Radio România Internațional

Tag: Gabriel Oprea

May 2, 2018 UPDATE

JUSTICE LAWS – Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis on Wednesday announced he would submit the package of justice laws to the Constitutional Court and notify the Venice Commission. According to Iohannis, in its present form, the package of laws meets neither the standards of the rule of law, nor the expectations of the Romanians. The laws do not fit the legal framework and do not meet the European standards, Iohannis also said. The Romanian head of state has argued the new amendments may hinder the justice process allowing for the setting up of new structures that may put pressure on the magistrates. The president also said that after the Constitutional Court has its say over the issue he would make a new assessment and decide if a new revision of the amendments is needed. The ruling coalition, made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, says that the President’s move is an attempt to postpone the enforcement of the justice laws which have already been adjusted in keeping with the Constitutional Court’s and the Venice Commission’s rulings.

CENSURE MOTION — The National Liberal Party, the main opposition party in Romania, on Wedensday tabled a simple motion against the health Minister Sorina Pintea. The Liberals reformulated the text after the Chamber of Deputies’ leadership rejected the document last week, as it also addressed the labout Minister, which is against the rules. The Liberals argue that Sorina Pintea is handling in a faulty manner the problems in the health system.

HEALTHCARE – Romania’s Health Minister Sorina Pintea announced she would inform Prime Minister Viorica Dancila about the problems signalled by the representatives of the healthcare trade unions. Last week, thousands of medical employees staged large-scale protests in Bucharest. Numerous categories of personnel had seen significant pay cuts after the implementation of new regulations aimed at capping their benefits. Trade unions have threatened with a token strike on May 7th that can be followed by an all-out strike four days later.

EC – European Union members that fail to meet EU standards on the rule of law could lose access to its financing, according to a proposal by the European Commission on Wednesday. The European Commission President, Jean Claude Junker explained that the plan has general application and is not aimed against any member state. On May 2nd the European Commission started negotiations on the next EU budget, proposing to plug the gap left by the UK’s living the community bloc by cutting traditional policies and focusing on migration and security challenges.

PROSECUTION – Former deputy prime minister and interior minister, Gabriel Oprea, is being prosecuted for manslaughter in the case regarding the road accident that caused the death of police officer Bogdan Gigina in October 2015. The police officer died while providing official escort to Oprea, who was serving as interior minister at the time.

LAW – The Romanian Minister Delegate for European Affairs, Victor Negrescu has hailed the coming into force of a directive on the consular protection for European citizens, including Romanians, who live or travel outside the EU. Under the document, the EU citizens, who are in difficulty in a third country, have the right to benefit the protection of embassies and consulates of other countries in the community zone, if their own country isn’t represented. The EU countries must offer the non-represented European citizens the same assistance they offer their own citizens such as, assistance in case of death, severe accidents or disease; assistance in case of arrest or detention, assistance when a citizen falls victim of an attack or crime, assistance and repatriation in emergency cases. The origin country of the applicants will always be consulted by the country, which offers assistance. Applicants can get information concerning the available assistance and to any agreements in force between consulates by contacting the EU delegation in the respective country. (Translated by Elena Enache)

2 May 2018
March 14, 2017

VISIT Over March the 15th and the 17th government representatives from Bucharest will be paying a working visit to Italy in order to verify the information published by the press over some cases of exploitation of Romanian citizens working in the regions of Sicily and Calabria. Andrea Pastarnac, the Minister for the Romanians the world over, and a representative of the Interior Ministry will be holding talks with local officials and with representatives of the Romanian workers’ associations in Italy as well as with those from the local organisations in charge of defending foreign workers’ rights and fighting the abuses against them. A report published on Sunday by British weekly ‘The Observer’ says that nearly 75 hundred women, mostly Romanians, working in agriculture in the provinces of Ragusa in Sicily are victims of numerous abuses, including threats and sexual aggressions.

INS In the fourth quarter of last year Romania reported 5.24 million pensioners, the number being by lower by 6,000 than in the previous quarter, a report issued by the National Institute for Statistics (INS) says. According to the same sources, the ratio between the average number of pensioners and employees was 9 to 10. The report shows significant territorial variations; there are 5 pensioners to 10 employees in Bucharest as compared Teleorman county in southern Romania, where the ratio is 17 pensioners to 10 employees. Average pensions may also vary across the territory; the difference between the lowest and the highest pensions being of nearly 88 euros.

TALKS The European Commissioner for regional policy, Corina Cretu, will be in Romania over March 15th and 17th for talks with the authorities in Bucharest and civil society over the White Charter of the future of Europe. The European official will be holding a meeting with the European affairs committees of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies. President Iohannis has recently said that a multi-speed Europe for an indefinite period of time is not a good solution, on the contrary, it might lead to a rift inside the union. Iohannis added that Romania should not be afraid of the projects that are worked on at different speeds.

RULING Magistrates of the Supreme Court in Bucharest are today ruling on the first term of a file in which former deputy Prime Minister for national security and Interior Minister Gabriel Oprea has been accused of abuse of office. According to prosecutors, in July 2015, Oprea, at that time Interior Minister, illegally used the Ministry’s funds causing 90 thousand euros in prejudices to the state budget. Oprea is also being probed in for abuse of office in another file on the illegal use of the official motorcade, an issue that came into the limelight after a policeman from this motorcade was killed in an accident. Oprea’s name also appears in another court file against the suspended mayor of sector two, Neculai Ontanu.

SEIZURE Customs officers in the Romanian port of Constanta on Monday seized the largest quantity of smuggled cigarettes in the past five years with a value of 2.5 million euros. The police seized over 700 thousand cigarette packs in a sting operation on a transport from Thailand. The cigarettes were destined for Romania but could further go to any EU country. In 2013, also in the port of Constanta, officers seized 10.5 million cigarettes coming from Malta bound for Ukraine.

14 March 2017
Nachrichten 19.10.2016

Rumäniens Staatschef Klaus Iohannis nimmt am Donnerstag und Freitag am Treffen des EU-Rates in Brüssel teil. Beim Treffen soll über Migration, Handelspolitik und die Außenbeziehungen der EU diskutiert werden. Vor seiner Abreise erklärte Iohannis, daß man in puncto Migration, über den Stand der Implementierung der Mobilitäts-Abkommen zwischen der EU und Drittstaaten wie Mali, Nigeria und dem Senagal, diskutieren wird. Andererseits sagte Klaus Iohannis, unterstütze Rumänien das Handelsabkommen der EU mit den USA. Zugleich äußerte er die Hoffnung, dass Rumänien eine Einigung betreffend die Visumsfreiheit für rumänische Bürger mit Kanada erreichen wird. Sollte eine angemessene Vereinbarung getroffen werden, was für Rumänien die Aufhebung der Visumspflicht für Kanada in 2017 und nicht 2018 bedeutet, werde Rumänien auf seine Vorbehalte verzichten. Am Rande des Treffens werde Iohannis zudem ein bilaterales Treffen mit der britischen Premierministerin Theresa May haben. Beim Treffen soll über die Rumänen in Großbritanien diskutiert werden.

