Radio România Internațional

Tag: dismiss

  • February 16, 2021

    February 16, 2021

    COVID-19 2,676 new SARS-CoV-2 cases were reported
    in Romania in the last 24 hours, out of nearly 33,000 tests conducted
    nation-wide, according to the Strategic Communication Group. So far Romania has
    had around 766,000 confirmed coronavirus infections. Nearly 90% of the patients
    have recovered. The authorities also announced another 81 COVID-19 related
    deaths, taking the death toll to over 19,500. Another 943 patients are in
    intensive care.

    ECONOMY PM Florin Cîţu says a “V-shaped recovery of the Romanian economy is certain, after data made public by the National Statistics Institute for the last quarter of 2020 point to a 5.3% growth rate. He mentioned that in 2020, Romanias economy, just like the global economy, was hit by the biggest crisis of the last century. Florin Cîţu also added that last year Romania performed 5% better than originally estimated, and 2.5% in average better than all forecasts made by international institutions, the EC, financial rating agencies and other financial institutions.



    PROTESTS Representatives of the hospitality industry organise in Bucharest today new protests against the pandemic containment measures introduced by the authorities. Employers in the sector demand the payment of the promised compensations for last year, when their operations declined by 70%. In Mondays meeting with hospitality representatives, the economy minister Claudiu Năsui promised that the government earmarked over 510 million euros for financial support in the draft budget. On Monday, members of Sanitas Union Federation picketed the Finance Ministry headquarters to warn that a smaller budget for public healthcare in a year with a coronavirus pandemic is not only an injustice to the workers in the system, but also deeply immoral to Romanias citizens.



    MOTION The Chamber of Deputies is to vote on Wednesday on the first simple motion of this legislative term, tabled by the Social Democrats in opposition against the health minister Vlad Voiculescu. The Deputies discussed the motion on Monday. The Social Democrats claim that minister Vlad Voiculescu was not sufficiently involved in the immunisation and testing programmes, and that he issued messages conflicting with the coordinators of the national vaccination campaign, discouraging the healthcare workers involved in the process. Vlad Voiculescu replied that during his 2 months in office, he earmarked close to 19 million euros for investments in hospitals.



    DIPLOMACY Slovakias foreign minister, Ivan Korcok, is on an official visit to Bucharest today, when he has meetings scheduled with his counterpart Bogdan Aurescu and PM Florin Cîţu. According to the Foreign Ministry, the visit is a new opportunity to reconfirm the excellent bilateral relation and the continuity of the dialogue and historical ties between the 2 countries. The officials will also discuss the coordination of topics of mutual interest at EU level, such as fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, implementing the multi-annual framework and the European Recovery Plan, the Conference on the Future of Europe, the Eastern Partnership and the EU enlargement process.



    TENNIS The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, number 2 in the world, Tuesday lost in Melbourne to the American Serena Williams (no 11 WTA), 6-3, 6-3, in the eighth-finals of the Australian Open. Halep and Williams have so far had 11 matches in professional competitions, with Williams winning 9 of them. The latest match was the Wimbledon final of 2019, when the Romanian won 6-2, 6-2. In 2019, they also played against each other in the eighth-finals in Melbourne, when Williams won 6-1, 4-6, 6-4. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • Justice Minister wants the Prosecutor General dismissed

    Justice Minister wants the Prosecutor General dismissed

    To his supporters, Justice Minister Tudorel Toader has outstanding merits in putting an end to the abuse and human rights violations supposedly committed in courts and penitentiaries, and further to which Romania has lost countless cases at the European Court for Human Rights.



    To his opponents, however, he is the most efficient instrument used by the ruling coalition, made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, in its attempt to bring magistrates under political control and to hinder the fight against corruption.



    During Toaders term in office, the chiefs of the main prosecutors offices have been replaced one by one. After the head of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, on Wednesday it was the Prosecutor Generals turn, as Toader announced he initiated the procedure to remove Augustin Lazar from office.



    In an activity assessment report, the Justice Minister accuses the Prosecutor General of generating constitutional conflicts between public authorities and of making public statements of a political nature, including unprecedented accusations that targeted public authorities, Parliament and the Government. The Prosecutor General failed to meet his stated objectives, challenged the justice laws after the constitutionality checks had been completed, broke the law by signing protocols with the intelligence services, thus paving the way for a parallel judicial system, Tudorel Toader also claims:



    Tudorel Toader: “The facts presented in this report, which are intolerable in a rule-of-law state, prove that Mr. Augustin Lazars managerial activity comes against his constitutional and legal obligations. Under these circumstances, his holding the leading position in the Public Ministry is no longer acceptable.



