Radio România Internațional

Tag: hearing

October 11, 2024

Inflation – The inflation rate in Romania dropped, in September, to 4.62%, after, in August, it had registered a value of 5.1%. This is the official data of the National Institute of Statistics published today. The prices for foodstuffs have increased, on average, by 0.8%, and for services by approximately 0.4%. Spectacular price hikes were recorded in the case of citrus fruits and other exotic fruits, approximately 7.5%. Prices of vegetables and canned food also went up by over 5%. Significantly increased prices were also recorded for beans and other legumes. Potatoes, on the other hand, became cheaper by approximately 5.23%, and other products by less than 2%. In the case of services, postal rates increased by 17.8%, air transport by 17.2%, and non-foods such as detergents by 14.7%. The prices for water supply and sanitation services also recorded a 12.6% increase.

Commissioner – The designated European Commissioner of Romania, Roxana Mînzatu, will be heard, on Saturday, by the committees of the European Parliament. MEPs from the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs and from the Committee on Culture and Education will participate in the hearings. Another two committees, the one on women’s rights and gender equality and the Committee on civil liberties, justice and home affairs will have a guest status, in the sense that they will have the right to ask the commissioner proposed by Romania a written question. Roxana Mînzatu was appointed executive vice-president of the European Commission and could hold, in the next five years, the portfolio on employment, social affairs and education.

Concert season – “Ode to Joy ” was scheduled to open, this evening, the new concert season of Radio Romania’s orchestras and choirs. The show at the Radio Hall, conducted by the Austrian Sascha Goetzel, is designed around one of the most famous works in the history of music, the Symphony No. 9 by Ludwig van Beethoven. At the absolute premiere in Vienna, on May 7, 1824, Beethoven was turned to face the audience to see the applause which he could no longer hear at all, due to his total hearing loss. “Ode to Joy” is the first musical score included in the UNESCO world heritage.

Nobel – The Japanese Nihon Hidankyo movement won, on Friday, the Nobel Peace Prize for the year 2024, for “its efforts to reach a world without nuclear weapons”, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced, according to international press agencies. The Nobel Peace Prize is the only one awarded in Oslo, the prizes for the other categories being awarded in Stockholm. The Norwegian Nobel Institute registered 286 candidacies for this year’s award, including 197 individuals and 89 organizations. Last year, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Iranian Narges Mohammadi “for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all”.

Schengen – Austria continues to oppose the admission of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen Area with land borders. The problem was discussed, on Thursday, in Luxembourg, at the meeting of the European Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs. Although the European Commission and the European Parliament say that both countries meet all the conditions for accession, Austrian Minister Gerhard Karner claims that there is still a lot to be done. The European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson expressed optimism that the Council of the EU will decide to remove border checks at the Bulgarian and Romanian Schengen borders before her term ends. She added that the accession of Romania and Bulgaria would be discussed again during the Council meeting in December.

Elections – 14 candidates will be registered on the ballots in the first round of Romania’s presidential election on November 24 – 10 supported by political parties and 4 independents. On Thursday evening, the Central Electoral Bureau established, by drawing of lots, the order in which the candidates will appear on the ballot, but one of the candidates announced the intention to challenge the procedure. The deadline for Romanian citizens domiciled or residing abroad to register to vote by mail in the presidential elections expired at midnight. According to the data of the Permanent Electoral Authority, less than 7,000 people registered on the votstrainatate.ro platform. The second round of the presidential election will take place on December 8. (LS)

11 October 2024
Beyond Words

The first association of people with hearing
disabilities in Romania turns 104 years this November. The Romanian Deaf Mute Association
was founded on November 9th, 1919, under the patronage of Queen
Marie of Romania, through the voluntary association of a group of deaf people. Its
first president was Mr. Alexandru Clarnet, and the executive committee included
Prince Henry Ghica, the deaf son of the ruler Constantin Ghica. It is a
non-profit organisation aimed at helping integrate people with hearing
disabilities in society.

This autumn, the association implemented a
project entitled The Week of Deaf Community and Culture. Bogdan Anicescu,
cultural director of the ANSR, gave us more details about it:

Bogdan Anicescu:The Week of Deaf Community and Culture is a bilateral initiative,
implemented by the National Association of Deaf People in Romania in a
partnership with an organisation from Norway called the International Organisation
for Democracy and Human Rights. The goal of the project was to showcase a
cultural dimension of deafness, to shed light on the deaf person as a member of
a community, of a cultural and linguistic community sharing a different
language than Romanian, namely the Romanian sign language. Thanks to the
Norwegian grants and after winning a call for projects under the Timişoara -
European Capital of Culture programme, we sought to turn Timişoara into a
Capital of Deaf Culture as well, between September 11th and 24th,
when the city hosted a number of events devoted to deaf culture.

The events included a beauty and talent show,
Miss and Mister Silence, a dance and mime festival, a joint workshop with the
Norwegian partners on the cultural integration of deaf people, the premiere of
a short reel called Love without Words, a Silent March in which hundreds of
deaf people gathered in Timişoara’s Botanical Park and marched through the
centre of the city, as well as a sign language workshop in which people without
hearing disabilities were introduced to the basics of sign language.

Octavian Iacob, the director of the film Love
without Words, told us about working with deaf characters:

Octavian Iacob:We had an interpreter who had to stand in front of the actors.
Many times, this meant the interpreter was positioned next to the camera or
even inside the frame, so we needed time to adjust the image to what was
supposed to be in the movie. It was a challenge that we accepted, we loved it
and I have to praise these people who were so open, so transparent, so willing
to act. They received exceptional attention during the 4 days of shooting. It
was extraordinary, a truly new experience that one doesn’t usually find on set
and, let’s face it, one doesn’t usually find in one’s day to day life.

Octavian Iacob also gave us a few details about
the casting process:

Octavian Iacob:We travelled to Timişoara, we had one day scheduled for casting,
and several people with hearing disabilities showed up. We had several criteria
in selecting our cast: there were script-related criteria, the actors had to
match the description of the characters, then there was the talent these people
had to have with respect to acting, to learning a text and performing it in
sign language, we had to see what these signs looked like so as to adjust our
shooting methods.

