Radio România Internațional

Tag: aid

  • March 3, 2020

    March 3, 2020

    HEARINGS The ministers nominated in PM designate Florin Cîţus cabinet are interviewed by the specialised parliamentary committees today, on Wednesday and Thursday, and the day of the investiture vote is to be chosen early next week. The only change compared to the Ludovic Orban Government is at the finance ministry, where former minister Cîţu has been replaced with Lucian Ovidiu Heiuş. The president of Save Romania Union, Dan Barna, says the Liberals have not asked explicitly for support for the new cabinet. The leader of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians, Kelemen Hunor, says that no decision has been made yet as to endorsing the new government or not. Pro Romania MPs will attend the parliamentary sitting, but will vote against the cabinet, party leader Victor Ponta announced. The Social Democrats and ALDE were the only parties with which the PM designate has not discussed. The Peoples Movement Party decided to vote in favour of the Cîţu Cabinet. The latters nomination by president Klaus Iohannis came after the Constitutional Court found it unconstitutional for the president to designate the interim PM Ludovic Orban to form a new cabinet after being dismissed by Parliament through a no-confidence vote.



    COVID-19 In Romania, 42 people are in quarantine centres and over 9,400 are under home monitoring, the Strategic Communication Group announced on Tuesday. So far 3 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in Romania, one of whom has recovered and the other 2 are hospitalised and in a good state. Meanwhile, the National Emergency Committee has introduced strict quarantine rules for the people returning home from risk areas. The new coronavirus is now spreading a lot more quickly outside China than in the source country. Around 91,000 cases have been confirmed in over 70 countries worldwide. Of these, 48,000 patients recovered and over 3,100 died. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank announced they are ready to provide help, including emergency funds, for member states to tackle the difficulties caused by the quickly spreading epidemic.



    VACCINATION The healthcare committee in the Chamber of Deputies unanimously voted the introduction of an amendment making immunisation mandatory. The Chamber of Deputies is to cast the decisive vote on the bill. Representatives of the Parents Alliance, of Pro Consumers Association and of the “Informed Decisions Association protested the current form of the bill, opposing the idea of compulsory vaccination. They believe each citizen must have the right to decide as concerns their own body. On the other hand, an association called Mothers for Mothers warns that vaccination saves lives and the body of scientific evidence in this respect goes back over a century.



    INTERIOR MINISTRY The interim interior minister Marcel Vela has today presented the institutions annual report, and said in 2019 the work load of interior ministry staff was higher than in the previous year. Marcel Vela explained that 27 counties and the capital city Bucharest reported over 4% rises in street crime and crimes against persons and property. “The presidential election was well organised, with 30% fewer incidents in the first round and 54.18% fewer incidents in the second round than in 2014, Marcel Vela added. The National Police Union organised a protest concurrently with the meeting at the ministry headquarters. They demand the implementation of current regulations regarding salaries, and the payment of overdue benefits for the last 3 years.



    UNEMPLOYMENT The January unemployment rate in Romania was 3.9%, down 0.1% since December, the National Statistics Institute announced in Tuesday. According to the institution, the estimated number of unemployed people in January was 350,000, which is lower than both the previous month and the corresponding month of 2019. Statistics also indicate that in the first month of the year the unemployment rate among men was 1% higher than among women.



    ISRAEL The Israeli PM Beniamin Netanyahu claimed victory in the 3rd election within a year, held on Monday. With 90% of the votes counted, Netanyahus right-wing party Likud secured 35 out of the 120 seats in Parliament, as against 32 for Kahol Lavan, led by his challenger Benny Gantz. None of them however has the required majority to form a government. Netanyahu tried to secure his re-election while facing a corruption trial. In his address, Netanyahu promised to put an end to the Iranian nuclear threat, to build peace with moderate Arab countries, economic reforms, a defence pact with the USA, and also spoke about his proposal to annex settlements in the West Bank.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • July 22, 2019

    July 22, 2019

    CANDIDATE The president of the Social Democratic Party, in power in Romania, PM Viorica Dăncilă, is to have talks with the leaders of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, also in the ruling coalition, and of Pro Romania, the party headed by the former leftist prime minister Victor Ponta. The negotiations concern the forming of a coalition with a common candidate in the forthcoming presidential election. Viorica Dăncilă has recently said she would like a much broader support platform, including non-parliamentary parties, trade unions and NGOs, for the November election. Next week, the Social Democrats are scheduled to nominate their presidential candidate, who will be validated at a special congress on August 3rd.




