
Nativity of Jesus, celebrated on December 25. On Christmas Eve, children in
various areas of the country went caroling. The Nativity of Jesus is the day
when earth and heaven are one, Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox Church
said in his Christmas address. The Patriarch told Christians to pray also for
Romanians living abroad, for those in the borderlands and in the Romanian
Diaspora, in order to preserve the unity of faith and national identity.
Despite all hardships, Christians have discovered solace and hope in Messiah,
following the true light, Roman-Catholic Archbishop Aurel Percă also said in
his Christmas sermon, urging Christians to come closer to the Church, so that
God’s love should make our world better, bringing hope, peace and joy. In turn,
Eastern-Catholic Archbishop Lucian urged faithful to pray for peace in our
families and peace in crisis-ravaged Europe and peace to nations at war and the
whole world. (VP)