Radio România Internațional

Tag: autonomy

  • December 30, 2023

    December 30, 2023


    AUTONOMY Romanias Senate Friday dismissed 3 bills tabled by the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romaniaregarding the autonomy of the Szeklers Land, a region in the centre of the country. At the plenary talks, the MPs from all the other parties stressed that the bills came against several articles in the Constitution and harmed the rule of law, while the initiators argued the opposite, saying that territorial autonomy did not entail changes in the national borders, but was a right which worked in a number European states. The bills provided for the “Covasna and Harghita counties and a part of Mureş county becoming autonomous, as part of a region with legal personality.” In that presumed autonomous entity, the Hungarian language would have had the same status as the official language of the Romanian state. The land would also have its own president. The so-called Szeklers Land, the only area in Romania where the Hungarian population is the majority, was autonomous between 1952 and 1968. According to historians, this was an experiment imposed in Soviet-occupied Romania by the dictator Joseph Stalin, at the insistence of the communist leaders in Budapest. The ethnic Hungarian population in Romania has been represented, without interruption, in the Parliament of post-communist Romania, by the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians. Since 1996, the UDMR has been part of numerous coalition governments in Bucharest, whether right-wing or left-wing.



    INSURANCE The government extended a cap on the price of compulsory motor insurance policies, which will stay at the level in February 2023 until March next year. The cap will stay in place for as long as it is necessary for market regulation, but in 3-month stages, the government spokesman Mihai Constantin announced. The Cabinet also passed a bill making insurance compulsory for electric bikes and scooters, but exempting electrically powered wheelchairs used by people with disabilities from compulsory insurance.



    POLICE Close to 24,000 interior ministry staff will be on duty during the 4-day New Years holiday, while road traffic will be monitored by 360 radar speed guns and DUI check teams. Also, around 5,000 fire-fighters are on duty every day around the country, to provide emergency assistance if necessary. The border police also took steps to enhance border monitoring and to streamline vehicle and person transit at checkpoints. Meanwhile, the authorities announced having seized over 100 tonnes of fireworks kits and opening more than 500 criminal investigations in this respect, and have once again called on parents not to buy firecrackers for their children as such materials may be extremely dangerous.



    POLL The activities carried out part of the Timişoara – European Capital of Culture 2023 programme, including the Constantin Brâncuşi exhibition, received the most votes (29%) to be designated the event of the year 2023 in Romania, in a survey carried out by the Romanian Institute for Evaluation and Strategy (IRES). According to the poll, the second event that marked Romania in 2023 was the qualification of the national football team to the final tournament of the European Championship – UEFA EURO 2024, which will take place next summer in Germany (24% of responses). Regarding culture and free time, 58% of the survey respondents said that they read at least one book in 2023, and 41% that they also bought books, 36% went to a show, and 20% went to a stadium or attended a sports competition. More than three quarters of the survey participants (76%) stated that they went to church this year.



    UKRAINE Fridays massive Russian strikes on Ukraine, which killed at least 30 people and wounded over 160 others, are “appalling assaults” the UN deputy secretary general Mohamed Khiari said in a Security Council meeting in New York. Ukraines president Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the situation as the largest Russian air attack since the start of the war, with close to 160 missiles and drones hitting a maternity ward, educational facilities, and other industrial, military and civilian targets. NATO member Poland also reported the violation of the Polish airspace by a Russian missile. The strikes triggered large-scale international condemnation, with the US president Joe Biden calling on Congress to take immediate steps to send fresh aid to Kyiv. Meanwhile, Russias ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya blamed the toll on the misuse of Ukraines air defence systems, “the use of which has led to the deaths of civilians.” (AMP)


  • December 29, 2023 UPDATE

    December 29, 2023 UPDATE

    BUDGET President
    Klaus Iohannis Friday promulgated the state budget law and the social security budget
    law for the year 2024. Next year, Romania’s budget will be focused on
    investments of about 7% of the GDP, as well as on an economic growth rate of
    3.4%, while the budget deficit is estimated at 5% of the GDP. The government
    passed the bills on December 15, and the budgets were endorsed five days later
    by the joined chambers of the Romanian Parliament.


