Radio România Internațional

Tag: hail

The Week in Review 10-16.06.2024

The outcome of the election for the local administration and the European Parliament in Romania

The Social Democratic Party won with a significant majority the elections for the local administration and for the European Parliament held in Romania on June 9^th. The Social-Democrats, known in Romania as PSD, won the battle for mayor offices, local and county councils and together with their liberal partner in the incumbent ruling coalition in Romania, has mustered roughly half of the MEP seats. The PSD-PNL electoral alliance is followed at some distance by AUR and the United Right movement. One MEP mandate, out of the 33 Romania has been allotted, has been won by an independent. According to the Central Election Office, 19,870 polling stations were set up both in Romania and abroad and the turnout was slightly above 52% and the total number of votes stood at 9 million.

915 polling stations were mounted abroad, where Romanians mainly voted for the PSD-PNL coalition, followed by the United Right, AUR and the SOS Romania Party.

PSD ranked first in the election race for the mayor offices across the country, with 38% of the votes, followed by PNL and AUR. Independent candidate Nicusor Dan has been reelected for the position of mayor of Bucharest with almost half the votes. PSD got 35% in the local councils being followed by PNL, AUR and UDMR. In the meantime, the political parties started contouring their political strategies for the presidential election in September. PSD and PNL have announced they will each have a candidate in the upcoming election.

Romania is backing the neighboring Ukraine

Romania is supporting Ukraine, Romania is with NATO, Ukraine, and together with the other NATO allies as long as needed – Romanian president Klaus Iohannis said while co-chairing the B9 summit in Latvia on Tuesday. Iohannis pointed out that for Romania it is important that the Alliance’s deterrence posture be a strong one with an all-out defence capability. The Romanians want to be defended and they are defended by NATO, Iohannis said. Furthermore, the Romanian side highlighted the need for supporting the neighbouring Republic of Moldova. Moldova is NATO’s partner mostly affected by the war in Ukraine, the president went on to say, emphasizing the Black Sea region as vital for the security of the entire Euro-Atlantic space. The efforts made by Romania and the allies for supporting Ukraine are staunch and will carry on as long as needed, Defence Minister Angel Tilvar said at the Ukraine Defence Contact Group in Brussels on Thursday. Tilvar had a bilateral meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umerov, with whom he talked about the latest developments of the security situation in Ukraine and the Black Sea area. During the working meeting on assistance to Ukraine, the minister said that Bucharest’s efforts in supporting Kyiv had been recognized at the highest level.

At the Conference on the Reconstruction of Ukraine in Berlin on Tuesday, the head of the Romanian diplomacy, Luminiţa Odobescu, reiterated Romania’s commitment to getting actively involved in this process. The Romanian official reiterated the need for maintaining the international solidarity through concrete support actions for Ukraine. Odobescu also hailed Kyiv’s reform efforts under extremely difficult circumstances against the aggression war started by the Russian Federation. The minister also highlighted Romania’s support for the official opening of accession negotiations with Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova.

Statistical data about Romania’s economy

In the first four months of this year Romania had a trade deficit (imports minus exports) over 9.3 billion Euros, 440 million higher than in the similar period last year, data released by the National Institute for Statistics (INS) shows.

In the aforementioned period exports stood at 31.3 billion Euros while imports at over 40.6 According to the INS, in the first quarter of the year exports and imports mainly consisted of machinery and transport equipment as well as other manufactured goods. The intra-EU trade exchanges stood at roughly 73% of the total exports and imports. As for the inflation, the annual rate of the index plummeted last month to the lowest level of the past three years – a little over 5.1% from 5.9% in April. According to the INS, some food products, such as bakery items, vegetables, potatoes, oil and butter, as well as energy and gas have become cheaper. Other products such as footwear, furniture or detergents as well as services, especially air transportation, have become more expensive. We recall that Romania’s Central Bank has revised up the inflation forecast for the end of this year to 4.9% from 4.7% and estimates that it would reach 3.5% in late 2025.

