December 24, 2022
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 24.12.2022, 13:55
ACCIDENT – All patients injured in Fridays accident in Bucharest are now stable and conscious, with the single exception of a patient who is still in intensive care. We recall one person died and another 20 were injured on Friday after a coach carrying Greek tourists crashed into a height restriction barrier at the entrance of a tunnel. All passengers had come to Romania on a Christmas holiday.
MILITARY – Romanias Defense Minister, Angel Tîlvăr and chief of General Staff Daniel Petrescu on Saturday spoke to the commanding officers of Romanian Army units deployed in Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Kosovo and Poland. COs briefed Minister Tîlvăr regarding the security developments in the area of operation and progress in accomplishing their mission. The two officials thanked the nearly 500 Romanian servicemen engaged in theatres of operation for the way they accomplished their missions and for collaborating with peers from allied and partner states.
VISIT – Chamber of Deputies Speaker, Marcel Ciolacu, and Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă ended their three-day visit to South Korea with a round table with South-Korean businessmen. Talks with the multinational giant Samsung focused on developing projects in a plethora of fields, such as nuclear energy, semi-conductors and electronics, IT and communications, as well as national transport infrastructure. Marcel Ciolacu and Nicolae Ciucă said Romania wants South-Korean business people to invest in Romania in such fields as green energy and digital technologies. On Friday, the two Romanian officials also visited the demilitarized zone separating South Korea from North Korea. Romania supports, alongside South Korea, the prospect of achieving long-lasting peace, the two officials said. During their meeting with the president of the National Assembly, Kim Jin-pyo and with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, the Romanian officials also tackled topics related to the development of Romanias defense industry and exchanged views regarding ways of coping with the effects of Russias aggression in Ukraine, as well as NATO-South Korea cooperation at all levels.
BLACK SEA – For the first time, the US administration will devise a working strategy with its Allies devoted to the Black Sea region, the US Congress has decided. The law stipulating this provision has been submitted for ratification, a press release issued by the Romanian Embassy in the USA reads. US Congress adopted the Omnibus Law on budget allocations for the 2023 fiscal year. One of its provisions requires the Secretary of State and the heads of the relevant federal agencies to present before Congress within six months of the law being ratified, a working strategy with NATO allies in the Black Sea region, designed to further economic relations, consolidate economic and security assistance to states in the region, as well as to support efforts to boost democratic resilience. A US strategy for the Black Sea region will be a substantial move Romania will firmly back. The USA consolidating its foreign policy with respect to the Black Sea region is a welcome decision designed to increase the USAs commitment for this region, in such strategic fields as defense, economy, democratic resilience, a direction Romania has constantly supported.
SCHOLARSHIPS – The Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has launched its annual scholarship program, addressing foreign citizens from non-EU states. Applications for the academic year 2023-2024 can now be submitted by accessing the online platform, or by accessing the website of the Study in Romania program run by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, or the ministrys website. The deadline for applications is March 1, 2023. The Romanian MFA will announce the results by July 15, 2023.
CHRISTMAS EVE – Christians in Romania on Saturday made their last preparations before the Nativity of Jesus, celebrated on December 25. On Christmas Eve, children in various areas of the country went caroling. The Nativity of Jesus is the day when earth and heaven are one, Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox Church said in his Christmas address. The Patriarch told Christians to pray also for Romanians living abroad, for those in the borderlands and in the Romanian Diaspora, in order to preserve the unity of faith and national identity. Despite all hardships, Christians have discovered solace and hope in Messiah, following the true light, Roman-Catholic Archbishop Aurel Percă also said in his Christmas sermon, urging Christians to come closer to the Church, so that Gods love should make our world better, bringing hope, peace and joy. In turn, Eastern-Catholic Archbishop Lucian urged faithful to pray for peace in our families and peace in crisis-ravaged Europe and peace to nations at war and the whole world. (VP)
