Radio România Internațional

Tag: Grindeanu

Romania and the Schengen zone

Invoking an insufficient
control over the migrant inflows, Austria and the Netherlands had again blown
Romania and Bulgaria’s hopes to join Schengen with a negative vote on a
positive decision in the Justice and Home Affairs Council last December. Only
Vienna opposed Romania’s accession to Europe’s border-free area, as the country
needed unanimity in order to join.

Furthermore, Bucharest and Sofia are in tandem
in this accession process and the idea of decoupling is out of the question. In
spite of the actions taken in both countries since the JHA Council in December,
few things have changed. The Netherlands has started giving diplomatic signals
that it might give up its vetoing Bulgaria, but Austria is maintaining its
position, at least at a declarative level. It has even rejected the latest
appeal by the head of the community Executive, Ursula von der Leyen, who in her
annual state of the European Union address called on Austria to allow Romania
and Bulgaria’s Schengen accession without delay.

Romania expects and
deserves a positive decision during the Spanish presidency of the EU Council on
the Schengen enlargement, the president of the European Legislature told in an
interview to European Newsroom. Roberta Metsola has voiced optimism regarding
the two countries’ Schengen accession. Not only are you waiting for this
decision but you also deserve it since 2011. So I believe, we will succeed in
finding a solution. We have high expectations from this presidency of the EU Council
to try to work with the Austrian colleagues and others if there are other
countries where questions still exist and I believe these questions can receive
their answers, Metsola went on to say. In an interview to a private TV channel
in Romania, the European Parliament President said that Europe must not let the
impression that some countries are second class.

Measures must be taken to guarantee a united
Europe, in which Romania and Bulgaria are no longer at the gates of Schengen,
in which extremism is not allowed to grow and in which democratic values are
defended against Russia.

The excessive delays of
the decision regarding Romania and Bulgaria’s accession to Europe’s border-free
area are a double prejudice for the two countries, a limitation of the right to
free movement and additional costs for their economies, the European official
says. Although the accession criteria
have been met for over 12 years, Romanians and Bulgarians still have to waste
time with border checking while the economic losses incurred are significant.
According to Romania’s Transport Minister, Sorin Grindeanu, keeping Romania
outside Schengen involves economic losses of up to 2% of the GDP and the government
in Bucharest intends to call for compensations.

(bill)

28 September 2023
August 12, 2023 UPDATE

RATE
According to data released by the National Institute for Statistics (the INS) in
July Romania’s inflation rate went down to 9.4% from 10.3% in June while prices
in food products went up by 16.24% and in non-food products by 4.25%. According
to the same sources, prices for services went up by 11.65%. Sugar, air
transportation and potatoes saw the highest price hikes this year, whereas oil
is the only commodity, whose price went down. According to the INS, the medium
average salary in Romania stood at nearly 930 Euros in June, 11 Euros higher
than in May this year. For the Social-Democratic Prime Minister, Marcel
Ciolacu, the lower inflation rate shows that the government’s measures aimed at
curbing inflation proved to be successful. He said the Executive would
cooperate with the country’s Central Bank in the fight against the rising
prices.

HOLIDAY
Romanians are in a four-day mini-holiday as August 14th is a bank
holiday in Romania where St. Mary is being celebrated a day later on August 15th.
Various events have been staged on this occasion all over the country and tens
of thousands of pilgrims are expected at the Nicula Monastery in Cluj,
north-western Romania. The Summer Well festival is underway until August the 13th
in Buftea close to Bucharest and the days of the Braila city are being
celebrated in this town in south-eastern Romania. Numerous tourists are being
expected in the mountains resorts in the Prahova Valley, southern Romania these
days, as well as on the Romanian Black Sea coast, which will be seeing its
busiest weekend. Hotel owners in the seaside resorts are expected to provide
accommodation to over 100 thousand tourists. Over 8 thousand police troops and
6 thousand gendarmes have been deployed to ensure safety and order during this
mini-holiday.

NAVY Romania’s naval forces are these
day staging a series of activities devoted to Romania’s Navy Day culminating on
August 15th when the Romanians are celebrating the Dormition of the
Mother of God, St. Mary, who is the protector of sailors. Events are underway
in the capital city and the port-cities on the Black Sea, Constanta and
Mangalia as well as on the Danube at Braila, Tulcea and Galati. These events
will reach the climax on august 15th in Constanta, where the sailors
will be presenting after a four-year recess the demonstrative exercise
‘Romanian Naval Forces 2023’. After the opening ceremony involving helicopters
and fast boats carrying the flags of Romania, NATO and the EU, the
school-frigate Mircea will be sailing in front of the participants. The
aforementioned vintage vessel has for decades been Romania’s honorary
ambassador on the world’s seas and oceans.

GRAIN Romania will be
taking additional measures aimed at doubling the Ukrainian grain transit
through its facilities. The Romanian authorities want to supplement the number
of pilots guiding the Ukrainian vessels carrying grain on the Danube to the
Black Sea. Upon a meeting held in Galati, eastern Romania, on Friday, an event
that brought together representatives of Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, the
United States and the European Commission, the Romanian transport minister
Sorin Grindeanu spoke about the possibility for Ukraine to use other ports on
the Danube besides Braila and Galati. According to him the number of pilots
guiding the aforementioned grain shipments is to increase to 60 until the end
of August. The United States has pledged financial assistance to the neighbours
of Ukraine helping them to buy pilot boats to support regional efforts in this
respect, the US embassy has announced. According to the same sources, the
United States remains committed to the partnership with the Ukraine’s government
and people – including by providing financial support and supplies by expanding
alternative transport routes and streamlining the border crossing points.

