PROTESTS <\/b>– The head prosecutor with the Military Prosecutor’s
\nOffice in Bucharest, Ionel Corbu, said that the gendarmes’ intervention during
\nFriday’s anti-Government protest was by no means justified, as long as there
\nwere several alternatives to quell the violent protesters. Ionel Corbu said the
\nMilitary Prosecutor’s Office has received from the Romanian Gendarmes Service
\npart of the documents it has requested, namely the action plan, the
\nintervention plan and the operation log, adding however that no documents were
\nreceived regarding the amount of tear gas used in the protests. The Bucharest
\nGendarme service said the tear gas used by the riot police was purchased from
\nlicensed manufacturers and that it is currently being used all over Europe. Military
\nprosecutors continue to investigate the forceful intervention of the riot
\npolice on August 10 and are now looking into possible charges of abuse of
\noffice and actionable negligence. So far 200 people have filed criminal complaints.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
FEAST DAY<\/b> – Orthodox and Eastern Catholic
\nChristians in Romania on Wednesday celebrated the Assumption of Mary, the
\nbodily taking up of the Virgin Mary into Heaven at the end of her earthly life.
\nChurches and monasteries in Romania held special services on this occasion
\nwhile thousands of Christians went on pilgrimage. Some 2.2 million Romanians
\ncelebrated their name day on Wednesday. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
NAVY DAY<\/b> – August 15 is also Romanian
\nNavy Day, as Saint Mary is also the patron saint of sailors. This year
\nceremonies were held in Constanta, Galati, Mangalia, Tulcea, Braila, Bucuresti
\nand Cernavoda on this occasion. Attending the events were thousands of navy
\nmilitary, scores of warships and numerous aircraft. The largest naval show was
\nheld in Constanta, the largest Romanian port on the Black Sea. The guard of
\nhonor and brigades of Romanian military, alongside peers from Great Britain,
\nthe United States and Ukraine paraded on the waterfront before the fleet
\ncommand. Attending the ceremonies, President Klaus Iohannis said Romania cannot
\ntruly be a powerful player in the region without a powerful army, which should
\ninclude a well-equipped, well-trained and modern navy, capable to successfully
\nwithstand any challenge. The President went on to say that, as a sign of
\nappreciation for the activity and special achievements of the Naval Forces, he
\nhas decorated the war flag of the Romanian Naval Forces with the Maritime
\nVirtue Order in rank of Officer, as a sign of military peace. Defense Minister
\nMihai Fifor told the navy military that their responsibilities are key to
\nsecuring the eastern flank of NATO and the EU. Fifor recalled that 2018, the
\nyear marking 100 years since the Great Union, will be a landmark for the
\nmilitary navy by means of the modernization program carried out to strengthen
\nthe immediate response capacity of the Romanian Naval Forces and to consolidate
\nRomania’s position in the Black Sea region. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
ACCIDENT <\/b>– President Klaus Iohannis has expressed his condolences
\nfor the families of the victims of Tuesday’s collapse of a motorway bridge
\nclose to Genoa, which killed dozens of people, including two Romanian
\nnationals, a Presidency report reads. The President also conveyed his
\ncondolences to his Italian counterpart, Sergio Mattarella and to the Italian
\nauthorities. According to the Foreign Ministry, operations to extract the
\nvictims from the rubble are ongoing. A mobile consular team is on scene. Some
\n250 firefighters and scores of search and rescue teams continue to look for
\nsurvivors. According to our correspondent in Rome, 440 people were evacuated
\nfrom 11 apartment buildings in the vicinity. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe
\nConte also visited the crash site, ensuring citizens the whole road
\ninfrastructure in Italy will be inspected to prevent such tragedies from
\nhappening. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
CAMPAIGN<\/b> – The signature-gathering campaign entitled
\nNo criminally-prosecuted people in public office has so far raised over 800
\nthousand signatures and is bound to continue until the end of the month, the
\npresident of Save Romania Union Dan Barna told the press on Wednesday. The set
\ntarget is to gather 1 million signatures. This citizen initiative aimed at
\nrevising the Constitutions so that no person with a final criminal sentence can
\nhold public office. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
MEETING <\/b>– National Defense Minister Mihai Fifor on
\nWednesday met with his Moldovan counterpart, Eugeniu Sturza, on the sidelines
\nof the Romanian Navy Day ceremonies held in Constanta. The two officials
\nhighlighted the good bilateral cooperation in the field of defense, also
\nagreeing on enhanced cooperation as regards military medicine and education. As
\nregards cooperation within NATO, Minister Fifor told Minister Sturza that
\nRomania would continue to support Moldova’s efforts to join NATO. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
RAF <\/b>– Six Russian bombers were intercepted over the Black Sea by British
\nfighter jets deployed to Romania, charged with the security of NATO airspace, a
\nRoyal Air Force press release reads. Eurofighter Typhoon jets took off on
\nMonday from Mihail Kogalniceanu airbase in southeastern Romania, after six
\nSukhoi Su-24 Fencer bombers were detected in NATO airspace over the Black Sea.
\nThe Russian aircraft were headed to Crimea. The operation was part of NATO air
\npolicing operations with support from the Royal Air Force, aimed at deterring
\nRussian aggression and enforcing Great Britain’s commitment to NATO collective
\ndefense. Romania’s Defense Minister Mihai Fifor last month said such challenges
\nfrom Moscow are quite frequent. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
FOOTBALL <\/b>– Three Romanian football teams are on
\nThursday competing in the second round of the Champions League third
\npreliminary round. All matches are played on home turf. CFR Cluj is playing
\nAlashkert of Armenia and is sitting on a 2-nil away win in the first leg. FCSB
\nwill take on Croatia’s Hajduk Split, after drawing nil-all in the first leg,
\nwhile Romanian Cup winner CSU Craiova is playing RB Leipzig. Craiova lost 1-3
\nin the first leg. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
(Translated by V. Palcu)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For a roundup of domestic and international news, click here<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":75903,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[33857,33858,33856,30680,33860,28945,32557,33859,30697,31981],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-102951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-accident-in-genoa","tag-assumption-of-the-virgin-mary","tag-august-10-protests","tag-champions-league","tag-criminal-complaints","tag-klaus-iohannis","tag-mihai-fifor","tag-military-investigation","tag-navy-day","tag-raf"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n