Radio România Internațional

Tag: crash

January 30, 2025

A roundup of local and international news.

BUDGET – Romania’s draft state budget for 2025 will be finalized today. On Saturday it will be approved by the Government and next week by Parliament, Finance Minister Tanczos Barna announced. He said that the budget includes money for investment in infrastructure and for the payment of salaries and pensions, at the level of November 2024. The budget will be built on a deficit of no more than 7% of the Gross Domestic Product. The funds allocated to the Presidential Administration, the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies will be smaller and the budgets of some ministries, such as Environment, Health, Education or Transport, will increase.

ENERGY – Bucharest’s Energy Minister, Sebastian Burduja, has announced that the Court rejected Greenpeace’s request to suspend the work on the Black Sea gas exploitation. He said that this is a victory for Romania’s energy independence and that the strategic project that Greenpeace tried to block in court will double Romanian gas production, create jobs and bring over 20 billion euros to the budget. Moreover, the gas from the Black Sea will ensure a more stable and lower price for Romanians, and Romania will become a regional energy supplier. Last year, Greenpeace requested in Court the suspension of the environmental agreement for the Neptun Deep project, due to concerns related to environmental protection, climate change and compliance with legislation. Neptun Deep is owned in equal shares by OMV Petrom company and the state owned company Romgaz. Production will be approximately 8 billion cubic meters annually for approximately 10 years.

EVACUATION – Numerous Romanians, employed by a private military company operating in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), crossed the border into neighboring Rwanda on Wednesday to surrender to the authorities there, sources in Kigali said, quoted by international news agencies. The Romanians had been hired to fight alongside the Congolese army in the conflict that opposes it to the M23 rebel group, supported by Rwanda, in the Goma region. The Rwandan Ministry of Defense confirmed their surrender and spoke of “280 Romanian mercenaries” being evacuated by buses to the capital, Kigali.

CRASH – An American Airlines passenger plane and a US military Black Hawk helicopter crashed into the Potomac River after a mid-air collision near Reagan Washington National Airport, US officials said, quoted by international news agencies. According to Washington media, several bodies were pulled from the water and no survivors were found. American Airlines said there were 64 people on board the plane – 60 passengers and four crew members. Three military personnel were on board the helicopter. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis sent a message of solidarity, to the American people. “Our thoughts go out to the families of the victims”, Iohannis wrote on platform X.

FOOTBALL – Romanian football champion FCSB and the famous English team Manchester United will meet on Thursday evening at the National Arena in Bucharest, in the eighth and final round of the main phase of the Europa League. United is in fourth place in the standings, with 15 points, and FCSB is in eighth place, with 14 points. The top eight teams qualify directly for the round of 16, while the teams ranked 9-24 must get past the the play-off to advance to the round of 16.

RUGBY – The Romanian national rugby team will make their debut on Friday evening in Bucharest, in a match against Germany, in the 2025 edition of the Rugby Europe Championship. The Romanians will also play against Belgium, on February 8, away, in Mons, and Portugal, on February 15, at home, in Botoşani (northeast). Romania can secure direct qualification for the Rugby World Cup in Australia, if it finishes the championship in one of the first two places of the group. With one exception, Romania has participated in all the world final tournaments.

30 January 2025
December 29, 2024 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

ORDER – The Bucharest government on Monday, in their last meeting this year, will pass an emergency order that provides for the reduction of public sector spending in 2025. The project, agreed on by the leaders of the PSD-PNL-UDMR coalition, includes measures such as suspending state employment or freezing pensions and salaries for the public sector employees at the level of 2024. Moreover, extra-hours will no longer be paid and no bonuses or premiums will be granted. According to the draft order made public by the Ministry of Finance, the measures provided for in this ordinance will have a financial impact of about 26.6 billion euros next year. In 2025, budget revenues will increase by over 1.4 billion euros, and budget expenditure will decrease by about 25.2 billion euros.The unions criticized the provisions of the document and warned that protests will follow. As for the State Budget Law for next year, it is to be adopted by the government in January and sent to Parliament for adoption.

CRASH – South Korea is observing seven days of national mourning after a Jeju Air plane carrying 181 people crashed while landing at Muan Airport, south of the capital Seoul. According to the latest data, there were only two survivors. It is the deadliest plane crash ever to occur in South Korea. The accident appears to have been caused by “bird strike, which led to a malfunction of the landing gear,” South Korean news agency Yonhap reported.

SURVEY – More than half of Romanians say that 2024 has been, from an economic viewpoint, worse than the previous year for their country, according to an IRES survey. The war in Ukraine, the political crisis and the rising prices have been the main concerns in 2024. One in four Romanians is unhappy with the way they currently live, and a similar number say that they did not have a single reason for joy in 2024. The data also shows that politicians continue to be last in the ranking of categories that Romanians trust. Asked which event they think has had the most negative affect on Romania in 2024, more than 4 in 10 Romanians indicate the cancellation of the first round of the presidential elections, by the decision of the Constitutional Court. Over 60% believe that this decision was bad, while a third say it was good.

ELECTIONS – The presidential elections in Romania could take place on March 23, 2025, the first round, and on April 6, the second round, according to the Bucharest media that cites political sources with the PSD-PNL-UDMR government coalition. Held on November 24, 2024, the first round was invalidated by the Constitutional Court (CCR), which, based on documents provided by the Supreme Council for National Defense (CSAT), grounded their ruling on the interference of an unnamed state. The second round, scheduled for December 8, was to be contested by the independent nationalist Călin Georgescu, accused of connections with Putin’s Russia, and by the leader of the USR (in opposition), Elena Lasconi. In the Diaspora, where the polling stations for the second round opened on December 6, tens of thousands of Romanians had already voted by the time the Court decided to invalidate the first round.

TRAFFIC – Over 183,600 people, Romanian and foreign citizens, have crossed the borders of Romania in the last 24 hours, the border police have announced. As of January 1, 2025, when Romania joins the Schengen free movement area with land borders, 33 border crossing points with Hungary and Bulgaria, as well as from the Black Sea and the maritime Danube, will be permanently closed. These are 17 road and railway crossing points located on Romania’s western border with Hungary and 14 road points, including ferry crossings, railway and port points on the southern border with Bulgaria and two port crossing points in Brăila and Cernavodă. As of January 2025, there will no longer be checks at the borders with Hungary and Bulgaria at the crossing points. Such checks will be carried out only randomly, based on risk analysis.

TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Jaqueline Cristian is in the main draw of the tournament in Auckland (New Zealand), which kicks off on Monday. The Romanian (26 years old, 85 WTA) will play in the first round against Ukrainian Iulia Starodubteva (24 years old, 101 WTA), a first-time meeting. We remind you that, on Saturday, Romanians Anca Todoni and Ana Bogdan qualified for the main draw of the WTA tournament in Brisbane, Australia.

29 December 2024
July 17, 2022

PROGRAMME A third edition of the Start-Up Nation
programme, which is aimed at developing entrepreneurial abilities among the
young people and facilitating their access to financing, is to kick off on July
19. Candidates must submit their applications until September 1st
and the budget is expected to be around 440 million euros. Grants of up to 20
thousand Euros will be available for the creation of new jobs and this edition comes
with a first; grants also available for the Romanians abroad. The scheme will
be valid until December 2027 and pays will be done by December 31st
2028.

