Radio România Internațional

Tag: cemetery

  • June 8, 2019 UPDATE

    June 8, 2019 UPDATE

    UN Romania remains “deeply committed to supporting the UN, and the campaign for a non-permanent seat in the Security Council “has strengthened the countrys international profile, reads a news release issued by the Romanian Foreign Ministry. The statement comes after on Friday Romania, supported by only 58 countries, failed to win a seat in the 2020-2021 Security Council, being outrun by Estonia, which got 132 votes. President Klaus Iohannis blamed the failure on “irresponsible statements by some top officials, which generated reluctance with respect to Romanias candidacy. On the other hand, voices in the ruling coalition made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats say the President, as coordinator of Romanian diplomacy, has most of the responsibility. The Security Council includes 5 permanent members with veto rights: the USA, Russia, China, France and the UK. Another 10 members have 2-year terms, after which they are replaced by countries from the same region. Next year 5 seats will be vacant, 2 for Africa, one for Asia-Pacific, one for Latin America and the Caribbean and one for Eastern Europe. To be elected in the UN Security Council, a country needs the support of two-thirds of the General Assembly members, which means at least 129 votes out of the 193 voting member states.




    G20 The Romanian finance minister Eugen Teodorovici is heading the EU Council delegation at the Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting held this weekend in Fukuoka, Japan. According to a news release issued by the Finance Ministry, the agenda of talks includes topics like financing for development, global economy, international taxation, global imbalances, population ageing, investments in infrastructure and financial sector issues. The G20 finance ministers and central bank governors will adopt an official declaration comprising the outcomes of the meeting, the news release also says.




    TENSIONS The Government suggests that the National Defence Ministry should take over the administration of the Heroes Cemetery in Valea Uzului and make it an international cemetery. A decision will be made after consultations with all stakeholders, PM Viorica Dăncilă says in a news release. She also calls for respect for Romanias state symbols and for public order, and urges responsibility in all political statements and actions concerning the situation in Valea Uzului, Harghita County. Soldiers of various nationalities, killed in the 2 world wars, are buried here. The Romanian Police opened a criminal investigation concerning the destruction of the access gate to the Valea Uzului graveyard, after on Thursday members of several Romanian organisations forced their way in, to attend a Heroes Day commemoration. According to the gendarmes, tensions were reported, but there were no violent clashes between the Romanian and the Hungarian ethnics in the area or with the police forces, as some Hungarian politicians had claimed.




    WHITSUNDAY Roman-Catholic Christians celebrate the Pentecost, which in mostly Orthodox Romania is marked, among other things, through a pilgrimage to Şumuleu Ciuc, attended every year by tens of thousands of Hungarian ethnics. The Marian shrine in Şumuleu Ciuc has become the most important Catholic pilgrimage site in the region. A week ago, it was also visited by Pope Francis, who was on a pastoral visit to Romania.




    MOLDOVA The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Moldova Saturday ruled that the appointment of the pro-Russian Socialist Zinaida Greceanyi as Parliament Speaker is unconstitutional. The ruling is final and cannot be appealed. The Socialists and the pro-European right wing voted to appoint Greceanyi after the Court decided that the mandate of the current Parliament ended. The countrys pro-Russian president Igor Dodon postponed signing a decree to dissolve Parliament, and said the republic is on the verge of being destabilised. These developments come after 3-and-a-half months of failed attempts at forming a parliamentary majority. In the February 24 legislative elections, Dodons Socialists won 35 of the 101 seats in Parliament. The ruling Democratic Party, headed by the controversial oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc, has 30 MPs, while ACUM bloc, a pro-European right-wing cartel, has another 26. Seven seats were won by the populist party headed by the Mayor of Orhei town, Ilan Shor, a politician sentenced by a court of first instance to 7 and a half years in prison for his involvement in Moldovas billion dollar banking fraud. 3 other MPs are non-affiliated.




    FOOTBALL Romanias football team is in Malta, scheduled to play against the host national team on Monday in the Group F qualifiers for the 2020 European Championships. On Friday Romania drew against Norway, 2-all away from home. In the first 2 matches in the group, played in March, the Romanians were defeated by Sweden in Stockholm, and won at home against Faroe Islands. Spain tops the Group F standings with 9 points, followed by Sweden with 7, with Romania coming in 3rd with 4 points. The top 2 teams in each group qualify into the final tournament. The drawing for Euro 2020 takes place in Bucharest on November 30. The Romanian capital city will also host 4 final tournament matches, 3 in the group stage and one in the 8th-finals. In related news, Romanias team will play this month in the European Under-21 Football Championships in Italy and San Marino, in Group C, alongside England, France and Croatia.



    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • April 8, 2019 UPDATE

    April 8, 2019 UPDATE

    Reactions — The completion of the Revolution file and the submission of the indictment to court have generated various reactions from Romanian politicians. President Klaus Iohannis hailed the completion of the investigation in this file and its submission to court, considering it a very important step towards establishing the truth in this case. The opposition National Liberal Party and the Save Romania Union party also hailed the prosecutor general’s announcement. The Liberal leader Ludovic Orban said that the completion and submission to court of the revolution file after 30 years could be a good thing if the result is the punishment of culprits. On the other side of the political spectrum, the Social Democratic Party in the ruling coalition showed indignation at the fact that prosecutor Augustin Lazar, whom they suspect of collaboration with the former political police, is the one to send to court this controversial file. The president of the juridical committee in the Chamber of Deputies, Social Democrat Nicusor Halici, believes the truth about the events of December 1989 should have been found out earlier.



