Radio România Internațional

Tag: La francophonie

  • March 28, 2024 UPDATE

    March 28, 2024 UPDATE

    Francophonie – Romania is hosting an economic mission of the International Organization of La Francophonie, as well as a dedicated economic forum on its sidelines, a high-profile platform addressing businesses from French-speaking countries. Attending will be entrepreneurs and government officials from 88 member states. In an opening statement delivered on Wednesday, the Secretary General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Mathias Cormann, highlighted opportunities to further develop trade and investment between Central Europe, including Romania, and other French-speaking countries. On the sidelines of the event, Romanian companies can talk to potential business partners from Africa, Asia, North America, the Caribbean or Europe. Agri-food, IT, green energy and medical industry are but some of the sectors featured in the economic forum.

     

    Schengen – On March 31, Romania will join the Schengen area with its air and maritime borders. Starting this day, Romanians travelling to EU space and Schengen member states will no longer go through customs and passport control, but will go straight to boarding gates. Romania’s partial accession to Schengen will be marked on Friday through the inauguration of a new international departures terminal at the “Traian Vuia” Airport in Timișoara. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis are expected to attend the opening event.

     

    Press freedom – The European Council and the European Parliament have given the green light to the final draft of the Media Freedom Act, which compels members states to guarantee editorial independence of public service media by ensuring sustainable and predictable funding. The law protects online content and ensures enhanced transparency of media ownership. Authorities will be prohibited from pressing journalists and editors to disclose their sources, an underlying principle of investigative journalism in addition to access to information. The Media Freedom Act will also introduce an independent committee for media services comprising media authorities from member states, which will advise the European Commission regarding member states’ degree of compliance with the law.

     

    Energy – The Romanian government has approved the extension until March 31, 2025 of the electricity and natural gas price cap scheme for consumers. At the end of Thursday’s meeting, the Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja explained that measures are also included so that after the expiry of the mentioned deadline there should not be any sudden price increases. The executive also approved the extension by three months of the period of application of the civil liability car insurance rates practiced by insurers on February 28, 2023, when an adjustment of a maximum of 6.8% is allowed. The capping was valid until the end of this month, but now it will apply until June 30, 2024. According to the Finance Ministry, the measure is necessary to combat the excessive price increase and the gradual stabilization of the profile market, so as to avoid negative effects in other sectors of the economy.

     

    NATO – The Romanian Foreign Ministry launched, on Thursday, the “Born in NATO” campaign, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Romania’s accession to the North Atlantic Alliance and of the 75th anniversary of NATO’s creation. The campaign is dedicated to young people born after Romania joined NATO in 2004 and aims to promote the role and values ​​of the North Atlantic Alliance. Co-initiated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Defense, the campaign will include a series of events, between March and December 2024, with the aim of familiarizing young people with the values ​​and objectives of the Alliance. At the launch of the campaign, the Romanian foreign minister Luminiţa Odobescu spoke about Romania’s involvement within the Alliance and about the country’s contribution to strengthening security and stability in the Euro-Atlantic region. She also encouraged young people to get actively involved in society to promote the values ​​on which NATO is based, such as individual freedoms, human rights, democracy and the rule of law. For her part, the US ambassador to Romania, Kathleen Ann Kavalec, highlighted the close collaboration between the two countries, emphasizing the role and values ​​of the Alliance in ensuring regional and global security and stability. He also pointed out that the Strategic Partnership Romania – US reflects the common commitment to promoting peace, security and democracy.

     

    Council – NATO countries have strongly condemned Russia’s latest airstrikes against Ukraine and pledged to continue strengthening its defense, according to a statement issued at the end of Thursday’s meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council, convened at ambassadorial level, at Kyiv’s request. “Russia’s continuous attacks against the civilian population and critical infrastructure in Ukraine demonstrate the urgent need for continued support from our side”, said the Deputy Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance, Mircea Geoană, who chaired the Council meeting, which was joined via video conference by the Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov. NATO mentions in the press release that the allies are providing Ukraine with unprecedented military, financial and humanitarian assistance.

