Radio România Internațional

Tag: gendarme

  • December 24, 2021

    December 24, 2021

    CHRISTMAS The Western rite Orthodox
    believers, the Greek Catholics and Catholics from the world over, including
    from Romania, a country with an Orthodox majority, on Saturday celebrate
    Christmas, the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Today is the Christmas Eve, and
    people all over the country go caroling or get ready to receive carolers, who
    are a symbol for the angels and shepherds who first witnessed Christ’s birth in
    Bethlehem. Christmas is marked through special religious sermons in churches
    and monasteries but also through beautiful traditions and rich meals in the
    family. Old ritualists, who are a majority in Russia, Ukraine, Serbia and
    Georgia are celebrating Christmas on January 7th.








    COVID-19 The fifth wave of the pandemic, which is most severe as compared to
    the fourth wave is expected to arrive in Romania in less than three weeks, the
    country’s Interior Minister Lucian Bode has announced. The spread of the
    Omicron variant will be accelerated by the Romanian workers from abroad, who
    are to arrive in large numbers for the winter holidays. The number of the new
    infections is still low in Romania with 717 new cases announced on Friday. 44
    related fatalities have also been announced. Since the beginning of the
    pandemic, 1.8 million Covid infections have been reported in Romania and 58
    thousand related fatalities. Shortly after the authorization in the USA of the
    anti-Covid drug, Paxlovid, Romania’s health minister, Alexandru Rafila is
    making moves to import the new drug as soon as possible. Rafila has already had
    a series of meetings with representatives of Pfizer, the company that produces
    the vaccine. According to the latest surveys, the drug reduces by almost 90%
    the risk of hospitalization and death. The US has also authorized an anti-viral
    pill produced by Merck.










    LIST
    The National Committee for
    Emergency Situations has updated the list of the countries with a high
    infection risk. Malta entered the red tier due to its high infection rate, whereas
    Romania’s neighbour, the ex-soviet Republic of Moldova has become part of the
    green tier. The committee has also approved a series of employees who are
    exempted from the quarantine rules, and these are: the crew members of various
    ships sailing under the Romanian flag, as well as several categories of drivers
    on freighters up to 2.4 tons and passenger buses over 9 seats coming from the
    EU or the EU economic area.










    POLICE Over eight thousand policemen are on duty
    during this mini Christmas holiday in Romania to discourage and prevent any crime.
    Policemen will be patrolling together with gendarme troops and in some cases
    they will be accompanied by representatives of the Food Safety Authority to various
    shopping areas to check on the observance of the prevention rules for the
    Covid-19 pandemic. Road police will be assisted by helicopters in an attempt to
    monitor the traffic and prevent any wrongdoing on Romania’s motorways. These
    structures are going to check the observance of legal rules by a series of
    retailers selling food products as well as by companies involved in money
    transport activities.






    (bill)

  • 1-7 March, 2021

    1-7 March, 2021


    Parliament endorses state budget for 2021


    After fiery debates, with allegations and retorts flung back and forth between Power and Opposition, the state budget and social security budget bills for this year were endorsed by Parliament as drafted by the government. The MPs dismissed the thousands of amendments tabled by the Social Democrats and AUR party in opposition, which in turn accused the Government of discriminating in favour of the agencies run by their own people and of failing to implement previous legislation increasing pensions and child allowances.



    This is a novelty, PM Florin Cîţu said in turn, arguing that the dismissal of all of the Oppositions amendments was among other things a test of the unity of the ruling coalition. According to the PM, the budget focuses on investments, economic recovery, and the restructuring of public institutions.



    High-profile cases on trial


    The former Minister for Development, Elena Udrea, and the daughter of Romanias ex-president Traian Băsescu, Ioana Băsescu, were sentenced this week to 8 and 5 years behind bars, respectively, for money laundering and inciting bribe-taking. They had been indicted in a case that looked into the funding of the election campaign of the former president back in 2009. The ruling is not final.



    Another case tried this week concerned the anti-governmental protests of August 10, 2018. Under a final ruling, the Bucharest Court dismissed prosecutors request to reopen the criminal case against the heads of gendarme forces, accused of a disproportionately brutal response to the rally. Shortly after the court decision was made public, the closing of the “August 10 case turned into a dispute between magistrates and some politicians, discontent with the ruling. President Klaus Iohannis himself urged the Justice Minister Stelian Ion to provide explanations for this course of events. “Things cannot end here, the head of state argued.



