Radio România Internațional

Tag: Bucharest

Pollution, a big problem in Bucharest

Two years ago, the air quality in Bucharest fell below the accepted standards. Whereas according to measures implemented across the EU, there must not be more than 35 days a year with pollution values above normal limits, in Bucharest there were 70 days when levels were over 30% above the limit.

After the information concerning the air quality in Bucharest was circulated heavily in the media, on Monday the Minister for Environment, Waters and Forestry Costel Alexe visited the air quality monitoring unit in central Bucharest, and took the opportunity to lash at the Bucharest Mayor General, Gabriela Firea, for failing to implement any of the measures proposed in this respect.

The City Hall was no late in retorting. In a news release, Gabriela Firea says what has not been done in decades cannot be made up for in 36 months. According to her, the independent air quality measurement networks, administered by the Environment Ministry, are not authorised or certified. The quality indices the Ministry mentioned are temporary values recorded in the monitoring units by other methods than gravimetric analysis, and as such they are not validated.

The Mayors list of measures already taken includes the upgrade of the public transport system in Bucharest over the past 3 years. The Municipality earmarked 474 million euros from the local budget and non-reimbursable EU funds for the purchase of 830 new buses and other transport means. As many as 400 new buses are already in circulation in Bucharest, while another 130 Mercedes Benz hybrid buses will reach the city this spring, and plans are afoot for the procurement of another 100 trolleybuses, 100 electric buses and 100 trams.

Mayor Gabriela Firea also mentioned that the routes of 5 heavily used tram lines have been separated from the rest of the traffic, that nearly 30,000 vouchers for bicycle purchases were distributed between 2017 and 2019, and that in 2018 a project was launched targeting the construction of 4 bicycle lanes totalling over 48 km. An eco-voucher system has been initiated, in order to eliminate highly polluting vehicles, and a pilot project has been put in place with respect to school buses.

Last but not least, as of this month Bucharest has introduced the OXIGEN vignette sticker programme, aimed at introducing road taxes resulting in reducing traffic in the city centre and consequently in improving air quality. The money collected under this programme will be used exclusively for environment protection measures.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

7 January 2020
The Year 2019 in Sports (I)

2019 was a pre-Olympic year marked by
competitions meant to ensure tickets for the Olympic Games in Japan. Although
2019 wasn’t a good year in term of performances obtained by the Romanian
athletes, there were several performances, which are worth mentioning. Let’s
have a look at the main sporting events of the first half of 2019.

The month of January saw a fresh
edition of Australian Open where the best Romanian player in the competition, Simona
Halep, was eliminated by Serena Williams in the round of 16. The US challenger
won the match 6-1, 4-6, 6-4.

At the European Fencing Cup in
Italy Romania was represented by the team of the Army’s Sports Club Steaua
Bucharest made up of Ana-Maria Popescu, Alexandra Predescu, Greta Veres and
Raluca Sbarcia, who obtained the bronze medals.

In February, a pair made up of
Irina Begu and Monica Niculescu won the doubles of the WTA tennis tournament in
Hua Hin, Thailand, a competition with 250 thousand dollars in prize money. The
Romanians outperformed in the finals the Russian-Chinese pair Ana Blinkova /
Yafan Wang 2-6, 6-1 and 12-10 in super tie-break. That was the second WTA title
won by Begu and Niculescu after the one in Hobart in 2012. In February Simona
Helep made it to the finals of the tennis tournament in Doha where she lost to
Belgian challenger Elise Mertens in three sets 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Alina Rotaru obtained the best
result for the Romanian delegation at the European indoor athletics
championship held in Glasgow, the fifth position in the ranking of the long
jump event with 6 meters and 64 centimeters.

Ana Maria Popescu won the Epee
Grand Prix in Budapest after defeating Young Mi Kang of South Korea in the
finals.

Shooters from Romania obtained two
medals at the European Championship 10 m held in Croatia. Laura Coman reaped
gold in the rifle event and the Romanian women’s team came third in the same
event of the aforementioned competition.

Weight-lifters from Romania
obtained excellent results in the European Weightlifting Championship held in
Batumi, Georgia. Athletes from our country walked away with 14 medals out of
which 6 were gold. The gold medalists were Elena Andries and Loredana Toma in
the 49 and 64 kilograms categories.

At the European Wrestling
Championships in Bucharest, Romania obtained four medals. In the women’s
contest, Kriszta Incze won silver in the 65 kilogram category while Andreea
Beatrice Ana obtained bronze in the 55 kilograms. In the men’s contest, the
Greco-Roman style, FlorinTita of Romania walked away with silver in the 55
kilogram category while Alin Alexuc Ciurariu reaped bronze in the 130
kilograms.

The Romanian delegation walked away
with no medals from the European Gymnastics Championships held in the Polish
city of Szczecin in April.

The Romanian women’s tennis side
lost to France in Rouen 2-3. Halep scored for Romania in the matches against Kristina
Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia. The decisive match was the doubles when Halep
and Niculescu lost to Garcia and Mladenovic.

