Radio România Internațional

Tag: crisis

  • Severe political crisis in the Republic of Moldova

    Severe political crisis in the Republic of Moldova

    The pro-Russian Socialist President of the Republic of Moldova Igor Dodon has requested international mediation for the political crisis in Chisinau, one of unprecedented magnitude in the nearly 3 decades since the country declared its independence. Essentially, the 2 sides in the dispute are the Constitutional Court and the incumbent Government formed by the Democratic Party, both of them controlled by the controversial and unpopular tycoon Vladimir Plahotniuc, on the one hand, and President Igor Dodon and the new parliamentary majority, on the other hand.



    This past weekend, the political conflict reached its peak. The Constitutional Court ruled to suspend Igor Dodon, replacing him with the Democratic PM Pavel Filip, and to dismantle the current Parliament. In response, the new parliamentary majority made up of the Socialists and the MPs of the Pro-European right-wing bloc ACUM, voted in a new government, headed by former presidential candidate Maia Sandu.



    The 2 teams exchange accusations of usurping power. Sandu says the Democratic Party blocks the functioning of public institutions, and after the chief of police refused to recognise the authority of the new Interior Minister she urged civil servants to peacefully hand over power. Meanwhile, Plahotniuc took his supporters to the streets and asked them to be prepared to defend public institutions.



    On behalf of neighbouring Romania, President Klaus Iohannis has called on all political forces in Chisinau to respect democracy and the rule of law. Stability is vital if Moldova is to follow through its European accession efforts, translating in a large-scale reform process, including in terms of the rule of law and good governance, reads a news release issued by the Romanian Presidency. The Government of Romania has also announced that it watches closely the political developments in Moldova, and urges all political players in that country to comply with the rules of democracy.



    Brussels, in turn, calls for calm. The European Union stands ready to work with a democratically legitimate government, on the basis of a mutual commitment to reforms and to the core principles enshrined in the Association Agreement, reads a joint statement issued by the EU diplomacy chief Federica Mogherini and the Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy, Johannes Hahn. Moscow says it is vital for the forces in charge with Moldovas foreign policy to comply with the actual will of the people.



    All these come after 3-and-a-half months of failed attempts at forming a parliamentary majority. In the February 24 legislative elections, the Democratic Party and ACUM bloc each got around one-third of the seats in Parliament. This, analysts noted, reflects the dramatic fragmentation of the Moldovan society between the pro-Russians and pro-Europeans, between the supporters of the fight against corruption and those who favour an oligarchic regime.



    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • Labour shortage in Romania

    Labour shortage in Romania

    Although the exact figures do not always concur, all the demographic surveys of the past decade point to the same conclusion: Romanias population is dwindling and ageing. The most recent such survey, commissioned by the Concordia Employers Association, and made public on Tuesday, is no exception. According to its findings, if the demographic decline and migration trends carry on at the same pace, Romanias population will drop to 18 million by 2030. By 2060, the pension system dependency ratio, which is the number of pensioners relative to contributors, will be close to 100%.



    Entitled “A Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis of the Romanian Labour Market, the survey estimates that the number of employees will drop from 8.4 million in 2016 to 7.3 million in 2030. The authors also say that, in terms of the job supply, geographic polarisation will deepen and the most economically dynamic regions, namely Bucharest-Ilfov in the south, the west and the north-west of the country, will also report the highest labour deficits. At national level, this deficit already amounts to some 300,000 people this year, and it may go well over half a million by 2023.



    The authors have also identified important population segments, around 2 million people, which are included neither in the labour market, nor in the education and vocational training system. “What we find, in other words, is untapped human potential. This phenomenon requires in-depth analysis, to enable us to understand the causes of this situation and subsequently to outline measures able to help them enter the labour market, reads the report.



    Some proposed solutions for the labour crisis mentioned in the study include closer cooperation between the education system and the labour market, aimed at modernising vocational and technical training, and implementing a strategy and an action plan to end the demographic decline.



    Commentators are rather sceptical that these trends can be reversed in the short and medium run. The population decline started 3 decades ago, shortly after the fall of the communist regime, when abortion was decriminalised. And migration, which picked up speed after Romanias EU accession in 2007, will continue as long as the national labour market remains hardly rewarding. Bogdan Hossu, the leader of one of the countrys most important trade union association, Cartel Alfa, says that Romania ranks first in the European Union by share of employees below the poverty threshold, namely 20%.