(bill)

12 August 2023
August 12, 2023

VACATION
Romanians are in a four-day mini-holiday as August 14th is a bank
holiday in Romania where St. Mary is being celebrated a day later on August 15th.
Various events have been staged on this occasion all over the country and tens
of thousands of pilgrims are expected at the Nicula Monastery in Cluj,
north-western Romania. The Summer Well festival is underway until August the 13th
in Buftea close to Bucharest and the days of the Braila city are being
celebrated in this town in south-eastern Romania. Numerous tourists are being
expected in the mountains resorts in the Prahova Valley, southern Romania these
days, as well as on the Romanian Black Sea coast, which will be seeing its
busiest weekend. Hotel owners in the seaside resorts are expecting to provide
accommodation to over 100 thousand tourists. Over 8 thousand police troops and
6 thousand gendarmes have been deployed to ensure safety and order during this
mini-holiday.

NAVY Romania’s naval forces are these
day staging a series of activities devoted to Romania’s Navy Day culminating on
August 15th when the Romanians are celebrating the Dormition of the
Mother of God, St. Mary, who is the protector of sailors. Events are underway
in the capital city and the port-cities on the Black Sea, Constanta and
Mangalia as well as on the Danube at Braila, Tulcea and Galati. These events
will reach the climax on august 15th in Constanta, where the sailors
will be presenting after a four-year recess the demonstrative exercise
‘Romanian Naval Forces 2023’. After the opening ceremony involving helicopters
and fast boats carrying the flags of Romania, NATO and the EU, the school-frigate
Mircea will be sailing in front of the participants. The aforementioned vintage
vessel has for decades been Romania’s honorary ambassador on the world’s seas
and oceans.

GRAIN Romania will be
taking additional measures aimed at doubling the Ukrainian grain transit
through its facilities. The Romanian authorities want to supplement the number
of pilots guiding the Ukrainian vessels carrying grain on the Danube to the
Black Sea. Upon a meeting held in Galati, eastern Romania, on Friday, an event
that brought together representatives of Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, the
United States and the European Commission, the Romanian transport minister
Sorin Grindeanu spoke about the possibility for Ukraine to use other ports on
the Danube besides Braila and Galati. According to him the number of pilots
guiding the aforementioned grain shipments is to increase to 60 until the end
of August. The United States has pledged financial assistance to the neighbours
of Ukraine helping them to buy pilot boats to support regional efforts in this
respect, the US embassy has announced. According to the same sources, the
United States remains committed to the partnership with the Ukraine’s
government and people – including by providing financial support and supplies
by expanding alternative transport routes and streamlining the border crossing
points.

(bill)

12 August 2023
The highway network gets extended

For almost two decades, in every election campaign, the parties with governmental ambitions promise, without exception, that, when they finish their mandate, Romania will have a network of highways like the West. And at the end of the mandate, nothing actually happened in that sense, but their promises resume. Romania, the press notes, ends another year without much success in terms of transport infrastructure. On Thursday, in the center of the country, 13 kilometers of the A1 Highway, part of the pan-European Corridor IV, were inaugurated, not without some fanfare. They add to the already existing 40 kilometers of the Craiova-Pitesti Expressway (south), inaugurated in the summer of this year. They are sections of the Olt Valley highway, considered the most important road infrastructure project and, at the same time, the first high-speed highway that will cross the Carpathians, connecting Muntenia (south) to Transylvania (center). Experts say, however, that only in 2028 could the entire Olt Valley highway be opened. This will include 70 kilometers in a mountain area and works will start next year.

If the optimistic scenario is respected, in six years’ time traffic will be possible on fast roads from Constanta (south-east), Romania’s largest Black Sea port, to the border with Hungary, in the west. However, about 150 kilometers are missing to have a complete highway from one end of the country to the other, i.e. three segments on the Bucharest Ring Road, four segments between Pitesti and Sibiu (center) and one more, smaller segment, but with tunnels requiring laborious work, between Lugoj and Deva (center-west). The decision-makers from the Transport Ministry claim that a very important step has been taken for the future network leading to the north-east of the country. The execution contracts for the Focşani-Bacău section, 96 kilometers on the Moldova Highway, were signed, and the builder is the most powerful civil contractor in Romania, a company from the very Bacău county, which Minister Sorin Grindeanu praises a lot.