Extreme weather in Romania

Torrential rain, hail and thunderstorms caused significant damage in several counties in southern and western Romania on Friday night, where code red and orange alerts had been issued. Extreme weather alerts were also issued for Bucharest and Ilfov county. Several roads and motorways have been blocked by the trees broken by the gale-force winds which have also damaged roofs, buildings and vehicles. The bad weather has also disrupted traffic on the Henri Coanda airport in Bucharest, where several flights had to be redirected. Alert messages were issued advising people to remain indoors in order to avoid the thunderstorms and the gale-force winds.

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15 June 2024
Extreme weather phenomena in Bucharest on Tuesday

Red and orange alerts had been issued for
Bucharest and its surroundings, which were hit by heavy rainfalls, gale-force
winds and small and medium-sized hail.

Streets, underground stations and passages were flooded
forcing the city’s water & sewerage supplier to intervene in some areas.
Gale-force winds brought down trees, which fell on streets and vehicles.

Railway traffic was disrupted close to Bucharest
after several trees had fallen on the tracks. The storm also disrupted the air
traffic and three flights scheduled to land on the Bucharest Henri Coanda airport
had to be redirected to Craiova, Timisoara and Belgrade in Serbia.

A Tarom flight from Bergamo, due to touch down at
17 hours in Bucharest had to fly over the area and wait for better weather conditions.

Similar weather phenomena were
registered in several other locations, in the counties of Giurgiu and Ilfov.
Meteorologists have activated local bad weather alerts for several areas in the
country as numerous localities have been affected. Broken electrical wires
caused the risk of fire and fallen trees disrupted road traffic. Many yards and
households were flooded by the heavy downpours. Rescue teams, road workers and
volunteers needed to intervene in certain areas to reduce the effects of
extreme weather phenomena. Representatives of the Inspectorate for Emergency
situations have reminded people that after receiving bad weather alert
messages, they must find shelter and close the doors and windows of their homes
and if they are in open spaces, they must stay away from posts, pillars or
billboards, which can cause them harm.

Numerous nowcasting alerts have been issued by
meteorologists in Romania since the beginning of this month. Experts believe
that raising temperatures and high humidity are responsible for this type of
extreme weather phenomena.

(bill)

15 June 2022
July 29, 2021

EXTREME WEATHER Meteorologists have issued a code orange alert against storms and hailstorms, valid on Thursday in the eastern part of the country. Strong wind, hail and thunderstorms are expected, with rainfalls between 25 and 40 litres per square metre. A code yellow alert against unstable weather is also in place on Thursday in the centre, north and south of the country, while a code orange alert against extreme heat and thermal discomfort is in place until Sunday in seven counties in the south and the capital Bucharest. Heavy storms hit several towns and villages on Wednesday, including the capital city Bucharest. The wind brought down trees, damaging cars and leaving many houses without roofs. The storms disrupted railway traffic, with many trains delayed for hours or even cancelled.

COVID-19 The number of new COVID-19 cases announced on Wednesday was 50% higher than on the corresponding day last week, namely 159. 47 patients are in intensive care, and one COVID-related death was reported. The Government meanwhile approved plans to further ease COVID-related restrictions starting August 1. Arts, sports and private events are generally open for vaccinated people, for those who have recovered from the disease or for those who test negative for it. The new measures valid as of August 1 will be applicable in areas with an infection rate below 2 per thousand, as against 3 per thousand at present. The maximum number of participants in outdoor events will also be raised to 75,000.

AMBULANCE Every person who gets immunised contributes to ending this severe health crisis, president Klaus Iohannis said on National Ambulance Day. On the same occasion, he decorated 45 physicians and nurses. The COVID-19 pandemic is not over, even if the number of new cases is lower these days, the head of state emphasised, as he once again urged citizens to get vaccinated. Romania is getting near the target of 5 million people who received at least one dose of anti-COVID vaccine, with 10,700 people getting the jab in the past 24 hours. On the other hand, president Iohannis mentioned that the pandemic shed light on many problems in the healthcare system, but said this is a chance to rebuild it.

