Radio România Internațional

Tag: football

  • March 13, 2025

    March 13, 2025

    A roundup of local and international news.

     

    SUPPORT  – Romania’s Foreign Affair Minister Emil Hurezeanu reiterated, at a working meeting with EU ambassadors in Bucharest, Romania’s support for the neighboring Ukraine and for the consolidation of the European Union’s security and defense policy. At the same time, Hurezeanu emphasized the importance of a solid transatlantic partnership, vital for European security and prosperity. The meeting in Bucharest was held in the context of Poland holding the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

     

    ELECTIONS –  Elena Lasconi, the leader of the pro-Western party USR and Diana Şoşoacă, the head of the populist, ultranationalist party SOS Romania, are today submitting their candidacies for the May presidential elections. Both parties are in the opposition. Sosoaca also ran in last year’s presidential race, but the Constitutional Court rejected her candidacy. Elena Lasconi qualified for the second round, alongside the pro-Russian and anti-West extremist Calin Georgescu, but the Constitutional Court annulled the election due to the electoral process being flawed in favor of the latter. The Court has rejected Georgescu’s candidacy for the upcoming elections. Following this decision, the AUR leader George Simion and POT leader Ana Maria Gavrilă, both populist ultranationalists who supported Georgescu, have announced that they will submit their candidacies, with one of them to withdraw after their validation. Former PSD leader and prime minister Victor Ponta also entered the presidential race, which has triggered his expulsion from the party. The PSD – PNL – UDMR ruling coalition has a common candidate, namely, the former Liberal leader Crin Antonescu. He and the current Bucharest mayor, Nicusor Dan, are the only political competitors accepted, so far, by the Central Electoral Bureau and validated by the Constitutional Court. The deadline for registering candidacies at the Central Electoral Bureau is March 15.

     

    INFLATION – The annual inflation rate rose to 5.02% in February, from 4.95% in January. Food prices rose by 4.54%, non-food prices by 4.79%, and services by 6.42%, according to data published on Thursday by the National Institute of Statistics. The National Bank of Romania has revised upwards, to 3.8%, from 3.5% previously, the inflation forecast for the end of 2025 and anticipates that it will reach 3.1% at the end of 2026, according to data made public in February by the Governor of the National Bank, Mugur Isărescu.

     

    STRIKE – A two-hour warning strike has taken place today at IAR Ghimbav, a Romanian aeronautical plant in central Romania. The reason for the protest is the government’s emergency ordinance on reducing budget spending. According to the unions, the document stipulates that the bonus granted under the Collective Labor Agreement upon retirement is paid in instalments, over five years, while following fresh negotiations it is to be capped at a maximum of one basic salary. The protesters say that an ordinance that cancels the granting of certain rights, directly affects the negotiation of the collective labor agreement.

     

    PLANT – Several dozen employees of the Liberty Galati steel plant (southeastern Romania) protested on Wednesday, unhappy with the delays in the payment of salaries and other rights. The plant has not been operational for nine months. Workers have not yet taken the decision to call an all-out strike and say they are still waiting for clarification from the plant’s management. According to experts, the situation in Galati reflects the general crisis in the European steel industry.

     

    PENSIONERS – The Bucharest government has today approved the granting of financial aid of 800 lei (approx. 160 euros) for 2.5 million pensioners. Social-Democratic Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu explained that this support is intended for those with incomes of up to 2,574 lei (approx. 515 euros). The first installment will be granted in April, and the second in December. Also today, the executive has also approved a draft emergency order to amend Order no. 59/2000 regarding the status of forestry employees. Ciolacu announced that they would no longer benefit bonuses equivalent to at least five salaries, in the last month of activity. These bonuses amounted to 10 salaries in the case of Romsilva leaders, Marcel Ciolacu also said. In January, the Minister of Environment, Mircea Fechet, said that there are hundreds of former Romsilva employees who have received retirement bonuses of 100,000 euros.

     

    FOOTBALL – The Romanian football champion, FCSB (Bucharest), is up against the French team Olympique Lyon, this evening, away, in the decisive leg of the round of 16 of the Europa League. FCSB lost the first match against Lyon 3-1. The Bucharest team qualified for the round of 16 of the Europa League after eliminating, following a double victory, the Greek team PAOK Salonic, coached by Romanian Răzvan Lucescu. (EE)

     

  • Radio Romania International Sports club

    Radio Romania International Sports club

    The first part of Romania’s Super league football championship has drawn to a close. After the 30 rounds of the regular season, the first six teams according to the ranking advance to Group 2, where they will compete for Romania’s championship title. FCSB are at the forefront in the fight for the winning of the championship, with 28 points, CFR Cluj follow suit, with 27 points.

    Following in descending order are three teams with 26 points each, that is Universitatea Craiova, Universitatea Cluj and Dinamo Bucharest. The last team of the batch is another Bucharest squad, Rapid, with 23 points on its record sheet. In the coming weekend, in Craiova, Universitatea Cluj are pitted against Universitatea Craiova. In Cluj, the local side CFR play Dinamo, while in Bucharest, FCSB face Rapid.

    The Superleague’s ten other teams in Group 1 will confront one another to avoid being relegated. With a record of 21 points each, Transylvanian teams Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe and Hermannstadt Sibiu are best-placed according to the table. Worst-placed is Gloria Buzau, with 10 points, that is three points less than the other teams of the batch.

    At the end of the championship, Group 1’s first two teams in descending order enter the competition for a place in the preliminaries of Europe’s Conference League, taking on Group 2’s 3rd-placed team. Group1’s 9th and 10th-placed teams are relegated.

    Replacing them in the Super league are the second tier’s first two teams. In a bid to maintain their place in the Super league, the play-out’s 7th and 8th-placed teams will engage, in the playoff fixtures, with the Second League’s 3rd and 4th-placed teams.

    On Thursday, in France, FCSB play the second leg of the tie against Olympique Lyonnais, in the Europa League’s round of 16. In the first leg, in Bucharest, Olympique Lyonnais won, 3-1.