As for the Highway known as the Union Highway, which will go from the center of the country, from Târgu Mures, to Iasi, in the east, and then to Ungheni, on the border with the Republic of Moldova, all the specialists say that a realistic deadline for completion is the year 2030. The road measures about 300 kilometers in length and will cut through the mountains between Transylvania and Moldavia. Finally, another major connection between the Romanian historical provinces, the bridge over the Danube from Brăila (south-east), located on the border between Dobrogea, Muntenia and Moldavia, will be inaugurated only next spring. Minister Grindeanu admits that the works had to be completed on December 20 at the latest, as the Italian contractor had promised, but the connecting roads are only half ready, and the bridge has not even been asphalted. (LS)

16 December 2022
November 5, 2022

LAW A government ordinance on capping firewood
prices is to be amended next week, so that it may offer real protection to those
using this material for heating, Environment Minister Tanczos Barna has told
Radio Romania. He explains the law, which has already been endorsed by the
Senate is going to be amended in the Chamber of Deputies so that firewood
become available on the market as soon as possible. According to Barna, several
alternatives are presently being considered, including that of granting vouchers
to the have-nots. A couple of days ago, Prime Minister Ciuca admitted the
80-euro capping per cubic meter of firewood, a measure implemented in
mid-October, failed to yield the desired result. The opposition USR has drawn
attention to the fact that the law has already caused irregularities on the firewood
market and urgent amendments are needed. At the same time the USR makes an
appeal to the main ruling parties to overcome disputes on capping energy prices
and focus on the risks concerning the winter supplies.

OPERATION The Europol on Friday announced the
apprehension of 382 people in late-October during an ample sting operation
involving the participation of police forces from 28 countries against traffic
networks mainly operating in the Balkans and southeastern Europe. According to
a Europol communiqué, the EMPACT operation, which also involved Romania,
focused on firearms, drugs and human trafficking. Most of the arrests have been
operated among migrant smugglers. 16 thousand police officers in the EU
countries have participated in the operation; they have been backed by their
colleagues in non-EU countries, which are part of the so-called crime network also
known as ‘the Balkans Route’.

EPPO ‘Corruption is present everywhere and there
is no corruption-free EU country’, the head of the European Public Prosecutor’s
Office, Romanian Laura Codruta Kovesi said in Zagreb, Croatia, on Friday. If
Croatia, Bulgaria or Romania have more cases than other EU members, that
doesn’t mean they are more corrupt than others, the EU official has also said.
The EU chief prosecutor says that all the cases exposed are equally important whether
they involve ministers or common people. ‘All are equal before the law and
investigations should be conducted in the same way’, Kovesi went on to say.
According to her, the bureau she is heading is investigating over 12 hundred
cases. EPPO, to which 22 EU countries are participating, Romania included, is
an independent institution in charge of the investigation and prosecution of
offences against the EU budget, such as corruption and cross-border frauds of
over 10 million Euros in VAT.

MATCH The national
women’s handball side of Romania are today playing the Netherlands in their
first group C match of the European Championships. The competition is underway
in Slovenia, North Macedonia and Montenegro between November 4 and 20.
Romania’s group also comprises France and North Macedonia. Romania has
participated in all editions of the aforementioned competition save for 2006
and their best result was a bronze medal in 2010. At the latest edition, in
2020, Romania ranked 12th.

INFRASTRUCTURE Authorities in Romania
on Friday announced that works for the new departure terminal at the Traian
Vuia International Airport in Timisoara, western Romania had officially begun.
At the same time, the 14 kilometer Timisoara East – Ronatz railway will be
streamlined under the National Plan of Recovery and Resilience. According to
Transport Minister Sorin Grindeanu, the over 208 million euro contract will be
carried out by a group of Italian companies in three years and a half and will
include the building of nine passages, three bridges, a station and a stop; the
old stops and stations are to be upgraded as well as the present railway
infrastructure allowing for speeds of up to 160 kilometers per hour, Grindeanu
says. The project is a first step in the process of bringing the local railway
infrastructure up to European transport standards and authorities have pledged
to carry on the development of the railway infrastructure of the
Caransebes-Timisoara-Arad section.

(bill)

5 November 2022
The Sibiu-Bucharest highway, one step forward

With a total length of almost 580 km, the A1 Highway starts in Bucharest and is designed to ensure the exit towards the border with Hungary at Nădlac, passing through Pitești, Sibiu, Deva, Timișoara and Arad. If we look at the extended map we see that, in order to finalize the European Corridor from Vama Nădlac 2 customs point to the port of Constanța on the Black Sea, 10 km of highway are needed, with tunnels between Lugoj and Deva, as well as the 120 km-long section of the highway on the Olt Valley. Six companies have submitted bids for the contract for the missing section in Timiş county (west), although the signing of the contract cannot be guaranteed until the end of the year. For the Sibiu – Piteşti highway section, as of August 1, all five segments already have contracts signed.

On two of these segments, the ones at the ends of the highway, works have already started. And according to the official timetable of signed contracts, the Sibiu – Piteşti highway should be ready in six years. Romania will have the first highway that will cross the Carpathians, says the Transport Minister, Sorin Grindeanu, who participated in the signing of the contract for the design and construction of section 3 of the Sibiu – Piteşti highway, of approximately 37 km. It is a contract of 5.3 billion lei (about 1 billion Euros), with a duration of 12 months for the design phase and almost four years for the construction proper. It is the most difficult of the five sections. The contractor must build 95 bridges and passageways, a tunnel with two independent galleries, with a length of 1.7 km /gallery, two road junctions and a wildlife bridge.