    The Higher Council of Magistrates declined taking a public stand on the issue, as the justice minister had requested, but instructed the Judicial Inspection Corps to check all public statements concerning the investigation, in order to safeguard the independence, impartiality and professional reputation of judges and prosecutors.



    In a first stage, last June, the Directorate Investing Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) had closed the case on the August 10 protest, including the investigation against the gendarme chiefs, and the allegations of attempted coup. Later on, the former head of DIICOT ordered the reopening of criminal investigations into the gendarme chiefs.



    Romanian Police in action


    Over the past few days, the work of Romanian Police officers has once again come under scrutiny, after previous inefficient interventions and less-than-honourable conduct. Two workers redecorating a flat in the town of Onești, Bacău County (east), were murdered on Monday by the former owner of the apartment, angry for being evicted a few years before. The police opened fire in order to get into the flat where the man was keeping the 2 hostages, after negotiations between the perpetrator and the officers failed. The Interior Ministry promised a comprehensive report on the case, amid suspicions of police breach of duty. The chiefs of the county and local police forces were replaced, and the Prosecutors Office was requested to probe into suspected negligence.



    Also this week, workers from a police unit in Bucharest were detained under the charge of having tortured 2 young men last year who had reprimanded them for not wearing face masks and for issuing illegal fines.



    Not least, investigations are under way with respect to a search conducted by Transport Police on Wednesday near Bucharest at a different address than the one stipulated in the warrant. The police went to the wrong address and threatened to kill the innocent landlady and her daughter.



    Covid-19


    The third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic is gaining strength in Romania, where the number of infections in 24 hours is on the rise. The vaccine rollout pace on the other hand is also increasing. The number of people having received at least one dose of the vaccine has gone over 1 million this week.

    Romanian film wins Golden Bear

    Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn, the most recent film of Romanian director Radu Jude, has won the Golden Bear at the 71st edition of Berlin International Film Festival – Berlinale, held in an online format. The film looks into the relations between the individual and society when the leaked sex video of a school teacher goes viral on the Internet, turning her life upside down. It is an elaborated film as well as a wild one, clever and childish, geometrical and vibrant, imprecise in the best way. It attacks the spectator, evokes disagreement, but leaves no one with a safety distance, the jury said about Jude’s film. The win comes six years after the director won the Silver Bear for his film Aferim!.(tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • Two years since the August 10 protest

    Two years since the August 10 protest

    The judicial saga of the controversial “August 10 investigation continues in Romania. The case concerns the gendarme crackdown on a massive protest in the summer of 2018, when around 100,000 Romanians, many of them returning from abroad, gathered in Bucharests Victoria Square to demand the resignation of Viorica Dăncilăs cabinet.



    People were disgruntled with the Social Democratic government and its decisions regarding the laws regulating the judiciary, as well as with the sacking of Laura Codruta Kovesi as chief of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate.



    Hundreds of complaints were filed by the protesters, accusing the gendarmes of using excessive force, including tear gas, against them. Participants said the rally was mostly peaceful, and that the gendarmes were attacked by just a handful of troublemakers, who could have been easily controlled by the police.



    The “August 10 case, which looks into the gendarme intervention and is investigated by the Directorate Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) was closed last month. Prosecutors argued at the time that there was a “moral complicity between the peaceful protesters in Victoria Square and the violent ones, which encouraged the latters aggressive conduct. The prosecutors also said there was no proof of an attempted coup, as the gendarmes and Social Democratic leaders had claimed.



    Last week however, the DIICOT chief Giorgiana Hosu reverted the decision to close the case, and greenlighted the investigation against former senior gendarme officials. She explained that the prosecutor who closed the case had not reviewed the evidence put together by the Military Prosecutors Office, and had not heard the suspects, victims and witnesses once again.



    According to Agerpres news agency, if the Court upholds DIICOTs decision, prosecution will be resumed, for charges including abuse of office, improper participation in abusive conduct, misrepresentation and fraud, aiding and abetting a perpetrator, fraud and misrepresentation.



    On Monday, the Bucharest Court of Appeals declined jurisdiction over the matter, and the case was referred to the Bucharest Court, as the former gendarme chiefs had requested.



    The Liberal deputy PM Raluca Turcan described August 10, 2018 as an ‘open wound of recent Romanian democracy, and emphasized that the violent repression of citizen rights must be punished. President Klaus Iohannis said last week that it was important for the ‘actual culprits to be brought to justice and that it is ‘rather bad that this is taking so long.



