5 September, 2019

A Romanian soldier was killed on Thursday in an attack in Kabul. He is the second Romanian military to be killed this week in Afghanistan, where Romania deploys 762 troops as part of the NATO Resolute Support mission.

Newsroom, 05.09.2019, 19:47

Attack. A Romanian soldier was killed on Thursday in
Kabul in an attack claimed by the Taliban. Around 10 people were killed in the
attack and more than 40 wounded. He is the second Romanian national to be
killed this week in Afghanistan, where Romania deploys 762 military as part of
the NATO Resolute Support mission. On Monday night, a member of Bucharest’s
diplomatic mission in Kabul was killed in an attack that left many dead and
more than 100 wounded. Another Romanian was wounded, being later transferred to
Europe for medical assistance. The attack targeted a residential area where
many foreign citizens were working and where a number of international
organisations and Romania’s embassy were located. The building hosting the
embassy was severely damaged, its staff being for the time being hosted by a
NATO military base. In Bucharest, president Klaus Iohannis and prime minister
Viorica Dancila have sent their condolences in the aftermath of the two attacks
and have reiterated Romania’s support for the fight against terrorism. A crisis
cell was established at the foreign ministry. Almost 30 Romanian military have
died in Afghanistan since 2003.

Nominations. Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis
says he will reject the nominations for interim government positions proposed
by the Social Democrat prime minister Viorica Dancila following the withdrawal
of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats and asks her to put her cabinet to a
vote in Parliament given that the government’s political make-up has changed.
The announcement came shortly after the government has decided to report a conflict
of a legal nature with the president to the Constitutional Court. The prime
minister argues that by delaying the appointment of interim ministers for the
positions that have remained vacant after the resignation of the ministers of
the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, Klaus Iohannis is in breach of the
rulings of the Constitutional Court on the principle of cooperation between
public institutions. The president says, however, that it is ridiculous to
accuse others of not allowing you to govern when you have changed three
governments and 80 ministers in two and a half years.

Diaspora. The Romanian prime
minister Viorica Dancila said on Thursday in the opening of the forum of
Romanians living abroad that she had requested the Standing Election Authority
to expand the deadline for Romanians abroad registering to vote, in order to
increase the number of those voting by post in the upcoming presidential
elections in November. She said that defending and promoting the rights of the Romanians
abroad are constant concerns for her government. The Minister for Romanians
Abroad Natalia Intotero has told Radio Romania that the forum brings together
120 representatives of the Romanian diaspora and of ethnic Romanian communities
in neighbouring countries. She says this forum is a good opportunity to discuss
the issues facing the Romanians living abroad and give them an opportunity to
interact with the state institutions on issues such as education, teaching in
the Romanian language and opportunities for returning to Romania.

Romania-France. The Romanian foreign minister Ramona Manescu met the
French ambassador to Romania Michele Ramis on Thursday. Talks looked at
bilateral issues and topical issues on the European and international agenda.
The two officials noted the good collaboration between their countries in
various fields and as part of the strategic partnership and said there is good
potential for it to be expanded. In the context of the closing of the most
important bilateral project in recent decades, the France-Romania Season, the
two sides agreed to take advantage of its positive impact in the two countries
and to continue bilateral cooperation in areas such as culture, the arts,
science and economy.

Court case. Romania’s former president Traian Basescu appeared on
Thursday at the Court of Appeal in Bucharest in a case in which he is accused by
the National Council for the Study of the Securitate Archives of being an informant
for the former communist secret police, the Securitate. Basescu’s lawyer says
that at the time he wrote the reports invoked in court, he was a student at the
navy institute, was therefore a military and had to obey the demands implied by
this status. The representative of the National Council for the Study of the
Securitate Archives argued that out of the 196 students of the navy institute,
only nine were informants. A ruling in this case is expected on the 20th
of September. Since 2000, the former president has received five notes from the
National Council for the Study of the Securitate Archives stating he did not
collaborate with the Securitate.

Table tennis.
Defending European champions in women’s table tennis Romania on Thursday reached
the quarterfinals of the European table tennis championships under way in
Nantes, France after defeating Spain 3-nil in their final Group 1 match. Romania,
who also defeated Slovakia on Wednesday, won the group with 4 points, followed
by Spain with 3 and Slovakia with 2. They will play their quarterfinal match on
Friday. Also on Thursday in Nantes, the Romanian men’s side failed to reach the
quarterfinals after losing to Sweden in their final Group 2 match.