CENSUS The census of population and houses in Romania has been
extended with a week, until July 24th in order to reach a degree
close to 100%. Romanians can wait for a reviewer or can go to the special
points operated by district halls, which have lately been visited by a large
number of people, the head of the National Institute for Statistics Tudorel
Andrei has announced. People unwilling to participate in the census are to be subjected
to fines up to 600 euros.

WEATHER The heat wave that continues to intensify
in southern Europe has caused large bush fires on the Croatian coast and in
Crete. Wildfires have also been affecting Spain and firefighters have been
deployed to Extremadura, the west of the country. 3 thousand people have been
evacuated from the southern region of Malaga. Emergency services are fighting
the fires affecting the French region of Gironde. Temperatures are on the rise
and wildfires have destroyed several forest areas in Morocco and are presently
threatening residential areas in south-western Turkey.

IRRIGATIONS The Ministry of Agriculture in
Romania has earmarked 1.5 billion Euros for streamlining the country’s infrastructure
of irrigations and drainage. The funds are to be made available until the year
2027. The Ministry has launched the project for public debates as it is aimed
at adjusting the agriculture to the latest climate changes and curbing their
effects over farm production and the environment. Under the law, the number of
new irrigation networks is to increase from 89 to 150. The surface covered by
the new irrigation network is also expected to increase from 1.8 million to 2.6
million hectares.

ATHENS A large cargo plane An-12 crashed in northern Greece on Saturday
night killing all eight crew on board, the Greek public television has
announced. According to the same sources, the plane was being operated by a
Ukrainian air company. Citizens in the area have been advised to keep windows
closed and refrain from using air conditioning as the plane was carrying 12
tons of toxic military products. The plane took off from the Serbian city of
Nis and was bound for Amman in Jordan. Witness reports suggested the Antonov
An-12 plane caught fire while still in the air.

(bill)

17 July 2022
March 3, 2022

Aid. Romanian president Klaus Iohannis today had
talks in Bucharest with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen
about intensifying humanitarian support for neighbouring Ukraine. The president
said efforts are under way to make a logistical hub operational in Romania as
soon as possible, to coordinate the collection and delivery of humanitarian aid
to Ukraine, with Romania also planning to access EU funds for the management of
the huge inflow of refugees. The Commission president said Romania was an
example for the entire world in the way it mobilised itself to help Ukrainian
refugees. She also spoke about the tough sanctions imposed on Russia by the
international community. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo
Grandi is also in Romania.

Refugees.
EU interior ministers are meeting today in Brussels to establish a common
action plan for Ukrainian refugees. According to the United Nations, one
million people have fled Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion, most
of them to neighbouring states Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary. The EU
proposes that Ukrainian refugees should have the right to live and work and
have access to medical care and education for up to three years, in all EU
member states. The proposal seeks to respond to what is becoming one of the
biggest refugee crises in Europe.

Ukraine. Russian invasion of Ukraine
entered its eighth day, as residential areas in Ukraine’s biggest cities have
come under intense bombardment. A Ukrainian delegation left for a new round of
negotiations with Russian officials. Airstrikes continued on the capital Kyiv
and other cities, while no significant movement of troops has been reported,
which commentators put down to logistical problems. Russian forces took control
of the southern city of Kherson, which is believed to set the stage for a land
offensive against Odessa. The Russian forces also seized the Sea of Azov port
city of Berdyansk and are stepping up their offensive against another big
Ukrainian port, Mariopol. Despite Russia’s claim that it is carrying out
high-precision strikes, many civilian buildings have been destroyed. The International
Criminal Court has launched an investigation into possible war crimes after 39
nations, including Romania, called for an inquiry to be opened. Ukraine is yet
to ratify the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the International
Criminal Court, but it recognises the Court’s jurisdiction for crimes committed
on its territory.

Cooperation.
Romanian and Polish governments are today holding a joint meeting in Warsaw to
discuss bilateral projects and the situation in Ukraine. Romanian prime
minister Nicolae Ciucă said the
meeting has a special importance in the current international context, both
with a view to consolidating Romanian-Polish ties and in light of eastern
European security following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A series of bilateral
agreements are being signed at the meeting, with Romania and Poland cooperating
both within NATO and the EU and as part of regional projects such as the Three
Seas Initiative and the Bucharest Nine. Today also marks the anniversary of 101
years since the signing of the Romanian-Polish Defensive Alliance, the first
regional security alliance signed by Romania after WWI and which formed the
basis for the cooperation between the two states in the inter-war period.

Crash. The pilot of
a Romanian fighter jet conducting an air patrol mission and seven military on board a helicopter sent to
search for the missing aircraft were killed in two separate crashes on
Wednesday night. The helicopter pilot had reported adverse weather conditions
and had been ordered to return to base shortly before crashing, the Romanian
defence ministry said in a statement.

Covid-19. Romania today reported almost 6,000 new Covid
infections and 114 new related fatalities, including nine from an earlier date.
850 Covid patients are in intensive care. Romanian health minister Alexandru
Rafila proposed easing some of the restrictions, such as no longer wearing face
masks outdoors, no longer requiring the Covid certificate to enter shops,
hotels, restaurants and public institutions, allowing cinemas and performance and
sports venues to host more spectators and expanding the maximum number of people
allowed to attend private events. (CM)

3 March 2022
March 3, 2022

Aid. Romanian president Klaus Iohannis today had
talks in Bucharest with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen
about intensifying humanitarian support for neighbouring Ukraine. The president
said efforts are under way to make a logistical hub operational in Romania as
soon as possible, to coordinate the collection and delivery of humanitarian aid
to Ukraine, with Romania also planning to access EU funds for the management of
the huge inflow of refugees. The Commission president said Romania was an
example for the entire world in the way it mobilised itself to help Ukrainian
refugees. She also spoke about the tough sanctions imposed on Russia by the
international community. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo
Grandi is also in Romania.

Refugees.
EU interior ministers are meeting today in Brussels to establish a common
action plan for Ukrainian refugees. According to the United Nations, one
million people have fled Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion, most
of them to neighbouring states Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary. The EU
proposes that Ukrainian refugees should have the right to live and work and
have access to medical care and education for up to three years, in all EU
member states. The proposal seeks to respond to what is becoming one of the
biggest refugee crises in Europe.

Ukraine. Russian invasion of Ukraine
entered its eighth day, as residential areas in Ukraine’s biggest cities have
come under intense bombardment. A Ukrainian delegation left for a new round of
negotiations with Russian officials. Airstrikes continued on the capital Kyiv
and other cities, while no significant movement of troops has been reported,
which commentators put down to logistical problems. Russian forces took control
of the southern city of Kherson, which is believed to set the stage for a land
offensive against Odessa. The Russian forces also seized the Sea of Azov port
city of Berdyansk and are stepping up their offensive against another big
Ukrainian port, Mariopol. Despite Russia’s claim that it is carrying out
high-precision strikes, many civilian buildings have been destroyed. The International
Criminal Court has launched an investigation into possible war crimes after 39
nations, including Romania, called for an inquiry to be opened. Ukraine is yet
to ratify the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the International
Criminal Court, but it recognises the Court’s jurisdiction for crimes committed
on its territory.

