Radio România Internațional

Tag: Danube river

  • September 21, 2024

    September 21, 2024

    ADJUSTMENT – The Romanian government is next week discussing a budget adjustment proposal presented by the Ministry of Finance. Although it is based on an increase in revenues, expenses have also significantly increased, which will lead to a deficit of 7%, two percentage points above the authorities’ estimate at the start of the year. Meanwhile, the economic growth forecast was downgraded from 3.4 to 2.8% of GDP. Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu gave assurances the adjustment is sustainable, as investment-related expenses account for 84% of the deficit. According to the draft decree published on the website of the Ministry of Finance, healthcare, transports and education will receive additional funds. The social insurance budget will also be increased, to ensure the payment of recalculated pensions, as well as unemployment benefits and related social insurance contributions.

     

    ELECTION – The Romanian Foreign Ministry has published on its website a Guide for postal voting for this year’s presidential and parliamentary elections. According to the document, Romanians domiciled or living abroad can register in the online register for postal voting by October 10 for presidential elections, and by October 17 for the parliamentary election. The Ministry recalls that the right to vote by post is an alternative to voting in polling stations and is carried out via postal services. Voters can register by filling an online form on the website votstrainătate.ro, managed by the Permanent Election Authority.

     

    FLOODS – The Romanian segment of the Danube will a see maximum flood levels over the course of next week, Romanian Water Administration officials say. Experts expect a maximum debit of 9,500 cubic meters per second, which will be kept in check by the first line of defenses, 1,100-km long, consisting of dams and other hydrotechnical facilities. Currently, the Danube’s flow stand at 5,100 cubic meters per second and, according to the precise forecast issued by relevant authorities, this flow will reach 8,700 cubic meters per second by September 26, that is more than the multi-year average for the month of September, 3,800 cubic meters per second. In Budapest, the Danube overflowed, the streets and buildings near the embankment were flooded, and the Parliament building was also flooded. The Danube also overflowed in Slovakia and Austria. The European Commission has promised an emergency aid of 10 bln EUR for countries in Central and Eastern Europe affected by the floods.

     

    CONFLICT – US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, has again voiced concern about escalating tensions between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah group, during his sixth telephone conversation with his Israeli counterpart in less than a week. The US official demanded a diplomatic resolution to the crisis. Secretary Austin’s plea comes after Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant invoked a new phase in the war. The Israeli military announced on Friday it had killed a top commander of the Hezbollah group, as well as other high-ranking members of the Lebanese organization in an airstrike on Beirut. The strike followed two days of attacks on Hezbollah, in which its members’ pagers and radios exploded, killing 37 people and injuring several thousand. The attacks are believed to have been carried out by Israeli intelligence services, which have neither confirmed nor denied their involvement.

     

    BUCHAREST DAYS – The Bucharest Days Festival has kicked off, marking the anniversary of 565 years since the city was first documented. Concerts, theater shows, acrobatics and animation performances, installations and art exhibitions are organized on this occasion, as well as various interactive activities for children. This weekend, the George Enescu Square hosts the 12th edition of “Bucharest Music Film Festival”, including performances by prestigious ensembles and artists. Also, children are invited on Sunday to take part in the workshop “Remi and the adventure of sounds: drums and rhythm, small percussion instruments”, where they will be able to experience various sounds and rhythms. (VP)

  • March 28, 2019 UPDATE

    March 28, 2019 UPDATE

    REFERENDUM – Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis on
    Thursday announced he would call a referendum on May 26, coinciding with the
    European Parliament election. The topic will be observing the rule of law and
    the independence of the judiciary, which the President believes has been under
    constant attacks from the Social-Democratic Party in power. During this week
    the President talked to representatives of associations of judges and magistrates
    as well as civil society. Some of them have criticized the organization of a
    referendum on the same day as the European Parliament ballot, saying the
    referendum might influence the result of the election. Others have voiced the
    unequivocal support for the President’s decision.




    DANUBE – The Romanian transport minister
    Razvan Cuc and the European commissioner for transport Violeta Bulc have had
    talks in Bucharest about ways to turn the Danube river into a more attractive
    European corridor. Razvan Cuc has said his ministry will launch a tender to
    purchase a modern system to allow own dredging works, not just by third
    companies, and that increasing the river depth would lead to an increase in the
    shipment of goods via the river. The European commissioner for transport Violeta Bulc has said the Danube has great potential for the transport
    of goods and has underlined that in some EU member states inland waterways are
    used extensively. She also emphasised that in the absence of efficient roads
    and railways, Romania should develop further its Black Sea port of Constanta,
    in the south-east.




    EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
    ELECTION -
    Political parties and alliances and independent candidates in Romania had until
    Thursday to submit their candidacies for the European Parliament elections on
    the 26th of May. The candidate lists were submitted to the Central
    Election Bureau, accompanied by 200,000 support signatures in the case of
    political parties and 100,000 signatures for independent candidates. The
    Central Election Bureau is to decide by the 6th of April whether to
    accept or reject the candidacies, decisions that can be appealed until the 12th
    of April. The order of the candidates on the ballot will then be established
    based on a drawing of lots. The election campaign begins on the 27th
    of April and ends on the morning of the 25th of May.




    EUROPEAN PROSECUTOR – The second round of negotiations
    between the representatives of the Council of the European Union and of the
    European Parliament to appoint a chief European prosecutor ended without a
    breakthrough, Radio Romania’s correspondent in Brussels quotes European sources
    as saying. There are two candidates for this position: the former head of
    Romania’s National Anticorruption Directorate Laura Codruta Kovesi, who has the
    backing of the European Parliament, and the French candidate Jean-François
    Bohnert, who is supported by the Council. Further talks will be held on the 4th
    or 10th of April. The appointment of the future European chief
    prosecutor must earn the approval of both the Council of the European Union and
    the European Parliament for a single 7-year term. The European Prosecutor’s
    Office is supposed to take up its functions at the end of 2020. This will be an
    independent office responsible for the investigation, prosecution and
    indictment of fraud against the EU budget.




    UNEMPLOYMENT – The
    unemployment rate went up to 4.1% in the last quarter of 2018, up by 0.2%
    compared with the previous quarter. According to the National Institute of
    Statistics, the highest unemployment level of more than 16%, was reported among
    young people aged between 15 and 24. The occupancy rate among the 15-64 age
    bracket stood at 64.5% in the period looked at, lower compared with the
    previous quarter. The employment rate was higher among men and the urban
    population. According to the National Institute of Statistics, Romania’s active
    population stood at almost 9 million people, of whom 8.5 million were in
    employment and 368,000 out of work.




    ROMANIA-FRANCE
    SEASON
    – The Romania-France Season, which opens on the 18th of April with
    Spotlight, an international festival of lights, will feature exhibitions,
    theatre and film festivals and concerts held in more than 30 towns and cities
    across Romania. The French ambassador to Bucharest Michèle Ramis
    says the event, which has been held in more than 100 towns and cities in
    France, has enjoyed immense success, with the French public rediscovering
    Romania and its artists. The Season ends on the 16th of April in
    Paris and on the 18th of April will move to Romania until the 14th
    of July.


    (translated by C. Mateescu &
    V. Palcu)