    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • International assistance in the immunoglobulin crisis

    International assistance in the immunoglobulin crisis

    Ever since last year, Romanians who suffer from ailments of the immune system and are immunoglobulin-dependent have been confronted with a situation not to be tolerated in a state that cares about the health of its citizens: the producers that provided over 80% of such products have withdrawn from the market, sparking off a crisis that has not been resolved yet.



    That has happened although the Health Ministry decided that the producers of medicines from blood and plasma derivatives be exempted from the payment of the clawback tax for two years. Adopted in the autumn of 2011, the clawback tax stipulates that medicine producers return to the Romanian state, under certain conditions, part of the profit they make from the sale of subsidized medicines.



    On the one hand, producers argue that that tax is the main cause of the shortage of immunoglobulin, a tax, which makes the price of many immunoglobulins be lower than the production costs. On the other hand, relevant authorities must immediately find solutions so that immunodeficient patients may not become the victims of a system where only pecuniary interests are prevalent. According to some, that crisis would actually be a sort of pressure put by companies on the Health Ministry for a certain price to be established.



    To resolve the immunoglobulin crisis that has a major impact on people’s lives, Romania on Monday officially requested help from the EU countries. Health Minister, Sorina Pintea, has announced that the EU Civil Protection Mechanism has been activated; the Mechanism was set up to support a coordinated and quicker response to disasters. The decision has been endorsed by Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila. Health Minister Sorina Pintea:



    Sorina Pintea: “We’ve made all the necessary efforts to solve this problem. The Romanian state suspended the clawback tax for this product for two years and yet nothing has happened. For March we don’t expect any doses to come in, and we have a few promises for April, but I don’t believe in them. Therefore I’ve informed the Prime Minister and got the approval to begin this procedure. It is a European-level alert, through which Romania requests the medicine.”



    In addition, Romania has also applied to the NATO Mechanism for immunoglobulin. Raed Arafat, state secretary at the Interior Ministry said that the top priority was identifying medicine stocks to be made available to the Romanian authorities that should purchase and urgently bring them to the country. The UNIFARM National Company, which is the Health Ministry’s medicine distributor, will be in charge of the immunoglobulin purchase.


  • The Week in Review, June 12-18

    The Week in Review, June 12-18

    Political crisis in Romania


    The Romanian political scene is facing these days a crisis of unprecedented magnitude in nearly three decades of post-communist democracy. Here is how the recent events have unfolded: both members of the ruling coalition, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania (ALDE), decided on Wednesday to withdraw their political support for Prime Minister Sorin Grindeau, a decision followed by the resignation of all Cabinet members. The Social Democrat leader Liviu Dragnea voiced dissatisfaction with the performance of some of the Cabinet members, saying that 60% of the objectives included in the governing programme had not been fulfilled.


    Liviu Dragnea: “The Social Democratic Party, together with our colleagues in ALDE, is prepared to form a new Cabinet, which will have a much better structured roadmap, including measures to make up for the delays so far. If we carry on like this, with or without Sorin Grindeanu as a Prime Minister, in 3 months time we risk seeing the governing programme a document almost impossible to implement.


    The Prime Ministers reaction, however, came as a surprise:


    Sorin Grindeanu: “I will not resign! And I can tell you exactly why! I have a responsibility towards Romania and the party I am a member of. I believe we should all feel responsible for this, and I most certainly do!


    Sorin Grindeanu has also stated that he will resign only if Liviu Dragnea resigns too, blaming the latter for the current political crisis, and only after the president of the country, Klaus Iohannis, appoints a new Social Democrat Prime Minister. Therefore, the Social Democratic Party has announced that Sorin Grindeanu will be excluded from the party and that, together with ALDE, will introduce a motion of non-confidence in its own Cabinet, the only way to force the Prime Minister to leave, given the latters refusal to resign.


    In the meantime, Romanias President Klaus Iohannis has called on the two coalition parties to find a solution to the internal crisis that led to withdrawing support for the Grindeanu Government. Here is the presidency spokesperson Madalina Dobrovolschi:


    Madalina Dobrovolschi: “The president calls for an urgent settling of the crisis that occurred inside the ruling coalition, in order to avoid political instability. Resolving this internal crisis is strictly the responsibility of the parties that make up the coalition.


    In response to the current situation, the Liberals, in opposition, have stated that they will decide what stand to take after a constitutional solution is found to the crisis. The Save Romania Union has called for early elections, and the Peoples Movement Party has stated that the Social Democrats should take responsibility for the failure of their governing agenda.