ANTHEM Romania celebrates National Anthem Day today, with special events organised in many cities to mark this holiday first introduced in 1998. The capital Bucharest hosted a public ceremony in which successive national anthems have been performed. Wake up, ye Romanian! was first officially performed in Râmnicu Vâlcea on 29 July 1848, by a group of young revolutionaries, and was chosen as national anthem shortly after the anti-communist uprising of December 1989. The lyrics were written by poet, journalist and translator Andrei Mureşanu (1816-1863) and the music by the poet, musician and ethnographer Anton Pann (1796-1854).

SEARCHES Prosecutors and police are today conducting over 20 house searches in view of dismantling an organised crime group operating in the field of human trafficking, drug trafficking, illegal border crossing and facilitating illegal stay in Romania. Sources in the judiciary say the group was made up of Syrian, Iraqi, Egyptian and Romanian citizens, who helped illegal migrants to cross the border into Bulgaria and Serbia. The group would charge up to 5,000 euro per migrant.

OLYMPICS Romania has today won a new medal in the Tokyo Olympics. Rowers Marius Cozmiuc and Ciprian Tudosă won the silver in the mens coxless pair final. This is the 3rd medal for Romanias rowing team, after the gold won by Ancuţa Bondar and Simona Radiş in the women’s double scull event, and the silver brought home by the mens four crew, made up of Mihăiţă Ţigănescu, Mugurel Semciuc, Ştefan Berariu and Cosmin Pascari. Romania was represented in the Tokyo rowing competition by 36 athletes and 9 boats. Adding to this performance is Ana-Maria Popescu’s silver medal in the women’s epee event. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

29 July 2021
Storm alerts in Romania

The entire country is under code yellow and orange
alerts against storms. Meteorologists even issued code red alerts against heavy
rain and hail for several towns and villages in the center, north and east of
the country. The weather has been unstable in most of the country, with thunderstorms,
strong wind and hail reported in isolated areas. Hydrologists too issued
several yellow and orange alerts against floods for rivers in 20 counties.
Several county and national roads in these regions were blocked due to
landslides caused by heavy rain or trees uprooted by the wind. Blackouts were
also reported in several towns and villages after electricity poles were taken
out by the strong wind. In some areas the hail destroyed crops, especially
private gardens, and some houses had their roofs blown off by the wind.

Firefighters struggled to drain the water out of hundreds of flooded households
and clear damaged vehicles and electricity lines off the roads. Considering the
weather forecast for the immediate period, Emergency Situation Inspectorates
announced their units remain on high alert to intervene in areas where new
floods might occur. Moreover, the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations
is monitoring weather phenomena, standing by to deploy intervention units and
gear from counties that aren’t affected by these phenomena. Meanwhile
meteorologists say the weather will remain unstable across the country, with
possible thunderstorms, heavy rain, windstorms and hail expected in isolated
areas. According to the National Meteorological Administration, the capital
city Bucharest will see heavy rain and snap thunderstorms and possibly
windstorms and hail. The amount of rainfall is expected to exceed normal
parameters over short periods of time. The Administration says the weather will
remain unstable through most of next week as well.

(Translated by V. Palcu)

12 June 2020
May 17, 2019

WEATHER More than 3,000 fire fighters were deployed on Thursday and Friday to support the authorities and citizens in 22 villages and towns, pumping water out of the houses following the heavy rainfalls and flash floods of recent days. The most affected counties were Bistriţa Năsăud and Mures, in the centre, Gorj and Teleorman in the south, Hunedoara in the south-west and Maramureş in the north. Scores of people have been evacuated in Bistriţa-Năsăud County over the past few days, hundreds of households, company offices and public institution headquarters have been flooded, and hail damaged the farms. The National Meteorology Agency has extended the alert for unstable weather across the country until Sunday.

