Radio România Internațional

Tag: Bucharest Mayor

  • Bucharest Mayor General Nicușor Dan makes presidential bid

    Bucharest Mayor General Nicușor Dan makes presidential bid

    Bucharest Mayor General, Nicușor Dan, has made public his intention to run in the 2025 presidential election. “We are at a turning point in our history, the most difficult after the Revolution. With their vote, Romanians have told us they have had enough”, Nicușor Dan told a press briefing on Monday evening.

    The Bucharest official said he will submit an independent candidacy. “I am open to talk with pro-European parties if they want to back my candidacy. Romania needs a president who makes sure the government truly follows the path to reforms that political parties support these days. I am confident Romanian society will take advantage of this unexpected moment to reflect and find the resources to move on, to make the change”.

     

    We recall that, after the December 1 parliamentary election, the pro-European parties that secured mandates in the new Parliament (PSD, PNL, USR, UDMR and the group of national minorities) signed a resolution to endorse a single candidate in the 2025 presidential election.  (VP)

  • March 25, 2016 UPDATE

    March 25, 2016 UPDATE

    Belgian police have arrested several people in connection with Tuesdays attacks in Brussels, in which at least 31 people died and more than 270 were wounded. The authorities carry on counter-terrorism operations, and 3 suspects were arrested on Friday in one of these operations, which was linked to the foiling of a plot in France on Thursday. The French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said that plot was at an advanced stage. Meanwhile, the US State Secretary John Kerry said in Brussels on Friday that “we will not be intimidated and (…) will not rest until we have eliminated the nihilistic beliefs of the Islamist groups. Also on Friday, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano, called on states to step up security against “nuclear terrorism. According to Belgian authorities, originally the targets of the Brussels attacks were the nuclear facilities in that country.



    The chief prosecutor of the Directorate Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT), Daniel Horodniceanu, said there were suspicions of terrorism financing in Romania. He announced that a Counter-Terrorism Office would be again established within the Directorate. The order concerning the resumption of the operations of the Counter-Terrorism Office has been submitted to the Justice Ministry and will then be forwarded to the Higher Council of Magistrates for approval. Meanwhile, Horodniceanu proposed the criminalisation of acts such as the repeated accessing of jihadist websites or the establishment of an organised criminal group specialising in acts of terrorism. The measures were proposed by DIICOT several days after the brutal attacks in Brussels.



    The Mayor of Bucharests district 2, Neculai Onţanu, was arrested for 30 days under bribery charges, after on Friday the Bucharest Court of Appeals approved the request lodged by the prosecutors of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate. Ontanu is suspected of having received as bribe, in 2006 – 2007, a plot of land in Bucharest, in return for having helped the holder of disputed property rights to acquire several properties. Onţanu, currently at his fourth term in office as district mayor, is also the interim president of a parliamentary party, the National Union for the Progress of Romania.



    Healthcare education should be a compulsory school subject, the Romanian Healthcare Minister Patriciu Achimaş-Cadariu said on Friday. After consultations with civil society and professional organisations, the Ministry will present a new bill concerning the introduction of health education as a school subject. The doctors and nurses working in education institutions may play a major role in teaching this subject, the Minister added.



    The Romanian Ambassador to the US, George Maior, said the development of bilateral economic relations, particularly attracting American investments, is one of the priorities of his term in office. Together with the US Ambassador to Bucharest, Hans Klemm, he took part in a roundtable in Washington, organised by the American-Romanian Business Council. Among others, Maior emphasised the performances of the Romanian economy and its positive prospects, encouraging American investors to take advantage of the opportunities that Romania has to offer. In turn, the representatives of major US companies with operations in Romania appreciated the openness of public institutions, but warned that governmental policies are still needed in order to ensure fiscal stability and the investment climate.

  • The Week in Review September 14 – 20

    The Week in Review September 14 – 20

    The Romanian Prime Minister is Under Prosecution


    Social Democrat PM Victor Ponta is under prosecution, the first head of government to get indicted for irregularities in the 25 years since the fall of communism. A party colleague, Dan Sova, is also being prosecuted with 17 accusations of forgery, conspiracy to commit aggravated tax evasion and money laundering. The cases revolve around the energy complexes of Turceni and Rovinari. The alleged violations were committed while Ponta was a lawyer in the private sector. In parallel, prosecutors have concluded that Victor Ponta has to be investigated for conflicts of interest as prime minister as well. His co-defendant, Dan Sova, a former minister for transportation, is being prosecuted for conspiracy to commit abuse of office. He is suspected of having pocketed hundreds of thousands of Euros for contracts that deprived the state of around 16 million Euros. The situation is getting thorny for the standing government and the Social Democratic Party, insofar as President Iohannis called once again on Ponta to step down. The Social Democrats, however, refuse, as illustrated by interim party chair Liviu Dragnea:


    Liviu Dragnea: “We have no guarantee that Pesident Iohannis would appoint as prime minister another Social Democrat. Victor Ponta is a prime minister who has led several governments which have generated in Romania good economic results, and not only economic. Romania is not about to burn down. Romania isnt about to burn down even tomorrow. Nothing terrible is going to occur over the next few days. It is important for him to put some order in his thoughts, and, depending on his decision, we will talk, the two of us and as a political party, as a coalition.


    Ponta continues to deny all charges.



