Radio România Internațional

Tag: labor minister

  • 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    Covid — COVID-19 no longer represents, at this moment, a public health issue in our country – the Romanian Health Minister, Alexandru Rafila, said on Sunday.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)

  • 19 April, 2016

    19 April, 2016

    MINISTER — In Bucharest today, the newly appointed labor minister, Dragos Paslaru, takes up his term under difficult circumstances, with trade unions protesting the planned emergency executive order on state wages. On Monday, 200 teachers protested outside the government building, demanding a 35% raise.



    VISIT — Spanish Minister of Justice Rafael Catala is on an official visit to Romania on Tuesday and Wednesday. He is scheduled to hold talks with Romanian Foreign Minister Lazar Comanescu, his counterpart Raluca Pruna, and head of anti-corruption, Laura Kovesi. These meetings are part of the intense cooperation between the two countries, considering the huge Romanian community in Spain, and the common interest displayed by the two countries in creating an international court for prosecuting terrorism. Spain has the largest community of Romanians living abroad, amounting to around one million.



    CUSTOMS CODE — Romanian goods will gain access to the entirety of the EU starting on May 1, 2016, when the Union Customs Code comes into effect. The document sets common procedures, harmonized across the EU, facilitating trade.



    INVENTION — Romania got 19 gold medals, 14 silver medals, two bronze medals, and 30 special prizes at the Geneva International Invention Salon. Romanian teams submitted 30 inventions, including a method to recycle safety glass and a device to pinpoint cancer cells. Over 1,000 inventions from 40 countries competed in the event, half of them from Asia, predominantly from China. Last year, Romania got 28 medals. Two years ago, the Grand Prize was won by a Swiss company for technology created by a team of Romanian researchers.



    CINEMA — The 12th edition of the Bucharest International Film Festival, running from Monday to Sunday, opened with the film Soy Nero, submitted by Iranian director Rafi Pitts. It tells the story of a deported Mexican who manages to enlist in the US armed forces in order to gain citizenship. The festival consists of 15 movie screenings for films from Spain, France, the US, Iran, Romania, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Argentina and Bulgaria.



    EARTHQUAKE – The Ecuadorian government announced that 400 people are known to be dead and around 2,500 injured after the 7.8 Richter scale quake on the Pacific coast of the country. The search for survivors continues, while reconstruction costs are estimated to reach billions of dollars. President Rafael Correa said this is the worst tragedy in the last 70 years for his country. On Monday, officials with USAID announced it would join UN rescue teams, sending teams of experts to Ecuador to support recovery after the earthquake.



    BOMBING — Around 30 people were killed and over 300 injured in a suicide bombing in Afghan capital Kabul, according to police sources. The attack was claimed by the Taliban, and targeted a government building housing security personnel.



    PULITZER — The winners of the Pulitzer Prize were announced in New York. The Associated Press won the prize for a public service. Reuters and the New York Times won the prize for breaking news photojournalism in relation to the refugee crisis. The Los Angeles Times won the prize for breaking news reporting on the San Bernardino massacre, while the Tampa Bay Times and the Sarasota Herald Tribune won prizes for investigative journalism.