Horia Tecau and Jean Julien Rojer won
the double contest of the ATP Masters 1000 in Madrid. The Romanian-Dutch pair
defeated Argentinean Diego Schwartzman and Austrian Dominic Thiem, 6-4, 6-3. In
the single contest, Simona Halep of Romania made it to the finals where she conceded
defeat to Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands 6-4, 6-4. Romania’s handball side CSM Bucharest won the
Challenge Cup in May after a 22-all away draw and 26-20 home win.

CFR Cluj won the domestic football
championship while Viitorul Constanta walked away with Romania’s Cup after a
2-1 win against Astra Giurgiu in the finals.

Rowers from Romania walked away
with 6 medals from the European Rowing Championships in Lucerne, Switzerland.
Romania’s teams of eight ended on the first position and kept their continental
title while silver went to our men’s, women’s pairs and our women’s four.
Romania came third in the men’s double sculls.

Minsk in Belarus hosted the
European Games where Romania obtained two gold medals, three silver and five
bronze. The gold medalists were Laura Georgeta Coman in the ten meter rifle,
and the Romanian pair made up of Catalin Chirila and Victor Mihalachi in the
1000 meter race. Dacian Barna and Andreea Bogati reaped silver in the aerobic
gymnastics mixed event and so did Ovidiu Ionescu and Bernadette Szocs in the
mixed doubles of the table tennis contest.

A Romanian women’s team made up of
Bernadette Szocs, Elisabeta Samara and Daniela Dodean walked away with silver
from the team’s contest. Sambo wrestlers Daniela Poroineanu, Anda Mihaela
Valvoi, Alina Petronela Paunescu ended on the third position in the standings.
Also bronze went to Romania’s aerobic gymnasts in the group contest. Krista
Incze won bronze in the wrestling contest of the 62 kilogram category

(translated by bill)

23 December 2019
Projects aimed at reducing seismic risks in Bucharest

42 years on from the latest seismic
disaster, through a project entitled Antiseismic District, two NGOs – the
Romanian Association for Culture, Education and Normality (ARCEN) and Re:Rise -
are trying to provide an answer to the question, ‘how is Bucharest and its
residents prepared to cope with another major earthquake’. The project aims at
training 20,000 Bucharesters to deal with seismic vulnerabilities in the event
of another devastating earthquake which cannot be predicted beforehand. Under
the Romanian legislation, buildings in Bucharest have been included in seismic
risk categories ranking from 1 to 4. According to ARCEN director Edmond
Niculusca, to most Bucharesters the legislation is ambiguous, difficult to
understand and people are by no means ready for another event of this
kind.

Edmond Niculusca: According
to the city hall, Bucharest currently has 300 buildings in the first category
of seismic risk. But there are also more than 16 hundred buildings which have
been included in emergency categories. Under the legislation, these emergency
categories are used for prioritizing the buildings with the highest seismic
risk that must be consolidated first. So, officially Bucharest has over 2,000
buildings of high seismic risk, which could collapse in the event of a major
earthquake. In reality this number is much lower and the real number of these
buildings in urgent need of consolidation is pretty much unknown.

According to experts with the
Technical University of Construction, a 7.5 Richter earthquake at a depth of 90
kilometers would cause significant damage to 42% of Bucharest’s buildings. Some
of these, especially those built before 1963, are expected to be razed to the
ground, while others will become unusable. But what can people do in order to
diminish the effects of such a devastating earthquake. Here is again at the
microphone Edmond Niculusca.

Edmond
Niculusca: We encourage people to do
the things they, as individuals, can do and assume this responsibility, which
enables them to make the difference between life and death, between major
financial damage and moderate damage.

One of the things people can do is
to have a survival kit, which should include reserves of water and food
supplies, a first aid kit, a portable radio, a whistle and several clothes.
Residents whose blocks of flats were built before 1977, can ask for their reinforcement
as the law provides for a free technical expertise as well as for loans to fund
the works. Only owners associations may benefit the aforementioned facilities,
which aren’t available to individual owners. Here is construction engineer
Matei Sumbasacu with more on this issue.

Matei Sumbasacu: We imagine
that reinforcing these buildings is the only measure meant to reduce seismic
risks, but that’s a false assumption. There are also other ways to get prepared
for a disastrous event of this kind. The first thing is a dialogue with the
neighbors on the probability of such an event. This is how Re:Rise came into
being. I remember when I was living in a vulnerable block of flat I used to
hold talks with my neighbors on Saturdays about the probability of a big
earthquake to hit Bucharest. And those proved to be very useful discussions
from which we learnt a lot and which eventually led to the gradual involvement
of my neighbors in these anti-earthquake preparations.

The involvement of citizens in this
process may lead to an increased information level and the setting up of some
communities, which could help each other out and reduce the effects of the
disaster. However, as Edmond Niculusca recalls, bringing people together in
this process is no easy task.

