Radio România Internațional

Tag: Bystroye

  • THE WEEK IN REVIEW

    THE WEEK IN REVIEW

    Visits
    in the Far East


    The Strategic Partnership between
    Romania and Japan proves that the bilateral relations have been lifted up to
    the highest level – Romanian president Klaus Iohannis said after signing together
    with Japanese Premier Fumio Kishida this bilateral treaty in Tokyo on Tuesday.
    Also on Tuesday, president Iohannis was received by Emperor Naruhito. ‘Romania
    and Japan are now close than ever’, says the head of the Romanian state adding
    that against the present global background marked by war and regional tensions,
    it is important to rely on each other to defend the fundamental values that
    define us: the desire for peace and security, freedom, democracy and human
    rights, as well as international order based on rules.




    According to experts, once the
    Strategic Partnership has been signed, the development of the Romanian-Japanese
    cooperation will be stepped up through the extension of a wide range of
    activities and projects in all the fields of mutual interest. According to
    Radio Romania correspondent, president Iohannis’ visit also had an economic
    dimension, Japan being the biggest Asian investor in Romania. The 400 companies
    with Japanese capital in Romania have created over 40 thousand jobs and the
    growth potential is significant including on the fields with the highest degree
    of innovation, such as the development of the modular reactors technology, the
    production and distribution of green hydrogen, the high-power optical cables,
    the latest generation infrastructure or the completion of a new underground sector
    in Bucharest. The partnership with Japan has been the second Romania has
    concluded with an Asian state after the one with South Korea. From Japan,
    president Iohannis went to Singapore.


    Romania is the EU’s third biggest provider
    of IT services to Singapore and its interest focuses on a stepped up
    cooperation in this field through new bilateral projects.


    Over 3.7 million Ukrainian refugees to
    neighboring Romania


    The General Inspectorate
    of Border Police, announced that on Wednesday over 7 thousand Ukrainian
    nationals entered Romania through its border checkpoints. According to a communiqué
    released to the press on Thursday, since 10 February 2022, two week before the
    Russian invasion, 3, 705,317 Ukrainian nationals have entered Romania. Most of
    them just transited the country towards other destinations in Western Europe and,
    according to the Romanian authorities, roughly 100 thousand settled here.




    Parliament in Bucharest
    endorsed a declaration of support for Ukraine, one year after the Russian
    invasion on February 24th. The document endorsed with a landslide
    majority by the main political groups, PSD-PNL-UDMR upon the proposal of the
    opposition USR is firmly condemning the war Moscow is waging on a sovereign
    state, whose territory is inalienable and indivisible. The declaration
    reiterates Romania’s firm support for what it defines as the heroic fight of
    the Ukrainian state and people as well as for the independence, sovereignty and
    territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally-recognized borders.




    The Romanians in Ukraine


    But not everything is
    bright in the Romanian-Ukrainian relations. During the debates over the
    declaration for the support of Kyiv, George Simion, the president of nationalist
    opposition party AUR pleaded for the support of the co-nationals in the
    neighboring country. Over 400 thousand ethnic Romanians are living there mostly
    in northern Bukovina, the northern and southern Bessarabia and the Herta Land,
    Romanian territories the Stalinist Soviet Union annexed through an ultimatum in
    1940. These territories were taken over by Ukraine as a successor state back in
    1991. After the Russian invasion, many of these ethnic Romanians have been
    drafted to fight for Ukraine. In December 2022, The Romanian Foreign Ministry deemed
    as regrettable the fact that the law on Ukraine’s national minorities had been
    passed in the absence of a new consultation with the Venice Commission. Its opinion, the Bucharest diplomacy believes,
    would have certainly contributed to a clear and comprehensive text in keeping with
    the European legal standards in the field. According to the aforementioned
    ministry, Romania fully supports the European roadmap of Ukraine and its
    legitimate desire to join the EU, but points to the fact that the intempestive speeding
    of legislation in this field has significantly affected the consultations with
    the representatives of the national minorities, which should have got involved
    in comprehensive discussions prior to the adoption of the aforementioned law.




