Radio România Internațional

Tag: December

  • December 22, 2023 UPDATE

    December 22, 2023 UPDATE

    GOVERNOR
    Romanian Anca Dragu has been designated governor of the National Bank of the
    Republic of Moldova for a 7-year mandate. A decision in this respect was
    endorsed by Parliament in Chisinau with 58 yes-votes on Friday. The Moldovan
    MPs’ decision was motivated by Dragu’s major expertise with Romania’s Central
    Bank and with the International Monetary Fund as well as with public and EU
    accession policies. Dragu has worked for more than 15 years for Romania’s
    Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund and was Public Finance
    Minister in Bucharest between November 2015 and January 2017. In 2020 she held
    the position of the Romanian Senate president and is presently an MP with the
    Save Romania Union.




    DAY 22 December
    1989 is being celebrated as the Day of the Victory of the Romanian Revolution. It
    marks the flight of communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu after protests broke
    out in Timisoara on 16th December and spread to many other places
    around the country and the capital Bucharest. 1,166 people were killed in the
    December 1989 uprising, according to the Institute of the Romanian Revolution.
    They are commemorated these days in Bucharest and across the country in
    military and religious ceremonies. Those who took part in the Revolution and
    the families of the victims prayed and laid flowers in the cities were the
    fiercest clashes took place.




    FLIGHTS From June next year, direct flights from Bucharest to the
    United States will be resumed after 20 years. Tickets are already being sold,
    as the company in charge of the flights has received permission from the US
    Department of Transport. The flights between Bucharest’s Henri Coanda Airport
    and New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport will take place four times a week on
    Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and return. The trip will last under ten hours.
    The first flight is scheduled for 7th June 2024.




    (bill)

  • The Romanian anti-communist revolution 33 years on

    The Romanian anti-communist revolution 33 years on

    The
    Romanians took to the streets 33 years ago to denounce the communist regime led
    by dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. The first protests began in Timisoara, western
    Romania, where people gathered in front of the house of the Hungarian reformed
    pastor Laszlo Tokes whom the communist authorities wanted to evict. On December
    16th 1989 people of Timisoara shouted ‘Down with Ceausescu’ and on
    December 20th, they proclaimed Timisoara the first city free of
    communism in Romania.




    The
    protest frightened the communist dictator who on December 21st
    summoned a big meeting in Bucharest in an attempt to appease the population and
    maintain its regime. But what was supposed to be a big quiet meeting of
    supporting the dictatorship, like many he had staged until that time, eventually
    turned into a revolt, which expanded to other cities all over the country.




    Over
    one thousand people lost their lives in the clashes between the protesters and
    the riot police while three thousand people were wounded in Romania, the only
    country in the communist bloc, where the change of the regime ended up in bloodshed.




    Commemoration
    events have these days been held all over the country in the memory of those
    who died for freedom. Ceremonies have been held and wreaths of flowers have
    been laid at various monuments of the revolution heroes. Eye witnesses of the
    revolution and descendants of the victims prayed and laid flowers in the
    cities, which saw the bloodiest events.




    Let us keep the memory of the 1989 heroes alive
    and carry on the ideals they fought for, Romania’s president Klaus
    Iohannis said while attending a wreath laying ceremony held at the University
    Square in Bucharest, a symbolic place of the revolution.




    To the martyrs of the Romanian Revolution and all
    those who suffered back in the communist dictatorship we owe the freedom we are
    enjoying today and we have to thank them through our taking care of Romania and
    through the strengthening of the democratic process, the country’s Prime
    Minister Nicolae Ciuca says in his message.




    In turn, Romanian senators kept a moment of
    silence on Wednesday.




    We are now in the 33rd year of our liberty.
    In December 1989 with huge sacrifices, the Romanians fought for their dose of
    liberty, for the human rights observance for the right of free movement outside
    the country’s border. In the last days of 1989 the Romanians hoped their lives
    would change radically in as shorter time as possible, say the Social-Democrats




    Attending the events in Timisoara devoted to the
    Romanian anti-communist Revolution, the senate president the Liberal Alina
    Gorghiu has underlined the fact that the city certainly proved to be an example
    for the entire country 33 years ago and that the revolution paved the way for
    Romania’s European and NATO aspirations.




    Alina Gorghiu reminded the revolutionaries of December
    1989 in Timisoara that their efforts and courage helped the country tremendously
    and urged them to get actively involved in the efforts of the Romanian society
    in this very difficult period of time and that everyone is needed in 2023,
    which is going to be a difficult year.




    (bill)

  • National Day, celebrated in Romania and abroad

    National Day, celebrated in Romania and abroad

    On the 1st December 1918, in Alba Iulia,
    central Romania, Transylvania joined the Kingdom of Romania, and that day is
    now celebrated by all Romanians as National Day.