In Bukarest ist am Mittwoch die Konferenz der Strategischen Militärpartner angelaufen. Veranstalter ist die Alliierte Kommandostelle für Transformation der NATO. Vertreten sind ungefähr 70 Mitglieds- und Partnerstaaten des Militärbündnisses, sowie eingeladene Gäste. Kolumbien und Nigerien sind zum ersten Mal bei den Beratungen in diesem Format anwesend. Hauptthema der Gespräche ist die Perspektive der Erweiterung der Partnerschaften mit der Nordatlantischen Allianz. Ferner werden die beim NATO-Gipfel in Warschau vergangenen Juni erarbeiteten Konzepte vertieft. Die Konferenz in der rumänischen Hauptstadt erstreckt sich über drei Tage und schließt vier Werkstätten zu spezifischen Bereichen ein: See, Luft und Weltraum, Land und Cybersicherheit.

Richter des Obersten Gerichtshofes in Rumänien haben sämtliche Ansprüche und Ausnahmeanträge von Ex-Innenminister Gabriel Oprea zurückgewiesen. Damit kann das Strafverfahren gegen den Politiker in erster Instanz beginnen. Oprea wird vorgeworfen, Gelder aus dem operativen Haushalt der Direktion für Nachrichten und Internen Schutz in ungeklärten Umständen ausgegeben zu haben. Die Entscheidung des Gerichts ist noch nicht rechtskräftig. Im Mai war Oprea in diesem Fall von der Antikorruptionsbehörde wegen vermuteten Amtsmissbrauchs angeklagt worden. In dem Verfahren war auch gegen weitere hohe Amtsträger des Innenministeriums ermittelt worden. Ferner steht Oprea in einem weiteren Strafverfahren wegen fahrlässiger Tötung unter Anklage. Im Herbst vergangenen Jahres war ein Motorradpolizist in seinem Geleitschutz tödlich verunglückt, der damalige Innenminister soll aber zu dem Zeitpunkt kein Recht auf Begleitfahrzeuge gehabt haben.

Gewerkschaften aus dem Gesundheitswesen haben am Mittwochmorgen einen zweistündigen Warnstreik angetreten. Während der Aktion leisteten die Mitglieder des Gewerkschaftsverbands Sanitas wie vorgesehen ein Drittel der regelmäßigen Aktivitäten sowie alle Noteinsätze. Seit nunmehr einem Monat laufen Protestaktionen der Gewerkschaften aus dem Gesundheitswesen. Sie fordern vor allem eine einheitliche Entlohnung für das medizinische Personal aus allen Teilbereichen. Zudem sollen die Zulagen für besondere Arbeitsbedingungen aufgrund der aktuellen Gehaltstabellen errechnet werden. Die Angestellten des Gesundheitswesens verlangen außerdem Essens- und Urlaubsgutscheine. Laut Angaben des Verbands Sanitas hätten ihnen die Behörden bislang keinen konkreten Vorschlag unterbreitet. Deshalb drohen die Gewerkschaften mit einem Generalstreik am 31. Oktober. Der Gewerkschaftsverband ist die Interessenvertretung von über 100.000 Mitgliedern, darunter Ärzte und Assistenten, Hilfspersonal, technisches Personal und Verwaltungspersonal.

19 October 2016
October 19, 2016 UPDATE

EUROPEAN COUNCIL – Romanias President, Klaus Iohannis, on Thursday and Friday, will attend the European Council meeting in Brussels. The agenda of the talks covers three major issues: migration management, the EUs trade policy and foreign relations. Upon leaving for Brussels, the Romanian President said that, in terms of migration, the participants will analyse the stage of implementing the mobility partnerships between the EU and third countries, non EU members, such as Mali, Nigeria and Senegal. Klaus Iohannis reiterated Romanias support for capitalising on these mobility partnerships, which produce direct benefits, for a better migration management. In another move, Klaus Iohannis underlined that Romania supports the EUs trade agreement with the US. He also expressed hope that Romania and Canada will reach an agreement as regards a visa waiver for Romanian citizens, adding that if a reasonable agreement is reached, Bucharest will withdraw its reservations relating to the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between Canada and the EU. Klaus Iohannis made clear that a reasonable agreement, means to Romania, the lifting of Canadian visas for Romanian citizens in 2017 and not 2018. The Romanian president also announced he will have bilateral talks, on the sidelines of the summit, with British Prime Minister, Theresa May, which will cover, among others, the situation of the Romanian nationals living in Great Britain.

CONFERENCE – Bucharest is playing host to the Strategic Military Partner Conference organised by the NATO Allied Command Transformation. Around 70 NATO member and partner states are participating, as well as other countries, such as Colombia and Nigeria, which are taking part in such consultations for the first time. Talks focus on the prospects of expanding NATO partnerships and an in-depth analysis of the concepts resulting from the NATO Summit held in Warsaw in July. The meeting in Bucharest lasts three days and contains four planning workshops dealing with the maritime, air and space, land and cyber domains.

MOURNING – Senior
Liberal member, Radu Campeanu, the first president of the National Liberal
Party after the fall of the communist regime in Romania, in December 1989,
passed away on Wednesday, at 94 years of age. He held the presidency of the
Liberal Party between 1990 and 1993. In the wake of WWII, Radu Campeanu took
part in the anti-communist protest movements held over February 24-28,
1945. Arrested in 1948, he spent many
years in the communist prisons, as a political detainee. After he was released
from prison, he emigrated to France. In 1990, Radu Campeanu returned to Romania,
where he reconstructed the National Liberal Party. He was senator of Bucharest
in the 1990-1992 period and the Liberal candidate for the presidential election
in Romania, in 1990, when he ranked second.

TOKEN STRIKE – Members of the Sanitas trade union federation in the healthcare sector were on a 2-hour token strike on Wednesday morning. During the strike, a third of normal duties were ensured, as well as all medical and surgical emergencies. Healthcare trade unions started their protests almost a month ago. They demand a unitary salary scheme for all medical staff, for the bonuses for special working conditions to be calculated based on current salaries and for holiday and meal vouchers. Sanitas representatives say they received no offer from the authorities and threaten to go on an all-out strike on the 31st of October. Sanitas has more than 100,000 members, including medical and sanitary staff, specialist staff, and auxiliary, technical and administrative staff.

TRIAL – The High Court of Cassation and Justice judges have rejected all requests and exceptions raised by Gabriel Oprea and ruled for the start of a trial on merits in a case in which Oprea, a former deputy prime minister and interior minister, is accused of spending operative funds from the budget of the Intelligence and Internal Protection Directorate. The courts ruling is not final. In May, Oprea was indicted by the National Anticorruption Directorate for abuse of office together with other senior officers from the Interior Ministry. Oprea is also under investigation in a separate case in which he is accused of manslaughter. A police officer died last year in a motorcycle accident while providing official escort to Oprea, who was serving as interior minister. However, Oprea is believed to have been on a personal trip at the time, which means he was not entitled to official police escort.

