Radio România Internațional

Tag: Eurogroup

  • September 14, 2019 UPDATE

    September 14, 2019 UPDATE

    EU The Romanian Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici believes it is absolutely necessary for any major initiative of the new European Commission to take into account the interests of all member countries, and not only of the stronger, more influential members. According to a news release issued by the ministry, Eugen Teodorovici took part on Friday in a meeting of the Eurogroup in inclusive format and in an informal meeting of the EU ministers for economic and financial affairs (ECOFIN), organised by the Finnish presidency of the Council of the EU. The Eurogroup talks focused on the budget for convergence and competitiveness. The agenda of the ECOFIN meeting, which continued on Saturday, included topics like hybrid threats and the resilience of financial market infrastructure, enhanced action on climate change and rebooting the capital markets union. While in Helsinki, Minister Teodorovici also had a meeting with the vice-president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Pierre Heilbronn, with regard to the Banks projects in Romania and its future strategy, as well as to the national strategy to develop the Romanian capital market.



    ELECTION The Permanent Electoral Authority of Romania has drawn up and posted for public debate a draft law endorsing the Guidelines for financing the campaigns for the 2019 presidential election. Meanwhile, the Romanians who live abroad only have Sunday left to announce how they intend to vote in this election. By filling in an online form at www.votstrainatate.ro, people may choose to vote by post or at polling stations abroad. Also, beginning Thursday and until October 19, Romanian diplomatic missions may request to the Foreign Ministry the set-up of polling stations abroad. The first round of Romanias presidential election is scheduled on November 10, with the runoff due on November 24.



    VISIT The Minister for the Romanian diaspora, Natalia Intotero, is in Italy until September 18, to discuss with representatives of the Romanian communities in that country about the options for voting in the forthcoming presidential election. Meetings are held in Turin, Milan, Venice, Bologna, Florence, Cagliari, Catania, Cosenza, Bari, Naples and Rome. Other topics approached also include human trafficking and the problems facing the Romanian nationals in various economic sectors in Italy, which is the host of the largest Romanian community abroad (around 1.2 million people).



    MILITARY Nearly 300 troops from Romania, Bulgaria, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, the USA and Ukraine have taken part this week in a new training module as part of the multinational exercise Black Sea Rotational Force 19 (BSRF), held in the town of Babadag, in the south-east of Romania. The module included tactical shooting drills, first aid simulations as well as practice involving command and control procedures. BSRF is an annual exercise conducted by the US Marine Corps Forces Europe in the Balkan, Black Sea and Caucasus region. The exercise is aimed at enhancing the inter-operability of the armed forces, by means of joint training for peacekeeping and counter-insurgence operations.



    MEASLES In Romania, the total number of confirmed measles cases is close to 18,300, according to the latest report made public by the National Centre for Infectious Disease Monitoring and Control. In the past week 54 new cases have been reported. Complications caused by this disease have killed 64 people in Romania since the start of the epidemic.



    TERRORISM The White House confirmed on Saturday that Osama bin Ladens son and successor as Al-Qaida leader, Hamza bin Laden, was killed, Reuters and AFP report. According to the US Presidency, Hamza bin Laden was killed in a counter-terrorism operation in the Afghanistan/Pakistan region. Hamza bin Laden was regarded as the favourite son and virtual successor of Osama bin Laden, the founder of the terrorist network behind 9/11, was was also killed in 2011, in Pakistan.



    TENNIS The Romanian tennis players Patricia Ţig, Ana Bogdan and Jaqueline Cristian Saturday managed to get past the qualifiers in the Korea Open. Two other Romanians, Mihaela Buzărnescu and Irina Begu, are also taking part in the competition. Mihaela Buzărnescu was defeated on Saturday by Japans Nao Hibino, 4-6, 6-0, 0-3, in the semi-finals of the WTA tournament in Hiroshima (Japan).


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • September 14, 2019

    September 14, 2019

    EU The Romanian Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici believes it is absolutely necessary for any major initiative of the new European Commission to take into account the interests of all member countries, and not only of the stronger, more influential members. According to a news release issued by the ministry, Eugen Teodorovici took part on Friday in a meeting of the Eurogroup in inclusive format and in an informal meeting of the EU ministers for economic and financial affairs (ECOFIN), organised by the Finnish presidency of the Council of the EU. The Eurogroup talks focused on the budget for convergence and competitiveness. The agenda of the ECOFIN meeting, which continues today, includes topics like hybrid threats and the resilience of financial market infrastructure, enhanced action on climate change and rebooting the capital markets union. In Helsinki, Minister Teodorovici also had a meeting with the vice-president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Pierre Heilbronn, with regard to the Banks projects in Romania and its future strategy, as well as to the national strategy to develop the Romanian capital market.



