Radio România Internațional

Tag: Bodnariu case

  • January 31, 2016 UPDATE

    January 31, 2016 UPDATE

    Romanian President Klaus Iohannis will hold talks on Monday in Bucharest with the head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Suma Chakrabarti. The foreign official’s agenda also includes meetings with PM Dacian Ciolos, Central Bank Governor Mugur Isarescu and Finance Minister Anca Paliu Dragu. According to Suma Chakrabarti, Romania has great potential and the EBRD is ready to expand its activity in the country, following the demand for financing. The EBRD is one of the biggest institutional investors in Romania.




    The Senate and Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest are resuming activity as of Monday, when the spring session of Parliament starts. Political parties have already set their priorities in terms of laws that they want to see passed. Analysts say the upcoming period will be defined by preparations for the local elections in June. The locals are the weak point of the current election law, which stipulates that mayors will be elected in just one round of voting. The Social Democartic Party and the National Union for the Progress of Romania are supporting the election of mayors in just one round of voting, while the National Liberal Party, the People’s Party as well as President Klaus Iohannis and the civil society favor two rounds of voting and have called on the Government to pass an emergency ordinace in this respect. On Monday, PM Dacian Ciolos will hold talks with parliamentary parties on this issue.




    As many as 28 parliament members from 14 states have called on the Council of Europe to urgently examine the functioning manner of the Norwegian child protection services. Initiated by Romania’s representatives in the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly, the measure stipulates that separating a child from his or her family should be considered only after some intermediary measures have been taken, such as social investigation, psychological counselling and mediation. The move comes after all five children of a Romanian-Norwegian family, settled in Norway, were taken by the local social services over minor physical punishments from their parents. The case continues to generate emotional responses, with thousands of people having participated in street protests in several Romanian cities on Saturday, in solidarity with the Romanian families in Norway that have been separated from their children by authorities in this country.




    The Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem has today proclaimed the canonization of John Jacob of Neamt, a monk of Romanian origin. Born in 1913 in northeastern Romania, he became a monk at the Neamt Monastery in the country and soon after he moved to the Holy Land where he lived near Jordan River and, towards the end of his life, in the wilderness of Hozeva. All his life he took care of the ill and the wounded. He later withdrew to a cave, where he died at the age of 47. The Romanian Orthodox Church declared him Saint in 1992.




    The Authority for Emergency Situations in the county of Suceava, northeastern Romania, has approved a series of measures against swine flu that killed over 120 people in the neighbouring Ukraine. Five people have died in the Cernauti region alone, at the border with Romania. The Romanian Foreign Ministry recommends Romanian citizens to avoid travelling to Ukraine in the upcoming period.




    Romania is attending for the 8th consecutive year the famous Venice Carnival that officially opened today. Tourists and locals will have the chance to see a special ethnographic exhibition, a selection of the most beautiful and representative heritage objects from the collection of the Village Museum in Bucharest. The exhibition is aimed at promoting Romanian culture.



    (Translated by Elena Enache)

  • January 31, 2016

    January 31, 2016

    The Republic of Moldova’s Parliament begins its spring session on Monday, against the background of protests by the pro-Russian opposition and the civil society who push for early elections. According to Parliament Speaker Adrian Candu, one of the legislative body’s first meetings will focus on aproving a referendum on the president’s election directly by citizens. Analysts, however, see this measure as a concession made to protesters who nevertheless consider it insufficient. The Moldovan Parliament’s agenda also includes a series of important laws meant to bring their country closer to the EU, such as implementing the association agreement, reforming the judiciary and fighting corruption. On Saturday evening, Romanian PM Dacian Ciolos conveyed a letter to his Moldovan counterpart, Pavel Filip, with the reforms that Chisinau has to implement as soon as possible so that a first instalment of 60 million euros to be disbursed from the 150-million euro repayable loan granted by Bucharest. Among these reforms are the urgent implementation of EU-Moldova Association Agenda, initiating a set of laws likely to improve the business environment, taking the necessaty stepts to reach an agreement with the IMF and appointing a governor of Moldova’s National Bank.





    As many as 28 parliament members from 14 states have called on the Council of Europe to urgently examine the functioning manner of the Norwegian child protection services. Initiated by Romania’s representatives in the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly, the measure stipulates that separating a child from his or her family should be considered only after some intermediary measures have been taken, such as social investigation, psychological counselling and mediation. The move comes after all five children of a Romanian-Norwegian family, settled in Norway, were taken by the local social services over minor physical punishments from their parents. The case continues to generate emotional responses, with thousands of people having participated in street protests in several Romanian cities on Saturday, in solidarity with the Romanian families in Norway that have been separated from their children by authorities in this country.




    The Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem has today proclaimed the canonization of John Jacob of Neamt, a monk of Romanian origin. Born in 1913 in northeastern Romania, he became a monk at the Neamt Monastery in the country and soon after he moved to the Holy Land where he lived near Jordan River and, towards the end of his life, in the wilderness of Hozeva. All his life he took care of the ill and the wounded. He later withdrew to a cave, where he died at the age of 47. The Romanian Orthodox Church declared him Saint in 1992.




