Radio România Internațional

Tag: appeal

  • Constitutional Court rules on presidential candidate

    Constitutional Court rules on presidential candidate

     

    Since the night of November 24, when Călin Georgescu came virtually out of nowhere to win the first round of the presidential elections, overtaking high-profile politicians, his name has become the most present on TV channels and news websites.

     

    The question of how this was possible was answered by the Supreme Defence Council, although not very convincingly for some. After putting together data coming from the intelligence services, the Council concluded that the independent candidate Călin Georgescu was the beneficiary of a hybrid attack by a foreign state actor, namely Russia, mainly through very high TikTok exposure.

     

    After the first round, the general public came to learn a few things about candidate Georgescu’s election platform, and eventually got to know a character bordering on the bizarre and the toxic. A fierce critic of the West and of Romania’s NATO and EU membership and an admirer of Putin’s Russia, Georgescu promoted a self-sufficient economic system reminiscent of Ceausescu’s ideology, and praised what he considered Romanian exceptionalism and leading figures of Romanian interwar fascism.

     

    On December 6, the Constitutional Court made an unprecedented decision in three and a half decades of democracy: it annulled the presidential elections, on grounds that the entire election process had been twisted in Georgescu’s favour.

     

    Backed by the country’s self-styled sovereigntist, but in fact populist and ultranationalist parties, last Friday Georgescu registered his candidacy in the upcoming presidential race, due on May 4 and 18. On Sunday, the Central Electoral Bureau rejected his candidacy, relying precisely on the Constitutional Court’s ruling in December. Predictably, on Tuesday, the Court dismissed Călin Georgescu’s appeal as ungrounded in a final ruling.

     

    According to the Central Electoral Bureau, Călin Georgescu’s candidacy does not meet legality criteria, in that, by failing to comply with the election rules he breached the very obligation to defend democracy, which is based on fair, honest and impartial elections.

     

    The sovereigntists, led by AUR party, criticised what they called the “abusive” decision of the Constitutional Court.

     

    Practically born on TikTok, Călin Georgescu’s dazzling but very brief political career seems to have ended at the Constitutional Court. The overexposure, however, brought him other problems as well. The former presidential front-runner was recently placed under court supervision, in a case in which serious charges are brought against him.

     

    The first of them is one of the most severely punished in the Criminal Code, namely incitement to act against the constitutional order. Other charges include false statements regarding his campaign financing, initiating or establishing fascist, racist or xenophobic and anti-Semitic organisations, as well as publicly promoting the cult of individuals guilty of genocide and war crimes. Călin Georgescu denies all accusations. (AMP)

  • Olympic Update

    Olympic Update

    The women’s gymnastics contest as part of the ongoing Paris Olympics drew to a close on Monday, August 5, with the last apparatus pieces finals in the beam and floor events. Romanian gymnasts took the start in both events.

    Competing in the beam event was Sabrina Maneca Voinea, who had advanced to the finals with the 5th mark in the qualifiers, 14. 000 points. However, in the final, Voinea fell off the beam and was eventually 8th-placed, the bottom-of-the-table position, with 11. 733 points.

    The winner was Italy’s Alice D’Amato, with 14. 366 points. The floor final followed, with two Romanian gymnasts competing, Ana Bărbosu and yet again Sabrina Maneca Voinea. Ana got the 8th mark in the qualifiers, 13.600, while Sabrina Voinea got the 4th mark, 13.800. With a flawless exercise in the final, Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade won, with 14. 166 points.

    Stepping onto the second step of the podium was US gymnast Simone Biles. The American got a surprisingly high mark, 14.133 points, having stepped off of the mat several times. At the end of her exercise, third-placed was Ana Bărbosu, who initially got 13. 700 points. Also 13.700 points got Sabrina Voinea who came in 4th because of a flaw in her exercise. Fifth-placed was US gymnast Jordan Chiles who filed an appeal to which the referees agreed.

    With a raised number of points, 13.766, Chiles won bronze. Therefore, the Romanians were denied the opportunity of stepping onto a step of the podium. Sabrina Voinea filed an appeal targeting the starting mark of her exercise but her appeal was unsuccessful.

    Romania last won an Olympic medal in gymnastics at the London Olympics in 2012. We recall back then Sandra Izbaşa won gold in the vault event, Cătălina Ponor walked away with silver in the floor event. While Romania stepped onto the third step of the podium in the nations’ competition.
    Twelve years on, as part of the Paris Olympics, Romania came in 7th in the nations’ competition.

  • December 4, 2019

    December 4, 2019

    London — During today’s meeting in London with the leaders of the other NATO states, the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis will speak about Romania’s assessment of the security developments at regional and global level and will reiterate the importance of the Black Sea for the Alliance, the eastern flank and Romania. In another development, Klaus Iohannis will highlight the fact that Romania is determined to allot 2% of the GDP for defense just like Bulgaria, Greece, Great Britain and Poland. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent to London, a central issue of the summit in London is the fair sharing of responsibilities in the context in which only 9 of the 29 member states have allotted at least 2% of the GDP for defense. Other topics on the summit agenda are related to the consolidation of the NATO posture of defense and deterrence, the modernization of the Alliance, and the consolidation of cooperation with the EU. On Tuesday evening Klaus Iohannis participated in the reception hosted by Queen Elisabeth II at the Buckingham Palace.



