Radio România Internațional

Tag: Ireland

  • September 30, 2023

    September 30, 2023

    ALERT Teams of the
    Emmergency Situations Inspectorate, police, gendarme, army and border police units
    have conducted a series of searching operations in a district on the outskirts
    of the city of Galati, south-eastern Romania, after on Friday night a citizen
    called the emergency number 112 to report the sound of a big explosion in the
    area. The residents last night received alert messages announcing the fall of
    dangerous objects from the sky advising them to take cover. The Defence
    Ministry on Friday night alerted the Air Policing Service after having detected
    a group of drones flying towards the Ukrainian territory close to the Romanian
    border and notified the General Inspectorate for Emmergency Situations to
    instate the alert measures for the population in the counties of Tulcea and
    Galati. According to the Defence Ministry on the night of September 29th the
    Russian forces launched a new series of strikes against targets in Ukraine. The
    same sources say that the army radars detected a possible breach of the national
    airspace. No objects fallen from the sky have been identified yet. The ministry
    has been informing the allied structures on situations like these, keeping a
    permanent contact with them.




    ART Almost 100
    works of art by Romania’s famous sculptor Constantin Brancusi are on display as
    of today in Timisoara, western Romania, in the most important exhibition
    dedicated to this major artist in the past half a century. The exhibition
    includes sculptures, photos, archive documents and film footages on display at
    the local National Art Museum until late January. The exhibits’ total insured
    value stays around half a billion euros. Under the suggestive title, Brancusi,
    Romanian sources and universal prospects the exhibition invites the public to
    explore the way in which Brancusi managed to cross all geographic, historical,
    formal and gender borders in order to ensure that special place unattached to
    any artistic current. The exhibition has on view a series of artefacts borrowed
    from the National Museum of Modern Art, Pompidou Center, in Paris, the Tate
    Gallery in London, the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Art Museum in
    Bucharest, the Art Museum in Craiova and some private collections. Among the famous
    artefacts visitors can admire in Timisoara, there is the Bird in Space, the
    Kiss, Mademoiselle Pogany or Sleeping Muse. The aforementioned exhibition is
    part of the programme Timisoara – European Capital of Culture.




    RUGBY Romania’s rugby
    selection will today meet Scotland in their third World Cup match in France.
    Romania has so far lost to world leader, Ireland, and the en-titre champion,
    South Africa. Scotland has also lost to South Africa but outperformed Toga and
    still stands chances to qualify for the competition’s quarter-finals. Scotland
    is presently ranking third in the competition with 5 points, while Romania is
    on the last position with no points. However, our players are hoping to outperform
    Tonga on October 8th and avoid ending the competition in the last position.


    (bill)

  • September 29, 2023

    September 29, 2023

    Notification — The Save Romania Union — USR and the Force of the Right, in opposition, intend to notify the Constitutional Court today about the coalition (PSD-PNL) governments taking responsibility for the package of fiscal-budgetary measures. The two parties claim that there are numerous violations of the fundamental law in the government’s document. The USR leader, Cătălin Drula, claims that principles of fiscal responsibility were allegedly violated. Moreover, the notification to the Constitutional Court will also include the observations of the experts of the Justice Ministry regarding the Governments measures, which minister Alina Gorghiu would have ignored when she issued a favorable opinion for the legislative proposal, Catalin Drula said. Initially, the opposition evoked a censure motion, and today is the last day when they could submit it, but it is unlikely that they will be able to collect the required number of signatures.



    Conference — The Speaker of the Romanian Senate, Nicolae Ciucă, is participating also today in the Conference of Presidents of Parliaments from the 46 member states of the Council of Europe, organized in Ireland, Dublin. On the eve, he had said that populism harmed democracy and endangered the civil rights of all. According to the Romanian Senate Speaker, in the context of the war on Romania’s border, the role of national parliaments in the reconstruction of Ukraine and the challenges to representative democracy in unstable times are topics of great interest for Romania, as an EU and NATO member country. He also spoke about Romanias role in supporting neighboring Ukraine, from where more than five million refugees came



    Meeting – The Romanian Foreign Minister, Luminiţa Odobescu, is participating, today, in the meeting of the heads of diplomatic missions from the EU member states accredited to Bucharest, organized by the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU. On the eve, the Romanian FM took part in the opening of the second edition of the international Euro-Atlantic Forum for Resilience, with the theme Resilience at Sea and its Impact on Land. She emphasized the relevance of the Black Sea region in the context of the Russian Federations war of aggression in Ukraine, a region with a special geopolitical significance, located at the epicenter of this conflict. Minister Odobescu stated that Romania acted and will continue to act in coordination with the neighboring states and strategic partners, so as to facilitate the transit of Ukrainian agricultural products through the Romanian ports.