    The Authority for Emergency Situations in the county of Suceava, northeastern Romania, has approved a series of measures against swine flu that killed over 120 people in the neighbouring Ukraine. Five people have died in the Cernauti region alone, at the border with Romania. The Romanian Foreign Ministry recommends Romanian citizens to avoid travelling to Ukraine in the upcoming period.




    Romania is attending for the 8th consecutive year the famous Venice Carnival that officially opened today. Tourists and locals will have the chance to see a special ethnographic exhibition, a selection of the most beautiful and representative heritage objects from the collection of the Village Museum in Bucharest. The exhibition is aimed at promoting Romanian culture.




    The pair made up of Romanian Horia Tecau and Coco Vandeweghe of the US on Sunday lost to fifth-seeds Elena Vesnina of Russia and Bruno Soares of Brazil, 6-4, 4-6, 10-5 in the mixed doubles final of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. In 2012 Horia Tecau won the mixed doubles at Australian Open together with Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the US. On the other hand, German tennis player Angelique Kerber won her first Grand Slam tournament on Saturday, after defeating Serena Williams of the US in the women’s finals. For her win Kerber will step up to 2nd place in WTA standings, replacing Romanian Simona Halep. Serena Williams will remain world leader.

  • January 21, 2016 UPDATE

    January 21, 2016 UPDATE

    One of the biggest threats to democracy is the anxious mood of our times, according to The Economist Intelligence Units latest Democracy Index. Romania ranks 59th in the classification, down one position as against 2014, being among the functional but imperfect democracies, with an insufficiently developed political culture and low political participation. The Democracy Index provides a snapshot of the state of democracy worldwide. According to The Economist Intelligence Unit, almost one-half of the world’s countries can be considered to be democracies, but, in their index, the number of “full democracies” is low, of only 20 countries.




    The Bodnariu case and the child protection system in Norway will be discussed in about three weeks in the European Parliament. The announcement was made on Thursday by the Romanian MEP Daniel Buda. The case of the Romanian — Norwegian family, settled in Norway, whose five children were taken by the local social services over alleged physical punishments from their parents, continues to generate emotional responses. Concurrently with street protests both in Romania and in the Romanian communities abroad, and with extensive media coverage, the Romanian authorities carry on, within the limits of their powers, to help the family get their children back. A Romanian parliamentary delegation is currently in Norway to discuss the situation with authorities in this country.




    During his official visit to France, Romanian PM Dacian Ciolos invited the heads of 60 French companies to invest in Romania, saying the country is stable in political terms and predictable as regards its economic and legal policies. On the second day of his visit to France the head of the Romanian government said that Romania is probably the only country in Central and Eastern Europe where there are no extremist and nationalist parties in the political life, which makes it safe from unpredictable reactions as far as political and economic policies are concerned.




    On Thursday, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis met in Bucharest the heads of foreign diplomatic missions. Iohannis said that Romania’s foreign policy is founded on the strategic partnership with the US, as well as on EU and NATO membership. He added that migration, terrorism and instability were the biggest challenges to be met in 2016. Iohannis also said that Romania still seeks membership in the Schengen area, in spite of its being under consideration at this time. The head of state noted that 2015 was a new beginning for politics in Romania, which should be continued in 2016 in terms of social dialog, social responsibility and institutional professionalism.




    The assassination of Russian spy Aleksandr Litvinenko was ‘most likely’ ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to the report resulting from a public inquiry by British legal authorities. The former FSB agent died in 2006 in a British hospital, poisoned with Polonium 210. Moscow has refused requests for the extradition of the two main suspects, Andrei Lugovoy former FSB agent and at present representative in the Russian parliament, and businessman Dmitri Kovtun, also associated with Russian intelligence.




    A new government has been sworn in by the neighboring Republic of Moldova, officially saluted by the government in Bucharest in a press release. According to the release, Romania is completely committed to the development of the bilateral strategic partnership with its eastern neighbor, encouraging mutual projects and reaffirming its willingness to support all efforts made by Moldova in implementing its European and reform agenda. Moldova’s Parliament voted to endorse a pro-western coalition government led by Pavel Filip. Thousands protested at the Parliament building right after the vote, calling for early elections, angered by corruption and by the political class.




    Romanian Defense Minister Mihnea Motoc met on Thursday in Brussels with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. According to a release by the Romanian Defense Ministry, Mihnea Motoc highlighted the importance that must be paid to the security situation in the Black Sea extended area. Motoc gave assurances that in 2016 Romania will stick to its commitment to participate in the Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan with some 650 military. The two officials also tackled the implementation of the Plan to enhance NATO’s operational capability and the agenda of the Alliance’s next summit. Mihnea Motoc also met with General Petr Pavel, Chairman of NATO’s Military Committee.



    (Translated by Elena Enache)