October 25, 2018

Click here for a round-up of news from Romania

Bogdan Matei, 25.10.2018, 13:10

ARMY DAY — The Romanian Army Day is today celebrated by all garrisons in the country, in the countries where Bucharest has accredited military attaches and in all military bases and theatres of operations where Romanian military are dispatched. Also today, 633 Romanian military who fell in the line of duty in Stalingrad are reburied in the Romanian Memorial Cemetery in Rossoshka, in the Russian Federation. The earthy remains of 1,644 Romanian military who died in the line of duty in the toughest battle of the past century were entombed in this memorial cemetery, laid out in 2015. The Romanian Army Day is an important landmark, not only in the military traditions timetable, but also for the entire nation, Romanian defence minister, Mihai Fifor, has said. According to him, thanks to the ultimate sacrifice made by its heroes, Romania was among the independent states of Europe in the late 19th century, and the descendants of these brave people, made possible the creation of the Romanian unitary state, on December 1, 1918. Mihai Fifor has said the courage of those injured while on international missions or when carrying out actions across the country in the past two decades will never be forgotten.

PROSECUTOR GENERAL — The prosecutors section of the Superior Council of Magistracy has announced that it will hear Romania’s Prosecutor General, Augustin Lazar, on November 13, before expressing an opinion on the decision made by the justice minister Tudorel Toader, to initiate the procedure to remove Lazar from office. The opinion issued by the Superior Council of Magistracy is only a consultative one, as the Prosecutor General is nominated and sacked by the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis. Toader is accusing Lazar mostly of failing to comply with his legal duties. Lazar says however that observing constitutional principles and values has always been the underlying principle of all the decisions he has made.

NATO DRILLS — NATO is today carrying out in Norway the biggest military drills since the end of the Cold War. “Trident Juncture 18 will involve around 50,000 personnel from NATO Allies and partner countries, about 250 aircraft, 65 vessels and up to 10,000 vehicles. It takes place from Oct. 25 to Nov. 7 in central and eastern Norway, the surrounding areas of the North Atlantic and the Baltic Sea, including Iceland and the airspace of Finland and Sweden”, Reuters reports. NATO Secretary General, Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg, said the security climate has significantly deteriorated in Europe over the past few years. He said that Trident Juncture will send a clear message that NATO does not look for confrontation, but it is ready to defend all its allies from all threats. The spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, criticized in early October what she called the sound of arms.

BALLISTIC — The European countries which are hosting US missile systems will become Russia’s targets in the event of a war- Russian president Vladimir Putin has warned against the backdrop of the Trump Administration’s announcement to withdraw the US from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. The White House leader claims Russia has violated the Treaty. In response, the Putin Administration has repeatedly said that the ballistic systems placed by the US in Europe, including Romania, are violations of the agreement.

DST — Romania will revert to winter time on Saturday to Sunday night. Clocks will be shifted back, and 4.00 o’clock will become 3 o’clock, local time. Consequently October 28 will have 25 hours and will be the longest day of the year. The move is meant to balance the practice of setting the clocks forward 1 hour from standard time during the summer months, in order to make better use of natural daylight and reduce the consumption of electricity. The passenger division of the Romanian Railway Company, CFR Călători, has announced the train timetable will not be changed, following the clock shift. Considering that the shift is made simultaneously in all the neighboring countries on the same day, October 28, trains will be running according to the timetable between the border stations with the Republic of Moldova, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria and Ukraine.