NATO. <\/strong>The standing bureaus of the
<\/p>\n
Elections.
<\/p>\n
Congo. <\/strong>Two Romanian
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Cooperation.<\/strong>
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Flu. <\/strong>The
A roundup of local 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":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-612145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nRomanian Senate and Chamber of Deputies took note on Wednesday of a letter from
\npresident Klaus Iohannis informing Parliament that he approved the entry and stay
\nin Romania of NATO’s response force or its transit through Romania to prepare
\nor conduct military operations in 2024, if necessary. In the letter, the head
\nof state said he took the decision against the backdrop of concurrent crises and
\ninstability as the main element of the new security dynamics, following an
\nanalysis of the NATO requests. In another move, prime minister Marcel Ciolacu
\nsaid domestic legislation should provide for paid volunteering services in the
\nmilitary field. He said that while Romania was facing no danger, every country
\nmust also prepare for the worst. The Ministry of Defence has announced
\nthat it is currently working on a draft law that provides for paid volunteer
\nmilitary training.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
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\n<\/strong>The ruling coalition in Romania formed by the Social Democratic Party and the
\nNational Liberal Party will resume on Monday talks on a proposal to hold
\nEuropean and local elections, as well as parliamentary elections and the first
\nround of presidential elections on the same date, having failed to reach a
\ndecision on this subject on Thursday. The Social Democrat prime minister Marcel
\nCiolacu has already rejected concerns that the move would be undemocratic,
\nsaying other European countries took similar decisions. The Liberals also
\nsupport the idea, saying that holding the two ballots simultaneously will
\nensure a higher voter turnout and consequently enhance the winners’ legitimacy.
\nThe opposition, however, is harshly criticising the idea, deeming it undemocratic
\nand unconstitutional. The brand-new alliance between the Save Romania Union (USR),
\nthe Force of the Right (a Liberal splinter group), and the People’s Movement
\nParty (PMP) said it would challenge any legislative initiative of this kind in
\nthe Constitutional Court, while the Alliance for the Union of Romanians staged
\nprotests in front of the headquarters of the ruling parties. This year, Romania
\nis holding all four types of elections, European, local, parliamentary and
\npresidential.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nnationals were killed and four wounded in recent events in the Democratic
\nRepublic of the Congo, the foreign ministry in Bucharest said in a statement on
\nThursday. The ministry said it is keeping a close eye on the situation and
\nefforts are being made to verify information coming from the ground through
\nspecific channels. It also advised citizens to avoid travelling to Congo, given
\nthat the security situation in this country is extremely volatile, especial in
\nthe east and north-east, in the areas bordering Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda. <\/p>\n
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\nThe Romanian government approved a draft law aimed at boosting cooperation with
\nthe US in terms of preventing and combating serious crime. The project aims,
\namong other things, to create, at national level, the mechanisms that will
\nallow for the exchange of information with the US Department of Homeland
\nSecurity through an IT platform developed and administered by the Romanian Home
\nAffairs Ministry. At the same time, the Romanian Police General Inspectorate,
\nthe Border Police General Inspectorate and the General Inspectorate for
\nImmigration were designated as national contact points for conducting automated
\ninquiries for the purpose of preventing, discovering and combating serious
\ncrimes.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
\nincidence of respiratory infections over the past week in Romania has exceeded
\nthe average for the last few seasons. The National Public Health Institute said
\n14 new deaths caused by flu were recorded over this period, as well as over
\n135,000 cases of respiratory infection. Most flu cases were reported in
\nBucharest, Cluj (north-west), Bra\u015fov (in the centre), Constan\u0163a (in the
\nsouth-east), Prahova (in the south) and Ia\u015fi (in the east). (CM)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"