  • March 7, 2025

    March 7, 2025

    EU The European Union has put together an arms plan agreed on Thursday evening by the leaders of the member states. The plan will prioritise strengthening defence on the eastern flank, from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea, to withstand Russia’s expansionist tendencies. European leaders have once again expressed their support for Ukraine and for providing security guarantees, together with the United States, if a ceasefire is agreed. Member states will have a fund of EUR 150 billion available for defence spending. The priorities are air and missile defence systems, artillery, high-precision strike systems, drones and anti-drone systems, various types of ammunition and AI technology. The Baltic states, Poland and Romania have garnered support for their view of prioritising the eastern flank in terms of EU-funded projects.

     

    TREASON The Bucharest Court of Appeals last night ordered that 2 members of the so-called “Vlad Ţepeş” Command be placed under pre-trial arrest. They are charged with treason and ties to Russian agents. Four other members of the organisation are under court supervision for a period of 60 days. Radu Theodoru, a retired major general, aged 101, is also being investigated as a suspect in the case. According to the Directorate Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism Offences, the group aimed to replace the constitutional order and pull Romania out of NATO.

     

    ELECTIONS The non-affiliated mayor of Bucharest, Nicuşor Dan, has today submitted his candidacy and list of support signatures for the presidential elections in May to the Central Electoral Bureau. The independent candidate Călin Georgescu, backed in the presidential race by AUR and POT parties (in opposition), will also register his candidacy today. On Sunday, the former Liberal leader Crin Antonescu, backed by the ruling coalition’s electoral alliance, “Romania Forward”, is expected to arrive at the BEC headquarters. Another competitor is the former Social-Democratic prime minister Victor Ponta, who announced that he will run as an independent and that he will register his candidacy next week. Prospective presidential candidates have one week left to register with the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC), as the registration deadline is March 15. Candidates must submit lists with at least 200,000 supporter signatures.

     

    ECONOMY Romania’s economy grew by 0.9% last year, and in the last quarter of 2024 the GDP rose by 0.7% compared to the corresponding quarter of 2023 and by 0.8% compared to the third quarter of 2024, according to unaudited data released on Friday by the National Statistics Institute (INS). The 2.9% drop in net exports, a result of the 3.6% decrease in exports of goods and services concurrently with a 3.4% increase in imports, had a negative impact on GDP growth.

     

    PROTEST Trade unionists at the Damen Shipyard, operated by a Dutch company in the south-eastern Romanian town of Mangalia, jointly with employees who have been laid off or idled, today picketed the Dutch Embassy and the headquarters of the administrator in Bucharest. The announcement was made by the “Navalistul” Union, which said in a statement that the action aims to warn against the major crisis the shipyard is facing. According to the source, there is a risk that the shipyard will be closed, which will affect the entire local community.

     

    SPORTS Romania’s champions CS Dinamo Bucharest defeated the Danish side Fredericia HK, 37-32 on Thursday evening in Odense in its last match in Group A of the men’s handball Champions League. Dinamo, which had already qualified for the play-offs, finished the group in fifth place and will face the German team SC Magdeburg in their effort to qualify into the quarter-finals. In football, Romanian champions FCSB were defeated at home by the French team Olympique Lyon, 3-1, in the first leg of the Europa League round of 16. The decisive leg will be played next week in France. (AMP)

  • March 6, 2025

    March 6, 2025

    EU The interim President of Romania Ilie Bolojan had a meeting in Brussels on Thursday with the PM of Poland, Donald Tusk, the topics approached by the 2 officials including the strengthening of NATO’s Eastern Flank. Mr Bolojan takes part in an extraordinary European Council meeting, where EU heads of state and government are discussing support for Ukraine and European defence. The president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zeleskyy and the NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte were also invited to attend. The European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has already sent European leaders a plan to re-arm Europe, with 5 financing instruments: increasing national defence budgets, a EUR 150 bln loan for common defence projects, possible financing from the bloc’s cohesion funds, from the European Investment Bank and private funds. The plan also increases military aid to Ukraine. Last week, Mr. Ilie Bolojan invited the political parties in the Romanian Parliament to consultations, to discuss Romania’s response to the current security challenges. Most parties opposed Romania sending peacekeeping troops to Ukraine, in the event of an end to the conflict with Russia, but voiced willingness, in principle, for Romania to continue supporting the neighbouring country.

     

     

    TREASON Prosecutors with the Directorate Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism Offences (DIICOT) have detained six individuals over charges of forming an organised crime group and treason. According to DIICOT, the defendants apparently set up a paramilitary organisation and negotiated Romania’s exit from NATO with Russian agents. Prosecutors say that the organised crime group was structured like a military-type organisation, with management ranks and operative personnel. Radu Theodoru, a retired general and 101-year-old war veteran, was also among the organisation’s leaders. The group used online platforms to release video materials and recruit members. At the same time, it took steps to hold negotiations with foreign political and military actors regarding the replacing of the current constitutional order. In January, DIICOT also says, 2 of the defendants travelled to Moscow, where they came into contact with people willing to support the organisation’s efforts to take over power in Romania.

     

     

    GOVERNMENT The Romanian government is set to pass several emergency orders today, concerning, among other things, the heathcare reform and the spending of EU funds. In the field of healthcare, the government wants to improve regulations on public medical care for freelancers, on the taxation of medicines, on the organisation and operation of medical offices and the granting of sick leaves. In a separate emergency order, the Romanian government earmarks the financing for certain local authorities to complete works to extend and upgrade natural gas infrastructure. Finally, the cabinet is also to approve the amount of this year’s state aid for the livestock sector.

     

     

    EU FUNDING Romania has received over EUR 100 billion in European funds since its accession on January 1, 2007, the minister of investments and European projects, Marcel Boloş, said in a Facebook post on Wednesday. According to him, Romania is no longer an economic periphery, but a country that is rapidly catching up and has surpassed Poland, Hungary, Croatia and Greece in terms of GDP per capita, an essential indicator of the standard of living. If we are reckless, we blame the European bloc, but the fact that we are at the best moment of our country’s development is due to our EU and NATO membership, Mr. Boloş emphasised.

