Radio România Internațional

Tag: High Court

  • January 18, 2025

    January 18, 2025

    Protests – Thousands of policemen and other employees from the fields of defense, public order and national security protested, on Friday, in Bucharest, against the provisions of the government ordinance to reduce the budget deficit, which came into force at the beginning of the month. They requested the Government to review the provisions of the aforementioned document, which significantly reduces their income by not paying overtime worked on weekends or public holidays. Thus the protesters say the incomes of operative police officers will be drastically affected, with decreases between 1,000 lei (€200) and 2,000 lei (€400). The PM Marcel Ciolacu said that the issue of paying overtime in the field of public order will be regulated with priority at the beginning of next month, in Parliament.

     

    Verdict – The magistrates of the High Court of Cassation and Justice in Bucharest on Friday rejected the appeals filed by the independent candidate Călin Georgescu in the case of the cancelation of last year’s presidential election. He had challenged a decision of the Bucharest Court of Appeal delivered at the end of December 2024, by which the judges rejected Georgescu’s request to cancel the three decisions of the Central Electoral Bureau, adopted after the Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) decided to cancel the presidential election. Previously, Călin Georgescu, considered pro-Russian, declared that he challenged the decision of the CCR at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). He asks the ECHR to compel the Romanian state to organize the second round of the presidential election in which he and Elena Lasconi (USR) qualified. Based on documents declassified by the Supreme Council of National Defense (CSAT), CCR judges cited significant irregularities that affected the integrity of the electoral process and manipulated votes through social networks. Documents from the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI), the Romanian Foreign Intelligence Service (SIE), the Interior Ministry (MAI) and the Special Telecommunications Service (STS) showed that Călin Georgescu would have benefited from the support of state and non-state actors to win. After the decision of the CCR, the Government established that the first round of the Romanian presidential election will be on May 4, and the second round on May 18. Romanians in the diaspora still have three days to vote, but on the last day, Sunday, the polling stations will close at 9 p.m., Romanian time, regardless of the local time zone.

     

    Tennis – The Romanian tennis player Jaqueline Cristian (83 WTA) was defeated by the German Eva Lys (128 WTA) score 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, on Saturday, in Melbourne, in the third round of the Australian Open tournament. The Romanian reached the third round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time. In the doubles, the Romanians Gabriela Ruse and Jaqueline Cristian, in different pairs, qualified for the second round, after the victories obtained, on Friday, in Melbourne. Gabriela Ruse and the Ukrainian Marta Kostiuk defeated the Australian pair Destanee Aiuava and Maddison Inglis 6-4, 7-6, and in the second round they will have strong opponents, Elise Mertens (Belgium) and Ellen Perez (Australia), seeded 6th. Jaqueline Cristian and the Italian Camilla Rosatello defeated the pair Cristina Bucşa (Spain)/Iana Sizikova (Russia) 6-2, 6-7, 6-4. The next opponents for Cristian and Rosatello will be Leylah Fernandez (Canada) and Nadia Kicenok (Ukraine), 16th seeds.

     

    Fair – Romania will participate in the largest organic products fair in the world, BioFach 2025, which will take place in Nuremberg (Germany), between February 11-14, announced the Bio-Romania Association, supported by the Romanian Government through the Romanian Agency for Investments and Foreign Trade. According to the Association, Romania has been present for 20 years at this event dedicated to agriculture and ecological products. Since 1990, BioFach has become the essential meeting point for organic food producers worldwide, offering networking opportunities and a place where ideas can be exchanged between all actors in the value chain of the organic sector.

     

    US – The inauguration ceremony of the US President-Elect, Donald Trump, will be moved indoors, as the weather forecast for Monday in Washington indicates very low temperatures, the American press announces. Therefore, the swearing-in ceremony, which was supposed to take place on the steps of the Capitol, will take place inside the Capitol Rotunda, just as it was done at the ceremony for the second term of the former president Ronald Reagan. Donald Trump has told his supporters that they will be able to see the inauguration ceremony on screens located inside the Capital One Arena, a sports arena in Washington with a capacity of 20,000 people. The transition team announced that, on Monday, Donald Trump would again use his own Bible, and also the “Lincoln Bible”, a copy known by this name because it was the holy book used by the 16th president of the USA , Abraham Lincoln. The Republican leader also used these two copies when taking the oath for his first mandate, in 2017, the EFE agency reports. (LS)

     

  • June 20, 2017

    June 20, 2017

    VISIT – Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has today received the Dresden Medal of St. George of the Semper Opera Ball, at the Romanian Embassy in Berlin. The President has said, upon receiving the medal, that he dedicates it to the Romanian-German friendship. Iohanis has also reiterated Romania’s commitment to the future European project. “Europe means democracy, pluralism, tolerance and diversity. The EU means freedom and responsibility”, the President has concluded. Later today Klaus Iohannis is attending in Berlin a ceremony commemorating the victims of refuge and expulsion hosted by the German History Museum. Iohannis will deliver a speech on this occasion. On Monday, Iohannis held talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and his counterpart Frank Walter Steinmeier.




