Radio România Internațional

Tag: domestic events

  • The Year 2024 in Review

    The Year 2024 in Review

    Electoral marathon abandoned before the end

     

    2024 was announced as a complicated political year from the very beginning, with elections of all types, local, European Parliament, presidential and legislative, but no one anticipated what was going to happen at the end of the year and of the electoral marathon. In June, local elections were held together with the European Parliament elections. The common list for the European Parliament proposed by the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the National Liberal Party (PNL), the parties in the governing coalition, prevailed over the other competitors. At the local elections, the social democrats and the liberals won, in that order, the most town halls and county councils. The increasingly heated pre-election speech caused a cooling of relations between the Prime Minister and PSD leader, Marcel Ciolacu, and the PNL leader Nicolae Ciucă, both running for president. And then came the shock of the first round of the presidential election, from November 24, when the political system received a severe blow: Ciucă obtained a single-digit score, Ciolacu came only third, an unwanted scenario and a first for the PSD, the head of the Save Romania Union (USR), Elena Lasconi, was ranked second and the winner was an independent who was not very well known, Călin Georgescu. The general astonishment was followed by concern because the latter’s statements betrayed a pro-Russian and anti-Western extremist, an admirer of the fascist, anti-Semitic leaders of interwar Romania and a promoter of a self-sufficient economic system after the model promoted by Ceausescu. Then, the intelligence services, that had kept silent until then, offered what they consider to be the explanation of Georgescu’s unbelievable score: he would have been aggressively promoted on TikTok, in defiance of electoral laws, and the activity of the TikTok accounts that gave him a strong exposure was financed with a lot of money. Everything would have allegedly happened with the involvement of a state actor. Romania, the Foreign Intelligence Service said, was a target of the aggressive Russian hybrid actions. The Constitutional Court canceled the election, which was an unprecedented decision, on the grounds that the entire electoral process was flawed. In Washington, the bipartisan US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations issued a statement condemning Russia’s involvement in the presidential election in Romania. Vladimir Putin’s attack on the Romanian elections is yet another example of the hybrid war he is waging on our European allies and partners, US senators said. In Brussels, the European Commission announced that it would launch official proceedings against TikTok, after interference in the presidential election in Romania, to find out if the platform violated its legal obligation to assess and mitigate risks to the integrity of the elections. 35 years after the collapse of the communist regime, the still young democratic state called Romania is discovering its major vulnerabilities, which requires, according to analysts, adjustments or even deep institutional and constitutional reforms.

     

    A new fragmented Parliament, a coalition government

     

    Bolstered by Georgescu’s success, three self-styled sovereigntist parties, a sweetened formula that covers ultranationalists, populists, isolationist anti-globalists, detractors of the EU and NATO, extremists or conspirators, entered the Romanian Parliament following the December 1 elections and hold a third of the seats. The representative party of this group is the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR). Alerted by the prospect of an anti-Westerner, supported by sovereigntists, winning the presidency, the pro-European parties PSD, PNL, USR and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) made a pact against extremism after the first round. And after the cancellation of the presidential election, they decided to form a governing coalition. Following tough negotiations and the elimination of USR from the government formula, PSD, PNL and UDMR agreed on a government, led by the same Marcel Ciolacu, and on a common candidate for the upcoming presidential election in the person of the former liberal leader Crin Antonescu. The current president, Klaus Iohannis, is challenged, with arguments, by politicians, and also by experts, who considered the Constitutional Court of Romania – CCR’s decision to cancel the presidential election questionable, on the grounds that it was not based on proven facts. Organizing new elections is a priority. However, the urgency of the moment is the budgetary-fiscal recovery of the country. At the end of the year, Fitch Ratings confirmed Romania’s long-term currency rating at ‘BBB minus’, but worsened the assigned outlook from stable to negative, which means that another downgrade is possible. The revision of the outlook reflects the political uncertainties, which affect the fiscal outlook, the increase in public debt and the high budget deficit.

     

    Criticized measures to reduce budget expenses

     

    In the last meeting of 2024, the Romanian government adopted an emergency ordinance that provides for measures to ensure economic stability, to responsibly manage the budget resources and to maintain control over public spending in 2025. The document provides for the suspension of state employment, as well as the freezing of pensions and of state employees’ salaries at the level of 2024. Overtime will no longer be paid, and extra pay or bonuses will no longer be granted. The government claims that, through these measures, it wants to reduce budget expenditures by 1% of the GDP, but not to give up improving people’s lives and investments. The government approved the increase from 8% to 10% in the tax on dividends and the reduction of the taxation ceiling for micro-enterprises from 500,000 Euros to 250,000 Euros. Transportation facilities for students were also restricted and fiscal facilities for some categories of employees were eliminated. The major trade union federations, employers’ organizations and student associations harshly criticized the measures taken by the Government.

     

    Very good news regarding the freedom of movement

     

    From January 1, Romania entered the European free travel area with land borders too, after, in March, it had entered Schengen with air and sea borders. The full accession of Romania and Bulgaria was possible because Austria and the Netherlands gave up their opposition. However, for 6 months, alternative or random controls will be maintained. The Romanian authorities say that the country’s Schengen accession means faster movement for citizens, lower logistics costs for companies, increased competitiveness of Romanian products and services on the European market, business opportunities and jobs. The good news from Brussels was doubled by the one from Washington: the Department of State announced that Romania fell below the threshold of 3% rejected visa applications, a threshold imposed by American legislation to access the Visa-Waiver program that allows visa-free travel to the US.

