Radio România Internațional

Tag: drug trafficking

  • June 26, 2024 UPDATE

    June 26, 2024 UPDATE

     

    SUMMIT The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, attends the European Council meeting in Brussels on Thursday and Friday. Support for the neighbouring Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, as well as the new structure of the European Parliament, are on the meeting’s agenda, according to a press release from the Presidency. EU leaders will also continue discussions on appointments at the top of the EU institutions, following the recent European elections.

     

    CURRENCY Romania does not meet the conditions for switching to the single currency, the European Commission said after assessing judicial compatibility and the fulfillment of the so-called convergence criteria. The European Commission looked at price stability, the soundness of public finances, the currency exchange rate stability and the stability of long-term interest rates, areas in which Romania still has a lot to do. Bulgaria, on the other hand, does meet the criteria, but it is not yet a member of the exchange rate mechanism. One of the requirements for joining the Euro zone is a minimum 2-year participation in the mechanism, without major monetary tensions.

     

     

    CITIZENSHIP A bill modifying the Citizenship Act was endorsed by the Parliament of Romania on Wednesday. A provision allowing foreign citizens who are married and living together with a Romanian national abroad for at least 10 years to be granted Romanian citizenship has been scrapped. The prerequisite for applicants to obtain Romanian citizenship is for them to have legally resided in Romania for at least 8 years or, if they are married to Romanian citizens, for at least 5 years. Refugees may also be granted Romanian citizenship after 3 years, instead of 8 years previously. The document also provides for biometric checks such as fingerprints and face recognition, for those who apply for Romanian citizenship, so as to prevent fraud. Also on Wednesday, Romanian MPs passed legislation binding business operators to card customers who purchase alcohol, energy drinks and tobacco in order to make sure they are over 18. The fines for failure to comply range from EUR 2,000 to 6,000.

     

     

    REHAB Detoxification and rehabilitation centres for drug addicts will be established in each of the 8 development regions in Romania, under a bill passed by the Chamber of Deputies in this respect. Dan Tănasă, a member of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR, in opposition) says drug trafficking is a topic on the agenda of the Supreme Defence Council, which is a clear sign that Romania has been hijacked by drug trafficking networks. Tănasă also said setting up such centres does not tackle the core issue. In response, the Social Democrat Florin Buicu, whose party is the main partner in the ruling coalition, said prevention is necessary with respect to drug consumption, but that the need for addict treatment centres is undeniable. The bill is to be submitted to the president of Romania for promulgation.

     

     

    USR The ex-journalist Elena Lasconi, the mayor of Câmpulung Muscel (southern Romania), was elected president of Save Romania Union (in opposition, affiliated to RENEW in the European Parliament) with 68% of the online votes of party members. Lasconi said the reconstruction of USR would now begin, with a party congress scheduled for this weekend, when the members of the party’s leading structure, the National Bureau, will also be elected. The former USR leader Cătălin Drulă resigned following the local and EP elections of June 9, when the United Right Alliance, comprising USR, the People’s Movement Party and the Force of the Right came below the Social Democrats and the Liberals (in the ruling coalition) and AUR party.

     

     

    NATO The 32 NATO member countries Wednesday confirmed the nomination of the Dutch PM Mark Rutte for secretary general. France Press says the withdrawal of the candidacy of Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis and of the objections raised by Hungary and Slovakia paved the way for Rutte securing the top NATO post. He is to take office on October 1, when the last extension of the current secretary general Jens Stoltenberg’s term in office expires. Appointed in 2014, Stoltenberg saw his term in office extended 4 times in the context of the war in Ukraine. (AMP)

  • Chamber of Deputies adopts “2 Mai” law

    Chamber of Deputies adopts “2 Mai” law

    Traffickers of high-risk drugs will no longer receive suspended prison sentences, while selling the psychoactive substances is now subject to prison sentences ranging from 3 to 10 years. The new law, dubbed “May 2”, rules out the possibility of serving the sentence on probation in the case of trafficking class-A drugs. The law was launched in the context of last summer’s road accident in the 2 Mai resort on the Romanian Black Seacoast, when a 19-year-old man driving under the influence of drugs ran over a group of young people, killing two. Police officers later found drugs in his car. Members of the Liberal Party, the initiators of this law say the new legal initiative comes in response to rising criminality in the area of drug trafficking. In turn, Social-Democrat deputy Daniel Suciu says drug abuse has long been ignored in Romania, and combating this phenomenon requires the concerted effort of all parliamentary groups.