The most advanced lot of the entire highway is Sibiu – Boiţa, which has very high chances for opening by the time of the holidays, says Minister Grindeanu: “All five sections of the Sibiu-Piteşti highway have designated contractors. One of them, section 1, from Sibiu to Boiţa, is expected to be opened for traffic at the end of this year. Eventually, with a very long delay, we have these contracts signed, and those who won these tenders are expected to observe the terms of the contract. As I said earlier, after tens of years, we will eventually have the first highway that will cross the Carpathians.”

It remains to be seen to what extent the deadlines will be met, given that the constructor of segment 3 is also working on the 30 km plain section between Piteşti and Curtea de Argeş, a much easier but delayed segment.

Dragoş Burlan, the contractors representative, explains the delays: “On the 32 km segment there are about 146 bridges, which means that the embankment has been divided every 30 to 50 to 100 m. In order to be able to enter the embankment part, we focused first on these bridges before. We have started work on the embankments for about 5 weeks.”

The Transport Minister also announced that this month two construction sites are opening on the A7 Moldavia Highway, Ploieşti-Pașcani, financed under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan – PNRR. (LS)

2 August 2022
MPs in Romania have endorsed the 5G Law

The Chamber of Deputies with the
Romanian Parliament on Wednesday passed with a majority vote a draft law on
measures concerning information infrastructures, communication of national
interest and the conditions required by the implementation of the 5G networks.

The law refers to the authorization of
technology, equipment and software producers with a view to preventing, combating
and eliminating risks, threats and vulnerabilities in terms of national
security and defence.

Under the law, the use of these
technologies by the providers of networks and electronic communication services
is conditional on their obtaining an authorization granted through a Prime
Minister’s decision, under a notice from the country’s Higher Defence Council
CSAT.

The use of technologies, equipment
and software programmes in unauthorized 5G networks is punishable by fines
ranging from 1% to 5% of the culprit’s turnover. The draft law stipulates that
the CSAT notice must take into account the obligations Romania assumed towards
the European Union and its strategic partners. Under the same law, the old gear
and software of an unauthorized producer can be used only for five more years.

According to USR-PLUS MP, Radu
Miruţă, in spite of all the pressure exerted, Romania has chosen the right way;
namely to protect the citizens’ data as well as the state’s safety and
security. In turn, Liberal Pavel Popescu
has described the document as a historic law for Romania. According to the Social-Democrats,
the draft law corresponds to the 5G Memorandum the governments of Romania and
the USA signed in 2019. The document goes beyond the communication issue because
the idea of national security is also involved, MP Sorin Grindeanu has said. The
AUR MPs abstained from voting though.

The project has been initiated by
the government and has been endorsed in its initial form after which it is going
to be submitted to the decision-making Senate.

According to experts quoted by
Agerpres News Agency, state revenues from the entire 5G spectrum in Romania might
exceed 720 million Euros. The 5G technology offers higher speeds than the 4G
and a higher data transfer capability without fluctuations.

The law comes after the world’s
biggest producer Huawei has been contested by the USA, which invokes the risk
of espionage for the Chinese government. Huawei rejected the allegations
though.

Back in 2019, Washington included
the Chinese giant on a black list together with other Chinese enterprises forcing
companies in the USA to find other providers for their telecommunication
equipment.

(bill)

20 May 2021
A la Une de la presse roumaine – 24.10.2017

Une récompense surprenante de l’homme fort du PSD pour l’ancien premier ministre Sorin Grindeanu, débarqué en juin dernier, la victoire en tennis de Simona Halep et la découverte d’un immense trésor dacique polarisent l’attention des grands quotidiens roumains du jour.

24 October 2017
Parliament votes the new government

The leftist ruling coalition in Romania made up of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) ands the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) managed to impose its new government after the vote of investiture in Parliament. 275 MPs voted for the new executive while 102 voted against it. The new government’s membership includes 16 ministers from the previous cabinet led by Sorin Grindeanu that was dismissed after a no-confidence vote initiated by the main ruling party itself, the Social Democratic Party.

The creation of a position of deputy-prime minister without portfolio to coordinate inter-ministerial activities is the only change in the structure of the cabinet. Marcel Ciolacu has been proposed to take up this new post. Most of the ministers from the Grindeanu cabinet retain their positions, with Sevil Shhaideh staying on as minister for regional development, Olguta Vasilescu as labour minister and Florian Bodog as healthcare minister.

The incumbents of the interior, transport, justice, foreign affairs, the environment and agriculture will also keep their posts in the future cabinet. The Tudose cabinet also contains some new names, such as Mihai Fifor, who has been proposed as economy minister, Adrian Tutuianu as the new defence minister and Doina Pana as the new minister for waters and forests. The Social Democrat Mihai Tudose says his priority is to implement the governing programme under strict, possibly weekly, political control, to make up for the delays. New measures related to fiscal predictability and social protection have also been added to the programme.

Among the objectives of the new cabinet, PM Tudose mentioned increasing the budget revenue collection rate, attracting foreign investors, boosting investments in infrastructure and a higher rate of absorption of European funds. In another development, cabinet ministers will have to prove themselves through deeds, not words, said Mihai Tudose, adding that the first reading of the sovereign development fund will take place in his first cabinet meeting.