    More than a century later, Romanians everywhere marked
    their National Day amid restrictions entailed by the coronavirus pandemic. In his
    address, president Klaus Iohannis said the country’s main goals are democracy, a
    future within the EU and strengthening the rule of law, so as to produce prosperity
    for all citizens. We are celebrating National Day at a time of suffering and concern.
    The COVID-19 pandemic is still the painful reality of our times, said Klaus
    Iohannis, but he also sent a message of encouragement, respect and gratitude:


    Klaus Iohannis: The lesson of solidarity is more useful and timely than
    ever. History has proved, time and again, that united we can adapt to any trends
    and occurrences and that overcoming all challenges depends on our determination,
    as a nation. Just like in so many other critical moments in our past, we have today
    the necessary resources, the right instruments and the will to succeed. So I urge
    you all to look ahead with hope!


    In Bucharest, some 1,500 troops and over 100 vehicles
    took part in the traditional military parade at the Arch of Triumph, while
    around 30 military aircraft flew over the city. It was the second parade since
    the pandemic broke out, but the first that the public were able to attend.


    Thousands also attended the military parade in Alba
    Iulia, in which over 500 troops, accompanied by land and air combat equipment,
    took part. The ceremonies continued with folklore performances and a drone show.


    In Timișoara (west), National Day was celebrated with
    a military and religious ceremony, followed by a brief march by the Guard of
    Honour.


    On the National Day of Romania, we thank you for your
    friendship and for all the good things we have done and will do together in the
    future, the president of the neighbouring Republic of Moldova Maia Sandu said
    in a message.


    Celebrations were organised around the world, either
    by Romania’s diplomatic offices abroad or by Romanian communities. In Israel, National
    Day was marked in Tel Aviv by Romanian and Israeli officials, who praised the
    bilateral relations and the growing cooperation between the 2 countries.

    The Romanian
    Embassy in Italy organised a concert in the presence of over 600 Romanian and
    Italian politicians, diplomats, and other participants. Romania’s National Day reminds
    us, first and foremost, of the will of our forefathers, of our cultural,
    political and diplomatic elites, to fight for the ideal of national unity, the
    Ambassador of Romania to London, Laura Popescu, said in turn in a message to
    all Romanians. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • Remember Timisoara

    Remember Timisoara

    On December 18, 1989 in Timisoara, the largest city of Banat region, in the west of Romania, the Communist regime’s forces of repression opened fire on the young protesters who had gathered on the steps of the city’s Orthodox cathedral. Also 30 years ago, the bodies of 43 revolutionaries were stolen from the morgue of the County Hospital by officers of the Securitate, the regime’s political police, and taken to the Bucharest crematorium, in a move to erase all traces of the murders committed in Timisoara.



    Looking back at December 1989, many commentators said that it was not by chance that the end of the Communist dictatorship started in the very city of Timisoara. Timisoara was located near the free world, so to say. Television antennas had captured for many years the broadcasts aired by the TV channels from Tito’s Yugoslavia, which for Romanians were incredibly relaxed, or those aired by the Hungarian television. The historical context made the people of Banat area, even when the region was under the rule of the Habsburg Empire, develop a civic attitude and a trans-ethnic solidarity which had not been seen in other provinces.



    The few people who had shown solidarity with the Hungarian pastor Laszlo Tokes, whom the Communist authorities wanted to deport from Timisoara, was the spark of the citizens’ revolt. The list of the people killed in December 1989 includes Romanian, Hungarian, German and Serbian names. In an outbreak of what commentators called cynicism and madness, dictator Nicolae Ceausescu went on a visit to Iran on those very days, Iran being one of the last places in the world where a criminal despot could still be welcomed as a head of state.



    On December 20, when the rest of Romania was still a Socialist republic and did not dare think that it could become something else, Timisoara was already free of Communism. It had been freed by the first Romanians who, after decades of humiliation, hunger and cold, overcame their fear. They were the relatives and friends of those killed on the steps of the Cathedral. The soldiers refused to continue shooting the people and withdrew to their barracks.



    The first officer who fraternized with the revolutionaries, Viorel Oancea, became, two years later, the mayor of Timisoara, after he winning the post-Communist local elections. On December 21, 1989 the uprising in Timisoara extended to other big cities of Romania, in the west and center, such as Arad, Cluj, Sibiu and Brasov, where the police opened fire on the people. Also on December 21 Ceausescu ordered a rally which he wanted to be supportive of his regime, but the rally turned into a manifestation of overt disdain for his dictatorship. A rally which he again tried to repress.



    The second day, under the pressure of hundreds of thousands of protesters, the Ceausescus fled in a helicopter. They were captured and tried superficially and then shot dead on December 25, in a barracks in Targoviste (in the south). Romania was the only country in Central and Eastern Europe where the toppling of the Communist regime was actually a bloodbath and Timisoara was the first martyr city of those days. (translation by L. Simion)

  • Remember Timisoara

    Remember Timisoara

    On December 18, 1989 in Timisoara, the largest city of Banat region, in the west of Romania, the Communist regime’s forces of repression opened fire on the young protesters who had gathered on the steps of the city’s Orthodox cathedral. Also 30 years ago, the bodies of 43 revolutionaries were stolen from the morgue of the County Hospital by officers of the Securitate, the regime’s political police, and taken to the Bucharest crematorium, in a move to erase all traces of the murders committed in Timisoara.



