Radio România Internațional

Tag: German

  • May 25, 2023

    May 25, 2023

    DAY The Ministry of National Defence is
    today staging a series of military and religious services devoted to the Heroes
    Day celebrated every year on the Ascension Day in Romania. Romanian President
    Klaus Iohannis together with the country’s Minister of Defence, Angel Tîvăr are going to attend a series
    of ceremonies at the Heroes’ Monument near Sibiu, in central Romania, and the
    president of the Chamber of Deputies, Marcel Ciolacu, is expected to give a
    speech during the ceremony at the Heroes Graveyard in Buzau, southern Romania.
    The Heroes Day will also be celebrated by Romania’s Prime Minister Nicolae
    Ciuca at the Monument of the Unknown Soldier in the Carol 1st Park
    in Bucharest. The Heroes Day was first observed on May 4th 1920 and
    was taken over by the Romanian Parliament in 1995. It became a national day of
    the Romanian people in 2003.




    STRIKE Romanian teachers are carrying
    on their all-out strike, after trade unions in education have turned down the
    latest government offer, which they deem as insulting. Several thousand
    teachers are protesting in front of the government building in Bucharest. Representatives
    of the government and trade union leaders last night attended a new round of
    talks which ended in a deadlock. The authorities ruled out any pay rises and bonuses
    claimed by the trade unions. However, teachers were supposed to get 25 hundred
    lei in two installments this year and the non-teaching staffers 1000 lei.
    Marian Neacsu, the government’s Secretary General, explained the money would be
    given on a special card for professional career and gave assurances that the
    field of education would be a top priority in the future process of drafting
    the payment law. Disgruntled with the pay and their working conditions, employees
    of Romania’s education system kicked off an all-out strike on May 22. Trade
    union leaders have announced their intention not to give up the protest unless
    their claims are met.




    EU The European Commission
    Executive Vice-president, Valdis Dombrovskis on Wednesday called on the member
    states to apply more effectively their plans of recovery and resilience, to
    make investment and cut on spending. The European Commission has again drawn
    attention to the economic situation in Romania, the only EU country for which
    the procedure for excessive deficit has been activated. According to Brussels,
    Romania spends more money than it has and must cut its deficit under 3% by the
    next year. According to the government in Bucharest, the budget deficit is
    expected to go down under 4.4% of the GDP this year and 2.9% next year. We have
    more on the issue after the news.




    CUP Sepsi OSK Sfantu Gheorghe won
    Romania’s football cup after a 5-4 win against Universitatea Cluj in the
    shootouts on Wednesday. 120 minutes into the game, the score was nil-all. The
    hero of Sepsi was its goalkeeper, Roland Niczuly, a former player of the
    Universitatea Cluj’s. Niczuly managed to save three shots, after Universitatea had got
    the upper hand but wasted two chances. Sepsi has won the trophy for the second
    time in a row. We recall that this ambitious football side from central Romania,
    lost the finals of the aforementioned competition in 2020. Universitatea has
    lost a Romanian Cup finals for the fifth time.






    VISIT ‘A genuine war is going on in Europe at present’ the
    president of the Federal Republic of Germany, Franz Walter Steinmeier said on
    Thursday during the visit he is paying to Romania. The German official has
    reiterated his appeal to unity in this context. During the second day of his
    state visit jointly with his Romanian counterpart Klaus Iohannis he met
    representatives of the German community in Romania. The two officials are going
    to visit the National College ‘Samuel von Brukenthal’ in Sibiu with tuition in
    German, a school first documented 650 years ago. The two presidents will be
    attending a formal lunch offered by the incumbent mayor of Sibiu, Astrid Fodor.
    The last stage of the German president’s visit in the region is going to be the
    Saxon fortified church in the village of Cristian, a monument dating back to
    the 13th century. Steinmeier will next visit the city of Timisoara,
    in western Romania to lay a wreath of flowers at the monument dedicated to the
    anti-communist revolution of 1989 in front of the Metropolitan Cathedral.