     

    Presidency – The president of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, has ratified the law banning the sale of e-cigarettes to minors. The law seeks to reduce the exposure of children and teenagers to tobacco products and stipulates fines up to 20,000 EUR, depending on the severity of the offense. The head of state also ratified the law on developing social services to prevent disenfranchised children from getting separated from their families. Under the new law, local authorities must organize daycare centers in local communities, with half of the expenses getting covered by the state. (VP, LS)

  • March 28, 2024

    March 28, 2024

    FRANCOPHONIE – Romania is hosting an economic mission of the International Organization of La Francophonie, as well as a dedicated economic forum on its sidelines, a high-profile platform addressing businesses from French-speaking countries. Attending will be entrepreneurs and government officials from 88 member states. In an opening statement delivered on Wednesday, Secretary General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Mathias Cormann, highlighted opportunities to further develop trade and investment between Central Europe, including Romania, and other French-speaking countries. On the sidelines of the event, Romanian companies can talk to potential business partners from Africa, Asia, North America, the Caribbean or Europe. Agri-food, IT, green energy and medical industry are but some of the sectors featured in the economic forum.

     

     

    GOVERNMENT – A draft emergency decree in the field of taxation is today discussed by the government. According to the document, meal allowances are expected to be maintained at the current value, applicable to all employees whose monthly income is below 1,600 EUR. Economic operators who reported accounting losses will be allowed to provide pay rises subject to certain conditions. State-owned enterprises that registered profits will deliver at least 50% of their dividends to the state budget. The government is also examining another two draft laws whereby it plans to deliver emergency aid worth 340 thousand EUR to underprivileged families and individuals and to create a subsidy scheme for regional development by boosting investment.

     

     

    PRESIDENCY – The president of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, has ratified the law banning the selling of e-cigarettes to minors. The law seeks to reduce the exposure of children and teenagers to tabaco products and stipulates fines up to 20,000 EUR, depending on the severity of the offense. The head of state also ratified the law on developing social services to prevent disenfranchised children from getting separated from their families. Under the new law, local authorities must organize daycare centers in local communities, with half of the expenses getting covered by the state.

     

     

    SCHENGEN – On March 31, Romania will join the Schengen area with its air and maritime borders. Starting this day, Romanians travelling to EU space and Schengen member states will no longer go through customs and passport control, but will go straight to boarding gates. Romania’s partial accession to Schengen will be marked on Friday through the inauguration of a new international departures terminal at the “Traian Vuia” Airport in Timișoara. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis are expected to attend the opening event.

     

     

    PRESS FREEDOM – The European Council and the European Parliament have green-lit the final draft of the Media Freedom Act, which compels members states to guarantee editorial independence of public service media by ensuring sustainable and predictable funding. The law protects online content and ensures enhanced transparency of media ownership. Authorities will be prohibited from pressing journalists and editors to disclose their sources, an underlying principle of investigative journalism in addition to access to information. The Media Freedom Act will also introduce an independent committee for media services comprising media authorities from member states, which will advise the European Commission regarding member states’ degree of compliance with the law.

     

     

    EPPO – The European Prosecutor’s Office is carrying out an investigation into the fraudulent purchase of tugboats for Lower Danube Delta, which caused a prejudice of approximately 7 mln EUR to the EU budget. The investigation targets workers with the Administration of the Galați Lower Danube River Administration and the Romanian Naval Authority. In 2019, the two institutions secured funding to purchase two multi-purpose tugboats, but delivered inaccurate documentation, prosecutors say. Although the boats were solely intended for river navigation, the suspects drew up the tendering specifications on the basis of the more restrictive technical characteristics and construction requirements specific to seagoing vessels. As a result, the type of vessels falling within the criteria of the tender specifications was very limited, which prevented other economic operators from participating in the tendering process, and ultimately favored only one applicant. Following the finalization of the contract with the supplier company, the two tugboats were delivered in July 2021, exclusively suited for maritime Danube, where the depth of the water permits navigation with a higher draught – therefore rendering the two boats unusable for river navigation. (VP)

  • November 21, 2022

    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)

  • November 20, 2022 UPDATE

    November 20, 2022 UPDATE

    Conference — The Romanian Foreign Minister, Bogdan Aurescu, will co-chair on Monday, in Paris, the third Ministerial Conference of the Support Platform for the Republic of Moldova, a permanent support tool created at the initiative of the foreign ministers of Romania, Germany and France this spring to mobilize the financial contributions of the international community and to support the necessary reforms for EU accession. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry — MAE, Minister Aurescu will co-chair this event together with the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France, Catherine Colonna, and the Foreign Minister of Germany, Annalena Baerbock. The conference will enjoy the participation of the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, and the President of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu. The meeting in Paris takes place in the context in which the Republic of Moldova is facing major energy, economic, humanitarian challenges and challenges to its resilience, against the background of the brutal war of aggression waged by the Russian Federation against Ukraine.