INFLATION The Governor of the National Bank of Romania, Mugur Isărescu, has presented today the institutions quarterly inflation report. The Central Bank updated its year-end inflation forecast to 4.2% and estimates an inflation rate of 3.3% for 2020. Inflation has reversed the downward trend reported in the last quarter of 2018, and prices went up in the first 3 months of this year more than the National Bank had expected, Mugur Isărescu said. He also warned that the demand for products and services is still in excess of what the domestic economy can produce, leading to a rise in imports and a trade imbalance. Inflation in Romania is in fact among the highest in the European Union, alongside the rate in Hungary. According to the central bank governor, in the coming 3 quarters inflation will remain above target, and is expected to go down later on to around 3.5%.

CEREMONY The President of Romania Klaus Iohannis decided to postpone the May 20 ceremony at Cotroceni Palace, when the year 2019 was scheduled to be declared the “Year of Gratitude honouring the victims of communism, 30 years after the Romanian Revolution of December 1989. The Presidency announced on Friday that the head of state wants to remove any suspicions that the event may be used for electoral purposes. According to the same source, ever since taking over his office, the President has constantly worked to condemn the crimes and abuse committed by the communist repression system, and to pay tribute to the victims of totalitarianism.

ECOFIN The Romanian Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici is chairing on Friday in Brussels the EU Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN), as part of Romanias presidency of the Council of the EU. According to a news release from the Finance Ministry in Bucharest, the agenda of the meeting includes the Directive on the structure of excise duty on alcohol and alcoholic beverages, the Directive on general arrangements for excise duties, the digital services tax, and a review of the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions. Also on Friday, the Romanian Finance Minister attends the Economic and Financial Dialogue between the EU and the Western Balkans and Turkey.

SWINE FEVER African swine fever is still present in Romania, in 84 villages in 16 counties, the National Veterinary and Food Safety Authority announced. Of the around 400 active outbreaks, 10 are in agricultural holdings. More than 365,000 pigs have been slaughtered so far because of this disease, which was first reported in 2017, in Satu Mare County. African swine fever does not affect humans, but has a major negative economic and social impact.

EUROVISION Ester Peony, representing Romania in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest with a piece called On a Sunday, failed to qualify to Saturdays finals in Tel Aviv, where the second semi-final was held on Thursday night. Romanias best performances in this competition were 2 third places, won by Luminiţa Anghel & Sistem in Kiev in 2005, and by Paula Seling and Ovi in Oslo in 2010, and a 4th place won by Mihai Trăistariu, in Athens, 2006.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

17 May 2019
Disastrous Floods in Romania

For more than two weeks now, Romania has been facing extreme weather phenomena: heavy rainfalls, floods, thunderstorms, flash floods, hailstorms and extreme heat. The bad weather caused substantial material damages and even left behind casualties.

The loss of human lives in the wake of these extreme weather conditions is regrettable, PM Dacian Ciolos said on Tuesday during a conference call with the prefects around the country. He asked the local authorities to come up with an assessment of the damages, so as to be able to assist the victims, as well as with forecasts for the coming period, in order for adequate measures to be taken and future damages to be avoided. As the head of government put it, “such extreme weather phenomena, with a major impact on some towns and villages, have occurred for several weeks now in various parts of the country, and we requested an analysis of the current situation where damages have been reported and the forecasts for the ensuing period.

The most recent episode was reported late last week, when 12 counties in the north, north-west, centre and south-west of the country were subject to a code-yellow alert for heavy rainfalls and thunderstorms. Also, in 11 counties in the east, west and south-west a code-orange flood warning was in place.