    REFUGEES – A record 65.6 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced from their homes owing to conflict or persecution by the end of 2016, the United Nations announced. According to a report by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the record number includes 22.5 million refugees, 40.3 million internally displaced people and 2.8 million asylum seekers. Syrias six-year conflict alone has sent more than 5.5 million people seeking safety in other countries, including 825,000 last year alone, accounting for the worlds largest group of refugees. The report was made public on the occasion of the World Refugee Day, marked today. In Romania, as of 1991 up to present about 27 thousand people applied for a form of protection. Of them almost 5 thousand were granted the status of refugee or subsidiary protection. Since the start of the year 1,700 asylum applications have been submitted. Most asylum seekers come from Syria, Iraq and Pakistan.




    POLITICAL CRISIS – The political crisis in Bucharest continues, a day before the no confidence vote in Parliament. The coalition in power in Romania made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats tabled a motion of no confidence in their own Government. The motion will be discussed and voted on this Wednesday, and at least 233 votes are required in order for it to pass. According to the ruling coalition leaders Liviu Dragnea and Calin Popescu Tariceanu, the replacement of the executive team was necessary, given the delays in implementing the governing programme. The criticism is dismissed by the Prime Minister, who says 6 months is not enough time to implement large-scale reforms.





    BREXIT – The European Union and the UK on Monday launched Brexit talks, which will last less than two years and which will allow a country to leave the community bloc, for the first time ever. Chief negotiators Michel Barnier and David Davis have set up three working groups, established a meeting timetable, and identified the main priorities during the negotiation process. According to the EU treaties, the two sides have until March 29, 2019, to reach an accord on an array of deeply complex issues, including citizens’ rights, the UK’s financial obligations to the EU, and border and customs controls.




    COURT — The High Court in Bucharest is today setting new court appearance dates in the cases involving the Chamber of Deputies Speaker Liviu Dragnea, former PM Victor Ponta and former deputy PM and interior Minister Gabriel Oprea. The Social Democrat Liviu Dragnea is accused of instigation to abuse of office. Gabriel Oprea is also accused of abuse of office for having used public funds illegally. Also, former PM Victor Ponta is accused of forgery, accessory to tax evasion and money laundering, in a case also involving the former minister of transport, the Social Democrat senator Dan Sova.


    (Translated by Elena Enache)

  • October 3, 2016 UPDATE

    October 3, 2016 UPDATE

    SENTENCE – The High Court of Cassation and Justice in Bucharest on Monday sentenced to prison all the four defendants in the so-called Microsoft case, one of the most notorious corruption cases in Romania. The decision is final. Two influential business people, Dorin Cocos and Nicolae Dumitru, a former Minister of Communications, Gabriel Sandu, and the former mayor of Piatra-Neamt, Gheorghe Stefan, got a total of 19 years in prison. The High Court also decided to seize some 17 million euros worth of prejudice from the four. According to the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, in April 2004 the contract for awarding Microsoft licenses in the education system was signed to the detriment of the state, allowing the payment of special bonuses to the people involved. A 60-million-euro bribe and a prejudice standing at 27 million euros were among the charges facing the crime group at the time.



    UNIVERSITY – Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on Monday attendedthe opening ceremony for the new university year at the Western University of Timisoara. The president emphasized meritocracy, without which he said a better Romania would not be possible. He said that the country needed political projects looking to the future, as well as political visions and politicians who want to build a better Romania.



    DEFENSE – Romanian Defense Minister Mihnea Motoc announced on Monday that Germany would allocate general staff officers to the NATO multinational brigade forming in Romania. At the same time, Bulgaria confirmed once again it would contribute 400 soldiers to the brigade, while Poland would set aside a company for the combat unit, which is set to work alongside an American unit. The Rovine 2nd Infantry Brigade, headquartered in Craiova, southern Romania, will turn into the NATO Multinational Brigade, as part of the plan laid out at the NATO summit in Warsaw that took place this summer.



