Radio România Internațional

Tag: Bode

  • February 8, 2023 UPDATE

    February 8, 2023 UPDATE

    EARTHQUAKE The massive earthquakes that hit Turkey and Syria on Monday killed around
    12,000 people, according to the latest reports. Two-thirds of the total
    casualties are reported in Turkey. Tens of thousands of people were injured. In
    spite of the freezing cold, rescuers are struggling to find survivors. President Tayyip Erdogan declared
    disaster areas in the 10 provinces affected by the quakes, and introduced a
    3-month state of emergency. Seventy countries have so far provided support in
    the search and rescue operations. Romania joined the international aid efforts
    and sent nearly 120 search and
    rescue specialists, doctors and nurses, as well as search and rescue dogs.
    Many Romanian nationals have contacted the Embassy in Ankara to report the situation there, but few of them
    requested to be repatriated. Turkey is located in one of the world’s
    main seismic areas. In 1999, an
    earthquake occurring in Düzce, in the north of the country, killed over 17,000 people. As regards Syria, Romania is going to provide mostly humanitarian aid,
    following that country’s request to the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.


    PATRIOT Romania has received a second Patriot system, out of the total
    four, that were contracted for the first stage of the country’s Air Force
    equipping programme. According to the defence minister Angel Tilvar, the four
    systems represent the first stage in achieving state-of-the-art ground-based
    air defence capability, which can be fully integrated into the NATO system.
    Patriot systems were first delivered to Romania in 2020, and 2023 is the year
    when the first stage of the equipping programme is to be fully completed,
    according to the Defence Ministry. The Patriot system is one of the most
    advanced air protection systems of the US military arsenal. It is a mobile
    system that usually includes a powerful radar, a control station, a power
    generator, launch stations and support vehicles.


    EU The European Council on Thursday will hold a summit in Brussels to
    discuss the war in Ukraine, the EU economy and migration. A video-conference
    chaired by the European Council President, Charles Michel, was held on Tuesday
    and was also attended by Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, who said talks
    focused on the support granted to Ukraine, consolidating the competitiveness of
    the EU economy and implementing concrete measures of combating illegal
    migration. Although Schengen enlargement is not officially on the agenda,
    President Iohannis might approach it informally in the plenary or during
    bilateral meetings with his counterparts.


    MOTION The Chamber of
    Deputies Wednesday dismissed the simple motion tabled by the opposition against
    the interior minister Lucian Bode. The document signatories accuse Bode of plagiarism
    and blame him for Romania’s failure to join the Schengen area. In Monday’s
    debates on the motion, Lucian Bode argued that the opposition’s claims were
    untrue and prompted by the forthcoming elections.This is the
    second failed motion against minister Bode, after the one in October.


    PROTESTS Members of the Sanitas Trade Union Federation Wednesday held
    protest rallies in Bucharest, for the 3rd consecutive day, picketing
    political party offices. Several hundred unionists from around the country
    protested against the Salaries Law and the under-financing of healthcare
    institutions and social assistance in Romania. The list of demands includes a
    minimum 15% pay raise. The unionists warned that unless the authorities meet
    their demands, further protests may be planned. (E.E., A.M.P.)

  • February 2, 2023 UPDATE

    February 2, 2023 UPDATE

    Visit — The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis was received, on Thursday, by his Azeri counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, in Baku. The Romanian president is paying a two-day official visit to Azerbaijan. The Romanian delegation includes the Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu, the Energy Minister Virgil Popescu, the director of the Romanian Intelligence Service – SRI, Eduard Hellvig and other presidential advisers. The two presidents discussed the development of bilateral cooperation in areas such as energy, transport, trade, investments, digitization, agriculture, education and culture. Also, the two assessed the stage of implementation of regional interconnection projects, such as the submarine transmission cable for electricity, and they also addressed the initiation of similar projects in the digital field. On Friday, the two national companies, Romgaz and Socar, will sign a new contract for the delivery of natural gas for the period April 1, 2023 and April 1, 2024. Thus, according to Ilham Aliyev, all opportunities in Romania will be used for the export of Azeri gas to other European markets. Also on Friday, Klaus Iohannis will open, together with Ilham Aliyev, the Ministerial Meeting of the Consultative Council of the Southern Gas Corridor, which will be attended by the European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson.