    FESTIVAL In Bucharest, the Romanian Athenaeum is hosting today, on the 15th day of the George Enescu International Festival, a concert by the Liege Royal Philharmonic, conducted by Tiberiu Soare. The soloists include the Italian soprano Anna Caterina Antonacci, in Poulencs opera for soprano and orchestra “The Human Voice. Also today, the Oslo Philharmonic will give a second concert at the Palace Hall, under the baton of Vasily Petrenko. They will perform the symphonic poem Don Juan by Richard Strauss and George Enescus Sinfonia Concertate for cello and orchestra, opus 8. More than 20 choirs are also performing in several venues in Bucharest, as part of a related project entitled The city sings. The George Enescu International Festival takes place until September 22 and brings together over 2,500 of the worlds most valuable musicians from 50 countries, in 84 concerts and recitals. Bucharest and other cities in Romania and 5 other countries—Germany, France, Italy, Canada and the Rep. of Moldova—are hosting performances as part of the Festival. Radio Romania has been a co-producer ever since the first edition of the Festival, in 1958.



    ELECTION The Permanent Electoral Authority of Romania has drawn up and posted for public debate a draft law endorsing the Guidelines for financing the campaigns for the 2019 presidential elections. Meanwhile, the Romanians who live abroad only have today and tomorrow left to announce how they intend to vote in this election. Extended under a government emergency order this week, the deadline is September 15. Also, beginning Thursday and until October 19, Romanian diplomatic missions may request to the Foreign Ministry the set-up of polling stations abroad. The first round of Romanias presidential election is scheduled on November 10, with the runoff due on November 24.




    VISIT The Minister for the Romanian diaspora, Natalia Intotero, is in Italy until September 18, to discuss with representatives of the Romanian communities in that country about the options for voting in the forthcoming presidential election. Meetings are held in Turin, Milan, Venice, Bologna, Florence, Cagliari, Catania, Cosenza, Bari, Naples and Rome. Other topics approached also include human trafficking and the problems facing the Romanian nationals in various economic sectors in Italy, which is the host of the largest Romanian community abroad (around 1.2 million people).



    MILITARY Nearly 300 troops from Romania, Bulgaria, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, the USA and Ukraine have taken part this week in a new training module as part of the multinational exercise Black Sea Rotational Force 19 (BSRF), held in the town of Babadag, in the south-east of Romania. The module included tactical shooting drills, first aid simulations as well as practice involving command and control procedures. BSRF is an annual exercise conducted by the US Marine Corps Forces Europe in the Balkan, Black Sea and Caucasus region. The exercise is aimed at enhancing the inter-operability of the armed forces, by means of joint training for peacekeeping and counter-insurgence operations.



    TENNIS The Romanian tennis player Mihaela Buzărnescu was defeated by Japans Nao Hibino, 4-6, 6-0, 0-3, on Saturday in the semi-finals of the WTA tournament in Hiroshima (Japan). This has been the best performance this year for Buzărnescu (125 WTA), and the first time she won 3 consecutive matches.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • March 12, 2019

    March 12, 2019

    GAC Bucharest is hosting today an informal meeting of the General Affairs Council (GAC), organised by the Romanian presidency of the Council of the EU. Taking part are the EU ministers for European affairs, the first vice-president of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, and the European Commissioner for Budget, Gunther Oettinger. The informal meeting will include talks on the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework and on the future of the EU, with an emphasis on the priorities that should guide the activity of the European bloc in the coming 5 years, ahead of Unions new strategic agenda. As for the financial framework, the goal of the Romanian presidency of the Council of the EU is to carry on talks at a dynamic pace, in order to ensure that a political agreement on this topic is reached this autumn.




    ECOFIN The Romanian Finance Minister, Eugen Teodorovici, is chairing today the 3rd meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) in Brussels. The agenda includes topics like the Directive on alcohol excises, one on the general regime of excise duties, and the taxation of digital services. On Monday the Romanian official took part in an enlarged Eurogrup meeting and chaired the high-level talks on Macroeconomic Dialogue. According to the ECOFIN home page, the main topics were an information by the European Commission on the main findings of the 2nd enhanced surveillance mission to Greece, a thematic discussion on economic growth and employment, the housing markets and Latvias updated draft budget plan.




    BUDGET The 2019 state budget bill, sent by President Klaus Iohannis back to Parliament, might be subject to a new vote on Wednesday, in a joint meeting of the 2 chambers of Parliament. Meanwhile, Klaus Iohannis has signed into law the social security budget bill, so that pensioners may not be affected by what he called the incompetence of the Social Democratic Party. According to the President, the main ruling party in Romania is the only one to blame for the fact that the country does not have a state budget law yet, because the Government was supposed to send the bill to Parliament in November 2018, instead of 3 months later.