Cooperation.
Romanian and Polish governments are today holding a joint meeting in Warsaw to
discuss bilateral projects and the situation in Ukraine. Romanian prime
minister Nicolae Ciucă said the
meeting has a special importance in the current international context, both
with a view to consolidating Romanian-Polish ties and in light of eastern
European security following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A series of bilateral
agreements are being signed at the meeting, with Romania and Poland cooperating
both within NATO and the EU and as part of regional projects such as the Three
Seas Initiative and the Bucharest Nine. Today also marks the anniversary of 101
years since the signing of the Romanian-Polish Defensive Alliance, the first
regional security alliance signed by Romania after WWI and which formed the
basis for the cooperation between the two states in the inter-war period.

Crash. The pilot of
a Romanian fighter jet conducting an air patrol mission and seven military on board a helicopter sent to
search for the missing aircraft were killed in two separate crashes on
Wednesday night. The helicopter pilot had reported adverse weather conditions
and had been ordered to return to base shortly before crashing, the Romanian
defence ministry said in a statement.

Covid-19. Romania today reported almost 6,000 new Covid
infections and 114 new related fatalities, including nine from an earlier date.
850 Covid patients are in intensive care. Romanian health minister Alexandru
Rafila proposed easing some of the restrictions, such as no longer wearing face
masks outdoors, no longer requiring the Covid certificate to enter shops,
hotels, restaurants and public institutions, allowing cinemas and performance and
sports venues to host more spectators and expanding the maximum number of people
allowed to attend private events. (CM)

3 March 2022
03.10.2021 (mise à jour)

Coronavirus en Roumanie – Les personnes vaccinées contre la Covid 19 et celles qui sont passées par cette maladie durant les six derniers mois ne seront plus soumises à une série de restrictions appliquées dans les localités où le taux d’incidence de l’épidémie dépasse les 6 cas d’infection par mille habitants, a décidé le gouvernement roumain. Bucarest et une quarantaine de villes du pays, ainsi que plus de 200 communes font désormais l’objet de cette décision du gouvernement. Les événements publics et privés peuvent se dérouler dans ces localités mais en format restreint. Seules les personnes vaccinées ou bien ayant été infectées au coronavirus par le passé peuvent y participer et le port du masque est obligatoire. Ces deux catégories sont les seules qui peuvent désormais entrer dans des restaurants et des salles de sport et circuler durant le soi-disant couvre-feu imposé durant le week-end et la nuit. Cette décision a provoqué la colère de milliers de personnes qui sont descendues dans les rues samedi, sans respecter aucune distanciation, sans porter des masques et sans respecter les limites en termes de nombre maximum de personnes qui peuvent participer à une telle manif. Une marche a eu lieu dans le centre ville de Bucarest, avec des protestations devant le siège du gouvernement et ensuite devant le Palais présidentiel. Les protestataires ont scandé des messages contre la vaccination et l’introduction du certificat vert et demandé la démission du gouvernement, du chef du comité des situations d’urgences Raed Arafat et du président Klaus Iohannis. Entre temps, le pays rapportait le même jour le plus grand nombre d’infections au coronavirus depuis le début de la pandémie en Roumanie : 12 600 cas de contamination en 24 heures. Dimanche, les autorités ont rapporté 8 700 nouveaux cas, 150 décès des suites d la maladie et 1 440 malades en réanimation. Par ailleurs, le grand nombre d’infections a donné une impulsion à la campagne de vaccination et ce dimanche plus de 30 mille Roumains se sont fait immuniser, dont la moitié avec la troisième dose de vaccin contre la Covid 19.

Liste des Etats à risque épidémiologique – La liste des pays et territoires à risque épidémiologique élevé a été mise à jour aujourd’hui. La Roumanie est entrée en zone rouge, aux côtés de la République de Moldova, la Bulgarie, l’Arménie, le Belarus et le Groenland. Le comité des situations d’urgences a décidé d’excepter de la quarantaine les chauffeurs de poids lourds et de car s’ils présentent le résultat négatif d’un test de dépistage PCR. L’Allemagne a révisé les conditions d’accès sur son territoire des citoyens roumains et reçoit uniquement des personnes vaccinées ou immunisées naturellement par infection. Les documents doivent être écrits en une des langues suivantes : allemand, anglais, français, italien et espagnol et présentés en format physique ou numérique.

Incendie – Plusieurs enquêtes se déroulent à Constanta, dans le sud-est de la Roumanie suite à l’incendie produite vendredi à l’hôpital des maladies infectieuses, suite auquel sept malades de Covid hospitalisés dans la section de réanimation soins intensifs ont perdu la vie. C’est vraiment le 10e incendie en moins d’une année à frapper un hôpital roumain. La vaste majorité des drames se sont produites dans des unités qui soignent des malades de Covid. Des tragédies similaires ont eu lieu à la fin de l’année dernière à Piatra Neamt, dans le nord-est et à Bucarest et ont fait des morts et des blessés parmi les malades de Covid 19 en réanimation. Une équipe de huit spécialistes de l’Institut national de sécurité minière et de protection contre les explosions de Petrosani, dans le sud s’est rendue à Constanta pour réaliser le rapport technique et récréer ensuite dans les laboratoires de l’institut les conditions qui ont mené à l’incendie, y compris par des simulations 3D par ordinateur.

Insolvabilité – Plus de 38 000 entreprises et personnes physiques autorisées son entrés en procédure d’insolvabilité durant les huit premiers mois de l’année, soit 7% de plus par rapport à la même période de l’année dernière, selon les chiffres publiés sur le site de l’Office national du registre du commerce. La plupart des insolvabilités ont été enregistrées à Bucarest et dans les départements de Cluj, Bihor et Timis, alors qu’au pôle opposé se trouvent Harghita, Covasna şi Tulcea. Par domaine d’activité, le plus grand nombre de procédures d’insolvabilité ont été enregistrées dans le domaine du commerce en détail, la réparation des véhicules, le BTP et l’industrie de transformation.

Elections partielles en Italie – Plus de 12 millions d’Italiens sont appelés aux urnes aujourd’hui et demain
dans 1 200 localités, y compris dans des villes importantes telles Rome, Milan,
Turin, Naples, Bologne et Trieste, où se déroulent des élections
administratives partielles. Plus de 120 Roumains, soit le plus grand nombre jusqu’ici figurent sur les
listes électorales. Les Roumains constituent la communauté d’étrangers la plus
nombreuse du pays et ont le droit de voter et d’être élus conseillers
locaux dans leurs villes. Pourtant, peu de Roumains peuvent exercer leur droit
de vote puisque la majorité d’entre eux ne possèdent pas des cartes d’électeur.