    Sofia — Ensuring the security of the EUs external borders and the effective management of the migration phenomenon can only be achieved through a coordinated effort at the national and European level, the Romanian Interior Minister, Lucian Bode, said on Thursday in Sofia. He added that Romania is a security provider at the European level, and the protection of the EUs external borders is a priority. Lucian Bode participated in the ministerial conference “Efficient management of the external borders of the EU”. On the sidelines of the meeting, the Romanian official had a bilateral meeting with his Bulgarian counterpart, Ivan Demerdzhiev. On this occasion, the two deepened the bilateral consultations started on the occasion of the JHA informal Council in Stockholm, which took place last week, regarding the acceleration of the accession process of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area. We remind you that on December 8, 2022, at the JHA council in Brussels, Romania was not admitted to the free travel area due to the opposition of Austria and the Netherlands. The Austrians voted against, and the Dutch decided to accept Romanias accession, but not Bulgarias, the two countries being analyzed on a common file.



    ICR — The Romanian Cultural Institute allocates 1 million lei (about 200 thousand Euros) this year for the translation of Romanian books abroad, through two funding programs. These are addressed to publishers from outside Romania and aim to facilitate access to Romanian culture, by supporting translations from Romanian authors and publications dedicated to Romanian culture and civilization. The files can be submitted, for the first time, exclusively online, by email, until March 8. They will be evaluated by a commission of independent experts.



    EU — The EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, announced in Kyiv that the EU countries would train another 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers, thus doubling the size of an ongoing program. He made this statement during a conversation with the Ukrainian Prime Minister, Denis Shmihal. Some of the soldiers will be prepared to use equipment including modern German tanks Leopard 2. Josep Borrell also said that Brussels will make available to Kyiv 25 million Euros to support the demining efforts of the countrys territory. “The protection of civilians and their livelihoods is a priority,” he underlined. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, and important European commissioners arrived in Kyiv on Thursday, to hold a joint meeting with the Ukrainian Government, on the eve of the EU – Ukraine summit due on February 3. The former Soviet republic applied to join the EU in February 2022, being granted the candidate country status in June 2022.



    OMV – The largest energy company in southeastern Europe – OMV Petrom – recorded, last year, a net profit of over 10 billion lei (over 2 billion Euros), by 260% higher than the previous year. According to the data of the Bucharest Stock Exchange, the companys contribution to the state budget, through taxes and dividends, reached a record level of 20 billion lei (about 4 billion Euros). The company plans investments of 6 billion lei (about 1.2 billion Euros), with the Neptun Deep project in the Black Sea at the center of the strategy. OMV Petrom has recently announced that it will not pay the solidarity tax of 60% on oil companies profits, imposed by the Bucharest Government, because, the group claims, it does not fall within its application criteria. The European Commission found the company is right, but the National Agency for Fiscal Administration – ANAF announced that it will continue the checks and discussions with the European Commission in order to clarify the situation. (LS)

  • May 16, 2022 UPDATE

    May 16, 2022 UPDATE

    NATO — The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis hails Swedens decision to apply for NATO membership, following the announcement made on Monday by Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson. In a Twitter message, president Iohannis states that Romania fully supports a rapid process of Swedens accession to the North Atlantic Alliance. He adds that, once they join the Alliance, Sweden and Finland will make NATO stronger than ever before. The two countries in northern Europe, located near Russia, have decided to go out of neutrality and demand to be admitted into NATO after Russia attacked and invaded Ukraine almost three months ago. NATO currently has 30 member states, 21 of which are part of the EU. The EU member states that have not joined the North Atlantic Alliance are Austria, Cyprus, Finland, Ireland, Malta and Sweden.




    Forecast — Romanias Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will grow by 2.6% this year and by 3.6% in 2023, according to the European Commissions spring economic forecasts. This is a smaller increase than expected in the previous assessments, in February. The situation is valid for the whole of the European Union and is mainly due to the disruptions caused by the war waged by Russia in Ukraine. European Commissioner for the Economy Paolo Gentiloni has announced that the European average inflation rate will be 6.8% this year. He also said that in April European inflation averaged 7.5%, the highest value ever recorded in the monetary union. According to the Commission, inflation in Romania will reach 8.9% this year, double the percentage reported in 2021. Inflation is expected to fall to 5.1% next year, but the Commission warns that there are growing economic risks as the war in Ukraine is prolonged.



    Visit — A delegation of the Romanian Interior Ministry led by minister Lucian Bode pays an official visit to the US between May 16-18, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the launch of the Romania-US Strategic Partnership. The Romanian official is to have meetings at the Department of State, the Department of Homeland Security and the US Congress. The discussions with the US officials focus on institutional efforts in line with the State Departments recommendations made in the Trafficking in Persons Report (TiP Report), Romania having the necessary tools for an adequate response to the challenges posed by this type of crime, namely structures, legislation, strategies and action plans, informs the Interior Ministry. The meetings are an opportunity to reconfirm the very good cooperation between the Romanian authorities and the US law enforcement agencies in the field of combating organized crime, with a focus on combating illegal migration and cybercrime, as well as intensifying the exchange of information. During the talks with members of the US Congress, Lucian Bode will discuss the challenges of the current regional context, both in terms of managing the humanitarian crisis generated by Russias aggression against Ukraine and in terms of security.