     

     

    TRAVEL Romanian tourism increased slightly in the first month of this year, compared to January 2024, with 12% more nights spent in tourist accommodation units, says the National Tourism Agency. Over 84% of visitors were Romanians, with an average length of stay of almost two days, while foreigners stayed in accommodation facilities for slightly more than two days. According to experts, the upward trend will continue this year, when it could exceed the level reported in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

     

     

    FOOTBALL The Romanian football champions FCSB take on the French team Olympique Lyon in Bucharest tonight, in the Europa League round of 16. The return leg will take place in France on March 13. The Romanian team qualified for the round of 16 of the Europa League, after outplaying the Greek team PAOK Thessaloniki, coached by the Romanian Răzvan Lucescu. (AMP)

  • March 5, 2025 UPDATE 2

    March 5, 2025 UPDATE 2

    Defense – The Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu welcomed the proposals launched by the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, regarding the exemption of defense spending from the excessive deficit procedure, a solution for which Romania has constantly advocated, he said. In a message posted on Facebook, the prime minister also stated that Romania supports the allocation of additional funds for weaponry, provided that the money reaches Romanian factories. He also specified that Bucharest remains on the same coordinates so far, namely in favor of increasing the defense spending and against sending Romanian troops to Ukraine. The President of the European Commission proposed the creation of a new “ReArm Europe” plan, which could mobilize almost 800 billion Euros for defense investments in the European Union and for military aid for Ukraine invaded by the Russian army.

     

    Russia – The air and naval military attaché of the Russian Federation in Bucharest and his deputy have been declared persons not welcome (personae non gratae) on the territory of Romania. The decision of the Romanian authorities was communicated on Wednesday to the chargé d’affaires of the Russian Embassy in Bucharest, who was summoned to the Foreign Ministry headquarters. The institution specifies that the two military diplomats were sanctioned for carrying out activities that run counter to the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961. Recently, the name of the deputy Russian military attaché, Evgheni Ignatiev, appeared in the criminal file of the former presidential candidate, the pro-Russian extremist Călin Georgescu. Prosecutors claim that people around Georgescu are in contact with Russian military attaches, suspected of being agents of the military intelligence service in Moscow. On Wednesday, Calin Georgescu’s complaint against the judicial control measure was heard in Bucharest, in the file in which he is being investigated for six crimes, including incitement to actions against the constitutional order. According to him, a decision is expected on Thursday. He was placed under judicial control by prosecutors from the General Prosecutor’s Office last Wednesday for 60 days.

     

    Travel Fair – Romania’s tourist offers are promoted over March 4-6 at the Berlin International Tourism Exchange (ITB Berlin), the world’s largest travel trade fair. Germany, Romania’s number one trade partner, is also the largest market for Romanian tourism, Economy Minister Bogdan Ivan says. Last year, Romania reported a 10% increase in the number of German tourists, totaling some 240 thousand. At the ITB Berlin, Romania is promoted by means of cultural circuits, active and adventure tourism, holidays on the Black Sea coast and in the Danube Delta, rural tourism and city breaks. One of the top attractions this year is also the “George Enescu” International Festival. The 27th edition will be held over August 24 – September 21 in Bucharest, bringing together 4,000 musicians, reputed orchestras, conductors and soloists which are bound to turn Bucharest into the capital of classical music.

     

    EU funds – Romania has received over 100 billion Euros worth of European funds since its accession to the European Union in 2007, said, Wednesday, the Minister of Investments and European Projects, Marcel Boloş. According to the official, Romania is no longer an economic periphery, but a country that is quickly catching up, surpassing Poland, Hungary, Croatia and Greece in terms of the GDP per capita, an essential indicator of the standard of living. Minister Boloş recalled that the European funds received are found in the infrastructure, almost 900 km of motorways and expressways having been built in the last two decades, are also found in the expansion of the sewage network, in grants granted to companies to develop, in thousands of renovated, equipped or expanded schools and hospitals or in the creation of new stable jobs. The reality is that the EU has been and remains Romania’s partner in development, Marcel Boloş concluded.

     

    EU – The citizens of European Union member states, including Romanians, can apply, as of Wednesday, to obtain the electronic travel authorization required from April 2 to enter the United Kingdom or to transit this country on the way to another destination. Requests must be sent on the official UK ETA application. The Romanian Foreign Ministry specifies that the electronic visa will be valid for two years and can be used for multiple trips to the United Kingdom throughout this period. ETA costs 10 pounds, around 60 lei, for all age categories, including minors. The fee will be paid at the time of application, and the money will not be refunded in case of refusal, the Bucharest diplomacy also specifies.

     

    Transparency International – The global picture regarding the corruption perception index has deteriorated in the last 12 years, shows a study published on Wednesday by Transparency International. In the European Union, the average score decreased by two points in 2024 compared to the previous year. Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Slovakia and Hungary recorded negative trends. Other member states, such as Romania, stagnated below the Union average. Romania is on 65th place out of the 180 included in the study, on the same level as Montenegro, Kuwait and Malta. Among the recommendations of the Transparency International organization for Romania is the increase in awareness regarding the law that protects whistleblowers in the public interest, especially in areas such as public procurement, the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing, environmental protection and public health.

     

    Football – Romania’s football champions, FCSB, on Thursday will take on Olympique Lyon of France at home in the round of 16 of Europa League. The return leg is scheduled for March 13 in France. The Bucharest club advanced to the round of 16 of Europa League after a two-leg win over PAOK Thessaloniki of Greece coached by the Romanian Răzvan Lucescu.

     

    Investigation – The Florida Attorney General’s Office is officially investigating the British-American influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan, after the two arrived in Florida last week, dpa reports. The Tate brothers are also being investigated in Romania for human trafficking and exploitation of young women. They were arrested in Romania in December 2022 and were initially subject to a ban on leaving the country. However, Romanian authorities eventually allowed them to leave, and the two went to Florida. According to the German news agency, their release is rumored to have been brokered by the Trump administration, but the White House leader has denied any involvement. Andrew Tate, a former kickboxer, has become a symbol of online misogyny in recent years, along with his brother Tristan. Romanian prosecutors accuse the two of coercing women to produce commercial videos with sexually explicit content. Investigations have revealed at least 34 alleged victims, including a 15-year-old girl. Both brothers deny any wrongdoing. (LS)

  • Radio Romania International Sports club

    Radio Romania International Sports club

    Romanian football team FCSB is that close to succeeding a performance which is an absolute first for Romanian football: the qualification to the quarterfinals of a European competition in a new format. Since the Champions League, Europa League then Conference League have replaced the former European Cups, the longest trail of a Romanian football team ended at the round of 16.