    PLANE CRASH The President of Romania Klaus Iohannis has today sent a condolence message to his Ethiopian counterpart, Sahle-Work Zewde, following the tragic plane crash of March 10. Also, given that over 20 UN staff died in the disaster, the Romanian official also addressed a condolence message to the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres. The UN flag was flown at half-mast in New York today, and the Security Council personnel in the city, as well as at the Geneva headquarters, observed a minutes silence. A Boeing 737 MAX 8 operated by Ethiopian Airlines and heading for Nairobi (Kenya) from Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) went down on Sunday, killing all the 157 people from 30 countries who were on board. This was a new blow for Boeing, after a similar accident in October 2018, off the Indonesian coast, involving the same aircraft model. The planes were new and both crashed just minutes into the flight.




    AFRICA Deputy PM Ana Birchall was on a working visit to African countries between March 4 and 11, to further the Governments efforts to revitalise relations with sub-Saharan African countries. On March 11, the Romanian official represented the presidency of the Council of the EU at the EU – Angola ministerial meeting held in Luanda. Between March 7 and 9, Ana Birchall made a working visit to Namibia, to promote bilateral relations and inaugurate the Romanian honorary consulate in Windhoek. On March 4-6 Ana Birchall was in South Africa, to promote Romanias candidacy to a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council.




    INTERNET Romania ranked 5th in the world in 2018, in terms of internet connection speed, after Singapore, Sweden, Denmark and Norway, but apart from benefits this also entails cyber-security risks. The statement was made on Tuesday by the former deputy director of the National Cyberint Centre in the Romanian Intelligence Service, Gabriel Mazilu, in a specialised forum. He mentioned that 2019 is an important year for Romania in the field of cyber-security, with the endorsement of Law 362/2018, transposing the EUs NIS (Networking Information Security) Directive. According to a survey made in 9 countries, including Romania, and released in mid-February, 40% of citizens are worried about a cyber-attack on the country. The highest concern level was reported in Spain, 47%, and Italy (39%).




    BREXIT The British PM Theresa May has asked for Parliament support for the Brexit agreement in a vote scheduled for today. On Monday in Strasbourg she announced a last-minute compromise with the head of the European Commission, Jean Claude Juncker, designed to assure the British MPs that the UK will not remain tied to the single market indefinitely. This is the second vote on the Brexit deal in the British Parliament, and president Juncker warned that there will not be a third. Britain is set to leave the European Union on March 29.




    TENNIS The Romanian Simona Halep, number 2 in the world, is playing today against the Czech Marketa Vondrousova (61 WTA) in the round of last 16 of the Indian Wells tournament (USA). If she wins and in case the Japanese Naomi Osaka (1 WTA) stumbles, Simona could regain world tennis leadership. The Romanian player won the Indian Wells in 2015. In the mens doubles, Horia Tecău of Romania and Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands qualified into the quarter-finals after defeating Henri Kontinen (Finland) / John Peers (Australia), 6-3, 7-6. In the next round, Tecău and Rojer will take on Novak Djokovic (Serbia) and Fabio Fognini (Italy).



    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • April 22, 2016

    April 22, 2016

    SALARY LAW-Romanian Prime Minister, Dacian Ciolos, announced on Friday that the Government was planning to reset its operating ways and to restart the drafting of an emergency ordinance, whose aim would not necessarily be to change the current salary law, but to correct it, with focus on the salary grid, but only within the right budgetary constraints. Ciolos has held talks with the new labour minister, Dragos Paslaru, with trade union and employers association representatives about the salary law in the public sector. According to Paslaru, the Government has prepared a new version of the ordinance on unitary salary pay system, which might be adopted on June 1st and enforced in autumn. Low salaries will go up first, says the minister, followed by measures aimed at doing away with the inequities in the system. Trade union leaders have stated they do not support this initiative.



    THE REFERENDUM CASE-The Supreme Court is to issue its final ruling today on the so-called Referendum case. In May 2015, the leader of the Social Democratic Party Liviu Dragnea was sentenced to one year in prison with suspension, for having coordinated a complex mechanism, involving several people, with the aim of rigging the referendum on July 29th, 2012. Prosecutors say that Liviu Dragnea used his party influence and authority to get undue non-property rights, benefiting the political alliance his party was a member of. The stake was to get the needed participation quorum with votes obtained in conditions other than legal. Liviu Dragnea claims he was innocent and called on the magistrates to acquit him.



    VISIT– US President, Barack Obama, is currently on an official visit to London, in an attempt to convince British voters, ahead of the June 23rd referendum, not to relinquish EU membership. Obama will urge Britons to vote for the UKs remaining in the EU, to maintain the countrys welfare, its “special relation with the US and the Wests cohesion. Obama is today having talks with British Prime Minister, David Cameron. Earlier, the White House leader had paid a visit to Saudi Arabia, where he participated in a Gulf cooperation meeting, held in Riyadh.