    Tennis — Polands Iga Swiatek leads the world ranking of professional tennis players (WTA), published on Monday. Next in the ranking are the Czech Barbora Krejcikova and the Spanish Paula Badosa. The Romanian Simona Halep returned to the Top 20, climbing two positions compared to last week, from 21 to 19 position. Romania has six players in the top 100, the other five being Sorana Cîrstea – 27, Gabriela Ruse – 52, Irina Begu – 62, Jaqueline Cristian – 69, Ana Bogdan – 91. In the doubles ranking, Romania has five representatives in the first hundred: Monica Niculescu – 40, Raluca Olaru – 47, Irina Begu – 57, Irina Bara – 59, Gabriela Ruse – 87.



    Football — CFR Cluj (northwest) won its fifth consecutive title as Romania’s football champions, after defeating the Universitatea Craiova (south), score 2-1, at home, in a match from the 9th stage, the penultimate of the First League play-offs. The vice-champion is FCSB, from Bucharest. On Thursday, Sepsi OSK Sfântu Gheorghe (center) and FC Voluntari (south, a satellite city of Bucharest) will play the final of the Romanian Football Cup. At the end of the domestic season, the Romanian national football team will have their first match in a new edition of the League of Nations, at the beginning of June, when it will meet the national teams of Montenegro, Bosnia and Finland. (LS)

  • The Interior Ministry under scrutiny

    The Interior Ministry under scrutiny

    A tragedy that could have been avoided has caused a series of vehement reactions in Romania. A 13-year-old girl died last week after being fatally hit on a pedestrian crossing in Bucharest by a police car and a second girl, seriously injured, was taken to hospital. The police car had its lights on. The interior minister, Lucian Bode, also reacted to the tragedy and explained that the policeman who was driving the car was not on an emergency mission, but was simply doing his job, at the request of the Directorate for Persons Record. He also said that the police officers who drive a police car, whether they are on an emergency mission or not, are not exempt from criminal liability.



    Lucian Bode: “The law is very clear: everything that means driving in a priority situation, whether the police officer is on a police mission or on an emergency mission, the driver of a police car has the obligation to drive carefully and is exempt only from civil offense liability, not from criminal liability.”



    The policeman who caused the tragedy in Bucharest was employed from external sources, which means that he did not attend a police school. The interior minister, Lucian Bode, announced that, following the tragedy in the capital, the process of recruiting police officers from an external source will be reanalyzed, a process which, although necessary, proves to be risky in some situations. Actually, several people have been lately hired from external sources due to the staffing crisis caused by retirement and the small number of places in police schools.



    Another tragedy has prompted the interior minister to point the finger to the ‘rot of a system that has deteriorated constantly over the last 30 years’. ‘Insufficient human resources have sometimes proved to be poorly prepared, sometimes to be in collusion with the local political power and sometimes in collusion with local criminals Lucian Bode concluded.



    This time, the tragedy took place on January 9 in Bolintin Vale (south), where hundreds of people took to the streets to complain about the lack of involvement of the authorities, in the context in which a family terrorizes them and a member of that family killed a man by hitting him in the head with a stone. The locals from Bolintin Vale called for urgent measures to protect them from the Roma community that came from another locality and that are causing scandals. The city was declared a special area of public safety, and dozens of gendarmes and police were then mobilized there.



    These tragedies led the opposition Save Romania Party – USR to demand, once again, the resignation of the interior minister, who, they claim, has failed in his mission to reform the police system. USR considers that the interior minister position should be held by a man who is able to come up with clear and firm solutions, that should restore the prestige of the police uniform and the trust of Romanians in the state institutions that must protect them. (LS)

  • September 3, 2021

    September 3, 2021

    Dismissal – The Romanian PM, the Liberal Florin Cîţu, on Friday convened a meeting of the governing coalition in order to solve the current political crisis generated by the dismissal of the justice minister, Stelian Ion representing the USR-PLUS Alliance. USR PLUS are asking for the resignation of the prime minister and his replacement with another representative of the Liberals, warning that, otherwise, they will table a censure motion. The Liberals who support Florin Cîţu believe that the solution for overcoming the political crisis is a new proposal from USR PLUS for the Justice Ministry. The representatives of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania – UDMR (in the governing coalition) consider that, at this moment, there is no alternative to this coalition and hope that a solution will be reached through which the current governmental formula will remain in place. On the other hand, the “Anghel Saligny” Investment Program, which is supposed to have triggered the current crisis in the ruling coalition, will be again on the table of the government on Friday and will be discussed in a meeting which is not going to be attended by the USR PLUS ministers. The interim justice minister, the Liberal Lucian Bode, announced last night that he would approve the project, unlike his predecessor, Stelian Ion. The “Anghel Saligny” program is intended for the local infrastructure and would have a funding of 50 billion lei (about 10 billion Euros).