    PARLIAMENT Romania’s Senate Friday dismissed 3 bills
    tabled by the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania regarding the autonomy of the Szeklers Land, a
    region in the centre of the country. The
    initiatives were rejected by the Chamber of Deputies on Thursday. At the
    plenary talks, the MPs from all the other parties stressed that the bills came against
    several articles in the Constitution and harmed the rule of law, while the
    initiators argued the opposite, saying that territorial autonomy worked in a
    number European states. The bills provided for the Covasna and Harghita
    counties and a part of Mureş county becoming autonomous, as part of a region
    with legal personality. In that presumed autonomous entity, the Hungarian
    language would have had the same status as the official language of the
    Romanian state. The land would also have its own president, elected for a
    four-year term by universal ballot. The so-called Szeklers Land, the only area
    in Romania where the Hungarian population is the majority, benefited from
    autonomy between 1952 and 1968. According to historians, this was an experiment
    in Soviet-occupied Romania imposed on Bucharest by the Kremlin dictator Joseph
    Stalin, at the insistence of the communist leaders in Budapest. The ethnic
    Hungarian population in Romania has been represented, without interruption, in
    the Parliament of post-communist Romania since 1990 until today, by the
    Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians. Since 1996, the UDMR has been part of
    numerous coalition governments in Bucharest, whether right-wing or left-wing.


    EDUCATION The Romanian government Friday passed the 2024 – 2027
    National Strategy on Adult Education, aimed at enhancing citizen participation
    in life-long learning programmes and at improving the quality of adult
    education and training. The targeted participation rate by the end of 2027 is
    12%, as against 5.9% at present. The EU average life-long learning
    participation rate is 11.9%. The low level of participation in lifelong
    learning schemes has led to persisting lack of skills, which prevents economic
    development and hinders Romania’s adjustment to a fast-changing labour market
    in the digital era, the government said in a news release.


    TIMIŞOARA The activities carried out part of the ‘Timişoara – European Capital
    of Culture 2023’ programme, including the Constantin Brâncuşi exhibition,
    received the most votes (29%) to receive the title of ‘event of the year 2023
    in Romania’, in a survey carried out by the Romanian Institute for Evaluation
    and Strategy (IRES). According to the poll, the second event that marked
    Romania in 2023 was the qualification of the national football team to the
    final tournament of the European Championship – UEFA EURO 2024, which will take
    place next summer in Germany (24% of responses). Regarding culture and free
    time, 58% of the survey respondents said that they read at least one book in
    2023, and 41% that they also bought books, 36% went to a show, and 20% went to
    a stadium or attended a sports competition. More than three quarters of the
    survey participants (76%) stated that they went to church this year.


    POLICE Close to 24,000 interior ministry staff will be on
    duty during the 4-day New Year’s holiday, while road traffic will be monitored
    by 360 radar speed guns and DUI check teams. Meanwhile, the authorities announced
    having seized over 100 tonnes of fireworks kits and opening more than 500 criminal
    investigations in this respect, and have once again called on parents not to
    buy firecrackers for their children as such materials may be extremely
    dangerous.

    HANDBALL The men’s national handball team of Romania Friday won the
    Carpaţi Trophy international handball tournament, organised in Pitesti,
    southern Romania, after defeating Georgia 31-25 in the final. For Romania, trained by the famous Spanish
    coach Xavi Pascual, this was the last test before the European Championship -
    EHF EURO 2024 to be held in Germany, between January 10 and 28, 2024. The
    Romanians will play in Group B, alongside Spain, Austria and Croatia. The first
    two ranked teams will qualify for the so-called main groups. A 4-times world
    champion in the 1960s-70s, Romania had not qualified for a European
    Championship since 1996. (AMP)

  • A bill that stirs public emotion

    A bill that stirs public emotion

    Romanias Senate Wednesday dismissed, by a comfortable majority, a controversial bill regarding the autonomy of the Szekler Land, under which this region in Transylvania would have been turned into an autonomous legal entity.



    The bill was initially passed automatically by the Chamber of Deputies, through a procedure roughly equivalent to what is known as pocket veto, in the form tabled by 2 deputies from the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians.



    The so-called Szekler Land is a region in the centre of the country mostly inhabited by ethnic Hungarians, and comprises the counties of Covasna, Harghita and part of Mureș County. The bill defined the borders of the territory that would have become the Szekler Land, which was supposed to have its own administrative organisation, its own institutions, using Hungarian as an official language and the official symbols of the Hungarian nation.