    Children’s Rights — A special government meeting will take place on Monday, in Bucharest, when children will take the seats of ministers, as part of an event organized on the occasion of the World Childrens Day. Thus, the government headquarters will become, for one day, the childrens headquarters – shows a Romanian Government’s communiqué. The children will present their vision and aspirations for Romania through a series of projects that they will propose during the simulation of the Executive session. The event is carried out in partnership with UNICEF Romania. The World Childrens Day is marked annually on November 20.



    Summit — During the La Francophonie Summit, held in Djerba, in Tunisia, Romania has emphasized the serious impact on security and stability at the regional and global level generated by Russias military aggression against Ukraine, as well as the particularly vulnerable situation of the Republic of Moldova (an ex-Soviet state with a majority Romanian-speaking population) in this context. At the Conference of Heads of State and Government from the French-speaking countries, Romania was represented by presidential adviser Sergiu Nistor, the Francophonie representative of Romanias president, Klaus Iohannis. Sergiu Nistor emphasized the need to urgently address the issues of the risk of manipulation and propagation of false information, disinformation and narratives on social networks in the French-speaking digital space. He also highlighted Romanias solid contribution to the promotion of the French language and the values ​​of the Francophonie, underlining Bucharests active commitment to international cooperation and assistance for development in the French-speaking space, by financing programs carried out in French-speaking Africa or in the member states of the International Organization of La Francophonie from Central and Eastern Europe. The representative of the President of Romania for La Francophonie also highlighted the continuation of the main emblematic programs of La Francophonie, run by Romania, such as the “Eugene Ionescu” doctoral and postdoctoral scholarship program or the course intended for officers who will operate within the UN peacekeeping operations carried out in Francophone areas.



    COP27 — COP27, the annual UN climate conference, adopted on Sunday a resolution that provides for the creation of a fund to finance climate damage already suffered by “particularly vulnerable” countries, a decision described as historic by its promoters. The decision was adopted by consensus, in the plenary assembly, at the end of the conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. The resolution emphasizes the immediate need for new, additional, predictable and adequate financial resources to help developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the economic and non-economic impact of climate change. The ways of implementing the decision are to be developed by a special committee and will be adopted at COP28 at the end of 2023, in the United Arab Emirates.



    Kyiv — Ukraines Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was rocked by bombings on Saturday night and on Sunday, drawing criticism from the UN nuclear watchdog, which warned that such attacks risked a major nuclear catastrophe, Reuters reports. More than a dozen explosions rocked the largest nuclear power plant in Europe – the International Atomic Energy Agency said. Moscow and Kyiv blamed each other for the bombings. Repeated bombing of the Zaporizhzhia plant, which Russia took control of shortly after invading Ukraine in February, is raising concerns about the possibility of a major accident just 500 km away from the site of the worlds worst nuclear accident that took place in Chernobyl in 1986. (LS)

  • November 20, 2022

    November 20, 2022

    Conference — The Romanian Foreign Minister, Bogdan Aurescu, will co-chair on Monday, in Paris, the third Ministerial Conference of the Support Platform for the Republic of Moldova, a permanent support tool created at the initiative of the foreign ministers of Romania, Germany and France this spring to mobilize the financial contributions of the international community and to support the necessary reforms for EU accession. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry — MAE, Minister Aurescu will co-chair this event together with the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France, Catherine Colonna, and the Foreign Minister of Germany, Annalena Baerbock. The conference will enjoy the participation of the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, and the President of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu. The meeting in Paris takes place in the context in which the Republic of Moldova is facing major energy, economic, humanitarian challenges and challenges to its resilience, against the background of the brutal war of aggression waged by the Russian Federation against Ukraine.



