Radio România Internațional

Tag: Hungarian

November 4, 2022 UPDATE

LAW Romania’s
president Klaus Iohannis Friday signed into law a bill banning convicted offenders
from running for public offices such as senators, deputies, mayors, chairs or
members of county councils and others. Under the said law, the ban does not
apply in cases involving rehabilitation, amnesty or decriminalisation.

AIRCRAFT Romania has signed an agreement to purchase 32 F-16
fighters from Norway. According to the Defence Ministry, the first aircraft
will be delivered towards the end of next year, and total costs amount to EUR 388
mln. The ministry also explains that the aircraft will be operational and fit
for use for another at least 10 years. The agreement is supported by the US
Government and is a capability transfer between 2 NATO member states, aimed at
enhancing Romania’s defence capacity and at ensuring the country’s contribution
to the collective defence as part of the Alliance. At present the Romanian Air
Forces operate 17 F-16 fighters.

TRADE The volume
of trade exchanges between Romania and Germany in the first 9 months of the
year exceeded EUR 28 bln, 18% higher than in the same period last year, says
the Federal Statistics Office quoted by the Romanian-German Chamber of Commerce.
According to the same sources, German exports to Romania stood at roughly EUR 15
bln, while imports exceeded EUR 13 bln, placing Romania on the 19th position in
a ranking by exports and on the 21st position in terms of imports. Federal
authorities have voiced hope that Romania will join the Schengen zone as soon
as possible in what is seen as a strong political signal acknowledging the
country’s positive achievements in terms of European integration.

EXTREMISM The Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation condemns the
xenophobic statements made by a Hungarian politician on a visit to Sfântu
Gheorghe (central Romania). Barna Bartha, a Deputy affiliated with the
extremist party Mi Hazánk (Our Motherland) made racist statements concerning
Roma and Jewish people, and threatened Boróka Parászka, a Hungarian ethnic
employed as a journalist with Radio România Tîrgu Mureş. The management of the
Radio Broadcasting Corporation sees these statements as unacceptable and a
serious attack against basic rules of democracy and against the rule of law. PM
Nicolae Ciuca also described the threats against journalist Paraszka Boroka as
a serious attack on democratic values and urged the relevant authorities to
use their legal powers to protect the members of mass media. Mi Hazánk is a
far-right party in Hungary, set up 4 years ago by dissidents from Jobbik party
after its leaders moved away from the organisation’s radical roots.

UKRAINE Some 4.5
million Ukrainians, accounting for one-tenth of the country’s population, were
left without electricity on Thursday night, after Russian attacks on the
country’s energy network. Power went out both in the capital Kyiv and in 10
other regions. The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Russians
cannot beat Ukraine on the battlefield, so they try to break our people by
resorting to energy terrorism. Meanwhile, Ukraine firmly condemned the
massive displacement of civilians in Russian-controlled Kherson region (south)
for fear of a massive Ukrainian counteroffensive. Civilians were reportedly
also moved in the neighbouring region of Zaporizhzhia and in Crimea, the
peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014, as well as in the eastern provinces of Luhansk
and Donetsk, partly controlled by pro-Moscow secessionists. (AMP)

4 November 2022
A bill that stirs public emotion

Romanias Senate Wednesday dismissed, by a comfortable majority, a controversial bill regarding the autonomy of the Szekler Land, under which this region in Transylvania would have been turned into an autonomous legal entity.

The bill was initially passed automatically by the Chamber of Deputies, through a procedure roughly equivalent to what is known as pocket veto, in the form tabled by 2 deputies from the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians.

The so-called Szekler Land is a region in the centre of the country mostly inhabited by ethnic Hungarians, and comprises the counties of Covasna, Harghita and part of Mureș County. The bill defined the borders of the territory that would have become the Szekler Land, which was supposed to have its own administrative organisation, its own institutions, using Hungarian as an official language and the official symbols of the Hungarian nation.

The pocket vetoing of the bill, which triggered tough political responses and emotion across society, is a legislative procedure in which, when the Chamber of Deputies is the first chamber that receives a bill and it fails to debate it within a set deadline, the bill is deemed approved and automatically forwarded to the Senate for the final vote.

President Klaus Iohannis accused the Social Democratic Party—the largest Opposition party in Romania—of having helped the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians to pass the bill in the Chamber.