    Last year the interim president of the Social Democratic Party Marcel Ciolacu said the situation on August 10 had been ‘mismanaged and handled a little recklessly, and that the Social Democrats had paid for this by losing the presidential election.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • Romanian troops in theatres of operations

    Romanian troops in theatres of operations

    The daily allowances paid to the Romanian military, gendarmes and police taking part in international missions in theatres of operations or in peacekeeping missions will be updated to reach the same rates as those received by troops from Romanias partner states.



    A government resolution in this respect has been initiated by the interior minister Marcel Vela and defence minister Nicolae Ciuca, and endorsed in Mondays Government meeting. The decision was made following talks with the Romanian troops, during a visit to Afghanistan in December.



    According to a news release issued by the Interior Ministry, decision-makers have also considered the fact that as of recently the security context in the theatres of operations where Romanian troops are active has changed significantly, and the risks that they are subject to have grown more severe.



    Under the new resolution, the per diem rates for military personnel taking part in missions and operations abroad Romania will be based on the risk level in the region where the missions or operations take place, up to a ceiling of 140 euros a day for officers, 130 euros per day for master sergeants and 120 euros per day for privates.



    Where the foreign partners or allied structures that coordinate the missions do not cover the payments for the Romanian troops, the expenses will be covered by the Romanian government.



    In last years meeting, the Supreme Defence Council approved the deployment of a total 2,100 Romanian Army troops and civilians to foreign missions in 2020. The figure accounts for a 200-people increase compared to the previous year. Over 800 of these will continue to serve in Afghanistan. Another 500 troops will be on stand-by in Romania, and may be deployed on short notice.



    In turn, the Interior Ministry approved the participation of nearly 800 staff in international missions.



    Romania became a NATO member in March 2004, in the Alliances biggest eastward enlargement round in history. But Romanian troops had already been present in Afghanistan before the accession, and since 2003 nearly 30 Romanian military have been killed there. Others lost their lives in separate international missions.



    Since 2017 Romania has been earmarking 2% of its GDP to defence, as stipulated in a National Political Agreement that allowed for an increase in budgetary allocations. The move was aimed at enabling a large-scale military upgrade process which involved the national defence industry, in order to safeguard essential security interests.

    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • April 20, 2019

    April 20, 2019

    EASTER Catholic and Protestant Christians are preparing today for the Easter holiday, while Orthodox and Greek-Catholics are getting ready for Palm Sunday. Tonight Roman-Catholic churches are holding the Easter Vigil, the religious service that celebrates the Resurrection of Christ. Also today, on the eve of Palm Sunday, Orthodox and Greek Catholic believers in many parts of Romania organise religious processions to commemorate Christs arrival in Jerusalem prior to the Crucifixion.




    HOLIDAYS In Romania, over 10,000 police and 8,000 gendarmes will be deployed on the Orthodox Palm Sunday and Catholic Easter Sunday, to ensure the safety of the citizens taking part in the events related to these holidays. Traffic police and over 300 radar units will also be on duty, to prevent accidents and to ensure smooth road traffic. Meanwhile, many Romanians working abroad are beginning their Easter visits home, and checkpoints are getting increasingly crowded. Over 4,000 border police will work every day to ensure efficient border controls during this period. The Romanian Border Police has also called on the authorities of Bulgaria, Hungary and the Republic of Moldova to increase the number of staff available in checkpoints, if necessary.




    RESHUFFLING President Klaus Iohannis will announce early next week his decision on the new nominations in the Dancila Cabinet. The Social Democratic Party, the main party in the ruling coalition, has nominated the deputy speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Eugen Nicolicea to replace Tudorel Toader as justice minister. The Social Democrats withdrew their political support for Toader after he refused to pass new controversial changes in the criminal codes, and consequently Tudorel Toader stepped down. The Prime Minister also forwarded to the Presidency the resignations of Rovana Plumb as Minister for European Funds and of Natalia Intotero as Minister for Romanians Abroad. The 2 are running for the European Parliament in the upcoming elections. Nominated to replace them are Deputy Oana Florea, for the Ministry for European Funds, and Senator Liviu Brăiloiu for the ministry in charge of the diaspora. The President has hinted that he disapproves of these proposals. In his opinion, this government reshuffling strengthens what he called “the Social Democrats siege of the judiciary.




    DIPLOMACY Regional and international security and the contribution to the fulfilment of NATOs goals were the main topics approached by the Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Meleşcanu in a meeting with his counterparts from Poland and Turkey in Ankara. The ministers reconfirmed the need for constant efforts in order to efficiently respond to all challenges, wherever they may come from, and to implement the measures regarding the Black Sea region. The participants also agreed to hold meetings with the main representatives of the 3 countries military industries. Teodor Meleşcanu also mentioned the support provided by Romania to its eastern partners—Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine—and to the Western Balkans states. He also said that Romania aims to support these countries in advancing their relations with NATO and the EU.




