Radio România Internațional

Tag: border crossing points

  • May 22, 2020

    May 22, 2020

    MEETING – President Klaus Iohannis is today chairing a meeting reviewing the
    economic situation in the context of the coronavirus crisis, the Presidency
    reports. Attending are Prime Minister Ludovic Orban, National Bank Governor
    Mugur Isarescu and Finance Minister Florin Citu. On Thursday, the Government
    adopted a series of measures to support Romanian businesses with over 100,000
    employees, large energy consumers, as well as farmers, by extending the
    deadline for filing the single payment form by June 15. Moreover, the
    Government will provide over 2 million people with protection masks. The
    categories include pensioners and people with disabilities. Under the
    newly-decreed state of alert, the wearing of face masks is mandatory in
    enclosed spaces, public means of transportation and at work.




    COVID-19 IN ROMANIA – The total number of confirmed infections
    with the COVID-19 virus stands at 17.712, of which some 10.800 people have
    recovered. 1.159 people have died, while 200 patients are still in intensive
    care, the Group for Strategic Communication announced earlier today. The
    Bucharest City Hall has launched an online platform where some 11,000 people
    living in Bucharest can sign up for voluntary testing against COVID-19. A
    second testing project will kick off next week and will be addressing 10.500
    people. Both are aimed at measuring the spread of the virus in the capital
    city.




    COVID-19 IN THE WORLD – Some 5.2 million people around the world
    have been infected with the coronavirus, and over 334 thousand have died. Some
    2 million people have recovered. The United States is the most affected
    country, with nearly 1.6 million confirmed cases and some 95.000 deaths.
    President Donald Trump ordered flags to fly at half-staff to honor the coronavirus
    victims. The Russian Federation is the second-most affected country in the
    world, some 317 thousand infected, followed by Brazil with 310 thousand. Europe
    continues to report the highest number of victims, over 170,000, whereas the
    updated death toll could be much bigger. Italy may have a higher number of
    deaths than officially reported. The Italian Social Security Institute
    yesterday announced that an additional 19,000 people could have died in their
    homes, without having been tested for COVID-19, compared to the official figure
    announced by the Civil Protection, namely 32,000 dead.




    REPATRIATIONS -
    The Foreign Ministry in Bucharest has announced that over May 21-24 seven
    flights will be set up to European states to bring home Romanian nationals with
    temporary stay permits who have been affected by the measures adopted by other
    states to prevent the pandemic from spreading. 5 flights will head to Spain,
    one to France and one to Great Britain. Yesterday the Ministry announced 306
    Romanian nationals and six foreign citizens who worked on cruise ships in North
    America and the Caribbean have been returned to the country.




    BORDER – The
    Nadlac border crossing point reported heavy traffic today as well, despite all
    border crossing points having been opened yesterday on the Hungarian border.
    Wait times were close to 90 minutes this morning on both ways, considering
    thorough checks are being carried out to prevent the COVID-19 virus from
    spreading. The Hungarian authorities have shut down two border crossing points
    in Satu Mare County. The decision follows Thursday’s announcement by the
    Romanian Border Police, according to which Romanian citizens can now use a
    number of crossing points, including the two in question. The Satu Mare Border
    Police says the two points are open only to freight traffic, commuters,
    students and medical emergencies.


    (Translated by V. Palcu)

  • April 10, 2018

    April 10, 2018

    AIR TRAFFIC — Air traffic was severely disrupted on Tuesday due to strikes staged by the German flight operator Lufthansa and the national French airliner Air France. Hundreds of flights were cancelled. Lufthansa said most of its cancelled flights are short-distance flights, but as many as 58 long-distance flights were also cancelled. Other protests of public sector employees in Germany and France were staged on Tuesday.



    AWARD — Romanian writer Mircea Cartarescu scooped the 2018 International Formentor Award in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in recognition of his literary work. The jury appreciated Cartarescu’s narrative capacity and his vast knowledge of universal culture. The Romanian writer will receive 50,000 euros. Cartarescu said 40 years ago he never imagined his writings would earn veneration and consideration from so many Spanish readers, and thanked his translator and his publishing house. Aged 61, Mircea Cartarescu has written over 30 works that have been translated in 23 languages.



    DEFICIT — In the first two months of 2018 Romania’s exports stood at €10.9 billion, while its imports stood at €12.5 billion, the National Institute of Statistics reports. According to the Institute, the trade balance deficit in the first two months of the year was €1.65 billion, by €400 million more than the same period of 2017.



    BRODER CROSSING POINTS — Romanians living abroad who spent Easter at home are returning to the countries they work in, and Romania’s western border crossing points are starting to get crowded. To avoid overcrowding, the Romanian Border Police has brought in more people. Drivers heading to these borders can use an online app to see the average waiting time for each border crossing point, so they can choose the least crowded checkpoint.



    DISCHARGE — Yulia Skripal, daughter of the former Russian spy Sergey Srkipal, who was targeted in Salisbury by a nerve agent attack, was discharged from hospital. Aged 33, the woman was taken to a safe location. Her father remains hospitalized, and doctors say his condition is improving fast. On March 4, the two were found unconscious in Salisbury, some 100 kilometers from London. The UK blames Russia for this military-grade nerve-agent attack, while Moscow has denied the accusations. The case has stirred a wave of unprecedented mutual expulsions between Russia and Western countries, involving as many as 300 diplomats.



    UBER — The European Union Court of Justice on Tuesday ruled that Member States may prohibit and punish, as a matter of criminal law, the illegal exercise of transport activities in the context of the UberPOP service, without notifying the Commission in advance of the draft legislation, France Press and Reuters report. The case concerned Uber’s use of unlicensed drivers as part of its UberPOP service in France, which has since been suspended there and in several other cities, and therefore will not affect Uber’s operations in the country. Tuesday’s ruling follows the December 2017 ruling of the court, when the EUCJ classified Uber as an ordinary transportation company instead of an app and should be regulated as such. Uber was founded in 2009 in the United States, and has been operating in Romania since February 2015, first in Bucharest and gradually expanding to Cluj, Brasov and Timisoara. There are over 450,000 registered Uber users in Romania, mostly in Bucharest. Romania is Uber’s second-largest market in Central and Eastern Europe after Poland.



    MOTION — The Senate today debates a simple motion against European Funds Minister Rovana Plumb, filed by MPs with the National Liberal Party and the People’s Movement Party in opposition. The signatories of the motion warn that the situation of sectoral operational programs is extremely serious, from the prospect of the very low amount of the refunds the European Commission is giving Romania at present. The rate of absorption for the 2014-2020 period was 10% at the end of 2017. The opposition claims Romania has a good chance of developing and truly becoming a European nation, with a living standard equal to other states in Western Europe. This chance is given only by European funds, which can help improve Romanians’ quality of life.



    (Translated by V. Palcu)