Crash – Deux citoyens roumains comptent parmi les personnes décédées suite au crash dimanche d’un avion de petites dimensions près de Milan, fait savoir le Ministère des AE de Bucarest. Selon les le Consulat roumain de Milan il s’agit de personnes à double nationalité roumano-italienne. Selon la police italienne, les huit personnes à bord, dont un enfant, sont décédées. Le pilote de l’avion avait une double nationalité : roumaine et allemande, selon Radio Roumanie Actualités. L’avion effectuait un vol vers l’île de Sardaigne, depuis l’aéroport de Linate à Milan, où il est arrivé jeudi dernier en provenance de Bucarest. L’administration roumaine des services de Trafic aérien Romatsa annonce que le tragique événement sera investigué par les autorités italiennes et la Roumanie désignera un représentant pour participer à l’enquête.

Tennis de table – L’équipe féminine de tennis de table de Roumanie s’est inclinée dimanche face à l’Allemagne, sur le score de 1 à 3, dans la finale du Championnat européen déroulé à Cluj. Les sportives roumaines ont remporté le trophée continental à deux reprises. En 2017, au Luxembourg, lorsque la Roumanie a remporté la finale contre l’Allemagne sur 3 à 2 et en 2019 à Nantes, en France lorsque les sportives roumaines ont battu le Portugal sur la score de 3 à 0.

3 October 2021
March 13, 2021 UPDATE

COVID-19 On Saturday the Strategic Communication Group reported nearly 5,000 new COVID-19 cases in Romania, with 79 new deaths and over 1,200 patients in intensive care. The total number of infections so far is over 855,000, with the death toll standing at over 21,400. As of March 14, Romania extends the state of alert by another 30 days, amid growing numbers of COVID-19 cases. All restrictions valid so far will be maintained, and a night curfew will be in place between 10 pm and 5 am, one hour longer than at present. Accommodation facilities in mountain resorts will only be allowed to receive guests at 70% of their capacity. Meanwhile, the vaccine rollout continues, with nearly 1.4 million people immunised since late December, most of them with the Pfizer vaccine. Romania has temporarily suspended the use of an AstraZeneca vaccine batch, but continues to use doses from other batches. The decision came after several European countries reported severe side effects and even deaths among people who have received doses from the respective batch.

PANDEMIC The World Health Organisation said there are no reasons not to use the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, after several European countries announced they had suspended it as a precaution, according to WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris. The European Commission calls on states to follow the advice of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which says that so far nothing points to higher blood clot risks in people having received the AstraZeneca shots. Meanwhile, the “digital green passport project to be presented in Brussels on Wednesday will only take into account the COVID-19 vaccines authorised by the EMA, a senior EU official said on Friday. Four vaccines are authorised for use in the EU at this point–Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca/Oxford and Johnson & Johnson. The Chinese vaccine Sinopharm, used in Hungary even by PM Viktor Orban, is not included, and neither is Russias Sputnik V, ordered by Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia and under EMA assessment since March 4. Around the world, according to worldometers, over 119 million people have so far caught the virus. Some 95 million people recovered and more than 2.6 million died.

FRIGATE The Romanian frigate ‘Regina Maria’ Saturday joined the Standing NATO Maritime Group Two (SNMG-2), operating in the Black Sea. The frigate, with a crew of 238, will carry out NATO monitoring missions along with 5 other vessels from Bulgaria, Greece, Spain and Turkey, as part of SNMG-2, subordinated to the Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM).

CRASH An An-26 military aircraft flying from Kazakhstans capital city Nur-Sultan crashed on Saturday while landing on Almatî Airport. Four of the 6 people on board died, according to the countrys ministry for emergencies. The Russian news agency Interfax quoted one source as saying the aircraft was part of Kazahstans border service in the Committee for National Security.

MOLDOVA The president of R. of Moldova Maia Sandu presented the government with a set of measures to help the economy overcome the COVID-19 crisis. Under the plan, small enterprises and farmers would have easier access to financial resources thanks to a Loan Guarantee Fund. Maia Sandu explained in a Facebook post that the Fund would be increased to over 1.5 billion Moldovan leu. Procedures will also be simplified, the Moldovan president promised, and added that she was counting on solidarity on everybodys part, including banks.

HANDBALL The best Romanian womens handball teams, SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea and CSM Bucharest, played on Saturday against each other in the second leg of the Champions League eighth-finals. The Bucharest side moved up into the quarter-finals, although they lost to SCM Ramnicu-Valcea 27-21. In the first leg, CSM Bucharest had won 33 – 24, playing away from home. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

13 March 2021
January 10, 2020

EU The Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu is taking part in Brussels today in a special meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council, convened by the vice-president of the European Commission Josep Borrell, the EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy in the wake of the recent developments in the Middle East. According to a news release issued by the Romanian Foreign Ministry, European officials will exchange opinions and assessments on the situation in Iraq and will identify ways for the EU to contribute to easing the tensions in the region. The developments in Libya will also be tackled.

ELECTIONS In Bucharest, PM Ludovic Orban announced after todays talks with President Klaus Iohannis, that together they decided to initiate procedures for early parliamentary elections. The PM added that a work group has been put together to handle negotiations with the parliamentary political parties for support in this initiative. Ludovic Orban said that the Social Democratic Party, which has a relative majority in Parliament, hinders the Governments initiatives and that the only solution is to have snap parliamentary elections as close as possible to the local elections scheduled this May. Meanwhile, the Social Democrats are considering a motion of no-confidence.

UN Romanias representative at the United Nations, Ambassador Ion Jinga, addressed the Security Council as part of a ministerial debate on “Maintenance of international peace and security upholding the UN Charter. The Romanian diplomat mentioned that 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the UN, which remains the most adequate platform for collectively tackling threats to international peace and security, and that the UN Charter remains the reference document in this respect. He emphasised that the recent developments in the Middle East and North Africa prove once again the responsibility of the international community in facilitating political solutions able to support long-lasting peace. Ambassador Jinga also spoke about Romanias contribution to peacekeeping, proven among other things by its participation in 2019 in 10 UN peacekeeping missions.

AIR CRASH The USA, Canada and Britain said that information from multiple sources indicates that the Ukrainian aircraft that crashed on Wednesday near Tehran has been taken down by Iranian armed forces. 176 people died. Iran may have accidentally shot down the plane in which 63 Canadian citizens were traveling, among other nationals, Canadas PM Justin Trudeau said. The US president Donald Trump and British PM Boris Johnson confirmed the hypothesis. All parties now ask Iran to initiate a detailed and thorough investigation. The Iranian authorities dismissed the latest intelligence as ridiculous and part of an American psychological manoeuvre. The Ukraine International Airlines flight to Kiev crashed shortly after taking off from the Tehran airport, just hours after Iran had launched ballistic missiles against 2 US military bases in Iraq, with the Iranians subsequently on alert for prospective American retaliation. According to American intelligence, the infrared signature from two suspected missile launches was identified, followed shortly afterwards by the infrared blip from the burning Boeing 737-800. On Thursday Irans Civil Aviation Organisation said the 3-year old plane faced technical problems shortly after take-off.

