February 13, 2023

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 13.02.2023, 13:55

QUAKE – A week
after the powerful earthquakes that hit Turkey and Syria the number of victims
continues to rise, while corpses are recovered from under the rubble. The most
recent provisional death toll in Turkey is over 31,600, with over 3,500 in
Syria. The UN estimates that more than 50,000 people lost their lives following
the powerful tremors. The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator
Martin Griffith, has admitted the organization did not manage to help the
people in north-western Syria, controlled by the opposition that has been at
war with President Bashar al-Assad ever since 2011. According to the Syrian
transport ministry, 62 aircraft with humanitarian aid have landed in Syria,
coming mostly from Saudi Arabia.

TURKEY
– Romania continues to help Turkey, where it has sent rescue teams and
supplies. The Romanian Rail Company has announced that a second train with over
20 wagons of supplies will soon be sent to Turkey. Many Romanians have answered
the Turkish Embassy’s call for support. In Constanta, south-eastern Romania,
local authorities and the Muslim community have joined the support efforts.
Health Minister Alexandru Rafila has said that five hundred doctors and nurses
have enrolled as volunteers and are waiting to leave for Turkey. He has pointed
out, however, that the medical teams cannot leave for Turkey unless authorities
there specifically ask that, which has not happened yet. Large quantities of
medicines have been collected and will soon be transported to Turkey.

VISIT
– The Prime Minister of the Land of Bavaria, Markus Soder, paying a visit to
Bucharest, has today reaffirmed his support for Romania’s accession to the
Schengen area, highlighting that the country has made great progress in the
past years in fighting corruption and carrying out structural reforms. We
support Romania on its path to joining Schengen and it is very important that
we, in Europe, understand that here, in the context of the war in Ukraine,
challenges are on a different level, the German official said. He also hailed
Romania’s effort in supporting Ukrainian refugees. On the occasion of the
visit, a joint declaration on strengthening bilateral ties between Romania and
the Land of Bavaria has been signed.

WRD – Today
is World Radio Day, established as such by UNESCO in 2011. February 13 marks
the first broadcast by the United Nations’ radio station, back in 1946. The
theme of World Radio Day this year is Radio and Peace. On this occasion,
Romanian artists show their solidarity with Ukraine. All Radio Romania channels
aired today, at 9:30 a.m., the famous song Heal
the World, launched by Michael Jackson in the early 1990s. The broadcast of
this song on World Radio Day is part of a series of events staged by Radio
Romania to mark one year since the start of the war in the neighboring Ukraine.

EP – The
European Parliament convenes as of today in Strasbourg, France, to discuss humanitarian
aid for Turkey and Syria after the powerful earthquakes a week ago and mark a
year since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Also, MEPs are to
endorse the REPowerEU plan, which includes measures to support
independence from Russian fossil fuels, accelerate the green transition and
tackle energy poverty. REPowerEU is worth a total of 20
billion euros, non-repayable funds, to which all EU members have access.
Romania will be earmarked 1.4 billion euros for energy projects, which will
have to be spent by 2026. The country’s investment project must be submitted to
the European Commission for approval until April 30. (EE)