February 14, 2023 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

România Internațional, 14.02.2023, 19:50

Quake. A 5.7-magnitude earthquake was recorded
on Tuesday in south-western Romania at a depth of 40 km. On 4th
March 1977, an earthquake measuring 7.2 degrees on the Richter scale, the
biggest to hit Romania, resulted in the death of almost 1,600 people, mostly in
the capital Bucharest, and caused material damage estimated at the time at over
2 billion dollars. Around 230,000 homes were destroyed or seriously damaged.
Experts are warning that in the event of a similar quake, hundreds of buildings
may collapse today in Bucharest. More than 100 tremors stronger than 3 degrees
on the Richter scale are recorded in Romania each year.

Air force. The surveillance system of the
Romanian Air Force on Tuesday detected a small aerial object that looked like a
weather balloon flying at an altitude of some 11,000 metres in the Romanian air
space, in the south-east of the country, the Romanian defence ministry said in
a statement. All standard procedures were set in motion, and two MiG-21 LanceR
jets of the Romanian Air Force from the air policing group under NATO command
took off from an air base in Feteşti and flew to the area where the object was
spotted. The presence of the object could not be confirmed, neither visually by
the crew not by the radars on board. The jets stayed in the area for around 30
minutes to clarify the situation and then flew back to the air base. The
Romanian Air Force is constantly monitoring the Romanian air space and the
neighbouring area, in cooperation with the allied forces, the defence ministry
also said.

Moldova. Russia on Tuesday rejected accusations
from the pro-western Moldovan president Maia Sandu that it is seeking to
destabilise the Republic of Moldova, with the Russian foreign ministry dismissing
the accusations as unfounded and
unsubstantiated. Russia says Ukraine seeks to provoke tension between Moscow
and Chișinău and draw Moldova
into a confrontation with Russia. Reports of a Russian plot to overthrow the
government of the Republic of Moldova are deeply worrying, said John Kirby,
the spokesman for the National Security Council at the White House. At a news
conference in Washington, he admitted the alleged plot was not verified independently,
but that it is not outside the bounds of Russian behaviour. He
reiterated his country’s support for the president and the people of the
Republic of Moldova. On Monday, president Maia Sandu accused Moscow of planning
a coup d’état in the Republic of Moldova with the help of mercenaries from
Russia, Belarus, Serbia and Montenegro. The theory of a Russian plot to destabilise
Moldova was first launched last week in Brussels by Ukraine’s president
Volodymyr Zelensky.

Aid. Two cargo
planes of the Romanian Air Force took off on Tuesday from Bucharest carrying
goods for the victims of the earthquakes that hit Turkey and Syria. One of the
planes landed in Gaziantep, in Turkey, and the other in Beirut, in Lebanon, as
Syria is still under sanctions due to its authoritarian regime, which only asked
for international help a few days ago. Romania has also dispatched humanitarian
aid to Turkey by railway. The first freight train loaded with goods left
Romania on February 11th and has already reached its destination. In
another development, a team from the dog training centre in Craiova, southern
Romania, also left for Turkey, where Romania has so far sent a number of rescue
teams and necessity goods. Many Romanians have also answered the appeal of the
Turkish embassy to provide assistance.

Inflation. According to data released by
the National Institute for Statistics, the annual inflation rate in Romania
went down to 15.1% in January, from
16.5% in December. The price of food products rose by over 22% in December,
while that of non-food products by 12%. Services also saw a 10% increase.
Romania’s Central Bank expects the inflation rate to go down faster than
initially predicted and to reach single digits beginning from the third quarter
of the year, amid an extension to the cap on energy prices and compensation
schemes. The National Institute for Statistics also said that the Romanian
economy saw a 4.8% growth last year. On Monday, the European Commission
forecast a 4.5% economic growth for Romania in 2022 and 2.5% this year.

Ambassador.
The
United States’ new
ambassador to Romania Kathleen
Kavalec on Tuesday
presented her Letter
of Credence to President of Romania Klaus Iohannis, thus
officially beginning her tenure in Romania. According to a statement
from the US embassy, ambassador Kavalec and President Iohannis spoke
of the abiding friendship between their two nations and the
democratic progress made by Romania, as well as the Russian
invasion of Ukraine and the Ambassador’s priorities, such as the
two countries’ security
partnership, closer cooperation on energy independence and energy
security, increasing bilateral trade and foreign direct investment,
and continued progress in government transparency and the rule of
law. (CM)