Radio România Internațional

Tag: Grindeanu Cabinet

  • Romania, in search of a new Prime Minister

    Romania, in search of a new Prime Minister

    The left-of-center Cabinet led by Sorin Grindeanu was sacked by the very ruling coalition that had nominated it. The reason? Inefficiency and unacceptable delays in implementing the governing platform. On Monday, the Social-Democrats will be the first to be consulted by the countrys president, Klaus Iohannis, with a view to forming a new Cabinet. Next in line are the Liberals, the number one party in the center-right opposition, followed by Save Romania Union, the Peoples Movement Party and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania.



    So this weekend parties will surely be making up strategies for Mondays talks with the president. Meanwhile Klaus Iohannis said the future Prime Minister has to be a man of integrity, without a criminal record, one who is capable of leading a Government and who is backed by a Parliament majority.



    One thing is clear for now: Liviu Dragnea is very unlikely to make Prime Minister this time again. Dragnea received a suspended prison sentence for attempting to defraud the 2012 referendum to impeach the then president Traian Basescu, which makes it impossible for him to be appointed Prime Minister. The future Cabinet leader must be an honest and trustworthy person, a man of vision, and the Social-Democrats already have four options on the table that fit these criteria, Liviu Dragnea said. The Social-Democrats and the their ruling partners, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, have allegedly decided on the structure of the new Cabinet. This is mainly because the Social-Democrats are not expecting any surprise from president Iohannis. Here is what the Social-Democrat vice-president Doina Pana told Radio Romania.



    “We have a governing agreement with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats and a parliamentary agreement with the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians, which is still in place. Of course well have to decide who exactly well be nominating for the position of Prime Minister, and Im confident our choice will be greenlit by the president, as his main message so far was a call for stability. Then the Prime Minister will make up his own Cabinet.



    The National Liberal Party argues that early elections is the best solution out of this crisis. Here is Liberal leader Ludovic Orban.



    “We will not engage in any negotiation whatsoever with the Social-Democrats with a view to forming the new Government. We will vote against any Government structure proposed by the Social-Democratic Party. The Liberal Party is ready at any time to take over the ruling power, but we will do this the right way and on our own terms, which right now means holding early elections.



    A time-consuming and highly challenging option in procedural terms, early elections was brought to the table as a way out of the political deadlock after the opposition claimed the Social-Democrats and their partners needed the votes of the parliamentary group of national minorities in order to oust their own cabinet. The Save Romania Union in turn refuses to collaborate with the Social-Democratic Party, although it might consider being part of a ruling coalition made up of the other parties. The Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians has not adopted any official standpoint in the matter of the new Government, expressing however hope that the present crisis would soon be over and the new Cabinet would be a political one. (Translated by V. Palcu)

  • June 13, 2017 UPDATE

    June 13, 2017 UPDATE

    GRINDEANU CABINET — The fate of the Grindeanu Cabinet will be decided on Wednesday’s meeting of the Social Democratic Party’s Executive committee, which will assess each minister and discuss potential reshuffles. At the end of last week the party leader Liviu Dragnea, who is also the speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, expressed his discontent regarding the activity of certain ministers. Dragnea said he rules out changing the entire structure of the cabinet. In turn, Prime Minister Sorin Grideanu said he is conducting his own analysis and said he was pleased with his Cabinet’s overall performance. In another development, the presidency announced it was monitoring political moves aimed at changing the Government’s structure.



    IOHANNIS — Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis will pay an official visit to Berlin over June 19-21. The president will meet his German counterpart, Frank Walter Steinmeir and Chancellor Angela Merkel. Talks will focus on boosting bilateral relations and hot topics on the international and European agenda. On June 20 the President will be guest of honor in a ceremony commemorating the victims of refuge and expulsion at the German History Museum, where he will also deliver a speech. According to the presidency, 2017 marks 50 years since the launch of Romanian-German relations, 25 years since the cooperation and partnership agreement was signed between the two countries and 10 years since Romania joined the EU. Over June 22-23, president Iohannis will attend the European Summer Council, with migration, defense policy and Brexit as the main topics on its agenda. On the sidelines of the Council meeting Klaus Iohannis will also meet with the new French president, Emmanuel Macron.



    PROSECUTION – Romanian prosecutors re-started the criminal prosecution of the former president of Romania Traian Basescu, for abuse of office in the so called ‘Flora’ case, after judges with the High Court of Cassation and Justice admitted the request filed by the Prosecutor’s Office. The case was re-opened after a businessman filed a complaint, accusing Traian Basescu of having illegally returned, back in 2003, when he was the mayor of Bucharest, a 40,000 square meter piece of land. The commercial complex ‘Flora’ was later built on that ground. The businessman claims that Basescu abused his office by endorsing the return of the property, and the damage is estimated at more than 100 million Euros.



    STATISTICS – According to the National Statistics Institute, the average income in Romania went up by 1% in April, reaching the equivalent of 520 Euro, which is a historic record. The most significant increases were reported in relation to financial transactions and auxiliary activities, while decreases were recorded in the oil and natural gas extraction industry and in the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry. In another development, the number of pensioners dropped to under 5.2 million, and the average pension went up by 8.1%, reaching some 220 Euro. The pensioners/employees ratio is still 9 to10, which means that 10 employees support 9 pensioners.



    COMMEMORATION — The first president in post-communist Romania, Ion Iliescu, the then Prime Minister Petre Roman and Intelligence chief Virgil Magureanu were indicted and accused of crimes against humanity on Tuesday in the case investigating the miners’ raids of June 13-15, 1990, which put an end to a large-scale rally against the left wing power instated after the fall of the communist dictatorship in December 1989. Against the background of violent clashes in the capital, which the army had already managed to stifle, the then president of the country Ion Iliescu claimed the right wing had planned a coup and called on the population to defend the democratic institutions. As a result of the call, miners from Jiu Valley came to Bucharest and attacked the University, the headquarters of the main opposition parties and the offices of independent publications. Their raids ended in four deaths, hundreds of people wounded and more than one thousand people arrested abusively. Romania’s image abroad was also affected by the violent raid of June 1990.



    RUSSIA — The Kremlin on Tuesday said the unauthorized anticorruption protests organized by opposition leader Aleksei Navalny are a threat to public opinion. Navalny was sentenced to 30 days in prison. In turn, Russian officials said they will not respond to Washington’s plea to release the protesters from arrest. Large protests were staged in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, the Russian riot police launching an assault on the crowd after protests started voicing anti-regime slogans. Some 2,000 people were arrested, including scores of students and young people. (Translated by V. Palcu)

  • April 3, 2017

    April 3, 2017

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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