Radio România Internațional

Tag: cold

  • March 19, 2018 UPDATE

    March 19, 2018 UPDATE

    WEATHER – Weather remains extremely cold in Romania, as meteorologists have issued a code yellow warning for sleet, snow falls, black ice and gusts of wind, valid until Tuesday afternoon. The warning concerns 19 counties in the west, south-west, south and south-east, as well as the capital city Bucharest. Over the past days snow falls have disrupted railway, road and air traffic, and several towns and villages in the south of the country experienced blackouts.




    JUSTICE LAWS – The special parliamentary committee on the justice laws Monday endorsed some of the changes requested by the Constitutional Court. These include by-passing the president of the country in the procedure for appointing and dismissing the chiefs of the High Court of Cassation and Justice, and transferring this role to the Higher Council of Magistracy. Also, the head of state is no longer entitled to reject nominations for trainee judges and prosecutors. According to Radio Romanias correspondent, the committee will carry on debates on the 3 justice laws on Tuesday. After all drafts have been brought in line with the Constitutional Court decisions, Parliament will cast a final vote.





    WORLD BANK – The partnership between the Government of Romania and the World Bank may be strengthened in the coming years, through joint infrastructure development projects, deputy prime minister Viorel Ştefan said. According to a news release issued by the Government, on Monday he had a meeting with a World Bank delegation headed by Tatiana Proskuryakova, country manager for Romania and Hungary, in the context of consultations for the forthcoming Partnership Framework, 2018 – 2023. On June 14, the document will be submitted for approval by the WB Board.




    FLU – In Romania, the number of deaths caused by the flu has reached 104, the National Centre for Infectious Disease Monitoring and Control announced on Monday. According to the Healthcare Ministry, since the start of the season more than 1,400 cases have been confirmed. Over 1,000,000 people have received flu vaccine shots. Experts do not rate this as an epidemic.





    RUSSIA ELECTION – Vladimir Putin Sunday won his 4th term as president of Russia, with about 77% of the votes. The turnout was over 67%. Observers with the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Monday stated that the election had been well administered, in spite of a lack of genuine competition and of pressure aimed at increasing turnout. Radio Romanias correspondent in the Russian Federation mentions that it was for the first time that Moscow organised elections in Crimea, where Vladimir Putin, who has been running the country for 18 years as either president or prime minister, got over 90% of the votes. Western capitals and Kiev announced they would not recognise the elections in the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014. Vladimir Putin will head Russia for another 6 years, against the background of a highly strained relationship with the West. After the conflict in Syria, the Ukrainian crisis and allegations of Russian interference with Donald Trumps election in the USA, Londons accusations that Moscow poisoned a former Russian agent on British territory put further pressure on these relations.





    UK-RUSSIA – The EU firmly condemns the poisoning in the UK of the former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, and takes extremely seriously Londons assessment that it is highly likely that Russia was behind the attack, reads a joint statement by the EU foreign ministers. The Union is shocked with “the first offensive use on European territory in 70 years of a Soviet-designed military-grade nerve agent, the statement also says, expressing unqualified solidarity with and support for the UK. In turn, on Monday Kremlin urged Britain to either present evidence of its involvement, or apologise. After the UK expelled 23 Russian diplomats and froze bilateral contacts, Russia responded with a similar measure and also shut down the British Council centres on its territory. Last week, the Romanian Foreign Ministry expressed solidarity with Britain.





    THREAT – There are nearly 30,000 radicalised people who represent a potential terrorism threat in Europe at present, the Europol director Rob Wainwright warned on Monday, adding that at any time these might rent a truck and kill innocent people. Wainwright also mentioned the return to Europe of people who have fought in Syria and Iraq as part of jihadist groups like the Islamic State.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • March 18, 2018 UPDATE

    March 18, 2018 UPDATE

    WEATHER – Several road segments were closed down Sunday afternoon in the south and south-east of Romania, because of the freezing rain and black ice. Traffic was also disrupted in Bucharest. The freezing rain prevented take-offs on the countrys main airport, Otopeni – Henri Coanda, while the airport landing strips were treated with anti-icing substance to enable aircraft to land safely. Until Tuesday, a warning will be in place, against moderate sleet and snow falls, black ice and extremely low temperatures.




    DEFENCE – This years first meeting of the Supreme Defence Council, chaired by President Klaus Iohannis, will be held on Tuesday. According to the presidential administration, the participants will analyse the work conducted by the Council and relevant institutions in the field of national security in 2017, and will set the main goals for this year. Other topics of interest with respect to national security will also be approached.




    DIPLOMACY – The Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Meleşcanu will take part in Brussels on Monday in the monthly meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council. The main topics are Ukraine, Syria and Iran, the Romanian foreign ministry announced. On the sidelines of the Council meeting, the participants will have an informal lunch on recent developments in the Korean Peninsula, with the South-Korean Foreign Minister, Kang Kyung-wha, at the invitation of the EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini. The FAC will be preceded by an informal meeting over breakfast with the Foreign Minister of Ukraine, Pavlo Klimkin.




