September 11, 2023
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 11.09.2023, 13:55
School — The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis announced that the issue of drug consumption among young people will be included on the agenda of the next meeting of the country’s Supreme Council of National Defense. Attending today the opening of the new pre-university year at a school in Bucharest, he has emphasized that this phenomenon represents a serious challenge to national security. Klaus Iohannis has also said that he continues to support the increase in teachers salaries as of January 1, 2024. He has given assurances that he remains firm and will support all measures to make the commitments made by the Government this summer come true. The new school year started, today, in Romania, for approximately 3 million pupils and preschoolers. It will have 36 weeks of courses, and it is organized in five modules, just like the previous one. “The Green Week” and “Doing School Differently” will take place between September 11, 2023 – April 26, 2024 and can be set by schools in any of modules 1, 2, 3 or 4, in intervals of 5 consecutive working days. The school year will end on June 21, 2024. The pupils entering the 5th grade will be the first to take an additional high school entrance exam in the summer of 2027.
Drone — The Romanian Defense Ministry announced that the presence of drone fragments in a different area than those investigated previously was not confirmed. The armed forces remain on alert and will continue investigations in the areas of the national territory located in the vicinity of the areas where the Russians are carrying out attacks on the Ukrainian port infrastructure on the Danube, the Defense Ministry announced on Sunday. According to the quoted source, in the last 48 hours, forces and equipment of the Naval Forces, the Land Forces and other structures acted with research teams in the field and with aerial surveillance devices on an area of more than 80 square kilometers in three localities of Tulcea and Galati counties, on the Romanian bank of the Danube, near the port of Reni in Ukraine. On the other hand, the Defense Ministry strongly condemns the attacks carried out by the Russian Federation against some objectives and elements of civil infrastructure in the Ukrainian ports on the Danube. These attacks are unjustified and in serious violation of the rules of international humanitarian law, being war crimes, the Defense Ministry emphasizes. Previously, the chargé daffaires of the Russian Federation Embassy in Bucharest was urgently summoned to the Foreign Ministry where he was informed that Romania protests the violation of Romanias airspace. NATO, through Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, expressed its solidarity with Romania. The official stated that there are no indications of Russia’s intention to attack NATO, but that the attacks are destabilizing.
Volleyball — Today, the Romanian national team faces France, the defending Olympic champion, in the quarter-finals of the European Mens Volleyball Championship. The Romanians reached this stage after a dramatic victory over Croatia. Romania also met France in the groups stage, managing to defeat it surprisingly, score 3-1. The national volleyball team has not been among the top eight teams of the continent for 40 years, after finishing on 8th place in 1983. The European Championship takes place in Israel, Italy, Bulgaria and North Macedonia. The record of the Romanian players includes a European title, two silver and two bronze medals.
Exercise — The Romanian and US Naval Forces are jointly organizing, as of Monday until Friday, September 15, a multinational exercise called Sea Breeze. It will take place in the area of responsibility of the Romanian Naval Forces in the Black Sea and the Danube Delta and aims to develop teamwork between the participating countries in the field of combating explosive devices, especially sea mines, so that navigation can take place freely. Soldiers from Bulgaria, Turkey, Ukraine, France and the UK are also taking part in the exercise.
Rowing – Romania won five medals, of which two gold, at the World Rowing Championships in Belgrade, and finished the competition on fourth place in the overall ranking. The gold was won by the womens double scull team and the women’s eight plus one. The Romanian rowers won one silver and two bronze medals. Also, 11 of the 13 Romanian crews that participated in the world championships in Serbia qualified for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Earthquake – Rescue teams from Morocco, supported by colleagues abroad, continue to race against time to find survivors and provide aid to hundreds of people left homeless after Friday nights earthquake, which killed more than 2,100 people and wounded more than 2,400, according to the most recent official toll. Four countries received favorable answers to their aid offers: Great Britain, Spain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The Romanian Foreign Ministry announced that, from the information it has, there are no Romanians among the victims of the earthquake in Morocco. (LS)
