September 5, 2023 UPDATE

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Newsroom, 05.09.2023, 20:00

VICTIM Another patient severely
injured in the blasts in Crevedia (southern Romania) died on Tuesday morning,
bringing the number of casualties to 5, the Health Ministry announced. The
victim was of Nepalese origin and had burns on more than 90% of his body. The
powerful explosions followed by a fire took place, 10 days ago, at an LPG
station in Crevedia, south of Bucharest, which was operating illegally.

NATO Together with our Allies, we will continue to
strengthen the NATO structures on Romanian territory, president Klaus Iohannis
said on Tuesday. He added that Romania will continue to support Russia-invaded
Ukraine as long as necessary. Iohannis received the PM of Luxembourg Xavier
Bettel at the military base in Cincu, central Romania, and addressed the NATO
Battle Group in Romania, which comprises around 1,000 French, Dutch, Belgian
and Luxemburgish troops and is spearheaded by France.

WIND POWER On Tuesday, Romania had over 40% of its electricity
demand covered from wind power sources, as the National Meteorology
Administration issued a code yellow alert for strong winds in the south and south-east,
where most of the country’s wind farms are located. According to the National
Energy Regulatory Authority, wind farms have a total installed capacity of over
3,000 MW, and most turbines were in operation on Tuesday. The second most important
electricity source is nuclear power, followed by hydro power and coal.

EPP The leaders of the
European People’s Party (EPP), the largest group in the European Parliament,
have decided that the National Liberal Party, a member of the ruling coalition
in Romania, will host the EPP congress ahead of the European elections in 2024. Attending
the event in Bucharest will be over 2,000 delegates from over 40 countries, including
all the heads of state and government from EPP member parties, the EC president,
Ursula von der Leyen, the European Parliament president, Roberta Metsola, and
all the European commissioners affiliated to the EPP.

FOOTBALL Romania’s national football team is preparing the home matches
against Israel, scheduled on Saturday, September 9, and Kosovo, on Tuesday,
September 12, in Group I of the qualifiers for next year’s European
Championships hosted by Germany. After 4 group matches, with 2 wins and 2
draws, Romania has 8 points and ranks 2, after Switzerland (10 points). The
group also includes Belarus and Andorra. The top 2 teams in each group qualify
for the final tournament. Romania’s last participation in a European football
championship was in 2016, and it last qualified in a World Championship final
tournament in 1998. (AMP)