    MOLDOVA – Save Romania Union, the second-largest opposition party in Romania, firmly supports the EU accession of the Republic of Moldova, the party president Dan Barna said on Sunday, after a meeting with several mayors from Moldova. At this stage any other statement would be rushed and strictly aimed at gaining political capital, Barna said, hinting at a possible union of Moldova with Romania. Without support from Moldovan citizens, lobbying for such a scenario at EU and international level would be very hard to do, Dan Barna also stressed. He and the vice-president of Save Romania Union Vlad Alexandrescu met on Sunday with a group of mayors from the Republic of Moldova, who signed a symbolic declaration of union with Romania. A former province with a Romanian majority under Tsarist rule, Bessarabia joined Romania at the end of WW1, on March 27, 1918. The USSR re-annexed the province, following an ultimatum in 1940, and part of this territory is todays Republic of Moldova.




    RUGBY – Romanias national rugby team lost on Sunday in Tbilisi against Georgia, 25-16, in the last stage of Rugby Europe International Championship 2018, but it managed to qualify into the 2019 Japan World Cup thanks to a surprising win by Belgium against Spain, 18-10. The score in Brussels enables Romania to stay as no 2 in the REIC standings, which allows direct access to the 2019 World Cup. Romania has taken part in all rugby World Cup editions so far.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • 1 March, 2018

    1 March, 2018

    Judiciary. The situation of the Romanian justice system is the focus
    of the talks held by the First Vice President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans in Bucharest today. He has met
    president Klaus Iohannis, prime minister Viorica Dancila, Chamber of Deputies
    speaker Liviu Dragnea and Senate speaker Calin Popescu Tariceanu, who are also
    the leaders of the ruling coalition formed by the Social Democratic Party and
    the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, as well as members of the parliamentary
    committee overseeing the changes to the justice laws. Timmermans
    is also having talks with representatives of the judiciary. His visit comes after
    justice minister Tudorel Toader earlier proposed the dismissal of the
    anti-corruption chief Laura Codruta Kovesi for serious violation of duties and
    delaying the resolution of cases. Toader’s request has received a negative
    opinion from the Superior Council of Magistracy, but the final say belongs to
    president Iohannis, who has repeatedly voiced his appreciation for the
    anti-corruption body and its head.




    Salary rises. Beginning today,
    the salaries of doctors and nurses will rise to the maximum level of the salary
    scale for 2022. Labour minister Lia Olguta Vasilescu has announced this measure
    as a means of counteracting the exodus of Romanian doctors abroad in recent years.
    Consultants, for example, will see their salaries grow four times. The salaries
    of pre-university and university teachers will also grow, but less than in the
    medical sector.




    Weather. A yellow and amber code alert for
    cold is in place in Romania until Friday. Schools remain closed this week in
    the capital Bucharest and the counties in the south-east and travel is
    restricted on several national and local roads in the south and east. The Black
    Sea ports also remain closed because of powerful winds. Trains have been
    delayed and some cancelled and airports operate in winter conditions. The
    Giurgiu-Ruse bridge between Romania and Bulgaria is open, but traffic is busy
    and waiting times big. As for the electricity and natural gas supply, the authorities
    say there are no longer any problems.




    Cold. Almost 50 people have died of cold in Europe
    in recent days, especially homeless people. The authorities in some places in
    Belgium forced people living on the street to go to shelters, in Germany shelters
    were asked to stay open throughout the day and France has announced a record
    number of 150,000 places in emergency shelters. Hungary has also taken
    protection measures, with temperatures expected to drop to minus 20 in the
    west. Blizzard, snow and frost have engulfed the entire Europe, disrupting
    travel, cutting off localities and causing schools to close. The Romanian
    foreign ministry has issued travel warnings for several countries.




    Unemployment. In Romania, the
    seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 4.6% in January, the same as in
    December, the National Institute for Statistics has announced. At 5%,
    unemployment among men was 0.9% higher than among women. Unemployment among
    persons aged between 25 and 74 was estimated at 3.5% in January (3.9% among men
    and 2.9% among women). According to the National Institute for Statistics, the
    number of unemployed people in this age group accounted for 70% of the total
    number of unemployed people estimated for January.




    Visit. The European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides today had talks in Bucharest with
    interior minister Carmen Dan and the state secretary for emergency situations
    Raed Arafat. The topics discussed included ways to consolidate the efficiency
    of preventive action and of the collective capacity of EU member states to
    respond to disasters and the simplification of administrative procedures in
    case of emergency situations.





  • February 25, 2018

    February 25, 2018

    AWARD Romanian director Adina Pintilie’s debut feature film ‘Touch Me Not’ on Saturday night reaped the Golden Bear award at the 68th edition of the Berlin Film Festival, one of the world’s most prestigious events of this kind. Adina Pintilie has also reaped a prize for the best debut, from a jury, which also included Romanian director Calin Peter Netzer. ‘Touch Me Not’ is a personal exploration that cast a question mark over the preconceived ideas about intimacy as a fundamental aspect of human existence. This European co-production, was shot over a period of 10 weeks, between 2015 and 2017 and had a mixed cast of professional actors and common people. Adina Pintilie has become the second Romanian director to have reaped the Berlinale’s grand prize after Calin Peter Netzer for his production Child’s Pose.




