Radio România Internațional

Tag: Foreign Affairs Council

April 3, 2017

BORDER POLICE — The Romanian border police announced it would strengthen border control checks starting Friday. The documents of all people crossing the border will be cross-checked in national and international databases, therefore the authorities expect waiting times to spike. According to a press release, on April 7 the authorities will implement an amendment brought to the Schengen Borders Code, adopted by the European Parliament and the European Council, aimed at improving the security of the EU and its citizens. The Romanian border police says all measures have been taken to reduce waiting times and ensure functional border checks and is making efforts to ensure a balance between the security of citizens and border crossing flows.

DECREES — Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis today signed the two decrees for the appointment of the Ministers of the Environment and for Liaison with Parliament respectively. The swearing-in ceremony is due to take placer later today. The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, a junior coalition partner in the Government led by Social-Democrat Sorin Grindeanu, nominated Gratiela Gavrilescu for the position of Environment Minister and Deputy Prime Minister. Replacing Gavrilescu as the new Minister for Liaison with Parliament will be Viorel Ilie, also nominated by the Liberals and Democrats. One week ago the party leadership decided to withdraw political support for the party co-president, Daniel Constantin, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Environment, amidst tensions between him and the other co-president, Senate Speaker Calin Popescu-Tarcieanu.

FAC — Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu is today taking part in the Foreign Affairs Council meeting held in Luxembourg. The main topics on the agenda are Syria, Yemen and Libya. Talks will be held in presence of Arab League Secretary General Aboul Gheit. In addition, the meeting of the Group for Moldova’s European Action will be held on the sidelines of the meeting, at the initiative of Romania and France.

ELECTION IN SERBIA — The acting Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic on Sunday won the presidential election in Serbia. According to the Serbian Election Commission, Vucic grabbed over 55% of the vote, while the runner-up, current Ombudsman Sasa Jankovic, won only 15% of the vote. Seen as the new strongman of Serbian politics, Vucic is an ultranationalist turned pro-European Democrat. He pledged to support Serbia’s efforts to join the EU as well as maintain privileged relations with Russia. EU Commissioner for Enlargement, Johannes Hahn, has congratulated the president elect, whom he called a partner and a friend.

MILITARY EXERCISE — Three Romanian warships carrying 200 military onboard and three Turkish warships are taking part in the “Starfish” bilateral military exercise. The exercise is aimed at increasing interoperability between Romanian and Turkish naval forces. While docking in the port of Constanta, the Turkish military will also bring floral tributes to the Cemetery of Turkish War Heroes in Slobozia, southern Romania, and will visit the Museum of the Romanian Navy.

VAT — Tourism Minister Mircea Titus Dobre today said he would submit the necessary documents to the Finance Ministry with a view to cutting VAT to 9% for travel agencies. The Minister says the move will encourage local travel agencies and hopes for the price of travel packages to drop. Minister Dobre has warned it might take a while before travel agencies will benefit from the VAT slash, as the European Commission must sanction the move.

PROTESTS — The Moscow Police on Sunday arrested 30 people taking part in an anticorruption rally, the latest after last week’s large-scale protests. Radio Romania’s correspondent reports that opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, the organizer of last week’s protests, who was already placed under 15-day arrest for resisting arrest, says he is in no way connected to the latest protest. According to the Police, a thousand people protested on Sunday as compared to the nearly 100,000 people who protested on March 26. On Friday, several dozen Romanians protested before the Russian Embassy building in Bucharest, as a token of solidarity with the anticorruption protests in Russia.

ICE HOCKEY — Romania’s national hockey team on Monday is playing Belgium in Group A, second division, at the World Championship hosted by Galati, southeastern Romania. On Tuesday Romania will play Serbia, Iceland on Thursday, Australia on Friday and Spain on Sunday. Last year in Zagreb, Romania ranked last in Group B, first division, and was relegated to Group A, second division.

WEIGHTLIFTING — Monica Csengeri and Elena Ramona Andries of Romania won five medals on Sunday, of which one gold, at the European Weightlifting Championships in Split, Croatia. In the 48 kg category in the snatch event, Csengeri won gold while Andries grabbed bronze. In the clean and jerk event, Csengeri won silver. In the combined total event, Csengeri won silver while Andries got bronze. Romania’s delegation at the European Championships totals 13 athletes. (Translated by V. Palcu)

3 April 2017
March 5, 2017 UPDATE

UNITARY PAY LAW On Monday, the Romanian Labour Ministry starts talks with trade unions on the unitary pay system law. The first participants in the discussion will be representatives of the public order and health-care sectors. The line minister Lia Olguta Vasilescu has stated that incomes up to 4,000 lei (888 Euro) will double, those that exceed this cap will increase by 45% and salaries higher than 7,000 lei (approx. 1550 Euro) will be slightly raised. She has also said that the Government is open to any kind of discussions, but it would prefer to not amend the bill. As regards pensions, Lia Olguta Vasilescu has stated that the next raise is due on July 1st, when the pension point will go up to 222 Euro.