Klaus Iohannis: “Whereas we—me, the government, the other authorities—are fighting the pandemic and struggling to save the lives of Romanians, the Social Democratic Party is fighting in their secret offices in Parliament to give Transylvania to the Hungarians! Jó napot, Ciolacu. I wonder what the Budapest leader Viktor Orban promised you, in exchange for this deal?

The Chamber speaker and interim leader of the Social Democrats, Marcel Ciolacu, dismissed the accusations:

Marcel Ciolacu: “Nobody has sold Transylvania, and nobody will! This has always been and will always be a part of Romania. I call on intelligence services to make a public statement and say whether or not they have ever sent President Iohannis any information concerning these accusations made against me and the Social Democratic Party, because electoral competition must not be brought down to such a level.

In a news release issued after the bill was rejected by Senate, the President of Romania warns that promoting such legislation is harmful for the Hungarian community, first and foremost, and generates artificial tensions within society.

A number of Senators emphasised the unconstitutional nature of the bill, and said it could not have been endorsed by the Constitutional Court in the first place.

The notable exception was the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians, which says the demands of the Hungarian minority are “absolutely justified and deplored the fact that Senate refused to discuss the matter.

In neighbouring Hungary, foreign minister Peter Szijjarto called on President Iohannis to “show more respect for the Hungarians. In response, the Romanian foreign ministry rated Budapests claims as “provocative and inappropriate and warned that the Hungarian official regrettably misinterpreted the statements made by the Romanian president

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

30 April 2020
June 8, 2019

G20 The Romanian finance minister Eugen Teodorovici is heading the EU Council delegation at the Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting held this weekend in Fukuoka, Japan. According to a news release issued by the Finance Ministry, the agenda of talks includes topics like financing for development, global economy, international taxation, global imbalances, population ageing, investments in infrastructure and financial sector issues. The G20 finance ministers and central bank governors will adopt an official declaration comprising the outcomes of the meeting, the news release also says.

UN The Romanian foreign minister Teodor Meleșcanu Friday attended the elections in the UN Security Council held in New York. Romania was a candidate for a non-permanent seat in the Council in 2020 – 2021, but was outrun by Estonia, which won with 132 votes against Romanias 58. The Security Council includes 5 permanent members with veto rights: the USA, Russia, China, France and the UK. Another 10 members have 2-year terms, after which they are replaced by countries from the same region. Next year 5 seats will be vacant, 2 for Africa, one for Asia-Pacific, one for Latin America and the Caribbean and one for Eastern Europe. To be elected in the UN Security Council, a country needs the support of two-thirds of the General Assembly members, which means at least 129 votes out of the 193 voting member states.

TENSIONS PM Viorica Dăncilă called for respect for Romanias state symbols and for public order, and urged responsibility in all political statements and actions concerning the situation in Valea Uzului, Harghita County. She also emphasised that a political approach of the situation is not likely to contribute to a constructive solution, and criticised attempts at deriving political capital by certain politicians. The Romanian Police opened a criminal investigation concerning the destruction of the access gate to the Valea Uzului graveyard, where military of various nationalities are buried, after on Thursday members of several Romanian organisations forced their way into the war cemetery to commemorate the Romanian soldiers buried there. According to the gendarmes, tensions were reported, but there were no violent clashes between the Romanian and the Hungarian ethnics in the area, as some Hungarian politicians had claimed.

TIFF The Ambassador of France to Bucharest, Michele Ramis, is in Cluj today to attend the Transylvania International Film Festival (TIFF). This years guest of honour is France, in the context of the France-Romania cultural season. A special programme is devoted to French cinema, including a complete Michel Gondry retrospective, a portrait of director Agnes Varda, music concerts, and the most original French project in TIFF, Uzina de filme (The Film Factory), a film studio where the public can experience a film shooting from scratch. The French Ambassador will also attend a concert entitled Soundtrack of Dreams and will participate in the TIFF closing gala. Established in 2002, TIFF is the first and largest film festival in Romania. Twelve works take part in the official competition this year, but a total of over 200 films will be screened as part of this 18th edition of the Festival.

RESIGNATION Theresa May Friday stepped down as leader of the Conservative Party and implicitly as a PM, after failing to persuade the Commons to accept her Brexit agreement with Brussels, leading to a postponement of Britains withdrawal from the EU to October 31st. May stays in office until a replacement is chosen, which will likely take place in the second half of July, as the Conservative Party announced. The official campaign is set to begin on Monday, with 11 contenders for Theresa Mays position in the party.