    CULTURE As part of the 2019 Romania-France Cultural Season, the French Film Festival kicks off today in 10 cities in Romania. Launched in November 2018, in France, the cultural dialogue between the 2 countries continues in Romania with scores of theatre shows, dance performances, concerts, film screenings, literature-related events, exhibitions and debates held in over 30 towns and cities. The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, pointed out that this was an important landmark in the arts and cultural life in Romania and France. The event strengthens the economic, scientific, cultural and social ties between the 2 states. The official closing of the 2019 Romania-France Cultural Season, which overlaps the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU, will be on July 14, Frances National Day.




    TENNIS Romanias Simona Halep (2 WTA) is playing today in Rouen against Kristina Mladenovic (66 WTA) in the first round of the Fed Cup semi-finals between Romania and France. In the second match of the day, Mihaela Buzărnescu (30 WTA) will take on Caroline Garcia (21 WTA). Three other matches are scheduled on Sunday: Caroline Garcia vs. Simona Halep, Kristina Mladenovic vs. Mihaela Buzărnescu and Caroline Garcia / Kristina Mladenovic vs. Irina Begu / Monica Niculescu. For the second time in history, 46 years apart, Romania is playing a Fed Cup semi-final. Frances performance in this competition is much better: the French tennis players were twice champions, in 1997 and 2003, finalists in 2004, 2005 and 2016, and semi-finalists several times, including last year. Should Romania get past France this weekend, it will play the final in November against the winner of the match pitting Australia against Belarus.



    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • September 21, 2018

    September 21, 2018

    POLITICS – The leaders of the Social Democratic Party in power in Romania convene today, after a few top-level members signed an open letter requesting the resignation of Liviu Dragnea as president of the party and as speaker of the Chamber of Deputies. The authors of the letter claim Dragneas legal problems have turned into a major weakness for the party, particularly considering the forthcoming European Parliament and presidential elections due in 2019 and local and legislative elections scheduled for 2020. The signatories also request that PM Viorica Dǎncilă, the executive president of the Social Democratic Party, should act as interim president until the party holds a special congress. The president of the Social Democratic Party may only be elected and dismissed by the party members, in congress.




    INDICTMENT – The chief of the Romanian Gendarme Forces, col. Ionuţ Cătălin Sindile, and senior deputy chief col. Gheorghe Sebastian Cucoş, have been indicted today in relation to the anti-governmental protest of August 10th in Bucharest. They are investigated for complicity to abuse of office. The General Prosecutors Office has also summoned as suspects in this case major Laurenţiu Cazan, the chief of the Bucharest Gendarme Directorate, and chief commissioner Mihai Dan Chirică, secretary of state with the Interior Ministry. We remind you that during the August 10th protests violent clashes took place between the participants and the gendarmes, and the latter used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowds. Military prosecutors started a criminal investigation into the gendarme intervention. As many as 770 people filed criminal complaints. The interior minister Carmen Dan has recently stated that the protest was approached as an event posing risks to public order, and that the gendarme intervention was lawful.




    PENSIONS – The Government of Romania has discussed a new pension bill with representatives of trade unions and employer associations. This was the first 3-party meeting on the topic, organised in line with a special calendar agreed on for the endorsement of this law. PM Viorica Dăncilă says the new pension law will first and foremost address inequities in the public system. While the deputy president of the Romanian Employers Association Dan Matei Aghaton announced the organisation supports the new bill, the trade union leader Bogdan Hossu pointed out that some aspects, such as special working conditions, unfair employee penalties, and minimum wage increases, will have to be regulated by means of further pieces of legislation.




    ADOPTIONS – The Government of Romania has earmarked additional funds for child protection and has taken measures to encourage adoption. The goal is to step up the procedure for and extend the period in which a child is regarded as adoptable, and to reduce red tape in the field. New financial incentives have also been introduced. The adoption process in Romania is rather complex, and the country ranks among the last in Europe with only 800 adoptions per year, although the number of abandoned children is around 55,000.




    MEDAL – Princess Margareta, Custodian of the Crown of Romania, is to award today the “Nihil Sine Deo royal decoration to the US Ambassador to Bucharest Hans Klemm. Just like the King Michael I Loyalty Medal and the Cross of the Royal House of Romania, ‘Nihil Sine Deo’ is granted by decision of the chief of the Royal House. It was introduced in 2009 and it may be granted to leading social, scientific, educational, cultural, spiritual, economic, political and military personalities. The medal can also be awarded to Romanian or foreign current and former ambassadors having made a noteworthy contribution to Romanias international relations.