USE REPORT Corruption continues to be Romanias biggest problem, reads the US Department of State country report on human rights practices in 2016. According to the report, bribe is a habit well spread across the public sector in Romania, laws are not always effectively implemented, and public officials, including judges, get involved in acts of corruption without being punished. Also, according to the document, immunity held by former and current ministers, who are also members of Parliament, has blocked many judicial investigations. The report also accuses the discrimination of the Roma population, the poor detention conditions and prison overcrowding, as well as the fact that there is too much political bias in the media. Politicians and groups of politicians either own or control many local and national media outlets, and their editorial policies reflect the views of their owners, the report also shows.

EC REPORT The economic situation and the health-care and welfare systems are generating most of the issues facing Romania today, according to the country report drawn up by the European Commission based on Romanians views. Other problems identified by the Romanian citizens are the price rise, inflation and high living costs, as well as unemployment. In the second half of the year 2016, Romanias economic situation was perceived as being good and very good by a quarter of the Romanians. As regards expectations for the next 12 months, Romanians were less optimistic than at the end of 2015, with a quarter of the interviewees saying they expected the economic situation would improve, and 29% believing it would become worse.

ROMANIAN JUSTICE The new Romanian Justice Minister Tudorel Toader has announced that in approximately one month he will submit a bill amending the criminal legislation in keeping with the Constitutional Courts rulings. In an interview on Radio Romania, he said that the bill will be debated and adopted in parliament. Toader says that, as regards abuse of office, there must be a delimitation between contraventional and criminal liability and this can be done only by setting a threshold of the damage. Toader took the office in February, after the serious political crisis triggered by the Governments attempt to amend the criminal codes and grant collective pardon under emergency decrees. The threshold set for abuse of office was the equivalent of some 45,000 Euros. The decision triggered the largest street protests in Romania after the 1989 anti-Communist Revolution so the Government withdrew the decrees, and their author, the then Justice Minister Florin Iordache, resigned.

HEALTH SECTOR More than 14,000 physicians and 28,000 nurses left Romania between 2009-2015, and many of them are now working in different fields, according to the president of the Sanitas Bucharest Federation Viorel Husanu. In an interview to Agerpress news agency, he has stated that in the past two years the physicians exodus abroad has diminished, as they have started to be satisfied with the working conditions in Romania. In the trade union leaders opinion, the fact that many people in the sector are appointed for political reasons, starting with hospital directors and ending with chief of departments or even chief nurses, and the system being underfunded are still the main issues facing the Romanian health-care system. Viorel Husanu does not believe that bribe will disappear completely from the Romanian hospitals, but if incomes go up, the health workers will start giving up this practice.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS COUNCIL On Monday, the Romanian Defence Minister Gabriel Les will attend in Brussels the proceedings of the Foreign Affairs Council. The agenda of the meeting includes current topics and focuses mainly on the implementation of the EU global defence and security strategy and measures to develop the common security and defence policy. The participants will discuss important topics on the European defence agenda, such as the on-going structural cooperation, a coordinated revision of defence, the operational and leadership capability and the EUs commitment to the common security and defence policy.

MOLDOVA The former Governor of the National Bank of Moldova Leonid Talmaci has been placed under temporary arrest for two weeks. He is accused of abuse of office, membership to an organized crime group and abuse of trust. According to prosecutors, quoted by Radio Romania correspondents, the damage stands at some 700,000 Euros. Talmaci was the Governor of the Moldovan Central Bank between 1991 and 2009 and also the one who introduced the national currency, the Moldovan leu. He is seen as close to the current president of the Republic of Moldova, the pro-Russian socialist Igor Dodon, and was arrested just one day after being included in the Presidencys Economic Council.

NATO Some 1500 soldiers and ships from 7 NATO member countries are taking part for a week in a large-scale exercise in the Black Sea. Poseidon 2017 is an exercise organised by the Romanian naval forces and brings for the second time to Constanta, the largest port on the Romanian Black Sea coast, a NATO Mine Countermeasures Group. Soldiers from Poland, Spain, Turkey, Germany, Greece and Bulgaria are taking part in the exercised alongside the Romanian soldiers.

5 March 2017
March 5, 2017

UNITARY PAY LAW On Monday, the Romanian Labour Ministry starts talks with trade unions on the unitary pay system law. The first participants in the discussion will be representatives of the public order and health-care sectors. The line minister Lia Olguta Vasilescu has stated that incomes up to 4000 lei (888 Euro) will double, those that exceed this cap will increase by 45% and salaries higher than 1500 Euro will be slightly raised. She has also said that the Government is open to any kind of discussions, but it would prefer to not amend the bill. As regards pensions, Lia Olguta Vasilescu has stated that the next raise is due on July 1st, when the pension point will go up to 222 Euro.

US REPORT Corruption continues to be Romanias biggest problem, reads the US Department of State country report on human rights practices in 2016. According to the report, bribe is a habit well spread across the public sector in Romania, laws are not always effectively implemented, and public officials, including judges, get involved in acts of corruption without being punished. Also, according to the document, immunity held by former and current ministers, who are also members of Parliament, has blocked many judicial investigations. The report also accuses the discrimination of the Roma population, the poor detention conditions and prison overcrowding, as well as an excessive political bias in the media. Politicians and groups of politicians either own or control many local and national media outlets, and their editorial policies reflect the views of their owners, the report also shows.