JUSTICE– Romanias technocratic prime minister Dacian Ciolos believes justice minister Raluca Pruna should stay in office following the passing of a simple no-confidence motion against her in the Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday. Ciolos says the motion is a rebuke of Pruna over some of her statements, without raising any essential objections about her activity. The motion was filed by the Social Democrats after minister Pruna admitted she lied before the European Court of Human Rights with respect to the funds allocated to prisons in Romania. Pruna took responsibility for her statements saying no one can take away her right to signal the problems facing the justice system, including under-funding.

MIGRANTS – 29 immigrants from Syria, including 17 minors aged between 2 and 17, were stopped on Wednesday morning by the Romanian border police in Timis as they were trying to cross from Serbia into Romania illegally. They did not carry identity papers but said they were Syrian nationals and that they crossed the Serbian border on foot planning to reach a country in western Europe. This is the largest group of Middle Eastern migrants to force the Romanian western border in Timis county this autumn. In the last two months, the authorities have thwarted many attempts to cross the border into Romania in the west, south-west and south.

TENNIS- World no. 50 Monica Niculescu of Romania on Wednesday qualified for the quarterfinals of the Luxembourg tennis tournament, with 225,000 dollars in prize money up for grabs, after defeating Italys Francesca Schiavone, no.99. This is the first victory grabbed by Niculescu against Schiavone, who had defeated the Romanian player four times before. The Italian player got the first victory in the eighth finals in Moscow, back in 2009. Then she defeated Niculescu in the third round of the Australian Open in 2011, in the eights finals in New Haven, in 2011, and in the first round of the Stuttgart tennis tournament, in 2012. (Translated by D. Vijeu)

19 October 2016
October 14, 2016 UPDATE

Prosecution. Romania’s President
Klaus Iohannis on Friday approved the National
Anti-Corruption Directorate’s request to start prosecution against the former
deputy prime minister and interior minister, Gabriel Oprea, for manslaughter. The request was submitted two days ago,
when Oprea’s term as Senator came to an end following his resignation on
October 1. Under Romanian law, the start of prosecution against people who
serve or have served in the government for acts committed during their terms in
office, and who were notMPs at the time of the notification, is
conditioned by the president’s approval. Policeman Bogdan Gigina died last year
in a motorcycle accident while escorting the then interior minister Gabriel
Oprea. The latter was reportedly on a private trip and consequently was not
entitled to official police escort.

EU-ASEAN. Romania’s foreign minister Lazar Comanescu
expressed condolences to the Thai authorities following the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej. During his long reign, the monarch has
been appreciated internationally for his important role in promoting the
modernisation and sustainable development of the Kingdom of Thailand, writes a
foreign ministry release. Minister Comanescu heads the Romanian delegation at
the 21st EU-ASEAN meeting in Bangkok. Talks focus on the latest
developments on Europe’s borders, the Middle East and North Africa, the issue
of migration and ways to combat international terrorism. Comanescu on Tuesday
began an Asian tour that also took him to Indonesia, where he had talks with
his counterpart Retno L.P. Marsudi about boosting bilateral dialogue in
the political, economic and commercial areas.

Migrants. The
border police in Giurgiu, southern Romania, on Friday found seven Turkish and
two Syrian nationals aged between 16 and 51 hidden in a truck and planning to
cross the border into Romania illegally. Under a Romanian-Bulgarian protocol, the migrants have been taken
over by the Bulgarian border police for investigation. In recent weeks, the
Romanian authorities have taken additional measures to tighten security at its
southern and western borders after several small groups of migrants tried to
cross the border into Romania illegally.

Magurele laser. Investment in the laser in Magurele,
southern Romania, can generate over 600 million euros in turnover and can
create about 6-7,000 jobs, Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos said on Friday. Ciolos
also attended a conference on development entitled Laser Valley-Land of Lights.
He explained the meeting was aimed at motivating and involving, besides the government
and research institutions, the local public authorities and the business
environment. The Prime Minister insisted on the need to connect, through
infrastructure, the village of Magurele to Bucharest and the Henri Coanda
airport. During a visit to Romania on Tuesday, the European Commissioner for
development, science and innovation Carlos Moedas called for a better promotion
of the laser project in Magurele.

EU. EU interior
ministers meeting in Luxembourg as part of the Justice and Home Affairs Council
have given the green light to a new type of travel document aimed at easing the
repatriation of illegal immigrants from Europe. The decision has been made
because the process of returning migrants has been hindered by the absence of
travel documents. Another issue on the council’s agenda was the implementation
of regulations for the new FRONTEX – the European Border and Coast Guard
Agency. On this occasion, the Interior Ministry in Bucharest, Dragos Tudorache,
has underlined the importance of setting up the new agency, to which Romania is
to contribute 75 border police officers, as part of the agency’s rapid
intervention team.

Republic of Moldova
elections. The leader of the Solidarity and Action Party Maia Sandu will run on
behalf of the pro-European right in the presidential elections in the Republic
of Moldova, an ex-soviet state with a majority Romanian-speaking population.
Both the Liberal-Democratic Party and the former NGO turned-party, Dignity and
Truth said they would a single candidate, the former Education Minister Maia
Sandu. The first round of presidential ballot is due on October 30th,
while the second is on November 13th. This is the first time in the
last 20 years that the country’s president, who has so far been elected by
Parliament, will be elected through the citizens’ direct vote. (Translated by: D. Bilt & C. Mateescu)

14 October 2016
October 14, 2016

LASER – Investment in the laser in Magurele (southern Romania) can generate over 600 million euros in turnover and can create about 6-7 thousand new jobs, Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos has today announced upon the presentation of a survey. Ciolos has today participated in a conference on development entitled ‘Laser Valley-Land of Lights’. According to Ciolos, the meeting was aimed at motivating and involving, besides the government and research institutions, the local public authorities and the business environment. The Prime Minister has insisted on the necessity of connecting through infrastructure the commune of Magurele to Bucharest and the Henri Coanda airport to better capitalize on the laser’s potential. On Tuesday, during a visit to Romania, the European Commissioner for development, science and innovation Carlos Moedas pleaded for a better promotion of the world’s largest laser, situated in Magurele, southern Romania.

DOCUMENTS – EU interior ministers, who have convened in Luxembourg for a new session of the Justice and Home Affairs Council, have given the green light to a new type of travel document aimed at easing the repatriation of illegal immigrants from Europe. The decision has been made because the process of returning migrants has so far been hindered by the absence of travel documents. Another issue on the council’s agenda was the implementation of regulations for the new FRONTEX — the European Border and Coast Guard Agency. On this occasion, the Interior Ministry in Bucharest, Dragos Tudorache, has underlined the importance of setting up the new agency, to which Romania is to contribute with 75 police guards.