    EXPORTS Romanias exports to the other 27 EU member countries went up 4.9% in January – April 2019, as compared to the corresponding period of last year, whereas imports from the Union grew by 7.5%, the National Statistics Institute reports. Romanias top 3 EU export markets were Germany (23.3%), Italy (11.1%) and France (7.4%). As for imports, the 3 largest partners are Germany (19.9%), Italy (9.2%) and Hungary (7.2%). In the first 4 months of the year, Romanias total FOB exports amounted to 23 billion euro, and total imports to 28.1 billion euro, up 8.3% since January – April 2018. The trade deficit was little over 5 billion euro, i.e. 1.3 billion euro more than in the corresponding period of last year.



    UKRAINE With more than half of the votes counted on Monday, the Central Election Committee in Kiev announced that president Volodymyr Zelenskys party, Servant of the People, won 42.47% of the votes in Sundays snap election, whereas the Opposition Platform for Life came second with 12.91%. Third-ranking are ex-president Petro Poroshenkos European Solidarity party and former PM Yulia Timoshenkos Batkivshcina party with around 8% each, followed by the newly formed Voice party founded by rock star Sviatoslav Vakarchuk, with over 6% of the votes. The other 15 parties in the race failed to meet the 5% threshold to get into parliament. Kiev also announced that the turnout was 49.84%, the lowest in the history of independent Ukraine.



    BREXIT The European Commission prepares a huge aid package for Ireland, in order to make up for the economic loss entailed by a no-deal Brexit, Reuters reports, quoting The Times. The EU is ready to ‘spend whatever is necessary to support the Irish government in case of any disruption of trade, a high-ranking source has said. Over the weekend, thousands of anti-Brexit protesters marched in London ahead of the expected announcement of Boris Johnson as the new prime minister. On Tuesday, the Conservative Party in power will announce the winner of the race for Theresa Mays replacement, and the former foreign secretary Boris Johnson is largely viewed as the frontrunner. The Chancellor Philip Hammond, who is against a no-deal Brexit, announced his intention to step down if Boris Johnson becomes the new prime minister. The UK is set to exit the European Union on October 31st.



    MILITARY The 10th ‘Eurasian Partnership MCM Dive’ multinational exercise begins today in Constanta and along the Romanian Black Sea coast. Until Thursday, tens of military divers from Romania, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia and the US will take part in explosive device search and identification drills, will conduct open, semi-closed and surface-supplied diving missions and target searches using underwater drones. This is the only annual multinational exercise organised in the west part of the Black Sea, designed to improve the training of NATO divers and of diving units from Peace Partnership member countries.



    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • Floods hit Romania

    Floods hit Romania

    The heavy rainfalls of the recent days, assigned code yellow and orange alerts by meteorologists, have created massive problems in several parts of the country. Hydrologists have also issued several flood alerts valid in many counties, the most affected region being the north of the country, where a code red alert was in place. Flash floods were reported and the high water flow rates reached by several rivers have caused damage in scores of villages and towns.



    In the north of Romania, in Maramures County, a 63 year old man died on Wednesday, swept away by such an overflow. Several rivers flooded hundreds of hectares of farm land, pastures, households, national, county and local roads, while segments of railroad were silted up.



    In the affected areas, the authorities brought in sandbags, power pumps and other equipment in order to take the water out of the flooded households. In the village of Turbuta, in the north-west of the country, the pontoon bridge was rendered unusable, the only access way into the village being a ramshackle footbridge that makes it impossible for firefighters or ambulances to get there in case of emergency. People say the only solution is to wait for the waters to withdraw.



    Severe problems have also been reported in other villages, where roads have been affected by river overflows and the locals have to use by-pass routes. Farmers are the most upset, because many of them see their crops under water and the damage is substantial. The locals in many villages in the north of the country received warnings via the RO-Alert system, regarding a prospective major flash flood. Tens of people were evacuated, and more than 100 people called the 112 emergency number.



    In the south of Romania as well, the rainfall caused flooding that required the intervention of military firefighters, which brought in power pumps to help take out the water from peoples homes. Thousands of people were left without electricity.



