September 20, 2017 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 20.09.2017, 20:00
WEATHER Two people were killed by lightning in eastern Romania on Wednesday, when 16 hundred consumers were left without electricity by the gale force winds. Code yellow or orange alerts have been issued for almost the entire territory for atmospheric instability, strong winds and heavy downpours. Over 4 thousand firefighters backed by technical equipment are in stand-by ready to intervene in the most affected regions. School classes have been shortened in some of the most affected areas including capital city Bucharest, where people have been recommended to remain indoors during the storm. The authorities fear a storm like the one on Sunday that swept over 15 counties in the country’s west, center and north killing 8 and wounding 140 people. The gale-strong winds felled trees and electricity poles, blew away roofs and billboards and turned vehicles upside down. Water and electricity supplies have been disrupted and so has road and rail traffic in the affected regions. Weather is cooling all over Romania in the following 24 hours with heavy downpours in the west, north, center, east as well as in the hills and mountainous areas. Snowfalls are expected at altitudes above 18 hundred meters. Maximum temperatures are expected to range between 12 and 27 degrees Celsius.
LAW The Romanian Senate and Chamber of Deputies, gathered in a plenary session in Bucharest, have issued a declaration on the new education law in neighbouring Ukraine. The Romanian MPs say they are following with concern and maximum attention the latest developments generated by the recent adoption by Ukraine’s Supreme Rada of this law which drastically infringes upon the rights to education in the native language of the ethnic Romanians in Ukraine. They are launching an appeal for a fast settlement of this situation, by well intended actions and goodwill, in the spirit of cooperation, inclusive dialogue and the strict observance of European standards in the field of national minority protection, abiding by the relevant multilateral and bilateral agreements, that Ukraine is a signatory to. On Tuesday, the Hungarian Parliament adopted a similar resolution, condemning the new law, which –in the opinion of the Hungarian MPs- does not observe the commitments made by the Kiev authorities and infringes upon the rights of ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine. The law drastically limits the access to education in the native language of many ethnic minority communities in Ukraine. This stipulates that Ukrainian should be the only teaching language in high-schools and faculties, and education in the languages of the ethnic minorities is possible only in nursery and primary schools. Almost half a million ethnic Romanians are living in neighbouring Ukraine, most of them in the Romanian territories annexed by the former USSR in 1940, following an ultimatum, and taken over by Ukraine, in 1991, as a successor state.
BUCHAREST Romania’s capital city, Bucharest on Wednesday celebrated 558 years since it was first mentioned in documents. The name of today’s city was first mentioned in a document issued in 1459, by the then ruler of Wallachia, the famous Vlad the Impaler. In order to mark the event, the city hall has organised over the past few days, open-air parties, concerts, vintage costume parades, fairs and exhibitions. Bucharest became Romania’s capital city in 1862. In the inter-war period, Bucharest was dubbed “Little Paris”, due to its elegant architecture. Romania’s main economic engine, Bucharest is considered to be a city difficult to manage, because of an old and insufficiently developed infrastructure and of heavy traffic.
MEETING On Wednesday in New York, Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis met Pavel Filip, the Prime Minister of the neighboring Republic of Moldova, an ex-soviet Romanian-speaking country. Iohannis said that Bucharest must institutionally assist the ex-soviet republic. On Tuesday, the head of the Romanian state, who is currently attending a UN General Assembly session, assured its head, Miroslav Lajcak, of Romania’s support in the efforts of reforming this organisation. The Romanian official has also held bilateral talks with his counterparts from Estonia, Egypt, Serbia, with the president of the European Council with NATO Secretary General as well as with leaders of the main Jewish organisations in the USA.
