September 6, 2023 UPDATE

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Newsroom, 06.09.2023, 19:57

Drone — Romania’s President, Klaus Iohannis, said that he was informed “in real time” by the Defense Ministry about the discovery on Romanian territory of some components that appear to be of a drone. At the opening of the Summit of the Three Seas Initiative, which is taking place in Bucharest, Iohannis said that he requested an urgent and professional investigation of the origin of these components, as well as the moment and circumstances in which they arrived on Romanian territory. If it is confirmed that these elements belong to a Russian drone, the Romanian president said, then the situation is “unacceptable” and is “a serious violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Romania, a NATO ally state”. He showed that the Romanian authorities are in permanent contact with the other NATO allies and emphasized that Romania benefits from extremely strong security guarantees, the strongest in its entire history. Previously, the Romanian Defense Minister, Angel Tîlvăr, stated that in Tulcea county (south-east) fragments were found of a piece of equipment “that could be assimilated to a drone”. The elements in question were identified near the village of Plauru, at a distance of 70-80 meters from the Danube, in an area very difficult to access, with abundant vegetation.

Summit — The Summit of the Three Seas Initiative, a political platform of the member countries of the European Union from Central and Eastern Europe, started in Bucharest. At this 8th edition, Greece will become the 13th participating country, while Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, neighbors of Romania, will receive the status of associated states. In the opening of the proceedings, when the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski also spoke via video conference, the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said that granting the status of an associated participating state to the Three Seas Initiative will allow Ukraine to get involved in all the tools of the organization, respectively to access investments for strategic interconnection projects. The Romanian president believes that, in this way, “Ukraine will be closer to the EU and will prepare better for reconstruction and recovery”. Currently, the Three Seas Initiative includes 12 member states of the European Union between the Baltic, Adriatic and Black Seas. The organization also benefits from the support of the United States, whose delegation in Bucharest is led by the White House special envoy for climate, former Secretary of State John Kerry.

Schools – With school starting in Romania on 11th September, the authorities are planning tougher measures to prevent trafficking in and consumption of psychoactive substances among pupils. They also aim to crack down on bullying and reduce the risk of pupils exposure to crime, especially violence. These are some of the most important elements of a national safety plan signed on Tuesday by a number of cabinet ministers. Referring to the controversial issue of pupils drug testing, education minister Ligia Deca said a system would be devised to provide and finance such tests in the event of reasonable suspicion, but only with parental approval and avoiding the stigmatization of children.

IT – Romanians have been waiting for modern and efficient public services for a long time, and the digital reform is the most important component of the administrative reform that the Romanian Government intends to undertake, the Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said on Wednesday during the meeting with the representatives of the Apple, Amazon and IBM companies. The three American giants in the technology industry will participate in the Business Forum organized on Thursday, on the sidelines of the Summit of the Three Seas Initiative. Besides the digitization of the administrative system, the discussions also focused on the development of research and innovation projects in fields such as artificial intelligence, data analysis and cyber security. Present at the meeting, the Romanian Minister of Research, Bogdan Ivan, said that the future collaborations with the three companies will make a real difference in the daily life of Romanians, allowing the development of the IT sector in Romania and bringing the citizen to one click away from the public administration. (LS)