VETERANS DAY – Romania celebrated the Day of Veterans of Military
\nOperations on November 11. On This occasion, garrisons in Bucharest and across
\nthe country where military carried out missions in theatres of operations
\nabroad played host to military and religious ceremonies. President Klaus
\nIohannis said this day symbolizes the triumph of peace over war, adding that
\nveterans are genuine role models for the younger generations. In a message
\nmarking the occasion, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu in turn referred to the
\nsacrifice of Romanian servicemen, underscoring the importance of peace. November
\n11 is a day chosen for its significance, the day the armistice was signed
\nbetween the Allies of World War I and Germany to end World War 1 and created
\nthe premises of the Great Union in Romania, on December 1, 1918. It was also on
\nthis day in 2003 that the first Romanian servicemen was killed in action in
\nAfghanistan. 30 Romanian servicemen were killed and over 200 were wounded in
\ntheatres of operations over 1996-2022. We recall War Veterans Day is celebrated
\non April 29. <\/p>\n
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RESOLUTION – Social-Democrat leaders from across Europe on Friday
\nadopted a resolution expressing support for the immediate Schengen accession of
\nBulgaria and Romania, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu has said. The Romanian
\nofficial attended the European Socialists Congress hosted by M\u00e1laga, Spain.
\nMore Europe also entails protecting and strengthening one of the European
\nUnion’s greatest achievements: the Schengen Agreement, the resolution reads,
\nalso underlining that Romania and Bulgaria have fulfilled Schengen accession
\ncriteria. In a post on social media, Marcel Ciolacu gave assurances he will do
\neverything in his power to persuade Austria and the Netherlands that Romania
\nbelongs in Schengen. On the sidelines of the event, Marcel Ciolacu met with counterparts from Spain, Malta and Denmark as well as with Germany’s Chancellor, Olaf Scholz.<\/p>\n
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WAR IN GAZA – The Rafah border crossing point used to evacuate
\ncivilians from Gaza into Egypt remained closed on Friday, the Romanian Foreign
\nMinistry reports. As a result, Romanian citizens and members of their families
\nwho received permission to evacuate are still on standby. Romania’s
\nRepresentative Office in Ramallah remains in permanent contact with people
\nwho’ve asked for assistance to evacuate, the Ministry also says. A third mobile
\nconsular team as part of the Rapid Response Unit set up at the level of the
\nCrisis Room monitoring developments in Gaza was deployed in Cairo with a view
\nto assisting in specific border-crossing procedures. Romania’s diplomatic
\nrepresentatives in Cairo and Tel Aviv remain in permanent contact with Egyptian
\nand Israeli authorities until all citizens are evacuated, the Ministry also
\nassures. On Thursday, 41 Romanian citizens and family members were evacuated
\nfrom Gaza through the Rafah checkpoint, adding to the 93 citizens who were
\nsafely brought home. Meanwhile, international pressure is mounting, world
\ncountries calling on Israel to accept an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and take
\nmeasures to limit the loss of human lives. Too many Palestinians have been
\nkilled, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said in what has been his
\nfirmest response to Israel’s actions since hostilities broke out in the region.
\nIn turn, the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, said Israel should stop
\nbombing Gaza and killing civilians. Both officials have however expressed
\nsupport for Israel’s actions targeted against the Islamist terrorist
\norganization Hamas. In another development, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia,
\nMohammad bin Salman, has condemned Israel’s repeated violations of
\ninternational humanitarian legislation. Riyadh on Saturday hosted a joint
\nsummit of the Arab League and the Islamic Cooperation Organization devoted to
\nthe developments in Gaza. Following the October 7 Hamas attack, which killed
\nover 1,400 people, Tel Aviv declared war against the Islamist organization.
\nAccording to the Health Ministry on Gaza, over 11,000 Palestinians were killed
\nin Israeli bombings in Gaza, of whom the majority are civilians. Gaza is now
\nstruggling with a humanitarian crisis, Reuters reports. <\/p>\n
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TENNIS – Romania’s tennis team leads 2-0 in the Billie Jean King
\nCup playoffs against Serbia. On Saturday, Jaqueline Cristian is playing Mia
\nRistic, while Gabriela Ruse will take on Aleksandra Krunic. The doubles match
\nwill pit Katarina Kozarov and Natalija Stefanovic against Irina Bara and Monica
\nNiculescu. On Friday, Jaqueline Cristian won 7-5, 6-4 against Aleksandra Krunic
\nwhile Gabriela Ruse defeated Mia Rustic 7-6, 6-3. The winner will advance to
\nthe Billie Jean King Cup preliminaries, while the loser will play in Group 1.
\nIn April, Romania lost 3-2 to Slovenia, failing to qualify to the final
\ntournament. (VP)<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A roundup of domestic and international news<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":105208,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[36138,30037,31170,116280],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-611966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-billie-jean-king-cup","tag-schengen-accession","tag-veterans-day","tag-war-in-gaza"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n