    (bill)

  • May 12, 2023 UPDATE

    May 12, 2023 UPDATE

    GOVERNMENT The Government of Romania passed an emergency
    order on rebalancing the state budget, in a special meeting on Friday, the
    finance minister Adrian Câciu announced. He outlined the key measures in the plan, including a 10% reduction on
    expenditure with products and services, except for expenses in public
    healthcare and education, and a ban on procuring, leasing and rentals of automobiles
    and office equipment in public institutions. One exception is the car scrapping
    programme for the public authorities purchasing non-polluting vehicles. The
    programme is designed to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the transport
    sector, by encouraging the use of eco-friendly vehicles. The
    finance minister also announced that the number of advisers to officials in
    central administration structures, currently standing at around 900, will be
    reduced by one-half following the implementation of the emergency order aimed
    at making public spending more efficient.


    INFLATION In Romania,
    the year-on-year inflation rate dropped significantly in April, to 11.23% compared
    to nearly 15% in March. While this does not mean that products and services are
    growing cheaper, the rise in prices has nonetheless slowed down. According to
    data released by the National Statistics Institute on Friday, there are
    products that were more affordable in April than in March, including sunflower
    oil. Also on Friday, the National Bank confirmed that this downward trend in
    consumer price increase will continue. But the central bank governor Mugur
    Isărescu also warned those who have or are planning to take out loans in
    foreign currencies, and said that interest rates for the euro and US dollar
    will increase further. The National Bank forecasts a 7.1% inflation rate for
    the end of this year, as against 7% announced previously, and a 4.2% rate for
    the end of next year. Mugur Isărescu added that prices for fruit and vegetables
    will likely continue to go up for another 2 months, as the yield will be
    affected by the weather conditions in Europe, the drought in Spain and the
    aftermath of the earthquakes in Turkey.


    ENERGY The Polytechnic University in Bucharest officially launched
    the first NuScale Energy Exploration (E2) Centre outside the United States on
    Friday. The centre hosts a simulator of the NuScale Power’s VOYGR™ small
    modular reactor (SMR) power plant control room, and will educate and train the
    next generation of nuclear engineers to operate advanced civil nuclear reactor
    technologies while establishing Romania as a regional educational and training
    hub for the next stage of civil nuclear deployments across Romania and Europe,
    reads a news release issued by the US Embassy in Bucharest.


    MUSEUMS
    The National Network of Romanian Museums has announced an absolute record
    number of cultural events enlisted as part of the Night of Museums – 297 in
    Romania and 14 in the Republic of Moldova. Bucharest will host around 60 events
    proposed by museums, art galleries, cultural centres, opera houses, choirs,
    palaces, institutes, high schools and music festivals. The special guest of the
    current edition is the War Childhood Museum, for the first time in Romania. The
    exhibition, entitled Listen, is hosted by the Romanian Peasant Museum. Access
    is free of charge.


    AWARD – Romanian President Klaus Iohannis will receive the Franz
    Werfel Human Rights Award granted by the German Centre against Expulsions, DPA
    reports. Aged 63, Iohannis will become the 11th winner of this award, granted
    to him for his tireless and multilateral commitment to defending human rights
    and minority rights in Romania and Europe. The award, granted every two years,
    comes along with a money prize of 10,000 euros. Among the previous laureates
    are former German president Joachim Gauck, the winner of Nobel prize in
    Literature, Herta Muller and historian Karl Schlögel. The prize will be awarded
    during a ceremony held on June 4 in Frankfurt, Germany, when a congratulatory
    speech will delivered by former European Commission President Jean Claude
    Juncker.


    YOUTH Over 1,400 Romanian 18-year olds are among the 35,000 beneficiaries
    of free EU travel passes granted this year under the Discover EU programme. In
    order to find out more about the culture and history of the EU and to come in
    touch with people across the continent, the beneficiaries will be able to
    travel by train, individually or in groups of up to 5 people, between June 2023
    and September 2024. The current round of the programme saw more than 145,000 applicants
    from EU member states and Erasmus Plus countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein,
    Norway, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey). (AMP)

  • July 31, 2022 UPDATE

    July 31, 2022 UPDATE

    TAXATION On 1 August, some of the
    fiscal measures introduced recently by the coalition government made up of the
    National Liberal Party, Social Democratic Party and the Democratic Union of
    Ethnic Hungarians in Romania take effect. On Monday the tobacco excise duty is
    to increase, as is the tax on gambling gains. Changes are also operated as
    regards salaries in the construction industry, agriculture and foodstuffs, where
    the ceiling for certain tax rebates will be lowered. Further changes to the
    Fiscal Code will take effect early next year. For example, in the hospitality
    industry VAT will be raised from 5 to 9%, while the VAT for non-alcoholic beer
    and for sugary drinks will be raised to 19%. Sales of houses bigger than 120
    sqm or for prices of over EUR 120,000 will also carry increased VAT. According
    to government estimates, these changes will bring the state budget an
    additional EUR 243 million this year and some EUR 2.1 billion in 2023.