EC REPORT The economic situation and the health-care and welfare systems are generating most of the issues facing Romania today, according to the country report drawn up by the European Commission based on Romanians views. Other problems identified by the Romanian citizens are the price rise, inflation and living costs, as well as unemployment. In the second half of the year 2016, Romanias economic situation was perceived as being good and very good by a quarter of the Romanians. As regards expectations for the next 12 months, Romanians were less optimistic than at the end of 2015, with a quarter of the interviewees saying they expected the economic situation would improve, and 29% believing it would become worse.

ROMANIAN JUSTICE The new Romanian Justice Minister Tudorel Toader has announced that in approximately one month he will submit a bill amending the criminal legislation in keeping with the Constitutional Courts rulings. In an interview on Radio Romania, he said that the bill will be debated and adopted in parliament. Toader says that, as regards abuse of office, there must be a delimitation between contraventional and criminal liability and this can be done only by setting a threshold of the damage. Toader took the office in February, after the serious political crisis triggered by the Governments attempt to amend the criminal codes and grant collective pardon under emergency decrees. The threshold set for abuse of office was the equivalent of some 45,000. The decision triggered the largest street protests in Romania after the 1989 anti-Communist Revolution so the Government withdrew the decrees, and their author, the then Justice Minister Florin Iordache, resigned.

HEALTH SECTOR More than 14,000 physicians and 28,000 nurses left Romania between 2009-2015, and many of them are now working in different fields, according to the president of the Sanitas Bucharest Federation Viorel Husanu. In an interview to Agerpress news agency, he has stated that in the past two years the physicians exodus abroad has diminished, as they have started to be satisfied with the working conditions in Romania. In the trade union leaders opinion, the fact that many people in the sector are appointed for political reasons, starting with hospital directors and ending with chief of departments or even chief nurses, and the system being underfunded are still the main issues facing the Romanian health-care system. Viorel Husanu does not believe that bribe will disappear completely from the Romanian hospitals, but if incomes go up, the health workers will start giving up on this practice.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS On Monday, the Romanian Defence Minister Gabriel Les will attend in Brussels the proceedings of the Foreign Affairs Council. The agenda of the meeting includes current topics and focuses mainly on the implementation of the EU global defence and security strategy and measures to develop the common security and defence policy. Also, the participants will discuss important topics on the European defence agenda, such as the on-going structural cooperation, a coordinated revision of defence, the operational and leadership capability and the EUs commitment to the common security and defence policy.

EUROVISION Mihai Traistariu, Xandra and Ramona Nerra are among the ten finalists of the Eurovision Romania contest. The winner is to be designated tonight by televoting. Eurovision Song Contest 2017 will be hosted by Kiev in May. Romania will compete in the second semi-final. Held uninterruptedly for 60 years now, the show is one of the oldest and best rated television programmes in the world. Romania has participated in the contest since 1993 and its record includes two third places, in 2005 and 2010 (Luminita Anghel&Sistem, Paula Selling and Ovi), and a fourth place in 2006 (Mihai Trastariu). Besides Romania, there are another 42 countries participating in this years edition of the contest.

5 March 2017
January 16, 2017 UPDATE

PARLIAMENT — In a plenary session on Monday, the two chambers of the Romanian Parliament voted for setting up a commission to investigate the budget rectifications made by the former technocratic government in August and November 2016. The setting up of this commission has been requested by the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, the leader of the Social Democratic Party, Liviu Dragnea, whose party returned to power, alongside the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, after winning the parliamentary elections of December 11. The opposition parties stood against the initiative. Also on Monday, the legislature decided in the plenary session to postpone talks on the setting up of a special commission to control the activity of the Foreign Intelligence Service, SIE. In exchange, a relevant commission has been set up for the Romanian Intelligence Service, SRI. Last week, the director of the Romanian Intelligence Service, Eduard Hellvig, suspended from office the first deputy director, lieutenant general, Florian Coldea, accused of having committed illegalities by former MP Sebastian Ghita, who, in his turn, is investigated in several corruption files and is reported missing.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS– The new Romanian foreign minister, Teodor Melescanu, on Monday attended in Brussels, alongside the other EU foreign ministers the monthly meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council. According to a communiqué issued by the Romanian Foreign Ministry, the Romanian official has hailed the new ceasefire agreement in Syria and underlined that it is important for all sides to abide by it. Melescanu has also expressed Romania’s readiness to support humanitarian efforts as well as Syria’s post-conflict reconstruction. The Romanian foreign minister has discussed, together with the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, issues related to the neighbouring Republic of Moldova, a former Soviet state with a predominantly Romanian speaking population, and the eastern neighbourhood. Also on the sidelines of the meeting, the Romanian official participated, alongside his Bulgarian, Greek and Croatian counterparts in an informal meeting devoted to the situation in the region.