VISIT – Romanian Foreign Minister Lazar Comanescu is in Bangkok, Thailand, to participate in the 21st ministerial meeting EU – the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (EU-ASEAN). According to the Foreign Ministry in Bucharest, high on the agenda are the latest developments in Europe’s vicinity, the Middle East and North Africa, the phenomenon of migration and fighting international terrorism. On the sidelines of this conference the Romanian Foreign Minister will be having a series of bilateral meetings with his counterparts from ASEAN countries. As of Tuesday, Comanescu has been going on a diplomatic tour to Asia, which also took him to Indonesia where he held talks with his Indonesian counterpart Retno L.P. Marsudi about stepping up bilateral dialogue in the fields of politics, economy and trade. The two officials have attended the ceremony of signing a memorandum of understanding between the National Trade Chambers of the two countries.

PROSECUTION — Romania’s President, Klaus Iohannis, on Friday issued a favourable opinion on and endorsed the National Anti-Corruption Directorate’s request to start prosecution against former deputy prime minister and interior minister, Gabriel Oprea, for manslaughter. The request was submitted two days ago, when Oprea’s mandate of Romanian Senator came to a close, following his resignation, tendered on October 1. Under the Romanian law, the start of prosecution against people who have been or are currently ministers, for acts committed during their term in office, and who were not MPs at the time of the notification, is conditioned by a favourable presidential opinion. Policeman Bogdan Gigina lost his life last year in a motorcycle accident, while he was part of the motorcade of the then interior minister, Gabriel Oprea. Oprea was reportedly on a private trip and consequently he was not entitled to have an official motorcade.

MIGRATION – Border policemen in Giurgiu, southern Romania on Friday discovered seven Turkish citizens and two Syrians with ages between 16 and 51 hidden in a truck with the intention to illegally cross the border into Romania. According to the Romanian-Bulgarian protocol, the migrants have been taken over by the Bulgarian border police for investigation. In the past weeks, the Romanian authorities have taken additional measures to tighten security at its southern and western borders after several smaller groups of migrants tried to illegally cross the border into Romania.

14 October 2016
13.10.2016 (mise à jour)

Enquête – Le président roumain Klaus Iohannis a fait savoir jeudi qu’il répondrait affirmativement à la demande de la Direction nationale anticorruption de démarrer les poursuites pénales à l’encontre de l’ancien vice premier ministre et ancien ministre de l’Intérieur, Gabriel Oprea, accusé d’homicide involontaire. La demande lui a été envoyée mercredi, dans les conditions où le mandat de Gabriel Oprea a pris fin le 1er octobre, suite à sa démission. Aux termes de la loi, en cas de faits commis pendant l’exercice d’un mandat par des personnes qui détiennent ou ont détenu la qualité de ministre, sans avoir la qualité de parlementaires, les poursuites pénales à l’encontre de ces personnes sont conditionnées par l’avis du chef de l’Etat. Rappelons-le, le policier Bogdan Gigina a perdu la vie l’année dernière dans un accident de moto pendant qu’il faisait partie du cortège officiel de Gabriel Oprea, à l’époque – ministre de l’Intérieur. A ce moment-là, celui-ci effectuait un déplacement privé, n’ayant donc pas droit à un cortège officiel.

Dopage – L’haltérophile roumain Gabriel Sîncrăian s’est vu retirer la médaille de bronze obtenue aux Jeux Olympiques de Brésil pour ne pas avoir respecté les lois anti-dopage, a fait savoir la Fédération Internationale du domaine. Selon celle-ci, Gabriel Sîncrăian, catégorie des 85 kilos, a été disqualifié en raison de la consommation de testostérone. Suite à cette décision, la Roumanie reste avec seulement 4 médailles olympiques gagnées à Rio, dont une médaille d’or.

ONU – Le Portugais Antonio Guterres a été désigné officiellement, jeudi, secrétaire général de l’ONU, avec pour mission de donner un nouvel élan à une institution affaiblie face aux multiples crises auxquelles le monde est confronté. Il remplacera le sud-coréen Ban Ki-moon et aura un mandat de 5 ans. Antonio Guterres devra se servir de ses capacités de leader et son expérience en matière de réfugies pour prendre l’initiative dans la réglementation des principales crises actuelles, dont notamment celle de Syrie. L’ex-Premier ministre portugais, premier ex-chef de gouvernement à accéder a ce poste, prendra la succession de Ban Ki-moon le 1er janvier.

Météo – Dans les 24 prochaines heures il fera assez froid pour cette période de l’année, voire très froid dans le sud et l’est de la Roumanie, avec de températures minimale allant jusqu’à -3 degrés. En même temps, les maximales ne dépasseront pas les 17 degrés. Ces derniers jours, les pluies diluviennes ont provoqué des inondations dans plusieurs régions roumaines, notamment dans les départements de l’est, du sud et du sud-est. Les crues ont endommagé nombre d’habitations, tandis des centaines de personnes ont été évacuées.

13 October 2016
Nachrichten 24.09.2016

Ein Erbeben der Stärke 5,3 auf der Richterskala hat sich in der Nacht von Freitag auf Samstag in Rumänien ereignet. Das Beben mit dem Epizentrum in der östlichen Region Vrancea wurde den meisten Teilen des Landes, einschlie‎ßlich in Bukarest, aber auch in den benachbarten Republik Moldau, Bulgarien, Ukraine und Serbien gespürt. Das Inspektorat für Notsituationen präzisierte, dass in Rumänien keine Opfer oder Sachschaden verzeichnet wurden. Nur in einigen Städten sind Stücke aus dem Putz der alten Gebäude heruntergefallen. Seit Anfang dieses Jahres ereigneten sich in Rumänien vier Erdbeben mit einer Stärke über 4 auf der Richterskala, alle mit dem Epizentrum in der seismischen Region Vrancea.

Der rumänische Innenminister Ioan-Dragoş Tudorache hat sich am Samstag, in Wien, an dem Treffen Migration entlang der Balkanroute“ beteiligt. Eingeladen waren Vetreter von EU-Mitgliedsstaaten und von dem Westbalkan, die im letzten Jahr von der Flüchtlingskrise betroffen wurden. Auch wenn es nicht mit einer Einwandererwelle auf der Balkanroute konfrontiert wurde, wurde Rumänien eingeladen, sich an dem Treffen in Wien im Zuge seines geleisteten Beitrags auf europäischer Ebene bei der Verwaltung dieser Frage, zu beteiligen. Am Ende seines Besuches in New York, anlässlich der UN-Generalversammlung, erklärte der rumänische Premierminister Dacian Cioloş, dass Rumänien weiterhin die Bekämpfung der illegalen Migration durch eine strenge Kontrolle an den EU-Au‎ßengrenzen befürwortet. In einem Interview für die rumänische Presseagentur AGERPRES, schätzte er, dass die Hauptmöglichkeit wodurch Europa der Flüchtlingswelle ein Ende setze kann, die Involvierung in die Beilegung der Konflike im Nahen Osten und in Nordafrika sei.