Edmond
Niculusca: In fact this is very
difficult. Our first meetings as part of the Antiseismic District project were
being attended by no more than 8 persons. It is very important though difficult
to speak about a city, the city you live in, which is actually endangering your
life. But it is wrong to not do it as well and leave things unchanged. This is
another challenge for us, namely to convince people to have their buildings
technically investigated by experts. Few buildings have been reinforced in the
past 30 years and things aren’t likely to improve in this respect. I am not
sure there is enough money for reinforcing all the buildings that need to be
reinforced. Unfortunately the situation is the same at community level; there
is too much red-tape and people don’t trust the authorities very much. But we
want to encourage people to start considering the seismic risks they are
presently facing and get involved in order to reduce these risks.

(translated by bill)

11 December 2019
November 17, 2019

Election campaign – The campaign for the 2nd round of the presidential election due on November 24 continues in Romania. Left in the presidential race after the first round of voting are Romania’s incumbent president Klaus Iohannis, who is supported by the National Liberal Party, and the former Social Democratic PM Viorica Dancila. According to data provided by the Central Electoral Bureau that were validated on Friday by the Constitutional Court, in the first round of voting, when 14 candidates faced off, Klaus Iohannis obtained 37.82% of the votes and Viorica Dancila 22.26%. For the 2nd round of the presidential election, the Romanian citizens living abroad will also have 3 days to cast their ballots, starting on Friday at 12 a.m. local hour until 9 p.m. and on Saturday and Sunday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. The voting program may be extended until midnight.

Car market – The car market in Romania has grown by almost 10% in the first 10 months of the year. Romanians have bought more than 167,400 new vehicles of which 114 thousand cars, show latest data provided by the Association of Car Producers and Importers. Legal entities have mainly purchased cars in the first 10 months of this year, accounting for 56% of the total car purchases, but the number of cars bought by individuals has also grown by almost a quarter. 70% of the cars registered in the first 10 months of 2019 run on petrol, by 10% more than last year. In the first 10 months of the year Romanians have bought almost 5,300 ecological cars (electric and hybrid) as compared to 3,500 cars in 2018.

Tourism fair — Romania’s largest tourism fair comes to an end in Bucharest on Sunday. 230 travel agencies from 16 countries have attended the fair. The event gathers travel agencies, tour-operators as well as travel associations and county councils representing certain tourist areas. Visitors can choose holidays for the winter of 2019 as well as for the summer of 2020. Travel agencies provide discounts of up to 45% for travel packages, trips paid by holiday vouchers or paid by credit card in installments. The visitors of the fair could choose packages for the Christmas and New Year’s Eve holidays in Romania and abroad, summer packages on the Romanian or Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, in the Danube Delta, in spa resorts and other traditional tourist areas of Romania. Those with bigger budgets allotted for their holidays could choose a trip to Mexico, Brazil, Thailand, and Lapland in Finland, the land associated with Father Christmas.

Handball — Two Romanian women’s handball teams CS Gloria Bistrita-Nasaud (northern Romania) and CSM Corona Brasov (central Romania) are meeting today in the second leg of the EHF Cup 3rd round. In the first match CSM Corona Brasov won 27-25 and is close to qualification to the competition’s groups. Also today Măgura Cisnădie will play, on home ground, against the Spanish team Rocasa Gran Canaria in the 2nd leg of the EHF Cup 3rd round. On Saturday, Romania’s women’s handball champions SCM Ramnicu Valcea qualified to the main groups of the Champions League after Buducnost Podgorica (Montenegro) defeated SG BBM Bietigheim of Germany 34-28. SCM Ramnicu Valcea was defeated on home turf on Saturday by the French team Brest Bretagne Handball 26-23 in their last match in group C. In the final rankings, Brest Bretagne Handball is on 1st position with 12 points, followed by Buducnost with 8 points, SCM Ramnicu Vlacea with 2 points and Bietigheim also with 2 points. The first 3 teams in the group have qualified to the main groups with points they accumulated in the direct matches. (translation by L. Simion)

17 November 2019
November 16, 2019 UPDATE

Migrants — 20 foreign citizens were identified at the border with Hungary by the Romanian border police following a border control action. 11 of them were from Afghanistan, Iran and Somalia and were found in an uninhabited building which was under construction. The migrants aged between 17 and 37 were trying to illegally cross the border to neighboring Hungary on their way to Western Europe. In another border control action, the police found 9 citizens from Turkey and Iraq, among whom two minors, who were trying to reach the West.

Handball — Romania’s women’s handball vice champions CSM Bucharest were defeated 23-22 on Saturday the Russian team Rostov on Don, away from home, in their last match in Group B of the Champions League. Russia’s champions ended on first place, being followed by CSM Bucharest in Group B, which also includes the Danish team Team Esbjerg and MKS Perla Lublin of Poland. The first 3 teams in the group will qualify to the next phase.

16 November 2019
September 21, 2019

Presidential race. Two more
candidates have joined the race for the presidential elections to be held in
Romania in November. They are Kelemen Hunor, from the Democratic Union of
Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, and Mircea Diaconu, who has the backing of the
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats and the Pro Romania party. The incumbent
president Klaus Iohannis, on behalf of the National Liberal Party, and Dan
Barna, who is backed by the USR-PLUS alliance, officially joined the race on
Friday. Other candidates include the Social Democrat prime minister Viorica
Dancila and Theodor Paleologu, on behalf of the People’s Movement Party. The
deadline for registering in the election race expires Sunday at midnight. The
election campaign begins on the 12th of October, but the outdoor
advertising has already begun in Bucharest. Political commentators say this
pre-campaign period is characterised by a greater variety of political figures
compared with the previous elections, while in terms of the aesthetics of the
advertising materials, the focus appears to be on images rather than slogans.