REP. MOLDOVA– The President of the Republic of Moldova (a former Soviet state, with a predominantly Romanian speaking population), the pro-Russian Socialist Igor Dodon on Monday started a three day visit to Moscow, for talks with the Kremlin leader, Vladimir Putin. According to sources close to his entourage, Dodon’s priorities are to resume Moldovan exports on the Russian market, as they are currently embargoed and to legalise the situation of Moldovan workers in Russia, whose legal stay there has expired. According to the same source, Dodon and Putin will allegedly approach the issue of the pro-Russian breakaway region of Transdniester, which got out from under Chishinau’s control, back in 1992. Elected in November, Dodon is the first high-ranking official in the Republic of Moldova in the past 15 years to start his mandate with an official visit to Moscow. In another move, also on Monday, Dodon called on the Moldovan government to start legal procedures to suspend the Moldovan ambassador to Romania, Mihai Gribincea. The latter has recently said that Dodon’s decree on withdrawing the Moldovan citizenship to the former Romanian President, Traian Basescu, might be unconstitutional. Dodon’s request has been rejected by Moldovan Prime Minister, Pavel Filip.

NATO– On January 17 and 18, the Military Committee, NATO’s Highest Military Authority, meets in Chiefs of Defence Session in Brussels. Romania is represented in this 176th session by the chief of staff of the Romanian Army, general Nicolae Ciuca. According to a communiqué issued by the Romanian Defence Ministry, the agenda of the meeting covers such issues as the Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan and the current threats to NATO. Sessions devoted to NATO’s partnerships with Ukraine and Georgia will also be organised, among others things, the communiqué issued by the Romanian Defence Ministry also shows.

TENNIS — Two Romanian tennis players, Monica Niculescu (no.32 WTA) and Ana Bogdan (no.125 WTA), on Tuesday will play against the Russians Ana Blinkova (no.189 WTA) and Elena Vesnina (no.18 WTA), respectively, in the singles, in the first round of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. On Monday, also in the first round, Sorana Carstea (no.78 WTA) defeated Russian Irina Hromaceva (no.92 WTA), 6-2, 6-1, and Irina Begu (no.29 WTA) outperformed Kazakh Yaroslava Shvedova (no.39 WTA), 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. Two other Romanians got eliminated. Simona Halep (no.4 WTA) surprisingly got eliminated by American Shelby Rogers (no.57 WTA) 6-3, 6-1 and Patricia Tig got eliminated by Puerto Rican Monica Puig, 6-0, 6-1.(Translated by Diana Vijeu)

16 January 2017
January 15, 2017 UPDATE

FOREIGN AFFAIRS COUNCIL The new Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu will attend in Brussels on Monday, alongside EU counterparts, the monthly meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council. According to a communiqué issued by the Romanian Foreign Ministry, a review of the main topics on the European agenda in the first semester of the 2017 will be made at the meeting. Also, the participants will analyze the recent developments in Syria, the relations between the EU and Marocco, as well as the negotiations over the peace process in Cyprus. On the sidelines of the event, the Romanian Foreign Minister will be received by the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini. This is the first such meeting for Melescanu since he took over the foreign affairs office, an office he also held back in 1992-1996 and again for just two weeks in November 2014. He resigned then because the poor preparation of the presidential elections had prevented thousands of Romanian citizens living abroad from casting their votes.

ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT Romanias Parliament will on Monday convene in plenary session to vote on the setting up of the Committee that will investigate the budget adjustments made by the former technocratic government in August and November last year. The setting up of the committee was requested by the president of the Social Democratic Party and Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Liviu Dragnea, whose party formed the government, alongside the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, in the aftermath of December 11th parliamentary elections. The agenda of the parliament session also includes the setting up of new committees in charge of controlling the activity of the Romanian Intelligence Service and of the Foreign Intelligence Service. On Thursday, the Director of the Romanian Intelligence Service Eduard Hellvig suspended his first deputy, General Florian Coldea, accused of illegal activities by the former MP Sebastian Ghita, who is also under investigation for multiple acts of corruption and who is missing.

ROMANIAS CULTURE DAY On Sunday, Romanians celebrated 167 years since the birth of their national poet Mihai Eminescu (1850-1889), dubbed the last great representative of European Romanticism. January 15th is also Romanias National Culture Day since 2010, when it was declared so by the Romanian Parliament, at the proposal of the Romanian Academy. Just like every year, the Romanian diplomatic and consular missions and Romanian cultural institutes abroad hosted special events devoted to this day. Romanias President Klaus Iohannis posted a message on a social network reading that in the world, the respect towards Romania is very much based on the international appreciation of its culture and artists. In turn, the Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu wrote that in the hardest of moments, culture has brought this people joy and freedom. The British and French Embassies in Bucharest too posted video messages in the Romanian language, on Romanias Culture day. Eminescus anniversary was officially celebrated in the Republic of Moldova, Romanias neighbour with a predominantly Romanian-speaking population.

PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE The French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said on Sunday that the proposal of the future Washington Administration to relocate the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem would be a provocation with serious consequences. He made the comment in the beginning of the meeting in Paris devoted to the Middle East peace process. He said that the purpose of the conference was to reaffirm the international support for a two-country solution, to encourage Israel and the Palestinians to carry out direct negotiations and to draft an action plan for the coming period. Neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians are represented at the meeting.