    Law – The Romanian Chamber of Deputies, a decision making body, on Wednesday adopted the bill for the abrogation of the compensatory appeal law with 272 votes for and 5 abstentions. The law was quite controversial because it allowed for the liberation of thousands of detainees ahead of due date. Some of them, who had been convicted for serious crimes, retuned to criminal behavior. The justice minister Catalin Predoiu explained recently that he was supporting the abrogation of the law, given that its wrong content endangered Romania’s citizens. He pointed out that the justice ministry representatives drafted a document including transitory measures to be applied in penitentiaries in the future. The bad conditions existing in penitentiaries generated lots of complaints at the European Court of Human Rights. The authorities mainly want to improve the quality of detention places.



    PSD – The Social Democratic Party’s executive committee is meeting today for the first time after the election of an interim leadership. We recall that Viorica Dancila resigned from the position of leader after her failure in the recent presidential election won by Klaus Iohannis, supported by the National Liberal Party. This was the second electoral defeat of the Social Democrats after that in the EP elections of May 26. The congress of the PSD will be held in February.



    Handball — Romania’s national women’s handball team were defeated for the 2nd time in Group C of the World Championship hosted by Japan 26-27 by Montenegro. In the previous matches the Romanian handballers lost to Spain and won against Senegal and Kazakhstan. To qualify to the main groups, Romania needs to defeat Hungary in the first leg. In the same group, Spain defeated Kazakhstan and will go further in the competition.



    Statistics — In Romania, the costs employers had to pay for the labor force were higher this autumn by more than 13% as compared to last autumn. According to data made public on Wednesday by the National Institute of Statistics the biggest increases of labor force costs were in the fields of education, constructions, professional, scientific and technical activities, hotels and restaurants, entertainment, culture and recreation. The aforementioned data also show that in the 3rd quarter of 2019 the costs employers had to pay for the labor force went up also against the previous quarter by over 2%. (translation by L. Simion)

  • February 18, 2019

    February 18, 2019

    EU The Romanian Economy Minister, Niculae Bădălău, is chairing in Brussels today the first meeting of the internal market and industry section of the Competitiveness Council (COMPET), under the Romanian presidency of the Council of the EU. The agenda of the Council meeting includes matters concerning the internal market and industry, the strategy for the single market for goods and services, while seeking to improve the competitiveness of the European economy. The Council will also exchange opinions on the single market overview process, and will hold a public debate on the impact of artificial intelligence on EU industry. Participants will also adopt conclusions on promoting development and the use of artificial intelligence.




    JUDICIARY The High Court of Cassation and Justice has once again postponed, to March 18th, the appeal filed by the Social Democratic leader Liviu Dragnea against a 3-and-a-half-year prison sentence he had received from the court of first instance in a corruption-related case. In June 2018, the Supreme Court sentenced Dragnea for instigating abuse of office, in a case involving the fictitious employment of 2 individuals who were on the payroll of the Teleorman Directorate General for Social Assistance and Child Protection, but who actually worked exclusively for the Social Democratic Party. Liviu Dragnea, who was the head of the County Council at the time, was accused of having ordered the hiring. He claims to be innocent and has appealed the initial ruling, but the trial has been repeatedly postponed, amid controversies regarding the membership of the 5-judge panels at the Supreme Court. In 2016, Dragnea also received a suspended 2-year prison sentence for attempted election fraud, but last summer the Supreme Court reversed the decision to suspend his sentence.




    FOREIGN AFFAIRS The Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Meleşcanu is taking part today in a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels. The agenda includes an assessment of the situation in Ukraine, ahead of this years presidential and parliamentary elections. The EU foreign ministers will also discuss Syria, the latest developments in Venezuela and the outcomes of the first meeting of the international contact group for Venezuela. Decisions and conclusions are also expected as regards the situation in Yemen, diplomacy in the context of climate change, as well as the Unions human rights priorities as part of the United Nations this year.





    STATISTICS 1.6% of Romanian employees were working in culture-related fields in 2017, as against the 3.8% the EU average, according to data made public by the European Statistics Bureau, Eurostat, on Monday. Around 8.7 million EU citizens were working in culture-related fields or had professions in this field. The highest rates were reported in Estonia (5.5%) and Sweden (4.8%). According to Eurostat, in 2017 EU households allotted an average 8.5% of their total expenses to entertainment and culture, with Denmark and Sweden spending as much as 11.5% and 11% respectively, compared to Greece with 4.6% and Romania with 5.8%. The total expenses for entertainment and culture across the EU in 2017 reached 710 billion euros, accounting for 4.6% of the Unions GDP.