    Summit — During the Francophonie Summit, held in Djerba, in Tunisia, Romania has emphasized the serious impact on security and stability at the regional and global level generated by Russias military aggression against Ukraine, as well as the particularly vulnerable situation of the Republic of Moldova (an ex-Soviet state with a majority Romanian-speaking population) in this context. At the Conference of Heads of State and Government from the French-speaking countries, Romania was represented by presidential adviser Sergiu Nistor, the Francophonie representative of Romanias president, Klaus Iohannis. Sergiu Nistor emphasized the need to urgently address the issues of the risk of manipulation and propagation of false information, disinformation and narratives on social networks in the French-speaking digital space. He also highlighted Romanias solid contribution to the promotion of the French language and the values ​​of the Francophonie, underlining Bucharests active commitment to international cooperation and assistance for development in the French-speaking space, by financing programs carried out in French-speaking Africa or in the member states of the International Organization of La Francophonie from Central and Eastern Europe. The representative of the President of Romania for La Francophonie also highlighted the continuation of the main emblematic programs of La Francophonie, run by Romania, such as the “Eugene Ionescu” doctoral and postdoctoral scholarship program or the course intended for officers who will operate within the UN peacekeeping operations carried out in Francophone areas.



    Football — The World Football Cup in Qatar, the first to be held in the Middle East, starts today with the match between the representative of the host country and Ecuador, in Group A. The final tournament in Qatar, with 32 teams, will have 64 matches, which will be hosted by 8 stadiums, and it will end on December 18. This final tournament will be the last with 32 participating teams — as from 2026, 48 countries will participate. The holder of the world title is France. Romania is not participating in this years tournament. Instead, three Romanians will be present on the list of referees – István Kovács, in the center, and Ovidiu Artene and Vasile Marinescu, as assistant referees. Kovacs was appointed the fourth official referee in the opening match. The press agencies note that, since Qatar was designated, at the end of 2010, for the organization of this global event, it has been the constant target of numerous criticisms regarding accusations of corruption, inhuman working conditions for migrants, criticisms related to the respect for the women’s rights and the LGBTQ+ community, as well as the impact on the environment. The accusations were categorically rejected by the authorities in Doha, who emphasized that they had reformed labor laws, as well as by the World Cup organizers, who gave assurances that members of the LGBTQ+ community would be accommodated without discrimination, despite laws that criminalize sexual relations between people of the same sex in this country.



    COP27 — COP27, the annual UN climate conference, adopted on SUnday a resolution that provides for the creation of a fund to finance climate damage already suffered by “particularly vulnerable” countries, a decision described as historic by its promoters. The decision was adopted by consensus, in the plenary assembly, at the end of the conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. The resolution emphasizes the immediate need for new, additional, predictable and adequate financial resources to help developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the economic and non-economic impact of climate change. The ways of implementing the decision are to be developed by a special committee and will be adopted at COP28 at the end of 2023, in the United Arab Emirates.



    Statistics – In the last 4 years, more than half of the companies in the EU have carried out innovation activities, according to a Eurostat report. Investing in innovation means investing in the future of Europe, the EU officials say, and most companies in the community space are already implementing strategies based on technology, science and research. According to the latest Eurostat report, 73% of large companies with over 250 employees are the most interested in completely new strategies. They are followed by medium-sized companies, 60% of which have introduced new elements in their production processes. In the top of the countries with the biggest number of enterprises using new technologies are Greece, Belgium and Cyprus, and countries such as Hungary, Spain and Poland register values ​​below the European average of 53%. Romania is ranked on last position, with only 11% of companies interested in innovative activities. (LS)

  • March 20, 2018 UPDATE

    March 20, 2018 UPDATE

    PARLIAMENT — The laws on the judiciary were endorsed by the Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday, and are to be submitted to the Senate for a final vote. Previously, a special parliamentary committee passed the bill on the magistrate profession and the one regulating the organisation of the Higher Council of Magistracy. On Monday, the same committee passed the 3rd law in this package, the one concerning the organisation of courts. The bills were brought in line with the decisions of the Constitutional Court, after the Opposition and the High Court of Cassation and Justice challenged the changes adopted by Parliament. These changes include by-passing the President of Romania in the procedure for appointing the chiefs of the Supreme Court, and transferring this role to the Higher Council of Magistracy. The National Liberal Party and Save Romania Union, in Opposition, announced that the new amendments give them reasons to bring the new justice laws before the Constitutional Court again. In fact, Save Romania MPs resorted to an unusual protest in the Chamber of Deputies, where they lined up wearing T-shirts that read “#NoCriminals”. Some of the changes originally operated on the justice laws have generated large-scale protests among civil society and magistrates.



    LA FRANCOPHONIE – On Tuesday, the Romanian Government hailed the celebration of the International Francophonie Day, and Prime Minister Viorica Dancila said that Romania was known as a beacon- state of Francophonie in Central and Eastern Europe. The Romanian Prime Minister stated that the group of francophone countries was among the first international structures that Romania joined after 1989. In 1991, Romania got the status of observer, and in 1993 it became a full member of the International Organisation of La Francophonie. In 2006 it played host to one of the organisation’s summits. Between December 2018 and July 2019, Bucharest and Paris will organise the Romania — France season, a large-scale joint project focusing on contemporary culture and creativity, as well as areas such as education, economy, sports and tourism.