15 January 2017
December 11, 2016 UPDATE

PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS According to exit polls, the left-wing Social Democratic Party won Sunday’s parliamentary elections in Romania with 44-46% of the votes, followed by the National Liberal Party with 21-22%, the Save Romania Union with 9-10%, and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians with over 6%. The People’s Movement Party, established by the former president Traian Basescu, is close to the 5% threshold. The leader of the Social Democratic Party, Liviu Dragnea, has stated that Romanians’ votes must be respected and has stressed that Romania is an island of stability in the region. Dragnea has also said that on Sunday Romanians voted for economic growth, more money in their pockets, lower taxes and fees, support for the business environment, better paid jobs for the youth. He has also stated that negotiations are to start with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for the formation of a majority. The President of the National Liberal Party Alina Gorghiu has voiced hope for a good final result for the liberals. The leader of the Save Romania Union, Nicusor Dan, believes that for a party which was born in February 2016 to become the third biggest political force in Romania is exceptional and a victory for democracy. He has also stated that if the Social Democratic Party forms a majority, the Save Romania Union will not be part of it. The president of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania Kelemen Hunor has stated that result of this year’s parliamentary elections has resumed the Union’s rightful place on the Romanian political scene. The voter turnout in this year’s parliamentary elections was of approximately 40%, less than in 2012. More than 105,000 Romanians voted abroad.

MOURNING Romanias President Klaus Iohannis and the Romanian Foreign Ministry have firmly condemned the double bomb attack that rocked Istanbul on Saturday night and sent messages of condolences to the families of the victims. Both the Romanian President and the Foreign Ministry reiterated Romanias commitment to the world efforts to fight terrorism. The US, Great Britain and NATO have also condemned the Istanbul attacks. Turkey has declared a day of national mourning after the two attacks, which claimed 38 lives, mostly police officers, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Turkey will fight terrorism “to the end.” The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), a radical group linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), has claimed responsibility for the attacks carried out in Istanbul.

Foreign Affairs Council On Monday, Romanias Foreign Minister Lazar Comanescu will attend in Brussels, alongside his EU counterparts, the monthly meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry, the agenda of talks includes topics such as migration and the relation between the EU and Africa. Also, the participants will discuss the latest developments in Syria.

CORRUPTION Pediatric surgeon Gheorghe Burnei, Head of the Pediatric Surgery and Orthopedic Clinic of the Marie Curie Hospital in Bucharest, was taken into custody on Saturday. A celebrity in his field of activity, doctor Burnei is suspected of acts of corruption, after several parents complained he had requested money from them to perform surgeries on their children and he reportedly made non-homologated experiments on children. Also on Saturday, the former manager of the Malaxa Hospital in Bucharest, doctor Florin Secureanu, was placed in preventive arrest for 30 days. In one of the most resounding corruption scandals on the Romanian medical scene, Secureanu is accused of bribe taking and aggravated embezzlement. The national anti-corruption prosecutors who investigate the case claim that, in the May 2009 – November 2016 period, the former manager designed and applied a scheme to illegally cash in sums of money from the hospitals pay office on a daily basis, accouting for some 500 thousand Euros.

ROME The Italian President Sergio Mattarella received the acting foreign minister Paolo Gentiloni at the Quirinal Palace on Sunday and asked him to form a new government, after Matteo Renzi stepped down following the failure of the referendum on the constitutional reform, held on December 4, the Italian presidency has announced. Paolo Gentiloni, 62, a close of Renzis, will form the cabinet and then will face Parliament for a vote of confidence. The Prime Minister designate has mentioned the elimination of the effects of the recent quakes in central Italy and the adoption of a new electoral law among its top priorities.

ACCIDENT Bulgaria has declared a day of national mourning for the victims of the accident in Hitrino, in the north-east of the country, where at least eight people died and dozens were wounded following a gas explosion on a derailed tanker train early Saturday. One of the two tank cars, carrying propane-butane and propylene, exploded and the deflagration destroyed 50 buildings. After the incident, the entire village was evacuated and the intervention teams started a complicated operation to gather the liquid gas in other tanks.

HANDBALL On Sunday, Romanias national womens handball team defeated Hungary 29-21, in the first match of the so-called main groups of the European Championship hosted by Sweden. Next, Romania will face the Czech Republic, on December 13, and Denmark a day later. In the first stage of the competition, Romania lost 21-23 to the defending European and world champion Norway, defeated the Olympic champion Russia 22-17, and outperformed Croatia 31-26. Romanias national team is coached by a Spaniard, Ambros Martin, who last month replaced the Swedish Tomas Ryde, under whose guidance Romania won the bronze medal at the 2015 World Championships in Denmark.