HANDBALL Romanias mens handball team plays tonight in Benevento, Italy, against Georgia, in its first match in Group 3 of the qualification phase for the 2021 World Championship in Egypt. On Saturday Romania will play against Kosovo, and on Sunday they will take on the host country. The group winner qualifies into the second qualification phase, scheduled for mid-April. Manager Rares Fortuneanu, who also coaches Saint Raphael, in Frances top handball league, says he is confident Romania can qualify into next years final tournament, the first with 32 teams taking part. In the womens competition, Romania reached the main groups of the World Championship held last month in Japan.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

10 January 2020
March 12, 2019

GAC Bucharest is hosting today an informal meeting of the General Affairs Council (GAC), organised by the Romanian presidency of the Council of the EU. Taking part are the EU ministers for European affairs, the first vice-president of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, and the European Commissioner for Budget, Gunther Oettinger. The informal meeting will include talks on the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework and on the future of the EU, with an emphasis on the priorities that should guide the activity of the European bloc in the coming 5 years, ahead of Unions new strategic agenda. As for the financial framework, the goal of the Romanian presidency of the Council of the EU is to carry on talks at a dynamic pace, in order to ensure that a political agreement on this topic is reached this autumn.

ECOFIN The Romanian Finance Minister, Eugen Teodorovici, is chairing today the 3rd meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) in Brussels. The agenda includes topics like the Directive on alcohol excises, one on the general regime of excise duties, and the taxation of digital services. On Monday the Romanian official took part in an enlarged Eurogrup meeting and chaired the high-level talks on Macroeconomic Dialogue. According to the ECOFIN home page, the main topics were an information by the European Commission on the main findings of the 2nd enhanced surveillance mission to Greece, a thematic discussion on economic growth and employment, the housing markets and Latvias updated draft budget plan.

BUDGET The 2019 state budget bill, sent by President Klaus Iohannis back to Parliament, might be subject to a new vote on Wednesday, in a joint meeting of the 2 chambers of Parliament. Meanwhile, Klaus Iohannis has signed into law the social security budget bill, so that pensioners may not be affected by what he called the incompetence of the Social Democratic Party. According to the President, the main ruling party in Romania is the only one to blame for the fact that the country does not have a state budget law yet, because the Government was supposed to send the bill to Parliament in November 2018, instead of 3 months later.

PLANE CRASH The President of Romania Klaus Iohannis has today sent a condolence message to his Ethiopian counterpart, Sahle-Work Zewde, following the tragic plane crash of March 10. Also, given that over 20 UN staff died in the disaster, the Romanian official also addressed a condolence message to the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres. The UN flag was flown at half-mast in New York today, and the Security Council personnel in the city, as well as at the Geneva headquarters, observed a minutes silence. A Boeing 737 MAX 8 operated by Ethiopian Airlines and heading for Nairobi (Kenya) from Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) went down on Sunday, killing all the 157 people from 30 countries who were on board. This was a new blow for Boeing, after a similar accident in October 2018, off the Indonesian coast, involving the same aircraft model. The planes were new and both crashed just minutes into the flight.

AFRICA Deputy PM Ana Birchall was on a working visit to African countries between March 4 and 11, to further the Governments efforts to revitalise relations with sub-Saharan African countries. On March 11, the Romanian official represented the presidency of the Council of the EU at the EU – Angola ministerial meeting held in Luanda. Between March 7 and 9, Ana Birchall made a working visit to Namibia, to promote bilateral relations and inaugurate the Romanian honorary consulate in Windhoek. On March 4-6 Ana Birchall was in South Africa, to promote Romanias candidacy to a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council.

INTERNET Romania ranked 5th in the world in 2018, in terms of internet connection speed, after Singapore, Sweden, Denmark and Norway, but apart from benefits this also entails cyber-security risks. The statement was made on Tuesday by the former deputy director of the National Cyberint Centre in the Romanian Intelligence Service, Gabriel Mazilu, in a specialised forum. He mentioned that 2019 is an important year for Romania in the field of cyber-security, with the endorsement of Law 362/2018, transposing the EUs NIS (Networking Information Security) Directive. According to a survey made in 9 countries, including Romania, and released in mid-February, 40% of citizens are worried about a cyber-attack on the country. The highest concern level was reported in Spain, 47%, and Italy (39%).

BREXIT The British PM Theresa May has asked for Parliament support for the Brexit agreement in a vote scheduled for today. On Monday in Strasbourg she announced a last-minute compromise with the head of the European Commission, Jean Claude Juncker, designed to assure the British MPs that the UK will not remain tied to the single market indefinitely. This is the second vote on the Brexit deal in the British Parliament, and president Juncker warned that there will not be a third. Britain is set to leave the European Union on March 29.

TENNIS The Romanian Simona Halep, number 2 in the world, is playing today against the Czech Marketa Vondrousova (61 WTA) in the round of last 16 of the Indian Wells tournament (USA). If she wins and in case the Japanese Naomi Osaka (1 WTA) stumbles, Simona could regain world tennis leadership. The Romanian player won the Indian Wells in 2015. In the mens doubles, Horia Tecău of Romania and Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands qualified into the quarter-finals after defeating Henri Kontinen (Finland) / John Peers (Australia), 6-3, 7-6. In the next round, Tecău and Rojer will take on Novak Djokovic (Serbia) and Fabio Fognini (Italy).

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

12 March 2019
12.03.2019

Budget — La loi du budget de l’Etat, que le président Klaus Iohannis a renvoyée au Parlement pour réexamen, pourrait être soumise mercredi au vote du Législatif. Entre temps, le chef de l’Etat a promulgué le budget de la Sécurité sociale 2019, pour que les retraités, a-t-il déclaré, n’aient pas à pâtir de l’incompétence du PSD. De l’avis du président, si le pays n’a toujours pas de budget c’est uniquement à cause des sociaux-démocrates, précisant que le cabinet a déposé le projet législatif au Parlement avec 3 mois de retard.

Gouvernement — Le cabinet de Bucarest se réunit aujourd’hui pour débattre de plusieurs projets d’arrêté, dont un contrat de financement avec la Banque européenne d’investissements qui devrait servir à moderniser le secteur de Santé et le document relatif à l’organisation et au fonctionnement de l’Autorité nationale pour la protection des droits de l’enfant et l’adoption. A l’ordre du jour figure aussi le projet de loi concernant la ratification de l’accord entre la Roumanie et la Hongrie sur la protection mutuelle des informations classées, signé à Bucarest en octobre 2018. Le gouvernement roumain discutera également d’un mémorandum sur le mandat de négociation d’un accord-cadre de prêt entre la Roumanie et la Banque de développement du Conseil de l’Europe ayant pour objet un crédit de 177 millions d’euros, qui devrait être utilisé pour la modernisation de l’infrastructure judiciaire.