     

    “Drug abuse is a reality in nightclubs and schools. We’re talking about young people who ruin the lives of their peers. We will vote a draft law to prevent these bastards from receiving suspended sentences”.

     

    Opposition party AUR deputy Gianina Șerban says additional measures are needed to combat drug abuse and trafficking.

     

    “In addition to tougher sentences, which we completely agree with, we also need drug scanners in border checkpoints, detox and prevention centers, if we truly want to help these young addicts”.
    “You can’t go around selling heroin or cocaine, destroying lives and then walk free. Drug traffickers belong in prison. We don’t need another tragedy like the one in 2 Mai”, Justice Minister Alina Gorghiu says. In 2022, over 800 people received final prison sentences for drug trafficking (whether at home or abroad). Of them, half are serving sentences in penitentiaries, but in 47% of these cases the courts of law suspended their sentence. In the first 10 months of 2023 some 10,780 drug-related criminal investigations were launched. At present, the youngest age associated with drug abuse is 12 years old in Romania. The EU Anti-Drug Agency is monitoring 930 new psychoactive substances, manufactured in illegal labs, with serious negative consequences for human health compared to traditional drugs. Their price is lower compared to class-A drugs, making them more attractive to young people, including in Romania. Without being subject to legal provisions, these substances affect how the brain works and produce behavioral changes and dependence. (VP)

  • January 26, 2024

    January 26, 2024

    Protests – The Romanian government has adopted several measures aimed at solving the problems that have brought farmers and transporters to the streets in recent weeks. Money has been allocated for subsidies for farmers of dairy cows, buffaloes, poultry and pigs, and the subsidy for diesel fuel used in agriculture has also been increased. The money will reach the farmers by the end of June this year. For farmers affected by the drought of 2023, the government adopted an emergency ordinance that allows them to postpone payment of installments to the banks. It was also decided to change the legal framework so that truck drivers will no longer be fined for the expiry of the vignette in the case of long waiting times at customs points, and as regards the healthcare employees, an overall 20% increase in the salaries was agreed in the healthcare field for 2024.



    Automobile – The production of vehicles in Romania reported a record increase last year and exceeded by more than 4% the total number of cars in 2019. Adrian Sandu, the general secretary of the Romanian Automobile Manufacturers Association, believes that this increase was possible thanks to the efforts of the two factories, Dacia and Ford, to find solutions to the crisis of electronic components. “Both the Dacia and Ford teams did their best to ensure an optimal supply flow of components, so that, against the background of a consistent demand, we have this increase in production, thus registering in 2023 a new record of production of vehicles in Romania, about 513,000 units”, said Adrian Sandu.



    Drugs – The European Union states should focus on the fight against drug trafficking in ports, on an integrated basis at the international level, said the Romanian Interior Minister Cătălin Predoiu on Thursday in Brussels. Attending the informal Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting, he mentioned that a working group has been organized in Romania that integrates several institutions with attributions in preventing and combating drug trafficking. Cătălin Predoiu showed that, just as drug traffickers work in networks at the international level, the structures to combat this phenomenon must be organized in the same way, and Romania will be in the front line of this fight. At the same time, he welcomed the decision made by the Council last year, to expand the Schengen area with Romania and Bulgaria to include the air and maritime borders.



    Flu – 18 people have died of the flu in Romania in the last week, and the total number of deaths caused by flu since the beginning of the cold season is 40. According to the National Public Health Institute, between January 15-21, over 120,000 cases of respiratory viruses and almost 7,000 cases of flu were registered, and hospitals are faced with increasing numbers of patients in the Emergency Outpatient Service Units. The youngest patients are babies only a few days old. Due to a lack of beds, doctors are forced to postpone the hospitalization of some of the patients. A little over 1 million people have been vaccinated against the flu this season, most of whom benefit from the reimbursable drug medicine scheme.



    First house – Financiers who did not participate in the previous year can also register for this years edition of the “First House” program in Romania, for which the state will grant a total ceiling of guarantees of one billion lei (approx. 200 million Euros). “First House” 2024, as the program is now called, is granted in lei, for the purchase of a single house, and the maximum value of the loan is 66,500 Euros for houses whose price is a maximum of 70,000 Euros. The requested advance payment is 5%, and 119,000 Euros for homes whose price is a maximum of 140,000 Euros, in this case the requested advance payment being 15%. Since 2009, when this program was launched, over 330,000 Romanians have received loans to buy a home. They were mainly young people between 26 and 35. Most of the financing was requested for apartments with an area between 50 and 100 square meters, at prices between 50,000 and 100,000 Euros. The program directly contributed to the stabilization and maturity of the real estate market and of the mortgage market.



