June 5, 2024 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 05.06.2024, 20:00

DEFENSE – A Finnish detachment, with approximately 80 military personnel – pilots and technical-engineering personnel – and seven F-18 Hornet aircraft, have arrived in Romania, where they will perform Enhanced Air Policing missions for two months, under NATO command. According to the Defense Ministry, the Finnish soldiers will collaborate with soldiers of the Romanian Air Force and of Britain’s Royal Air Force. The seven F/A-18 Hornet aircraft of the Finnish Air Force landed at the 57th Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base (south-eastern Romania). The air police missions have the role of defending and ensuring the integrity of Romania’s airspace and contribute to the development of reaction and deterrence capacity, as well as to the consolidation of interoperability between all the allied forces participating in the mission.

ELECTIONS – 19 million Romanian voters are casting their ballots on Sunday in the local and European parliamentary elections. Almost 19,000 polling stations will be open in Romania, and 915 abroad, which is almost double compared with five years ago. Most of the latter are in Italy, Spain and Great Britain, which are home to large Romanian communities. All Romanian citizens who have the right to vote and who reside or are temporarily abroad on election day can vote at any polling station abroad provided they can produce a valid Romanian ID card. The first polling station to open will be in New Zealand, at 10 pm Romania time on Saturday evening, with voting to end on Monday morning when the last voting stations will close on the west coast of the United States and Canada, in Vancouver. According to the Permanent Electoral Authority, almost 208,000 persons are running in the local and European parliamentary elections. This year, Romania will also see presidential elections in September and legislative elections in December.

PRESIDENCY – The Romanian President, Klaus Iohannis, received, on Wednesday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Elmedin Konakovic, who was on an official visit to Bucharest. According to the Presidential Administration, Klaus Iohannis hailed the appreciation enjoyed by the Romanian soldiers participating in the European Union’s EUFOR ALTHEA Operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania being one of the main contributors to ensuring a safe and stable climate in the Western Balkans. The head of state reconfirmed the constant support that Bucharest gives for the European and Euro-Atlantic course of the Western Balkans, as well as for ensuring the security and stability of the region.

AIRPORT – The “Avram Iancu” International Airport in Cluj-Napoca, in north-western Romania, has a new terminal that meets the Schengen standards. It has an area of ​​7,200 square meters and was built in one year alone. The terminal increased the processing capacity of the Cluj airport from 3 million to 4.5 million passengers per year. The airport administrators say that in total they implemented 14 projects with European funding, with a total value of 578 million lei (about 116 million euros). They stated that they have a strategy aimed at developing the airport so that in the next 10 years it reaches the threshold of 7 million passengers per year.

SUPPORT – The Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luminiţa Odobescu, discussed, on Wednesday, in Bucharest, with her Albanian counterpart, Igli Hasani, about supporting the European path of Albania. Odobescu emphasized Romania’s readiness to exchange expertise in this field. At the same time, she mentioned the launch of direct Bucharest-Tirana flights. She also highlighted “the importance that Romania attaches to the ethnic, cultural and linguistic identity of the Aromanian national minority in Albania”. In turn, Igli Hasani said that “Romania and Albania are NATO members and partners on the path to European integration”.

CHILDREN –  More than 17,700 cases of abuse against children were recorded last year in Romania, the Save the Children Organisation said in a statement. Most of them were cases of neglect, but there were also many cases of physical abuse, exploitation, emotional and sexual abuse. The number of girls who are victims of abuse is higher than that of boys, even ten times higher in the case of sexual abuse. Save the Children warns that minors who are victims of or witnesses to domestic violence are at higher risk that their psychological and emotional development is affected.

(EE)