Tudose, who previously had 2 terms in office as minister of economy, was chosen by the Social Democrat leader Liviu Dragnea to replace Sorin Grindeanu who was accused of not having observed the ambitious objectives of the governing program thanks to which the Social Democrats won the December 2016 legislative elections. In turn, Sorin Grindeanu does not seem to have put up with the fact that his own party, PSD, toppled his government. On Thursday he conveyed a letter to the president of Romania’s Constitutional Court, Valer Dorneanu, in which he asks for an investigation into the conditions in which the MPs voted for the motion of no confidence last week.

29 June 2017
June 26, 2017

CONSULTATIONS — Romanian President Klaus Iohannis holds consultations today with parliamentary party leaders to designate a new PM. The coalition in power, the Social Democrats and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, believes it is entitled to nominate the premier, even though last week they removed their previous government, headed by Sorin Grindeanu. The Social Democrats will designate their proposal for the position within their executive committee. The center-right opposition ruled out any collaboration with the Social Democrats. At the same time, the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania has a protocol for parliamentary collaboration with the Social Democrats, and signaled they would vote in favor of a government proposed by the ruling coalition.

BACCALAUREATE — 135,000 high school graduates in Romania have their first baccalaureate test today, the Romanian language and literature test. On Tuesday, students with alternate native languages will have their own test in language and literature. Wednesday, all students take the test that is compulsory as part of their chosen profile. The last test, the optional, is scheduled for Friday. Statistics show that almost 3.6 million students registered for all levels of study in the school year ending, almost 45,000 less than last year.

LONDON — Romanian tennis player Sorana Cîrstea, 62nd seeded, plays today against Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic, 39th seeded, in the first round of the tournament in Eastbourne, in the UK, with 750,000 US dollars in prize money. Two more Romanians, Simona Halep, second in the world, and Monica Niculescu, 51st, are scheduled to play in second round. Halep has already qualified, while Niculescu will play against Petra Kvitova, also of the Czech Republic, 12th seeded. In the first round, Niculescu defeated Croatian Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, 27th seeded, 2-1. The Eastbourne tournament is the last preliminary for the tournament in Wimbledon, the third Grand Slam of the year.

FLAG — Today Romania celebrates National Flag Day, celebrated by all public authorities and state institutions. It is also celebrated by the military with ceremonies, held alongside those held by the Interior Ministry. National Flag Day, June 26, was instituted in 1998, celebrating the date in 1848, during the revolution, when the tricolor flag was adopted as national symbol.

STRASBOURG — Fighting government corruption and migration are two of the topics on the agenda of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, which starts today its summer session. According to Radio Romanias correspondent in Strasbourg, the members of parliament are discussing four reports on migration. The documents include human rights implications of the European reaction to transition migration in the Mediterranean area. The Council of Europe has 47 members, including all EU members.

FILM — The Romanian film Short Circuit, by Catalin Saizescu, won the award for remarkable artistic achievement at the Shanghai International Film Festival, now in its 20th edition. Organizers said the award was given for the courage to touch on sensitive contemporary dramas, and the ability to blend a variety of perspectives on the same truth. This is the first Romanian film selected for the official competition of the festival. The movie was inspired by the tragic event of August 2010, when several babies born prematurely died in a Bucharest maternity. It is the love story of two teenagers caught in the tragedy.

26 June 2017
Nachrichten 22.06.2017

Der neue Ministerpräsident muss eine aufrichtige, nicht vorbestrafte Person sein und sich auf eine Mehrheit im Parlament stützen. Das erklärte Rumäniens Präsident Klaus Iohannis am Donnerstag vor dem Hintergrund der bevorstehenden Beratungen mit den parlamentarischen Parteien. Die Beratungen mit dem Staatschef über die Ernennung eines neuen Ministerpräsidenten waren zuvor für kommenden Montag angesetzt worden. Das Kabinett unter Premierminister Sorin Grindeanu war über ein Misstrauensvotum gestürzt worden. Eingebracht wurde der Misstrauensantrag von den regierenden Koalitionsparteien, der sozialdemokratischen Partei PSD und der Allianz der Liberalen und Demokraten ALDE. Der Chef der Sozialdemokraten Liviu Dragnea erklärte, die Maßnahme sei nötig gewesen, weil das Land eine Regierung braucht, die imstande ist, das ehrgeizige Regierungsprogramm zu verwirklichen, mit dem die Sozialdemokraten die Parlamentswahlen im Dezember letzten Jahres gewonnen hatten. Die Opposition war der Abstimmung über den Misstrauensantrag fern geblieben.

Präsident Iohannis ist am Donnerstag zum zweitägigen EU-Gipfel nach Brüssel gereist. Dort soll er unter anderem die EU-Staats-und Regierungschefs über seinen Besuch in den USA informieren. Laut dem Präsidialamt in Bukarest wird Iohannis am Rande des EU-Gipfels mit seinem französischen Amtskollegen Emmanuel Macron zusammenkommen. Mit ihm soll der Präsident über bilaterale Beziehungen und EU-Angelegenheiten diskutieren. Beim EU-Gipfel sollen Themen wie Sicherheit und Verteidigung, Beschäftigung, Wirtschaftswachstum und Wettbewerb zur Sprache kommen. Klaus Iohannis will dabei hervorheben, dass die EU ihre Rolle als Förderer des freien und fairen Handels weltweit konsolidieren müsse. Ziel sei dabei die Schaffung von Arbeitsplätzen, ein nachhaltiges Wirtschaftswachstum und mehr Innovation.