    Meanwhile, the European Commission proposed an aid programme of over 8 million euros for the north-east of the country, which was severely affected by floods last summer. Following the heavy rains falling from mid-June to early August 2018, massive damage was caused in terms of infrastructure, farm land and housing in 6 counties in that region, particularly in Neamt, Bacau and Suceava. The Romanian authorities estimate that the rescue and civil protection operations cost nearly 295 million euros.



    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • Floods hit Romania

    Floods hit Romania

    The heavy rainfalls of the recent days, assigned code yellow and orange alerts by meteorologists, have created massive problems in several parts of the country. Hydrologists have also issued several flood alerts valid in many counties, the most affected region being the north of the country, where a code red alert was in place. Flash floods were reported and the high water flow rates reached by several rivers have caused damage in scores of villages and towns.



    In the north of Romania, in Maramures County, a 63 year old man died on Wednesday, swept away by such an overflow. Several rivers flooded hundreds of hectares of farm land, pastures, households, national, county and local roads, while segments of railroad were silted up.



    In the affected areas, the authorities brought in sandbags, power pumps and other equipment in order to take the water out of the flooded households. In the village of Turbuta, in the north-west of the country, the pontoon bridge was rendered unusable, the only access way into the village being a ramshackle footbridge that makes it impossible for firefighters or ambulances to get there in case of emergency. People say the only solution is to wait for the waters to withdraw.



    Severe problems have also been reported in other villages, where roads have been affected by river overflows and the locals have to use by-pass routes. Farmers are the most upset, because many of them see their crops under water and the damage is substantial. The locals in many villages in the north of the country received warnings via the RO-Alert system, regarding a prospective major flash flood. Tens of people were evacuated, and more than 100 people called the 112 emergency number.



    In the south of Romania as well, the rainfall caused flooding that required the intervention of military firefighters, which brought in power pumps to help take out the water from peoples homes. Thousands of people were left without electricity.



    Meanwhile, the European Commission proposed an aid programme of over 8 million euros for the north-east of the country, which was severely affected by floods last summer. Following the heavy rains falling from mid-June to early August 2018, massive damage was caused in terms of infrastructure, farm land and housing in 6 counties in that region, particularly in Neamt, Bacau and Suceava. The Romanian authorities estimate that the rescue and civil protection operations cost nearly 295 million euros.



    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • The EU slashes funds for the Republic of Moldova

    The EU slashes funds for the Republic of Moldova

    In 2014, the Republic of Moldova was unanimously seen as a winner of the Eastern Partnership, a program through which the EU is trying to promote the values of democracy and prosperity in the former Soviet space. The Eastern Partnership also includes Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia and Ukraine. Alongside Tbilisi and Kiev, Chisinau subsequently signed association and free trade agreements with Brussels, thus legitimising their openly stated ambitions of European integration.



    But then it all went wrong in the small republic with a majority Romanian-speaking population, and the discourse of the EU partners related to the Moldovan power has grown harsher. After repeated warnings, on Tuesday, Brussels announced officially its decision to suspend macro-financial aid to the Republic of Moldova, worth 100 million Euros, due to serious infringements of the democratic principles.



    The head of the European Commission Delegation to Chisinau, Peter Mihalko, has shown that, in the past year, Chisinau was present on the agenda of the EU exclusively for negative reasons. He mentioned 2 resolutions of the European Parliament, the conclusions of the Foreign Affairs Council made public in February and the concerns expressed on repeated occasions by EU high officials. Mihalko added that the EU was expecting concrete results from the Republic of Moldova in the fight against high-level corruption, including the punishment of those guilty for the enormous fraud in which around one billion dollars vanished into thin air from the Republics banking system.



    According to the European official quoted by Radio Romanias correspondents to Chisinau, another sensitive moment was this summers supreme court ruling that invalidated the elections for the mayor of Chisinau. The ballot that had been won by a former pro-European civic activist Andrei Nastase, against the pro-Russian Socialist Ion Ceban.



    Peter Mihalko: “The EU is maintaining its commitment to Moldovas European integration and political association. We are waiting to see if the Moldovan authorities observe the commitments made and the basic principles of our relationship, especially in relation to democracy and the rule of law. When we dont see sufficient progress and any political will to achieve real results, then the EU has to take strict measures and introduce strict conditions in exchange for the aid.