    BUCHAREST – This weekend, the Days of the City of Bucharest will be marking 559 years since the Romanian capital was first mentioned in official records, as well as 100 years since the Union of December 1, 1918, when Romanian provinces were united into a nation state. Major international musicians were invited to perform in the city, including pan flute player Gheorghe Zamfir on Friday and pop-rock star Rod Stewart on Sunday. On Saturday, the worlds best multimedia artists will display spectacular light and laser shows on the walls of the Parliament Palace. A symphonic concert and multimedia show opened the Bucharest Days series on Thursday night, when the fountains in the Union Square were reopened, after extensive revamping works. Built in the late ‘80s under the communist regime, the fountain system downtown Bucharest is one of the longest in the world, 1.4 km, with 16,200 m² water surface area.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • Nachrichten 24.12.2017

    Nachrichten 24.12.2017

    Rumäniens Premierminister Mihai Tudose hat dem Treffen, das von 43 Bürgerverbänden angefordert wurde, die sich aktiv an den Stra‎ßenprotesten gegen die Änderungen der Justizgesetze und der Strafgesetzbücher beteiligt haben, zugesagt. In einer Facebook Nachrichte zeigte sich der Regierungschef offen für den Dialog und schlug den 27. Dezember als Termin für das besagte Treffen vor. Die 43 Bürgerverbände hatten dem Premierminister einen offenen Brief zugesandt, in dem sie ihre Bereitschaft geäu‎ßert haben, je nach Möglichkeit zu einem Dialog, zu Beratungen und zu Lösungen, im Sinne der Wahrung der Rechtsstaatlichkeit, der demokratischen Grundsätze und der Grundrechte beizutragen. Am Samstag fanden neue Proteste gegen die Regierung in Bukarest und zahlreichen Städten des Landes statt. Die Initiatoren sind NRO, die der Exekutive und der Parlamentsmehrheit der sozialdemokratischen Partei und der Allianz der Liberalen und Demokraten vorwerfen sie möchten die Justiz durch die Änderung der einschlägigen Gesetzgebung unterwerfen. Auch der Generalsekretär des Europäischen Rates Thorbjorn Jagland sandte dem rumänischen Präsidenten Klaus Iohannis einen Brief zu, in dem er ihn auffordert, einen Standpunkt der Kommission von Venedig über die Rechtsreform zu beantragen, die bereits von dem Parlament angenommen wurde. Zuvor appellierten die Botschafter mehrerer europäischer Staaten in Bukarest an die Verantwortlichen, jegliche Entscheidungen zu vermeiden, die die Unabhängigkeit der Justiz und den Kampf gegen die Korruption schwächen könnten.



    Für die neuorthodoxen und die katolischen Christen auf der ganzen Welt, einschlie‎ßlich im mehrheitlich orthoxen Rumänien, ist am 24. Dezember der Heilige Abend. An diesem Tag werden die letzten Vorbereitungen für das Fest des Geburtes Jesu Christi getroffen. Ein verbreiteter Brauch am Heiligabend ist das Sternsingen gehen. Die Sternsinger stellen die Engel und die Hirten dar, die die ersten Ankündiger der Geburt Jesu waren. Sie übermitteln Gesundheits-, Wohlstands- und Glückwünsche und werden von den Gastgebern mit Obst, Teigwaren, Kuchen und Geld belohnt. Es wird auch ein reicher Tisch gedeckt, doch mit Fastenessen, das vor dem Verzehr vom Priester gesegnet werden muss. Die Altorthodoxen, die in Russland, der Ukraine, Serbien, Georgien mehrheitlich sind, feiern Weihnachten am 7. Januar.



    Rund 23 Tausend Polizisten, Gendarme und Feuerwehrleute werden während der Weihnachtsferien die öffentliche Ordnung und den flie‎ßenden Verkehr sowie die Vorbeugung von Bränden sichern. Die Polizisten und Gendarme werden insbesondere an überfüllten Orten, auf Märkten, Bahnhöfen, in Ferienorten, aber auch in der Nähe der 16.400 Kirchen und Klöster, wo spezifische religiöse Messen stattfinden werden, im Einsatz sein. Rumänische Polizisten die Bulgarisch sprechen werden gemeinsam mit ihren Kollegen im Nachbarland im Bulgarischen Schiferienort Bansko bis März nächsten Jahres auf Streife gehen.