Statistiques — En Roumanie, les prix à la consommation ont augmenté de près de 0,8% en février, par rapport au mois précédent. Le taux d’inflation a été de 3,8%, en raison de la hausse des prix des produits alimentaires, non alimentaires et des services. Selon les données fournies par l’Institut national de la statistique, rendus publiques ce mardi, le taux d’inflation annuel s’est élevé à 3,3% au mois de janvier. La Banque nationale de Roumanie, qui a récemment révisé à la hausse ses prévisions, table sur un taux d’inflation de 3% pour la fin de l’année en cours et de 3,1% pour la fin 2020. Quant au déficit de la balance commerciale, il se chiffre à 1,2 milliards d’euros. Le volume des exportations s’est monté à 5,5 milliards d’euros alors que les importations ont dépassé les 6,7 milliards d’euros.

Réunion — Bucarest accueille, ce mardi, la réunion informelle du Conseil Affaires Générales de l’Union européenne organisée par la présidence roumaine du Conseil de l’UE. Elle doit examiner le cadre financier pluriannuel pour la période 2021-2027 et les priorités d’action de l’Union pour les cinq prochaines années. La Roumanie se propose de poursuivre les discussions sur le cadre financier, de sorte qu’un accord politique sur ce dossier puisse être trouvé d’ici l’automne prochain.

En plus des ministres en charge des affaires européennes des 28, le premier vice-président de la Commission européenne, Frans Timmermans, et le commissaire européen au budget et aux ressources humaines, Günther Oettinger, sont également présents à la réunion.

Eurogroupe — Le ministre roumain des finances, Eugen Teodorovici, préside ce mardi, à Bruxelles, la troisième réunion du Conseil des Affaires économiques et financières (ECOFIN), dont l’agenda inclut des sujets tels la directive européenne concernant les taxes sur l’alcool et les boissons alcoolisées, ou encore la directive européenne sur le régime général des taxes ou des impôts sur les services numériques. L’officiel romain a participé lundi à la réunion de l’Eurogroupe en format élargi et présidé la session consacrée au « Dialogue macroéconomique ». Les principaux sujets à l’ordre du jour : la présentation, par la Commission européenne, des principales conclusions de la deuxième mission de surveillance consolidée en Grèce et un débat consacré à la croissance économique, à l’emploi, aux marchés de l’immobilier et au projet de budget actualisé de la Lettonie.

Message — Le président de la Roumanie, Klaus Iohannis, a adressé ce mardi un message de condoléances à son homologue éthiopien, Sahle-Work Zewde, suite au crash du vol d’Ethiopian Airlines, survenu le 10 mars. Un autre message de condoléances a été transmis au secrétaire général de l’ONU, Antonio Guterres, 20 fonctionnaires des Nations unies s’étant retrouvés parmi les victimes. Les drapeaux de l’ONU sont en berne au siège des Nations Unies à New York et dans d’autres bureaux de l’organisation à travers le monde. Une minute de silence a été également observée en mémoire des disparus.

Tennis — La joueuse roumaine de tennis Simona Halep, n°2 mondiale, affronte ce mardi la Tchèque Marketa Vondrousova, dans les huitièmes de finale du tournoi de tennis d’Indian Wells, aux Etats-Unis. Halep a remporté ce tournoi en 2015. Egalement à Indian Welles, mais dans le tournoi de double masculin, la paire Horia Tecău (Roumanie) – Jean-Julien Rojer (Pays-Bas), a réussi à se qualifier dans quarts de finale, après avoir vaincu, sur le score de 6-3, 7-6, le duo Henri Kontinen (Finlande)/John Peers (Australie). Au prochain tour, Horia Tecău et son partenaire vont rencontrer la paire Novak Djokovic (Serbie)/ Fabio Fognini (Italie).

Météo — Les températures ont baissé sur la plupart du territoire, notamment dans le sud et le sud-est. Le ciel sera variable, plutôt nuageux. On signale des pluies et des giboulées dans la moitié sud du pays, tandis qu’en haute montagne il neige. Les fortes rafales de vent ont déterminé la fermeture des ports sur la mer Noire. Les maxima de l’air iront de 5° à 11°. Il faisait 4° à midi, dans la capitale.

12 March 2019
March 11, UPDATE

BUDGET The President of Romania Klaus Iohannis Monday signed into law the 2019 social security budget bill. As regards the state budget bill, he asked MPs to reanalyse it thoroughly. The head of state once again criticised the Government led by the Social Democrats. The two-chamber Parliament in Bucharest will re-discuss the 2019 budget bill this week at the request of president Iohannis. The government majority formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats say they won’t make any changes to the bill because its current provisions ensure the necessary resources in the important sectors of the economy. The opposition say, however, that the budget cannot come into force in its current version, which is one of stagnation and under-development. Once the bill returns to the president, the latter has to sign it into law. He sent the bill back to Parliament after the Constitutional Court dismissed his objections regarding the way the bill was drawn up. The government say Iohannis’ move is a political gesture ahead of the presidential elections later this year.

GOVERNMENT The agenda of Tuesdays Cabinet meeting includes several draft resolutions, including one that concerns a financing contract with the European Investment Bank for the rehabilitation of the healthcare sector and another one concerning the organisation and functioning of the National Authority for Child Protection and Adoption. A bill ratifying the agreement signed by Romania and Hungary in October 2018 on the mutual protection of classified information is also on the agenda. Viorica Dăncilăs Cabinet will also discuss a memorandum on the negotiation of a 177-million euro loan agreement between Romania and the Council of Europe Development Bank for a project aimed at upgrading Romanias judicial infrastructure.

JUDICIARY The independence of the Romanian judiciary must not be affected, and the fight against corruption must carry on, said the first vice-president of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, on Monday. He added he did not notice any progress since the latest Cooperation and Verification Mechanism report on Romania, and that he would like EC experts and the Government of Romania to discuss the issues that need to be settled. The European official was granted the title of Doctor Honoris Causa by the National School of Political and Administrative Studies. In his address on this occasion, Frans Timmermans spoke about the rule of law, which he believes is one of the decisive topics for the future of Europe.

COMMEMORATION The European Day of Remembrance for the victims of terrorism is commemorated every year on March 11, under a European Parliament resolution. The original proposal was September 11, the day of the largest-scale terror attacks in the world (USA, 2001), but the 4 attacks perpetrated in Madrid, in the morning of March 11, 2004, which left behind 192 dead, including 16 Romanians, and nearly 2,000 wounded from 17 countries, prompted the change of date. Fifteen years ago, in Madrid, 4 commuter trains were blown up by members of a Jihadi cell inspired by the Al Qaida terrorist network. Three attackers were caught and sentenced to thousands of years behind bars. This was the most severe terrorist attack in Spain, and it made the country pull out its troops from Iraq.

VOTERS The total number of eligible voters in Romania included in the Electoral Registry on February 28, 2019 was 18,937,258, the Permanent Electoral Authority announced on Monday. At the previous public announcement on the topic, made late last year, the Electoral Registry counted 18,937,058 Romanian voters. The variation comes as a result of changes reported by mayors as regards the number of voters in their localities, and of data imports from the Directorate for Personal Records and Database Management. Of the total number of Romanian voters in the Electoral Registry, 18,266,936 have their declared residence in Romania, and 670,322 abroad.

