Radio România Internațional

Tag: flash floods

  • September 21, 2024

    September 21, 2024

    ADJUSTMENT – The Romanian government is next week discussing a budget adjustment proposal presented by the Ministry of Finance. Although it is based on an increase in revenues, expenses have also significantly increased, which will lead to a deficit of 7%, two percentage points above the authorities’ estimate at the start of the year. Meanwhile, the economic growth forecast was downgraded from 3.4 to 2.8% of GDP. Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu gave assurances the adjustment is sustainable, as investment-related expenses account for 84% of the deficit. According to the draft decree published on the website of the Ministry of Finance, healthcare, transports and education will receive additional funds. The social insurance budget will also be increased, to ensure the payment of recalculated pensions, as well as unemployment benefits and related social insurance contributions.

     

    ELECTION – The Romanian Foreign Ministry has published on its website a Guide for postal voting for this year’s presidential and parliamentary elections. According to the document, Romanians domiciled or living abroad can register in the online register for postal voting by October 10 for presidential elections, and by October 17 for the parliamentary election. The Ministry recalls that the right to vote by post is an alternative to voting in polling stations and is carried out via postal services. Voters can register by filling an online form on the website votstrainătate.ro, managed by the Permanent Election Authority.

     

    FLOODS – The Romanian segment of the Danube will a see maximum flood levels over the course of next week, Romanian Water Administration officials say. Experts expect a maximum debit of 9,500 cubic meters per second, which will be kept in check by the first line of defenses, 1,100-km long, consisting of dams and other hydrotechnical facilities. Currently, the Danube’s flow stand at 5,100 cubic meters per second and, according to the precise forecast issued by relevant authorities, this flow will reach 8,700 cubic meters per second by September 26, that is more than the multi-year average for the month of September, 3,800 cubic meters per second. In Budapest, the Danube overflowed, the streets and buildings near the embankment were flooded, and the Parliament building was also flooded. The Danube also overflowed in Slovakia and Austria. The European Commission has promised an emergency aid of 10 bln EUR for countries in Central and Eastern Europe affected by the floods.

     

    CONFLICT – US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, has again voiced concern about escalating tensions between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah group, during his sixth telephone conversation with his Israeli counterpart in less than a week. The US official demanded a diplomatic resolution to the crisis. Secretary Austin’s plea comes after Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant invoked a new phase in the war. The Israeli military announced on Friday it had killed a top commander of the Hezbollah group, as well as other high-ranking members of the Lebanese organization in an airstrike on Beirut. The strike followed two days of attacks on Hezbollah, in which its members’ pagers and radios exploded, killing 37 people and injuring several thousand. The attacks are believed to have been carried out by Israeli intelligence services, which have neither confirmed nor denied their involvement.

     

    BUCHAREST DAYS – The Bucharest Days Festival has kicked off, marking the anniversary of 565 years since the city was first documented. Concerts, theater shows, acrobatics and animation performances, installations and art exhibitions are organized on this occasion, as well as various interactive activities for children. This weekend, the George Enescu Square hosts the 12th edition of “Bucharest Music Film Festival”, including performances by prestigious ensembles and artists. Also, children are invited on Sunday to take part in the workshop “Remi and the adventure of sounds: drums and rhythm, small percussion instruments”, where they will be able to experience various sounds and rhythms. (VP)

  • September 18, 2024

    September 18, 2024

    A roundup of local and international news.

     

    BORIS – The number of deaths caused by torrential rain and flooding in Central and Eastern Europe, brought over by storm Boris, the worst in Europe since 1997 to date, has reached 22. Romania and Poland reported seven deaths each, Austria five and the Czech Republic three, as well as eight people missing. Flash flood alerts are also in place in Italy, Croatia, Hungary and Slovakia, for the upcoming days. In Romania, the authorities have begun assessing the damage caused by the floods in Galati county. Hundreds of rescue workers have been dispatched in the affected localities. All power outages in the area have been fixed and road traffic on some county roads has been reopened. Rail traffic is still disrupted on certain routes. The government approved an emergency aid of about 2,000 euros for each affected family, and in the case of families who lost a member, an additional aid of 2,000 euros.