    CRIMEA – The Romanian Foreign Ministry stated on Tuesday that Romania did not recognize the illegal annexation of Crimea and of the city of Sevastopol by the Russian Federation, and therefore it did not recognize the organisation of elections on that territory. Romania’s stand is shared by the other members of the EU as well. In a communiqué, Romania reaffirms its support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of neighbouring Ukraine, within its legally acknowledged borders. Some 1.5 million voters were called to the polls in Crimea on Sunday to elect the president of Russia, exactly four years since the annexation of the peninsula.



    SECURITY – The activities carried out in 2017 by institutions with security responsibilities in Romania and the main objectives for 2018 were high on the agenda of Tuesday’s meeting of the country’s Supreme Defence Council, headed by President Klaus Iohannis. The members of the council also analysed the activity of the structures responsible for cyber-security and other topics of interest with regard to national security. Seen as the umbrella of strategic ministries and enforcement institutions, the Supreme Defence Council gathered at the meeting top figures such as the Prime Minister Viorica Dancila, the ministers of internal affairs, external affairs, justice, economy and finance, the Director of the Romanian Intelligence Service Eduard Hellvig, the Deputy Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service Silviu Predoiu and the Chief of the Romanian Army’s General Staff, General Nicolae Ciuca.



    BREXIT — The European affairs ministers of the EU member states, including the Romanian Minister Victor Negrescu, discussed in Brussels on Tuesday the post-Brexit relations between the Union and the UK. On the occasion, the European Commission’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier presented the general principles for the transition period, i.e. March 2019 to December 2020. Previously, Barnier and London’s negotiator David Davis had announced having reached an agreement on these guidelines, which concern, among other things, the rights of the around 4.5 million European citizens living in the UK and the 1.2 million Britons in the EU. At the end of this week the text will be discussed by the EU leaders during a meeting of the European Council.



    PROTESTS — In Bucharest, the SANITAS trade union federation on Tuesday picketed the headquarters of the Ministry for Public Finances. Unionists demanded, among other things, the implementation of pay raises for all healthcare and social assistance personnel as of March 1, the scrapping of the ceiling on bonuses and the offsetting of the income decrease caused by the implementation of a new pay scheme on January 1. Also on Tuesday, representatives of the National Federation of Trade Unions in Industry picketed the Economy Ministry, against the backdrop of discontent with the law regulating the national defence industry. The union president, Ioan Neagu, said that at the beginning of the year the Government was supposed to issue a resolution to regulate the number of employees that this industrial sector may absorb per year.



    MOLDOVA – The pro-Russia socialist president of the Republic of Moldova Igor Dodon claims that Romania might become Moldova’s number one enemy, if it continues to support unionist movements. The former Moldovan ambassador to Bucharest Iurie Renita has termed the statement hysterical, and by no means reflecting the view of the majority population in Moldova. Dodon has accused Romania before of having tried to interfere with the republic’s internal affairs and has insisted that unionist organisations and manifestations be banned. In the past two months, in more than 120 communes and towns in the Republic of Moldova, mayors and local councils have adopted symbolic declarations of unification with Romania and on Sunday the capital Chisinau will host an event celebrating 100 years since the union of Bessarabia with Romania. A province with a predominantly Romanian-speaking population in the tsarist empire, Bessarabia united with Romania at the end of the first world war, on March 27th, 1918. Following an ultimatum, the Soviet Union re-annexed Bessarabia in 1940, and the Republic of Moldova was created on part of that territory.



    MEETING – On Tuesday, the Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church Daniel received the Israeli Ambassador to Bucharest Tamar Samash. On the occasion, Daniel stressed the good relations that the Patriarchy has with the Jewish community in Romania. According to a press release, Daniel has stated that in the past years, thanks to pilgrimages to Israel, many Romanian orthodox believers have had the possibility to pray at the holy sites and to learn more about biblical tradition, and about common spiritual values. In turn the Israeli ambassador has stated that all joint projects help strengthen the relations between the two peoples and are proof of the Judeo — Christian heritage that laid the foundation of European culture.