    Luxembourg — The Eastern Partnership is, according to Romania, one of the most important policies at EU level, said Monday the Romanian foreign minister Teodor Melescanu at the end of the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg. One of the topics tackled by the participants was the situation in Afghanistan, since the EU wants to get more involved in finding a political solution to it. The Eastern Partnership was launched in 2009 with the purpose of consolidating political association and economic integration of 6 partner states from Eastern Europe and South Caucasus — Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus – that have partnership agreements with the EU and Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine that have already concluded association agreements.



    Motion — The Romanian Senate postponed for Wednesday the debate and vote on a simple motion filed by the opposition Liberal Party and Save Romania Union party against justice minister Tudorel Toader. The vote had been scheduled for Monday but, due to the absence of several senators, the quorum could not be reached. The document signatories say the tensions that emerged within the justice system could be defused if the current justice minister stepped down. They also say that the coming into force of the modifications to the Criminal and Criminal Procedure Codes through an emergency ordinance is impacting Romanias legal system, running against the recommendations of the European institutions. On March 20th, the Chamber of Deputies rejected another simple motion against the justice minister.



    Vandalism — The Romanian government has condemned the recent acts of vandalism perpetrated in the Jewish cemetery in Husi (eastern Romania), following which many funerary monuments were destroyed, and reiterated its firm commitment to fighting anti-Semitism and the incitement to anti-Semitism. In the context of Romania’s holding the presidency of the Council of the EU, promoting the efficient fight against racism, intolerance, Xenophobia, populism and anti-Semitism and discouraging the hate speech is one of the central topics on Romania’s agenda for consolidating cohesion across the EU. Last week President Iohannis condemned the anti-Semitic gestures and actions of the past days and called on the competent authorities to take appropriate action to combat such actions. (update and translation by L. Simion)

  • November 26, 2018 UPDATE

    November 26, 2018 UPDATE

    VISIT — Romanian President Klaus Iohannis travelled to Paris on Monday for a two-day official visit to inaugurate the Romania – France Cultural Season. On Tuesday, at the Georges Pompidou Center, he is joining French President Emmanuel Macron at the launch of the event. The two heads of state will visit Brancusis atelier, the exhibition dedicated to Romanian peasant garb as seen in the work of French painter Henri Matisse and Romanian painter Theodor Pallady, as well as contemporary exhibitions. Iohannis and Macron will hold official talks, confirming the special bilateral relations enjoyed by the two countries, as well as talks aimed at strengthening the strategic partnership, consolidating economic cooperation and the role of the Romanian community in France. Klaus Iohannis met on Monday with representatives of the Romanian community in France.




    CONFLICT — The Romanian Foreign Ministry voiced deep concern at the recent naval conflict in the Black Sea between Russia and Ukraine. The reaction comes after Russian intelligence confirmed that their coast guard had captured three Ukrainian ships in the Black Sea. According to the ministry, aggression and violations of international law undermine the security of the entire region. Representatives of the ministry said that Romhania fully supports Ukraines territorial integrity and sovereignty, and its right to use its territorial waters. The UN Security Council will convene in emergency session to debate the incident in the Black Sea. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a decree on Monday to introduce martial law for 60 days, a statement on his website said, though it needs parliamentary approval to come into force.




    CEMETERY – The second cemetery for Romanian soldiers fallen on the Eastern Front in WWII was inaugurated in Russia, in the Krasnodar region, on Monday. The remains of 88 soldiers and officers who lost their lives on the frontlines in the Kuban region, who had been initially interred in 8 local villages, were reburied there. The Romanian cemetery will be part of a memorial complex alongside resting places of German, Slovakian, and Hungarian soldiers. The first Romanian cemetery for servicemen fallen in WWII in Russia was inaugurated in 2015 close to Volvograd, formerly Stalingrad, holding the remains of 1,644 soldiers.




    EUROBAROMETER – Romanians are among the most concerned Europeans regarding the transparency of elections. They would also like to be more informed about the elections and that more youngsters should run in the elections in order to be motivated to come to the polls, reveals the latest Eurobarometer released on Monday. The Romanians’ highest concern as to the elections is about people voting in spite of not being entitled to. At the same time, Romanians fear multiple voting, the manipulation of elections and the buying of votes. The majority of the EU respondents were concerned about a range of potential electoral interferences. More than six in ten (61%) were concerned about elections being manipulated through cyber attacks, with 24% saying they were ‘very concerned’ about this.




    RESIGNATION — Deputy PM and Minister for Development, Paul Stanescu, resigned on Monday all positions he held in the Government. Previously, PM Viorica Dancila had said she had asked for Stanescu’s resignation but that the latter had refused. Social Democrat leader Liviu Dragnea said on Monday that a decision as regards the steps to be taken if the head of state further refuses to fulfill his atributions regarding the appointment of new ministers. would be taken within the coalition next week.




    FESTIVAL– Sunday night, the Irish Radio and Television Orchestra brought to a close the 4th edition of the RadiRo International Radio Orchestra Festival. For a week, the festival featured prestigious symphony orchestras from all over Europe. For the first time this year, the festival featured jazz recitals. RadiRo is the only event devoted to European and world radio orchestras. All concerts were broadcast live by Radio Romania’s channels, recorded and subsequently rebroadcast by the public television. The concerts were also rebroadcast by the radiobroadcasters that are members of the European Broadcasting Union.


    (Translated by Elena Enache)