     

    UKRAINE – In Bucharest, on Wednesday, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha, called on the Romanian partners to analyze the possibility of shooting down Russian drones near the country’s airspace. After the meeting with the head of Romanian diplomacy, Luminita Odobescu, Sybiha said that he was “grateful” for the Bucharest’s “historic” decision to donate a Patriot system to Ukraine. “It is very important to strengthen the defense of Ukraine. It is a shield not only for Ukraine, but also for Europe”, the Ukrainian official said. In turn, Luminița Odobescu reconfirmed Romania’s support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. We remind you that the need to amend the legislation that would allow the military to destroy suspicious drones that enter Romanian territory was recently discussed in Bucharest, after several Russian drones illegally entered Romanian airspace in the last year.

     

    PAGERS – A simultaneous explosion of handheld pagers killed 9 people and injured nearly 3,000 in Lebanon on Tuesday. Many of the victims are fighters from the Shiite group Hezbollah, international news agencies report. According to the NGO  Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, following similar incidents, 14 Hezbollah members were injured in Syria as well, AFP reports. The blasts took place at 3:30 pm local time, in areas known as Hezbollah strongholds. The wave of explosions continued for about an hour. According to security sources and video footage,  some of the explosions occurred after the pagers had rang and the victims had grabbed or held them close to their faces to read the message on the screens. The explosions, of small scale, usually injured only the pager holder or someone very close. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beirut spoke of an Israeli computer attack, while the Ministry of the Interior said that the attack violated Lebanon’s sovereignty. The Israeli military declined to comment. Hezbollah began using pagers to avoid being located by the Israelis. The movement supports the Palestinian group Hamas, which is at war with Israel in the Gaza Strip. Militants from Lebanon frequently attacked Israeli territory with rockets.

     

    COMMISSIONER – “We cannot re-launch the economy without competitive jobs, without a quality of labor relations, without protecting citizens in the face of price increases, in the face of this risk of falling into poverty for many categories, without offering lifelong skills to all those who enter the labor market”, the future European Commissioner for Skills and Education, Jobs, Social Rights and Demography, the Romanian Roxana Mânzatu has said today. In an exclusive interview on Radio Romania, she also said that among the priorities of her mandate are supporting children living in poverty, who are at risk of exclusion.

     

    HEALTHCARE – It is World Patient Safety Day today, which calls for global solidarity and concerted action by all countries and international partners to improve patient safety. WPS Day brings together patients, families, caregivers, communities, health workers, healthcare leaders and policy-makers to show their commitment to patient safety. Emblematic buildings, monuments, public institutions and hospitals in the capital Bucharest and in other Romanian cities will be lit up in orange this evening, to mark the event. This year’s theme is “improving diagnosis for patient safety”. According to the World Health Organization, each year, diagnostic errors account for an estimated 16% of preventable harm in health care, with tremendous human and economic consequences.

     

    BUSINESS– In Romania, the Start-Up Nation program through which the state offers non-refundable aid of maximum 50,000 euros to eligible people who want to open a business is currently under public debate. The budget allocated to this year’s edition exceeds 400 million euros.  The registration of  companies that will provide training courses to future entrepreneurs began on Tuesday. As of October 10 the registration of natural persons for the Start-Up Nation 2024 courses will be open.

     

    HANDBALL – CS Dinamo Bucharest handball team plays, this evening, away, against the Polish team Orlen Wisla Plock, in the Men’s Handball Champions League’s Group A. Last week, the Romanians debuted with a clear victory in the League’s new season, after they defeated at home the Danish team Fredericia, 37-28.

     

     

     

     

  • Severe flooding in eastern Romania

    Severe flooding in eastern Romania

     

    Romania is on alert, relief camps have been set up and rescue operations launched after the flash floods of the past few days killed at least 6 people and destroyed thousands of homes in the east of the country. The authorities have used boats and military aircraft to evacuate people.

     

    In this context, president Klaus Iohannis sent a message of solidarity with the disaster-hit families, and promised that the authorities and rescue teams mobilised all resources available in order to ensure a quick and efficient intervention.