    It happened in 2013, when Steaua Bucharest, in Europa League’s round of 16, was defeated by Chelsea, the trophy holders at that time. We recall Steaua won in the first leg, 1-nil, in Bucharest, then sustained a 1-3 defeat on Stamford Bridge. Since 2017, Steaua has become FCSB.

    On Thursday, holders FCSB play the first leg against French team Olympique Lyonnais. FCSB have recently gone past the competitions’ playoffs, defeating Greek opponents PAOK Thessalonica, 2-1, away and 2-nil, at home.

    Olympique Lyonnais have advanced straight to the round of 16, having been 6th-placed in the main group phase. The French team’s record is made of four wins, three draws and only one defeat. Their record is not spectacularly better than FCSB’s record, made of four wins, two draws and two defeats. What made the difference was Olympique Lyonnais’ 4-1 win against Glasgow Rangers on Ibrox park on October 3rd. We recall on October 25th Glasgow rangers trounced FCSB, 4-nil.

    At present, one round ahead of the end of the regular season, holders FCSB are at the top of the table according to the Superleague’s ranking, having one point more than Universitatea Craiova, the team FCSB will confront this coming Sunday. In this past weekend’s round, the match pitting FCSB against Rapid Bucharest ended in a blank draw; FCSB were one man shy on the pitch for almost 60 minutes.

    In the French first League, after 24 rounds, Olympique Lyonnais are 6th-placed, On Sunday, Portuguese head-coach Palo Fonseca’s trainees grabbed a 2-1 home win against Brest, the team that in 2025 represented France in the Champions League.

    In the French championship’s last five fixtures, Olympique sustained only two defeats, by top of the table team Paris Saint-Germain and the runner-up team Olympique Marseille.

  • Sports Roundup

    Sports Roundup

     

    Romania won five medals at the European Cadet and Junior Fencing Championships 2025 in Antalya, Turkey. In the juniors category, the women’s sabre team, comprising Rosemarie Benciu, Amalia Covaliu, Catinca Dumitru and Anastasia Fusea, have won the gold, while in men’s sabre Vlad Covaliu won the silver, as did Emma Şonţ, in the women’s epee. In the cadet competitions, Amalia Covaliu won the silver medal in sabre, and Natalia Constantin won the bronze in epee.

     

    Romania’s rugby team lost the semi-final of the Rugby Europe Championship, which it played away from home against Georgia on Sunday. Georgia won 43-5, and also secured the Antim Ivireanu Cup, a trophy reflecting the results of the direct matches between the 2 teams. In the other semi-final, Portugal lost to Spain, 42-31, on Saturday, in Lisbon. Georgia and Spain will thus fight for the trophy, while Romania and Portugal will compete for third place, in the finals scheduled for Saturday, March 15. The 2 teams have already faced each other in the current edition of the competition, in the group stage, in Botoşani. Portugal won 34-6. Romania’s qualification for the semi-finals of the Rugby Europe Championship after victories against Germany and Belgium in the group stage, secured the country’s ticket for the 2027 World Cup, which will be held in Australia.

     

    Over the weekend, matches were held counting for the 29th round of the Romanian football Super League, the last but one in the regular season. On Friday, in Clinceni, Oţelul Galaţi defeated Unirea Slobozia 1-0, while in Sfântu Gheorghe Sepsi OSK tied 1-all against CFR Cluj. On Saturday, FC Botoşani pulled off the surprise of the round, beating Universitatea Cluj 1-0 away from home. Universitatea Craiova also won 1-0 in the home game against Farul Constanţa. On Sunday, in Iaşi, Politehnica defeated Petrolul Ploieşti 1-0, and the derby of the round, pitting the Bucharest-based teams Rapid and FCSB, ended in a goalless draw. The last two matches of the round, Gloria Buzău vs UTA and Dinamo București vs Hermannstadt, are due on Monday. In the standings, FCSB are in first place, with 53 points, followed by Universitatea Craiova, with 52 points. (AMP)

  • February 22, 2025

    February 22, 2025

     

    ELECTIONS The Central Electoral Bureau for the election of the president of Romania in May was selected on Friday. The Bureau is made up of 5 judges with the High Court of Cassation and Justice, the president and vice-presidents of the Permanent Electoral Authority and one representative of each party in Parliament. Parties, political or electoral alliances, ethnic minority organisations and independent candidates will be able to submit their candidacies by March 15, after which the Central Electoral Bureau is to rule on their validity. Thousands of Romanians, supporters of the independent sovereigntist Călin Georgescu, who came out first in the first election round in December, took to the streets again in Bucharest today to demand that the electoral process be resumed from where it was canceled. The billionaire Elon Musk, an advisor to the US president Donald Trump, Friday night posted a critical message on his social network X (the third this week) about the cancellation of the December elections. The US vice-president J.D. Vance had also previously questioned the cancellation of the elections. Romania’s Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said Bucharest would try to provide clarifications about the situation through all diplomatic channels.

     

    RATING Fitch has sent a clear signal that Romania must carry on its fiscal consolidation measures and restore budgetary balance, in order to improve its fiscal credibility, said finance minister Tanczos Barna after the international financial rating agency announced on Friday that it is keeping Romania in the investment grade category. In a statement, the agency confirmed Romania’s long-term rating at ‘BBB minus’, with a negative outlook. According to Fitch, the rating relies on the country’s EU membership and capital inflows that contribute to public revenues and macro-stability. The gross domestic product per capita and the governance and human development indicators are also higher than in countries in the same rating category, the agency explains. These strengths are overshadowed, however, by a significant deterioration of public finances and a sharp slowdown in economic growth in 2024. Adding to this is a possible adverse effect of political uncertainty. In December last year, Fitch announced that it had downgraded the outlook assigned to Romania from stable to negative. The same announcement came later from Standard & Poor’s.