    The Mystery in the Canal


    Authorities in Romania and
    Ukraine have agreed to check the depth of the Danube canals, the administration
    in Kyiv uses to ship grains abroad – government officials of the two countries
    have announced. The Danube is a major transport route for Ukraine, which after
    the Russian invasion uses it for the export of various types of goods,
    including cereals. The Romanian authorities last month voiced their concern that
    Ukraine is trying to deepen the Bystroye canal, which crosses an environmentally
    sensitive area and asked if they can check the situation. Kyiv denied that dredging
    works on the canal would have violated any accord and agreed to present the EU and
    NATO member Romania the stage of the aforementioned works. Experts are
    going to start verification this month amid Bucharest’s fears that the works
    would affect the Danube Delta’s ecosystem, a unique area in Europe, included on
    the UNESCO world heritage. According to the Ukrainian Ministry of the Infrastructure,
    after the cleaning works conducted the depth of the Canal has almost doubled
    from 3.9 to 6.5 meters.


    (bill)

  • March 10, 2023 UPDATE

    March 10, 2023 UPDATE

    ECONOMY Net
    investments in the Romanian economy in 2022 were over EUR 30 bln, up 8.5% since
    the previous year, PM Nicolae Ciucă announced. He says this proves the positive
    impact of the measures taken by his Cabinet on the economy. Investment in
    development, the PM also says in a Facebook post, will preserve jobs and
    generate new ones, and in the long term it will contribute to higher revenues. Other
    data made public by the National Statistics Institute, which the PM says
    confirm the success of the Romanian economy in 2022, are a 4.8% GDP growth, foreign
    direct investments of EUR 11.3 bln, a 73% rate of EU fund absorption and
    exports amounting to EUR 85 bln. On the other hand, Romania’s public debt
    dropped in December 2022 to 47.2% of GDP, from 48.3% in November 2022 and 48.9% in 2021, the finance
    ministry announced. In 2023, expenditure for public investments is expected to
    account for 7.2% of GDP.


    VISIT After his visit to Japan, president Klaus Iohannis travelled
    to Singapore, where he had talks with his counterpart, Halimah Yacob. The Romanian
    president highlighted Romania’s goal to step up bilateral relations with
    Singapore. Additionally, president Iohannis spoke of a set of common goals
    pursued by both presidents, such as inclusion policies, economic and social
    development and green transition. He voiced Romania’s special interest in fully
    tapping the potential of bilateral relations, particularly in the economic and
    investment area, and underscored Bucharest’s objective to attract investment
    from Singapore, especially since Romania is the third-largest EU provider of IT
    services to that country. In turn, the president of Singapore, Halimah Yacob, highlighted
    the importance of the bilateral relation considering Romania’s growing profile
    at EU and NATO levels, particularly in the geopolitical context generated by
    the war in Ukraine. President Yacob also addressed the need to boost investment
    and two-way trade, considering the opportunities provided by such sectors as
    IT&C, cyber security and tourism. The Romanian head of state also had talks
    with Singapore’s PM Lee Hsien Loong, who emphasised the convergence of views and
    interests of the two countries in the current geopolitical context, and the
    importance of respecting the rule-based international order centred on the UN
    Charter.


    BYSTROYE The biodiversity of the Danube Delta is not affected by
    dredging works on the Bystroye Canal, and no significant water flow changes on
    the river Danube have been reported compared to statistics published in recent
    years, says the Environment Minister Tanczos Barna after the first measurements
    conducted by Romanian authorities on the branch of Chilia and Romanian sections
    of the Danube. The Romanian official said Ukrainian authorities must provide a
    written consent before the three ships of the Transport Ministry can finalize
    depth measurements across the entire section of the Chilia branch, run a new
    analysis of water flows and provide their final report. Authorities from
    Romania and Ukraine have agreed to measure the depth of Danube River canals
    after Kyiv started dredging the Bystroye canal. The Ukrainian Infrastructure Ministry
    said that, once dredging works were completed, the depth of Bystroye grew from
    3.9 to 6.5 meters. Kyiv has however denied that the works violated any
    agreement. Bucharest wants to make sure Ukraine’s operation does not impact
    ecosystems in the Danube Delta, a protected UNESCO World Heritage site.