    FESTIVAL Transylvania is a model of inter-ethnic harmony and
    tolerance at European level, the PM Nicolae Ciuca said at the Haferland Week
    Festival, devoted to the Saxon culture. The PM highlighted that Romania is a
    democratic state, where diverging or even opposing views and ideas may be
    expressed, but that these views must not become radical and any expression of
    authoritarianism, extreme nationalism or populism must be prevented. Also
    attending the Haferland Week, president Klaus Iohannis said it was very
    important for each of us to be aware of the threat entailed by climate change,
    and added that we have a responsibility towards protecting our planet and
    resources. In this context, he emphasised, education remains the key to a
    greener future and a sustainable society.


    DIPLOMACY In the context of Romania’s strong show of solidarity
    during this war in Ukraine, with our management of the over 1.75 million
    Ukrainian refugees who have entered Romania since the start of the war, a
    situation which we have managed successfully, I believe we can hope for
    consistent and firm support from Germany for Romania’s Schengen accession as
    soon as possible, the Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu said. This is
    important among other things for the inter-human relations between Romania and
    Germany, between the ethnic Germans in Romania and Germany and conversely,
    between the Romanian community in Germany and Romania, Aurescu emphasised upon
    opening on Sunday the Romanian-German Bilateral Cooperation Forum, on the
    sidelines of the 10th edition of the ‘Haferland Week’ cultural
    festival in Romania.


    CENSUS Sunday was the
    last day of the official population and housing census in Romania, after
    several extensions. According to the National statistics Institute, over 90% of
    the process had been completed by early this week. The purpose of the census was
    to establish the number of people living on Romanian territory, as well as the
    living standards in each locality. Based on the data collected, the
    authorities will create public policies and earmark funding for each town or
    village. At EU level, the number of people
    living in Romania is a criterion in the distribution of EU funds. The census was
    compulsory for all Romanian citizens.


    COVID More than 4,000 new
    SARS-CoV-2 infections out of over 13,000 tests, as well as 13 COVID-related
    deaths were reported on Sunday in Romania, the authorities announced. The
    number of COVID patients in hospitals is over 3,900, of whom more than 260 are
    in intensive care. The authorities estimate that next week Romania could see
    10,000 new cases per day. Although spreading very quickly, this variant of the virus causes less
    severe forms of the disease.


    UKRAINE The Romanian foreign ministry condemns the shelling of the
    Olenivka prison and the killing of Ukrainian POWs, reads a message issued on
    Sunday. These heinous crimes committed by Russia call for international
    investigation and sanctioning. Condolences to the families and full support for
    Ukraine, the foreign ministry’s Twitter post also reads. A prison in Olenivka was
    attacked on Friday, with most of the 193 Ukrainian prisoners of war there
    killed or wounded, according to the Russian defence ministry, which Saturday
    released the names of 50 dead and 73 wounded. Russia claims the strike came
    from a HIMARS system provided by the US to Ukraine, as Kyiv seeks to recover
    the territories controlled by pro-Russian separatists in the east of the
    country. Ukraine replied it would never attack civilian sites, especially one
    housing its own people, and accused Russia of organising the attack in
    retaliation against the Ukrainian nationalists among the prisoners brought
    there from Mariupol several weeks ago. (AMP)

  • The Danube Delta

    The Danube Delta

    At the very point where the Danube flows
    into the Black Sea, the river has created a delta, a one-of-a-kind spot because
    of its beauty.


    The Danube Delta’s surface area is
    continually expanding because of the mud carried by the waters, thus forming a
    network of waterways, lakes, reed-covered islands, forests, pastures and sand
    dunes.






    Today’s destination, the Danube Delta, is
    the second largest in Europe being at the same time an area of unmatched beauty.
    It has been included on UNESCO’s heritage list since 1991.