    Looking back at December 1989, many commentators said that it was not by chance that the end of the Communist dictatorship started in the very city of Timisoara. Timisoara was located near the free world, so to say. Television antennas had captured for many years the broadcasts aired by the TV channels from Tito’s Yugoslavia, which for Romanians were incredibly relaxed, or those aired by the Hungarian television. The historical context made the people of Banat area, even when the region was under the rule of the Habsburg Empire, develop a civic attitude and a trans-ethnic solidarity which had not been seen in other provinces.



    The few people who had shown solidarity with the Hungarian pastor Laszlo Tokes, whom the Communist authorities wanted to deport from Timisoara, was the spark of the citizens’ revolt. The list of the people killed in December 1989 includes Romanian, Hungarian, German and Serbian names. In an outbreak of what commentators called cynicism and madness, dictator Nicolae Ceausescu went on a visit to Iran on those very days, Iran being one of the last places in the world where a criminal despot could still be welcomed as a head of state.



    On December 20, when the rest of Romania was still a Socialist republic and did not dare think that it could become something else, Timisoara was already free of Communism. It had been freed by the first Romanians who, after decades of humiliation, hunger and cold, overcame their fear. They were the relatives and friends of those killed on the steps of the Cathedral. The soldiers refused to continue shooting the people and withdrew to their barracks.



    The first officer who fraternized with the revolutionaries, Viorel Oancea, became, two years later, the mayor of Timisoara, after he winning the post-Communist local elections. On December 21, 1989 the uprising in Timisoara extended to other big cities of Romania, in the west and center, such as Arad, Cluj, Sibiu and Brasov, where the police opened fire on the people. Also on December 21 Ceausescu ordered a rally which he wanted to be supportive of his regime, but the rally turned into a manifestation of overt disdain for his dictatorship. A rally which he again tried to repress.



    The second day, under the pressure of hundreds of thousands of protesters, the Ceausescus fled in a helicopter. They were captured and tried superficially and then shot dead on December 25, in a barracks in Targoviste (in the south). Romania was the only country in Central and Eastern Europe where the toppling of the Communist regime was actually a bloodbath and Timisoara was the first martyr city of those days. (translation by L. Simion)

  • Candidates for the legislative elections

    Candidates for the legislative elections

    Most political parties in Romania have submitted their lists of candidates for the legislative elections this year. These include both new names, as well as old party hardliners. The party holding most seats in the current Parliament and favored by opinion polls to win is the Social-Democratic Party that submitted a list headed by former Education Minister Ecaterina Andronescu and other former ministers, such as Rovana Plumb, Eugen Teodorovici and Nicolae Baniciou. Former Prime Minister Victor Ponta has filed his candidacy for his constituency in Gorj County, while Social-Democrat leader Liviu Dragnea will be running for office in Teleorman County, commonly seen as his political stronghold.



    Liviu Dragnea: “40% of our candidates are women, 40% are young people and over 75% candidates are new. 40% of them are economic or legal experts, it was an aspect that we took very serious”.



    The first party to submit its lists was the National Liberal Party, which pundits see as the only right-wing party able to challenge the Social Democrats. Known for his professionalism and acts of charity, neurosurgeon Leon Dănăilă is top of the list for the Senate.



    Liberal leader Alina Gorghiu is running for a seat in the Senate in Timis County: “We have people from all walks of life, very-well trained and upstanding people, two criteria which differentiate us from other parties”.



    The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats from Romania (ALDE) lists the party’s two co-presidents, Calin Popescu Tariceanu and Daniel Constantin, both running for Bucharest, but also former ministers, such as Teodor Melescanu or Sorin Campeanu, who will be running in constituencies in the country.



    90% of the listed names have only just entered politics, Popescu-Tariceanu says: “I hope this election should consolidate the position of ALDE as the third political faction in Romania, an alternative to traditional parties”.



    Former President Traian Basescu will be running on behalf of the People’s Movement Party for the Senate. One of his priority projects, if elected, will be the switch to a single-chamber Parliament with 300 seats, reflecting the will of those who voted in the 2009 referendum.



    Traian Basescu: “We will have a 300-seat Parliament, we will revise the Constitution, we will roll back the Education Law and consolidate the judiciary”.



    The leader of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, Kelemen Hunor, is running in his constituency in Harghita County for the Chamber of Deputies. The leader of the Save Romania Union, Nicusor Dan, will be running for Bucharest, followed by a former minister, Cristian Ghinea. Before political parties got to finalize their lists of candidates, US Ambassador to Bucharest, Hans Klemm, said that US-Romania relations could be consolidated if the structure of the upcoming Government reflected the principles of integrity and expertise, ruling out people under criminal investigation. (traslation by V. Palcu)