Professional actors were also cast in the short
reel: Paul Diaconescu and Cristina Velciu guided the public towards the
original story, towards what the plot was seeking to convey. As for the actors
with hearing disabilities who took part in the project, the director Octavin
Iacob also said:

Octavian Iacob:Not only are they not professional actors, but they didn’t even
have time for one rehearsal, they only read the script for about two weeks, everything
was discussed online, via zoom, using an interpreter, which is quite difficult
in itself. But on the first day of shooting, when I had selected some easier
scenes, I was amazed to see that they all knew their lines perfectly. The
interpreter had the text and confirmed to me that almost every word is said,
and I say almost every word because in sign language the structure is
different.

Bogdan Anicescu, the cultural director of ANSR,
also added:

Bogdan Anicescu:Love without words is what we feel as well, because we managed to
implement this activity as part of our joint project, The Week of Deaf
Community and Culture. The idea goes way back and we wanted a chance to turn Timişoara,
as part of this project, into a special place able to host the first film of
this kind in Romania, in which deaf persons and sign language play a central
part. It is the outcome of the work completed by a small, but ambitious and
devoted team, and we are glad that we worked so well with the director Octavian
Iacob, the producer Mirela Muşat and their entire team. It all happened very
quickly, but the end result is wonderful, especially considering the positive
feedback from the public with or without hearing disabilities. The message the
film seeks to get across is that love goes beyond communication barriers, and
sign language is able to bring people together.

The project is intended to encourage
larger-scale support for the cultural movement of Romanian deaf people, beyond
the Association and beyond this minority as such. (AMP)

17 October 2023
November 21, 2022

Pensions – The Romanian Labor Minister Marius Budăi, is invited, today, in the plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies, to answer the questions of the opposition Save Romanian Union – USR representatives, who want to know the stage of reduction of expenses with the special pensions and the concrete steps taken to fulfill the commitment assumed in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. Recently, the European Commission has said that military pensions must be reformed together with the special ones, and that, starting next year, Romania must observe the percentage of 9.4% of the GDP in the pensions chapter, conditions to be met for the approval of the third payment request for European funds. Minister Budăi is expected to come with clarifications regarding the pensions increase percentage, which will be applied as of the beginning of next year. In the governing coalition, opinions remain divided – the Liberals want a 15% increase for all pensions, while the Social Democrats insist that small pensions should be increased by a higher percentage.

Covid — COVID-19 no longer represents, at this moment, a public health issue in our country – the Romanian Health Minister, Alexandru Rafila, said on Sunday. In the last period, the authorities have reported between 200 and 400 cases daily and there are also reports that do not include any deaths. Alexandru Rafila emphasized, however, that any virus can be unpredictable from the point of view of its evolution, so the vaccination recommendation for the vulnerable categories is maintained, especially since the vaccine adapted to the Omicron variants of the coronavirus will soon be available in Romania. The anti-COVID-19 vaccination will be performed in the family doctor’ offices and in the vaccination centers opened in several hospitals in Romania.

Conference – The Romanian Foreign Minister, Bogdan Aurescu, co-chairs, today, in Paris, the third ministerial conference of the support platform for the Republic of Moldova (with a majority Romanian-speaking population), initiated by Romania, Germany and France this spring. The conference focuses on emergency assistance options for the Republic of Moldova, in the context in which it faces major energy, economic and humanitarian challenges, against the backdrop of the brutal war of aggression waged by the Russian Federation against Ukraine. The presidents of France, Emmanuel Macron, and of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, are also participating in the event. At the previous conference, held in Romania’s capital Bucharest, the participants decided to grant financial support for Chişinău worth 615 million Euros.

Drill – In Brasov County (center), at the NATO military base in Cincu, a joint exercise is taking place as of Monday until Friday, in which 600 Romanian infantrymen are participating, together with soldiers from France, Portugal, Poland and the United States. The objectives of the “Black Scorpions” exercise are the joint training of the military and, implicitly, increasing the cohesion of the structures through training on the ground and tactical exercises with combat shooting. The personnel convoys and the more than 70 pieces of technical equipment will withdraw from Cincu on Saturday.

Summit – Romania emphasized, during the La Francophonie Summit in Tunisia, the serious impact on security and stability at the regional and global levels generated by Russias military aggression against Ukraine, as well as the particularly vulnerable situation of the Republic of Moldova in this context. Presidential adviser Sergiu Nistor, the representative of the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, for La Francophonie also highlighted Romanias solid contribution to the promotion of the French language and Francophone values, underlining Bucharests active commitment to international cooperation and assistance for development in the French-speaking area, by financing programs run in the French-speaking Africa or in the member states of Central and Eastern Europe.

Investigation – The Romanian MPs are going to decide, today, by vote, on the request of the Minister Justice regarding the approval of a computer search in a file targeting the former mayor of Bucharest’s Sector 1, Daniel Tudorache. He is being prosecuted for illegal and overprices purchases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Last month, the National Anti-Corruption Directorate announced that it had started the criminal investigation of 56 suspects, legal entities and natural persons, including the former mayor Marian Vanghelie, local councilor in Sector 5 until 2020, and the former mayor Daniel Tudorache, currently a Social Democratic deputy, for illegal, overrated purchases. Prosecutors say that the group was founded and coordinated by Marian Vanghelie and that they managed to obtain more than 13.5 million Euros from these contracts. (LS)

21 November 2022
Special education for the people with special needs

30,000 hearing-impaired people live in Romania, or
thereabouts. They have a fully-fledged right to integrate themselves in the educational
life with dignity, as well as in the professional or the social life. However,
they are low-profile, more often than not, for the simple reason that they do
not make noise. Nor can they voice their needs or complaints, either.

A lecturer with the University of Bucharest’s Faculty
of Journalism and Communication Sciences, Dr Florica Iuhas is one of those
people who have adamantly provided a staunch support for the hearing-impaired people.
Here is Dr Florica Iuhas herself, explaining why, for instance, a mere 1% of the
hearing-impaired people pass the baccalaureate exam for the Romanian Language and
literature exam subject.