     

    In turn, PM Marcel Ciolacu, who travelled to the affected areas together with several Cabinet members, said the top priority at present is to prevent further loss of human lives. A task force was set up within the health ministry to ensure medical assistance for the locals of Galaţi and Vaslui, the most affected counties in the region. Task force members stay in touch with the local authorities and with the public health directorates in the 2 counties.

     

    The interior and the defence ministries have mobilised hundreds of fire-fighters, gendarmes, military personnel and equipment to help evacuate the victims and rebuild the infrastructure destroyed by waters.

     

    Local authorities also stepped in, to arrange temporary camps for hundreds of displaced victims. The government announced funds would be earmarked to help rebuild their homes, and approved the use of water, food and lightweight building structures from the state reserve.

     

    On Sunday, an energy task force was convened by the line minister, Sebastian Burduja. He says all intervention teams are mobilised in the affected counties. The number of people left without electricity was over 24,000 on Saturday, when the situation was at its worst.

     

    On Sunday, several segments of national and county roads in Galaţi and Vaslui were still closed because of the flooding. Railway traffic in the east and the south of the country was also affected by the heavy rainfalls.

     

    Meanwhile, in Galaţi County, the hardest hit by flash floods, scores of schools have been closed down for Monday and Tuesday, the education ministry announced.

     

    The situation remains critical, with closed roads, flooded homes and displaced people. Weather experts warn that in the forthcoming period as well rainfall and flooding are likely, and the weather will remain unstable.

     

    Romania is not the only country hit by severe weather. Several other countries in central and eastern Europe have also reported substantial damage, victims and missing persons. Tens of railway routes in Austria, Czechia and Poland have been suspended, disrupting connections with the neighbouring states. The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, voiced solidarity with all the victims and said the EU was ready to provide assistance. (AMP)

  • June 3, 2024 UPDATE

    June 3, 2024 UPDATE

     

    ELECTIONS This is the last week of campaign ahead of the European Parliament and local elections slated for this Sunday. Some 19 million Romanians are expected to go to the nearly 19,000 polling stations in the country. 915 stations have been set up abroad, twice as many as for the European Parliament elections five years ago. Polling stations will open at 7 AM and close at 10 PM, one hour later compared to previous rounds of election. Polling station presidents can opt to extend the voting process until midnight, if there are still people queuing in the station. According to the Permanent Election Authority, the total number of candidates for the local and European Parliament elections is close to 208,000. For the first time, voter turnout updates will be provided in real time on election day, for each separate ballot, on the website of the Permanent Election Authority. Romania will also host presidential elections in September and parliamentary elections in December.

     

    DEFENCE ‘The EU’s strategic approach to the Black Sea region must include support for the countries in the region, which are facing hybrid threats and the spill-over of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine,’ the Romanian defence minister, Angel Tîlvăr, said on Monday at a meeting with the interim chief of the European Commission representation in Romania, Mara Roman. According to the defence ministry, Angel Tilvar highlighted the support provided by Romania to Ukraine and to the Republic of Moldova. The participants emphasised the increasingly important role played by the European Commission in supporting EU member states in the defence and security area, and the need to further develop the relations between the EU and NATO.

     

    BANKING The foreign currency reserves of the National Bank of Romania reached a new all-time record, over EUR 65 bln at the end of May, up 4.1% compared to the previous month. According to the central bank, Romania’s international reserves (foreign currency plus gold) are currently around EUR 72.2 bln, 3.5% more than in April. The National Bank also announced that the payments for the public debt due in June amount to nearly EUR 148 mln.

     

    FLOODS The bodies of the two Romanians reported missing at the end of last week following flash floods and rising river levels have been found in Italy. The bodies of two of the three missing Romanian young people who drowned on Friday in Natisone River, were found in the province of Udine (northeast). Searches for the third missing person continue. The young people were bathing in Natisone despite the ban, when water levels suddenly rose. Following the information sent by the Italian authorities, the Romanian Foreign Ministry confirmed that two of the deceased were Romanian nationals, and conveyed its condolences to the bereaved families. Consular office representatives are constantly in touch with the local authorities in order to obtain information regarding the search operations for the third missing person, as well as with the families of the deceased citizens, and are ready to provide consular assistance depending on requests and in line with their attributes. The Romanian Foreign Ministry announced Romanian citizens can request consular assistance by calling the numbers of Romania’s consular office in Trieste.

