February 8, 2023

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 08.02.2023, 13:54

QUAKE – The massive earthquakes
that hit Turkey and Syria on Monday killed over 9,500 people, according to
official reports made public today. In Turkey, the number of victims gets close
to 7,000, with tens of thousands of people injured. Turkish President Tayyip
Erdogan has declared a 3-month state of emergency in the 10 provinces hit by
the tremors. Around 70 countries have so
far offered to join search and rescue efforts in Turkey. Romania has already
sent to the area three aircraft with 60 staff, among whom search and rescue
workers, doctors and nurses and the necessary technique and, according to a
decision taken today by the Romanian Committee for Emergencies, a second rescue
team is to be sent to Turkey. Numerous Romanians have contacted their country’s
embassy in Ankara, signaling the difficult situation they are in, but very few
have also requested repatriation. On Tuesday evening, 13 Romanians were
transported to Bucharest on a humanitarian flight coordinated by the Defense
Ministry, after 8 Romanian citizens and 2 Poles had been repatriated on Monday.

PATRIOT – Romania has received a
second Patriot system, out of the total four, that were contracted for the
first stage of the country’s Air Force equipping programme. According to
defense minister Angel Tilvar, the four systems
represent the first stage in achieving a state-of-the-art ground-based air
defense capability, that defends against tactic ballistic missiles and cruise missiles,
which can be fully integrated into the NATO system. Patriot systems were first
delivered to Romania in 2020, and 2023 is the year when the first stage of the
equipping programme is fully completed, according to the Defense Ministry. The
Patriot system is one of the most advanced air protection systems of the
American military arsenal. It is a mobile system that unusually includes a powerful
radar, a control station, a power generator, launch stations and other support
vehicles.

SUMMIT – The European
Council on Thursday will hold a summit in Brussels to discuss the war in Ukraine, the EU economy and migration. A video-conference chaired by the
European Council President, Charles Michel, was held on Tuesday and was also
attended by Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, who said talks focused on the
support granted to Ukraine, consolidating the competitiveness of the EU economy
and implementing concrete measures of combating illegal migration. Although the
topic of the Schengen enlargement is not officially on the agenda, President
Iohannis could informally approach it in the plenary or during bilateral
meetings with his counterparts.

MOTION – The Romanian Chamber of Deputies is today voting on
the simple motion against the Liberal Interior Minister Lucian Bode, tabled by
USR and the Force of the Right, and which was debated in the plenary on Monday.
Its signatories accuse Bode of plagiarism and blame him for the country’s
failure to join the Schengen area. Minister Bode has dismissed the accusations,
saying the move is a political attack with electoral purposes. Ruling partners
PSD and UDMR have announced they do not support the motion, the second one
against Minister Bode after the motion in October, which did not pass.

HANDBALL – The Romanian men’s handball team Dinamo Bucharest, is
today playing away from home against Porto, in the Champions League’s group A.
The Romanians are 1st in the group and stand big chances to make it
to the final. Dinamo have had an exceptional season, with 11 points so far, 6
points ahead of PSG of France and Veszprem of Hungary and three points ahead of
Germany’s Magdeburg. Porto is last in the group, with 1 point. Only the first
two ranked in each group qualify directly to the quarterfinals, while teams
ranked 3rd to 6th will meet in the play-off in March, followed by the
quarterfinals in May and the Final Four Tournament in Koln on June 17 and 18. FC
Barcelona is the current trophy holder. (EE)