Dr Florica Iuhas:

One of the big problems is that the
education system has not been tailored to suit their needs, since they think
and dream in the sign language, yet they have no choice other than take their
baccalaureate exam in the Romanian language. A hearing-impaired
person does not have prepositions in their vocabulary, nor conjunctions, they
will never be able to understand the difference between the present tense and
the past perfect, for example, because they have a visual culture, their own
culture. But at ministerial level, officials cannot
understand that, for the time being, at least. A hearing-impaired
person will never be able to have a full command of the
grammatical standards, because, for a hearing-impaired person, the syntax and the word
order in a complex sentence are very different from the word order in Romanian. So,
in effect, the sign language in Romanian will have to come first, for the
baccalaureate exam. Rote learning works perfectly well for the hearing-impaired people,
they can manage for Geography, for History, they can pass the baccalaureate exam
for the theoretical disciplines quite all right, they’re doing fine in
Mathematics, some of them are even successful IT specialists, but when it comes
to Romanian language and literature, they have serious problems, as their mind
and language are not structured according to the grammar of the Romanian
language we, the people with no hearing problems, can speak .

In other words, the present education law does not make
a clear-cut distinction between the people who can hear and the
hearing-impaired people. Both categories need to meet the same examination
standards. According to Dr Florica Iuhas, for the hearing-impaired people, the Romanian
language and literature exam should be replaced by an exam in the mother tongue,
which, in their case, is the language of the signs. As for the Romanian
language and literature exam, it should have a much lower level of difficulty.
By the same token, a self-sufficient department is needed, capable of training
teachers in the sign language, for the special-needs schools. Not just anybody
can have a command of that particular language, let alone teach it! That also
works for any other language!

There is another situation we need to take into
account: if the hearing-impaired people go to a front desk, they are unable to
communicate with the hospital employees, or, when in court, they cannot utter what
their complaint is or what exactly the wrongdoing is, that may have affected
them. To that effect, in the spring of 2020, in Romania, the so-called Saftoiu law
was promulgated, it bears the name of the former deputy Adriana Saftoiu, she
was the one who wrote it and promoted it among her colleagues in Parliament. Here
is Dr Florica Iuhas once again, this time summarizing what that particular law
stipulated.

Dr Florica Iuhas:

The Saftoiu law stipulates that all state
institutions in Romania must provide, for a hearing-impaired person, an
interpreter specializing in the gesture and mimicry language or in the Romanian
sign language, as in effect, that law certified the existence of that
particular language as the hearing-impaired persons’ mother tongue. If a Hungarian goes to
an institution and can communicate with a Hungarian-speaking person, for
example, in the counties of Covasna and Harghita, it is, however, impossible
for someone with a hearing impairment to communicate with the state authorities,
as there is no dedicated interpreter employed by the state institutions.

And, for such institutions, there was a two-year
period of grace, after the law had come into effect, for them to take all the required
measures so that as of April 2022, any deaf person entering a state institution
can have a dedicated interpreter. Notwithstanding, as we speak, there are still
very few interpreters of the sign language. Dr Florica Iuhas explains why that happens.

ʺBecause they are disheartened
by the institutions’ inability to pay them or to conclude collaboration contracts
with them, or hire them. So no step forward has been taken, actually, you can even
see that for yourselves on TV: the president who signed that law, whenever he
makes a speech in public, is not accompanied by an interpreter, which is not
okay. In any civilized country, joining the president, whenever they make a speech
to the nation, there is an interpreter, and that, because the president of a
country is everybody’s president. So what should a hearing-impaired person do? Do
the lip-reading as they watch the president speak? According to the law, not only
the television, but the institution must have an interpreter as well.

The TV stations are also faced with the same problem,
the limited number of dedicated interpreters. Dr Florica Iuhas is a sign
language interpreter herself. At the Journalism Faculty, she opted for teaching
a sign language course to those interested. However, it is the only such course
across the country.

Dr Florica Iuhas:

ʺ I have been asked, for instance,
by people working for the Mobile Emergency Service for Resuscitation and
Extrication, they asked me ‘could you also teach us, since we’re faced with
the situation of having to help families with those particular special needs
and we cannot communicate with them!’ And then the idea crossed my mind, to do
such a course with is open to everybody and not only to the University of
Bucharest students, because of the impending necessity for the people who can
hear to make themselves understood by the hearing-impaired persons, as you do
not know who you may interact with.

In Romania, that is a revolting iniquity, and that iniquity
has been lasting for a good number of years, given that for decades, 48
countries have officially recognized the sign language as the mother tongue of
their hearing-impaired citizens, the former deputy Adriana Saftoiu stated. A
language in continuous progress, the Romanian sign language has only 8 thousand
signs, as compared to the 38 thousand signs of the French sign language or to
the 50 thousand signs of the German sign language. Unfortunately, in Romania, there hasn’t even been such
a concern to develop this special language, to enrich it. There is no institute
or department where the Romanian sign language is studied.

Florica Iuhas:

ʺYet the hearing-impaired people are among
us and they also need to communicate, they need to develop that language. I hope
Romania will understand that it is important for such persons to be integrated
in the vast majority of Romanians, and that it should make an effort to develop
that language as well and to integrate the hearing-impaired persons.

It was
the conclusion drawn by Dr Florica Iuhas, a lecturer with the University of
Bucharest’s Faculty of Journalism and Communication Sciences, herself a voice
of Romania’s hearing-impaired people.

(EN)

11 May 2022
November 24, 2021 UPDATE

COVID Ro — The Romanian authorities on Wednesday announced that nearly 2,800 people had tested positive for SARS-COV-2 in the last 24 hours across Romania. Also, 231 deaths were reported, of which 36 registered prior to the reference interval. In Bucharest, the incidence rate calculated for a period of 14 days decreased to 2.87 cases per thousand inhabitants, after, on October 22, it had reached the highest value since the beginning of the pandemic – 16.54. The interim health minister, Attila Cseke, asked the public health directorates from all over the country to remain on alert, even if the number of SARS-CoV-2 infections is decreasing. At the same time, he called for plans to be drafted within a week to deal with a predictable 5th wave of the epidemic, says the coordinator of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign, Colonel Valeriu Gheorghiţă, given the increase the number of new cases in many European countries. On Wednesday, the Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, Daniel, confirmed that he was vaccinated against COVID-19. “The official stand of the Church remains the same: each believer should consult with the family doctor,” he told reporters. So far, in Romania, the number of fully vaccinated people has exceeded 7.2 million.