    FUND A draft law on setting up the Sovereign Fund for Development and Investment will be debated upon by the specialized committees in Romania’s Senate next week. The fund has been designed as a financing instrument for strategic development projects in key-fields such as infrastructure, energy, healthcare, agriculture and is also to create fresh jobs. The fund imitates similar instruments operational in Norway, France and Poland. During the entire period of its functioning, the Romanian state will be the fund’s unique shareholder, under the administration of the Finance Ministry. In order to create it, the state will be taking over shares in 89 companies so the dividends will not go to the budget by will be annually feeding the fund.




    VISIT Romania’s Prime Minister Viorica Dancila on Tuesday will be paying a formal visit to Chisinau, in the ex-soviet Romanian-speaking Republic of Moldova. High on the Prime Minister’s agenda are talks with her Moldovan counterpart, Petru Filip, on strengthening cooperation between the two governments. The head of the Romanian diplomacy, Teodor Melescanu has recently said this is the first bilateral visit the new Romanian minister is paying to the neighboring country, being a clear signal of the priority Bucharest attaches to the relations with the Republic of Moldova. According to Melescanu, during the visit, a bilateral contract for the construction of a pipeline in the Republic’s western part will be signed as well as a cultural cooperation protocol between Romania and the Republic of Moldova.




    WEATHER Winter seems to have arrived in Romania at the end of the season with code yellow and orange alerts issued for most of the regions. A code orange alert for bad weather will be in place for Bucharest and 27 other counties in the south, east and center on Sunday night. Temperatures are to plunge to minus 22 degrees mainly at night, while during the day they are expected to be 10-15 degrees below the multianual average. Blizzards are also expected to lower the real-feel temperature. This wave of cold is believed to last until March 1st. Bucharest’s mayor, Gabriela Firea, has announced that schools will be closed on Monday and Tuesday because of the bad weather. Maximum temperatures will range between — 12 and — 2 degrees Celsius. The noon reading in Bucharest was — 3 degrees.




    REPATRIATION A Romanian citizen has been safely repatriated from Iraq via the Erbil-Istanbul-Bucharest route, the Romanian Foreign Ministry has today announced. The authorities have granted consular assistance in this case by issuing the necessary travel documents and taking all the measures needed for repatriation. The Romanian Foreign Ministry is continuing efforts to evacuate the Romanian citizens from Iraq by keeping a permanent connection both with them and with the competent authorities in the region. A travel warning for those who want to travel to the region has been posted on the Romanian Foreign Ministry’s webpage.



    translated by bill


  • Extreme Cold in Romania

    Extreme Cold in Romania

    Biting cold has hit Romania, after days in which heavy snowfalls and snowstorms disrupted road and railway transport and left many villages and towns isolated or experiencing power shortages. On Tuesday morning, nine citizens from the Republic of Moldova were rescued by emergency response teams from a minibus stranded in the snow in the east of the country.



    These days, it is the extreme cold that causes problems in Romania. Weather experts say this is one of the hardest winters in years, because of the very low temperatures reported for days and nights in a row. The weather station at Intorsura Buzaului, in the east, Tuesday morning registered the lowest temperature so far this winter, minus 32 degrees Celsius. On New Year’s eve, at Intorsura Buzaului, thermometers read minus 24 degrees Celsius, with no records above freezing temperature ever since.



    The lowest temperature officially reported in the last 50 years was minus 35.9 degrees Celsius, at Intorsura Buzaului, Covasna County, in February 2005. This record had not been broken since 1939. Meteorologists had actually issued a code orange alert against extreme cold for most of the country, valid on Monday and Tuesday, while the west of Romania was under a code yellow alert.



    Bad weather is further reported in the south-east of the country, where a code orange blizzard alert is in place from Tuesday night until Wednesday afternoon. The wind is expected to reach 80 km per hour, with blowing snow reducing visibility to less than 50 m. A yellow code snowfall alert is also valid from Tuesday night until Wednesday night in the south and east.



    Because of the low temperatures, the kindergartens, schools and high schools in Bucharest will stay closed until Monday, the Mayor General Gabriela Firea announced. She explained the decision was made after consultations with the Education Ministry, physicians and parents. Classes were also suspended on Tuesday in several other counties, and 9 universities in Bucharest, Constanta and Oradea were also closed on Monday and Tuesday.



    Meanwhile, authorities claim Romania is prepared to cope with extreme cold, even if this wave continues. On Monday, natural gas consumption was estimated at an all-time high, 72 million cubic metres per day, as compared to 66 million cubic metres a day last year. According to the Energy Minister Toma Petcu, Romania has enough natural gas and will have no problems in the long run.


    (Translated by Ana Maria Popescu)