    Cătălin Țibuleac is president of the Danube
    Delta Tourist Destination Management Association. He told us the entire area is
    superb.








    Catalin
    Tibuleac: It targets a wide category of tourists who
    would like to reach Tulcea County as a tourist destination. We take pride in
    the local cuisine, in crafts, the inhabitants’ entire story being in perfect
    harmony with the nature here and its biodiversity. There are 14 minority groups
    here living perfectly together, each group with its own traditions and customs.
    Whenever we speak about the Danube Delta, we speak about Europe’s bio garden.
    We have been trying to preserve it like that, promoting a responsible tourism.
    Last year we launched a programme entitled ‘Christmas and New Year’s Eve in the
    Danube Delta’. The old-rite holidays of the two minority groups that we have
    here, the Lippovan Russians and the Ukrainians, proved very successful. Whoever
    wants an unusual holiday for them is wholeheartedly welcomed in Tulcea County.






    The Danube Delta is also famous for the
    local cuisine, Cătălin Țibuleac also told us.








    Catalin
    Tibuleac: Now we have local gastronomic points which
    have been recently authorized at government level and will be operational in
    2019. There are family guest houses offering tourists traditional produce.
    Also, we have a series of events revolving around the fish thick soup there are
    also cultural events, such as the Anonimul Film festival, which will see its 16th
    edition in 2019. Another sought-after event is Enisala Fest, targeting rock and
    folk enthusiasts, but in a different setting. I am proud to say last year the
    number of tourists we had was around 77% greater than what we had the year
    before. Almost 20% of them were foreign tourists. Such an increase was possible
    thanks to a tourist product specifically targeting traditional tourism, based
    on multiculturalism, and in perfect harmony with nature.








    Another tourist hotspot is Letea Forest,
    Romania’s oldest nature reserve, which has been under scientific observation since
    1930. In the Letea sand forest, actually in the place known as Omer’s fountain,
    one of the country’s oldest oak trees can be found. It is 500 or 600 years old,
    having a circumference of 4 meters, according to experts from the Danube Delta
    Eco-tourism Museum. Tourists can have access to these special places, by means
    of a floating hotel.






    Marketing manager Andreea Diaconu has been
    bringing tourists to the Delta since 2001. She will now be telling us what a
    floating hotel means.




    Andreea
    Diaconu: This is actually a cruise ship, adjusted to
    reach these places in the delta, because there are some areas here where access
    can be more difficult. It is a floating hotel actually with six double rooms
    and two flats, which can accommodate at least 16 people. The rooms have the
    standard of a four-star hotel. It is a classification specifically created for
    floating hotels. They have the facilities of a hotel: private bathrooms, air
    conditioning satellite TV, a private restaurant, an outdoor beer garden and a
    beach beer garden. The hotel uses renewable energy with photovoltaic panels and
    a windmill.






    The good point of being on a floating hotel
    is that each morning, as we wake up, we find ourselves in a different place, so
    we can see a lot more places in the Delta than if we stayed in a guesthouse for
    instance; plus the bonus of a boat ride, Andreea Diaconu also told us.








    Andreea
    Diaconu: It is much more comfortable to be on board
    of a ship and be able to admire the entire scenery offered by the delta. We
    also collaborate with travel agents, but the easiest way is to have direct
    contact and personalize the desired package. We have tourists coming over
    especially for bird-watching, the large majority of them being foreign
    tourists. There is also the relaxation option, and then we personalize the
    package according to the places tourists want to reach. There are tourists who
    appreciate the Delta entirely, from both perspectives. There are ornithologists
    coming over, but there are also people who want to explore the places, whether
    they want to see the forest in Letea, or whether they want to get to Sulina,
    which is another fine point in our cruise. Everybody finds something to do in
    the Delta, even the fishermen.






    For those who may have an interest in that,
    personalized routes are on offer. Speaking about that, here is the marketing
    manager of a floating hotel Andreea Diaconu once again.