    Miners raids of June 1990


    Partly shadowed by the current political crisis in Romania, the case of the so called “miners raids of June 1990 came back to public attention exactly on June 13th, when Romania commemorated 27 years since the stifling of a large-scale rally against the left-wing power installed after the fall of the communist regime in December 1989. On Tuesday, 14 people, including Romanias first post-communist president Ion Iliescu and prime minister Petre Roman and the former head of the Romanian Intelligence Service Virgil Magureanu were charged with crimes against humanity. On June 13-15, 1990, against the background of some extremely violent clashes in Bucharest, which the army had already managed to stifle, president Ion Iliescu blamed the right-wing of attempting a coup and called on civilians to defend the democratic institutions of the state. In response to the call, miners from Jiu Valley came to Bucharest and stormed the University building and the headquarters of the opposition parties and of independent newspapers. The toll of the violent clashes of June 13-15 was four officially recorded deaths, hundreds of wounded and more than one thousand people arrested abusively. Romanias image abroad was severely damaged, too. The military prosecutors indictment reads that illegally involved in this attack were forces of the Interior Ministry and the Defense Ministry, Intelligence Service units as well as over 10,000 miners and other workers. Among other things, Ion Iliescu is accused of having ordered the army to use war armament and ammunition against civilians.



    New salary raises


    Now that the new salary law for public sector employees is about to be promulgated, several categories of public personnel that have not benefited from pay rises for a long time, will get more money too. On Tuesday, the Romanian Chamber of Deputies endorsed a bill under which the employees of public libraries, of the Agriculture and Culture Ministries, part of the public healthcare personnel, active military and civilian personnel with the Defence Ministry will benefit from increased salaries. Statistics show that Romanian employees salaries have increased by 13.4% on average in the past year, reaching the equivalent of some 520 Euro in April.



    The International Theatre Festival in Sibiu


    Sunday is the last day of the International Theatre Festival hosted by the city of Sibiu, in central Romania. For ten days, thousands of spectators have had the opportunity to watch some 500 performances and cultural events included in the festivals agenda. The entire city, but also other places across the county of Sibiu were turned into theatre venues, hosting some 3,000 artists. One of the special guests to this years edition was the famous Russian-born ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov, who said he was very much impressed with the festival.


    (translated by: Mihaela Ignatescu)

  • Political crisis in Bucharest

    Political crisis in Bucharest

    As a novelty in post-communist Romania, the parties in the ruling coalition, the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania, will table a motion to censure their own Government. Parliament will vote on the motion next week.



    This rather extreme decision was made on Thursday, after the Social Democratic PM Sorin Grindeanu announced his decision not to resign, which also triggered his exclusion from the party. Sworn in half a year ago, after the Social Democrats had won the general election by a landslide, the Grindeanu Cabinet lost its political support on Wednesday. The resignations of his Cabinet members could not change the decision made by the Prime Minister, whose open conflict with the head of the Social Democratic Party, Liviu Dragnea, was further deepened.



    Liviu Dragnea: “We did not want this to happen, but regrettably here we are. Unfortunately, during the past 2 months most Cabinet ministers would come to me and to the party and complained over the lack of proper communication with the Prime Minister, and over administrative bottlenecks that it was the Prime Ministers job to set straight. But apparently he didnt.



    The president of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania, Calin Popescu Tariceanu, in his turn, criticised Grindeanus decision:



    Calin Popescu Tariceanu: “What we see is an undesirable circus act coming from a man who became a prime minister not thanks to his own merits, but because a parliamentary majority appointed him to office. At this point, he should have understood that there is only one political, Constitutional solution, namely for him to resign.



    According to the ruling coalition leaders, the replacement of the executive team was necessary, given the delays in implementing the governing programme. The criticism is dismissed by the Prime Minister, who says 6 months is not enough time to implement large-scale reforms. Moreover, Grindeanu, in whose nomination as a prime minister Dragnea played the key role, argues that the assessment report on his Cabinets work, drawn up by the Social Democrats, is unfair.



    The National Liberal Party in opposition wants a Constitutional solution to be reached, says the partys interim president Raluca Turcan:



    Raluca Turcan: “We firmly call on the ruling coalition to end this war, which jeopardises the countrys economic stability and international predictability and affects the citizens, who are waiting for solutions to issues of public interest.



    Also in the Opposition, the Save Romania Union says snap elections would be the only decent solution, while the Peoples Movement Party believes the Social Democrats ought to admit that they are unable to keep their campaign promises. In turn, President Klaus Iohannis has asked the two parties in power to settle their internal crisis.