COVID world — Mandatory vaccination against COVID-19 is an idea that enjoys widespread support among the German population, according to a poll released by YouGov on Wednesday, informs DPA. The prestigious market research and analysis company announced that 69% of the interviewees were in favor of compulsory vaccination and 23% against. Germany, which is experiencing a recrudescence of the number of infections, is introducing a number of new anti-epidemic measures. Thus, the green certificate becomes mandatory at work and for the use of means of transport. Besides the measures established at federal level, the German states also impose other anti-epidemic restrictions. For example, bars and clubs are closed in Bavaria, and the famous Christmas fairs will no longer take place this year. In Germany, the vaccination rate is 68%, one of the lowest in Western Europe. There are also problems in northern Italy, where traffic restrictions have been imposed at nighttime due to the alarming increase in new cases of coronavirus. To date, 84% of Italys population has received at least two doses of vaccine. The number of COVID cases is also rising in France, where the PM Jean Castex has tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. In France, 88% of the eligible population over 12 years is fully vaccinated. The health situation is also complicated in Greece, where the pressure on hospitals treating COVID patients is high. The Greek government says, however, that it does not envisage a general lockdown, as the measure will not be supported by the countrys economy. The vaccination rate in Greece has exceeded 63%.

National Day – In Bucharest, the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies met in a solemn joint session, dedicated to Romania’s National Day to be marked on December 1. The Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Marcel Ciolacu, underlined that the entire political class had the duty to stabilize the country in the next period and that pride and political interests should be abandoned. “This holiday reminds us that we have a duty to work together. It is our duty towards the Romanian people and Romania”, Ciolacu said. The Vice President of the Senate, Alina Gorghiu, pointed out that December 1st means national unity, and equally devotion, responsibility, duty, and political courage. Among the guests of the meeting were members of the Government, the Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Bucharest, the Archbishop of the Greek Catholic Church, the First Rabbi of Romania, the presidents of the Constitutional Court, the High Court of Cassation and Justice, the Court of Accounts, the central bank governor as well as the heads of the diplomatic missions and of the international representations accredited to Bucharest. Romanias National Day has been marked on December 1 since 1990, after the anti-communist revolution. On December 1, 1918, the National Assembly of Alba Iulia (center) adopted the resolution of the union with Romania of the historical provinces inhabited by the Romanians.

24 November 2021
Hearing of the second Orban Cabinet ministers

The Liberal government, dismissed on February 5, returns to Romania’s Parliament with the same PM designate, Ludovic Orban, the leader of the National Liberal Party, with the same membership which was validated 3 months ago, and with a slightly adjusted governing program but with a totally different purpose, that of not being voted. It might seem unnatural but this is the only way to go to early elections, which are wanted by the parliamentary minority made up of the National Liberal Party and the Save Romania Union party as well as by the Romanian president Klaus Iohannis, a partner of the Liberals.

Labeled almost unanimously as rigid, the Romanian Constitution seems to have been drafted with the very purpose of providing debatable solutions to crisis situations, such as the current one. Thus, according to the Constitution, rejecting two consecutive proposals for government, in an interval of two months, before Parliament being dissolved by the president, is a prerequisite for calling early elections.

The idea of early elections became a reality after the first Orban government was sanctioned for having assumed responsibility for a draft law on the election of mayors in two rounds of voting. Ever since it took office, the first cabinet led by Ludovic Orban has been faced with a big problem: the lack of a majority in Parliament that could promote its bills. This is why the first Orban government resorted, on several occasions, to the procedure of assuming responsibility for certain bills, including for the draft budget law.

Considered main favorites in the voter surveys, after the victories scored in 2019 in the EP and presidential elections, the Liberals see the early elections as their chance to build a solid majority in Parliament and thus overcome the big obstacle in their way. The proposed ministers of the second Orban cabinet will be heard in Parliament in the first 3 days of this week, with the vote on the government membership and the governing program being scheduled for Monday, February 24. The PM designate Ludovic Orban however suspects the Social Democrats of having tried to put off the hearing process and the investiture vote.

Early elections might take place, according to PM Orban, between 15 and 30 June, in the same period with the local elections. The interim Social Democratic leader Marcel Ciolacu has recently said that the Social Democratic MPs will not vote for the second Orban cabinet. The Social Democrats’ discourse has changed of late. They now claim that they are ready for any scenario, including early elections. The party still feels the shock of last year’s defeats, but it has braced up after blocking the modification of the election law.

A countrywide leader in terms of the number of mayors, the Social Democratic Party is the first party to be favored by the election of mayors in one single round, and they count on the involvement of their own mayors, with a lot of influence at local level, who will be thus stimulated and will improve the score in the legislative elections, if they are held in the same period with the local elections. (translation by L. Simion)

17 February 2020
November 14, 2019

FINANCE For the past 3 years, Romanias economy has been managed according to 2 budgets, one presented in Parliament and for which no PM or finance minister in the former Social Democratic governments has taken responsibility, and another one containing accurate data and used for financing party barons, the new Finance Minister Florin Cîţu told a press conference on Thursday. The added he would notify the competent authorities. According to the minister, the budget deficit for the first 10 months of the year is 2.84% of the GDP, above the estimate for the entire year, and unless measures are taken in the next one and a half months the figure will exceed 4%. Some 500 million euros in the public pension budget is unaccounted for, Cîţu added, and explained that this years budget should be adjusted downwards.

ORDER The Government of Romania passed an emergency order on the status of the British citizens living in Romania in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Romania was the only EU member state still to regulate the matter. The Prime Ministers chief of staff, Ionel Dancă, explained that the order was necessary and had been requested by the British side.