    EU – The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, launched a strategic dialogue on the future of agriculture in the EU. The initiative does not involve the adoption of decisions, it only focuses on debates about a common vision of the member states regarding agricultural policies. The Group for Strategic Dialogue and for the Future of European Agriculture is a new platform to which all those involved or influenced by agricultural policies in all Member States, all types of farmers, consumers, environmental organizations, scientists or financial institutions have been invited to participate. The discussions take place in the context in which farmers protests are gaining momentum in several European states, such as Romania, Poland, Germany, Spain, Lithuania, the Netherlands and France. The main problems of European farmers are related to the impact of EU environmental policies and the inflow of Ukrainian agricultural products into the EU, which influence farmers productivity and competitiveness.



    Ankara — The Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan signed, on Thursday, the parliaments ratification of Swedens candidacy for NATO membership. Parliament ratified the document on Tuesday, eliminating a major hurdle in the way of expanding the Western military alliance after a 20-month delay. At this point, Hungary remains the only country that has yet to ratify the Nordic country’s NATO membership. When Sweden and Finland applied for joining NATO in 2022, Turkey surprised some members by saying the two countries were protecting groups that Ankara considers terrorists. It approved Finlands accession in April 2023 but, along with Hungary, left Sweden to wait. Ankara has called on Stockholm to toughen its stance on local members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which the EU and the US consider a terrorist group. In response, Stockholm introduced a new anti-terrorism bill that makes membership to a terrorist organization illegal. Sweden, Finland, Canada and the Netherlands have also taken steps towards relaxing the arms export policies to Turkey. Tayyip Erdogan linked Swedens accession ratification to the USs approval of the sale of F-16 fighter jets to his country. (LS)


  • Measures for Combating Drug Trafficking

    Measures for Combating Drug Trafficking


    After several tragic events caused by drug consumption shocked Romania this summer, Parliament in Bucharest is trying to toughen the legal means against the consumption, possession and traffic of illegal substances. Upon the USR initiative, Interior Minister Catalin Predoiu, who was Justice Minister before, has been invited to the Government Hour in the Chamber of Deputies to give assurances that the fight against this scourge together with fighting human trafficking and organized crime groups are a priority of his mandate. According to him there is a national anti-drug strategy endorsed by the government for the period between 2022 and 2026. He has also said that in the past three months, 44 organised crime groups have been dismantled and hundreds of kilograms of high-risk substances have been seized. Cătălin Predoiu has also defended the activity of his subordinated personnel.


    Catalin Predoiu: “There are hundreds, thousands of actions which resulted in the capture of drugs, and the protection of the citizens rights. What are we going to do next? I am reshuffling the entire inspectorate in Constanta. In record time the experts of the Ministry have made public a draft law aimed at reorganizing and rethinking the frame law for drug fighting.”


    Furthermore, Predoiu says that the ministry he leads has staged a special plan of measures for fighting drug trafficking in schools which comprises daily actions. He has accused the USR representatives that they are using the drug-related dramas as an electoral leverage as they are the promoters of a draft law for the legalization of a consumption of 3 grams of cannabis.


    During the debates, the former Interior Minister Lucian Bode has pleaded for a national pact, without political implications, for fighting drug trafficking.


    Lucian Bode: “This really means to defy an entire country; to come and support the legalization of drug consumption on one hand and on the other to call on the authorities to apply concrete measures. The drugs consumption issue is a complex threat, which calls not only for resources but also for vision and adjustability. Results cannot be obtained overnight as much as we want.”


    In response the USR say that they didnt get from the minister any satisfactory answer to the questions addressed in Parliament and have called for a serious reform of the Police forces. The USR MPs have said that the Interior Ministry is not doing its mandate properly. Here is USR leader, Ionuţ Moşteanu:


    Ionut Mosteanu “We have seen no answer to the questions we have asked the Minister. There are only figures because you can write anything on paper. The reality is different though. Drugs are sold in schools and no major network is being dismantled. You have corrupted employees, peoples trust in police is undermined by those who chose to turn the head to the other direction.”


    In turn the UDMR has called for the strengthening of the rule of law and the AUR representatives have underlined that the drug phenomenon is the result of the disastrous public policies in the past years.


    (bill)