    FLU In Romania, the number of deaths caused by the flu has reached 131. According to the National Centre for Infectious Disease Monitoring and Control, the last victims are a woman and 2 men. They had previous conditions and had not been immunised against the flu. Romania is currently struggling with a flu epidemic.




    EUROVISION Romanias representative in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest, to be held in Tel Aviv in May, is Ester Peony with a song called On a Sunday. Twelve songs competed in the national final last night. For the first time, the winner of the Romanian final was decided by an international jury and the public. The semi-finals in Israel are scheduled to take place on May 14th and 16th, and the final on May 18th. Romania will compete in the second semi-final, alongside Switzerland, Sweden, Ireland, Austria, the Republic of Moldova, Latvia, Denmark and Armenia. The countrys best performances so far were 2 third-places (Luminiţa Anghel & Sistem – Kiev, 2005; Paula Seling and Ovi – Oslo, 2010) and a fourth place (Mihai Trăistariu – Athens, 2006).



    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • June 27, 2014

    June 27, 2014

    HISTORIC MOMENT-The Republic of Moldova, a country with a majority Romanian speaking population, and Georgia have today signed in Brussels the EU Association and Free Trade Agreements. Also today, Ukraine has signed the economic component of the bilateral document with the EU. The President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barosso, has deemed the signing of the agreements as historic. He has warned however that their success depends on the three former Soviet states’ going ahead with a series of reforms, which bring them closer to the European political, economic and cultural values. In Chishinau, pro-western Prime Minister Iurie Leanca claims that he has prepared the relevant institutions to efficiently implement the Association Agreement, which he considers to be a stage in his country’s EU accession process. In exchange, the Moscow-leaning opposition-communist and socialist- is committed to restoring the partnership with Russia, if it returns to power, following the legislative elections due in autumn. Romania, a fervent and consistent supporter of Moldova’s European integration, is represented at the Brussels Summit by President Traian Basescu.



    MOSCOW– Russia has again threatened to take new measures to protect its domestic market, if it notices that the former Soviet republics’ association with the EU affects its commercial interests. Our correspondent in Moscow quotes a communiqué issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry as reading that the agreements signed in Brussels on Friday by the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia can cause huge damage to the Russian economy, as a direct consequence of halting cooperation in the field of production and of reducing Moscow’s relations with Chishinau, Kiev and Tbilisi, respectively. The Russian Federation’s Aviation Authorities have already announced that they no longer allow the Air Moldova airline to operate the flight between Moscow and Chishinau and back, without however providing an explanation.



    UKRAINE— Four OSCE observers, who were abducted by pro-Russian rebels a month ago, have been released. Last night, they arrived in Donetsk, a fiefdom of the separatists in eastern Ukraine. Separatist leaders, who claim to have control of all paramilitary groups which fight against the Ukrainian forces, blamed the observers’ abduction on a gang. Also in Donetsk, pro-Russian insurgents have announced they seized a Ukrainian military base. In another move, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has expressed his readiness to sign what he called a peace deal with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in an attempt to put an end to the insurgency.



    ROMANIAN LIBERALS-The National Liberal Party, the main right wing-opposition party in Romania, is today meeting in an extraordinary Congress to endorse the changes brought to the party statute. An ordinary Congress convenes on Saturday to elect a new party leadership. The mayor of the central Romanian town of Sibiu, Klaus Iohannis, stands highest chances of becoming party president. The Liberals should also decide on a merger with the Liberal Democratic Party, the other main party of centre-right orientation in Romania. In another move, the Liberals should also make a decision on their party’s leaving the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, ALDE, and joining the European People’s Party, EPP. We recall that in February, the National Liberal Party denounced the ruling alliance with the Social Democrats and joined the opposition.



    TOP-LEVEL SCANDAL– The Court of Appeal in Bucharest is today analysing the appeal made by Mircea Basescu, the brother of the Romanian president, against a court decision which led to his 30-day arrest, pending trial, in an influence peddling file. A week ago, the Bucharest Tribunal decided to arrest Mircea Basescu, at the anti-corruption prosecutors’ request, who accused him of taking a 250,000 Euro bribe, in exchange for trying to influence a favourable ruling in a manslaughter attempt lawsuit, against a ringleader.



    TENNIS– Romania’s 3rd seeded tennis player Simona Halep is today meeting Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko in the second round of the Wimbledon tennis tournament, the third largest Grand Slam of the year. Scheduled for Thursday, the match has been postponed because of heavy rain. Halep is the last Romanian woman tennis player left in the Ladies’ Singles, after five of her co-nationals had got eliminated. In the Ladies’ Doubles, Romanian Monica Niculescu and Czech Klara Koukalova will play in the first round against the Spanish pair Garbine Muguruza/Carla Suarez Navarro, and the Romanian-Italian pair Irina Begu – Karin Knapp will meet Russians Ekaterina Makarova/Elena Vesnina. In the first round of the Mixed Doubles, the pair made up of Romanian Florin Mergea and Ukrainian Elina Svitolina will meet the pair made up of German Andre Begemann and Ukrainian Olga Savciuk.