COMMISSIONER The Romanian MEP Adina Vălean, nominated for the transport commissioner post, is heard today in the European Parliaments specialist committees, along with the commissioners nominated by France and Hungary. On Tuesday she was given the green light by the Committee on Legal Affairs, which looked at possible conflicts of interest. Also on Tuesday, Vălean was heard by the joint European affairs committees of the Romanian Parliament, whose opinion is advisory. When the formal hearings are over, the president elect of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen will present the full commission and its programme to the European Parliament on the 27th of November.

GROWTH Romanias GDP is up 4% in the first 9 months of this year, compared to the corresponding period of 2018, the National Statistics Institute announced. However, the economic growth rate slowed down in the 3rd quarter, to 3% as against 4.4% reported for the 2nd quarter. In its autumn economic forecast made public recently, the European Commission estimates a 4.1% economic growth rate for Romania in 2019, and expects the rate to drop to 3.6% in 2020 and 3.3% the following year.

TRAVEL 230 operators from 16 countries are attending until Sunday the largest Tourism Fair in Romania, organised in Bucharest. Taking part are representatives of travel agencies, tour operators, and associations and local authorities promoting their regions. Visitors can purchase holiday packages for this winter and for 2020, with discounts of up to 45%.

FOOTBALL Romanias Under 19 football team is playing today at home against Finland, in Group 8 of the 2021 UEFA European Under 19 Championship qualifiers. Denmark tops the group with 9 points, followed by Finland with 7 and Romania with 6 points. In the Euro 2020 qualifiers, Romanias senior team are facing Sweden at home on Friday. Group F is dominated by Spain with 20 points, who have already secured their qualification, followed by Sweden with 15 points and Romania with 14. To qualify, Romania need to defeat Sweden and draw against Spain away. The two best-placed sides in each group will qualify. The drawing of lots for Euro 2020 will take place in Bucharest on the 30th of November. The Romanian capital will also host four European Championship matches, three group matches and a quarterfinal.

HANDBALL Romanias mens handball champions, Dinamo Bucharest, are undefeated in the Champions League, after a draw against the Swedish side IFK Kristianstad, 29-29, in Group D. Dinamo, already qualified into the play-offs, ranks first in the group with 13 points, followed by GOG Gudme (Denmark), with 9 points, Orlen Wisla Plock (Poland) with 7, Kadetten Schaffhausen (Switzerland), with 6, IFK Kristianstad (Sweden) with 5 and Cehovskie Medvedi (Russia) with 4 points. Dinamo is next to take on Cehovskie Medvedi at home on November 20.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

14 November 2019
February 26, 2019

JUDICIARY The Romanian Judge Forum and the “Movement for Safeguarding the Status of Prosecutors believe the Justice Ministers proposal to pass a memorandum giving the Higher Council of Magistracy reasonable time to issue advisory opinions is not enough. Judges and prosecutors stress that magistrates are also disgruntled with the newly set up special division investigating offences in the justice system. On Monday, after a meeting of representatives of judges and prosecutors with PM Viorica Dancila, Minister Toader announced that a dialogue mechanism would be in place to ensure that the bills drafted by the government reach the Council at least 5 days ahead, so that they may be analysed, discussed and approved. He also said the Cabinet would scrap an article in the recent emergency decree, which allowed judges to become chiefs of prosecutors offices and which gave the Council plenum, rather than its prosecutor division, the authority to approve the appointment of senior prosecutors. Also on Monday President Klaus Iohannis asked the Cabinet to cancel the decree. Previously, magistrates in several major cities had protested against the new changes in the justice laws, and some prosecutors offices suspended work this week. The Directorate Investigating Organised Crime and terrorism also decided, for the first time ever, to suspend its activity until March 8, and to only deal with emergencies in this period. Civil society also rallied on Sunday night, in the capital Bucharest and other important cities.

EPPO The former chief of Romanias National Anti-Corruption Directorate, Laura Codruţa Köveşi, is heard today by the Committee on Civil Liberties and the Committee on Budgetary Control in the European Parliament, as part of the selection of the first-ever European Chief Prosecutor. A French and a German prosecutor have also been shortlisted for this position. The new European Chief Prosecutor is appointed by the European Parliament and the Council. The European Public Prosecutors Office will be an independent body in charge with investigating and prosecuting crimes involving EU funds, including fraud, corruption and cross-border VAT fraud of over 100 million euros. The list of offences may be broadened in the future to include terrorism. The EPPO is scheduled to be operational by the end of 2020.

ELECTIONS The pro-Russian Socialist president of the Republic of Moldova, Igor Dodon, warned that unless parties agreed to form a governmental coalition after the inconclusive ballot on Sunday, he would call for early elections. His party came first, with 35 out of 101 seats in Parliament, followed by the ruling Democratic Party with 30 seats, and the pro-European Opposition with 26. OSCE observers noticed cases of vote buying, abusive use of administrative resources and obstruction of the voting process in the diaspora, but say that overall the election respected fundamental rights.

ENERGY Romanias National Energy Regulatory Authority has decided to keep the current regulated electricity tariffs in place for household end-users after March 1. Following the enforcement of Decree 114, only the distribution tariffs are to be raised, by an average 2.5%. The Energy Minister Anton Anton explained that the Authority had been consulted prior to the adoption of the Decree last year, so as to make sure that household users are not affected by prospective price hikes.

BORDER Over 60 million people and more than 16 million vehicles entered and left Romanian territory last year, with a substantial increase in transit over the border with the Republic of Moldova as well. According to a report made public by the Border Police Inspectorate General, in 2018, over 25% of the total number of crimes reported in Romanian checkpoints took place on the Moldovan border. Checks identified nearly 3,000 Romanian and foreign citizens subject to APBs, the report also says.

SUMMIT North-Korean leader Kim Jong-un arrived in Vietnam, ahead of his meeting with the US president Donald Trump tomorrow. After their first meeting in Singapore last year, this time attention will focus on persuading North Korea to give up its nuclear programme. Kim Jong-un on the other hand wants international sanctions against his country lifted. According to Donald Trump, North Korea might quickly become an “economic powerhouse in case of complete denuclearisation.