According to a report issued by the Interior Ministry, around 2,000 police, gendarme and fire-fighters worked over the past few days to assist the people in the regions affected by these problems. The strong wind destroyed the roofs of hundreds of houses and left tens of villages without electricity. In other areas, hundreds of households, streets and roads were flooded. In the north-eastern county of Suceava tens of tourists found themselves stranded in guesthouses after a flash flood. The intervention of military fire-fighters was necessary in order to rescue them and the locals. In yet other parts of the country, hailstorms destroyed the roofs of hundreds of homes and thousands of hectares of farm land. In the Jiu Valley area in the south-west, hailstones the size of chicken eggs caused substantial damage.

Meanwhile, whereas the northern and western part of the country struggles with thunderstorms, downpours and floods, the centre, south and east of Romania is facing extreme heat and severe thermal discomfort.

21 June 2016
June 20, 2016 UPDATE

VISIT The relation with Germany is privileged and of strategic importance for Romania, Romanian president Klaus Iohannis said on Monday after holding talks in Bucharest with his German counterpart Joachim Gauck. Iohannis said that for several years Germany had been Romania’s first trade partner and the third investor in its economy and that development potential continues to be high. The German official said that Romania must offer a legal framework that offers security so that it may benefit from the economic potential it has. Gauck said that Germany is closely monitoring the reforms and anti-graft fight in Romania and the Romanian anti-corruption agency DNA offers positive signals to the business and political environments. The German official went on to say that Germany received an important signal from the Romanian state and society of being loyal to Europe, particularly at a difficult time like this. Also on Monday Joachim Gauck met Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos and the presidents of the two chambers of Parliament.

DECEASED Romania’s former Defence Minister between 1990 –1991, gen. Victor Atanasie Stanculescu died at the eage of 88 on Sunday. He was a key player in the Romanian anti-communist uprising of 1989, when as a deputy of the then Minister of Defence, was sent to stifle the street protests in Timisoara, western Romania. After the flee of dictator Ceausescu and his wife, it was general Stanculescu who ordered the troops to return to their barracks and stop shooting at protesters. However, for the role he played in repressing the revolts in Timisoara, the Supreme Court had Stanculescu sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2008. He did five years of his sentence before being released on medical grounds.

HOLIDAYS Over 60,000 Romanians have spent their Pentecost holidays in various resorts on the Black Sea coast spending roughly 8 million euros in three days, says data released by the Romanian Tourist Employers Federation. On the other hand, according to a survey by an on-line travel agency, some of the affluent Romanians who rely on mobile devices to plan and book holiday tickets, could pay even up to 1,500 euros for a holiday. London was the top tourist destination of mobile device users last year. Women also prefer holidays in Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Paris and Athens, while Athens comes next in the men’s preferences followed by Berlin, Rome and Amsterdam. The average age of those booking holiday tickets via mobile devices is 34 years.

WEATHER Bad weather wreaks havoc on Romania. In the centre of the country a two-year-old girl died when a tree broken by storm smashed into the family car. Gale force winds have destroyed hundreds of roofs, including of two churches, as well as many electricity poles, leaving over 10 thousand households without electricity. A man was killed and another one wounded by lightning in the west of the country. Meteorologists have issued a code yellow alert for bad weather in 12 counties in the north, northwest, centre, west and southwest, valid through Tuesday. Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos will be hosting a videoconference tomorrow with the prefects in the affected areas to discuss measures to reduce the effects of the bad weather. The weather remains unsettled for this period, with showers, thunderstorms, gale-force winds and even hailstorms in some places. The country’s south and centre have been plagued by hot weather, where the discomfort index remains above 80.

FOOTBALL Disciplinary procedings have been opened against football federations in Romania and Albania for the incidents involving their fans during the game between the two sides in Lyon on Sunday. We recall that on Sunday night Romania’s national football side blew its chances to qualify for the round of 16 of the European Championships in France after conceding a one-nil defeat to Albania. With only one point, Romania ended on the last position in Group A. We recall that Romania was also outperformed by France 2-1 in the tournament’s first game, ending in a one-all draw their match against Switzerland. The Sunday’s game pitching France against Switzerland ended in a goaless draw. The two sides have qualified for the competition’s next stage, while Albania only stands theoretical chances. Romania’s last participation in a European Football Championship was in 2008, when our side was also eliminated in the group’s stage.

