Romanian
\naviation is ready to successfully deal with the challenges pertaining to
\nRomania’s status as a member of NATO and the EU, and the results obtained so
\nfar have been unanimously appreciated and acknowledged, reads a message
\nconveyed by president Klaus Iohannis on Romanian Aviation and Air Forces’ Day.
\nThe Romanian head of state also stressed the Air Force’s special contribution,
\nwhich has had the necessary capability to manage the Romanian troops in the
\ntheatre of operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Western Balkans. Several
\nevents and ceremonies have been organized these days to mark Aviation Day,
\nwhich is celebrated every year on Saint Elijah’s day, on July 20th. On Sunday,
\nseveral Romanian officials laid wreaths in memory of military and civilian hero
\naviators, and 21 planes flew above the capital. Also in Bucharest, Sunday was
\nthe Open Gates Day at the National Museum of Romanian Aviation. Defense
\nMinister Mircea Dusa watched demonstrative flights, with both military and
\ncivilian planes, at the air base in Campia Turzii, in Cluj county, central
\nRomania, which, starting next year, will host the first squadron of F16 fighter
\nplanes, after the NATO model.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
A Romanian
\ninfantry brigade team is participating in the neighboring Republic of Moldova,
\nat the training center in Balti, in the multi-national exercise ‘JOINT EFFORT
\n2015′. Some 800 soldiers from Georgia, Poland, the Republic of Moldova, Romania
\nand the US are taking part in this exercises, aimed at increasing the
\nparticipants’ level of interoperability,
\nplanning and joint action. Also, 70 members of the Romanian Ground Forces are
\nparticipating in a multinational exercise in Ukraine. Some 1 thousand 800
\nsoldiers from 18 countries members of NATO and of the Partnership for Peace are
\ntraining for defensive and peace keeping operations. In another development,
\nthe Sea Shield multi-national exercise is due to start in the Black Sea on
\nMonday, organized by the Romanian Naval Forces and focusing on fighting
\ntechniques deployed against submarines. Participating will be 2000 soldiers
\nfrom 7 NATO countries – Bulgaria, Greece, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania,
\nthe US, Turkey – and also Ukraine.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
On
\nMonday and Tuesday, the Romanian Defense Minister Mircea Dusa will pay a visit
\nto Portugal. According to the Defense Ministry, the program of the first day
\nincludes several activities at the Ground Forces Command unit in Porto and at
\nthe research and development excellence centers. On Tuesday, at the Air Base in
\nMonte Real, Dusa will hold talks with his Portuguese counterpart Jose Pedro
\nAguiar-Branco. The Romanian official will also meet with Romanian military
\nstaff who are currently training to fly F-16 Fighting Falcon planes.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
On Monday, the Romanian Foreign Minister
\nBogdan Aurescu will attend in Brussels the summit of the EU foreign ministers.
\nAccording to the Romanian Foreign Ministry, the main topics on the meeting’s
\nagenda are the Iranian nuclear issue, the political situation in Libya and
\nTunis and the role of the EU in the Middle East Peace Process. The ministers
\nwill also discuss the stage of implementation of the EU’s Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy
\nfor the 2015 – 2019 period.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The Minister
\nDelegate for Relations with Romanians Abroad, Angel Tilvar, who paid a 4-day
\nformal visit to Austria, on Sunday went to the Romanian church in Vienna. He
\nstressed the importance of such religious establishments in preserving Romanian
\nidentity. Tilvar announced that the Department for Relations with Romanians
\nAbroad would increase the church’s book library. On Saturday, the Romanian
\nofficial laid a wreath at the Romanian Heroes’ Cemetery in Vienna. The program
\nof his visit also included meetings with representatives of the Romanian
\ncommunities in Austria and with local and central government officials.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Over 500,000 people have so far visited
\nRomania’s pavilion at Expo Milano 2015, in three months since its opening. The
\ngeneral commissioner of the pavilion, Georgian Ghervasie, has told Radio
\nRomania that the main attraction is the traditional house from the Danube
\nDelta, made of wood and covered in reed. The core theme of the world exhibition
\nin Milan is Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life and has brought together 140
\ncountries. It will stay open until October 31st. Romania’s day at the
\nexhibition will be celebrated on July 29th, which the National Anthem’s Day. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Banks in Greece
\nwill resume activity on Monday, after three weeks of shut-down. According to
\nthe Radio Romania correspondent, the 60 Euro per day withdrawal cap stays
\nvalid, and transfers abroad are still banned, except for some limited amounts
\nfor students and people on medical treatment.
\nGreece has got from the EU 7
\nbillion Euro worth of emergency funding, and now negotiations are due to start
\non the third aid program, worth 86 billion Euros. In exchange for this money,
\nGreece has accepted major reforms in the pensions system, a higher VAT and a
\ntighter control of public expenditure. Starting Monday, Greece will have to
\nreimburse the European Central Banks over 4 billion Euros. The tax increase
\napproved by Parliament comes into force also on Monday.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
On Sunday, the US Defense Secretary, Ashton Carter started
\na tour of the Middle East, aimed at dissipating fear triggered by the recent
\naccord that the big powers have concluded with Iran. The Prime Minister of
\nIsrael, which is the tour’s first leg, has termed the document as a historic
\nmistake, as, in his opinion, Iran will eventually get nuclear weapons and will
\nkeep funding terrorism with the money obtained once international sanctions are
\nlifted. According to analysts quoted by the Radio Romania correspondent, now
\nIsrael needs sophisticated equipment to be able to maintain its military
\nsupremacy in the region.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The
\nRomanian women’s epee team, made up of Ana Maria Branza, Simona Gherman, Simona
\nPop and Loredana Dinu, won silver at the World Fencing Championships in Moscow,
\nafter it was defeated by China in the finals, 45 – 36. In the first round,
\nRomania defeated Turkey, then Switzerland, Hungary and Ukraine in the
\nsemifinals. Also, Romania has got one bronze medal in the men’s competition,
\nwon by Tiberiu Dolniceanu in the single saber event, and this secures Romania
\nits qualification for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.<\/p>\n
\n
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\n
\n
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\n
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\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A roundup of domestic and international news<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":100004,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-100350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n