    A recent opinion survey conducted in the Republic of Moldova shows that 48% of the interviewees believe the Republic of Moldova should join the EU and only 37% favour the Eurasian Economic Union dominated by Russia. Analysts say that the parliamentary elections scheduled for February 24, 2019 are going to be decisive both for the political and geopolitical future of the Republic of Moldova. The elections are expected to settle the race between pro-Russians and pro-Europeans and also to bring a new administration, truly determined to fight corruption and observe the norms of democracy.


    (translated by: Lacramioara Simion)

  • September 16, 2018

    September 16, 2018

    SUMMIT – The Romanian capital city Bucharest is hosting on Monday and Tuesday the 3rd Summit of the Three Seas Initiative, an informal president-level platform that brings together the 12 EU member states located between the Baltic, Adriatic and Black Sea, namely Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. According to the presidential administration, the main goal of the initiative is the economic development of these countries, by enhancing interconnectivity, particularly from north to south, in 3 major areas: transport, energy, and digital. On the sidelines of the Summit, the first Business Forum of this platform will be held. President Klaus Iohannis will open the Forum on Monday, and later on he will take part in a plenary meeting alongside his counterparts from Croatia, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, Poland – Andrzej Duda, Austria – Alexander van der Bellen, and the European Commissioner for Regional Development Corina Creţu. The President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, will attend the Three Seas Initiative Summit for the first time. The first two summits were held in Dubrovnik in 2016 and in Warsaw in 2017.




    SWINE FEVER – A first African swine fever outbreak has been confirmed today in Dambovita County, in the south of Romania. Thirteen counties are currently affected by the epidemic, most of them in the south-east and south. The number of outbreaks reaches 900, with the virus identified in over 200 localities. Hundreds of thousands of animals have been culled. Bucharest has requested financial support from the European Commission for the farmers affected by the African swine fever epidemic.




    REFERENDUM – The Constitutional Court of Romania is discussing on Monday a bill designed to redefine family, in the Constitution, as based on the marriage of a man and a woman. The bill was passed in the Senate on Tuesday, and requires validation through a referendum. It is based on a citizen initiative signed by 3 million people. The initiators, which are Christian organisations and associations, want the Constitution to narrow down the definition of family to the marriage between a man and a woman, so as to prevent the possibility of legalising same-sex marriage. ACCEPT Association, which promotes the rights of sexual minorities, says that Tuesdays vote in the Senate has turned homophobia into a principle safeguarded by the state, and that constitutional protection for many types of families in Romania will be sacrificed. Except for Save Romania Union, all parliamentary parties have supported the initiative.




    ATTACK – Two American basketball players, aged 24 and 25 respectively, and playing for a team in Braila, south-eastern Romania, were stabbed last night during a conflict that broke out in a bar in the city centre. One of them is in a serious condition, with a punctured lung. He underwent surgery and will be transferred to Bucharest. The other one is in a stable condition. The 2 had been transferred to the club in Braila just one month before. The Romanian handball player Marian Cozma, who was playing for Veszprem, was killed in a bar in the same city, on February 8, 2009, by attackers who stabbed him to death.




    TENNIS – The north-western Romanian city of Cluj is hosting today the doubles match and the last 2 singles matches of the Davis Cups Group II round 3 between Romania and Poland. The score so far is 1-1. On Saturday, Marius Copil defeated Kamil Majchrzak, and Adrian Ungur lost to Hubert Hurkacz. The doubles match will be pitting Florin Mergea/Horia Tecău, for Romania, against Lukasz Kubot/Marcin Matkowski for Poland. The last 2 singles matches are Copil vs. Hurkacz and Ungur vs. Majchrzak. The winning team will be promoted to Group I of the Davis Cup Europe/Africa Zone, from which Romania was demoted at the end of last year.