Der berühmte amerikanische Schauspieler Leonardo DiCaprio, der sich für den Umweltschutz und die erhaltung der Natur einsetzt, hat am Wochenende auf seinem Instagram-Konto eine Unterstützungsbotschaft für den Umweltschutz in Rumänien veröffentlicht. Er ist der Meinung, dass die Bukarester Regierung die jahrhundertealten Wälder vor der illegalen Ausbeutung und vor Abholzungen schützen sollte. Au‎ßerdem lobt Leonardo DiCaprio die Tätigkeit der Freiwilligen von Greenpeace, die Ökologisierungsaktionen der Umwelt in den Bergregionen Rumäniens durchführen. 1998 gründete der Schauspieler eine Stiftung, die seinen Namen trägt und deren Mission der Schutz der letzten Wildareale der Welt und die Bewusstmachung der mit dem Klimawandel verbundenen Gefahren.

Der umstrittene Senator Gabriel Oprea hat am Freitag seinen Rücktritt aus dem Parlament kommende Woche in Aussicht gestellt. Zuvor hatte Präsident Iohannis erklärt, dass Oprea für eine Entspannung der Lage zurücktreten könnte. Die Antikorruptionsbehörde DNA will gegen den ehemaligen Innenminister und stellvertretenden Ministerpräsidenten wegen fahrlässiger Tötung ermitteln und hat dazu einen Antrag im Parlament gestellt. Die Senatoren hatten den Antrag am Montag mit 45 Stimmen dafür und 73 Stimmen dagegen abgelehnt. In den vergangenen Tagen hatten in Bukarest und weiteren Gro‎ßstädten des Landes Protestaktionen gegen die Abstimmung im Senat stattgefunden.

Sechs Sinfonie-Orchester aus Europa und Asien, zusammen mit erstklassigen Dirigenten und Solisten nehmen bis zum 1. Oktober in Bukarest an der 3. Auflage des Internationalen Radio-Orchester-Festivals RadiRo teil. Am Festival nehmen fünf Orchester aus Europa — das Sinfonie-Radio-Orchester NRK aus Norwegen, Sinfonie-Radio-Orchester MDR aus Leipzig, Sinfonie-Radio-Orchester ORF aus Wien, das BBC Concert Orchestra und das Nationale Radio-Orchester — sowie ein Orchester aus Asien — das Sinfonie-Orchester aus Shenzen, China teil. Das Orchester aus Shenzen eröffnete am Freitagabend das Festival.

24 September 2016
September 24, 2016 UPDATE

FESTIVAL Bucharest is seeing the third edition of RADIRO, Europe’s only large-scale festival exclussively devoted to radio orchestras. The event, which has been staged by Radio Romania kicked off on Friday night with George Enescu’s Romanian Rhapsody performed by the Shenzhen symphony orchestra of China. That was the first participation of an orchestra from Asia in the festival. Until its last day, October 1st, the festival will have seen concerts by the Norwegian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the MDR Radio Orchestra of Leipzig, the ORF Radio Orchestra of Vienna the BBC Concert Orchestra and the National Orchestra of Radio Romania.

MIGRATION The International Migration Organisation (IOM) announced that more and more migrants choose to return to their countries of origin instead of settling in the countries that offered them shelter. The organisation announced it had contributed to the repatriation of 51,000 people who chose to leave Europe in the first 6 months of this year. In 2015 the organisation helped nearly 69 thousand people to get back home. The first three countries the migrants chose to return to were Albania, Iraq and Afghanistan. Most of these migrants were leaving Germany, a country, which in 2015 reported the largest number of asylum seekers, 442,000.

RESIGNATION Romanian senator Gabriel Oprea, former deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister, who is currently facing charges of manslaughter said that he would resign from Parliament the next week. On Monday his Senate colleagues turned down a prosecution request from the National Anti-corruption Directorate for Oprea, a move that triggered protest rallies in Romania’s major cities. We recall the former Interior Minister has been placed under investigation after a police officer from his motorcade was killed in a road accident.

ENVIRONMENT Famous US actor Leonardo DiCaprio has posted an Instagram message in support of actions aimed at protecting environment in Romania. The actor said the governemnt in Bucharest should protect forests from illegal logging and destruction. DiCaprio has congratulated Greenpeace volunteers who cleaned the waste from forests in central Romania. In 1998, the actor founded a foundation that develops projects for the protection of the environment. In another development on Saturday thousands of volunteers took to the streets to collect waste part of a cleaning operation staged by ”Let’s Do It, Romania!”, which has in the past 7 years become a symbol of volunteering and managed to involve over one million Romanians who have collected close to 25 thousand tons of waste from 300 regions in Romania. For the first time this year the National Cleaning Day has enjoyed support from the government in Bucharest as five ministeries have got involved in the opeartion.

EARTHQUAKE An earthquake of 5.3 Richter rocked Romania at 2 a.m. on Saturday. With an epicenter in Vrancea, eastern Romania, the termor was felt in Bucharest, the Republic of Moldova, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Serbia. According to the Inspectorate for Emergency situations no victims or material damage have been reported. Since the beginning of the year Romania has witnessed four earthquakes with magnitudes above 4 Richter, all with epicenters in Vrancea.

24 September 2016
September 19 – 25

The Romanian prime minister attends UN General Assembly
session

Romania fully acknowledges the joint responsibility for
managing the large refugee flow, said prime minister Dacian Ciolos at the UN
Summit for Refugees and Migrants. This was the first such summit held by the
United Nations, as part of its annual General Assembly meeting. In his address,
the Romanian prime minister pointed out that Bucharest would step up efforts to
meet global challenges like poverty, climate change, terrorism and conflicts, in
the spirit of international solidarity and joint responsibility. Dacian Ciolos
also spoke about Romania’s active contribution to the peacekeeping efforts,
saying that Romanian police and military troops are currently taking part in
peacekeeping operations. He also said his country was in favour of further
supporting the reconciliation process in the Middle East and explained that
Romania would continue to provide substantial political, diplomatic, financial
and human resources to maintaining regional and global stability.

The government issues report on
Romania’s economy

Right before leaving for the US, prime minister Dacian
Ciolos presented Parliament with a report on Romania’s economy. The economic
growth rate estimated for this year is 4.8%, as compared to an earlier forecast
of 4.2%. In short time it has been in power, Romania’s technocratic government
has tried to ensure an investment-friendly economic environment and an
efficient and transparent way of managing public funds. The 5.2% growth rate of
the first half of the year has translated into more jobs, a lower unemployment
rate and higher salaries, Dacian Ciolos also said. He announced that a state
aid scheme to support small and medium enterprises would be implemented by the
end of the year. The Government is also working on a reform of the social
security system and on tax facilities for those who invest in professional
training. In other economic news, the French carmaker Renault will move some
production of its Dacia Logan MCV model from its plant in Mioveni, southern
Romania, to the one in Tangiers, Morocco. This will free up capacity to build
more Duster cars, which are in high demand in Europe.