Securitate. The former president of
Romania between 2004 and 2014 Traian Basescu collaborated with the Securitate,
the communist secret police, the Bucharest Court of Appeal ruled on Friday,
almost 30 years after the collapse of the communist regime. The ruling is not
final and Basescu, who currently serves as an Euro MP on behalf of the People’s
Movement Party, says he will appeal it in the Supreme Court. According to the
National Council for the Study of the Securitate Archives, the former president
wrote two reports signed under the secret name of Petrov in 1957, when he was
an officer in the commercial navy. As a result of one of these reports, the
Securitate prevented one of Basescu’s colleagues from being sent to work on a
ship that sailed abroad. Since the early 2000s, the National Council for the
Study of the Securitate Archives has issued a number of memos saying Traian
Basescu did not collaborate with the Securitate. Also, to be able to occupy
public positions, Basescu himself had to sign declarations stating that he did
not work with the communist secret police.

Waste. It’s been nine years since
the Let’s Do It, Romania! organisation has been organising a campaign in which
tens of thousands of volunteers gather to collect tonnes of waste. The
initiative forms part of a wider project involving more than a hundred
countries from around the world. A volunteering action to clean Romania’s
beaches has also got under way. According to its organiser, the Act for
Tomorrow association, waste floating on the water surface near the Black Sea
shore is collected. On Monday, divers will pick some of the solid waste on the
sea bed along the coast. An activity to clean the banks and waters of the river
Danube will be carried out in October. 254 kg of household waste per capita per
year is produced in Romania, and less than 10% is recycled, much below the
European average of 28%. If Romania fails to achieve a recycling rate of 50%
starting next year, it faces penalties of up to 200,000 euros a day and the
suspension of EU funds for environmental protection.

Anniversary. The city of Bucharest
celebrates 560 years since it was first recorded in historical documents. To
mark this anniversary, a number of events are taking place this weekend around
the city, including performances, concerts, light projections and others. The 6th
edition of an international 3D video mapping competition is held on Saturday
evening, with 8 teams projecting their videos on the facade of the Palace of
Parliament. Bucharest is also hosting the 10th edition of the
Aero-Nautical Show, the only festival in the country combing air and water
acrobatics.

Enescu festival. Two days are left until the final concert of
this year’s George Enescu International Festival. Saturday’s highlights include
a concert by the Bucharest Symphonic Orchestra conducted by Nicolae Moldoveanu;
a performance by the French pianist François-Frédéric Guy, who has earned an
international reputation in particular for renditions of the music of German
Romanticism; the Mahler Chamber Orchestra which brings together musicians from
20 different countries give a performance at the Romanian Athenaeum featuring
the pianist and conductor Mitsuko Uchida; while Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw
Orchestra are giving a concert in the evening. The George Enescu International
Festival, which is co-produced by Radio Romania, has this year brought together
over 2,500 of the world’s greatest musicians in 84 different concerts and
recitals.

21 September 2019
July 21, 2019 UPDATE

EU PM Viorica Dăncilă sees as fair the view taken by the new president of the European Commission, Ursula van der Leyen, who wants a new mechanism monitoring the rule of law in all member states. Dăncilă also said the Romanian Government would carry on talks with the European Commission concerning the lifting of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism with respect to Romania. The head of the Romanian Government added that after the elections for the European Parliament she discussed with the former president of the European Commission and the former first vice-president about the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism, and told them that Romania is open to discussion and that each and every aspect must be analysed separately. But, Viorica Dancila added, these talks must involve not only the Justice Ministry. The opinions of judges, prosecutors and magistrate associations must also be taken into account, in order for certain aspects in the CVM to be implemented or to explain why they cannot be implemented in Romania.

COURSES Between July 22nd and August 4th, the University of Bucharest organises the 59th edition of the Summer Courses in Romanian language, culture and civilisation. This summer school is the oldest initiative by a Romanian university to promote Romanian language and culture around the world. Taking part in the 2019 edition will be 30 learners from 14 countries: the US, Canada, Brazil, Korea, Turkey, Russia, Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Poland, Bulgaria, Croatia and Italy.

FAIR Thousands took part this weekend in the Mount Gaina Maidens Fair, the largest and best known outdoor traditional festival in the country, first mentioned in documents dating back to 1816. In the old times, the festival was an opportunity for the locals to get together, reconnect with their relatives and friends, make new friends and even meet spouses. At present the Mount Gaina Fair aims to promote traditional crafts and arts, Romanian folk costumes, customs and traditions and Romanian music. This years festival included traditional music and dance performances, outdoor parties and fireworks.

