Radio România Internațional

Tag: EURO2020

  • June 19, 2021

    June 19, 2021

    RAINFALLS A person died and another one went missing, thousands of households were flooded or left without electricity following recent heavy rainfall in Romania. According to the Inspectorate General for Emergency Situations, 49 towns and villages and the capital city Bucharest were affected by last nights rainfalls. An orange-code alert for further precipitation remains in place in most of the country until Sunday night, and flood warnings have also been issued in some regions.



    COVID-19 The number of new Covid-19 cases
    in Romania
    continues to drop, with 63 new infection cases reported on Saturday, and 164 patients
    in intensive care. Hospitals are gradually resuming their regular activity and,
    according to some managers, they are better prepared for a possible surge in
    cases. Meanwhile, experts warn against the risk of a 4th wave of the
    coronavisur pandemic in Romania. These experts include Romania’s representative
    in the World Health Organisation Alexandru Rafila, who says that with the
    current vaccination trend, only 7 million people at most will have been
    immunized by autumn, which is below the authorities’ target. So far some 4.6
    million people have received at least one dose of anti-Covid vaccine.



    DEFICIT The EUs Economic and Financial Council extended to 2024 the deadline for Romania to put an end to the excessive deficit situation. The Council said that an extension to the original deadline for Romania to correct its public deficit would be important in order not to compromise the economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic. The recommendation also says that, in order to meet the new deadline, Romania would need to achieve a general government deficit target of 6.2% of GDP next year, 4.4% of GDP in 2023, and 2.9% of GDP in 2024. Romania is expected to present the European Council with a report on its strategy regarding these targets by 15 October, the Romanian Finance Ministry announced.



    OECD The Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu reconfirmed Romanias commitment to join the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development as soon as possible. Aurescu had a meeting on Saturday with the organisations new secretary general, Mathias Cormann, on the sidelines of the Diplomatic Forum in Antalya (Turkey). On the same occasion, the Romanian diplomat discussed the Black Sea security situation with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba.



    IRAN Hardliner Seyyed Ebrahim Rais al-Sadati won Fridays presidential election in Iran from the first round, with over 62% of the votes, according to preliminary results made public today. A former magistrate, the Conservative al-Sadati is close to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Reuters comments. The new president will have to resume the negotiations started in Vienna for the restart of the 2015 deal regulating the countrys nuclear activities.



    TENNIS Horia Tecău (Romania) / Kevin Krawietz (Germany) qualified into the doubles final of the tennis tournament in Halle (Germany), ATP 500, after defeating the Belgians Sander Gille / Joran Vliegen, 7-6, 7-5. Tecău and Krawietz are playing their 3rd final this season, after having lost the ones in Rotterdam and Barcelona. Also in tennis, the Romanians Monica Niculescu and Elena Gabriela Ruse Friday qualified into the doubles final of the ITF tournament in Nottingham (UK). They will play against the Australians Priscilla Hon and Storm Sanders.



    FOOTBALL The European Football Championship continues. Today, Hungary is scheduled to play against France in Budapest, in Group F, Portugal takes on Germany in Munich, in the same group, and Spain plays against Poland in Seville, in Group E. on Friday, Sweden defeated Slovakia 1-0, in Sankt Petersburg, in Group E; Croatia and the Czech Republic drew 1-1, in Glasgow, in Group D, while in London, also in Group D, the match between England and Scotland ended in a blank draw. The Czech Patrik Schick is currently the championships top scorer. The Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen was discharged from hospital, after successful surgery, 6 days after collapsing on the pitch 43 minutes into the match against Finland. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • September 4, 2019 UPDATE

    September 4, 2019 UPDATE

    REPATRIATION All diplomatic personnel of the Embassy of Romania in Kabul will be brought back to the country as soon as possible, in the wake of Monday nights terror attack. A 43-year old Romanian member of the security team was killed, while another member of the diplomatic mission was wounded and is currently stable. The embassy headquarters was damaged severely and is out of use. In Bucharest, the Foreign Ministry, President Klaus Iohannis and PM Viorica Dăncilă firmly condemned the attack and reiterated Romanias support to the fight against terrorism. The head of state awarded the Romanian killed in Kabul the Star of Romania order in the rank of Knight. Romania is one of the top 5 contributors to the NATO mission in Afghanistan, with over 760 troops deployed so far to that theatre of operations.




    CONFERENCE NATO will continue to make long-term investments, in line with its commitment in the Western Balkans, the chairman of NATOs Military Committee, Air Chief Marshal Stuart Peach said in Bucharest on Wednesday, at the end of the conference of Balkan defence chiefs on military cooperation. In turn, the Romanian chief of staff, Gen. Nicolae Ciucă, said maintaining appropriate military cooperation and the provision of real support would help Balkan countries to build efficient institutions and to reform their defence sectors in order to cope with the challenges generated by poverty, terrorism, social and inter-ethnic tensions. President Klaus Iohannis in turn said in a message that Romania, as a NATO and EU member country, pays special attention to the countries in this region and supports closer ties between them and the European and trans-Atlantic family. Attending the conference were delegations from Albania, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Turkey, with Croatian and Slovenian officials as observers. This has been the 13th edition of this event designed to improve regional cooperation, strengthen security in the Balkans, identify and develop a regional crisis management mechanism and enhancing the interoperability of military forces in the region.




    VOTE A total of 20,040 Romanians living abroad had registered to vote by mail and 19,430 for polling station voting until Wednesday, ahead of the November presidential election, the Permanent Electoral Authority has announced. According to the same source, the registration deadline may be postponed from September 11 to 15, which means that Romanian citizens who live abroad have another 11 days to enrol as voters abroad on a dedicated platform, www.votstrainatate.ro. Around 9.7 million Romanians are currently living outside the country, according to data provided by the 70 diplomatic missions and centralised by the Ministry for the Romanians Abroad.




    FOOTBALL Romanias national football team plays against Spain in Bucharest on Thursday, in the Euro 2020 qualifying campaign. Organisers say over 50,000 tickets have been sold. Spain is the unchallenged leader of Group F with 12 points, followed by Sweden with 7 points and Romania, also with 7 points but a worse goal difference. The group also includes Norway (5 points), Malta (3 points) and the Faroe Islands (0 points). Romanias next match is against Malta, on September 8, on home turf. The Romanian U21 team is to take on Denmark on September 10 in Aalborg, in the first qualifier for the EURO 2021.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)