    (translated by: Ana Maria Popescu)

  • January 22, 2016 UPDATE

    January 22, 2016 UPDATE

    ENERGY – At present Romania has no problems with its natural gas supplies, the National Natural Gas Transport Company, Transgaz, announced on Friday. According to a news release issued by the institution, the system is balanced and operates at normal standards in spite of the extremely low temperatures reported these days. The situation is under permanent monitoring and there is no emergency in the system, Transgaz added. Romania has 1.3 billion cubic metres of natural gas stored in its six underground facilities, and the daily consumption is around 50 million cubic metres. The low temperatures of the past few days pushed the daily electricity and natural gas consumption figures to record levels.



    JUDICIARY – The Mayor of the town of Hârlău (in eastern Romania), the Social-Democrat Constantin Cernescu, and the deputy Florin Ţăpuşă, have been taken by anti-corruption prosecutors under charges of bribe taking, abuse of office, forgery and criminal incitement. In the same case, which probes into illegal transactions with wood carried out over the past two years, the head of the local forestry office and his personal driver have also been arrested.



    DIPLOMACY – The Minister delegate for the Romanian diaspora, Dan Stoenescu, is on a three-day visit to neighbouring Ukraine as of Friday. During the talks with Ukrainian officials, Stoenescu reiterated Romanias support for the EU accession efforts made by Ukraine, and Bucharests willingness to provide assistance in extending domestic reforms in the field of national minorities. The agenda also includes meetings with members of the Romanian community in Ukraine, which is nearly half a million people, mostly living in villages and towns near the common border.



    BODNARIU CASE – A delegation of the Parliament of Romania is in Norway, in an attempt to contribute to the settlement of the situation of Romanian families whose children were taken over by the Norwegian social services. The Orthodox Bishop Macarie Dragoi of Northern Europe is also on a visit to Norway. He said the family is the most appropriate environment for educating children. These visits come against the backdrop of strong emotional responses in Romania after the Norwegian authorities decided to take five children, aged between 4 months and 10 years, from a Romanian-Norwegian family, on grounds that the children were subjected to physical punishments by their parents. Thousands of Romanians, both in Romania and abroad, took part in rallies to voice their solidarity with Ruth and Marius Bodnariu.



    MIGRANTS – More than 40 migrants drowned off the Greek and Turkish coastlines, in two separate incidents, while trying to reach the EU. According to commentators, such tragedies are the result of a deadly combination of bad weather, overloaded boats and huge numbers of refugees from Africa and Asia, who try to cross the sea into Europe every day. According to the International Organisation for Migration, 31,000 people arrived on Greek islands since the beginning of the year, which is 21 times more than in January 2015. Last year over a million migrants and refugees crossed the Mediterranean to get into Europe, and 3.700 drowned.

  • Romania and the Refugee Quota

    Romania and the Refugee Quota

    The refugee crisis in the EU countries is worsening as the number of refugees increases day by day. A ferryboat carrying 2,500 refugees left the Greek island of Lesbos with the support of the Greek government, heading for Athens. In Hungary some motorways have been closed and the army has started training, anticipating possible clashes at the southern border. The Danish train operating company, DSB, on Wednesday suspended trains between Denmark and Germany after the police stopped hundreds of migrants who crossed the border by means of trains.



    Anticipating an increasing pressure posed by the migration phenomenon, the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, asked the member states to accept the relocation of 160 thousand refugees and the compulsory quotas distributed to them. Juncker said they had the necessary means to help those who flee the wars, terror and oppression in their countries, adding that since the beginning of the year 500 thousand people have started coming to Europe.



    The criteria based on which the immigrant quotas were calculated are the number of inhabitants, the GDP, the number of asylum applications and the unemployment rate. Germany is to receive more than 30 thousand refugees, Belgium 4,500, Bulgaria 1,600, Sweden 4,500, and the Czech Republic 3,000. The BBC writes on its web page that four countries in Central Europe — the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania and Poland are opposed to the idea of compulsory immigrant quotas. Romania is to be allocated another 4,646 refugees besides the 1,785 initially assumed.



    In Bucharest, the Romanian authorities’ stand has not changed according to the European Commission decision. Romania cannot afford a greater number of refugees, because this is all it can do now to support the solidarity movement at European level, says the prime minister Victor Ponta: “Romania can receive around 1,785 refugees, and we already have 200 refugees. It’s better to present the real situation and state clearly what Romania can do to help. Compulsory quotas are not the answer, the quotas should be set according to each country’s possibilities.”