BREXIT Thousands of anti-Brexit protesters rallied in London just days before Boris Johnson is expected to become Tory leader and the new Prime Minister. On Tuesday the Conservative Party is to announce the winner of the race for Theresa Mays replacement. Boris Johnson, former foreign secretary and a Brexit supporter, is seen as the frontrunner in this race. On Sunday, the British Chancellor Philip Hammond, who is against a no-deal Brexit, announced he intends to resign if Boris Johnson becomes the UKs next Prime Minister. “Assuming that Boris Johnson becomes the next Prime Minister, I understand that his conditions for serving in his government would include accepting a no-deal exit on the 31st of October. That is not something I could ever sign up to, Hammond said in an interview to the BBC.

TENNIS The tennis player Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan (106 WTA) Sunday won the final of the BRD Bucharest Open. She defeated the only Romanian left in the competition, Patricia Ţig, 6-2 6-0. Patricia Ţig is the 3rd Romanian to play the finals of the Bucharest Open, after Simona Halep in 2014 and 2016, and Irina Begu in 2017. Also on Sunday, in the doubles final, Romanians Jaqueline Adina Cristian and Elena-Gabriela Ruse lost to Viktoria Kuzmova (Slovakia) / Kristyna Pliskova (the Czech Republic), 6-4, 7-6.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

21 July 2019
The International Theatre Festival in Sibiu, central Romania

In 29 years of post-communist
freedom, Sibiu is for the 26th time playing host for the most
important festival of performing arts in Romania. The festival has been
conceived as a multi-functional body and a space for creation, so that it may
allow for new techniques of theatrical expression.

The festival’s cultural offer is
extremely rich: the most representative productions of major theatre troupes in
Romania, famous international theatre performances, street performances on a
daily basis in various places around the city, as well as in its medieval
citadels or fortified churches. Part of the performances under the aegis of
this festival will be also hosted by stages in Romania’s capital city
Bucharest, in Cluj, north-western Romania or Medias, in the center.

According to critics, the
International Theatre Festival (FITS) was the main argument in favour of
obtaining by Sibiu the status of European Capital of Culture in 2007, the very
year of Romania’s entry into the European Union. Thanks to the market offer
created by this festival through the Stage Performance Exchange, the Radu
Stanca National Theatre in Sibiu has been attending the most important
festivals of this kind in the world, in Edinburgh, Avignon, Naples, Brussels,
Seoul, Tokyo, Porto and Frankfurt.

According to Constantin Chiriac,
the festival’s founder and president, this year’s edition, due to unfold over
June 14th and 23rd, includes 540 events involving 3,300
artists from 73 countries, who will be performing in 75 spaces in front of 70
thousand spectators per day. These figures, he says, are placing FITS on the
first position in a world ranking as a unique festival.

During this edition of the
festival, six leading figures of the world theatre are to be given a star on
the Walk of Fame in Sibiu. According to the French ambassador in Bucharest,
Michele Ramis, the International Theatre Festival in Sibiu is part of
Romania-France cultural season, and no less than 28 theatre companies from
France are to arrive in Sibiu to perform in 76 shows.

The embassies of Japan, Germany,
Israel, China and Britain are also partners of this festival, a strategic
objective of the Romanian Ministry of Culture, which, jointly with the local
administration is the main funder of the event, that also has the support of
the European Commission, the foreign embassies and cultural centers in Romania
as well as of various international networks and private sponsors.

For the first time last year, FITS
had two honorary patrons, the president of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, who used to
be Sibiu’s mayor for 14 years, and the heir of the British crown, Prince
Charles, known for his passion for Transylvania, where he has several
properties, as well as for the Saxon medieval architecture.

(translated by bill)

7 June 2019
May 21, 2019 UPDATE

Meeting — During Romania’s presidency of the Council of the EU, Bucharest hosted on May 20th and 21st the informal meeting of the environment ministers from the EU member states. The debates focused on the measures to be taken at European and international level to create the necessary framework for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Priorities target mainly the reduction of energy consumption. The European Commissioner for environment, maritime affairs and fisheries Karmenu Vella announced that soon the EC would adopt new guidelines for integrating ecosystem services in the decision-making and green infrastructure process, as regenerative and circular economy should be boosted and a durable agricultural policy promoted. The European official said the EU would make effective progress in the environmental field through the line ministers’ cooperation. The debates also approached biodiversity, the discussions highlighting the importance of integrating biodiversity targets within the relevant sectoral policies and strategies.

Brexit – The British government approved PM Theresa May’s plan on Brexit, including the compromise measures that are to be included in the law that is to be voted on early next month. The draft law includes the idea of a temporary customs union until future general elections are held as well as measures to guarantee EU workers’ rights and to protect the environment. The passing of the Brexit law by the House of Commons is an almost impossible mission for the government, even though the measures proposed might persuade some of the Labour MPs to vote for it, newspapers write. Jeremy Corbyn pointed out he was opposed to the government’s proposal, considering it is not different from the previous one that has been already rejected 3 times so far. Also the euro skeptic Conservatives announced they would vote against it. The government also discussed preparations for a no-deal Brexit, which, at least for the moment, is still the version provided by the British legislation, unless a deal is reached by October 31.