    The pocket vetoing of the bill, which triggered tough political responses and emotion across society, is a legislative procedure in which, when the Chamber of Deputies is the first chamber that receives a bill and it fails to debate it within a set deadline, the bill is deemed approved and automatically forwarded to the Senate for the final vote.



    President Klaus Iohannis accused the Social Democratic Party—the largest Opposition party in Romania—of having helped the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians to pass the bill in the Chamber.



    Klaus Iohannis: “Whereas we—me, the government, the other authorities—are fighting the pandemic and struggling to save the lives of Romanians, the Social Democratic Party is fighting in their secret offices in Parliament to give Transylvania to the Hungarians! Jó napot, Ciolacu. I wonder what the Budapest leader Viktor Orban promised you, in exchange for this deal?



    The Chamber speaker and interim leader of the Social Democrats, Marcel Ciolacu, dismissed the accusations:



    Marcel Ciolacu: “Nobody has sold Transylvania, and nobody will! This has always been and will always be a part of Romania. I call on intelligence services to make a public statement and say whether or not they have ever sent President Iohannis any information concerning these accusations made against me and the Social Democratic Party, because electoral competition must not be brought down to such a level.



    In a news release issued after the bill was rejected by Senate, the President of Romania warns that promoting such legislation is harmful for the Hungarian community, first and foremost, and generates artificial tensions within society.



    A number of Senators emphasised the unconstitutional nature of the bill, and said it could not have been endorsed by the Constitutional Court in the first place.



    The notable exception was the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians, which says the demands of the Hungarian minority are “absolutely justified and deplored the fact that Senate refused to discuss the matter.



    In neighbouring Hungary, foreign minister Peter Szijjarto called on President Iohannis to “show more respect for the Hungarians. In response, the Romanian foreign ministry rated Budapests claims as “provocative and inappropriate and warned that the Hungarian official regrettably misinterpreted the statements made by the Romanian president


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • April 29, 2020 UPDATE

    April 29, 2020 UPDATE

    CORONAVIRUS ROMANIA
    – The authorities are considering four scenarios which could be imposed after
    May 15: extending the state of emergency, declaring a state of alert, issuing a
    decree on a high-risk epidemic and, finally, taking no special measures, Prime
    Minister Ludovic Orban said on Wednesday. A decision will be taken as the
    deadline draws near, depending on the evolution of the pandemic. Previously,
    President Klaus Iohannis said easing restrictions starting May 15 doesn’t mean
    life will return to normal, because the danger hasn’t passed. In turn, Health
    Minister Nelu Tataru said that Romania is still heading towards the peak of the
    pandemic, but that in the next two weeks the number of new infections is
    expected to drop from one day to the next. Over 12,000 infections have been confirmed
    in Romania so far, some 700 people have died and over 3,500 have recovered.
    Around 2,200 Romanians abroad have tested positive for COVID-19, 88 of whom
    have died.




    PANDEMIC – A
    number of countries have announced they will ease the restrictions imposed due
    to the pandemic. In France and Greece schools will open gradually starting May
    11, while in Spain and Italy students will return to school in autumn. Hotels
    in Poland will be open to tourists during the summer while Bulgaria, Greece and
    Turkey plan to open the tourist season on July 1. Football clubs in Spain will
    resume training starting May 4, while in Portugal sports competitions will
    resume gradually. In the US, where the number of infections exceeds 1 million, President
    Donald Trump signed an executive order calling on meat producers to maintain
    their activity, amidst news of several slaughterhouses shutting down. The
    Federal Government will provide protection equipment for all employees in the
    sector. An updated death toll published by John Hopkins University shows the
    number of fatalities in the US is higher than the number of American soldiers
    killed in two decades during the Vietnam War. The global number of infections
    exceeds 3.1 million, the most number of cases being reported in the US, Spain,
    Italy, France, the UK and Germany. Some 220,000 people died to the coronavirus
    worldwide and over 965,000 have recovered.