    Andreea
    Diaconu: For instance, if they want to see the
    forest in Letea, we contact the people who are in charge of those routes. Those
    who stage such routes have in turn special safari cars that can take people to
    the forest, the Caraorman sand dunes are visited, and also the wild horses. We
    had German, French, English tourists, but also people from South Africa. The
    latter’s expectations were a little bit higher as, being poorly informed, they
    wanted to see crocodiles in the Danube delta. Their wish was amusing, yet they
    were fascinated with what they saw in the Delta. We even had a group of
    ornithologists who showed up at a time when, believe it or not, they ran into
    Flamingo birds. It was a special year when such bird species had made it as far
    as our Delta.






    For a personalized offer, make sure you
    contact travel agents straight away, if you want to have a unique stay in the
    world’s largest and most compact reed bed area, the Danube Delta.









  • The Danube Delta

    The Danube Delta

    At the very point where the Danube flows
    into the Black Sea, the river has created a delta, a one-of-a-kind spot because
    of its beauty.


    The Danube Delta’s surface area is
    continually expanding because of the mud carried by the waters, thus forming a
    network of waterways, lakes, reed-covered islands, forests, pastures and sand
    dunes.






    Today’s destination, the Danube Delta, is
    the second largest in Europe being at the same time an area of unmatched beauty.
    It has been included on UNESCO’s heritage list since 1991.






    Cătălin Țibuleac is president of the Danube
    Delta Tourist Destination Management Association. He told us the entire area is
    superb.








    Catalin
    Tibuleac: It targets a wide category of tourists who
    would like to reach Tulcea County as a tourist destination. We take pride in
    the local cuisine, in crafts, the inhabitants’ entire story being in perfect
    harmony with the nature here and its biodiversity. There are 14 minority groups
    here living perfectly together, each group with its own traditions and customs.
    Whenever we speak about the Danube Delta, we speak about Europe’s bio garden.
    We have been trying to preserve it like that, promoting a responsible tourism.
    Last year we launched a programme entitled ‘Christmas and New Year’s Eve in the
    Danube Delta’. The old-rite holidays of the two minority groups that we have
    here, the Lippovan Russians and the Ukrainians, proved very successful. Whoever
    wants an unusual holiday for them is wholeheartedly welcomed in Tulcea County.






    The Danube Delta is also famous for the
    local cuisine, Cătălin Țibuleac also told us.








    Catalin
    Tibuleac: Now we have local gastronomic points which
    have been recently authorized at government level and will be operational in
    2019. There are family guest houses offering tourists traditional produce.
    Also, we have a series of events revolving around the fish thick soup there are
    also cultural events, such as the Anonimul Film festival, which will see its 16th
    edition in 2019. Another sought-after event is Enisala Fest, targeting rock and
    folk enthusiasts, but in a different setting. I am proud to say last year the
    number of tourists we had was around 77% greater than what we had the year
    before. Almost 20% of them were foreign tourists. Such an increase was possible
    thanks to a tourist product specifically targeting traditional tourism, based
    on multiculturalism, and in perfect harmony with nature.








    Another tourist hotspot is Letea Forest,
    Romania’s oldest nature reserve, which has been under scientific observation since
    1930. In the Letea sand forest, actually in the place known as Omer’s fountain,
    one of the country’s oldest oak trees can be found. It is 500 or 600 years old,
    having a circumference of 4 meters, according to experts from the Danube Delta
    Eco-tourism Museum. Tourists can have access to these special places, by means
    of a floating hotel.






    Marketing manager Andreea Diaconu has been
    bringing tourists to the Delta since 2001. She will now be telling us what a
    floating hotel means.




    Andreea
    Diaconu: This is actually a cruise ship, adjusted to
    reach these places in the delta, because there are some areas here where access
    can be more difficult. It is a floating hotel actually with six double rooms
    and two flats, which can accommodate at least 16 people. The rooms have the
    standard of a four-star hotel. It is a classification specifically created for
    floating hotels. They have the facilities of a hotel: private bathrooms, air
    conditioning satellite TV, a private restaurant, an outdoor beer garden and a
    beach beer garden. The hotel uses renewable energy with photovoltaic panels and
    a windmill.






    The good point of being on a floating hotel
    is that each morning, as we wake up, we find ourselves in a different place, so
    we can see a lot more places in the Delta than if we stayed in a guesthouse for
    instance; plus the bonus of a boat ride, Andreea Diaconu also told us.








