September 24, 2022

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 24.09.2022, 13:55

Diaspora. Romania’s
president Klaus Iohannis on Friday met Romanian entrepreneurs working in the
Silicon Valley. He spoke about the Educated Romania project saying that if it
doesn’t educate and train its youth for the labour market, for education and
for research, Romania doesn’t stand a chance. To stay at the top of our game,
we need to perform better and to achieve this, we need to be better trained;
the continuation of education is integration into the labour market and it is
clear that the purpose of quality education is for each and every Romanian to
find the right job for them and to be successful in their work, said Iohannis.
Earlier, he met members of the Romanian community on the West Coast of the
United States, telling them that Romania is in a complicated situation because
of the war in Ukraine but that it is doing well and its economy is growing.
Iohannis said the Romanians living in the US, whose number is estimated at
450,000, are an important bridge between the two countries. The Romanian
community in the US is the fifth largest community of Romanians living abroad,
after that in Italy, Spain, the UK and Germany. Last Tuesday and Wednesday,
Iohannis led Romania’s delegation at the UN General Assembly.

Cooperation. Romania’s
foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu on Friday had talks with his counterpart from
Chile, Antonia Urrejola Noguera, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in
New York. Aurescu stated Romania’s openness for boosting bilateral cooperation
in areas such as the management of emergency situations, education, science and
research, and cultural and academic exchanges. Also on Friday, Aurescu attended
the opening of a photographic exhibition at the Romanian Cultural Institute in
New York celebrating the 25th anniversary of Romania’s strategic
partnership with the United States and presenting the evolution of the
partnership over the years. The minister emphasised the importance of this
partnership for Romania’s democratic and Euro-Atlantic journey and for its
security. He also mentioned a number of joint projects in the field of civilian
nuclear energy, a recent development that helps consolidate strategic
cooperation between Bucharest and Washington.

Defence. As part of his trip to
South Korea, Romanian defence minister Vasile Dîncu
on Friday had talks with Eom Dong-hwan, the head of South Korea’s state arms
procurement agency, and with Lee Hunseung, the head of the Committee for
National Defence. The talks highlighted the mutual interest in developing
cooperation in the field of defence industry between the two countries. The
Romanian official invited South Korean defence companies to take part in future
tenders on the provision of equipment for the Romanian Army, given the use of
NATO standards by South Korea’s defence industry and its previous experience with
similar programmes in other NATO states.

Ukraine. Four Russian-occupied regions
in southern and eastern Ukraine are holding self-styled referendums to join
Russia. By annexing these regions, Russia may be able to claim that its
territory is attacked with the western weapons supplied to Ukraine. The United
Nations warned that seizure of territory by use of force is violation of
international law. According to reports from the ground, armed soldiers go
door-to-door collecting votes for the polls, including verbal answers. Russia
says it uses this system for security reasons, but the presence of armed men
contradicts its insistence that the process is free and fair. Russian forces
have conducted extensive shelling of the neighbouring regions, especially in
the south, in Mykolaiv and Odessa,
according to Radio Romania’s Ukraine correspondent.

Football. Romania drew 1-all against
Finland in Helsinki on Friday evening in Group 3 of the Nations League B. Romania
are bottom of the group and face demotion to the third division. In the other
group fixture, Bosnia and Herzegovina defeated Montenegro 1-nil and promoted to
the first division. The final group matches are taking place on 26th
September, Romania vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro vs. Finland. (CM)