    ROWING – In the World Rowing Championship hosted by Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Romania failed to get any medals in the mens double sculls final, the womens eight final and the mens eight final, held on Sunday. On Saturday the Romanian rowers won 2 medals. Ionela-Livia Cozmiuc and Gianina-Elena Beleagă won the gold in the lightweight womens double sculls, while Marius-Vasile Cozmiuc and Ciprian Tudosă won the silver in the mens pair final.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • March 12, 2018 UPDATE

    March 12, 2018 UPDATE

    HEALTHCARE – The Romanian Healthcare Minister, Sorina Pintea, said on Monday there are no reasons for a strike, given that incomes in the public healthcare sector did not drop. The statement comes after trade unions in the sector announced a protest going as far as to an all-out strike. Healthcare employees are unhappy with the new pay scheme and ask for a 25% increase in basic salaries concurrently with the scrapping of the 30% ceiling on bonuses. In other news, Healthcare Minister Sorina Pintea announced that within 2 weeks Romania would receive 10,000 doses of immunoglobulin, with further doses expected from Italy and the USA. Bucharest has recently asked for aid from EU and NATO countries to solve the immunoglobulin crisis triggered by last years withdrawal from the Romanian market of the producers that had covered over 80% of the demand. Romania needs 956 kilos of immunoglobulin per year.





    PENITENTIARY – The number of prisoners in Romanian penitentiaries is around 22,900, while the system employs some 12,800 special civil servants, the Justice Minister Tudorel Toader told a press conference on Monday. He added that the number of prisoners is decreasing, and so is the number of repeat offenders. However, Bucharest should not wait for the issue of penitentiary overcrowding to get solved through a natural decrease in the number of people sentenced to prison. According to Tudorel Toader, Romania will build 2 new, modern penitentiaries with a capacity of 1,000 prisoners each, and an initial and continuing training centre for penitentiary staff will be set up in Bucharest.




    DIPLOMACY – The 3-party meeting organised in Bucharest on Monday and bringing together the foreign ministers of Romania, Bulgaria and Greece, was an opportunity to reaffirm commitment to strengthening the European project, the Romanian FM Teodor Melescanu said. According to the Romanian official, talks have focused on relevant topics, such as the Western Balkans, the Eastern Neighbourhood, the Black Sea region, the Danube region and the Middle East. In turn, the Bulgarian Foreign Minister, Ekaterina Zakharieva, has expressed hopes for Romanias and Bulgarias Schengen accession, a goal supported by Greece, according to its Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias. On the other hand, Minister Teodor Melescanu has announced a 4-party meeting in the forthcoming period, with government officials from Bulgaria, Romania, Greece and Serbia taking part. Also this year, a joint Romanian-Bulgarian government meeting will be held, to discuss primarily the interconnection options for the 2 countries.




    DEFENCE – The defence ministers of the Bucharest 9 member countries convened in the Romanian capital city on Monday. For 3 days, officials from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, as well as NATO representatives and US State Department officials will be talking about boosting NATOs defence and deterrence posture, particularly on the eastern flank. Other topics include the adjustment of NATOs command structure, the risks and threats coming from the Alliances eastern neighbourhood as well as means to strengthen resilience on the Baltic Sea – Black Sea axis. Romania offered to host a new NATO command centre, but a decision will be made at the Alliances summit due in July in Brussels.





    EXERCISE – Nearly 900 Romanian and foreign troops are taking part between March 12 and 23, in DACIAN LANCER 18, a multinational military exercise held in Brasov County, central Romania. The exercise is designed to help assess the Multinational Division Southeast Headquarters in Bucharest. An element of the NATO Force Command structure, the headquarters in Bucharest is a high-readiness command activated in December 2015, and is staffed by military personnel from Romania and 15 other NATO member countries.





    MOLDOVA – The 2 largest cities in the Republic of Moldova, the capital Chisinau and the northern city of Balti, will be having early local elections on May 20, under a resolution made by the Central Electoral Commission on Monday. This is seen as a test for this autumns parliamentary election. The mayors of Chisinau and Balti resigned in February. The pro-Russian populist mayor of Balti, Renato Usatyi, has been in Russia for more than a year, and is currently prosecuted in a case involving the murder of a businessman. In Chisinau, the Liberal, pro-Western mayor Dorin Chirtoaca is in turn subject to corruption accusations in a criminal investigation, and was suspended from office in the summer of 2017.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • October 12, 2017

    October 12, 2017

    GOVT RESHUFFLE – The National Executive Committee of the Social Democratic Party, the main party in the coalition in power in Romania, convenes today to discuss the government reshuffle requested by PM Mihai Tudose. During the same meeting, the relations between the government and the party are to be clarified. Over the past few days the PM has discussed the reshuffle both with President Klaus Iohannis, and with the Social Democratic leader, Liviu Dragnea. The names the most frequently mentioned in the media in relation to the reshuffle are Sevil Shhaideh, deputy PM and Minister for Regional Development, and Rovana Plumb, minister delegate for European funds, both of them members of the Social Democratic Party and prosecuted for corruption offences. The minister in charge with liaising with Parliament, Viorel Ilie, a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania, the junior partner in the ruling coalition, is also in a similar situation. Other ministers with image problems may also be replaced.




