Mihail Kogalniceanu

The first US military convoy arrived this morning at around 7.30 a.m. at the Mihail Kogalniceanu military base near the Romanian Black Sea city of Constanta, Digi 24 reports. It consists of about 18 trailers with military equipment.

AGERPRES special correspondent Florentina Peia reports: Romania's Ambassador in Washington, Andrei Muraru, told AGERPRES in an interview that he gave assurances to US investors, whom he encourages to come to Romania, that the Executive in Bucharest is a functional one, and the change of its makeup should not affect the business environment.

The Royal Canadian Air Force Detachment, consisting of approximately 140 airmen (pilots and technical personnel) and six CF-188 Hornet aircraft, begin their enhanced Air Policing mission under NATO command in the next three months, in Romania, together with the airmen belonging to the Romanian Air Force and the F-16 Fighting Falcon and MiG-21 LanceR aircraft.

A Black Hawk helicopter that had to resort to precautionary landing on Thursday in Charles de Gaulle Square in Bucharest will be returned to the Mihail Kogalniceanu military base, and the American side will not speculate into a cause until the investigation is complete, Major Matthew St. Clair told AGERPRES on Friday.

Chief of the German Air Force, Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Major General Viorel Pana, signed on Thursday, during a ceremony held at the 57th Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base, the Declaration of Intent on the Development of Bilateral Relations in the aviation sector.

The US Air Force will this month start awarding contracts for construction work to upgrade the Campia Turzii base, enabling it to support heavy cargo aircraft and host fighter jets, boosting NATO's capacities in the Black Sea area.

A detachment of the Spanish Air Force, consisting of approximately 130 military personnel - pilots and technical personnel - and equipped with two Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, will carry out Enhanced Air Policing missions under NATO command in February and March, together with F-16 Fighting Falcon, MiG-21 LanceR aircraft and Romanian Air Force soldiers, according to a statement from the Minist

Minister of National Defense Nicolae Ionel Ciuca, attending today at the 'Mihail Kogalniceanu' Air Base the homecoming ceremony for the Carpathian Pumas Helicopter Detachment at the end of their Mali mission conducted under the auspices of the UN, said that the Romanian Army has once again proven that it can fulfill complex missions in extremely difficult theaters of operation.

Founded on May 24, 1875 under the lead of Ion C. Bratianu (1875 - 1891), the National Liberal Party (PNL) is the oldest political party in Romania. In 1947 PNL stopped its activity as a result of the abolition of political pluralism by the communist regime.

Senate Chairman Calin Popescu-Tariceanu this Friday expressed his satisfaction for having succeeded, through the act he put his signature on a few years ago, to bring the day of May 10 back to the place it deserves, among the nation's great holidays; Tariceanu added that increasingly more Romanians should understand the role of the monarchy in the development of the nation.