BOEING Boeing stock opened 11% down on Monday, after China, Indonesia and Ethiopia requested airlines to ground the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, after a second deadly crash in 5 months. If the same level is reported on closing time, this will be the most severe fall for Boeing shares in nearly 2 decades, ending an upward trend that tripled the share value in little over 3 years, to a record-high 446 US dollars last week. A Boeing 737 MAX 8 operated by Ethiopian Airlines, heading for Nairobi, went down within minutes after take-off in Addis Ababa, on Sunday, and all the 157 passengers died. The same plane model, operated by Lion Air, had crashed off the Indonesian coast in October, killing all the 189 people on board. Both planes were new and crashed just minutes into the flight.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

11 March 2019
March 10, 2019 UPDATE

BUDGET – The Romanian Senate and Chamber of Deputies are to gather in plenary session over the coming days to decide again on the draft 2019 state budget, as president Klaus Iohannis sent it back to Parliament for reexamination. Previously, he had notified the Constitutional Court, but the Court ruled that the draft budget was constitutional. Klaus Iohannis has stated that the draft budget was built on an unrealistic scenario, with no guarantees that its provisions could be implemented. On the other hand, the ruling coalition in Romania has termed presidents move as biased and irresponsible. According to the Social Democratic Party, the senior partner in the ruling coalition, the 2019 budget includes all the resources necessary to support all major economic sectors.

KOVESI – The special department established to investigate magistrates in Bucharest has announced that the former chief-prosecutor of the National Anticorruption Directorate, Laura Codruta Kovesi, is being prosecuted for setting up an organized crime group and for complicity in unfair repression. Kovesi is accused that over 2015-2016 she coordinated an organized crime group established by two prosecutors and one judicial police officer, suspected of abusive prosecution, unfair repression, decision influencing and misleading the judicial authorities. The former head of the National Anticorruption Directorate has stated that all these accusations are mere fabrications, aimed at denigrating her. Laura Codruta Kovesi has also been accused of official misconduct, perjury and bribe taking. We recall that the former head of the National Anticorruption Directorate was sacked last summer. The Justice Minister Tudorel Toader accused her, among other things, of defying Parliaments authority and challenging the Romanian Constitutional Courts rulings.

EU PROSECUTOR – The European Parliament President Antonio Tajani has sent an official letter to the Romanian Minister of European Affairs and acting president of the EU Council, George Ciamba, announcing him that Laura Codruta Kovesi is the European Parliaments candidate for the office of European Chief Prosecutor. After the recent hearings in the civil liberties and budgetary control committees of the European Parliament, Laura Codruta Kovesi has outranked her opponents Jean-Francois Bohnert of France and Andres Ritter of Germany. Previously, the Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament had decided to support the nomination of Ms Kovesi for the office of chief prosecutor of the future European Public Prosecutors Office. The chief prosecutor will be appointed after negotiations between the European Parliament and the Council of the member states, which support the French candidate. The European Prosecutors Office, which would become operational by the end of 2020, will be an independent body of the EU, which will have the power to investigate and prosecute crimes affecting the EU budget. The chief-prosecutor will have a 7-year term, which cannot be renewed.

MOLDOVA – The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Moldova has confirmed the results of February 24th parliamentary elections and has validated the 101 mandates. Also, the Court has rejected the appeals made by the ACUM electoral bloc, which called for the invalidation of the election and of the mandates of the deputies elected in 5 precincts. In the future parliament, the pro-Russia socialists headed by the president Igor Dodon will have 35 seats, the ruling left of the center Democratic Party 30, the opposition ACUM bloc 26, the populist Sor party 7 and 3 seats will be taken by independent MPs. The Democratic Party has several times invited the ACUM bloc to negotiations for a parliamentary majority, but the latter declined.

VISA – The EU has announced that as of 2021, the US citizens will need visas to travel to the Schengen area. The Americans will need a valid passport, a credit or debit card and an e-mail address in order to apply for an ETIAS (European Travel Informer and Authorization System) visa. Minors will only need a passport and an ETIAS registration. Currently, the US citizens do not need a visa for stays shorter than 90 days in the Schengen area. “Similar to other countries and regions in the world, Europe has recently decided to improve their security level to avoid any further problems with illegal migration and terrorism” reads the ETIAS website. In 2016, the EC published for the first time a report, in which it called on the US to waver visas for five member countries: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Poland and Romania, because, according to the EUs rules, all European citizens must benefit from the same treatment.

CRASH – Until Sunday evening, Ethiopian authorities had sent no notification as to the existence of Romanian citizens among the victims of the Boeing 737 MAX crash near Addis Ababa, according to the Romanian Foreign Ministry. Passengers of more than 30 nationalities were on board the plane owned by Ethiopian Airlines, which crashed on Sunday morning shortly after takeoff. A companys representative has told reporters that the pilot reported technical difficulties and asked for clearance to return to Addis Ababa. He was given clearance to turn back, but the plane crashed 62 km south-east of the Ethiopian capital. The plane was heading for Nairobi, Kenya. None of the 148 passengers and 8 crew survived. The plane had been delivered to the Ethiopian Airlines in November last year and had flown more than 1,200 hours. This is the second accident involving a Boeing 737 MAX, a new model, which started being used in 2017.

TENNIS – The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep won Februarys Shot of the Month, according to the WTA website. Simonas quick thinking and quicker reactions against Eugenie Bouchard in Dubai, in a match she won 7-6, 6-4, earned her fans votes. Second came the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, followed by Donna Vekic of Croatia and Sofia Kenin of the US, both on third place.

10 March 2019
10.03.2019 (mise à jour)

Budget — Le Sénat et la Chambre des députés de Bucarest devraient se réunir prochainement pour se prononcer à nouveau sur le projet de budget de lEtat exercice 2019. Le document avait été renvoyé au Parlement pour réexamen, par le chef de l’Etat, Klaus Iohannis, lequel avait antérieurement saisi la Cour constitutionnelle. Cette dernière a pourtant décidé que le projet législatif en question respecte la loi fondamentale du pays. Selon Klaus Iohannis, le budget de l’Etat 2019 est construit sur un scénario fantaisiste et ne donne pas de garanties concernant sa mise en application. En réplique, la coalition au pouvoir a qualifié de mensonger, de politicien et d’irresponsable le renvoi de la loi du budget au Parlement. Selon les sociaux-démocrates, le budget d’Etat assure les ressources nécessaires pour tous les domaines importants de l’économie.

Agriculture — Les fermiers de Roumanie bénéficieront d’une aide de l’Etat d’environ 215 euros par mois pour chaque contrat de travail à plein temps conclu pour au moins 12 mois avec des jeunes. Cette mesure fait partie d’un programme gouvernemental censé stimuler l’embauche de jeunes dans les secteur de l’agriculture, de l’aquaculture et de l’industrie alimentaire. Les jeunes à la recherche d’un tel emploi ne doivent pas forcément avoir suivi des cours de spécialité dans l’enseignement secondaire ou supérieur. Les inscriptions dureront jusqu’au 31 décembre 2020 2020. Selon Eurostat, avec 1,6 millions de personnes travaillant dans l’agriculture, la Roumanie occupe la deuxième place après la Pologne. Pourtant, 85% de ces personnes travaillent dans leurs propres exploitations agricoles de subsistance.

