The government in Bucharest has adopted two draft laws to regulate the modalities of intervention in peacetime, in the case of foreign drones entering the country’s airspace. The two initiatives were launched one year and three months after the first such incident, when pieces of a Russian drone from the war in Ukraine fell on national territory, in Tulcea County, at Plauru. More similar incidents occurred since then. In order to enter into force, the initiatives must be debated and voted on by Parliament, and then promulgated by the president. The first draft establishes which institutions will take decisions to prevent or counteract entries into national airspace by aircraft, drones and other aerial vehicles. The government spokesperson explained: “unmanned aerial vehicles will benefit from the attention and rigors that are currently provided for aircraft with a pilot on board from a civilian perspective, but also from a military perspective”. The second draft refers to “the carrying out of missions and operations on the territory of the Romanian state, in order to take the necessary measures to protect the life, health, property, rights and freedoms of Romanian citizens”. It refers to the actions that can be taken in the event of drones entering the airspace, without the need to impose a state of emergency on the territory of Romania. Among the reaction measures may be taking control of their flight, neutralization – by disabling the command and control functions, or destruction – the latter being applied as a last resort. “The measures are ordered in relation to the level of the threat, within the limits of applicable international law, after taking into account all the specific circumstances of the event and taking into account the priority of protecting the lives of individuals”, the draft law says.
Romania was formally designated the 43rd country to join the US Visa Waiver Program (VWP) on Friday, January 10. According to the Romanian ambassador to Washington, Andrei Muraru, Romanian citizens will be able to travel to the US without the need for a visa starting March 31, 2025. "Romania becomes the first country in the […]
Cluj-Napoca, the city in Romania with some of the highest rents and a fast-growing IT industry, is closer to banning smoking in playgrounds and parks after mayor Emil Boc expressed his support for the measure. The mayor cited the prioritization of public health as the reason behind such a ban. He mentioned that he has […]
Romania's Sibiu County Emergency Clinical Hospital will receive a robotic system to prepare cytostatic drugs needed by cancer patients, along with other equipment, after the County Council obtained funds from the European Regional Development Fund. With an estimated value of EUR 1 million, the "Robotic Composition System for Sterile Preparations of Cytostatic Drugs" is among […]
Romania’s government adopted in its January 10 meeting a decision granting an extra day off to public sector employees at the beginning of May. Thus, Friday, May 2, will be an official day off for public sector workers, linking the legal holiday of May 1 (Labor Day) with the weekend (May 3-4). This...
The Ministry of Environment announced that 2024 was the hottest year in the history of Romania's meteorological records. Red alerts for heat waves began in June of 2024, with the longest consecutive periods of persistent and intense heat waves, six consecutive days, between July 13-18 and August 15-20. "The year 2024 is the hottest year...
Supporters of former presidential candidate Călin Georgescu gathered outside the Parliament Palace in Bucharest, which houses the Constitutional Court, on January 10, demanding a rerun of the second round of the presidential elections. The protest, dubbed "The Great Judicial Union," was initiated by Georgescu, who called on his supporters to challenge the election annulment, as […]