    URBAN DEVELOPMENT – European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Corina Cretu, said she hoped the Romanian Parliament elected on December 11th would align Romanian legislation with that of Europe. The commissioner attended in Bucharest a conference on today’s challenges in sustainable urban development and the role European funds play in it. She made reference to the EU’s urban agenda and its role in Romania. The commissioner visited several sites financed by European funds, attending conferences and meetings with Romanian officials.



    REFERENDUM – Nine out of ten Hungarians voted in Sunday’s referendum to turn down mandatory European quotas of refugees, but the low poll attendance, below 50%, invalidated the referendum. Radio Romania’s correspondent in Budapest informs that, in spite of its campaign against migration, the Conservative government led by Viktor Orban did not manage to bring people to the polls. The PM wants to validate the vote, and announced amendments to the Constitution.



    NOBEL – The Nobel Prize for Medicine went this year to Japanese researcher Yoshinori Ohsumi for research on autophagy, the metabolic activity in which organisms consume their own tissues when starving. His research is considered crucial for understanding cell renewal and the body’s response to hunger and infections, especially in its genetic aspects, relevant to research into cancer and neurological conditions.



    FOOTBALL – Romania’s national football team is preparing its away games against Armenia, scheduled for the 8th of October, and against Kazakhstan, on the 11th , part of the preliminaries to the 2018 World Cup to be held in Russia. Last month, the national team tied 1-all against Montenegro at home, in the first game under the guidance of German coach Cristoph Daum, the first foreign coach of a Romanian national side. In the same E group, Denmark bested Armenia 1-0, while Poland tied away from home in Kazakhstan, 2-all. On November 11, Romania is scheduled to play against Poland on home turf.


    (Translated by C. Cotoiu and V. Palcu)




  • December 28, 2015 UPDATE

    December 28, 2015 UPDATE

    Romania’s High Court of Cassation and Justice decided on Monday that Senator Dan Sova would further remain in police custody. Sova is accused of influence peddling. According to prosecutors, between 2011 and 2014, Sova accepted 100,000 Euro to persuade the general manager of a state-owned energy company to sign a contract with a specific law firm. In another case involving Dan Sova, is also investigated Romania’s former PM Victor Ponta, who resigned in November.




    Moldova’s Prime Minister designate, Ion Sturza, has announced he will present the government programme and the cabinet members on January 2nd, 2016. Last week, Sturza announced he would ask for Parliament’s vote of confidence on January 4th. Sturza supports the idea of a technocratic government and says the country’s economic situation is extremely serious. Only one political party, the Liberal Democratic Party, has so far voiced support for the new cabinet that Sturza will propose.




    1.3 million Romanians working for minimum wage in the private sector and for companies where the state is a partner are going to find out on December 30 if their income goes up, after the last government meeting this year. Until then, PM Dacian Ciolos is holding talks with employers and trade unions. In January, over 630,000 employees collecting state wages, such as public administration, police and gendarmes will get 10% higher wages. With a minimum gross wage of 230 Euro a month, Romania is last but one in the EU in this respect. In the Czech Republic the minimum wage is 332 Euro a month, in Poland 410, in Spain 760, and in Germany 1,470 Euro a month.




    AFP has declared German Chancellor Angela Merkel the most influential personality of 2015. In a year of crises for Europe, from the Ukraine war to Greeces debt turmoil to the historic refugee influx, Germanys Angela Merkel emerged as the continents de facto leader, drawing more praise and fire than ever, AFP reports. Time magazine also declared her as the worlds most influential person of 2015, beating to the plate Russian President Vladimir Putin, who won the title in 2014.




    Stratfor, a geopolitical analysis agency, says that Romania will play an important role in a future anti-Russian coalition. According to their forecast, Romania, Poland and Hungary will attempt to regain territory lost to Russia at some point in the past. Stratfor believes that the future of CEE will be defined by US interests. Poland is supposed to become the regional leader, while the EU, even though it would hold together, would be much more divided. The organization also expects Moscow to be afflicted by sanctions and low oil prices.




    Holland takes over the EUs rotating presidency on 1 January 2016 for the 12th time. The most important issues it will be facing are the wave of migration and terrorism. Dutch PM Mark Rutte said this is going to be a very pragmatic presidency, focused on common issues. As for migration, the Dutch premier said he was irritated by the fact that the migrant crisis fell on the shoulders of western EU members, while eastern members shirked their duties in this respect.



    (Translated by Elena Enache)