Romanians protest
against corruption in their country

Thousands of people protested on Thursday and Friday in
Bucharest and several other major cities across Romania against the Senate’s
decision to halt a manslaughter investigation targeting the former Interior
Minister Gabriel Oprea, after a police officer escorting him died in a motorcycle
accident. During the rally in Bucharest, protesters demanded justice and said
no one should be above the law. Early this week, the Senate voted against
lifting Gabriel Oprea’s parliamentary immunity. However, against the backdrop
of controversies over the result of the vote, on Friday, the former minister
announced he would step down from the position of Senator. Earlier, Romania’s
President, Klaus Iohannis, said that decisions like the one made by the Senate
in Oprea’s case proved that a parliamentary reform, with the renewal of the
current political class, was necessary.

Klaus Iohannis: In my opinion, we will not be able to
change things until we have untainted, dedicated people into Parliament. I do
not wish to be misunderstood. I have nothing against anybody, but in politics
whoever has a problem needs to understand that they cannot move on until that
matter is clarified.

Three babies die in measles epidemics

Parents’ refusal to have their children vaccinated
against measles and the irresponsible campaigns against child immunization have
had their consequences: according to official data released by the Healthcare
Ministry in Romania this week, 3 infants died and nearly 700 got sick in the
first 8 months of the year, as compared to only 7 confirmed cases and no deaths
last year. In other words, Romania is facing a measles epidemic. Consequently,
the Ministry announced it would continue to raise people’s awareness of the
benefits of vaccination.

Laurentiu Colintineanu: The various campaigns that have been
conducted are indeed a problem we cannot ignore and the Healthcare Ministry
intends to run an awareness raising campaign on the benefits of vaccination in
the very near future, in the next few weeks more precisely, because children’s
safety and health are a priority.

The most affected areas are the west and the central
part of Romania, but measles cases have been reported in over half of the
counties.

Timisoara is awarded title of European
capital of culture in 2021

Timisoara has been designated European Capital of
Culture in 2021 by an international jury. Upon learning the news, the mayor of
this western Romanian city, Nicolae Robu, described this a great teamwork
victory.

Nicolae Robu:
This is very, very exciting news for me. I’m also very happy, as I am sure all
my fellow citizens of Timisoara are. I would like to thank the local community
for the efforts they have made, the skills they put into the service of this
project and their unflinching support, because this is the victory of a team,
of a great team, namely community of Timisoara as a whole.

In separate cultural news, the only international
symphonic music festival devoted to radio orchestras, RadiRo started on Friday
in Bucharest. Hosted by Radio Romania, the 9-day long festival includes
performances by highly respected radio orchestras, conductors and soloists.

24 September 2016
September 24, 2016

MIGRATION Romanian Interior Minister Ioan-Dragos Tudorache is in Vienna to participate in the summit on Migration Along the Balkans Route. The event is being attended by representatives of the countries in the EU and in the Western Balkans, which have been affected by this phenomenon in the past year. Even if Romania was not confronted with the phenomenon, the country was invited to participate thanks to the contribution it made at the European level in handling the issue. At the end of the visit he paid to New York, where he participated in the UN General Assembly, Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos said at the end of this week that Romania continues to support the idea of fighting illegal migration by imposing a tight control at the EUs foreign borders. In an interview with Romanian news agency Agerpress, Ciolos said the main way in which Europe could stem the refugee tide is by getting involved in settling the conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa.

RESIGNATION Romanian senator Gabriel Oprea, former deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister, who is currently facing charges of manslaughter said that he would resign from Parliament the next week. On Monday his Senate colleagues turned down a prosecution request from the National Anti-corruption Directorate for Oprea a move that triggered protest rallies in Romanias major cities. We recall the former Interior Minister has been placed under investigation after a police officer from his motorcade was killed in a road accident.

ENVIRONMENT Famous American actor Leonardo DiCaprio has posted an Instagram message in support of actions aimed at protecting environment in Romania. The actor said the government in Bucharest should protect forests from illegal logging and destruction. DiCaprio has congratulated Greenpeace volunteers who cleaned the waste from forests in central Romania. In 1998, the actor founded a foundation that develops projects for the protection of the environment.

CONCERT The Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra of China on Friday night opened the third edition of the International Radio Orchestras Festival – RadiRo, staged by Radio Romania in Bucharest. The Shenzhen Orchestras performance was a double first – the first by a Chinese orchestra in Romania and the first participation of an orchestra from Asia in the RadiRo festival. The Festivals agenda includes until October 1st concerts given by radio orchestras from Norway, Leipzig, Vienna, the BBC Concert Orchestra and the National Radio Orchestra of Romania.

EARTHQUAKE An earthquake of 5.3 Richter rocked Romania last night. With an epicenter in Vrancea, eastern Romania, the termor was felt in Bucharest, the Republic of Moldova, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Serbia. According to the Inspectorate for Emergency situations no victims or material damage have been reported. Since the beginning of the year Romania has witnessed four earthquakes with magnitudes above 4 Richter, all with epicenters in Vrancea.

24 September 2016
Retrospectiva săptămânii 18.09-24.09.2016

Premierul României la ONU

România recunoaşte pe
deplin responsabilitatea comună de a gestiona afluxul mare de refugiaţi – a
declarat premierul Dacian Cioloş la summitul ONU consacrat crizei migranţilor.
A fost primul convocat de Naţiunile Unite pe această temă, în cadrul sesiunii
anuale a Adunării Generale a ONU. În discursul cu acest prilej, primul ministru
a punctat că Bucureştiul îşi intensifică eforturile pentru a răspunde
provocărilor globale precum sărăcia, schimbările climatice, terorismul şi conflictele, în spiritul
solidarităţii internaţionale şi responsabilităţii comune. Totodată, de la
tribuna Adunării Generale a ONU, Dacian Cioloşa prezentat contribuţia activă a
României la menţinerea păcii, precizând că în prezent forţe militare şi de
poliţie române participă la operaţiuni de menţinere a păcii. Premierul s-a
pronunţat, în egală măsură, pentru sprijinirea procesului de reconciliere în
Orientul Mijlociu, precizând că România va aloca, în continuare, resurse
politice, diplomatice, financiare şi umane importante pentru menţinerea
stabilităţii regionale şi globale.

Raport guvernamental

Chiar înainte de
plecarea către Statele Unite, premierul Dacian Cioloş a prezentat, în plenul Parlamentului, situaţia
economică a României. Potrivit acestuia, creşterea estimată pentru acest an
este de 4,8%, faţă de o prognoză iniţială de 4,2 procente. Pe toată perioada
scurtului său mandat de până acum, Executivul tehnocrat de la Bucureşti a
încercat să asigure un mediu economic favorabil investiţiilor şi o gestionare
eficientă şi transparentă a banului public. Creşterea economică de 5,2% din PIB
în primul semestru al acestui an se reflectă în numărul mai mare de locuri de
muncă, în scăderea şomajului şi într-o mai bună salarizare – a mai spus
premierul Cioloş. El a anunţat că o schemă de ajutor de stat, care să vină în
sprijinul IMM-urilor, va fi pusă în practică până la sfârşitul acestui an.
Guvernul pregăteşte şi reformarea sistemului de asistenţă socială şi facilităţi
fiscale pentru cei care investesc în formarea profesională. Pe de altă parte, tot în plan economic,
francezii de la Renault vor muta o parte din producţia modelului Dacia Logan
MCV de la Uzina de la Mioveni, din România, la cea de la Tanger, din Maroc. În
contrapartidă, va fi mărită linia de producţie a modelului Duster,pentru care
cererea la nivel european este mare.