Crash — Un Boeing 737 MAX dEthiopian Airlines qui effectuait la liaison Addis Abeba-Nairobi sest écrasé dimanche matin, peu après le décollage. Aucun des 149 passagers de 32 nationalités différentes et des 8 membres de l’équipage n’a survécu. Le pilote de l’avion avait fait part de difficultés et demandé à rentrer à Addis, a déclaré à la presse le PDG de la compagnie. L’aéronef était un appareil récent, livré courant 2018 à la compagnie. C’est le deuxième accident grave dun Boeing 737 MAX, modèle de dernière génération, mis en service en 2017.

Jusqu’à dimanche soir, les autorités éthiopiennes n’avaient pas notifié à l’ambassade de Roumanie à Addis Abeba la présence de ressortissants roumains parmi les victimes de cet accident, a précisé la diplomatie de Bucarest.

Météo — Malgré des températures légèrement en baisse, il fera plus chaud qu’à l’accoutumée pour cette période de l’année, surtout dans le sud-est du pays. Des pluies sont à attendre localement, dans la moitié sud du territoire. En haute montagne il neigera et le vent soufflera fort. Les maxima de l’air iront de 7° à 19°.

10 March 2019
July 16, 2018 UPDATE

JUSTICE – Justice Minister Tudorel Toader announced on Monday that Romania would provide the Venice Commission with its official position before the latter issued its final report on justice legislation. The commission is a consultative body for the Council of Europe, and last week it issued a preliminary opinion, recommending to the authorities in Bucharest, among other things, to reconsider the decision to amend the laws governing the justice system, especially regarding the appointment and dismissal of head prosecutors.

SUMMIT – US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, met on Monday in Helsinki on the occasion of a bilateral summit. In a news conference after the meeting, Donald Trump said that the tense relations between the two countries were about to change. Trump also said that a number of highly important topics were approached, such as the war in Syria, global terrorism and Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 US election. In his turn, President Putin said the meeting was a good one.

CRASH – A military plane crashed on Monday in Bacau, in eastern Romania, during a training flight, the Romanian Defense Ministry announced. The two pilots managed to eject. This is the second plane crash in Romania in the past 10 days. On July 7, a MiG 21 Lancer crashed at a military unit in Fetesti, southern Romania, during an air show.

TRANSPLANT — Romanian Health Minister Sorina Pintea announced on Monday that in two months at the most she would come up with a new law on transplant. She also said that in the upcoming period she would sign an order for the setting up of a team of experts to work on law. The new law is aimed at increasing the number of donors, given that only 30 have been registered in Romania this year.

INVESTMENT — Direct foreign investment in Romania went up 17.6% in the first five months of this year, as compared with the same period last year, reaching 1.7 billion Euro, according to the National Bank. The number of foreign capital companies set up in this period went down by 1.8%, according to the Trade Registry. On May 31, 2018, Romania had over 218,000 foreign capital companies registered.

BREXIT — A new round of negotiations on Brexit started on Monday in Brussels. British Prime Minister Theresa Mays government issued recently a new series of proposals, while the head of the EU delegation, Michel Barnier, said he would study them closely. The proposals are in relation to harmonizing trade in order to avoid checks at the Irish-British border, as well as harmonizing British legal decisions with those of the European Court. The UK will impose tariffs, but favoring the EU. There will no longer be free circulation of persons, but an agreement will be signed easing access for workers, students, and tourists. Michel Barnier will present the stage of the negotiations to the General Affairs Council on Wednesday, when the negotiations end.

TENNIS — Romanian tennis players Mihaela Buzarnescu and Raluca Olaru are the main favorites in the WTA BRD Bucharest Open, that kicked off on Monday, with prize money totaling over 226,000 dollars. The two players, who won a WTA world title as a pair this year in Strasbourg, will play their first game against Alena Fomina of Russia and Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan. Raluca is current champion in Bucharest, after winning in the doubles with Irina Begu. Six Romanians are still in the top 100 of the WTA rankings. Simona Halep is still number one, while Buzarnescu is in 25th position, the best of her career. Irina Begu is 42nd seeded, Sorana Cirstea 57th, Monica Niculescu is 59th, while Ana Bogdan is 66th.

16 July 2018
April 2, 2018

HEALTHCARE – In Romania, a new framework contract for public healthcare services took effect on April 1. Aimed at improving the access to healthcare services and medicines, and at reducing red-tape and making the operations in the sector more transparent, the document stipulates that as of July 1 members of the public health insurance system will be able to purchase subsidised medicines from any participating chemists in the country, instead of only those units which have a contract signed with the same insurance agency as the prescribing physician.

DIPLOMACY – A cooperation programme in the field of professional training was signed by the Romanian and Algerian education ministries, during an official visit made by the Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Meleşcanu to Algeria. The Romanian official pointed out that broadening cooperation with non-EU member countries is a major element in Romanias plan to improve bilateral relations with its traditional partners, Algeria included. According to Minister Meleşcanu, Romania and Algeria have reached an important stage of strengthening their relations, and this reflects in the firm political will to encourage dialogue and cooperation, particularly in the economic sector, in education, security and home affairs. Teodor Meleşcanu also reaffirmed Romanias interest in a close cooperation in fighting and preventing radicalisation.

EASTER – For Orthodox Christians in Romania and around the world, Holy Week begins today, with special services performed every night of the week in churches to commemorate the last days in the life of Jesus Christ before being crucified. The most important masses are the ones on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. By means of fasting and confessions, believers prepare for Easter, the greatest feast in Orthodox Christianity. Catholic Christians celebrated the first day of Easter yesterday.

ACCIDENT – The Romanian Embassy in Hungary is closely monitoring the situation of the 8 Romanian citizens injured in an accident on the runway of the Budapest International Airport, and is prepared to provide consular assistance if so requested. Two buses taking the passengers of an aircraft that had arrived from Bucharest crashed on Sunday. Hungarian police are investigating the exact circumstances of the accident.

MOLDOVA – An opinion poll is currently run in the Republic of Moldova, concerning a prospective union with Romania. The poll is scheduled to end on April 14 and will involve 500 operators who will go door to door to collect the answers. Electronic voting is also an option. On March 27 events were organized to mark 100 years since Bessarabia joined the Kingdom of Romania. In Bucharest, Parliament convened in a special session to honour the authors of that historic decision. Previously, in Chisinau, tens of thousands of citizens took part in a rally, asking for the Republic of Moldova to be reunited with Romania. A province with a Romanian-speaking majority that had been part of the Tsarist Empire, Bessarabia joined the Kingdom of Romania on March 27, 1918. The Soviet Union reannexed the province under an ultimatum in 1940, and some of its territory now constitutes the Republic of Moldova.

HANDBALL – CSM Bucureşti won Romanias Cup in womens handball for the 3rd consecutive year. The Bucharest-based club defeated HCM Râmnicu Vâlcea 29-22. CSM Bucureşti, coached by the Swede Per Johansson, played its 4th consecutive Romanian Cup final, which they already won in 2016 and 2017.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

2 April 2018