Das Haushaltsdefizit der öffentlichen Zentralverwaltung wird sich in diesem Jahr auf 3,25% des BIP belaufen, heißt es in der Strategie zur Verwaltung der Regierungsschulden für den Zeitraum 2017-2019. Das Dokument ist am Donnerstag vom Finanzministerium in Bukarest veröffentlicht worden. Ebenfalls für 2017 geht man von einem Wachstum von 5,2% aus, das Leistungsbilanzdefizit wird voraussichtlich 2,4% des Bruttoinlandsprodukts betragen und die Inflation 1,9%. Unter Berücksichtigung des internationalen Wirtschaftsumfeldes und der wirtschaftlichen und finanziellen Entwicklung der Eurozone kann in Rumänien für den Zeitraum 2017-2019 von einem durchschnittlichen Wachstum von 5,5% ausgegangen werden, heißt es in dem Strategiedokument des Finanzministeriums noch.

22 June 2017
La chute du gouvernement Grindeanu

A Bucarest, on cherche un nouveau premier ministre après que la coalition au pouvoir formée du Parti social-démocrate et de l’Alliance des libéraux et des démocrates eut destitué, mercredi, par motion de censure, son propre cabinet, une première pour le Parlement roumain. Les seuls membres de la coalition gouvernementale à s’être opposés à cette démarche ont été le chef du cabinet, Sorin Grindeanu, le secrétaire général de l’Exécutif, Victor Ponta et le ministre des Communications, Augustin Jianu. Les autres formations politiques ont préféré se tenir à l’écart des disputes au sein du Parti social-démocrate, tandis que le groupe des minorités ethniques nationales, dont le vote est immanquablement identique aux représentants du pouvoir en place, a pour une fois décidé d’appliquer le principe du libre choix de chacun de ses membres.

Au total, 241 des élus ont voté en faveur de la motion, soit huit de plus que le nombre nécessaire prévu par la loi. Membre du Parti social-démocrate depuis une vingtaine d’années, Sorin Grindeanu est devenu indésirable à moins de six mois depuis son installation à la tête du gouvernement.

Le chef de file des sociaux-démocrates, Liviu Dragnea, affirme que la destitution de Sorin Grindeanu est censée écarter du pouvoir un gouvernement qui n’a pas respecté le programme de gouvernance et a manqué aux promesses faites pendant la campagne électorale de décembre 2016. Après avoir évalué la situation, le PSD a retiré son appui politique à Sorin Grindeanu, en arguant du fait que celui-ci n’aurait pas mis en oeuvre les réformes économiques nécessaires, accusation rejetée par le premier ministre. Celui-ci a refusé de démissionner, ce qui a amené le parti qui l’a propulsé à recourir à la motion de censure.

Après le vote de défiance du Parlement, Sorin Grindeanu, qui a plaidé en faveur de l’unité du parti, a déclaré qu’il poursuivrait son activité jusqu’à ce que le Législatif approuve un nouveau cabinet : « L’important, c’est de sortir de ce blocage et de transmettre aux investisseurs et aux chancelleries du monde entier que la Roumanie reste stable et prédictible. »

Pour sa part, Liviu Dragnea soutient que l’action politique démarrée par la coalition gouvernementale a eu pour effet le renforcement du parti qu’il dirige. Et lui d’ajouter qu’à l’occasion des consultations que le chef de l’Etat Klaus Iohannis aura lundi avec les partis parlementaires, il allait proposer pour le poste de premier ministre une personne capable de mener à bien les objectifs du programme de gouvernance.

Liviu Dragnea: « La Roumanie est revenue à la normale et aux rigueurs de la Constitution. Cette action politique a été assumée par le Parti social-démocrate et par l’Alliance des libéraux et des démocrates. Nous ne voulons pas risquer qu’un programme de gouvernance ambitieux soit mis en doute. »

En ce qui le concerne, le leader de l’Alliance des libéraux et des démocrates, Călin Popescu Tăriceanu, a estimé que le résultat du vote sur la motion de censure témoigne de l’existence d’une majorité fonctionnelle. Quant aux libéraux, ils n’ont pas participé à ce vote et souligné que tous les faits reprochés à Sorin Grindeanu peuvent également être imputables au Parti social-démocrate et à l’Alliance des libéraux et des démocrates, qui, selon eux, sont incapables d’une gouvernance de type européen.

Voici les propos du nouveau leader des libéraux, Ludovic Orban : « Nous aurons, lundi, une réunion du Bureau politique national avec les groupes parlementaires, afin d’élaborer la stratégie du Parti national libéral. Le retour à la normale en Roumanie ne sera possible que lorsque tous les sociaux-démocrates seront débarqués du pouvoir. »

Traian Băsescu, le leader du parti du Mouvement populaire, partage cette opinion : « Le Parti social – démocrate et l’Alliance des libéraux et des démocrates s’avèrent inaptes à gouverner. Voilà pourquoi, chers majoritaires, vous devriez emprunter la voie de l’opposition. »

Les parlementaires issus de l’Union Sauvez la Roumanie n’ont pas voté, eux non plus. Un député de cette formation politique, Dan Barna, déclarait même que la mobilisation pour le vote des partis membres de la coalition gouvernementale aurait été digne d’une meilleure cause.