     

    A successful sporting year

     

    2024 was a good year for Romanian athletes, who returned from the Paris Olympics with 9 medals, three gold, four silver and two bronze. World swimming star, David Popovici lived up to his status, winning the Olympic title in the 200 meters freestyle and the bronze in the 100 meters event. In football, things went well too: the national team passed the groups at Euro 2024 in Germany and qualified for the eighth finals. The national team footballers also had a great game in the League of Nations, which gave them chances in the drawing of lots for the World Cup in North America. (LS)

  • Domestic Events of 2022 in Review

    Domestic Events of 2022 in Review

    War in Ukraine, security crisis at Romania’s borders, prompt allied response



    After two years in which it monopolized the newscasts, the novel coronavirus is outclassed, in 2022, by the new Russian imperialism of Vladimir Putin, with the start of Russias illegal and unjustified war against its former vassal from the Soviet period, Ukraine. Together with its European Union partners and NATO allies, Romania firmly condemned the Russian aggression and coordinated its actions with them to face ‘the most serious threat to Euro-Atlantic security in recent decades, as the aggression is described in the declaration adopted at the end of the NATO meeting of the foreign affairs ministers held in Bucharest in November. Russia, the declaration shows, bears the full responsibility for this war, a blatant violation of international law and of the principles of the UN Charter, and its unacceptable actions, energy blackmail and reckless nuclear rhetoric undermine the rules-based international order. Any attack against the Allies will receive a united and determined response, the NATO states renewed their commitment. The actions that followed the Russian invasion were aimed at consolidating the eastern flank, the most exposed, of which Romania is also a part. The United States has boosted the number of troops sent to the territory of its strategic partner. Around 5,000 allied soldiers are currently in Romania, most of them from the USA, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and Canada. A NATO battle group was established a few months after the start of the conflict, by transforming the allied multinational elements within the NATO Response Force, and France took over the role of framework nation.



    Energy crisis, inflation, measures to support the population



    Romania participated, from the very first moment, in the international support effort for Ukraine and continues to advocate for maintaining this support, at all levels. The Romanian authorities were praised for the way in which they acted in relation to the Ukrainian refugees and for the role they played in facilitating the transit of cereals from Ukraine to world markets. On the other hand, the Romanian authorities had to manage internal crises that the conflict generated or amplified. In line and in coordination with the European partners, Bucharest has diversified its energy sources in order to decrease its dependence on Russian gas. The government also adopted measures to compensate and cap gas and electricity bills, as the bills risked becoming unbearable for a population whose incomes were devoured by inflation that rose to 17% and endangered the existence of many companies. The budget for next year maintains the measures for capping energy bills, stipulates aid for the most vulnerable categories and allocates money for increasing pensions and the minimum wage.



    CVM monitoring lifted, Schengen accession postponed



    The European Commission proposed, towards the end of the year, the lifting of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism monitoring for Romania, established upon the country’s EU accession in 2007, in order to monitor the reform of the judiciary. The adoption of the justice laws, repaired, to a good extent, after the damage caused to the legislation in the field by the social-democratic government between 2017-2018, had a big say in this decision. The same European Commission found that Romania meets, like Bulgaria, the technical conditions for joining the Schengen free travel area and recommended the EU states to speed up the accession of the two. The European Parliament, for its part, voted a resolution with a similar message. The support of the community institutions and the member states, including the Netherlands, which, in the past, was an intransigent opponent of Romanias and Bulgarias Schengen accession, was, however, blocked by the unexpected and obstinate refusal of Austria. The fact that Romania is not on the route of the illegal migrants flow, which was confirmed by the official data provided by Frontex Agency, and the reports of the Commission, which attest to Romania’s positive results in protecting the Union’s external border and in controlling illegal migration, did not matter. Vienna’s veto in the Justice and Home Affairs Council in December blocked Romanias Schengen accession which had been waited for 11 years. The gesture led to the souring of diplomatic relations between Bucharest and Vienna. Against the background of frustration and indignation, many people, including some leading politicians, called for a boycott of Austrian companies. President Klaus Iohannis called for calm and disagreed with any such boycott. At the last EU summit in 2022, he made an appeal for unity and solidarity, reiterating that Romania deserves its place into the Schengen Area.



    Sentences in the COLECTIVE file



    After almost 7 years since the fire at the Bucharest club Colectiv, which killed dozens of young people who had come to enjoy a rock concert, the court established the guilt and the punishments. The former mayor of the sector where the club that burned down was located received a 4-year sentence for abuse of office, reduced by half compared to the one received in the court of first instance. In his case, the judges eliminated the aggravated element of the crime of abuse of office. The owners of the club received prison sentences between 6 and almost 12 years, and the firefighters from the Inspectorate for Emergency Situations who checked the Colectiv Club without taking the legal measures regarding compliance with fire regulations, were definitively sentenced to 8 years and 8 months in prison. The court decided that some of the convicts should pay compensation of tens of millions of Euros to the families of the victims and the survivors. The latter say that the main culprit for the lost lives is the Romanian state, with its public systems unable to develop antibodies against corruption, indolence and administrative incompetence.



    Popovici, the new star of world swimming



    2022 in sports was a good year, with successes in rowing, kayak-canoeing, table tennis, athletics and weightlifting. However, in 2022 Romanian sports gave much more, namely a name for history, David Popovici. The high school student from Bucharest was the winner of the Junior and Senior World and European Championships in the 100m and 200m long course swimming events, and in Rome he set a new world record in the 100 meter freestyle. The sports press talks about the Popovici phenomenon, and the famous Swimming World magazine designated him the swimmer of the year. Instead, a former world number one, the Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, received, in 2022, the news of a provisional suspension after she was detected positive in an anti-doping control carried out at the US Open. The double grand slam winner, considered a model of integrity in sports, began, according to her own words, the most difficult match of her life, one for the truth, in which she struggles to prove that she is innocent. (LS)