MOLDOVA The pro-Russian president of the Republic of Moldova, Igor Dodon, Saturday postponed signing a decree to dissolve the parliament, because MPs may still reach an agreement. He said the republic is on the verge of being destabilised, which is why he urged citizens not to start or join protests and turbulence. Dodon added that, if necessary, on Monday he will hold consultations on dissolving the national parliament. Moldovas Constitutional Court had ruled that parliament was to form a government by June 7, otherwise the head of state could dismantle parliament. MPs said that since their election had been confirmed on March 9, they have until June 9 to form a government.

FOOTBALL Romanias football team drew against Norway on Friday, 2-all away from home, in the Group F qualifiers for the 2020 European Championships. On Monday Romania will play away from home against Malta. In the first 2 matches in the group, played in March, the Romanians were defeated by Sweden in Stockholm, and won at home against Faroe Islands. Spain tops the Group F standings with 9 points, followed by Sweden with 7, with Romania coming in 3rd with 4 points. The top 2 teams in each group qualify into the final tournament. The drawing for Euro 2020 takes place in Bucharest on November 30. The Romanian capital city will also host 4 final tournament matches, 3 in the group stage and one in the 8th-finals. In related news, Romanias team will play this month in the European Under-21 Football Championships in Italy and San Marino, in Group C, alongside England, France and Croatia.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

8 June 2019
February 23, 2019 UPDATE

CONSULTATIONS The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, had talks on Saturday with his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, on the sidelines of the EU – Leage of Arab States held in Sharm-El-Sheikh, Egypt. According to a news release issued by the Presidency, Klaus Iohannis said the relationship between the 2 countries is very good and solid, and Egypt is one of Romanias traditional friends in the region and a key factor in ensuring regional stability and security. The 2 heads of state expressed their determination and interest in strengthening bilateral relations, with a focus on economic aspects. In this context, President Iohannis mentioned the increase in bilateral trade, which exceeded 918 million US dollars in 2018, making Egypt Romanias main trade partner in the region.

PES The Romanian PM Viorica Dăncilă had a meeting on Saturday with the PM of Spain, Pedro Sanchez, on the sidelines of the congress of the Party of European Socialists in Madrid. The 2 officials appreciated the decision to organise a Romania-Spain business and investment forum and the opening of a Romanian economic mission in Madrid, on March 13th. They also talked about the Romanian community in Spain, as well as means to diversify economic relations. PM Dancila reaffirmed interest in attracting Spanish investments in Romania, in infrastructure as well as in the automotive field, agri-food, pharmaceuticals, and IT.

PROTESTS Magistrates in Bucharest and several other Romanian cities decided to suspend work for a week, as of Monday, after on Friday they protested in front of court buildings against new changes in the justice laws. Prosecutors and judges say that Government Emergency Decree 7, passed by the Government early this week, may lead to institutional deadlock and affect their independence. One of the provisions that angered the magistrates says that judges having previously worked as prosecutors may be appointed as chief prosecutors, and waives the seniority criterion. The emergency decree has been criticised both in Brussels, by the European Commission, and in Romania, by magistrate associations, the prosecutors division in the Higher Council of Magistracy and by the right-of-centre Opposition.

MEDAL The Aurelia Dacorum Romanian gendarme unit in Afghanistan was awarded the Non-Article 5 medal in recognition of its six-month participation in the Resolute Support Mission in that country. According to a Facebook post of the Romanian Gendarme Corps, the medal was granted by brigadier general Markus Kurczyk (Germany) and the director of Police Institutional Advisory Team, colonel Warren Brainard (US).

HUNGARIAN The incumbent leader of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, Hunor Kelemen, was re-elected party president at the congress held in Cluj-Napoca, north-western Romania. The only candidate for this position, Hunor Kelemen won a 3rd term in office as president of the main political party representing the 1.5-million strong Hungarian community in Romania. The party supports the leftist ruling coalition in Romania, and has been represented in Parliament without interruptions since 1990.