20 June 2016
June 20, 2016

VISIT President of Germany Joachim Gauck has today started a three-day visit to Romania. High on his talks agenda with the Romanian officials are the bilateral political and economic relations, the upcoming NATO summit in Warsaw as well as the latest developments in Europe. After talks in Bucharest with Romanian president Klaus Iohannis, Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos and with presidents of the two Parliament chambers, Gauck will accompany Iohannis to Sibiu, in central Romania for talks with local officials and representatives of the German minority in the region. Founded by Saxon settlers in the 14th century, Sibiu is president Iohannis native city, where he was mayor for 14 years. Gauck and Iohannis are expected to meet up with German and Romanian business people on Wednesday for talks over ways of developing economic relations and investment. Germany is Romanias first trade partner and the third investor in Romanias economy.

DECEASED Romanias former Defence Minister between 1990 –1991, gen. Victor Atanasie Stanculescu died at the age of 88 yesterday. He was a key-player of the Romanian anti-communist uprising of 1989, when as a deputy of the then Minister of Defence, was sent to stifle the street protests in Timisoara, western Romania. After dictator Ceausescu and his wife had fled, general Stanculescu ordered the troops to return to their barracks and stop shooting at protesters. However, for the role he played in repressing the revolts in Timisoara, the Supreme Court had Stanculescu condemned to 15 years in prison in 2008. He did five years in prison before being released on medical grounds.

HOLIDAYS Romanians like to travel a lot and make use of their mobile devices to plan and book holiday tickets. According to a survey by an online travel agency, some of the the Romanians have paid up to 1,500 euros for a holiday. London was the top tourist destination of mobile device users last year. Women also prefer holidays in Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Paris and Athens, while Athens comes next in the mens preferences followed by Berlin, Rome and Amsterdam. The average age of those booking holiday tickets via mobile devices is 34 years.

WEATHER Bad weather wreaks havoc on Romania. In the centre of the country a two-year-old girl died when a tree broken by storm smashed into the family car. Gale force winds have destroyed hundreds of roofs, including of two churches, as well as many electricity poles, leaving over 10 thousand households without electricity. Thunders killed a man and wounded another in the west of the country. Meteorologists have issued a code yellow alert for bad weather in 12 counties in the north, northwest, centre, west and southwest, valid until Tuesday. Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos will be hosting a videoconference tomorrow with the prefects in the affected areas to discuss measures to reduce the effects of the bad weather. The weather remains unsettled for this period, with showers, thunderstorms, gale-force winds and even hailstorms in some places. The countrys south and centre have been plagued by hot weather, where the discomfort index remains above 80. Highs are ranging between 29 and 35 degrees Celsius with a noon reading in Bucharest of 27 degrees.

FOOTBALL Romanias national football side last night blew their chances to qualify for the round of 16 of the European Championships in France after conceding a one-nil defeat to Albania. With only one point Romania ended on the last position in Group A. We recall that Romania was outperformed by France two-one in the tournaments first game, ending in a one-all draw their match against Switzerland. Also last night, the game pitching France against Switzerland ended in a goaless draw. The two sides have qualified for the competitions next stage, while Albania has only theoretical chances. Romanias last participation in a European Football Championship was in 2008, when our side was also eliminated in the groups stage.

AWARDS

Two Radio Romania productions have been awarded prizes
at the New York Festivals World’s Best Radio Programmes 2016. These are two
productions by the National Radio Drama, namely Elise Wilk’s ‘Green Cat’, which
reaped silver and ‘Over the Rainbow’, which got bronze in the Best Drama
Special Section. Radio productions from 30 countries were vying for a place in
the contest, whose jury has selected 296 finalists. Since 1982 New York
Festivals has been awarding the best productions by radio channels, networks
and independent producers from all over the world.

20 June 2016