Proteste anti-corupţie

Mii de români au
protestat, joi, la Bucureşti şi în mai multe oraşe mari din ţară, împotriva
deciziei Senatului de a bloca o anchetă pentru omor din culpă împotriva
fostului ministru de Interne, Gabriel Oprea, în urma decesului unui poliţist
aflat pe o motocicletă ce însoţea coloana oficială a acestuia. Protestatarii au
scandat în timpul demonstraţiei din Bucureşti: Nimeni nu este mai presus de lege
sau Vrem dreptate, nu imunitate. Senatul a votat, luni, pentru păstrarea
imunităţii lui Gabriel Oprea. Partidul Naţional Liberal a anunţat că va solicita
reluarea votului, iar social-democraţii au spus că sunt de acord cu propunerea. Tot
joi, preşedintele Klaus Iohannis a declarat că voturi ca cel în cazul fostului
ministru de interne arată că este nevoie de o primenire a clasei politice, de o
reală reformă parlamentară: După părerea mea, până nu reuşim să avem
oameni curaţi, dedicaţi în Parlament, nu vom putea să mişcăm lucrurile. Nu
vreau să se înţeleagă greşit. Nu am absolut nimic de împărţit cu nimeni, dar în
politică cine are o problemă trebuie să înţeleagă că nu poate să meargă mai
departe, până când nu se clarifică această chestiune.

Efectele epidemiei de rujeolă

Refuzul părinţilor de
a-şi vaccina copiii împotriva rujeolei şi campaniile iresponsabile împotriva
imunizării celor mici se oglindesc dureros în datele oficiale ale Ministerului
Sănătăţii de la Bucureşti, date publicităţii săptămâna aceasta: în România,
trei bebeluşi au murit şi aproape 700 s-au îmbolnăvit în primele opt luni ale
acestui an, în condiţiile în care, anul trecut, au fost doar şapte cazuri
confirmate şi niciun deces. Cu alte cuvinte, România se confruntă cu o epidemie
de rujeolă. Ca urmare, Ministerul Sănătăţii a anunţat că va continua să
informeze populaţia despre beneficiile vaccinării. Fostul purtător de cuvânt,
Laurenţiu Colintineanu: Campaniile diverse derulate sunt o problemă,
într-adevăr, demnă de luat în seamă şi Ministerul Sănătăţii intenţionează să
deruleze în cel mai scurt timp – vorbim de câteva săptămâni – o campanie de
informare despre beneficiile vaccinării, pentru că securitatea şi siguranţa
copiilor în ce priveşte sănătatea – în acest sens mă refer – sunt prioritare.
Cele mai multe cazuri de rujeolă au fost înregistrate în centrul şi vestul
României. Sporadic, sunt afectate mai mult de jumătate din judeţele ţării.

România, culturală

Timişoara a fost aleasă
de un juriu internaţional Capitală Europeană a Culturii în 2021. După aflarea
veştii, primarul acestui oraş din vestul României, Nicolae Robu, a vorbit
despre o victorie mare, de echipă: Sunt extrem, extrem de emoţionat. În
egală măsură, extrem de fericit, cum sunt convins că sunt toţi concitadinii
mei. Mulţumesc comunităţii timişorene pentru efortul depus, pentru priceperea
în a elabora acest proiect şi a-l susţine până în momentul de faţă, pentru că
această victorie este o victorie de echipă, este o victorie de echipă mare,
echipa fiind comunitatea timişoreană, în ansamblul ei. Tot în plan
cultural, Bucureştiul este gazda, de vineri, a singurului festival
internaţional de muzică simfonică dedicat orchestrelor radio – RadiRo. Găzduit
de Radio România, festivalul va dura 9 zile, răstimp în care au fost programate
9 concerte susţinute de orchestre radio, dirijori şi solişti de primă clasă.

24 September 2016
Immunity and justice

On September 5th
Romanian senators and deputies returned to work after the summer holiday for a
last and brief session of the current Parliament ahead of the legislative
elections due on December 11th. It is not only senators and deputies
that got back to work, but also the most fearful enemies of political
corruption in Romania: the anti-corruption prosecutors and civil rights
militants. Thousands of people protested on Thursday in front of the Parliament
headquarters in Bucharest and several other Romanian cities against the
Senate’s decision to reject the request of the National Anti-Corruption
Directorate (DNA) to start the prosecution of senator Gabriel Oprea. This is a
political vote that obstructs justice, the DNA chief, Laura Codruta Kovesi
said about the senators’ vote.

A former deputy prime minister and interior minister in Victor
Ponta’s cabinet, Oprea is accused of manslaughter over the death of a
policeman, Bogdan Gigina. The latter died last year in a motorcycle accident
while he was providing official police escort for Oprea. According to the DNA,
Oprea was not entitled to official police escort at the time, given that he was
believed to be making a personal trip.

Legal experts and pundits alike say that the investigators’
accusations are rather unsubstantial, and argue that Oprea, who is being
investigated in several other more serious criminal cases, does not necessarily
face a conviction in the dead policeman case. Here’s what protesters told Radio
Romania:

We want justice, not immunity. Unfortunately, we are governed by
MPs who have immunity and who do nothing but steal from us and leave us dirt
poor. How much longer are we to tolerate this? Laws are being broken and they
apply differently to different people. This is what I told my child who asked
me why we have come here to protest. By blocking a criminal investigation,
Parliament have showed us just how much they despise justice and family. We are
not accusing anyone. It’s not for us to apply labels, we are simply saying they
should let the prosecutors go to the judges and let justice run its course.

Thursday’s large-scale
protests were similar to those in November 2015 when the coalition government
headed by the Social-Democrat Victor Ponta resigned under the pressure of
anti-corruption rallies staged across the country. Less than three months ahead
of the parliamentary elections, the Romanian political class seems to have got
the message. President Klaus Iohannis has warned that a reassessment of the
parliamentary and also presidential immunity system is needed. The National
Liberal Party has requested that the Senate’s vote on Oprea’s immunity be
resumed and the Social Democratic Party has agreed. In a message on the social
media Oprea himself said he would ask for the DNA’s request to be approved by
the Senate. He also said he would ask his colleagues to approve the lifting of
his parliamentary immunity so that he could prove he was not hiding from
justice and that he considered himself innocent. It is uncertain, however, if
parliamentary procedures allow for the vote to be resumed.

23 September 2016
Imunitatea şi justiţia

Pe 5 septembrie,
senatorii şi deputaţii de la Bucureşti reveneau la serviciu pentru ultima
sesiune a actualului Parlament – una scurtă, de doar trei luni, care precede
alegerile legislative de pe 11 decembrie. Odată cu întoarcerea aleşilor în
bănci, s-au reactivat şi cei mai temuţi adversari ai corupţiei din politică:
procurorii DNA şi, respectiv, manifestanţii civici.

