June 20, 2024
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Newsroom, 20.06.2024, 13:55
UKRAINE In Bucharest, the Supreme Defence Council convened today to analyse a possible transfer of a Patriot missile system to Ukraine’s armed forces, after the US president Joe Biden called on the NATO member states in Europe that own such systems to look into the possibility of donating some to Ukraine. Over a month ago in Washington president Klaus Iohannis said in a meeting with the US president at the White House that Bucharest would find a solution for a possible transfer, but emphasised at that point that it was unacceptable for Romania to be left without anti-aircraft defence. In the Council meeting today, the participants will also present Bucharest’s goals at the NATO Summit due in Washington next week, given that a deterrence posture is critical for Romania, and the country’s defence capacity must be complete. On the other hand, president Klaus Iohannis stated yesterday that after the discussion in the Council he would also make public his decision regarding his NATO leadership candidacy, after both Hungary and Slovakia had announced their support for Mark Rutte (Netherlands) as the next NATO secretary general.
DIPLOMACY The Romanian foreign minister Luminiţa Odobescu is on a 2-day official visit to the US as of today. She is scheduled to have political talks with the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and will also have meetings with National Security Council members. The Romanian diplomat will also take part in the opening of the Romania-US Economic Forum, where she will highight the development potential of the Romanian-US economic relations, including through cooperation in the energy sector and in the Ukraine reconstruction efforts. Organised in the context of the celebration of 20 years since Romania joined NATO, the visit is an opportunity to review the progress made in the bilateral relations, in the cooperation for strengthening Euro-Atlantic security, with a focus on the Black Sea region and on identifying means to consolidate the Romania-US Strategic Partnership.
MILITARY Romania takes over for 6 months the command of a NATO vessel group operating in the Mediterranean, which also includes military ships from Italy, Spain and Turkey, officials for the Romanian Naval Forces announced. The “Viceamiral Constantin Bălescu” minelayer, with a crew of 85 Romanian and foreign troops, leaves the Constanţa military port to the port of Salamis, in Greece, where the command transfer ceremony is scheduled on Friday. The Romanian Naval Forces mentioned that, with the participation in this mission, Romania helps meet the commitments regarding regional security and strengthen international cooperation in view of maintaining stability in the Mediterranean.
VISIT Romania and Italy will continue to work together and to cooperate with all Allies towards strengthening NATO’s role in preventing any wars, president Klaus Iohannis said after a meeting with his Italian counterpart Sergio Mattarella, who was on an official visit to Bucharest on Wednesday. Klaus Iohannis highlighted the foundations for the development of the bilateral relation and cooperation with Italy, including as part of European and Euro-Atlantic structures. In turn, Sergio Mattarella said he supported Romania’s full Schengen membership. As for the European dimension, the president of Italy emphasized that the EU enlargement was a major objective.
SWIMMING The Romanian swimmer David Popovici won the 100m freestyle race on Wednesday night at the European Aquatics Championships in Belgrade, with 46 sec 88/100. Popovici was only two hundredths of a second away from the European record he set in Rome in 2022. The world record (46 sec 80/100) was set in February by China’s Zhanle Pan. Second in the European competition came Nandor Nemeth (Hungary), 47 sec 49/100, followed by Serbia’s Andrej Barna, 47 sec 66/100. In the 2022 European Championships in Rome, David Popovici won Romania two gold medals, in the 100m and 200m freestyle races. (AMP)