    DRAFT LAW -
    Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on Wednesday harshly criticized the tacit
    adoption, by the Chamber of Deputies, of a draft law regarding the autonomy of
    the so-called Szeckler Land, a region in central Romania hosting the Hungarian
    community. Iohannis made it clear he would not promulgate the law. According to
    the draft law initiated by the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in
    Romania, the region should have its own administrative organization, public
    authorities and institutions and Hungarian should be its official language. The
    region would include the counties of Covasna, Harghita and part of Mures
    County. The Legislative Council, the Economic and Social Council and the
    Government have not green-lit the project. The Senate too on Wednesday gave a
    negative vote. Social-Democrat Chamber of Deputies Speaker, Marcel Ciolacu,
    said his party has voted against the bill in the chamber’s specialized
    committees. On the other hand, the Liberals say the tacit adoption would have
    signaled a political agreement between the Social-Democrats and the Democratic
    Union of Ethnic Hungarians. Prior to the vote, the Save Romania Union had also
    announced its Senators would vote against the bill, saying it goes against the
    Constitution. The president of the People’s Movement Party, Eugen Tomac, said
    Wednesday’s vote represents one of the biggest humiliations Parliament has
    ever subjected Romania and its people to, which is a sign of political
    weakness.




    MISSION – A team
    of Romanian doctors and nurses, set up on a volunteer basis, will leave
    Thursday for the Republic of Moldova, where they will help medical units
    involved in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Romania will also give
    Moldova a financial assistance package to help the country fight the
    coronavirus. Over April 7-24, a team made up of 11 doctors and 4 nurses were in
    Lombardy, Italy, where they contributed to the treatment of patients infected
    with coronavirus. The mission, which was also carried out on a volunteer basis,
    was conducted as part of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. The Romanian
    Foreign Ministry has approved the issuance of diplomatic passports to the
    personnel of Romanian medical missions to Italy and the Republic of Moldova, as
    a sign of great respect and appreciation for their efforts in fighting the
    COVID-19 pandemic.


    (Translated by V. Palcu & Elena Enache)





  • April 29, 2020

    April 29, 2020

    DRAFT LAW – Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has harshly criticized today the tacit adoption, by the Chamber of Deputies, of a draft law regarding the autonomy of the so-called Szecklers’ land, a region in central Romania hosting the Hungarian community. Iohannis has made it clear that he will not promulgate the law. According to the draft law initiated by the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, the region should have its own administrative organization, public authorities and institutions and Hungarian should be its official language. The region should include the counties of Covasna, Harghita and a part of Mures. The Legislative Council, the Economic and Social Council and the Government have not green lighted the project. The Senate, which is the decision making body in this case, has been convened today in emergency meeting.




    EU – Romanian Interior Minister Marcel Vela took part on Tuesday in a videoconference of the EU home affairs ministers to discuss the state of play and way forward on the response to Covid-19. The meeting was chaired by Davor Božinović, Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister of Croatia. The ministers discussed applications for contact tracing, given that contact tracing is one of the key measures for controlling the spread of the virus, particularly within the framework of the gradual easing of restrictions on movement. Marcel Vela said it is important to have coordination among the member states as regards the gradual easing of restrictions, depending on the evolution of the disease in each state. Interior ministers also talked about further improvements in transit corridors in order to enable continuous functioning of the single market and free movement of goods. Topics such as the current situation at the internal and external borders, asylum, returns and resettlements and the swift shift in criminal activities were also discussed.




    VETERANS DAY- On the occasion of the Veterans Day celebrated today, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has conveyed a message hailing their heroic behavior, which should be an example for younger generations and urging them to protect themselves from the coronavirus, by observing the social distancing measures. Veterans Day has been celebrated in Romania since 2008 and marks the day when, in 1902, King Carol I promulgated, at the request of the survivors of the War of Independence (1877-1878), the Decree establishing the “war veteran” title, in keeping with the decisions of the Geneva Convention. Over 900 thousand dead, wounded, prisoners and missing persons were reported after the Second World War. At present there are around 7300 veterans in Romania.




    CORONAVIRUS ROMANIA — Romanian President Klaus Iohannis is today holding a new meeting with the government members on the COVID-19 situation. Health Minister Nelu Tataru said Tuesday evening that Romania is still heading towards the peak of the pandemic but that in the next two weeks the number of new infections is expected to drop. He also said that during the 3-day holiday at the beginning of May the situation must be handled so as the emergence of new hotbeds should be prevented. Over 11,600 infections have been confirmed in Romania so far, 663 people have died and over 3400 have recovered. Around 2000 Romanians abroad have tested positive to COVID-19 of whom 87 have died.