     

    DIPLOMACY Romania is and will remain a supporter of Montenegro’s EU accession efforts, the Romanian foreign minister Luminiţa Odobescu said in Bucharest on Monday, as part of a joint statement with her counterpart from Montenegro, Filip Ivanovic. The Romanian official added that the Western Balkans were a region of strategic importance, and political and security developments there have a direct impact on the security and prosperity of Europe as a whole. In this context, the two officials signed an Action Plan for cooperation between Romania’s and Montenegro’s foreign ministries in 2024-2025. ‘Montenegro and Romania have long-established friendship relations and are committed to further developing them,” Filip Ivanovic said in turn, adding that this commitment translated in the Action Plan for cooperation and thanking Romania for its support.

     

    FOOTBALL Romania’s national football team is playing Bulgaria on Tuesday and Liechtenstein on Friday, June 7, in two friendly matches ahead of the European Championship due to kick off on June 14 in Germany. Bucharest will host both matches. Romania was drawn in Group E alongside Ukraine, Belgium and Slovakia. The national team will play Ukraine on June 17 in Munich, Belgium on June 22 in Cologne, and finally Slovakia on June 26, in Frankfurt. Romania last took part in a European Championship in 2016 in France. (AMP)

  • June 3, 2024

    June 3, 2024

    ELECTIONS – It’s the last week of campaign ahead of the European Parliament and local elections slated for this Sunday. Some 19 million Romanians expected to hit the nearly 19,000 polling stations in the country. 915 stations have been set up abroad, twice compared to the European Parliament elections five years ago. Polling stations will open at 7 AM and close at 10 PM, one hour later compared to previous rounds of election. The presidents of the polling stations can opt to extend the voting process until midnight, if there are still people standing in line or inside the station. According to the Permanent Election Authority, the total number of candidates for the local and European Parliament elections is close to 208,000. For the first time, voter turnout updates will be provided in real time on election day, for each separate ballot, on the website of the Permanent Election Authority. We recall Romania will also host presidential elections in September and legislative elections in December.

     

     

    DISCOVERY – The bodies of the two Romanians reported missing at the end of last week following flash floods and rising river levels have been found in Italy. The bodies of two of the three missing Romanian young people who drowned on Friday in Natisone River, were found in the Udine province (northeast). Search operations to retrieve the third missing person continue. Young people were bathing in Natisone despite the ban, when water levels suddenly rose. Following information sent by Italian authorities, the Romanian Foreign Ministry confirmed two of the deceased were Romanian nationals, conveying its condolences to the bereaved families. Consular office representatives constantly maintain dialogue with the local authorities in order to obtain information regarding search operations for the third missing person, as well as with the families of the deceased citizens, ready to provide consular assistance depending on requests and in line with their attributes. The Romanian Foreign Ministry announced Romanian citizens can request consular assistance by calling the numbers of Romania’s Consular Office in Trieste.

     

     

    CONSTITUTIONAL COURT – The Constitutional Court of Romania is today discussing a referral of the High Court of Cassation and Justice regarding the Law approving the Government’s emergency decree on extending the terms provided for insolvency prevention and insolvency procedures. The law stipulates that, in the case of economic operators in strategic branches of the national economy, who have reached an arrangement with creditors upon the entry into force of this law, the length of the agreement or the restructuring plan can be extended, at the debtor’s request and based on sound reasons, for a maximum of 5 years.

     

     

    MINIMUM WAGE – The Government this week is expected to pass a bill on increasing the national minimum wage from approximately 660 EUR to 745 EUR. The draft law has already been submitted for public debate. Stakeholders can submit their proposals, suggestions and opinions regarding this bill on the website of the Labor Ministry. Currently, some 760,000 people from the total number of employees active on the labor market earn minimum wages in Romania, and that number is expected to exceed 1.8 million after the increase. In addition, the 40 EUR tax deduction is maintained until the end of the year. Talks are underway with Finance Minister, Marcel Boloș, to increase this amount to approximately 60 EUR, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said. At the same time, the Government is ready to help employers by supplementing the budget for SME Plus, a national support scheme addressing small- and medium-sized enterprises. Also, the government continues to restructure its institutions, with the head of government calling on the relevant ministers to step up the pace in order to complete the process across all ministries by the end of the month.