Kiev — Romania’s deputy Prime Minister Ana BIrchall on Monday participated in Kiev in the swearing-in ceremony of Ukraine’s president elect, Volodimir Zelenski. According to a government communiqué, Ana Birchall had a bilateral meeting with the Ukrainian official during which she reiterated Romania’s firm support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally-recognized borders. Strengthening security in the Black Sea region is a common objective, the Romanian official added. She approached the issue of the rights of the Romanian minority in Ukraine, highlighting the role of minorities as bridges between the two countries. Almost 500 thousand ethnic Romanians live in Ukraine, mostly on the Romanian territories annexed in 1940 by the former USSR and taken over in 1991 by Ukraine as a successor state. (translation by L. Simion)

21 May 2019
May 20, 2019

Weather forecast — The weather in Romania continues to be unsettled but warm. Meteorologists have issued a fresh code yellow alert for storm and heavy rainfalls for the north, northeast, center and south of the country valid from Monday at noon until Tuesday morning. Strong winds will be reported in the mountains and locally in the east and southeast of the country. Sunday evening’s storm wreaked havoc in the western county of Timisoara while floods affected the eastern counties of Botoşani, Suceava and Bacău.

Barometer – Almost half of Romania’s population believes that EU accession has brought about advantages, shows a nation-wide public opinion barometer made by INSCOP Research. According to the barometer, almost 85% of Romanians wish to consolidate the partnership with the US or to maintain it at the same level, and more than 60% believe Russia was and will remain the main threat to Romania’s security. Romanians believe that the biggest threat to their country in the near future is corruption (35%), being followed by a new economic crisis (18.9%) and a possible war in the area (15.4%). The data for the opinion survey was collected from across Romania between April 12 and May 3, 2019. 1,050 people were surveyed representing Romania’s un-institutionalized population aged under and over 18. The survey was conducted upon request by LARICS — the Laboratory for Information Warfare Analysis and Strategic Communication of the ‘Ion I.C. Bratianu’ Institute of Political Sciences and International Relations of the Romanian Academy.

Meeting – Bucharest is hosting on Monday and Tuesday the informal meeting of the environment ministers from the EU member states, held as part of Romania’s presidency of the Council of the EU. The event is co-chaired by the environment minister Grațiela Gavrilescu and the minister of waters and forests, Ioan Deneș. The meeting is also attended by environment ministers from the European Free Trade Association and from the EU candidate states, by the European Commissioner for climate action and energy Miguel Arias Cañete and the European Commissioner for environment, maritime affairs and fisheries Karmenu Vella. In the first session of the informal environment council debates will focus on climate change, dwelling on innovative solutions and the role of citizens in ensuring a future with reduced CO2 emissions.

EP elections – Hundreds of millions of Europeans are expected to the polls this week to elect a new European Parliament for a 5-year term. The elections start on May 23 in Great Britain and the Netherlands and will come to an end on May 26 in most EU countries, Romania included. Following the vote, 751 MEPs will be elected of whom 33 are Romanians who will represent the country at EU level until 2024. Thousands of people participated on Sunday evening in Bucharest and other cities of Romania in the manifestation entitled ‘All for Europe’, an event co-funded by the EC which was meant to motivate citizens to go to the polls and vote in the EP elections. The manifestation is part of a series of actions held on Sunday in 49 cities from 13 European countries.

Sports — CFR Cluj won the 2nd consecutive title and will represent Romania in the preliminaries of the Football Champions League. Ranked 2nd and 3rd in the domestic championship are FCSB formerly known as Steaua Bucharest and Viitorul Constanta, teams that will play in the preliminaries of the Europa League. Romania’s 3rd representative in this continental competition will be the winner of the Cup, fighting for which will be Viitorul and Astra Giurgiu on Saturday, May 25. If Viitorul wins, CS Universitatea Craiova will move on to the European Cups. (translation by L. Simion)

20 May 2019
The Institute – the Creative District and other projects which showcase the dynamism and cultural di

In
literature or science, sports or marketing, trade or visual arts, we come
across various expressions of creativity, under many forms, be it the
classical one – a painting or a book, an advertising banner or a bicycle – or
a phone and laptop.

According to its Facebook page, The Institute promotes Romania’s
creative industries and aims to contribute to modernising Romania. One of
their best known projects is called the Creative District and was launched in
Bucharest, back in 2017.

Words are beautiful and to the point, but let us now take a look at some
facts. One of the projects has been recently carried out at the weekend, in
three consecutive weeks. The Institute and the Institute for Public Policies
(IPP), with the support of Electrica SA have shed light on two iconic buildings
of the Creative District, situated in Bucharest’s old city centre.

Ana Păun, communication expert with the Creative District (The
Institute), explains:

Ana Paun: This is one of the
brand new projects that we develop at the Creative District. One of the
conclusions drawn after the national census of 2011 was that 9 in 10 houses in
Bucharest were completely or partially uninhabited. And I’m referring to a
series of landmark buildings, of special importance for both the capital’s
culture and heritage. There are so many extremely beautiful and valuable houses
within the perimeter of the Creative District, but which are not inhabited
today. And we thought we could draw the city inhabitants’ attention by lighting
these houses on the inside, just like they would have been inhabited.

