January 25, 2023

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 25.01.2023, 13:55

Union. A debate on the 164th
anniversary of the Union of the Romanian Principalities was held at Cercle Royal Gaulois in Brussels, bringing together Romanians from
Romania and abroad. On 24th January every year, Romanians celebrate
the union of Moldavia and Wallachia under the rule of Alexandru Ioan Cuza, an
event that paved the way for the creation of the modern Romanian state in 1918.
The debate in Brussels, which was organised by the Project Romania 2030
Association, was also attended by NATO deputy secretary general Mircea Geoană.
In his address, the latter emphasised the importance of Romania’s current
membership of European and Euro-Atlantic structures. Romania is today a
sovereign and independent, unitary and indivisible nation state, recognised and
increasingly respected around the world. It is a member of the most coveted
unions of states and forms part of the biggest and strongest military alliance
on the planet, Geoană said. The 164th anniversary
of the Union of the Romanian Principalities was celebrated across the country.

Support. Romania will continue to support Ukraine, said foreign minister
Bogdan Aurescu at a meeting by videoconference of G7 foreign ministers held on
Tuesday. The meeting was co-chaired by the US and Japanese top diplomats and focused
on assessing the situation of Ukraine’s critical infrastructure and the stage
of the support granted to Ukraine by the international community to help it
manage the consequences of the Russian attacks. This format of the G7 meeting
was launched in Bucharest in November on the sidelines of a meeting of NATO
foreign ministers.

Tanks. German chancellor Olaf
Scholz on Wednesday confirmed that Germany will be sending Leonard 2 battle
tanks to Ukraine. According to a statement, Berlin intends to provide 14 such
tanks from its stocks. Training Ukrainian military to use the vehicles will
begin soon in Germany, and Berlin will put at the disposal of the Ukrainian
troops the ammunition and other needed logistical equipment. Olaf Scholz also
announced that his government will soon issue the permits allowing other
countries to send their own Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. Countries like Poland
and Finland, who wish to
deliver German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, must first secure Berlin’s
approval. Norway, the Netherlands and the US have also expressed willingness to
deliver battle vehicles to Ukraine.

Drugs. The drug fighting body of the
Romanian police on Tuesday simultaneously carried out together with Dutch,
Polish and German authorities a number of searches as part of investigations
into the criminal activities of a group involved in money laundering and
international drug trafficking. The searches were conducted at various
locations in Romania, The Netherlands and Poland. The police search was
assisted by EUROPOL.

Tennis. The Romanian-Ukrainian pair
Gabriela Ruse and Marta Kostyuk today reached the women’s doubles semifinals at
the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tennis tournament of the year. Ruse
and Kostyuk defeated the pair seeded fourth, Storm Hunter of Australia and Elise Mertens of Belgium,
in three sets, 7-6, 2-6, 6-4. They will next be facing the all-Czech pair Barbora
Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova in the semis. (CM)