MOLDOVA In the Republic of Moldova, parliamentary elections are held on Sunday. The recently modified election legislation scrapped the so-called reflection day, so candidates may campaign on the very day of the election as well. For the first time, a mixed voting system will be used, with 50 MPs elected on party lists and another 51 in a single-choice system, in one voting round. Polls indicate President Igor Dodons pro-Russian Socialist party is ahead, with nearly 40% of voter intentions, followed by a pro-European right-of-centre election cartel called ACUM, with 25%, and the pro-Western Democratic Party with 15%. A referendum is also held at the same time, concerning the reduction of the number of MPs from 101 to 61 and the possibility to have them removed from office by citizens.

HANDBALL The Romanian womens handball team CSM Bucharest was defeated on Saturday by the Hungarian side Gyor, 27-25, in a home game in Group 2 of the Champions League. In the first leg, title holder Gyor had won 36-27. With this victory, Gyor secured the top place in the group and remains undefeated in the Champions League in 19 games. CSM Bucharest is to play next on March 2, in Ljubljana, against RK Krim Mercator.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

23 February 2019
January 9, 2018

CABINET – Romanias Social Democratic Prime Minister Mihai Tudose this morning sent to President Klaus Iohannis the nomination of Senator Ioan Deneş for the Water and Forestry Minister post. In Mondays meeting of the National Executive Committee of the Social Democratic Party Deneş was chosen to replace Doina Pana, who last week resigned because of health reasons. The Social Democrats postponed for the end of this month discussions on a possible reshuffling, after the Prime Minister announced he would like his Cabinet downsized from 27 to 16 ministries.

DIPLOMACY – The Minister Delegate for European Affairs, Victor Negrescu, discussed in The Hague on Monday with the Dutch Foreign Minister Halbe Zijlstra about Romanias Schengen accession and the relations between the two countries as EU members, particularly the good economic relations. The two officials also looked at the key elements currently on the European agenda, including the Multiannual Financial Framework, the future of the EU and the common defence policy, in the context of Romania holding the rotating presidency of the EU Council in the first half of 2019. Known for the successive EU-wide campaigns for Romanias Schengen accession, including a petition, #RomâniaCereSchengen, signed by tens of thousands of Romanians and submitted to the European Parliament, the Minister Delegate for European Affairs suggested a vote in the Justice and Home Affairs Council. The Netherlands has repeatedly opposed Romanias joining the border-free area, on grounds of insufficient judicial reforms.

AIRPORTS – Bucharests 2 international airports, Henri Coandă and Băneasa, reported for 2017 record-large passenger numbers: nearly 13 million, which is 16.8% more than in 2016. According to the National Airport Corporation, in 2017 the number of takeoffs and landings was also 7.7% higher than in the previous year, reaching 130,000. In fact, Airports Council International-Europe has ranked Henri Coandă as one of Europes top 5 airports in terms of the increase in air traffic figures in the first 10 months of the year, in the category of airports with 10-25 million passengers a year. Henri Coandă airport came ahead of the international airports in Lisbon, Berlin, Brussels, Athens, Milan, Prague and Budapest.

TRADE – Romania continued to import more than it exported last year, and the trade deficit deepened by nearly 3%, according to the National Statistics Institute. Although exports grew by around 9%, they remain below imports, generating a trade deficit of 1.12 billion euro. The most important trade partners were EU member states.

ETHNIC AUTONOMY – Officials for 3 political entities representing the interests of ethnic Hungarians in Romania, including the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, a parliamentary party, Monday agreed to propose territorial, local and cultural autonomy for the so-called Szeckler County, a region in central Romania where ethnic Hungarians outnumber the other communities. The leaders of the other parliamentary parties in Power and in Opposition dismissed the idea as unconstitutional. They argued that Romania is one of the countries where the Hungarian minority enjoys the most extensive rights, and ruled out any autonomy negotiations. According to them, the initiative stands no chances because it comes against the requirements of a democratic system and fuels division within society.

TENNIS – The Romanian tennis player Mihaela Buzărnescu Tuesday qualified into the quarter-finals of the Hobart tournament in Australia, which has 226,750 US dollars in total prizes, while Monica Niculescu has reached the eighth-finals. Buzărnescu outplayed Germanys Anna-Lena Friedsam, and is to play next against the American Alison Riske. Monica Niculescu will take on Varvara Lepchenko, also of the USA. On Monday the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, the Australian Open, begins, with world no. 1 Simona Halep seeded first.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

9 January 2018