     

    ENERGY Electricity and natural gas tariffs could be offset in Romania even after April 1, when the current aid scheme is set to expire. The energy ministry has posted for public review a draft act extending the capping period, under which the scheme for electricity is extended until July 1, and for natural gas by one year, until April 1, 2026. The capping extension proposal comes as prices on European electricity and gas exchanges have increased significantly, and also as the low temperatures in Romania this winter entailed a significant increase in consumption. As a result, the line minister Sebastian Burduja announced that the government had decided to protect Romanians and support the competitiveness of Romanian companies. After the energy market was deregulated on January 1, 2021, Romania was among the European countries the most severely affected by record-high electricity and natural gas prices. Thanks to the government’s price capping decisions, households and businesses were protected from excessive prices.

     

    CORRUPTION A company and 2 individuals are prosecuted in a case handled by the Romanian National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA), together with investigators from the US Department of Defence, the DNA announced today. The company owned by a Greek national has allegedly bribed a foreign official to get a EUR 9 mln contract to refuel aircraft at the NATO military base in Mihail Kogălniceanu. Two other individuals are suspected of complicity in continuing bribery in connection with an official of a foreign country.

     

    GERMANY Germany holds federal elections on Sunday that are crucial to the country’s future, as the far-right is on the rise and the economy is heading for a third year of recession. The vote comes after the coalition of the Social Democrats, Liberals and Greens led by the Social Democratic Chancellor Olaf Scholz collapsed late last year. According to polls, the Conservatives are expected to win. With the far-right in second place in the polls, however, analysts say that in order to govern, the Conservatives will have to reach a compromise with the Social Democrats or the Greens, overcoming their differences.

     

    FOOTBALL The Romanian football champions FCSB will face the French team Olympique Lyon in the Europa League round of 16, according to Friday’s draw in Nyon, Switzerland. FCSB will play the first leg at home on March 6, with the return leg scheduled on March 13. FCSB qualified for the round of 16 of the Europa League after outplaying the Greek team PAOK Thessaloniki, coached by the Romanian Răzvan Lucescu. The aggregate score was 4-1, with the Romanians defeating the Greeks 2-1 in the first leg, and 2-0 in Bucharest on Thursday evening. (AMP)

  • February 19, 2025

    February 19, 2025

    MEETING Romania will be represented by the interim president Ilie Bolojan today, in the second meeting on Ukraine hosted by France, political sources told AGERPRES. The countries invited to take part are Norway, Canada, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Romania, Sweden and Belgium. On Monday, leaders from Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark met in Paris, at the invitation of president Emmanuel Macron, alongside the leaders of the European Union and the NATO Secretary General, to discuss the latest developments related to Ukraine, in the context of the peace initiatives launched by the new American administration. ‘Romania, in its dual capacity as the EU member country with the longest border with Ukraine and the country that has consistently and from the very beginning provided multidimensional, humanitarian, economic and military support to its neighbour, has a direct interest in carrying on the collective European and Euro-Atlantic support for Ukraine, in response to the brutal and illegal war of aggression by the Russian Federation,’ stated the Romanian foreign ministry. On the other hand, president Bolojan Tuesday told the ambassadors accredited to Bucharest that Romania believes in the future of the EU and remains a pro-Atlantic state and a responsible ally.

     

    ELECTIONS The ruling coalition in Bucharest convenes today to complete the steps to set up an electoral alliance comprising the Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, which will back the former Liberal leader Crin Antonescu in the presidential elections due in May. Asked whether he would withdraw from the presidential race in favor of the interim president Ilie Bolojan, Crin Antonescu ruled out this possibility. The new alliance is to be registered with the Central Electoral Bureau on Thursday. The 5 supreme court judges who will be part of the Bureau will also be designated by a drawing of lots at that time.

     

    BRANCUSI Every year on February 19 the National Day of Constantin Brâncuși is celebrated in Romania. The Romanian Cultural Institute organises in the coming period, both in the country and abroad, events marking the 149th birthday anniversary of the great Romanian sculptor. In 2024, the monumental ensemble “The Path of Heroes”, created by Constantin Brâncuși in Târgu Jiu, was included on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List. That same year, an important exhibition devoted to the Romanian artist was organised at the Pompidou Center in Paris. Most of his works belong to the Pompidou Center, as a legacy left to the French state, but many other famous works by Brancuși are hosted by major museums in the world.

     

    FOOTBALL Romanian football champions FCSB will play on Thursday evening at home against the Greek side PAOK Thessaloniki in the decisive leg of the play-offs for the round of 16 of the Europa League. In the first leg against the Greek team coached by the Romanian Răzvan Lucescu, FCSB won 2-1 away from home last week.

     

    WEATHER At the 2 Bucharest airports, “Henri Coandă” and Băneasa, flights may experience delays due to the need to de-ice aircraft. According to the Bucharest Airports National Company, no flights have been canceled because of the weather conditions, the runways and taxiways are operational, and planes are landing and taking off safely. The roads in 12 counties, especially in southern and central Romania, as well as in the capital city Bucharest, have been affected by heavy snowfalls in recent days, and dozens of collisions and skids have occurred, as some roads are partly covered with snow. According to meteorologists, as the sky clears, temperatures will drop more and more by the end of this week and at the beginning of next week, possibly reaching minus 15 degrees Celsius, including in Bucharest.  (AMP)

  • February 18, 2025 UPDATE

    February 18, 2025 UPDATE

    DIPLOMACY Romania’s interim president, Ilie Bolojan, said on Tuesday at the annual meeting of the heads of diplomatic missions accredited to Bucharest that Romania is a democratic state, which continues to take action to strengthen its institutions and people’s confidence in them. He promised a free, fair and transparent election process in the upcoming presidential election. “Romania has a ruling coalition, which ensures the country’s stability”, the president said, and added that Romania’s foreign policy will stay on its normal course as an EU and NATO member with a strategic partnership with the USA, while also being open to cooperation with all the partners that share the same values and principles. According to Bolojan, Russia’s aggression in neighbouring Ukraine must stop, and a ceasefire followed by just and sustainable peace is a goal that must be pursued not only by the parties involved, but also by the entire international community.  Bolojan went on to say that support for the ex-soviet, Romanian-speaking Republic of Moldova is a duty and this state’s resilience must be strengthened ahead of the parliamentary election due in 2025.