    Gas – Natural gas and electricity tariffs on the Romanian market will continue to be subsidized until the end of March 2025, the National Energy Regulatory Authority -ANRE announced. Thus, Romanians will pay 68 bani (13 euro cents) per kilowatt for a monthly consumption of up to 100 kilowatts, 80 bani (16 euro cents) for a consumption range of 100-255 kilowatt, 1.3 lei (26 euro cents) for a consumption between 255 and 300 kilowatts, and for what exceeds 300 kilowatts – 1.3 lei for the entire amount. In the case of gas, the price for one kilowatt/hour will not exceed 31 bani (6 eurocents). The ANRE representative, Valeriu Steriu, stated that this measure brings predictability and is “a safety net” for the population and industrial consumers. He showed that the total amount reimbursed by the Romanian state to the energy companies that applied the capped price scheme, was almost 21 billion lei (about 4.2 billion euros) two weeks ago. Meanwhile, the Transgaz National Company announced that it has already stored an amount of gas that exceeds 96% of the total storage capacity. (LS)

  • September 28, 2023 UPDATE

    September 28, 2023 UPDATE

    Salaries – The gross minimum wage in Romania will be increased, as of October 1, from 3,000 lei (600 Euros) to 3,300 lei (660 Euros), according to the decision adopted on Thursday by the Romanian Government. The measure will benefit 1.8 million employees. By increasing the minimum wage, the authorities aim at stimulating employment, increasing the purchasing power of employees and reducing illegal work. It will also benefit other social categories whose incomes are calculated according to the value of the minimum wage, such as people with disabilities and those who earn money from independent activities and from intellectual property rights. (…) The Social-Democratic Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu pointed out that the increase in the minimum wage in agriculture, construction and the food industry will be postponed, because the latest calculations show that employees would lose money when they pay health insurance contributions.



    Forum – The Euro-Atlantic Resilience Center (E-ARC) in Bucharest is hosting the second edition of the Euro-Atlantic Resilience Forum on Thursday and Friday, attended by Romanian and foreign experts as well as EU and NATO officials. According to organizers, this years theme is “Resilience at Sea and its Impact on Land”, seeking to answer security challenges impacting the maritime sector with significant consequences, which in most cases require concerted and global action. Each panel will be held simultaneously in Bucharest, New York, Brussels, Washington, Kyiv, Ljubljana and Lublin. E-ARC is a center of excellence in the field of resilience, a partner of NATO and the EU, which acts to the benefit of these organizations and member or partner states.



    Conference – Senate Speaker Nicolae Ciucă is attending the European Conference of Presidents of Parliament, representing the 46 members of the Council of Europe, an event hosted by Dublin, Ireland. Nicolae Ciucă said the meeting will address such topics as the fallout from Russias war in Ukraine, the role of national Parliaments in the reconstruction of Ukraine, challenges to democracy in times of instability and equality and diversity in public representation. According to the Romanian official, Russias unprovoked and unwarranted aggression against Ukraine has led to profound changes in European geopolitics, particularly in the fields of economy, energy and trade. “The Black Sea has become an area of increased interest to the worlds superpowers, and Romania finds itself in a strategic position of being the only member of both the EU and NATO that has land and maritime borders with Ukraine”, Nicolae Ciucă also pointed out.



    Visit – NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, on an unannounced visit to Kyiv, said on Thursday that Ukrainian forces were “gradually gaining ground” in their counteroffensive against Russian forces. He announced that NATO now had over-arching framework contracts in place with arms companies worth 2.4 billion euros ($2.53 billion) for ammunition. Stoltenberg said such contracts would allow NATO members to replenish their depleted stockpiles while also continuing to provide Ukraine with ammunition, a key factor in the war. On the other hand, NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg also condemned Russian strikes near Ukraines border with NATO member Romania. He said there was no evidence such strikes were a deliberate attack on Romania but branded them “reckless” and “destabilizing”. In turn, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky insisted that NATO members should provide Ukraine with more anti-aircraft systems, given the fear of a new Russian bombing campaign on Ukrainian energy infrastructures as winter approaches. The Ukrainian army is continuing its counter-offensive launched in June in Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk provinces in the south and east, through which it is trying to reach the Sea of ​​Azov to isolate Moscows troops from Crimea by land, while the Russian army attacks to the north.