TENNIS Horia Tecău (Romania, 28) / Jean-Julien Rojer (Netherlands, 20 ATP), the champions of the ATP 500 Series “Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in 2017 and 2018, in the doubles competition, the only pair to have won 2 editions in the history of the tournament, take part in this years event as well. They are playing today against Jürgen Melzer (Austria, 90) – Nenad Zimonjic (Serbia, 458). The tournament has over 2,700,000 US dollars in total prizes.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

26 February 2019
February 18, 2019

EU The Romanian Economy Minister, Niculae Bădălău, is chairing in Brussels today the first meeting of the internal market and industry section of the Competitiveness Council (COMPET), under the Romanian presidency of the Council of the EU. The agenda of the Council meeting includes matters concerning the internal market and industry, the strategy for the single market for goods and services, while seeking to improve the competitiveness of the European economy. The Council will also exchange opinions on the single market overview process, and will hold a public debate on the impact of artificial intelligence on EU industry. Participants will also adopt conclusions on promoting development and the use of artificial intelligence.

JUDICIARY The High Court of Cassation and Justice has once again postponed, to March 18th, the appeal filed by the Social Democratic leader Liviu Dragnea against a 3-and-a-half-year prison sentence he had received from the court of first instance in a corruption-related case. In June 2018, the Supreme Court sentenced Dragnea for instigating abuse of office, in a case involving the fictitious employment of 2 individuals who were on the payroll of the Teleorman Directorate General for Social Assistance and Child Protection, but who actually worked exclusively for the Social Democratic Party. Liviu Dragnea, who was the head of the County Council at the time, was accused of having ordered the hiring. He claims to be innocent and has appealed the initial ruling, but the trial has been repeatedly postponed, amid controversies regarding the membership of the 5-judge panels at the Supreme Court. In 2016, Dragnea also received a suspended 2-year prison sentence for attempted election fraud, but last summer the Supreme Court reversed the decision to suspend his sentence.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS The Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Meleşcanu is taking part today in a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels. The agenda includes an assessment of the situation in Ukraine, ahead of this years presidential and parliamentary elections. The EU foreign ministers will also discuss Syria, the latest developments in Venezuela and the outcomes of the first meeting of the international contact group for Venezuela. Decisions and conclusions are also expected as regards the situation in Yemen, diplomacy in the context of climate change, as well as the Unions human rights priorities as part of the United Nations this year.

STATISTICS 1.6% of Romanian employees were working in culture-related fields in 2017, as against the 3.8% the EU average, according to data made public by the European Statistics Bureau, Eurostat, on Monday. Around 8.7 million EU citizens were working in culture-related fields or had professions in this field. The highest rates were reported in Estonia (5.5%) and Sweden (4.8%). According to Eurostat, in 2017 EU households allotted an average 8.5% of their total expenses to entertainment and culture, with Denmark and Sweden spending as much as 11.5% and 11% respectively, compared to Greece with 4.6% and Romania with 5.8%. The total expenses for entertainment and culture across the EU in 2017 reached 710 billion euros, accounting for 4.6% of the Unions GDP.

FLU In Romania, the number of deaths caused by the flu has reached 131. According to the National Centre for Infectious Disease Monitoring and Control, the last victims are a woman and 2 men. They had previous conditions and had not been immunised against the flu. Romania is currently struggling with a flu epidemic.

EUROVISION Romanias representative in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest, to be held in Tel Aviv in May, is Ester Peony with a song called On a Sunday. Twelve songs competed in the national final last night. For the first time, the winner of the Romanian final was decided by an international jury and the public. The semi-finals in Israel are scheduled to take place on May 14th and 16th, and the final on May 18th. Romania will compete in the second semi-final, alongside Switzerland, Sweden, Ireland, Austria, the Republic of Moldova, Latvia, Denmark and Armenia. The countrys best performances so far were 2 third-places (Luminiţa Anghel & Sistem – Kiev, 2005; Paula Seling and Ovi – Oslo, 2010) and a fourth place (Mihai Trăistariu – Athens, 2006).

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

18 February 2019
October 8, 2018

FAMILY REFERENDUM — Almost 21% of the Romanians this past weekend cast their votes on a proposed redefinition of the concept of family in the Constitution. The initiators aimed to define “family” as an institution based on the marriage of a man and a woman, rather than the marriage of spouses, as it is at present. According to data released by the Central Electoral Bureau on Monday morning, after more than 98% of the votes were counted, the voter turnout was insufficient for the referendum to be validated. To pass, a referendum needs a 30% voter turnout threshold while 25% of votes cast have to be valid. We recall that Parliament passed a bill rephrasing the Constitutional definition of marriage, based on a citizen initiative signed by 3 million people.

INTERVIEW — Prosecutor Adina Florea, proposed by Justice Minister Tudorel Toader as the new head of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA), is today being interviewed by the prosecutor section with the Higher Magistracy Council, whose, opinion is consultative. The interview, initially scheduled on September 27, has been postponed. The position of chief-prosecutor of the DNA became vacant in July, after Laura Codruta Kovesi was revoked by President Klaus Iohannis in keeping with a Constitutional Court ruling in this respect.

MOTION – The Chamber of Deputies is today debating a simple motion filed by the National Liberal Party in opposition against Economy Minister Danut Andrusca. The Liberals accuse Andrusca of deliberately destabilizing the countrys economy. The Chamber had voted against a simple motion the Liberals filed against Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici, whom they accuse of failing to implement the taxing and budget strategy. The opposition also calls for the elimination of the additional excise tax on fuel, the start of major investment projects and the allotment of 100% of tax revenues to local administration starting next year.

EUROPEAN WEEK OF REGIONS – The 2018 edition of the European Week of Regions and Cities kicks off today in Brussels, in the presence of European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Corina Cretu, the European Committee of the Regions president, Karl-Heinz Lambertsz and European Parliament vice-president, Pavel Telicka. This years edition is a special one, devoted to the European Commissions cohesion policy proposal for the 2021-2027 period. Decision-makers and local, regional, national and European experts will take part in a series of debates as part of the most important event devoted to cohesion policies at European level.

