March 29, 2024

A roundup pf local and international news.

Newsroom, 29.03.2024, 14:22

NATO – From the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea, across the Atlantic and the Adriatic, NATO is more united and more capable than ever, US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has said today in a message on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the largest wave of expansion in the Alliance’s  history. On behalf of the United States, Blinken congratulated Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of their accession to NATO. The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has also said that Romania will remain deeply involved in the process of permanent adaptation of NATO, so that the Alliance becomes stronger, more resilient and better prepared for the future. In the 20 years of NATO membership, Romania has become an important pillar and has consolidated its position within the alliance, respecting its security commitments in the Black Sea area, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said. NATO was established in 1949 as a security alliance between the United States, Canada and 10 West European countries. Sweden is the youngest member, as it has joined NATO this year. There are currently 32 states making up the Alliance.

­­SCHENGEN – As of March 31st, air and maritime checks on Schengen borders will be lifted for Romania and Bulgaria. This means that documents will no longer be checked. In Romania, border policemen can still make unannounced checks, based on a risk analysis. The preparations taking place on 17 airports and four maritime ports in Romania have come to an end. Also, to prepare for 31st March, some big airports in Romania, such as the ones in Iasi and Timisoara,  have opened new terminals. Initiated in 1985 as an intergovernmental project between five states – France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg – and after seven waves of expansion, the Schengen area is currently the largest free movement area in the world. With the accession of Romania and Bulgaria, it expands to 4.5 million square km and a population of 450 million.

DRONE – Fragments that seem to have come from an aerial explosive device, possibly a drone, were identified, last evening, on a farm land in the Great Braila Island, in the southeast of Romania, the Defense Ministry announced. The institution says that, together with specialized structures within the National Defense System, Public Order and National Security, it is currently investigating the incident, in keeping with specific operational procedures. In September 2023, fragments of three Russian drones fell in Romania, in Tulcea county, near the border with Ukraine.

PENSION – In Romania, the average monthly pension increased by 13.9% in 2023, as compared to the previous year, to around 423 euros, the National Institute of Statistics (INS) announced on Friday. The average number of pensioners was 4.98 million people, down by 24,000 people compared to the previous year. According to the INS, the average number of state social insurance pensioners was little over 4.6 million people, down by 6,000 people compared to 2022.

REPATRIATION – The remains of Prince Nicolae, the brother of King Carol II, were reburied on Friday in the new archiepiscopal and royal cathedral in Curtea de Argeş (southern Romania). We remind you that the Bucharest Government has approved at the beginning of this year, following the request of the Royal House, the repatriation of the remains of the second son of King Ferdinand and Queen Marie, and of his wife, Ioana Doletti. Prince Nicolae of Romania was born at Pelisor Castle in Sinaia (south), on August 3, 1903 and died in Madrid on July 9, 1978, being buried in Lausanne Switzerland.

FILM – As of today, the city of Brasov, central Romnaia, is the host of the French Film Festival. In the year of its centenary, the French Institute in Romania organizes the 28th edition of the festival, which has been taking place between March 21 – 31, in Bucharest and in 12 other cities in the country. 100 film productions presented in Cannes, Berlin, Locarno, Venice, Toronto and Annecy are screened, in cinemas and in alternative cultural spaces. The general theme of the festival this year is “Vertiges” – vertigo and its variations in cinema. One of the novelties of the festival is the “Mauvais genres” section, which includes a selection of French genre films. For the first time, the event hosts, this year, a virtual reality film session. (EE)