February 11, 2023

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 11.02.2023, 13:50

QUAKE – The
death toll following the powerful earthquakes that hit large areas at the
Turkish-Syrian border has exceeded 24 thousand on Saturday. Searches for survivors
continue but chances to find any are slim. More than 20 thousand
people have died in Turkey and over 80 thousand have been injured. Some 5.4
million people have been left homeless following the tremors, according to
estimates by the UN. Around 141 thousand Turkish and foreign rescue workers are
at the site of the disaster, of whom more than 7 thousand are from 61 countries,
Romania included. According to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, 97 countries have
sent aid to the country. On the other hand, rescue teams in Syria have harshly criticized
the lack of support in certain areas affected by the quake, saying there are no
tents for the homeless and no equipment to remove the rubble. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has accused
the West of politicizing the situation in Syria and of ignoring the human
aspect. According to the Syrian Government, sending humanitarian assistance to
the country is prevented by the numerous international sanctions imposed on Damascus,
many of them in force for more than ten years.

VISIT – US President Joe Biden will travel to
Poland for a two-day visit that starts on February 20, to mark one year since Ukraine’s
invasion by Russia, France Presse reports. Biden will meet with his Polish
counterpart, Andrej Duda, to discuss bilateral cooperation and the collective
effort to support Ukraine and the consolidation of NATO’s deterrence capacity. The
American President will also meet with the Bucharest 9 group, created in 2015
by the Romanian and Polish heads of state, that also includes Bulgaria, the Baltic
states, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

BRUSSELS – European leaders have decided at
the end of the week in Brussels, at the first European Council meeting this
year, to firmly combat illegal migration by strengthening infrastructure at EU’s
external borders. European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, has
announced, on that occasion, the drawing up of pilot projects to run on
European and national funds. Romanian president Klaus Iohannis has said
migration in an issue that requires joint European response and has pointed out
that, although Romania is not on any migration route, the country wants to
contribute to securing the external border and combat illegal migration. In
order to disseminate good practices in the field in terms of border protection
and prevention of illegal migration Iohannis said Romania is willing to work
jointly with the European Commission on a pilot project. The issue of migration
has dominated the meeting’s agenda, alongside the war in Ukraine and economic
competitiveness.

EUROVISION – The national selection of the
best song to represent Romania at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 takes place
this evening in Bucharest. This year’s edition will be held in Liverpool, the
UK, which will host the contest on behalf of Ukraine, last year’s winner. Semi-finals
will be held on May 9 and 11 and the final on may 13. Romania’s representative
will perform in the second semi-final. Held each year since 1956, Eurovision
Song Contest is one of the longest and most watched TV programmes in the world,
broadcast in Europe but also in Australia, Asia and the US. Romania came out
third two times, in 2005 and 2010 and fourth once, in 2006, but has never won
the contest yet.

AWARDS – Radio Romania’s radio drama production
The Sixties by Ema Stere and adapted and directed by Mihnea Chelaru
is one of the three to be shortlisted for the BBC Radio Drama Awards in the
Best European Drama category. The winners will be announced on Sunday in
London. The Sixties explores the drama of the first generation of
young people separated from the free world at a time when the communist regime
was tightening its grip on power in Romania. The other two shortlisted
productions for Best European Drama are Czech Radio’s Burning by
Sudabeh Mohafez and Polskie Radio’s Let Me Tell You by Marta Rebzda. (EE)