HEARING – The High Court of Cassation and Justice has today postponed for November 5th the first hearing in the case where Social-Democrat leader and Chamber of Deputies Speaker Liviu Dragnea was sentenced to three years and six months imprisonment in the court of first instance. In June, the Court handed Dragnea the sentence for instigation to abuse of office. Anticorruption prosecutors say Liviu Dragnea ordered the fictitious employment of two party members at the Social Assistance and Child Protection Directorate. The two were paid with taxpayer money, although they allegedly worked exclusively for the Social-Democratic Party. Liviu Dragnea denied the accusations. In 2016, Dragnea was handed a 2-year suspended prison sentence for attempted election fraud. This summer the High Court cancelled the ruling to suspend the prison sentence.

8 October 2018
September 19, 2018 UPDATE

EU COUNCIL – European Council President Donald Tusk said on Wednesday he would call an extra Brexit summit of European Union leaders in mid-November, to finalize a deal with Britain. In a letter to EU leaders on Monday evening, ahead of a summit in Salzburg, Austria, Tusk told the heads of state and government that they would discuss the joint political declaration on the EU’s future relationship with the U.K., and that they should consider calling a November summit in Brussels in the hope of completing a withdrawal treaty.

MILITARY EXERCISE – Air Solution 2018, a joint military exercise of the Romanian and Serbian Air Forces, started on Wednesday and is held in the two countries’ airspace. American pilots are also taking part as observers. Its goal is to exercise air police missions, airspace defence, rescue missions and managing crisis situations at the border. The Air Solution exercise is now at its fifth edition, with the first one being held in 2009.

EU COUNCIL MEETING — Romanian president Klaus Iohannis on Wednesday and Thursday is attending the informal meeting of the European Council held in Salzburg, Austria. The agenda for talks focuses on migration, internal security and Brexit. According to the presidency, Iohannis will argue in favor of continuing talks over the Dublin Regulation with a view to reaching consensus and strike a balance between the solidarity and responsibility of member states and preserving an asylum seeker’s ability to opt out of any form of relocation. As regards internal security, the meeting will address three priority topics: the protection of external borders, the EU’s internal security and cyber security. As regards Brexit, President Iohannis will reiterate the importance of maintaining a coherent and unitary voice within the European Union in negotiations with Britain so that Brexit should be fair for all sides. According to the President, Romania will insist on protecting the rights and interests of Romanians living in Britain.

REFERENDUM — The Save Romania Union in opposition has called on the Ombudsman to challenge at the Constitutional Court the Government’s emergency decree voted on Wednesday, calling a referendum on redefining the notion of family on October 6 and 7. Save Romania Union claims the Government and the ruling coalition have changed the referendum regulation after the process was initiated, which goes against best practices recommended by the Venice Commission. The Government called a referendum after Parliament recently voted a law to revise the Constitution, which stipulates that the family is the freely consented marriage between a man and a woman and not between spouses, as it is at present.

HEARING — The High Court of Cassation and Justice in Bucharest set the first hearing in the case where Social-Democrat leader and Chamber of Deputies Speaker Liviu Dragnea was sentenced to three years and six months imprisonment in the court of first instance for October 8. In June, the High Court of Cassation and Justice handed Dragnea the sentence for instigation to abuse of office. Anticorruption prosecutors say Liviu Dragnea ordered the fictitious employment of two party members at the Social Assistance and Child Protection Directorate. The two were paid with taxpayer money, although they allegedly worked exclusively for the Social-Democratic Party. Liviu Dragnea denied the accusations. In 2016, Dragnea was handed a 2-year suspended prison sentence for attempted election fraud. This summer the High Court cancelled the ruling to suspend the prison sentence. In another development, the Social-Democratic leadership will convene on Friday to discuss discontent expressed by certain party leaders, including Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Regional Development and Public Administration, Paul Stanescu, Senate vice-president Adrian Tutuianu and Bucharest Mayor, Gabriela Firea, who have called for Dragnea’s resignation.

AFRICAN SWINE FEVER — The African swine fever compels Bucharest authorities to take active measures to prevent the virus from spreading. In Vaslui County, northeastern Romania, a thousand boars must be put down by the end of February 2019, while in Tulcea County, southeastern Romania, the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve is seeking help to remove the populations of wild boars and jackals from the area. In Gorj County, southwestern Romania, although no virus cases have been signaled, veterinarians are on high alert, all animal trade fairs were closed down and the police are carrying out road traffic checks. Since the first outbreak was identified in Romania in late July, 2017, a total of 900 hotbeds have been confirmed in 13 counties in the northwest and southeast.

RRI CONTEST — Tuesday Jonas Sell and Sabrina Friesenborg of Dortmund, Germany, ended their trip to Romania, won as part of RRI’s prize-winning contest “Alba Iulia, the City of the Great Union”. For nine days, the two winners, accompanied by editors of the German Service, visited the main tourist, cultural and religious attractions, as well as nature reserves and caves in the Apuseni Mountains, the city of Alba Iulia and its surroundings. Over April 1 and June 30 Radio Romania International organized a prize-winning contest devoted to the Centennial of the Great Union. Participants were required to provide written answers to 3 questions related to Alba Iulia and Alba Iulia County. Over 268 correct answers were sent in by our listeners.

19 September 2018
May 22, 2018

PENSION FUNDS – President Klaus Iohannis asked the Government to clarify its plans with respect to the privately-managed pension funds known as the “Pension Pillar II. The head of state voiced concerns regarding the situation and said people might begin to question the governments capacity to design and manage the pension system. PM Viorica Dăncilă promised that Pillar II will not be dismantled, but did not rule out possible changes in the laws regulating its operation. Dancila explained there was a draft in this respect put together by the National Strategy and Prognosis Commission but not approved by the Government, and that an analysis will be made on the topic.

REVOLUTION TRIAL – Romanias former leftist president Ion Iliescu was heard today at the Prosecutor Generals Office, in the case concerning the 1989 anti-communist revolution, in which he is accused of crimes against humanity. Last month the head of state Klaus Iohannis approved the prosecutors request to prosecute Iliescu, the ex-PM Petre Roman and the former deputy PM Gelu Voican Voiculescu. They allegedly plotted a military diversion designed to give them legitimacy as the new leaders after the communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu fled the capital city. The diversion resulted in 1,166 deaths, of which more than 800 after Ceausescu was ousted, as well as in losses, damages and injuries.