    GREECE – The Euro zone finance ministers are today assessing in Amsterdam the progress made by Greece in reforming the state, in exchange for receiving foreign financial assistance, to save it from bankruptcy. The Euro-group meeting comes just a day after the European Commission announced that Athens reached the objectives it has set in an effort to reduce its budget deficit and public debt, and it even exceeded all expectations. The assessment to be made by the finance ministers is of utmost importance, as the disbursement of another instalment of the third big loan for Greece, worth 86 billion Euros, depends on this decision. The Greek government as well as its European partners continue to have different standpoints on various reforms, including those of taxation and pensions.



    EARTH DAY– Earth Day is being celebrated on April 22nd. On this occasion, 160 countries will sign, in New York, a historic agreement meant to slow down global warming. The agreement was reached in principle at the Paris Conference held in December. Earth Day was first celebrated back in 1970, kick-starting the modern environmental protection movement. On this day, various campaigns have been designed to raise public awareness over recycling and to reduce energy consumption. Earth Day is celebrated in Romania, too, where selective waste collecting activities have been intensely promoted.

    WORLD DRUG PROBLEM – The UN General Assembly
    convened in New York, in its 30th special session, on the world drug
    problem. Romania’s Permanent Representative to the UN, ambassador Ion
    Jinga, said the National Anti-Drug Strategy is in full compliance with the
    international legislative framework and ensures enough action-flexibility at
    national, regional and international level.
    In a special session, Romania organised, jointly with the UN Office for
    Drugs and Crimes, an event on the drug
    issue and HIV.



    with the UN Office for Drugs and Crimes, an event on the drug issue and HIV.


    BULGARIA– Mandatory voting will be introduced in Bulgaria, after the Parliament in Sofia on Thursday adopted the new amendments to the Electoral Code. If citizens with the right to vote do not go to the polls, they will automatically be removed from electoral lists. They will be enlisted again only after submitting a written declaration. The opposition voted against the bill. According to FP, the right wing government in Sofia proposed the measure, in an effort to reduce absenteeism and to put an end to the vote-purchasing behaviour. Across the EU, voting is also mandatory in Greece and Belgium.



    EUROVISION– The European Broadcasting Union has today announced that Romania will not be allowed to participate in the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest, because of the debts it has accumulated. Romanias debt to the organiser of the well-known European song contest stands at some 10 million Euros. This year, the Eurovision contest will be held in Stockholm, between May 10 and 14, and Romania should have been represented by Ovidiu Anton, with the song, Moment of Silence. The management of the Romanian Television Company has recently informed the Romanian authorities that the transmissions of other leading competitions, such as the forth-coming European Football Championships in France or the Olympic Games might be discontinued, because of debts and under-financing.


    (Translated by Diana Vijeu)

  • August 11, 2015 UPDATE

    August 11, 2015 UPDATE

    In Romania, consumer prices dropped nearly 1.7% in July compared to the same month last year, with the inflation rate reaching a new all-time low, according to data released by the National Statistics Institute. As against June, the drop was 0.17%, with the most substantial price reductions for foodstuffs reported for vegetables, potatoes and fresh fruit. Significant price rises, by more than 11%, have been reported on the other hand for natural gas. Central Bank experts expect the impact of the measures in the new Fiscal Code bill to keep the inflation at a negative rate in the coming 9 months, although the prices for certain products may increase from one month to another.




    The Eurozone finance ministers (Eurogroup) will convene on Friday to approve the third bailout package for Greece, Spains PM Mariano Rajoy announced on Tuesday. Greece and its international lenders reached a technical agreement in Athens on Monday night, with the EU, the European Central Bank and the IMF, regarding a third financial assistance programme. Athens announced that Greece has secured funding of nearly 85 billion euros for the coming 3 years, in exchange for a long list of budget reforms and adjustments, while the Greek banks will immediately receive 10 billion euro. The Greek authorities have not accepted the lenders proposal regarding the management of bad debts and want to set up a “bad bank to handle the issue, whereas the international institutions want the bad debts sold to specialised funds. Greece defaulted on payments on July 1. Its total debt exceeded 320 billion euros, of which 65% to the IMF and Eurozone countries.



    The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, world number 3, is playing on Wednesday in the second round of the Rogers Cup tournament in Toronto, against the winner of the match between Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) and Caroline Garcia (France). Another Romanian is playing in the same tournament, Irina Begu, who will face Olga Govortsova (Belarus). On Monday, the first day of the Toronto tournament, which has 2.5 million dollars in prize money, the Romanian pair Irina Begu/Raluca Olaru defeated the Australians Anastasia Radionova/Arina Radionova and qualified into the eighth-finals.