    REFUGEES A centre for Ukrainian refugees was opened on Friday within
    the Edmond Nicolau Technical College in Bucharest. The centre is
    the outcome of a partnership between Bucharest’s District 2 Hall, UNICEF and Habitat
    for Humanity. Its 3 floors, totalling 2,000 sq m, can host 100 people. The
    district mayor says refugees may live, cook, socialise here, and that special
    areas are arranged for children to do their homework.


    MOLDOVA The US Administration will provide the Republic of Moldova
    with USD 300 mln in assistance for the energy sector and will share information
    with this country in a move to fight Russia’s attempts to destabilise it, the
    White House announced on Friday. The national security spokesperson John Kirby
    told the media that, although there is no imminent military threat against
    Moldova, the US believes Russia is seeking to weaken this small country and
    bring in a more pro-Russian government. He also said Washington has confidence
    in Moldova’s democratic and economic institutions and in their capacity to
    withstand these threats. We will continue to provide significant support, said Kirby.
    Protests against the government and president Maia Sandu, organised in
    particular by the pro-Russian party Sor, have been a regular occurrence in
    Chişinǎu for several weeks. (AMP)

  • THE WEEK IN REVIEW

    THE WEEK IN REVIEW

    Visits
    in the Far East


    The Strategic Partnership between
    Romania and Japan proves that the bilateral relations have been lifted up to
    the highest level – Romanian president Klaus Iohannis said after signing together
    with Japanese Premier Fumio Kishida this bilateral treaty in Tokyo on Tuesday.
    Also on Tuesday, president Iohannis was received by Emperor Naruhito. ‘Romania
    and Japan are now close than ever’, says the head of the Romanian state adding
    that against the present global background marked by war and regional tensions,
    it is important to rely on each other to defend the fundamental values that
    define us: the desire for peace and security, freedom, democracy and human
    rights, as well as international order based on rules.




    According to experts, once the
    Strategic Partnership has been signed, the development of the Romanian-Japanese
    cooperation will be stepped up through the extension of a wide range of
    activities and projects in all the fields of mutual interest. According to
    Radio Romania correspondent, president Iohannis’ visit also had an economic
    dimension, Japan being the biggest Asian investor in Romania. The 400 companies
    with Japanese capital in Romania have created over 40 thousand jobs and the
    growth potential is significant including on the fields with the highest degree
    of innovation, such as the development of the modular reactors technology, the
    production and distribution of green hydrogen, the high-power optical cables,
    the latest generation infrastructure or the completion of a new underground sector
    in Bucharest. The partnership with Japan has been the second Romania has
    concluded with an Asian state after the one with South Korea. From Japan,
    president Iohannis went to Singapore.


    Romania is the EU’s third biggest provider
    of IT services to Singapore and its interest focuses on a stepped up
    cooperation in this field through new bilateral projects.


    Over 3.7 million Ukrainian refugees to
    neighboring Romania


    The General Inspectorate
    of Border Police, announced that on Wednesday over 7 thousand Ukrainian
    nationals entered Romania through its border checkpoints. According to a communiqué
    released to the press on Thursday, since 10 February 2022, two week before the
    Russian invasion, 3, 705,317 Ukrainian nationals have entered Romania. Most of
    them just transited the country towards other destinations in Western Europe and,
    according to the Romanian authorities, roughly 100 thousand settled here.