    Andreea
    Diaconu: It is much more comfortable to be on board
    of a ship and be able to admire the entire scenery offered by the delta. We
    also collaborate with travel agents, but the easiest way is to have direct
    contact and personalize the desired package. We have tourists coming over
    especially for bird-watching, the large majority of them being foreign
    tourists. There is also the relaxation option, and then we personalize the
    package according to the places tourists want to reach. There are tourists who
    appreciate the Delta entirely, from both perspectives. There are ornithologists
    coming over, but there are also people who want to explore the places, whether
    they want to see the forest in Letea, or whether they want to get to Sulina,
    which is another fine point in our cruise. Everybody finds something to do in
    the Delta, even the fishermen.






    For those who may have an interest in that,
    personalized routes are on offer. Speaking about that, here is the marketing
    manager of a floating hotel Andreea Diaconu once again.






    Andreea
    Diaconu: For instance, if they want to see the
    forest in Letea, we contact the people who are in charge of those routes. Those
    who stage such routes have in turn special safari cars that can take people to
    the forest, the Caraorman sand dunes are visited, and also the wild horses. We
    had German, French, English tourists, but also people from South Africa. The
    latter’s expectations were a little bit higher as, being poorly informed, they
    wanted to see crocodiles in the Danube delta. Their wish was amusing, yet they
    were fascinated with what they saw in the Delta. We even had a group of
    ornithologists who showed up at a time when, believe it or not, they ran into
    Flamingo birds. It was a special year when such bird species had made it as far
    as our Delta.






    For a personalized offer, make sure you
    contact travel agents straight away, if you want to have a unique stay in the
    world’s largest and most compact reed bed area, the Danube Delta.









  • August 5, 2017 UPDATE

    August 5, 2017 UPDATE

    HEAT WAVE – Romanian meteorologists have extended the code red alert against extreme heat for Sunday as well, but narrowed it from 12 to 2 counties in the south-west, where highs of 40 – 41 degrees Celsius are expected. Meanwhile, nearly 3-quarters of the country remain subject to a code orange alert, with temperatures of up to 39 degrees and lows between 22 and 25 degrees. The heat wave that has hit Romania these days will continue, and the thermal discomfort index will go over 80, to 82-84 units. On the other hand, starting on Sunday thunderstorms and heavy rainfalls are expected in the north-west and the north of the country, particularly in the mountains, and on Monday in the northern half of the country. Weather experts warn that the weather will remain extremely hot next week as well. Two people died because of the extreme heat, and hundreds required medical assistance. First-aid tents have been set up in all major cities. Speed restrictions are in place on the national railway network as well as on the countrys main roads, with heavy-duty vehicle traffic restricted during the afternoon.




    ALERT – Extreme temperatures are also reported across Europe this weekend. Code red alerts are in place in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Hungary, in most of Slovenia, south of Poland, south of Slovakia, south of Switzerland, in central and south-eastern Italy as well as in the islands of Sicily and Sardinia. High wildfire risks are reported in Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Albania, Hungary, Serbia, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus and Turkey. The Foreign Ministry recommends that areas under alert should be avoided, and says that Romanian diplomatic missions abroad are prepared to provide assistance to those who request it.



    SAXONS – The President of Romania Klaus Iohannis urged the Saxon ethnics attending a meeting in Sibiu on Saturday to pass on to younger generations the traditions and values of the community. The head of state, himself a German ethnic, gave a speech both in Romanian and German and attended a parade of Saxon traditional costumes. The city of Sibiu in central Romania is hosting, until Sunday, the 27th and largest so far meeting of Transylvanian Saxon ethnics, under the motto “Home around the world, heart in Transylvania. For this occasion, thousands of Saxon ethnics currently living in Germany, Austria and the USA returned to their home country. The agenda of the event includes 50 events, from exhibitions and book launches to music and dance performances. The Saxon ethnics, a German population, settled in Transylvania starting in the mid-12th Century.



    HEROES Romania continues to commemorate its WWI heroes through a series of ceremonies held all over the country. The peak of these events organised by the National Defence Ministry and the Vrancea County Council will be on Sunday, when the country marks 100 years since the Battle of Marasesti, a watershed moment for Romania in the Great War. Regarded as one of the most impressive monuments in the country, the Mausoleum in Marasesti was built in the place where, in the summer of 1917, the Romanian soldiers stood their ground against a technically superior and better-trained German army, losing 480 officers and over 21,000 troops.