    Brancusi — The exhibition “Brâncusi: Romanian sources and universal perspectives” was presented to the press, on Thursday, at the National Art Museum in Timisoara (west). It is the first exhibition of the artist in his native country, after more than 50 years, and it opens to the public on Saturday, as an integral part of the cultural program “Timişoara 2023 – European Capital of Culture”. Visitors can see sculptures such as Măiastra, Mademoiselle Pogany, Childs Head, The Kiss, Prayer or Milestone. The event will end on January 28, 2024. The last Romanian exhibition dedicated to the great sculptor was organized in 1970. (VP, LS)

  • July 22, 2019

    July 22, 2019

    CANDIDATE The president of the Social Democratic Party, in power in Romania, PM Viorica Dăncilă, is to have talks with the leaders of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, also in the ruling coalition, and of Pro Romania, the party headed by the former leftist prime minister Victor Ponta. The negotiations concern the forming of a coalition with a common candidate in the forthcoming presidential election. Viorica Dăncilă has recently said she would like a much broader support platform, including non-parliamentary parties, trade unions and NGOs, for the November election. Next week, the Social Democrats are scheduled to nominate their presidential candidate, who will be validated at a special congress on August 3rd.




    EXPORTS Romanias exports to the other 27 EU member countries went up 4.9% in January – April 2019, as compared to the corresponding period of last year, whereas imports from the Union grew by 7.5%, the National Statistics Institute reports. Romanias top 3 EU export markets were Germany (23.3%), Italy (11.1%) and France (7.4%). As for imports, the 3 largest partners are Germany (19.9%), Italy (9.2%) and Hungary (7.2%). In the first 4 months of the year, Romanias total FOB exports amounted to 23 billion euro, and total imports to 28.1 billion euro, up 8.3% since January – April 2018. The trade deficit was little over 5 billion euro, i.e. 1.3 billion euro more than in the corresponding period of last year.



    UKRAINE With more than half of the votes counted on Monday, the Central Election Committee in Kiev announced that president Volodymyr Zelenskys party, Servant of the People, won 42.47% of the votes in Sundays snap election, whereas the Opposition Platform for Life came second with 12.91%. Third-ranking are ex-president Petro Poroshenkos European Solidarity party and former PM Yulia Timoshenkos Batkivshcina party with around 8% each, followed by the newly formed Voice party founded by rock star Sviatoslav Vakarchuk, with over 6% of the votes. The other 15 parties in the race failed to meet the 5% threshold to get into parliament. Kiev also announced that the turnout was 49.84%, the lowest in the history of independent Ukraine.



    BREXIT The European Commission prepares a huge aid package for Ireland, in order to make up for the economic loss entailed by a no-deal Brexit, Reuters reports, quoting The Times. The EU is ready to ‘spend whatever is necessary to support the Irish government in case of any disruption of trade, a high-ranking source has said. Over the weekend, thousands of anti-Brexit protesters marched in London ahead of the expected announcement of Boris Johnson as the new prime minister. On Tuesday, the Conservative Party in power will announce the winner of the race for Theresa Mays replacement, and the former foreign secretary Boris Johnson is largely viewed as the frontrunner. The Chancellor Philip Hammond, who is against a no-deal Brexit, announced his intention to step down if Boris Johnson becomes the new prime minister. The UK is set to exit the European Union on October 31st.



    MILITARY The 10th ‘Eurasian Partnership MCM Dive’ multinational exercise begins today in Constanta and along the Romanian Black Sea coast. Until Thursday, tens of military divers from Romania, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia and the US will take part in explosive device search and identification drills, will conduct open, semi-closed and surface-supplied diving missions and target searches using underwater drones. This is the only annual multinational exercise organised in the west part of the Black Sea, designed to improve the training of NATO divers and of diving units from Peace Partnership member countries.



    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)