    HANDBALL – On Wednesday, Romania’s national women’s handball team will take on the Russian squad, away from home, in Togliatti, in the third game of the Euro 2018 preliminary group. The return game will take place in Cluj, north-western Romania, on Sunday. With two victories from the previous games, the Romanian players, trained by the Spanish Ambros Martin, are leaders of the group with 4 points, followed by Russia and Austria with 2 points each and Portugal with no points. The teams ranking first and second will qualify for the final tournament, due to take place in France in December.

  • March 19, 2017, UPDATE

    March 19, 2017, UPDATE

    PARTY ELECTIONS – The special congress in which the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania, the junior partner in the ruling coalition, will elect a president, will take place on April 21, one of the partys current co-presidents, the Senate Speaker Calin Popescu-Tariceanu announced on Sunday. The other co-president is the incumbent Environment Minister, Daniel Constantin. Calin Popescu Tariceanu also said that Sundays meeting of the party leaders was organised in keeping with party regulations, and added that he would run for party president. News agencies have reported that the two co-presidents were at odds with respect to the date of the planned congress. Tariceanu wanted quick preparations for an election in late April, whereas Constantin argued that party elections should begin in local branches, and the newly elected county leaders should decide who the next party president will be.



    LA FRANCOPHONIE – The Romanian Foreign Ministry will organise two public diplomacy events in Bucharest on Monday, on the occasion of the International Francophonie Day. A bust of Leopold Sedar Senghor, co-founder of La Francophonie, and a leading political and cultural personality of Senegal, will be unveiled in the Francophonie Square, completing this unique site in Europe. The Francophonie Night will be hosted later on Monday by the I. L. Caragiale National Theatre. The programme includes a concert by Cantata – The Romanian Youth Orchestra and the Francophonie Awards ceremony, organised by the group of Francophone embassies, delegations and institutions in Romania. As a member of the International Organisation of La Francophonie, Romania celebrates the International Francophonie Day on March 20th.



    ORLY AIRPORT ATTACK – Flights were resumed at Orly Airport, near Paris, one day after a shooting triggered the temporary closing down of two terminals, AFP reports. An armed man was shot dead on Saturday while attempting to steal a soldiers gun on that airport. According to the authorities, Ziyed Ben Belgacem, a 39-year old Frenchman held an air pistol at the soldiers head, saying he wanted to die for Allah. Earlier the same day the man had been involved in a shooting and car theft.




    PERU FLOODS – More than 70 people died in the worst floods and landslides in 20 years in Peru, the authorities have announced. The heavy rainfalls that lasted for several days have caused flooding and mudslides in large parts of the country, news agencies reported. A state of emergency has been declared in over 800 towns. According to authorities, this years rainy season brought precipitations 10 times more intense than usual. Over 500,000 people were evacuated as floods washed away homes, and many are stranded and depend on bottled water deliveries, after drinking water sources were contaminated or supply was cut off.



    CHUCK BERRY DIES – The American rock legend Chuck Berry died on Saturday at the age of 90. During a 7-decade long career the guitarist, singer and songwriter refined rhythm and blues music and enriched it with elements that made rock&roll an independent music style. Chuck Berrys first hit, the 1955 Maybellene, was followed by other famous songs like Roll Over Beethoven, Sweet Little Sixteen and Johnny B Goode. In 1984 he won a Grammy for lifetime achievement, and in 1986 he was one of the first musicians inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Chuck Berry was planning a studio album release in 2017, after a 38-year break.



    RUGBY EUROPE – Romania defeated Georgia 8 – 7, in Bucharest, in the last leg of Rugby Europe Championship, and won the ”Antim Ivireanu” Cup, granted to the winning team in direct matches. Previously in Rugby Europe, also known as Six Nations B, Romania had won its away games against Belgium and Russia and the match against Spain on home turf, but it surprisingly lost to Germany away from home. The performance in Rugby Europe Championship is a qualification criterion for the 2019 World Cup in Japan.