11 December 2016
November 13, 2016 UPDATE

FOREIGN POLICY – Romanian foreign minister, Lazar Comanescu, on Monday will attend the Foreign Affairs
Council meeting, alongside his EU counterparts. The agenda of the meeting,
hosted by Brussels, covers such issues as the situation in Turkey, the Eastern
Partnership, the developments in the Southern Neighbourhood, with special
emphasis being laid on the Syrian file. The stage of implementing the EU Global
Strategy for Common Foreign and Security Policy will be approached during a
common session of the EU foreign and defence ministers, on the same day. On the
sidelines of the Council, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and
Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, on Sunday initiated an informal talk
between the foreign ministers, including Lazar Comanescu, on the trans-Atlantic
relation.

NATO – NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, has launched a warning to
the US President elect, Donald Trump, saying going alone is not an
advantageous option, either for Europe or for the US. In an article carried by
the British paper The Observer, NATO Secretary General, Jens
Stoltenberg, said the West is facing one of the biggest security challenges in
the past decades. During his electoral campaign, Donald Trump argued NATO is
anachronistic and suggested that Washington will think twice whether it helps
or not a NATO ally which comes under attack, if the respective ally hasn’t paid
its contribution. News agencies recall that some 70% of NATO’s current spending
is covered by the US, but the American leaders have always admitted to taking a
high interest in maintaining a stable and safe Europe.

COMMEMORATION– French President Francois Hollande
on Sunday unveiled several commemorative plates in memory of the 130 people
killed in the terror attacks carried out by Islamist militants in Paris, a year
ago. President Hollande and
the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, unveiled a commemorative plate while the name
of the victims were read out. On November 13, 2015 Paris was in shock after gunmen opened fire
randomly in the streets and blew themselves up. The largest number of victims,
90, were registered at Bataclan Concert Hall, and the rest of victims died in cafes,
on sidewalks and restaurant terraces in Paris.

ELECTORAL CAMPAIGN – The electoral campaign for the parliamentary elections
scheduled for December 11, started in Romania on Friday. Some 6,500 people are
running, on behalf of parties or as independent candidates, for the 466 seats
in the Senate and Chamber of Deputies. This
election, the list system has been reinstated; the last time it was used was in
the 2004 elections. The parties credited with chances of going past the
required threshold to be represented in parliament are: PSD, PNL, USR, ALDE, UDMR and PMP.

FILM – Romanian films Sieranevada by Cristi Puiu and Baccalaureate by Cristian Mungiu have reaped a lot of awards at the Listapad, International Film Festival hosted by the Belarusian capital, Minsk, between November 4 and 11. They included: the film press award (Sieranevada), the Yury Marukhin memorial award for best cinematography (Barbu Balasoiu/ Sieranevada), the special jury award (Baccalaureate), the award for best actress in a supporting role (Lia Bugnar/ Baccalaureate) and the award for best actor in a leading role (Adrian Titieni/ Baccalaureate).

RUGBY – Romania’s national rugby team on Saturday defeated the US, 23-10, in a test match played in Bucharest. The winner grabbed the Pershing Cup. This is a trophy initiated in 2014 and offered ever since by the Romanian Rugby Federation to the winner of the confrontations between Romania and the US, in remembrance of the match played during the Military Olympics of 1919, the Inter-Allied Games, organised by the commander in chief of the US Expeditionary Force in Europe, General John Joseph Pershing, to mark the end of WWI. The next preparatory game of the Romanian national rugby team is scheduled for Saturday, when Romania meets Canada in Bucharest.

WEATHER -
A wave of cold has taken most Romanian regions in its grip. In the following
period of time, the weather will continue to be particularly cold for this time
of the year. The sky will be overcast and precipitations are likely to fall across
the entire territory. Snowfalls and gusty wind are further forecast in the
mountains and in the north. Meteorologists have issued a code yellow alert
against gale-force wind valid for Eastern Romania until Monday noon.
Temperatures will drop below zero, down to minus 10 degrees Celsius in places.
Gale force wind and snow produced havoc on Sunday, in several regions,
particularly in the mountains and in the northeast. Bad weather conditions
disrupted electricity in several counties, with a considerable impact on air
traffic and the sea and river ports’ activity. (Translated by Diana Vijeu)

13 November 2016
EU Foreign Ministers meet in Brussels

The EU regional
security strategy for Syria and Iraq, the strategy for fighting the IS
terrorist group and the EU global strategy, as well as migration-related issues
were some of the topics approached on Monday in Brussels by the foreign
ministers of EU member states. The Union wants the fight against IS to be
carried on in parallel with a search for political solutions to the war in
Syria, said the EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini. Member countries
view the IS group and its violent ideology as a threat to international
security and the European area.

Attending the
meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, the Romanian Foreign
Minister Lazar Comanescu highlighted the need to identify new means to prevent
the funding of terrorist groups. As regards the EU Global Strategy, the
Romanian official emphasised the importance of the challenges facing the Black
Sea region, as well as the pivotal role of this region in outlining new
regional security infrastructures, including in the area of transport and
energy.

Migration was
another topic on the agenda of the Foreign Affairs Council. The EU ministers
agreed to extend the naval mission along the Libyan coastline to tackle the
trafficking of people into Europe. The EU also pledged assistance to Libya to
rebuild its navy and coast guard forces, in order to curb migration.