    PANDEMIC — A number of countries have announced they will ease the restrictions imposed due to the pandemic. In France and Greece schools will be opened gradually starting May 11, while in Spain and Italy students will only go to school in autumn. Hotels in Poland will be open to tourists during the summer while Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey plan to open the tourist season on July 1. In the US, where the number of infections exceeded 1 million, the number of victims is bigger than the number of American soldiers killed in two decades during the Vietnam War. The global number of infections exceeded 3.1 million, with over 210 thousand people dead and more than 930 thousand recoveries.




    SURVEY — 70% of Romanians say that economic depression is a greater danger than the coronavirus epidemic, according to a data provided by the Romanian Public Institute for Public Opinion Survey. Most interviewees believe the epidemic will not go away which means that people will live with the fear of catching the virus. 55% of Romanians believe that the government does its job well or very well. Parliament, however, is only appreciated by one third of respondents. No significant collective tendency towards altruism has been reported, with only 27% of respondents saying they believe Romanians have become more selfless this period. The survey was conducted via telephone between April 22 and 25 on 710 people aged over 18 and has an error margin of +/- 3.7%. (Translated by Elena Enache)

  • January 9, 2018

    January 9, 2018

    CABINET – Romanias Social Democratic Prime Minister Mihai Tudose this morning sent to President Klaus Iohannis the nomination of Senator Ioan Deneş for the Water and Forestry Minister post. In Mondays meeting of the National Executive Committee of the Social Democratic Party Deneş was chosen to replace Doina Pana, who last week resigned because of health reasons. The Social Democrats postponed for the end of this month discussions on a possible reshuffling, after the Prime Minister announced he would like his Cabinet downsized from 27 to 16 ministries.




    DIPLOMACY – The Minister Delegate for European Affairs, Victor Negrescu, discussed in The Hague on Monday with the Dutch Foreign Minister Halbe Zijlstra about Romanias Schengen accession and the relations between the two countries as EU members, particularly the good economic relations. The two officials also looked at the key elements currently on the European agenda, including the Multiannual Financial Framework, the future of the EU and the common defence policy, in the context of Romania holding the rotating presidency of the EU Council in the first half of 2019. Known for the successive EU-wide campaigns for Romanias Schengen accession, including a petition, #RomâniaCereSchengen, signed by tens of thousands of Romanians and submitted to the European Parliament, the Minister Delegate for European Affairs suggested a vote in the Justice and Home Affairs Council. The Netherlands has repeatedly opposed Romanias joining the border-free area, on grounds of insufficient judicial reforms.




    AIRPORTS – Bucharests 2 international airports, Henri Coandă and Băneasa, reported for 2017 record-large passenger numbers: nearly 13 million, which is 16.8% more than in 2016. According to the National Airport Corporation, in 2017 the number of takeoffs and landings was also 7.7% higher than in the previous year, reaching 130,000. In fact, Airports Council International-Europe has ranked Henri Coandă as one of Europes top 5 airports in terms of the increase in air traffic figures in the first 10 months of the year, in the category of airports with 10-25 million passengers a year. Henri Coandă airport came ahead of the international airports in Lisbon, Berlin, Brussels, Athens, Milan, Prague and Budapest.




    TRADE – Romania continued to import more than it exported last year, and the trade deficit deepened by nearly 3%, according to the National Statistics Institute. Although exports grew by around 9%, they remain below imports, generating a trade deficit of 1.12 billion euro. The most important trade partners were EU member states.




    ETHNIC AUTONOMY – Officials for 3 political entities representing the interests of ethnic Hungarians in Romania, including the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, a parliamentary party, Monday agreed to propose territorial, local and cultural autonomy for the so-called Szeckler County, a region in central Romania where ethnic Hungarians outnumber the other communities. The leaders of the other parliamentary parties in Power and in Opposition dismissed the idea as unconstitutional. They argued that Romania is one of the countries where the Hungarian minority enjoys the most extensive rights, and ruled out any autonomy negotiations. According to them, the initiative stands no chances because it comes against the requirements of a democratic system and fuels division within society.




    TENNIS – The Romanian tennis player Mihaela Buzărnescu Tuesday qualified into the quarter-finals of the Hobart tournament in Australia, which has 226,750 US dollars in total prizes, while Monica Niculescu has reached the eighth-finals. Buzărnescu outplayed Germanys Anna-Lena Friedsam, and is to play next against the American Alison Riske. Monica Niculescu will take on Varvara Lepchenko, also of the USA. On Monday the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, the Australian Open, begins, with world no. 1 Simona Halep seeded first.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)