    PACE – The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is discussing in an emergency meeting in Strasbourg today Ukraines new and controversial education law. The talk, proposed by the Romanian delegation with support from 5 other national delegations, comes after Ukraine enacted a law that severely restricts access to mother tongue education for ethnic minorities in that country. Senator Titus Corlăţean, the head of the Romanian delegation and also a vice-president of PACE, told Radio Romanias correspondent in Strasbourg that he was hoping for a fair debate, able to persuade the Ukrainian authorities to amend the law. Under the new legislation, ethnic minority children will be able to study in their respective mother tongues only in kindergarten and primary schools, and then they will have to study in Ukrainian exclusively. On Wednesday, the President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, promised PACE that Kiev would bring the new act in line with all the conclusions of the Venice Commission and would comply with the European Charter for regional or minority languages. Nearly half a million ethnic Romanians live in the neighbouring country, most of them in the Romanian territories annexed by the USSR in 1940, further to an ultimatum, and taken over by Ukraine as a successor state in 1991.




    AUTOMOTIVE – President Klaus Iohannis and PM Mihai Tudose took part on Thursday in the launch of the new Ford Ecosport model, at the Ford plant in Craiova, southern Romania. The head of state said that, by attending the event, he intends to convey a strong message of support for the automotive industry in Romania, which is growing increasingly competitive and has a better and better image in the European market. Since it took over the plant in 2008, Ford has invested over one billion euros in the production unit in Romania. More than 2,800 people are employed by Ford Craiova. The biggest carmaker in Romania is Automobile Dacia, based in Pitesti, in the south, taken over by the French group Renault in 1999. Over 13,500 people are working for this company, which has a turnover of over 4.3 billion euros.




    SPAIN – Spain is celebrating its National Day today, amid tensions between the separatist authorities of Catalonia and the central government in Madrid. PM Mariano Rajoy gave the regional Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont until Monday to give up plans to declare the regions independence, otherwise Catalonia would see its local autonomy suspended. Rajoy accused the Catalan government of having generated one of the most difficult times in Spains democracy and of having staged a very dangerous attack against the Constitution, the unity of Spain, the Catalan state and, most importantly, against Spains people living together.




    MOLDOVA – The European Union announced it would not grant the Republic of Moldova the remaining 28 million euros under the reform programme, intended for changes in the field of the judiciary. The Union believes the Government in Chisinau has failed to meet the conditions requested by Brussels. The EU delegation in Moldova mentions in a news release that the authorities in Moldova have shown poor commitment for reform, have not allotted enough funding and staff and, as a result, progress in terms of judicial reforms has been insufficient. Last week, PM Pavel Filip announced Moldova would no longer receive this years instalment of the 100 million euro aid programme provided by the EU. He admitted that the measure had been prompted by Chisinaus decision to change the election system for the forthcoming parliamentary elections, in such a manner as to favour the major parties.




    HANDBALL – The Romanian womens handball champions CSM Bucharest Wednesday night outplayed the Polish side Vistal Gdynia, 34-23, in an away game in Champions League Group A. This is the second win for CSM, after on Saturday night they defeated the Slovenians Krim Mercator Ljubljana, 30-18 at home. The Romanian side are next to play Nykoebing Falster Handboldklub of Denmark, on October 22. CSM Bucharest won the Champions League in 2016, when it first took part in the competition, and is one of the favourites to win this inter-club competition.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • February 16, 2016, UPDATE

    February 16, 2016, UPDATE

    As of Tuesday the President of the Republic of Moldova Nicolae Timofti is on an official visit to Bucharest. On Wednesday he is to have talks with his counterpart Klaus Iohannis, with PM Dacian Cioloş, with the Senate Speaker Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu, as well as other Romanian officials. The topics to be discussed in Bucharest include bilateral relations, the European accession efforts of the Republic of Moldova, and the economic, political and social cooperation between the two countries. Timoftis visit comes after on Friday the Moldovan PM, Pavel Filip, announced that Romania would provide aid to Moldova in the context of the economic and social crisis that this country is struggling with. The aid will consist in food products intended for underprivileged people and heavy fuel to increase Moldovas reserves in case its natural gas supply is discontinued.