Bucharest has been the guest city of this year’s edition of the Madrid
Design Festival. Romania’s capital city mounted an exhibition devoted to the
Creative District. The exhibition Bucharest Creative Quarter@Madrid Design
Festival was supported by the Romanian Cultural Institute and The Institute,
and it was opened to the public for a month and a half.

Now, the Institute team is getting ready for new challenges. The first
such challenge will be the 7th Romanian Design Week, hosted by
Bucharest between May 17 and 26. This festival has grown by the year. In 2019 it supports and echoes the
discourse of the local creative industries, underlining the major contribution
of creative communities as well as the way in which they turn the capital into
a truly European city. Ana Păun, communication expert with the Creative
District, explains:

Ana Paun: A series of
creative hubs or clusters, I would say, have developed in our city along the
years. One such hub is that at Industria Bumbacului S.A. or in other places
like the Creative District, where there is a concentration of creative
businesses, workshops and studios. The Romanian Design Week comes up with an
itinerary of creative hubs. Each of them organises events, from parties to
fairs and customised coffees- everything is part of this year’s edition of RDW.
Naturally, there will also be a central exhibition, as usual. In 2019, it will
be hosted by the BCR building in the University Square, a historical building which
will be open to the public for the first time.

The central exhibition will include over 200 works. So, the month of May
will bring along not only scents of peony and lime-tree blossom but also many
enticing offers.

27 April 2019
European funds for investment

Small
and medium sized enterprises that have financial difficulties and Romanian
students who want to continue their studies abroad will be granted over 170 million euros in European funds. The European
Investment Fund (EIF) signed four agreements with four banks in Romania on
Wednesday.

These are in fact guarantee funds, with the
EIF assuming part of the risk. The EIF and a non-banking
financial institution FINS signed the first Erasmus+ guarantee agreement in
Romania, enabling FINS to offer a new loan product to Master’s students who
would like to study abroad.

Thanks to the guarantee,
about 450 students will be able to get more favourable conditions when they
apply for a loan to study in another EU country, Iceland, Liechtenstein, North
Macedonia, Norway or Turkey. The 4.5-million euro agreement comes under the
Erasmus Plus loan guarantee scheme financed by the European Union and managed
by the European Investment Fund.

The head of the European
Commission Delegation in Bucharest, Angela Cristea, who attended the ceremony
of signing the agreements,
believes the Romanians’ fears towards the EU come in fact from the fear of the
unknown and the best way to overcome it is the direct contact with other
European societies.

Angela Cristea: The more the
programs helping European citizens to go and live for a while in another
country, the more tolerant and open our societies will be. This is exactly what
we want, especially at this time when the future of the European Union is being
decided. That is why, these accords, which apparently are more or less common
financial operations, have in fact a much higher stake.

The European Fund for
Strategic Investments (EFSI) is the heart of the Investment Plan for Europe,
known as the Juncker Plan. According to Angela Cristea, the plan initially
worked better in developed economies, where financial tools are no longer a
challenge, but is also working in Romania, where 29 projects financed under
this plan are already underway.

16 of them are large
infrastructure programs and 13 are programs that enhance the SMEs’ access to
financing instruments. Cristea has also said that based on the accords signed
on Wednesday, some 3 thousand SMEs will be supported to get access to
financing. The support consists in covering some of the risks taken by the
banks when they approve a loan for SMEs.

4 April 2019
European funds for Bucharest’s infrastructure

A harsh critic
of the Bucharest government for what she sees as their inability to access
non-repayable European funds for infrastructure, European Commissioner for
Regional Policy, Corina Cretu on Wednesday made the kind of announcement that
she would like to have the opportunity to make more often.

She announced
that the European executive green-lighted the allotment of 517 million euros
for the construction of a segment of the metro line to connect Bucharest’s
central area to the Henri Coanda Airport in Otopeni.

The airport is
the largest in Romania and has been included by the authorities in the Large
Infrastructure Operational Programme. The European co-financing will go into
the construction of 6 kilometers, out of the total 14 connecting Gara de Nord
railway station to Henri Coanda Airport.

The project also
provides for the construction of six new underground metro stations between the
1 Mai area in the city centre and a commercial centre on the route to the
airport, as well as the purchase of 12 new trains.

This investment
by the Cohesion Fund will improve the daily lives of 1.8 million citizens who
will benefit better transport connections to several destinations in
Bucharest, Corina Cretu has explained. I hope, she went on to say, that by 2023,
which is the deadline for the project’s implementation, Romanian authorities
will find solutions to complete constructions works on metro line 6, so that
the new segment to the Otopeni International Airport becomes operational.

Minister for
European Funds, Rovana Plumb, has hailed the announcement, saying that she
expects Metrorex, the national company in charge with the metro’s
administration, to start working on this project of high importance, in order
to improve transportation between the capital Bucharest and the Ilfov County.
Construction works on the new metro line are due to start in the second half of
this year. Why doesn’t the European Commission finance the whole project?