Mii de oameni s-au strâns,
joi, în faţa Palatului Parlamentului din Bucureşti, precum şi în centrele altor
mari oraşe din ţară, pentru a protesta faţă de respingerea în Senat a cererii
DNA de începere a urmăririi penale a senatorului Gabriel Oprea, fost
vicepremier şi ministru de Interne.

Este un vot
politic care blochează justiţia, a conchis şefa DNA, Laura Codruţa
Kovesi, după ce colegii i-au menţinut imunitatea lui Oprea. Acesta este
acuzat de ucidere din culpă, după ce, acum aproape un an, un poliţist care
făcea parte din coloana sa oficială şi-a pierdut viaţa într-un accident de
motocicletă. Potrivit DNA, vicepremierul ar fi făcut în acel moment o deplasare
în interes privat, care nu-i dădea dreptul la coloană oficială.

Deopotrivă experţii din justiţie şi comentatorii
din mass-media califică drept mai degrabă inconsistente aceste acuzaţii şi spun
că Oprea, deja protagonist al altor dosare penale, mult mai grave, nu risca
neapărat o condamnare în cazul poliţistului decedat accidental.

Revolta
manifestanţilor a fost, însă, alimentată de refuzul senatorilor de a permite
urmărirea penală a unuia dintre ei. Protestatarii au declarat, pentru reporterii
Radio România: Vrem
dreptate, nu imunitate. -: Din nefericire, suntem guvernaţi de parlamentari cu
imunitate, care nu pot face nimic altceva decât să fure şi să ne aducă la sapă
de lemn. Cât să mai suportăm? -: Nu sunt respectate regulile şi regulile sunt
diferite pentru diferiţi oameni. Asta i-am explicat şi copilului, că m-a
întrebat de ce venim. -: Parlamentul a scuipat pe obrazul justiţiei şi al
familiei, refuzând. Da, domnule, noi nu acuzăm. Nu e rolul nostru să punem
ştampile, dar să lase procurorii să meargă în faţa judecătorilor şi să decidă
în această situaţie.

Protestele au fost de o virulenţă şi o anvergură fără precedent din noiembrie
2015, când guvernul de coaliţie condus de social-democratul Victor Ponta
demisiona sub presiunea unor gigantice marşuri anticorupţie. Şi, cu nici trei
luni înainte de alegeri, clasa politică pare să fi speriat.

Preşedintele Klaus Iohannis a avertizat că e nevoie de
reevaluarea sistemului de imunităţi, inclusiv a celei prezidenţiale. PNL
a solicitat reluarea votului asupra ridicării imunităţii lui Oprea, iar PSD a
anunţat că e de acord. Oprea însuşi a scris pe un
site de socializare că va cere preşedintelui Senatului să supună încă o dată la
vot cererea DNA de încuviinţare a începerii urmăririi penale în cazul său. El a
mai spus că va solicita colegilor să voteze în favoarea acestei solicitări,
fiindcă nu fuge de justiţie şi se consideră nevinovat. Nu este, însă, clar dacă, procedural, votul va putea fi
repetat.

23 September 2016
September 23, 2016

SCANDAL— Former Romanian Deputy Prime Minister, Gabriel Oprea, has sent a request to the Senate Speaker, Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, on the resumption of voting in Parliament regarding the start of criminal investigation against him, for manslaughter. On Monday, with only 45 “yeas” and 73 “nays”, the Senators voted against the request made by the National Anti-Corruption Directorate regarding the start of criminal investigation against Oprea. New rallies against the vote in the Senate are scheduled this evening in Bucharest and other big cities across the country. On Thursday, thousands of people took to the street, chanting slogans denouncing corruption in Parliament.

VISIT — Romanian PM Dacian Ciolos held talks on Wednesday, the last day of his visit to New York, with representatives of US companies willing to invest in Romania. The PM presented the American investors the measures taken by the government in an effort to assure economic stability and improve the management of state-owned companies, laying emphasis on cutting red tape. The American investors insisted on the need to have a predictable and transparent business environment in Romania. The PM said the American investors showed interest in developing the capital market in Romania and in the portfolio of the Bucharest Stock Exchange. Dacian Ciolos also attended in New York the UN General Assembly session, had a series of bilateral meetings and participated in the summit on refugees and migrants.

MEASELS EPIDEMIC — The vaccination law is going through an endorsement process, says the Health Ministry, which vehemently criticised the campaigns against the vaccination of children. Three infants died of measles, with doctors saying the immunisation might have prevented the outbreak of measles, which affects almost half of the country. Sources with the Health Ministry say hundreds of cases were registered in 23 of Romania’s counties in the first eight months of the year. Family doctors say the poor measles vaccination coverage is caused by the parents’ refusal to vaccinate their children. They say the danger is increased by the fact that infants under one year of age are not normally vaccinated against the virus, which they can easily contract when getting in direct contact with sick children. Doctors have initiated an awareness raising campaign and have launched an appeal to the population, to make it understand that the vaccines included in the national program are intended to eradicate dangerous and potentially deadly diseases.

RadiRo — Six symphony orchestras from Europe and Asia, alongside prominent conductors and soloists are taking part, in Bucharest, in the third edition of the International Radio Orchestras Festival – RadiRo, which runs until October 1. This year, alongside five European Orchestras- the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra, the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Concert Orchestra, the National Radio Orchestra, the festival has among its honorary guests an orchestra from Asia, the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra of China, which opens the festival today.

TTIP — Government officials from the EU member states are today meeting in Bratislava (Slovakia), for talks on the draft trade agreements with the US and Canada. The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the US (TTIP) and the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) are facing increasing opposition by some European politicians and protesters. Critics of the agreements say the proposals favour multinational companies, to the detriment of people’s interests and will lead to the dissolution of public services. According to the BBC, France has urged the EU to abandon the TTIP trade deal. The two trade agreements should be approved by all national parliaments of the EU member states.

TENNIS— Romanian tennis player Patricia Tig (WTA No.135) has today qualified for the semi-finals of the Seoul tennis tournament, with 250,000 dollars in prize money up for grabs. Patricia Tig defeated Spanish Sara Sorribes Tormo (WTA No.139) in three sets. Patricia will now face Lara Arruabarrena (WTA No.90). Another Romanian tennis player, Monica Niculescu (WTA No.55) will meet in the quarterfinals Slovakian Jana Cepelova (WTA No.102). In another move, Romania’s Davis Cup team will face the team of Belarus, in the first round of Group 1 Europe/Africa Zone, following Thursday’s draw in London. The match is due between February 3 and 5, 2017, and Romania will be playing away from home. The Romanian and Belarusian team have met only once so far, in 2005, in the first round of the World Group, when Romania defeated Belarus 3-2, on home turf. (Translated by D. Vijeu)

23 September 2016