22 June 2017
The Fall of the Grindeanu Cabinet

In what remains a first for the Parliament of Romania, the ruling coalition Wednesday dismissed its own Government through a no-confidence motion. The only members of the executive team to oppose the move were PM Sorin Grindeanu, the Government secretary General Victor Ponta, and the Communications Minister, Augustin Jianu.

The opposition parties chose not to get involved in the domestic conflict within the Social Democratic Party, whereas the parliamentary group representing the ethnic minorities in Romania, a group that always supports the Power, left it to each of its members to decide how they would vote. The Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania and the Save Romania Union refrained from voting. A total number of 241 MPs voted in favour of the motion, 8 more than the law required.

A Social Democrat for more than 20 years, Sorin Grindeanu became a persona non-grata within 6 months since becoming Prime Minister. The president of the Social Democratic Party, Liviu Dragnea, argues that by removing Grindeanu the party intended to dismiss a Cabinet that failed to implement the governing programme and the campaign promises thanks to which the Social Democrats won the general elections in December 2016. Further to a party-run assessment, the Social Democrats withdrew their political support for Sorin Grindeanu, on grounds that he failed to implement the required economic reforms.

The PM denied the accusation and refused to step down, thus forcing the party that nominated him to office to resort to a motion to censure. After the no-confidence vote in Parliament, Sorin Grindeanu pleaded for unity in the Social Democratic Party, and said he would continue his work until Parliament endorses a new Cabinet:

Sorin Grindeanu: “What matters now is for us to overcome this deadlock and to convince investors and the international community that Romania remains a stable and predictable country.

According to Liviu Dragnea, the party has come out stronger from this political move. He added that in the consultations that President Klaus Iohannis will have on Monday with the parliamentary parties, the Social Democrats would nominate a person able to ensure the meeting of the goals in the governing programme.

Liviu Dragnea: “Romania has returned to normality and to the boundaries defined by the Constitution. It was a political action for which the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats took responsibility. We do not want to see an ambitious governing programme jeopardised.

The Liberal Democrat leader Călin Popescu Tăriceanu said the no-confidence vote proves that the parliamentary majority is efficient.

In Opposition, the National Liberal Party did not take part in the vote and emphasised that all accusations made against Sorin Grindeanu are valid for the two parties in the ruling coalition, which, the Liberals claim, are incapable of governing in a modern, European style. Here is the new president of the National Liberal Party, Ludovic Orban:

Ludovic Orban: “On Monday we will have a meeting of the National Political Bureau together with the floor groups, to decide on the strategy of the Liberal party. Only when all the Social Democrats are sent home, will things return to normal in Romania.

The same opinion is shared by the leader of the Peoples Movement Party, Traian Băsescu:

Traian Băsescu: “The Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats have proved they are unable to govern. Which is why this parliamentary majority actually belongs in the Opposition.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

22 June 2017
21.06.2017 (mise à jour)

Politique – Le Parlement de Bucarest a adopté aujourd’hui la motion de censure déposée par la coalition majoritaire formée par le PSD et par l’Alliance des libéraux et des démocrates contre son propre gouvernement dirigé par le premier ministre Sorin Grindeanu. 241 élus nationaux se sont prononcés en faveur de la motion de censure, alors que pour passer elle devait être votée par 233 sénateurs et députés. Les autres partis parlementaires – le Parti national libéral, l’Union sauvez la Roumanie, l’Union démocrate magyare de Roumanie et le Parti du mouvement populaire ne se sont pas exprimé par vote affirmant que cette situation était un problème interne de la coalition gouvernementale. Sorin Grindeanu a refusé de démissionner même s’il s’est vu retirer le soutien de la coalition gouvernementale. Il a rejeté les conclusions de l’évaluation faite par le PSD des six mois depuis l’installation du cabinet, selon laquelle, des retards avaient été enregistrés dans la mise en œuvre du programme économique. Le président Klaus Iohannis a demandé aux partis majoritaires de résoudre la crise et assuré que malgré celle-ci, la Roumanie était un pays stable, avec une bonne situation économique et un partenaire fiable.

Cour Constitutionnelle – La Cour Constitutionnelle de Roumanie affirme que les personnes ayant déjà purgé une condamnation, celles réhabilitées ou ayant fait l’objet d’une amnistie ainsi que les personnes dont l’infraction pour laquelle elles ont été condamnées ne constitue un fait pénal, peuvent faire partie du gouvernement. Les juges de la Cour ont motivé leur décision par le fait qu’il existe actuellement une certaine incohérence législative, puisqu’une personne ayant été condamnée dans un dossier pénal ne peut pas faire partie du gouvernement, mais elle peut être chef de l’Etat ou bien élu national. La Cour constitutionnelle de Roumanie à recommandé au Législatif de résoudre cette anomalie. Elle s’était prononcée suite à la saisine déposée par l’avocat du peuple, soit le défenseur des droits, au début de cette année. La législation en vigueur n’a pas permis au leader du PSD, Liviu Dragnea de devenir premier ministre, après la victoire de son parti au scrutin législatif de décembre 2016. Il a été condamné avec sursis pour avoir tenté de frauder le référendum de 2012, visant à destituer le président de l’époque, Traian Basescu.