    Romania and the Refugee Crisis


    Romania continues to oppose mandatory refugee quotas faced with the wave of migration of late, and next week the country will plead once again with the EU against such measure. The announcement was made by President Klaus Iohannis, after he consulted the Higher Defense Council of the country. The head of state has reiterated Bucharests commitment to take in 1,785 refugees, even though the European Commission would like Romania to take in three times as many. However, if the EU forces Bucharest to take in more than the number they volunteered to, the Defense Council took into account asking the EU for money to cover the extra expenses. Here is what President Iohannis said:



    Klaus Iohannis: “If anything like this should happen, it is clear that we have to do something. A decision has not been made, but the idea has been circulated, which probably may lead to a solution, of using European funds for expanding facilities for taking in refugees, or, at the extreme, of course, of using European funds for building more centers to house refugees.



    Also this week, a verbal war ensued between Romania and Hungary after Budapest announced it planned to erect a razor wire fence to fend off refugees on the Romanian-Hungarian border, similar to the one built on the border with Serbia. The position of the Bucharest government in relation to the way Hungary treats migrants is in line with the positions expressed in the EU, as well as in other international organizations. The Romanian government reiterated that a fence on its border with Hungary was not in conformity with European norms. The Romanian government believes it is fundamental to observe these norms, as well as human rights.



    The Mayor of Bucharest is Under Detention


    Dan Marin, representing the small National Union for the Progress of Romania Party, in the ruling coalition, is acting as of Tuesday as mayor of Bucharest. As such, he said:



    Dan Marin: “Right now there is a void of information as regards the financial situation at City Hall, which is why one of the first measures I will take is to run an external audit.



    Dan Marin takes over from Sorin Oprescu, suspended as mayor by the prefect of the capital city due to prosecution. Anti-corruption prosecutors accuse Oprescu, who is under temporary arrest, of having taken 25,000 Euros in bribes, alleging that he ran a kickback ring in his administration.



    The Romanian Economy Shows Signs of Recovery


    The IMF representative in Romania and Bulgaria, Guillermo Tolosa, said this week that Romania may overtake economically in the next three years European countries such as Greece, the Czech Republic and Portugal, if it maintains fiscal stability and manages to draw in investments, especially in infrastructure. Also this week, annual inflation reached a historic low in a quarter century, minus 1.9%, without the risk of deflation. The National Forecast Commission has upped its figures for 2015 on economic growth from 2.8% to 3.3%, allowing for the possibility of 4% in 2018.

  • September 15, 2015 UPDATE

    September 15, 2015 UPDATE

    The Romanian Foreign Ministry Tuesday said the Hungarian governments plans to build a fence along the common border, between two EU member countries and strategic partners, was politically incorrect and came against the spirit of the EU. Romanias response comes after Hungary decided to extend its wire fence on its southern border with Serbia, alongside the Romanian border as well, in order to stop the Middle East and northern African immigrant inflow. The Hungarian Foreign Minister, Peter Szijjarto, said the measure was prompted by the fact that the people traffickers operating on the Serbian border are changing their routes towards Hungarys border with Romania. Bucharest will be a part of the relocation mechanism by accepting more than 1,700 asylum seekers from Italy and Greece and another 80 people from outside the EU. However, Romania joins 9 other EU states in refusing the compulsory refugee quotas suggested by Brussels.



    The Prefect of Bucharest, Paul Nicolae Petrovan, Tuesday signed an order suspending the Mayor General Sorin Oprescu, after the Court of Appeals ruled that the latter should be taken in detention pending trial for bribe taking. A former member of the Social Democratic Party and later an independent politician, Oprescu was elected Mayor of Bucharest in 2008 and again in 2012. According to anti-corruption prosecutors, he received 25,000 euros in bribes. Between 2013 and 2015, Oprescu was part of an organised group that introduced a system through which those who wanted public contracts had to transfer a quota of the profits to local decision makers. Marin Stefanel Dan, a member of the National Union for the Progress of Romania, was appointed as interim mayor. Also on Tuesday the Social Democratic PM Victor Ponta appeared once again before the anti-corruption prosecutors who have charged him with corruption offences. On June 5, the Anti-Corruption Directorate ordered the prosecution of Victor Ponta, for forgery, accessory to tax evasion and money laundering, allegedly committed when he worked as a lawyer, as well as for conflict of interests with respect to his position as Prime Minister. In July, an asset freeze measure against Ponta was also announced. Romanias first PM to be prosecuted while in office, Ponta denies the accusations and dismisses the calls for his resignation, coming from both the Liberals in Opposition and from President Klaus Iohannis.



    The Social Democratic Party, in the ruling coalition in Romania, Tuesday decided to hold a special congress on October 11, to elect its new leaders. Having stepped down as party president after he was prosecuted by the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, the PM Victor Ponta announced he would not run for any position at this congress.



    The Romanian Education Minister, Sorin Cîmpeanu, Tuesday said in parliament that reforms in the public education sector were absolutely necessary. He added a comprehensive approach must be taken, allowing for the implementation of coherent and consistent measures for periods of time that exceed one ministerial term in office. Cimpeanu addressed the Chamber of Deputies at the request of the National Liberal Party in opposition. On Monday, he had stated that the new school year started on the right foot, although many problems were yet to be solved, particularly in terms of infrastructure, textbooks and curricula.



    Romanias rugby team is leaving for England on Wednesday, to take part in the World Cup due to kick off on September 18. Romania is playing in Group D, alongside France, Ireland, Canada and Italy. The national rugby team has never missed a World Cup final tournament, although they never went past the group stage.