November 26, 2017
Romania buys Patriot missiles from the US, Romanias General Consulate inaugurated in Bari
Newsroom, 26.11.2017, 14:17
Patriot missiles – Romania will buy 7 Patriot missile systems from the US, with the sale contract being signed on Wednesday, said the Romanian defense minister Mihai Fifor. He also pointed out that the first Patriot missile system would reach Romania in the second half of 2019, with the system being fully operational in 2020. Minister Fifor underscored that by allotting 2% of the GDP to the defense sector in 2017, of which 48% goes to army endowment, Romania showed that it committed with the pledges made as a NATO member and also as a strategic partner of the US. The defense minister hopes that the participants in Wednesday’s government meeting will also approve the program for Piranha 8×8 armored vehicles. The first 30 such transporters will also be purchased from the US. The rest of them, starting with no. 31, will be produced at the Mechanical Factory in Bucharest.
Bari — The Romanian Foreign Minister, Teodor Melescanu, participated on Sunday in the inauguration of Romania’s General Consulate in Bari. He said that the opening of this consulate meets the legitimate expectations of the Romanian community in Italy and is among the concerns of the Romanian Foreign Ministry to consolidate the Romanian state’s presence, at consular level, in areas with a numerous Romanian population. According to a Foreign Ministry communiqué, the official inauguration of the Romanian General Consulate in Bari is the start of the first stage of the process of expanding the consular network, a process that includes the inauguration in 2018 of Romania’s General consulates in Manchester, Stuttgart, Miami and Salzburg, following the finalization of logistic procedures.
Terrorist attack — The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis conveyed a message of condolence to his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, following the terrorist attack perpetrated on a mosque in the north of the Sinai peninsula. The attack killed more than 300 people. Klaus Iohannis condemned the bloody attack of November 24, when the terrorists opened fire on the people who had come to the mosque for Friday’s prayer. According to a communiqué of the presidential administration, Romania considers unacceptable such acts of extreme violence that have no justification and reiterates its firm commitment to fighting extremism and terrorism at international level. General consulates in Manchester, Stuttgart, Miami and Salzburg, following the finalization of logistic procedures.
Gaudeamus Book Fair — The Gaudemaus International Book Fair, organized by Radio Romania in Bucharest is coming to an end on Sunday after 5 days of hundreds of book launches, debates, seminars and exhibitions. Sunday will see the awards gala of the fair’s 24th edition. For the first time in its history, the Gaudeamus Fair’s honorary guest was the European Union, not just a single state, through the European Commission Representation in Romania. This edition of the fair marks 60 years since the signing of the Rome Treaties, 30 years since the launch of the Erasmus program and 10 years since Romania’s EU accession. art, Miami and Salzburg, following the finalization of logistic procedures.
Handball — Romania’s national women’s handball team is today taking on Brazil’s national team as part of the Carpati Trophy, an event held in Craiova, in the south, which precedes the World Championship. On Saturday the Romanian handballers defeated Macedonia 31-18. At the World Championship to start on December 1 in Germany, Romania will play in Group A alongside France, Spain, Slovenia, Angola and Paraguay. At the previous Championship in 2015 Romania won the bronze medal, being the only team that participated in all the 22 editions of the World Championship organized so far. (translation by L. Simion)