    CLIMATE – The USA gave written notice to the UN of its intention to pull out of the Paris Agreement on climate change, but will continue to take part in international negotiations, the American State Department announced. Washington will take part in the forthcoming annual UN conference on climate, due in November in Bonn, Germany. On June 1, US President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of the country from this agreement aimed at containing global warming and signed in 2015 by 195 states. Trump says the deal damages the American economy, but he does not rule out the US rejoining the process after renegotiations or even the signing of a new agreement able to protect the US. Under the Agreement, an official withdrawal notification can only take effect 3 years after the agreement has come into force, that is on November 4, 2016. Donald Trump will therefore be able to pull out from the deal only at the end of 2019, with a one-year notice, AFP reports.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • August 5, 2017

    August 5, 2017

    HEAT WAVE – A quarter of Romanias territory has been placed under code red alert for extreme heat until Saturday night; in 12 counties in western Romania temperatures are expected to soar to 42 degrees Celsius. This is the second code red alert issued this summer, after the one in early July. The rest of the country remains under a code orange alert with temperatures of 39 degrees Celsius. The code red alert will stay in place on Sunday in 2 counties in the south-west, and nearly 3-quarters of the country will remain under a code orange warning. The thermal discomfort index went over 80 and could reach 82-84 units. Over the past two days 2 people died and hundreds required assistance because of the extreme heat. First-aid tents have been set up in all major cities to provide fresh cold water to people. Mobile ambulance and medical services have been placed on high alert and speed restrictions are in place on the national railway network as well as on the countrys main roads with a view to avoiding accidents. The drought Romania is currently facing has severely damaged the corn and sunflower crops. Weather experts say that the heat wave will last until mid-next week, but only in the south, while atmospheric instability will increase, particularly in the mountains and in the north of the country.




    ALERT – Extreme temperatures are also reported across Europe this weekend. Code red alerts are in place in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Hungary, in most of Slovenia, south of Poland, south of Slovakia, south of Switzerland, in central and south-eastern Italy as well as in the islands of Sicily and Sardinia. High wildfire risks are reported in Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Albania, Hungary, Serbia, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus and Turkey. The Foreign Ministry recommends that areas under alert should be avoided, and says that Romanian diplomatic missions abroad are prepared to provide assistance to those who request it.



    SAXONS – The city of Sibiu in central Romania is hosting, until Sunday, the 27th and largest so far meeting of Transylvanian Saxon ethnics, under the motto “Home around the world, heart in Transylvania. Taking part are around 12,000 Saxon ethnics, most of them living at present in Germany, Austria and the USA. More than 50 events will take place in the medieval squares of Sibiu, from exhibitions and book launches to music and dance performances. The most eagerly awaited of them is a parade of Saxon traditional costumes, an event scheduled for today and in which the President of Romania Klaus Iohannis, himself a German ethnic, is expected to take part. The head of state said this years meeting is an opportunity for the younger generation of Saxons living in Germany to get to know and like more their parents home country. The Saxon ethnics settled in Transylvania starting in the mid-12th Century.



    HEROES Romania continues to commemorate today its WWI heroes through a series of ceremonies held all over the country. The peak of these events organised by the National Defence Ministry and the Vrancea County Council will be on Sunday, when the country marks 100 years since the Battle of Marasesti, a watershed moment for Romania in the Great War. Regarded as one of the most impressive monuments in the country, the Mausoleum in Marasesti was built in the place where, in the summer of 1917, the Romanian soldiers stood their ground against a technically superior and better-trained German army, losing 480 officers and over 21,000 troops.



    CLIMATE – The USA notified the UN on the intention to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change, but will continue to take part in international negotiations, the American State Department announced. Washington will take part in the forthcoming annual UN conference on climate, due in November in Bonn, Germany. On June 1, the US President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of the country from this agreement aimed at containing global warming and signed in 2015 by 195 states. Trump says the deal damages the American economy, but he does not rule out the US rejoining the process after renegotiations or even the signing of a new agreement able to protect the US. Under the Agreement, an official withdrawal notification can only take effect 3 years after the agreement has come into force, that is on November 4, 2016. Donald Trump will therefore be able to renounce the deal only at the end of 2019, with a one-year notice, AFP reports.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)