Also on Monday,
Lazar Comanescu took part in a meeting of EU foreign ministers with their
counterparts from the Eastern Partnership countries, namely Moldova, Ukraine,
Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus, in which talks focused on the
progress made in implementing the goals established at the 2015 Eastern
Partnership Summit in Riga. On this occasion, participants reiterated their
common commitment to further promoting the Eastern Partnership as a strategic
instrument of the EU in its eastern neighbourhood, based on shared interests
and goals, and on supporting the reforms in the partner countries. Here is the
Romanian Foreign Minister, Lazar Comanescu:

Beyond the
advantages entailed by these free trade agreements, we have suggested a number
of measures, which we hope will be implemented in the future, concerning, for
instance, services that benefit citizens, such as extending the mobile roaming
system to include the partner countries. The same goes for other such as the
European payment systems.

Comanescu also
suggested that measures should be identified to support these countries,
including investments in infrastructure and access to the European health
insurance card system.

24 May 2016
January 18, 2016 UPDATE

DIPLOMACY – Romania’s
president Klaus Iohannis received in Bucharest on Monday the US Assistant
Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Victoria Nuland. On the
occasion, president Iohannis said that, since Mrs. Nuland’s latest visit, in
January 2015, things had changed in Romania, some for the better. In turn, the
US official said that her presence in Bucharest was a good opportunity to
highlight the fact that the US and Romania were good allies. Victoria Nuland
also had a meeting with the Defence Minister Mihnea Motoc and the two officials
discussed topics regarding bilateral military cooperation, which was
characterized as consistent and pragmatic. On Sunday, Victoria Nuland had an
informal meeting with PM Dacian Ciolos, who briefed her on the priorities of
the technocratic government in Bucharest.

FOREIGN
AFFAIRS COUNCIL– On Monday, the Romanian Foreign Minister,
Lazar Comanescu, attended the Foreign
Affairs Council in Brussels. Regarding
Syria, minister Comanescu said that the regional and international partners
should join efforts and find a solution in order to avoid a power void in the
transition period. Also, the Romanian Foreign Minister voiced his concern over
the humanitarian situation in Syria and said that a stable cooperation was
needed in order to find viable solutions. In another move, Lazar Comanescu
stressed the need for national reconciliation in Iraq and said Romania
supported the continuation of the reconstruction process in that country. On
the sidelines of the Foreign Affairs Council, minister Comanescu held talks
with his Ukrainian counterpart Pavlo Klimkin about prospects of boosting
bilateral political dialogue. Also, he
talked with counterparts from other EU countries about the need to support
Moldova’s European aspirations.

VISIT– The Romanian prime minister, Dacian Ciolos, is paying a two-day official visit to
Paris, as of Wednesday. He will be accompanied by the Economy Minister and
deputy Prime Minister Costin Borc, and
by the Foreign Minister Lazar Comanescu. On the first day of the visit, Ciolos
will meet with the French president,
François Hollande, Prime Minister Manuel Valls, and the Speakers of the two
Chambers of the National Assembly, Gérard Larcher and Claude Bartolone. Talks
will focus mainly on economic issues. Ciolos will also meet with
representatives of the Romanian community living in France. On the second day
of the visit, the Romanian prime minister is due to meet CEOs and managers of
big French companies. We recall that France is the fifth largest foreign
investor in Romania.

READER’S DIGEST AWARD -The Chief Prosecutor of the National Anti-corruption
Directorate in Romania, Laura Codruta Kovesi, is the winner of the Reader’s
Digest European of the Year 2016 award, in recognition of her brave and sustained
fight against top level corruption. It’s the second time that a Romanian wins
this award. The first Romanian recipient was Iana Matei, the president of the ‘Reaching Out Romania’ Foundation, back in 2010, for the support provided to the
victims of human trafficking. For 21 years, Reader’s Digest has annually
awarded people who, without being celebrities, have been deeply involved in
humanitarian campaigns regarding issues such as rape, torture or human
trafficking, HIV/AIDs and women’s rights, but also to personalities who have
had a positive influence on society.

MOLDOVA – The Prime Minister
Designate of the Republic of Moldova, Pavel Filip, said on Monday that the
governing program of the new Cabinet would be completed by midweek and
Parliament’s vote of confidence would be called for by the end of the week.
According to Filip, his Government would focus on carrying on along the path to
Europe. While the Liberal Democratic Party has announced it will not support
Pavel Filip’s candidacy and will turn into an opposition party, the Democratic
Party and the Liberal Party, as well as 14 MPs who left the Communist Party
will take part in the formation of the future Executive. The Socialists, who
have 24 out of the total of 101 seats in parliament, contested at the Constitutional Court on Monday the decree issued
by president Nicolae Timofti on the designation of Pavel Filip. Unless
Parliament endorses the new Government by January 29th, the
legislative will be dissolved and early elections will be held.

