September 4, 2019 UPDATE
Romanian diplomatic personnel to be repatriated from Kabul as soon as possible
Newsroom, 04.09.2019, 19:55
REPATRIATION All diplomatic personnel of the Embassy of Romania in Kabul will be brought back to the country as soon as possible, in the wake of Monday nights terror attack. A 43-year old Romanian member of the security team was killed, while another member of the diplomatic mission was wounded and is currently stable. The embassy headquarters was damaged severely and is out of use. In Bucharest, the Foreign Ministry, President Klaus Iohannis and PM Viorica Dăncilă firmly condemned the attack and reiterated Romanias support to the fight against terrorism. The head of state awarded the Romanian killed in Kabul the Star of Romania order in the rank of Knight. Romania is one of the top 5 contributors to the NATO mission in Afghanistan, with over 760 troops deployed so far to that theatre of operations.
CONFERENCE NATO will continue to make long-term investments, in line with its commitment in the Western Balkans, the chairman of NATOs Military Committee, Air Chief Marshal Stuart Peach said in Bucharest on Wednesday, at the end of the conference of Balkan defence chiefs on military cooperation. In turn, the Romanian chief of staff, Gen. Nicolae Ciucă, said maintaining appropriate military cooperation and the provision of real support would help Balkan countries to build efficient institutions and to reform their defence sectors in order to cope with the challenges generated by poverty, terrorism, social and inter-ethnic tensions. President Klaus Iohannis in turn said in a message that Romania, as a NATO and EU member country, pays special attention to the countries in this region and supports closer ties between them and the European and trans-Atlantic family. Attending the conference were delegations from Albania, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Turkey, with Croatian and Slovenian officials as observers. This has been the 13th edition of this event designed to improve regional cooperation, strengthen security in the Balkans, identify and develop a regional crisis management mechanism and enhancing the interoperability of military forces in the region.
VOTE A total of 20,040 Romanians living abroad had registered to vote by mail and 19,430 for polling station voting until Wednesday, ahead of the November presidential election, the Permanent Electoral Authority has announced. According to the same source, the registration deadline may be postponed from September 11 to 15, which means that Romanian citizens who live abroad have another 11 days to enrol as voters abroad on a dedicated platform, www.votstrainatate.ro. Around 9.7 million Romanians are currently living outside the country, according to data provided by the 70 diplomatic missions and centralised by the Ministry for the Romanians Abroad.
FOOTBALL Romanias national football team plays against Spain in Bucharest on Thursday, in the Euro 2020 qualifying campaign. Organisers say over 50,000 tickets have been sold. Spain is the unchallenged leader of Group F with 12 points, followed by Sweden with 7 points and Romania, also with 7 points but a worse goal difference. The group also includes Norway (5 points), Malta (3 points) and the Faroe Islands (0 points). Romanias next match is against Malta, on September 8, on home turf. The Romanian U21 team is to take on Denmark on September 10 in Aalborg, in the first qualifier for the EURO 2021.
(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)