    GYMNASTICS WORLD CUP – The Romanian Catalina Ponor has won the beam and floor finals of the Gymnastics World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan. In the finals, the 2004 Olympic champion outperformed the Australian Emily Little and the Azeri Marina Nekrasova. Catalina Ponor was the only member of the Romanian team to have qualified into the finals of the competition. 120 athletes from 21 countries took part in the gymnastics World Cup in Baku, which marks the start of preparations for the European competitions to be hosted by the north-western Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca in April.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • March 20, 2016 UPDATE

    March 20, 2016 UPDATE

    CONTRIBUTION — Romania will contribute 60 border police officers, 10 experts in the field of asylum procedures, 6 utility cars, two maritime border patrol ships and other logistics equipment to the European effort of managing the migration flows from Greece. According to a press release issued by the Romanian Interior Ministry, all the capabilities will be operated in the international mission in Greece starting next week. A task force to coordinate this international effort has been set up in Athens, at the Greek Defence Ministry. Bucharest’s decision to support this effort was taken after the European Council meeting in Brussels of March 17-18, where president Klaus Iohannis represented Romania. On the sidelines of the meeting, EU leaders adopted a series of additional measures in the context of the implementation of the EU Agreement with Turkey to solve the refugee crisis.



    PALM SUNDAY — Catholic and Protestant Christians worldwide on Sunday celebrated Palm Sunday, the entering of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem, the last Sunday before Easter. A march was held in Bucharest to mark this event, led by Archbishop Ioan Robu. A similar procession was staged in Iasi, northern Romania. Roman-Catholics in Romania celebrate Easter on March 27, while Orthodox and Greek-Catholic Christians will celebrate Easter on May 1.



    HANDBALL — The Romanian women’s handball team on Saturday qualified to the Rio Olympics after Montenegro defeated the host country Denmark at the pre-Olympic tournament in Aarhus, Denmark. Romania outperformed Uruguay 36-19, after defeating Denmark in the first match 32-25. With two wins in two days, Romania and Montenegro have secured qualification to the Rio Olympics ahead of the last match in the tournament scheduled on Sunday. We recall that Romania grabbed bronze at the World Handball Championships in 2015.



    AWARD — Romanian poet Ana Blandiana on Saturday was designated the European Poet of Freedom, in recognition of her volume “My A4 Homeland”. The award was bestowed in Gdansk, Poland. Every two years Gdansk hosts the literary contest “The European Poet of Freedom”. In 2016 7 European countries enrolled in the competition: Romania, Portugal, Denmark, Hungary, Russia, Italy and Macedonia. The purpose of the event is to highlight and promote poetry volumes approaching one of the fundamental values of contemporary society: freedom.



    VISIT — US President Barack Obama is as of Sunday on a historic two-day visit to Cuba, a country seen until recently as hostile to the USA, Reuters reports. This is the first visit of a US president to this country in the last 88 years. In December 2014, President Obama and his counterpart from Cuba, Raul Castro, agreed to resume diplomatic relations, frozen since 1959 when the Cuban Revolution ousted the pro-American Government in Havana. Important security forces have been deployed to ensure the security of this visit. Since December last year the US and Cuba have resumed diplomatic relations, signed trade agreements in the field of telecommunications and air travel and have extended cooperation to the fields of law enforcement and environment protection. Major divergences still divide the two countries, especially the 54-year-long embargo the US imposed on Cuba. President Obama has called on the US Congress to lift the embargo, a proposal dismissed by Republican leaders.



    FRANCOPHONIE — The World Day of La Francophonie was celebrated on March 20 in all the 77 member states of the International Organization of La Francophonie, OIF. Romania joined the OIF in 1991 as an observer state and has been a member with full rights since 1993. Romania’s contribution to francophone initiatives and the modernization of OIF, as well as holding the rotating presidency of several OIF structures, have turned Romania into a lighthouse state for the francophone integration of Central and East European states.



    AGREEMENT — Authorities in Athens on Sunday announced they could not implement the agreement with Turkey on the return of illegal immigrants to Turkey. Singed on Friday in Brussels, the documents provides for the immediate return of all immigrants arrived in Greece back to Turkey unless they file an asylum application or their immigration motivation statements are rejected. The announcement has been criticized in several European states, where thousands of people on Saturday protested in solidarity with the immigrants.



    ATTACK — The author of the suicide bomb attack in Istanbul on Saturday has been identified as Mehmet Ozturk, a Turkish national born in 1992, linked with the Islamic State terrorist organization. The announcement came from Turkish Interior Minister Efkan Ala, who said Turkey would review all the security measures at all levels. 5 people were killed in Saturday’s attack, another 36 people are injured, of whom a third are foreign nationals. This is the fourth terrorist attack in Turkey this year, a week within a bloody terrorist attack in Ankara, claimed by the PKK Kurdish party, which killed 37 people.