CAR INDUSTRY-
The largest car manufacturer in Romania, Dacia, a brand owned by the French
group Renault, registered record high sales in 2015. Some 551,000 units were
sold worldwide last year, registering a 7.7% increase, as compared to 2014. Ranking
first in the classification of best selling makes of the Dacia brand, at global
level, is Sandero, followed by Duster and Logan. Most of the units sold were
motorcars, followed by light commercial vehicles. We recall that in 1999,
Renault bought 73% of the Dacia shares. Re-launched in 2004, with the Logan
make, Dacia became a prominent player on the European car market.

TENNIS –Romanian tennis
player Monica Niculescu has qualified for the second round of the Australian
Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. In the debut match,
Niculescu defeated Brazilian Teliana Pereira, 6-2, 6-1. Romania’s four other
representatives, Simona Halep, WTA’s no.2, Irina Begu, Alexandra Dulgheru and
Andreea Mitu on Tuesday will play matches to qualify for the second round of
the tournament. In the men’s double, the pair made up of Romanian Horia Tecau
and Dutch Jean-Julien Rojer is first seeded in the competition, and the
Romanian -Indian pair Florin Mergea / Rohan Bopanna is fourth seeded.

WATER POLO – Romania’s national water polo
team will play against Germany on Wednesday, at the European Championship in
Belgrade, in a match counting for the 9-12 position. On Monday, Romania
defeated Malta 12-7 and Germany won against Slovakia, 16-15. Romania and
Germany have played against each other before, part of Group C of the European
Championship, and the Romanian squad won 14-13.

18 January 2016
October 12, 2015

The National Executive Committee of the largest party in the ruling coalition in Romania, the Social Democratic Party, is analysing today the results of yesterdays vote in which Liviu Dragnea was elected party president. This is for the first time that the Social Democrats have not elected their leader in a congress, but through an internal vote in which all the roughly 530,000 party members were invited to take part. The Committee will also decide today on the partys leadership structure, whose members will be elected in a special congress scheduled for Sunday, October 18. Also today, registrations begin for executive president, vice-president, secretary general and other positions in the party.

The Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu takes part today in Luxemburg in a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council. According to a news release issued by the Romanian Foreign Ministry, the participants will exchange opinions on a political agreement concerning the formation of a national union government in Libya and its implications for the future of that country, and will analyse the situation in Syria. The topic of migration will also be approached, ahead of the Summit in Valletta (Malta), which will take place in November 2015.

A technical mission of the International Monetary Fund is expected to arrive this week in Romania. Next years public budgets as well as a possible new agreement with the Fund will be the main topics on the agenda of talks. The visit comes after the IMF recently upgraded its estimates on the Romanian economy. The GDP is expected to go up 3.4% this year and 3.9% in 2016. Last month, Romanias fourth consecutive agreement with the IMF came to an end. The stand-by loan deal amounted to 2 billion euros, but Bucharest has not used the funds. The Finance Minister Eugen Teordorovici said recently that Romania will officially apply for a new loan agreement with the IMF.

Romanian, American, Bulgarian and Ukrainian troops are taking part, between October 12 and 15, in military exercises in the Black Sea international waters. Romania takes part with a frigate, a corvette and two MiG 21 LanceR aircraft. The American forces consist in the USS Porter destroyer and a maritime patrol aircraft, while Ukraine and Bulgaria contributed one frigate each. The troops will practice anti-submarine warfare strategies, to test the joint operation capacity at the Black Sea. According to American officials, participation in exercises together with NATO allies, Romania included, is a permanent mission of the US Sixth Fleet.

The Nobel in Economic Sciences, to be awarded today in Stockholm, concludes this years award ceremonies. The main highlights were the granting of the Nobel Prize in Literature to the Belarusian writer Svetlana Alexievich and of the Nobel Prize for Peace to several organisations having facilitated the democratic transition in Tunisia. Unlike in previous years, none of the economists on the list of nominees is seen as having bigger chances to win than the others. Last year Jean Tirole of France was awarded the Nobel for his analysis on market power and regulation.

The twin blasts in Ankara, the bloodiest attack ever committed in Turkey, killed at least 97 people, according to a new report released by the authorities and quoted by France Presse. The blasts took place near the central railway station in the Turkish capital city, where people had gathered for a protest against the clashes between the Turkish government and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The two suicide attackers were men, and identification operations are underway. The attack came 3 weeks ahead of the early legislative elections of November 1. On Saturday and Sunday, demonstrations were held in several Turkish cities against violence and terrorism. The participants criticised the government for flawed security measures.

Most of Romanias eastern part is subject to a code yellow alert for heavy rainfalls and strong wind, valid until tonight. The bad weather has already caused problems in the north-east of the country, where snowfalls have been reported and several towns and villages experienced power outings. Hydrologists warn that floods may be reported in several counties in the south and east. Meanwhile in Bucharest, the noon reading was 7 degrees Celsius.

Romanias football team has qualified in the final tournament of the European Championship, due next year in France. In their last game in preliminary Group F, the Romanians beat the Faroe Islands 3-0, away from home, on Sunday night. The last time Romania took part in a European final tournament was in 2008. Group F also included Northern Ireland, which won the group stage and also qualified for the final tournament, Finland, Greece and Faroe Islands. So far 16 out of the 24 participants in the final tournament are known.

12 October 2015