    The Romanian PM Dacian Cioloş presented the priorities of his term in office to the head of the European Parliament Martin Schulz, during a visit to Brussels on Tuesday. On this occasion, PM Ciolos said Romania must be a more active EU member state and become more deeply involved in the issues on the EU agenda. In turn, in the joint press conference after the meeting, the EP President said that talks had approached, among others, the refugee crisis and the situation in the Republic of Moldova. On Monday, the first day of his visit to Brussels, the head of the Romanian government had a meeting with the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker.



    The head of the National Centre for Infectious Disease, Dr. Adriana Pistol, said on Tuesday that Bucharest requested international assistance for the hospitalised children from Arges County in the south. The cases involve severe digestive infection followed by complications in children aged up to two years, but the source is yet unknown. Three children died since the beginning of the month, and ten are treated in Bucharest. The Prime Ministers Control Corps announced it would initiate its own investigation in the case. Meanwhile, the Health Minister, Patriciu Achimaş-Cadariu, will present a report on this case to the Committee on healthcare and family in the Chamber of Deputies.



    The Government of Romania will present on Wednesday, in a public debate, a programme designed to fight poverty. The plan, entitled “Integrated Package on Poverty Reduction, consists in around 50 measures, primarily addressing children. These measures include the funding of ultrasound tests for pregnant women, of vaccines, the set-up of day-care facilities for pre-school children and the granting of facilities to reduce school dropout rates. According to the Government, some 1.7 million children in Romania are threatened by poverty, especially in rural communities.



    The former UN Secretary General, Butros Butros Ghali, has died at the age of 93. He had been admitted to a hospital in Cairo, last week. The Egyptian Butros Butros Ghali was the first African to hold the post of secretary general of the United Nations, and served between 1992 and 1996.

  • International Support for Syria

    International Support for Syria

    UN agencies dealing with the humanitarian crisis in Syria are to receive 11 billion dollars from donor countries by 2020. The money was pledged during a conference held in London on Thursday, where British Prime Minister David Cameron said the donors decided that half of the entire sum, six billion dollars be made available in the following months. Funds will mainly go into education programmes and the creation of fresh jobs.


    Consequently, Syria’s neighbours, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey have pledged to provide access to education to more than one million refugee children from Syria, the most vulnerable category to the Jihadist radical propaganda. The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon insisted that a labour market liberalization for the Syrian refugees by the states that are hosting them is vital.



    Long term funding has also been taken into consideration so that Syria as well as other countries in the region, affected by armed clashes, can revitalize their economies, produce growth and rebuild infrastructure. The European Union will be doing everything in its power to grant a series of trade facilities to the countries that offered shelter to Syrian refugees, said the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, whose image has been severely affected by the decisions she made during the refugee crisis.



    A relatively new and poor EU member, Romania has pledged 120 thousand dollars to the international community’s humanitarian efforts. Through a decision made on Wednesday, the technocratic cabinet in Bucharest has pledged this money as an emergency aid to the refugees. “Romania has joined the donor countries, and the humanitarian aid will go into UN coordinated programmes, such as the Syria Humanitarian Response Plan and the Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan, institutional instruments of cooperation between UN agencies, created after the refugee crises had worsened”, a government communiqué says. Pundits have hailed the decisions in London, having cautioned, though, that the sums pledged are far from covering the economic expenses of the war in Syria or its regional impact.



    World Bank forecasts published on Thursday set these costs at 35 billion dollars, but the magnitude of the humanitarian crisis remains incalculable. The conflict, which broke out in March 2011, following a series of peaceful demonstrations against President Bashar al-Assad, has so far caused the death of 260 thousand people and the displacement of over 13 million others. Syria is presently ravaged by war, fueled by the government troops and the rebels, on one side, and by the ruthless Islamic State militants, on the other.