    Forum – Romania remains a pillar of stability in the Black Sea and Western Balkans region, and one of the priorities is to defend common strategic interests, President Klaus Iohannis said in a message in the opening of the Black Sea and Balkans Security Forum hosted by Bucharest. The head of state said that “during all this difficult period, Romanias efforts to support its partners in the region are a concrete proof of the fact that only through unity and solidarity crisis situations can be overcome and the best solutions can be found to be able to move forward”. The 5th edition of the Black Sea and Balkans Security Forum takes place on Friday and Saturday in Bucharest, the Romanian Defense Ministry reports. The forum is organized by the New Strategy Center (NSC), with the support of NATOs Public Diplomacy Division, in partnership with the Defense and Foreign Ministries. NSC is a Romanian think tank founded in 2015, which operates in the field of international relations, security and defense. It organizes various events and publishes specialized studies, especially to promote the strategic importance of the Black Sea region and the Balkans.



    COVID-19 Ro–While interest for vaccination is dropping in Romania, the number of new Covid-19 cases in on the rise. 1,470 new cases were reported on Thursday and 26 Covid-associated deaths. Also on Thursday the authorities announced that almost 11 thousand people have got vaccinated. The coordinator of the national vaccination campaign, doctor Valeriu Gheorghiţă said that people should understand that vaccination provides protection to the immunized people and reduces the pressure on the health system. On the other hand, Valeriu Gheorghiţă warns that those who buy vaccination certificates do nothing but waste money and take the risk of getting sick, being hospitalized and even losing their lives. He called for drastic sanctions against these acts and urged doctors who receive such requests to address the authorities. 400 people are being investigated in approximately 200 criminal cases related to false vaccination certificates.



    List – In Bucharest, the National Committee for Emergency Situations has updated the list of countries with an epidemiological risk for visitors. Spain moves out of the red list and enters the yellow list, while Austria moves from the green list to the yellow one, following the increase in the SARS-CoV-2 infection rate. Israel, Great Britain, France, Switzerland, Greece, Turkey and Portugal remain in the red zone, and the Netherlands and Bulgaria remain on the yellow list. The new list takes effect on Sunday.



    Football – The Romanian national football team defeated, on Thursday evening, in Reykjavik, the national team of Iceland, in a match from the 2022 World Championship preliminaries. The next matches of the national team will be on September 5, with Liechtenstein in Bucharest, and on September 8, with Northern Macedonia in Skopje. Romania ranks 4th in the 2022 World Cup qualification Group J, with 6 points, being outranked by Armenia, with 10 points, Germany, with 9 points and Northern Macedonia, with 7 points. The first-ranked team is directly qualified, and the second goes to the playoffs.



    Tennis — The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, seed no. 12, today meets Elena Ribakina from Kazakhstan, in the third round of the US Open tournament, the last Grand Slam of the year. Halep remained the only representative of Romania in the singles competitions. Sorana Cirstea lost, yesterday, in the second round, to the American Shelby Rogers.




    Enescu – The George Enescu International Festival continues today, at the Romanian Athenaeum, with a concert given by the Royal Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Constantin Grigore. Also today, the Palace Hall in Bucharest will host a new concert by the La Scala Theater Orchestra, under the baton of conductor Andrés Orozco-Estrada, featuring violinist Julian Rachlin. Friday’s program also includes a concert in Bacău, by the Mihail Jora Philharmonic Orchestra there, under the baton of Jessica Cottis. In Cluj-Napoca, pianist Yeon-Min Park and violinist Valentin Șerban, both winners of the 2020/2021 George Enescu International Competition will give a recital. 32 orchestras from 14 countries are participating in the 2021 anniversary edition of the “George Enescu” International Festival.



    Attack – Six people were injured at a supermarket in Auckland, New Zealand, after an attack with a knife committed by an extremist who was already in the attention of the police. The attacker was a Sri Lankan citizen who had been living in New Zealand for ten years and was shot dead by the police. The Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the attacker was a “violent extremist” and described the incident as a “terrorist attack”. The man was allegedly inspired by attacks by the Islamic State jihadist group. Tough restrictions against COVID-19 are in place in Auckland, with only supermarkets and medical centers being open. In May, four people were stabbed in a supermarket in Dunedin, in the south of New Zealand. In March 2019, 51 people were killed in a terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch by a supporter of the white supremacy. (LS)