     

    RIYADH The first high-level US-Russia meeting in recent years took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday. Moscow’s officials said the talks were “serious” and “positive,” while the American side announced that two teams would be set up to initiate negotiations to stop the war in Ukraine, Reuters and AFP report. While the delegations led by Marco Rubio and Sergei Lavrov were discussing in Riyadh, the Russian foreign ministry announced that it wanted NATO to revoke the decision taken at the 2008 summit in Bucharest regarding Ukraine’s accession to the Alliance. The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would not recognise the outcome of Russian-American negotiations held in the absence of Kyiv, and European leaders convening in an emergency meeting in Paris on Monday promised to carry on their military support for Ukraine, while stepping up the strengthening of their own defence. Only a few European leaders were invited to the informal EU summit organised by president Emmanuel Macron, namely the German Chancellor, the Polish, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Danish and British prime ministers, as well as the president of the European Council, the head of the European Commission and the NATO Secretary General. France plans to host a second meeting on Ukraine and European security on Wednesday, Reuters reports. According to diplomatic sources, Norway, Canada, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Romania, Sweden and Belgium are invited to take part.

     

    JUDICIARY The Romanian justice minister Radu Marinescu Tuesday had a meeting with the Japanese ambassador to Bucharest, Takashi Katae. The two officials discussed, among other things, ways to find better solutions for judicial cooperation regarding Romanian nationals imprisoned in Japan. According to a news release issued by the justice ministry, Radu Marinescu appreciates the excellent judicial cooperation between the two states, while at the same time reaffirming Romania’s strong commitment to develop close institutional collaboration in the future. Bilateral relations between Romania and Japan were elevated to a strategic partnership on March 7, 2023. Last year, a Declaration of Cooperation between the justice ministries of the two countries was also signed, making Romania the first European Union member state to sign such a declaration with Japan, the news release also states.

     

    FOOTBALL The former Romanian international player Cristian Chivu was appointed coach of the Italian football team Parma on Tuesday, the club announced on its home page. For Chivu, this will be the first coaching experience at a senior level, after having trained several junior teams at Internazionale Milano, where he played between 2007 and 2014 and where he concluded his career as a footballer at the age of 34 due to recurring injuries. In the 2009-2010 season, under the Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho, he won the Italian championship and Cup with Inter, as well as the Champions League. At Parma, Chivu will coach the Romanian international players Dennis Man and Valentin Mihăilă. The team is in 18th place out of 20 (relegation-threatened) and Chivu’s debut as a coach in Serie A will take place on February 22, on home turf, against Bologna. Another Italian team in Serie A, Genoa, is owned by the Romanian businessman Dan Şucu, who is also the major shareholder in Rapid Bucharest. (AMP)

  • Sports Roundup

    Sports Roundup

     

    Romania came out 2nd in Group B of the Rugby Europe Championship, the second most valuable rugby tier on the continent after the 6 Nations Tournament. Romania failed to win the group after being defeated by Portugal in Botoşani on Saturday, 34-6. The semi-finals will take place on March 1. Romania will play away against Georgia, and Portugal will take on Spain, at home. A place among the top 4 teams in the competition ensured the Romanians direct qualification to the 2027 World Cup.

     

    In handball, games took place in the women’s European competitions over the weekend. In the Champions League, Group A, on Saturday, Gloria Bistriţa-Năsăud were defeated at home by the French team Metz, 34-8, and on Sunday, CSM Bucharest won in Norway against Storhamar, 32-21. One round before the end of the group stage, CSM are in 3rd place, and Gloria in 7th. In the last round, the 2 teams will play each other in Bucharest. CSM has secured its qualification in the play-offs for the quarter-finals. The Bistriţa team needs a win in the last round, coupled with a defeat of the Norwegian team Storhamar by the group leader, Metz. In Group B, Rapid did not play, as the team they were supposed to meet, namely the Norwegian group Vipers Kristiansand, withdrew from the competition. Rapid is in 7th place and, in order to qualify for the quarter-final play-offs, they must not lose in the last round, in Podgorica, against Buducnost.

     

    In the EHF European League, both Romanian teams that played on Saturday won their respective matches. In Group A, Dunărea Brăila defeated the Spanish team Elche 32-29 away from home, and in the next round they will take on Ikast (in Denmark). In Group B, SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea defeated the German team Borussia Dortmund at home, 32-27, and will meet the Norwegian team Larvik on Sunday at home. Both Romanian teams lead their respective groups.

     

    The Romanian Men’s Basketball Cup was won by CSO Voluntari, who Sunday won the final against CSM CSU Oradea, 93-83. CSO Voluntari thus won the third Romanian Cup in its history, after the 2021 and 2022 seasons. The Oradea team has played eight finals so far, and has lost all of them.

     

    We end with football. Over the weekend, matches counting for round 27 of the Romanian Super League took place. On Friday, Hermannstadt won against Sfântu Gheorghe 3-2, and Universitatea Craiova beat Oţelul Galaţi 2-1 at home. On Saturday, UTA won in Ploieşti against Petrolul 1-0, and Farul Constanţa beat Dinamo 2-0 in Bucharest. On Sunday, the game in Iaşi between Poli and CFR Cluj ended in a 1-all draw, then FCSB defeated Gloria Buzău 2-0 away from home. The last two matches of the round, pitting Universitatea Cluj against Unirea Slobozia and Rapid Bucharest against FC Botoșani, are scheduled on Monday. FCSB leads the standings with 49 points, and Craiova follows with 48. (AMP)

  • February 14, 2025

    February 14, 2025

    A roundup of local and international news.

     

    SECURITY – Romanian Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu is taking part, until Sunday, in the  International Security Conference in Munich, where heads of state and government and hundreds of defense experts are discussing major global issues, especially a possible peace in Ukraine. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry in Bucharest, security threats and challenges in the political, economic, commercial and technological fields will be addressed. In the thematic sessions of the conference, Emil Hurezeanu will present Romania’s assessments of current challenges, with an emphasis on the deterioration of the security situation in the Black Sea region and the implications of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine for the security of the Euro-Atlantic area. At the same time, he will emphasize the danger of Russia’s hybrid actions and the importance of countering them. On the other hand, the Romanian official will highlight the importance of a more robust transatlantic relationship in managing these challenges and combating the threats faced by the Euro-Atlantic community and will highlight the importance of continuing to provide solid support for increasing the resilience of the Republic of Moldova.