    In response, Augustin Lazar says the report includes exaggerations and that it is designed to destabilise the Public Ministry. He argues that freedom of expression must be used against any interference that threatens to affect the independence of prosecutors:



    Augustin Lazar: “All the decisions I have made, ever since I took over the Prosecutor General post, have relied on constitutional principles and values. In my capacity as Prosecutor General, I have also exercised my obligation to stand up publicly, to present the views of the institution, in response to many unwarranted attacks against the judicial system.



    The request to remove Augustin Lazar from office has been submitted to the Higher Council of Magistracy for a consultative opinion, and to President Klaus Iohannis, who has the authority to appoint and dismiss chief prosecutors.



    The Social Democrat Florin Iordache, a former justice minister, says the assessment presented by Toader includes enough examples of regulation breaches for Lazar to be dismissed. The right-of-centre opposition, however, believes the procedure to remove the Prosecutor General is just an attack against the independence of the judiciary.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • September 11, 2018

    September 11, 2018

    VISIT – The Prime Minister of Slovakia, Peter Pellegrini, had talks in Bucharest today with his Romanian counterpart, Viorica Dăncilă. The latter said that during the Romanian presidency of the EU Council in the first half of next year, Romania will pay special attention to the negotiations on the multi-annual financial framework for 2021-2027. PM Dǎncilǎ also added that the goal of strengthening the EU domestic security will be one of the pillars on which Romanias priorities in its presidential term will rely. In terms of bilateral relations, Viorica Dăncilă and Peter Pellegrini discussed ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation, particularly in the field of defence and energy. A bilateral cooperation protocol was signed, which will benefit the Romanian workers employed in Slovakia, as well as a ministry-level Education Cooperation Programme for 2018-2022. Also today, PM Peter Pellegrini was received by President Klaus Iohannis.





    PARLIAMENT – The Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest today discusses a simple motion tabled by the National Liberal Party, in Opposition, against the Interior Minister Carmen Dan. The motion, entitled “The Social Democratic Partys batons, a slap in the face of Romanian democracy, will be voted on Wednesday. The Liberals accuse Carmen Dan of having coordinated the brutal intervention against the participants in the anti-governmental protests of August 10th in Bucharest. On Monday, hundreds of people protested again, in the same place, and demanded the resignation of the Cabinet and of those responsible for the gendarme intervention. More than 400 people were injured a month ago, and the General Prosecutors Office initiated hearings in the case, with the Mayor General of Bucharest Gabriela Firea also heard. She requested the resignation of the Interior Minister, who, Firea claims, is trying to pass responsibility for the brutal gendarme intervention to the prefect of Bucharest. So far 770 victims of the clashes have filed criminal complaints. The Senates defence committee is also holding hearings concerning the protests of August 10th.




    CONSULTATIONS – The President of Romania Klaus Iohannis has today received the foreign ministers of Poland, Jacek Czaputowicz, and Turkey, Mevlut Cavusoglu, accompanied by their Romanian counterpart Teodor Meleşcanu, who had taken part in an informal 3-party meeting on security-related topics. According to the Presidential Administration, the talks focused on the main means of cooperation in this format, launched in 2012 at Romanias initiative in order to promote the regional and international security agenda, working on the conclusions of the NATO summit in Brussels in July. Jacek Czaputowicz and Mevlut Cavuşoglu pointed out that Romania is a trustworthy ally and partner, which which they share similar security assessments. Also today, on the side lines of the consultations, ministers Jacek Czaputowicz and Mevlut Cavuşoglu had talks with PM Viorica Dăncilă. The 3-party meeting in Bucharest between Romania, Turkey and Poland is the 5th in this format, the previous one being held in Warsaw last year.





    9/11 – Leading politicians in Bucharest have expressed solidarity with the American people, today, when the country commemorates the tragedy of September 11 2001, and have reiterated Romanias commitment to fighting “against the common threat of terrorism. The entire international community commemorates 17 years since the terrorist attacks in the US, when around 3,000 people were killed, including 5 Romanian nationals.




    RUSSIA – Russia has today launched the largest-scale military moves in its history, criticised by NATO as a rehearsal for a major conflict. According to the Russian defence ministry, around 300,000 troops will take part, including Chinese and Mongolian forces, 36,000 vehicles, 1,000 aircraft and 80 sea vessels. The large drill, called East-2018, will take place until September 17, in eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East. The drills take place in the context of lingering tensions between Russia and the West, marked by the Ukrainian crisis, the conflict in Syria and countless allegations of Russia meddling with the domestic policy of other countries, including the US, international news agencies say.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)