Fonds – 400 millions d’euros seront disponibles pour le financement des PMEs roumaines après la signature aujourd’hui de plusieurs accords entre six banques locales et la Banque européenne d’investissements. En vertu de ces documents, les institutions financières pourront accorder des crédits tant pour la création de nouvelles PMEs que pour le développement de celles qui existent déjà. L’accord de collaboration entre la Banque européenne d’investissements, la Commission européenne et le gouvernement roumain a été signé à Bucarest en octobre dernier.

Agriculture – Les affaires du secteur des céréales ont doublé ces sept derniers mois, se chiffrant en 2015 à environ 3,5 milliards d’euros, selon une analyse de la société KeysFin, basée à Bucarest. Plus de 7 mille sociétés qui emploient plus de 40 mille personnes sont actuellement actives dans ce secteur. Par rapport à l’année 2009, le nombre de ces entreprises a augmenté de près de 30%. Conformément à cette analyse qui repose sur les chiffres fournies par la Commission européenne, à la fin mai 2017, la Roumanie serait devenue le principal exportateur de céréales de l’Union. Par ailleurs, selon le vice-gouverneur de la Banque centrale, Liviu Voinea, la Roumanie a enregistré un processus ininterrompu de récupération des décalages qui la sépare des pays développés.

Conseil – Le secrétaire d’Etat au ministère roumain des Affaires Etrangères, Bogdan Manoiu a participé mardi au Luxembourg à la réunion du Conseil des Affaires générales ciblé principalement sur les préparatifs pour le Conseil européen les 22 et 23 juin 2017. Le responsable roumain a souligné que les mesures à adopter dans les domaines de la sécurité et de la défense devraient être équilibrées et aboutir au renforcement de la cohésion entre les pays de l’Union, assurer de la plus-value à la contribution de l’Union et de la complémentarité avec les mesures de l’OTAN dans ce domaine. Il a également réitéré l’intérêt de la Roumanie pour appliquer les instruments qui visent la protection des frontières extérieures de l’UE. Pour ce qui est de la migration, le secrétaire roumain d’Etat a souligné l’importance de la consolidation des progrès enregistrés dans la coopération avec les pays d’origine et de transit en vertu du Cadre de partenariat adopté en 2016. Bogdan Manoiu a également réitéré l’ouverture de la Roumanie pour ce qui est de la poursuite du dialogue visant à identifier une solution consensuelle en matière de réforme du Système européen d’asile.

21 June 2017
No confidence motion against the government

Today’s vote in Parliament of a majority coalition against its own government was a first in Romania’s post-Communist history. Dissident Social Democrat PM Sorin Grindeanu and another two rebel ministers were blamed for their lack of political maturity and responsibility and for deciding to govern on their own behalf although the PSD had withdrawn their political support.

The motion was the only constitutional solution to which the PSD and ALDE could resort, in the context in which PM Sorin Grindeanu refused to step down, in spite of losing the political support of the PSD and most of his ministers and of being excluded from the PSD.

In his defense, PM Sorin Grindeanu told Parliament that he did not understand why the PSD wanted to remove its own government at a moment when the governing process was going well, as proved by economic statistics. He has warned that passing the no confidence motion means that the PSD is no longer the governing party, thus becoming dependant on President Klaus Iohannis.

In retort, the PSD leader, Liviu Dragnea, said the government and the prime minister did not perform well and that Wednesday’s vote meant the continuation of the PSD-ALDE governance, as the Romanian citizens voted in the December 2016 legislative elections. The scandal in the governing coalition started from the assessment of the Grindeanu cabinet’s activity, 6 months after the government was installed. The assessment pointed to big delays in implementing the governing program.

PM Grindeanu rejected the assessment as ungrounded and defied the assessor, a former finance minister investigated for serious corruption acts, considering him unreliable. Grindeanu’s opposition to Liviu Dragnea, the leader of the PSD, is the political surprise of the summer, according to commentators.

Apparently submissive to the party leader, Grindeanu has proved unexpected courage. He denounced Dragnea’s authoritarian style conditioning his resignation on Dragnea’s own resignation. Some observers claim that the real reason behind the vote against Grindeanu is the government’s delay in promoting the justice law and the criminal codes in the relaxed forms that would help Dragnea in a criminal case in which he is accused of incitement to abuse of office.

PM Sorin Grindeanu’s revolt and the PSD leadership’s reaction to it, a no confidence motion against its own government, will surely have consequences within the PSD. Their voters will wonder what happened with the party’s force and cohesion in only 6 months after taking power, in the context in which, in the absence of a strong parliamentary opposition, the president and the citizens were the only ones to sanction the government’s actions.

For Romania, Wednesday’s vote should be a first step towards solving the political crisis. President Klaus Iohannis has given assurances that, despite the political crisis, Romania is a stable country, because it has a very good economic situation and is seen as a trustworthy partner.

21 June 2017