     

    DRONES – The diplomacy in Bucharest firmly condemns the irresponsible attack of the Russian forces against Ukraine on February 13, when two drones carrying explosive material violated the airspace and fell on Romanian territory, near the border with Ukraine, invaded by Moscow’s troops. By order of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emil Hurezeanu, the ad interim charge d’affaires of the Russian Federation in Bucharest was urgently summoned to the headquarters of the ministry, to be informed of the firm condemnation of the repeated violation of Romania’s airspace. These illegal and irresponsible attacks must end, Romania having the right to take the necessary response measures, the Ministry said.

     

    NEGOTIATIONS – President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that Ukraine will not agree to any peace deal negotiated by the United States and Russia without Kyiv’s involvement. Zelenskyy is due to meet US Vice President JD Vance today in Munich on the sidelines of the annual Security Conference, after Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have agreed by phone to immediately begin negotiations to end the war. Trump said after the discussion with Putin that Ukraine’s accession to NATO is impractical and that its return to the borders it had, before the Russian invasion, is unlikely. The statements have angered Ukraine and European countries, who see them as a capitulation to Russia and a threat to Europe’s security.

     

    THREAT – The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced that an explosion was heard overnight, followed by a fire at the new sarcophagus that protects parts of reactor 4 of the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. Fire safety personnel responded to the fire within minutes and no casualties were reported. Radiation levels inside and outside remain normal and stable, the Agency also reported. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskky announced, in turn, that Russian drones had hit the radiation protection shield at Chernobyl. According to the Ukrainian head of state, after an initial assessment, it was found that the attack had seriously damaged the shield.

     

    PRESIDENCY – Ensuring Romania’s stability is the main priority of the interim president Ilie Bolojan during his three-month term. In his first message as head of state, after taking over the post from his predecessor, Klaus Iohannis, who had resigned, Ilie Bolojan said that his main priorities are ensuring the country’s economic, social and political stability. He also promised that the presidential elections in May will be fair and transparent.

     

    INFLATION – In Romania, the annual inflation rate decreased slightly, to 4.95%, last month, compared to January 2024, when it was 5.14%. According to data published today by the National Institute of Statistics, over the past 12 months, food prices have increased by 4.54%, non-food prices by 4.60%, and services by 6.54%. The latest inflation forecast of the Central Bank indicates a decrease of this index to 3.5%, for the end of the current year.

     

    FOOTBALL- The Romanian football champion FCSB defeated Greek team PAOK Thessaloniki 2-1 on Thursday evening in the first leg of the play-off for the Europa League’s round of 16. The decisive leg against the Greeks coached by Romanian Răzvan Lucescu is scheduled for February 20 in Bucharest. Also on Thursday, in men’s handball,  champion Dinamo Bucharest lost, 26-33, the home match against the Hungarian One Veszprem , in Group A of the Champions League.

     

  • Sports weekend

    Sports weekend

    Romanian football team FCSB has made a giant leap towards Europa league’s round of 16. ON Wednesday in the first leg counting towards the competition’s play-off, holders FCSB grabbed a 2-1 away win against PAOK Thessalonica. PAOK drew first blood on 21 minutes through their Tanzanian footballer Mbwana Samatta.

    Late into the first half PAOK’s Brazilian player Taison got yellow-booked for the second time around, so PAOK were one main shy on the pitch. In the second half of the game FCSB took advantage of that and scored twice, through Andrei Gheorghita on 50 minutes and Cameroonian player, Joyskim Dawa, in the 60th minute. The return leg is scheduled this coming Thursday, on February 20.

    This coming weekend will see matches being played, counting towards the Romanian Superleague’s 27th round. On Friday, Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe play FC Hermannstadt Sibiu, while Universitatea Craiova are pitted against Oţelul Galaţi. On Saturday, Petrolul Ploiesti play a home game against UTA, Arad, while in Bucharest, Dinamo receive the visit of Farul Constanţa.

    On Sunday, Poli Iaşi play a home game against CFR Cluj, while FCSB travel to Buzău, for a game against the local side Gloria. The 27th round’s last two fixtures are scheduled on Monday, as Universitatea Cluj are pitted against Unirea Slobozia and Rapid Bucharest face FC Botoşani. At the top of the as-it-stands table are CFR Cluj and FCSB, with 46 points each. Three other teams have 45 points each, Universitatea Craiova, Universitatea Cluj and Dinamo Bucharest.

    In news from rugby, on Saturday in Botosani, the Romanian national squad play Portugal. The fixture is crucial, deciding the winner of Group B as part of Rugby Europe Championship, Europe’s second-tier competition. We recall Romania and Portugal defeated Germany and Belgium, in Group B’s first two games, thus securing one of the first two positions according to group rankings as well as the ticket for the 2027 edition of the World Cup.

    This coming weekend will see matches being played, counting towards a fresh round in the women’s version of the European handball competitions. In The Champions League’s Group A, on Saturday Gloria Bistriţa-Năsăud play a home game against French opponents Metz Handball. On Sunday, CSM Bucharest take on Norway’s Storhamar, away from home. According to the group ranking, CSM are 3rd-placed, while Gloria, 7th. In Group B, Romanian vice-champion team Rapid Bucharest are 7th-placed.

    In the EHF European League on Saturday, in Group A, Dunărea Brăila play in Spain’s Elche. Danish head-coach Jan Leslie Lund’s trainees are 2nd placed according to the as-it-stands table, on a par with the top-of-the-table team, Germany’s Thüringer. In Grupa B, top-of-the-table team, SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea, play a home game against Borussia Dortmund.