     

     

    GYMNASTICS –Romanian athlete Andrei Muntean won bronze in the parallel bars final on Sunday at the Artistic Gymnastics Challenge World Cup in Koper, Slovenia. He was outranked in the final by Ukrainian Ilya Kovtun and Hsi Hung Yuan of Taiwan. Andrei Muntean is the only representative of Romania qualified in the men’s artistic gymnastics competition at the Paris Olympics.

     

     

    FOOTBALL – Romania’s national football team is playing Bulgaria tomorrow and Liechtenstein on Friday, June 7 in two friendly matches ahead of the European Championship expected to kick off on June 14 in Germany. Bucharest will host both matches. Romania was drawn in Group E alongside Ukraine, Belgium and Slovakia. The national team will play Ukraine on June 17 in Munich, Belgium on June 22 in Köln, and finally Slovakia on June 26, in Frankfurt. Romania last took part in a European Championship in 2016 in France. (VP)

  • 27 May, 2015

    27 May, 2015

    Members of the National Federation of Unions in Administration are protesting today in Bucharest for higher wages for public servants in Romania, as well as regulating as of 2015 the issue of food vouchers, a type of employee benefit widespread in Romania. The federation warned it would call to general strike indefinitely all federations in the sector, gridlocking local public administration, if demands were not met. This is the third protest this year, after a warning strike in February and a general one-day strike in April.




    Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu goes today to Strasbourg for two days for meetings at the Council of Europe. The ministry announced his agenda, which includes meetings with Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland, Nils Muiznieks, Human Rights Commissioner, and Venice Commission Secretary Thomas Markert. The Romanian minister will also attend the world gathering of international law national associations, where he is promoting Romania’s initiative of creating an international terrorism tribunal. The ministry announced that the event allows the dissemination of this initiative among international law experts, encouraging the involvement of international law national associations in the debate on using international law against terrorism.





    Hundreds of homes have been flooded, dozens evacuated, and several schools closed down in three counties in northern Romania, after flash floods came as a result of heavy night rains that poured down as much as 50 to 60 liters per sqm. The floods also damaged cultivated farmland, roadways and bridges. A warning is in effect for the entire country for rains and adverse weather. Temperatures are holding within normal limits, with maximums today between 10 and 28 degrees Celsius. The noon reading in Bucharest was 22 degrees.




    The world’s number three tennis player, Romanian Simona Halep, who is third favorite to winning the ongoing edition of the Grand Slam tournament in Roland Garros, will today be facing Croatia’s Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, in the second round of the tournament. Another Romanian tennis player, Alexandra Dulgheru, in the women’s singles today will be proving her mettle against French player Alize Cornet. Also competing for Romania in the women’s singles are Irina Begu and Andreea Mitu. Irina Begu and two other Romanian tennis players, Monica Niculescu and Horia Tecau, will be playing today their games in the doubles version of the Roland Garros tournament.




    G7 finance ministers and governors of central banks gathered for the rest of this working week in Dresden, Germany, to discuss the global economy and the Greek situation, according to AFP. The meeting will be attended by the head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the head of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, and the European commissioner for monetary policy Pierre Moscovici. Tomorrow, finance ministers of the G7 will be meeting experts in economy and monetary policy to seek solutions for the present economic problems. The IMF, European Central Bank and the European Commission are attempting to reach an agreement with Athens for releasing a new international loan, but are meeting resistance in the issue of austerity measures they are demanding from Greece.




    Six FIFA officials were placed under arrest today in Zurich for corruption, after the US filed a request with the Swiss federal tribunal, according to Reuters. They represent sports media and sports marketing companies, and are accused of bribing high officials in international football in exchange for media and marketing rights related to competitions in the US and South America. The New York Times writes that the FIFA high officials who were arrested were in Switzerland to attend the congress of the organization meeting to elect its new president. Incumbent Joseph Blatter faces off against Jordanian prince Ali Bin al-Hussein for the position, defending what would be his fifth term. The US authorities allege that the people under arrest have received bribes worth 100 million dollars.