    Parliament in Bucharest
    endorsed a declaration of support for Ukraine, one year after the Russian
    invasion on February 24th. The document endorsed with a landslide
    majority by the main political groups, PSD-PNL-UDMR upon the proposal of the
    opposition USR is firmly condemning the war Moscow is waging on a sovereign
    state, whose territory is inalienable and indivisible. The declaration
    reiterates Romania’s firm support for what it defines as the heroic fight of
    the Ukrainian state and people as well as for the independence, sovereignty and
    territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally-recognized borders.




    The Romanians in Ukraine


    But not everything is
    bright in the Romanian-Ukrainian relations. During the debates over the
    declaration for the support of Kyiv, George Simion, the president of nationalist
    opposition party AUR pleaded for the support of the co-nationals in the
    neighboring country. Over 400 thousand ethnic Romanians are living there mostly
    in northern Bukovina, the northern and southern Bessarabia and the Herta Land,
    Romanian territories the Stalinist Soviet Union annexed through an ultimatum in
    1940. These territories were taken over by Ukraine as a successor state back in
    1991. After the Russian invasion, many of these ethnic Romanians have been
    drafted to fight for Ukraine. In December 2022, The Romanian Foreign Ministry deemed
    as regrettable the fact that the law on Ukraine’s national minorities had been
    passed in the absence of a new consultation with the Venice Commission. Its opinion, the Bucharest diplomacy believes,
    would have certainly contributed to a clear and comprehensive text in keeping with
    the European legal standards in the field. According to the aforementioned
    ministry, Romania fully supports the European roadmap of Ukraine and its
    legitimate desire to join the EU, but points to the fact that the intempestive speeding
    of legislation in this field has significantly affected the consultations with
    the representatives of the national minorities, which should have got involved
    in comprehensive discussions prior to the adoption of the aforementioned law.




    The Mystery in the Canal


    Authorities in Romania and
    Ukraine have agreed to check the depth of the Danube canals, the administration
    in Kyiv uses to ship grains abroad – government officials of the two countries
    have announced. The Danube is a major transport route for Ukraine, which after
    the Russian invasion uses it for the export of various types of goods,
    including cereals. The Romanian authorities last month voiced their concern that
    Ukraine is trying to deepen the Bystroye canal, which crosses an environmentally
    sensitive area and asked if they can check the situation. Kyiv denied that dredging
    works on the canal would have violated any accord and agreed to present the EU and
    NATO member Romania the stage of the aforementioned works. Experts are
    going to start verification this month amid Bucharest’s fears that the works
    would affect the Danube Delta’s ecosystem, a unique area in Europe, included on
    the UNESCO world heritage. According to the Ukrainian Ministry of the Infrastructure,
    after the cleaning works conducted the depth of the Canal has almost doubled
    from 3.9 to 6.5 meters.


    (bill)

  • March 3, 2023

    March 3, 2023

    Visit. Next week, the head of the Romanian state, Klaus Iohannis, will pay a formal visit to Japan and also a state visit to the Republic of Singapore, the Presidential Administration announced today. Romanias president will visit Japan between March 6 and 8 and will have meetings with Emperor Naruhito, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, as well as other officials. The main goal and the main event of this visit is to raise the bilateral relationship to the level of Strategic Partnership, through the signing by the President of Romania and the Prime Minister of Japan of the Joint Declaration establishing the Strategic Partnership between the two countries. The Japanese state is the largest Asian investor in Romania. The state visit of the Romanian head of state to Singapore will take place between March 9 and 10, being the by a Romanian president in the last 20 years. Klaus Iohannis will hold official talks with his counterpart Halimah Yacob and with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. The visit is aimed at boosting bilateral relations, especially in economic and investment-related terms.



    Protest. On Thursday, in Iași, in the east of Romania, a series of protests by education trade unionists began, against the governments salary policies. Similar actions will take place, in the next period, throughout the country. The trade unionists are dissatisfied with low salaries, lack of bonuses and the problems related to the payment of overtime. The Minister of Education, Ligia Deca, says that the complaints concern the current legislation and promises that in the future law, which is currently being worked on, salaries will be progressive, starting from the average salary at national level.