  • February 13, 2025

    February 13, 2025

    DRONE According to the Defence Ministry in Bucharest, its surveillance and monitoring systems last night identified an air target which was flying into Romania’s airspace for nearly one kilometer on its way to Ukraine. Authorities immediately conveyed a RO-Alert message to prevent the population in the area and two F-16s belonging to Romania’s Air Force and two Eurofighters jet planes belonging to the Spanish Air force took off. The same sources have also reported a possible impact on the national soil close to the border with Ukraine, but without any material damage. In another development, the president of the neighboring Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, said today that two Russian drones violated the air space of her country and exploded on the ground. No citizens were in danger. Sources of the Ukrainian army announced that last night Russia attacked Ukraine with 140 drones.

     

    NATO NATO defence ministers are convening in Brussels for the first time since Republican Donald Trump started his mandate at the White House. High on the agenda is a negotiated solution to the war in Ukraine. Tomorrow the participants will be focusing on how to raise military expenses and the war in Ukraine. NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte, has called on the allies, which didn’t’ raise their defence budgets over 2% yet, to do that until summer. Rutte has hinted that at the NATO summit this year he will be calling for a 3% raise of the GDP. He has also said the European allies and Canada should raise their support for Ukraine much over what the United States is offering now.

     

    TRADE The expansion of the free-trade zone in the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanta is high on the agenda of the Romanian government today. The Executive wants to give an impetus to the region’s economic development and improve trade exchanges in the region. In another development, the coalition government is expected to make a decision aimed at carrying on the present scheme of capped prices in electricity for household consumers, which is supposed to end in late March and lead to higher invoices. Sources of the ruling coalition say that pensioners with a monthly income of 514 Euros will benefit from financial support in two stages. The Labour Ministry is expected to draw up a draft law in this respect, which is going to be endorsed by the government. We recall that early this year, the Executive decided not to adjust pensions to the inflation rate as envisaged, a move, which has triggered a wave of discontent.

     

    FCSB Romania’s football champions FCSB will take on the Greek champions, PAOK Thessaloniki, in an away match tonight which counts towards the first round of the play-offs for qualifying for the Europa League’s round of sixteen. The return match is due in Bucharest on February 20. PAOK, which is coached by Romanian Razvan Lucescu, and FCSB also met this season in the competition’s main stage, and the Romanians won the match in Thessaloniki 1-0. FCSB ended the main stage in the eleventh place, whereas PAOK in the 22nd. The first eight sides have qualified directly for the eighth finals, while the others ranking from the ninth position to the 24th have joined a double-legged playoff to make it to the round of 16.

     

    (bill)

     

  • February 12, 2025

    February 12, 2025

    Ceremony – Romania’s outgoing president, Klaus Iohannis, ended his mandate on Wednesday at noon in a ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Bucharest after impeachment pressure over cancelled presidential vote. He had already announced his resignation on Monday. The two mandates to which Klaus Iohannis was entitled should have ended on December 21 last year, but he remained in office after the Constitutional Court annulled the presidential election due to suspicions regarding interference of state actors. Dissatisfied with the decision of the constitutional court judges, tens of thousands of Romanians protested in the streets. Political analysts believe that, with the resignation of Klaus Iohannis, the tensions in society accumulated in the last months will decrease. A 65-year-old ethnic German, former physics teacher and former mayor of the city of Sibiu (center), Klaus Iohannis leaves the presidency with an extremely low popularity rating. The interim president is, as of Wednesday, the speaker of the Senate, Ilie Bolojan, who previously self-suspended from the position of speaker of the Senate and president of the National Liberal Party (PNL). He will be interim president until May, when the presidential election is scheduled on the 4th and 18th respectively. He will have almost all the prerogatives of the head of state, with a few exceptions: he will not have the right to address Parliament, dissolve Parliament and organize a referendum.

     

    PNRR – The Romanian Prime Minister, Marcel Ciolacu, is today chairing the meeting of the Inter-ministerial Committee for the Coordination of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, which will also be attended by the head of the European Commission’s Recovery and Resilience Task Force SG RECOVER, Celine Gauer. The two met on Tuesday, when Prime Minister Ciolacu stated that the Government will continue implementing the reforms and investments assumed through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) at a pace that will be accelerated at the level of each ministry. The PM also emphasized that the digitization measures taken by National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF) improve the collection of public revenues, and the results will be felt in the coming years. At the same time, the reform of the central administration and the other solutions to reduce personnel expenses will lead to a more rigorous control of public resources and to a budget deficit target of 7% of the Gross Domestic Product in 2025, the prime minister added.

     

    Football – The Romanian football champions, FCSB (Bucharest), play, on Thursday, against the Greek champions, PAOK Thessaloniki, a team coached by the Romanian Răzvan Lucescu, in the first leg of the play-off for qualification for the Europa League round of 16. The return match will take place in Bucharest, on February 20. PAOK and FCSB faced each other this season also in the main phase of the competition, and the Romanian champions won the match in Thessaloniki with the score of 1-0. FCSB finished the main stage in 11th place and PAOK in 22nd. The first eight teams qualified directly for the round of 16, and the teams in positions 9-24 will play a double-leg play-off for access to the round of 16.

     

    AI – The European Union will invest 200 billion Euros in artificial intelligence projects – the head of the EU, Ursula von der Leyen, announced in Paris. Attending the international meeting in the French capital dedicated to this sector, the president of the European Commission also spoke about a public-private partnership for mobilizing the capital necessary to develop the new technologies. The Minister of Economy and Digitalization in the Romanian government, Bogdan Ivan, also attended the meeting, and said that Romania was ready to play its role in the projects that will define the future. ‘Romania has a lot of specialists and well-trained companies in the field, and last year it adopted a Strategy for Artificial Intelligence that makes it interoperable from the point of view of research with the most developed states in the world’ minister Ivan also told Radio Romania’s correspondent in Paris.

     

    Corruption – For the third year in a row Romania is among the EU countries with the ‘poorest’ results in combating corruption, obtaining a score of 46 points on a par with Malta, according to the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for 2024, published by the non-governmental organization Transparency International. Denmark (90 p.) leads the ranking, while on the last places are countries such as Somalia (9 p.), Venezuela (10 p.) and Syria (12 p.).  The CPI reflects how independent and business experts perceive corruption in the public sector in 180 states and territories. (LS)