    (Translated by V. Palcu)

  • March 20, 2016

    March 20, 2016

    CONTRIBUTION — Romania will contribute 60 border police officers, 10 experts in the field of asylum procedures, 6 utility cars, two maritime border patrol ships and other logistics equipment to the European effort of managing the migration flows from Greece. According to a press release issued by the Romanian Interior Ministry, all the capabilities will be operated in the international mission in Greece starting next week. A task force to coordinate this international effort has been set up in Athens, at the Greek Defence Ministry. Bucharest’s decision to support this effort was taken after the European Council meeting in Brussels of March 17-18, where president Klaus Iohannis represented Romania. On the sidelines of the meeting, EU leaders adopted a series of additional measures in the context of the implementation of the EU Agreement with Turkey to solve the refugee crisis.



    EARTH HOUR — 42 cities in Romania on Saturday observed the Earth Hour, a global initiative involving public and private institutions and citizens across the world. For one hour Romanians turned off their powered devices and took part in events devoted to environment protection. Romania joined over 7,000 cities in over 160 countries in an effort to raise the awareness of decision-makers with respect to serious climate issues affecting our planet, including global warming, pollution and high-energy consumption. In Bucharest and other cities Earth Hour was marked by bicycle, rollerblades and chariot tours. People used lanterns and flashlights as alternative light sources. Earth Hour has been observed in Romania since 2009 and since 2007 at global level.



    PALM SUNDAY — Catholic and Protestant Christians worldwide today celebrate Palm Sunday, the entering of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem, the last Sunday before Easter. A march will be held in Bucharest to mark this event, led by Archbishop Ioan Robu. A similar procession will be staged in Iasi, northern Romania. Roman-Catholics in Romania celebrate Easter on March 27, while Orthodox and Greek-Catholic Christians will celebrate Easter on May 1.



    HANDBALL — The Romanian women’s handball team on Saturday qualified to the Rio Olympics after Montenegro defeated the host country Denmark at the pre-Olympic tournament in Aarhus, Denmark. Romania outperformed Uruguay 36-19, after defeating Denmark in the first match 32-25. With two wins in two days, Romania and Montenegro have secured qualification to the Rio Olympics ahead of the last match in the tournament scheduled on Sunday. We recall that Romania grabbed bronze at the World Handball Championships in 2015.



    AWARD — Romanian poet Ana Blandiana on Saturday was designated the European Poet of Freedom, in recognition of her volume “My A4 Homeland”. The award was bestowed in Gdansk, Poland. Every two years Gdansk hosts the literary contest “The European Poet of Freedom”. In 2016 7 European countries enrolled in the competition: Romania, Portugal, Denmark, Hungary, Russia, Italy and Macedonia. The purpose of the event is to highlight and promote poetry volumes approaching one of the fundamental values of contemporary society: freedom.



    VISIT — US President Barack Obama is as of Sunday on a historic two-day visit to Cuba, a country seen until recently as hostile to the USA, Reuters reports. This is the first visit of a US president to this country in the last 88 years. In December 2014, President Obama and his counterpart from Cuba, Raul Castro, agreed to resume diplomatic relations, frozen since 1959 when the Cuban Revolution ousted the pro-American Government in Havana. Important security forces have been deployed to ensure the security of this visit. Since December last year the US and Cuba have resumed diplomatic relations, signed trade agreements in the field of telecommunications and air travel and have extended cooperation to the fields of law enforcement and environment protection. Major divergences still divide the two countries, especially the 54-year-long embargo the US imposed on Cuba. President Obama has called on the US Congress to lift the embargo, a proposal dismissed by Republican leaders.



    FRANCOPHONIE — The World Day of La Francophonie is celebrated on March 20 in all the 77 member states of the International Organization of La Francophonie, OIF. Romania joined the OIF in 1991 as an observer state and has been a member with full rights since 1993. Romania’s contribution to francophone initiatives and the modernization of OIF, as well as holding the rotating presidency of several OIF structures, have turned Romania into a lighthouse state for the francophone integration of Central and East European states.



    AGREEMENT — Authorities in Athens on Sunday announced they could not implement the agreement with Turkey on the return of illegal immigrants to Turkey. Singed on Friday in Brussels, the documents provides for the immediate return of all immigrants arrived in Greece back to Turkey unless they file an asylum application or their immigration motivation statements are rejected. The announcement has been criticized in several European states, where thousands of people on Saturday protested in solidarity with the immigrants.


    (Translated by V. Palcu)