EU COMMISSIONER – The European Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Creţu carries on her visit to Bacau County, in eastern Romania. Jointly with the Minister for European Funds Rovana Plumb she is taking part today in a dialogue with the citizens, hosted by the Vasile Alecsandri University. On Monday, Corina Creţu and PM Viorica Dăncilă had talks with the mayors of county capitals regarding urban investments financed by European funds. The EU Commissioner once again called on the Romanian authorities to make sustained efforts to reduce the risk of losing European money, and mentioned that procedures should be simplified and project assessment processes should be sped up.

JUDICIARY – The High Court of Cassation and Justice in Bucharest may pass a ruling today in a case in which Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, the Senate Speaker and president of the Alliance for Liberals and Democrats, in the ruling coalition in Romania, is charged with perjury and encouraging an offender. In the last hearing of the case, the National Anti-Corruption Directorate requested a 3-year prison sentence for the Liberal Democrat leader. According to prosecutors, during investigations into the unlawful return of landed estates near Bucharest, Tăriceanu gave untrue statements while under oath.

AmCham – Romania had a fairly high investment rate compared to other EU member states in 2001-2016, but the effects of these investments were late in appearing, Anda Todor, head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Romania said in a press conference. In turn, AmCham treasurer Ciprian Lăduncă said Romania should have a national investment plan, a long-term business plan approved by all stakeholders in the Romanian society. Another very important measure for the Romanian economy is to encourage long-term saving, whether through life insurance, private pensions or investment funds, Ciprian Lăduncă added.

EU TRADE – The trade ministers of EU member countries have today authorised the European Commission to initiate negotiations on free trade agreements with Australia and New Zealand. The announcement was made at a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council for trade, held in Brussels. Romania is represented by line minister Ştefan Radu Oprea.

FACEBOOK – The European Parliament holds a meeting today in Brussels with the Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg. He will answer questions concerning the illegal use of the personal data of over 87 million users of the social network by the British consulting firm Cambridge Analytica, specialising in political strategy. The hearing comes ahead of the implementation in the EU, on May 25, of a new regulation on the protection of personal data. The document comprises some of the strictest rules in the world in this respect. In April, Zuckerberg was heard on the same topic in the US Senate.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

22 May 2018
March 21, 2018 UPDATE

LETTER — The head of Romania’s left-of-centre government, Viorica Dancila, on Wednesday conveyed the European Commission President Jean – Claude Junker a letter concerning Brussels’ request for clarifications in a number of corruption cases in Romania. Dancila explained that the letter was written after the Romanian press had published a document of the European Commission from October 2012, in which the Justice Ministry in Bucharest was asked to provide information from some of the legal cases opened against some famous Romanian politicians and business people. PM Dancila said the Justice Ministry confirmed that between 2012 and 2018 the European Commission had a number of similar requests. The Romanian PM specified that asking for such information does not comply with the Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification. We remind you that the Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification has been monitoring the justice system in Romania ever since the country’s EU accession in 2007.

EURO – The Bucharest Government on Wednesday passed an emergency decree setting up a committee tasked with drafting a national plan for the country’s adoption of the European currency. According to the Government, the commission will draft a timetable for Romania’s accession to the mechanism for euro adoption and will take the necessary measures to prepare the Romanian economy and society for this important step. The commission will be led by the prime minister and the head of the Romanian Academy as presidents, while the central bank governor and the deputy prime minister for economic affairs will be vice-presidents.

PRESIDENCY – Romanian President Klaus Iohannis will attend on Thursday and Friday the Spring European Council in Brussels. The head of state will point out the fact that Romania wants a close partnership between the Eurpean Union and the UK after Brexit, a partnership that should include economic and commercial cooperation and also cooperation in fields like security, defense and foreign policy. The Spring European Council will focus on economic affairs, in particular on trade. The heads of state or government will also look at a number of the other pressing issues, including taxation, Western Balkans, Turkey and Russia. Under the Leaders Agenda, EU leaders will hold a debate on taxation, in particular in the digital economy. They will focus on how to adapt taxations systems taking into account the growing digital economy what more can be done to fight tax evasion, and how best to ensure synergies at the EU and international level. Finally, EU leaders will also discuss Eurozone and Brexit.

HEARINGS — The Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, the leader of the ruling Social Democratic Party, Liviu Dragnea, on Wednesday was heard by the High Court of Cassation and Justice in Bucharest in a case in which he is tried for inciting to abuse of office. Three defendants, who had already pleaded guilty in the same file, were also heard on Wednesday. The case refers to the employment of two PSD members at the General Social Welfare and Child Protection Directorate in Teleorman County, in the south, when the incumbent Social-Democratic leader was the County Council President. According to anti-corruption prosecutors, the two employees didn’t go to work and didn’t carry out any of the activities stipulated in their employment agreement, actually doing their job exclusively at the headquarters of the PSD county organisation, led by Liviu Dragnea. He also got a suspended two-year sentence in another file, for attempted electoral fraud.

EP ELECTIONS — The future elections for the European Parliament will be held over May 23-26, 2019, according to a decision issued by the EU European Affairs ministers who gathered in Brussels to attend the General Affairs Council. European parliamentary elections are held every five years. The structure of the new European Parliament will have 705 seats, as compared to 751 at present. The difference is the result of Great Britain’s leaving the community bloc. 46 of the 73 seats held by Britons will be slashed and the rest of 27 will be distributed to the EU member states which are under-represented in the European Parliament. Romania will hold 33 seats, that is one more seat than in the current legislature.

HANDBALL — Romania’s national women’s handball team on Wednesday was defeated by Russia, 25-30, away from home, at Togliatti, in its third match of the Euro 2018 qualifiers. The round match will be played in Cluj, north-western Romania on Sunday. With two earlier wins, the Romanians coached by Spaniard Ambros Martin have 4 points, just like Russia, followed by Austria, with 2 points, and Portugal with zero points. The first two teams in the group will qualify for the final tournament due in France in December. (Translated by Elena Enache)

21 March 2018