    Bystroye. Romanian and Ukrainian experts are discussing today, the works done by Ukraine on the Bystroye Canal in the Danube. The technical consultations take place in the context in which recently theres been unconfirmed information that the Ukrainian side carried out works to deepen this navigable canal. Bucharest has voiced its disagreement with the works, arguing that they could affect the balance of the ecosystem in the Danube Delta. However, Kyiv claims it only carried out the regular canal dredging works and that the Romania side had been informed beforehand.



    Moldova. The bill on the replacement of the phrase “Moldovan language” with “Romanian language” in all laws of the Republic of Moldova (ex-Soviet, predominantly Romanian-speaking), including the Constitution, was voted on Thursday, in the first reading, in the Chisinau Parliament. The document was passed on the very day that 31 years had passed since the outbreak of the Dniester War, as a result of which the Russian-speaking Transnistrian region separated from the Republic of Moldova. According to Radio Chisinau, the communist and socialist deputies vehemently protested the bill. According to the text of the document, after its adoption in final reading, the Legal Information Resources Agency will ensure in the state register of legal documents the operation of changes in all the legislation of the Republic of Moldova, including the Constitution.



    Anniversary. In Romania, the Special Operations Forces have celebrated their 20th anniversary. The event was marked in Târgu Mures (center) with an impressive ceremony, attended by over 400 soldiers and more than 30 pieces of equipment, including military planes and helicopters. The Prime Minister of Romania, the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies and the Ministers of the Interior and National Defense participated in the event. “The Special Forces are special not because the men who are in it are special, but because their selection, organization and equipment are special, their training and will to train and fight are special, their power to sacrifice for their comrade and together for the country is special and all this makes the members of the Special Forces normal people. This is the definition of normality for us, the Commander of the Special Operations Forces, General Dacian Tiberiu Şerban said.



    Cards. 350,000 Romanians will receive energy cards in the next few days, after the Ministry of Investments and European Projects clarified the situations of those who were not included on the lists from the beginning. For cases where it was not possible to determine how many people lived in the same house, people submitted affidavits stating that the conditions to receive the respective financial support were met. So far, 1.7 million people have already received the cards, but almost 600,000 notices have been issued regarding failure to meet the conditions to receive the aid, i.e. exceeding the threshold of 2,000 lei (about 400 euros). According to the ministry, since February 20, over 225,000 payments have been made in a total amount of over 71 million lei (over 14 million euros). The aid is granted in two installments, of 700 lei each (about 140 euros) and can be used for payments for electricity, gas, thermal energy in a centralized heating system, firewood, fuel oil, pellets and other types of materials used for heating.



    Mission. A detachment of approximately 100 soldiers and four F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft belonging to the Romanian Air Force will participate in the enhanced air policing mission in the Baltic States, between April and July. According to the Romanian Defense Ministry, the main goal of the mission carried out in the airspace of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia is to prevent the violation of allied airspace and to provide assistance to military and civilian aircraft in emergency situations arising during the flight. The Baltic Air Policing mission is carried out on the basis of a system of rotation of tasks carried out by the allied countries since 2004.



    Accident. Strikes and demonstrations continue to affect Greece on the third day of national mourning decreed throughout the country after Tuesdays railway accident between a freight train and a high-speed train. About 2,000 people gathered in Thessaloniki, northern Greece, on Thursday night to protest the errors that led to the train disaster, as police announced a new toll of 57 dead and at least 56 missing, FP reports. About 700 other people, according to the police, gathered in front of the headquarters of the Greek railway company Hellenic Train in Athens on Thursday evening. The demonstrators held a minute of silence in memory of the victims, most of them students. In the meantime, the Minister of Transport resigned, and the head of the Larisa station (center), near which the accident occurred, was arrested. (MI)