According to the
Pro Infrastructura non-governmental association that constantly criticizes
Romanian authorities on how they handle the transportation sector, the reason
would be that Bucharest has not provided credible information as to the
possible flaws in the project. The European Commission has voiced concern,
among other things, that the cost estimation is unrealistic, as it is below the
average construction cost per kilometer in Romania, and criticizes the fact
that the M6 metro line does not take into consideration the construction of the
new terminal of the Henri Coanda Airport.

Other aspects
that Bucharest has failed to clarify, according to Pro Infrastructure, concern
an even heavier traffic on the already busy national road 1, and the
exaggeratedly optimistic estimation of the duration of construction works, of only
4 and a half years.

14 February 2019
The Government in Rome and Romanians in Italy

Romanian-Italian
relations are based on a Consolidated Strategic Partnership, signed by the two
countries’ Foreign Ministers on January 9, 2008. The presence of a large
community of Romanians in Italy, totaling some 1,2 million people, and of a
significant number of Italians in Romania, have created an important social and
economic dimension for this relationship.

Political
contacts have been frequent and varied over the years. Romania’s president
visited Italy in 2008, 2011 and 2015, while the Romanian Prime Minister visited
Italy in 2009, 2012 and 2014. High-ranking Italian officials in turn visited
Romania in 2011 and 2016.

Also worth
mentioning is that the Inter-Government Summit mechanism was set up between
Romania and Italy, with the first edition being held in 2008 in Rome, whereas
the second edition was held in 2011 in Bucharest. Italy is currently one of
Romania’s top economic partners, both in terms of two-way trade, as well as
investment.

According to
statistics, on March 31, 2017 two-way trade accounted for 3.5 billion euros,
namely 5% higher as compared to the previous year. Cultural and scientific
cooperation between the two countries has also been prospering. Rome currently
plays host to Accademia di Romania, while the Romanian Institute for Culture
and Humanistic Research is based in Venice.

Romania hosts
three Italian Lecturers’ Departments, in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca and Timisoara),
while Italy has six Romanian Lecturers’ Departments, in Calabria, Naples,
Padua, Pisa, Rome and Turin. Italy is also home to over 100 Romanian
associations.

In turn, Romania
has five high-schools with teaching in both Italian and Romanian. According to
Radio Romania’s correspondent in Rome, Italy’s Interior Minister Matteo Salvini
said that Romanians account for the biggest community in Italy, which is also
the best-integrated one from an economic, cultural and commercial point of
view.

The Italian
official said it is his duty to protect the large majority of Romanians who are
hard-working, honest people and to punish, at the same time, the few criminals who
stain the former’s image.

On the other
hand, Minister Salvini expressed hope that the Romanian Presidency of the
Council of the European Union will close certain economic issues that have been
pending for years and deal with more pressing matters, such as employment,
trade exchanges, tourism, agriculture and fishing. Last but not least, Matteo
Salvini said Europe cannot be simply a banking, financial or business market
and needs to refocus on human and family values.

14 February 2019
Romania, the EU and NATO

The defence ministers of the EU states met in Bucharest to look into the prospects of implementing the EUs Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy. The meeting was organised by the Romanian presidency of the Council of the EU. The efforts to consolidate the strategic partnership between the EU and NATO were the focus of the talks. The High Representative of the European Union Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini urged the participants to finalize an agreement, in the weeks to come, that should allow for the continuation of the “SOPHIA operation in the Mediterranean Sea, designed to fight human trafficking.

A special guest of the meeting, NATOs Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met with the Romanian president Klaus Iohannis, who underscored that defence on the Alliances eastern flank and in the Black Sea region was a priority, while pointing to the fact that the relations between NATO and the EU should be based on close cooperation. He also said that Romania would continue to comply with the responsibilities it assumed as part of its relationship with NATO.

Klaus Iohannis: “There has been much talk lately of ‘burden sharing in terms of budget expenditure for defence. Romania has committed to earmark 2% of the GDP to defence and we are keeping our promise. A large part of this money will be channelled, as decided during the meeting of Romanias Supreme Council of National Defence, into the modernisation of the army, and this has been deemed as a positive example within NATO.

Jens Stoltenberg has hailed the increase in expenditure for the Romanian army, pointing out that these contributions make the Alliance stronger and Romania safer. NATOs Secretary General also mentioned the presence of the Romanian military in Afghanistan, who are working for that countrys stability, and the European efforts in the field of defence. Jens Stoltenberg appreciated the EU efforts in defence, because, he said, that can help develop new military capabilities, address the fragmentation of the European defence industry and also improve defence spending across Europe. He also said that the Europe Union and NATO are cooperating more closely than they have done ever before, and that it is important that EU efforts on defence complement, rather than compete with NATO.

NATOs Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg added that the EU can never replace NATO, which remains the bedrock of European security. He added that after Brexit 80% of NATOs defence expenditure would come from non-EU Allies and that 3 of the 4 battlegroups in the Baltic region and Poland would be led by non-EU NATO Allies: the US, Canada and the UK.

(translated by: Lacramioara Simion)

1 February 2019