    This is the starting point for establishing Romania’s viewpoint at the future European negotiations on this topic, and the country’s official stand will be finalized next week at the meeting of the Supreme Council of National Defense. The proposals of the European Commission will be discussed on Monday by the interior ministers of the EU member countries. Depending on the outcome of the meeting, an extraordinary meeting of the EU heads of state and government might be convened.

  • Reactions to the Greek Crisis

    Reactions to the Greek Crisis

    The results of Sunday’s referendum
    in Greece had immediate echoes in Bucharest. Politicians displayed both
    deference and concern regarding the Greek people’s vote against the austerity
    measures requested by the country’s international lenders. Concerns are fuelled
    by fears of this crisis spreading to other European economies. Separated on
    Europe’s map only by Bulgaria and bound by a long-lasting political friendship,
    Athens and Bucharest are partners at EU level and also allies within NATO.

    Romania is the recipient of significant Greek investment, while Greece is a
    favourite holiday destination among Romanian tourists. That is why Romania’s
    president Klaus Iohannis has expressed hope for Greece’s European future. In a
    message posted on Facebook, the president says that all EU member States should
    continue to seek ways out of this crisis.

    In turn, Prime Minister Victor Ponta
    has stated that dialogue is the solution to the current crisis, rather than
    unilateral decisions. Also on Facebook, the Prime Minister says that
    irrespective of the path Greece opts for, recovery will take years of reforms
    and sacrifices. As regards the effects of the crisis in Romania, Victor Ponta
    recalls that our country has been reporting economic growth for the fourth
    consecutive year, and that no external events could disrupt this positive
    trend. Romania is nothing like Greece, Ponta says in his message, calling Greece a functional, predominantly
    leftist democracy and criticizing those whom he calls tallibans or social
    butchers, who stigmatize a country just because that country decided to make
    its own, separate choices.

    As regards the economic level, Greece’s four largest
    banks currently hold 12% of Romania’s bank assets. However, Central Bank
    spokesman Dan Suciu believes none of Greece’s decisions will influence the
    Greek banks in Romania, as they are registered as Romanian legal entities. We
    are talking about Romanian, not Greek banks, which at some point in the past
    had Greek capital, Suciu explained. Greek banks operating in Romania comply
    with the Romanian law, which guarantees all deposits of up to 100 thousand
    euros in all banks in Romania. Dan Suciu says that from the point of view of
    Romania’s National Bank, Romanian citizens have no reason to fear for their
    deposits or cash reserves.

  • The Swiss Franc Crisis

    The Swiss Franc Crisis

    Disgruntled by the soaring exchange rate of the Swiss Franc against the Leu and faced with difficulties in paying the monthly installments for their Swiss currency loans in due time, thousands of Romanians took to the streets in Bucharest and other large cities, calling for legislation that should allow for the conversion of all foreign currency loans to the historic rate plus 20%. The National Authority for Consumer Protection has argued in favour of a solution where both loan takers and banks should share in the risks. Here is the head of this authority Marius Dunca with more details.



    Marius Dunca: “There is always talk about the risks banks expose themselves to, such as insolvency and other arguments in their favour. In that respect, I hereby dare all banks and financial institutions involved in the management of the Swiss Franc crisis answer the following question: what solutions are you offering to your clients who risk defaulting on their payments, clients with good creditworthiness prior to the crisis? What kind of solutions do you have in mind for the entire crediting term, not just on short term?”



    Speaking on a private television station, Finance Minister Darius Valcov said he expected the National Bank and commercial banks in general to get more involved in this matter, feeling that payment rescheduling remains the best possible solution.



    Darius Valcov: “I would like to see the National Bank getting more involved in this issue, all the more so as it has the means. I don’t believe in setting the exchange rate at a historic level, by means of Government Ordinance or by means of a law adopted in Parliament. Everyone with basic knowledge of economics understands the risks befalling Romania, if the worst comes to the worst”.



    The rescheduling of payments for Romanians with loans in the Swiss currency would entail a drop in the monthly installments down to 35% in the first two years. In the ensuing period loan takers would benefit from a tax deduction of up to 55 euros per month, with the state stepping in to cover these costs. In turn, the National Bank and commercial banks have called for case-specific solutions, arguing that the solution to convert foreign currency loans would go against the Constitution and incur significant losses. Over 75,000 people in Romania have taken out Swiss currency loans with a total of 14 lending institutions.