Radio România Internațional

Tag: Language Day

  • August 31, 2017

    August 31, 2017

    DIPLOMACY – The Annual Meeting of Romanian Diplomacy continues in Bucharest today with a conference on the role of the Romanian business community in economic diplomacy. During Wednesdays meeting with the Romanian ambassadors and consuls abroad, President Klaus Iohannis called on diplomats to promote the rule of law and focus on protecting the rights and interests of the Romanian citizens abroad. The head of state also discussed the importance of the strategic partnership with the United States and urged the Romanian diplomats to support the trans-Atlantic relation. This years meeting of Romanian diplomats was themed A changing world: the goals of Romanias foreign policy.



    EXCISES – Romanian carriers criticise the Governments decision to increase fuel excises, and predict dark times will come for Romanian transports. The Romanian Federation of Transport Operators says each additional eurocent in the price of petrol and diesel will have a direct impact on the competitiveness of Romanian road carriers and will force many international transport operators to buy fuel from abroad. On Wednesday the Government decided to increase fuel excises in 2 stages, as of September 15 and October 1, respectively. Finance Minister Ionuţ Mişa explained that the measure would be introduced gradually so as not to generate a shock, consisting in higher prices and lower consumption, which would affect the state budget.



    LANGUAGE DAY – Today is the Romanian Language day, celebrated on the last day of August since 2013. On this occasion, the Ministry for the Romanian diaspora is organising in Bucharest, in a partnership with the Romanian Academy, a conference on Romanian language revival and renewal in the diaspora, while the Romanian Cultural Institute organises activities in major cities abroad. Conferences, roundtables, book launches, recitals and exhibitions are organised in Istanbul, New York, Madrid, Tel Aviv and Warsaw. The Romanian Language Day is also celebrated in the Republic of Moldova, and according to the ambassador of Romania to Chisinau, Daniel Ioniţă, this is further proof of the profound unity of the people living on the two banks of Prut River.




    JUDICIARY – The Romanian Justice Ministry has made public the bill modifying the laws on the judiciary, on which Minister Tudorel Toader has requested the official opinion of the Superior Council of Magistrates. The bill, which is intended to make the management of courts and prosecutor offices more efficient, stipulates changes primarily in terms of the professional assessment, promotion, and appointment to senior positions of staff in the judicial system. Some of the changes announced a while ago by Minister Tudorel Toader concern the appointment of the prosecutor general and of the chief prosecutors of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate and the Directorate Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism by the Superior Council of Magistrates based on a nomination by the Justice Minister, and the setup of a special directorate to investigate offences committed by magistrates. The measures have been criticised and prompted street protests. The National Anti-Corruption Directorate says this is a form of pressure on the work of prosecutors, while the Prosecutor General, Augustin Lazar, says that if endorsed, the bill would affect the independence of magistrates and the activity of judicial institutions.



    FOOTBALL – Romanias national football team is preparing for the game against Armenia, to be played on Friday on home turf, and the one against Montenegro away from home on Monday, as part of the preliminary Group E of next years World Football Cup hosted by Russia. The unchallenged leader of the group is Poland, with 16 points, followed by Montenegro and Denmark, with 10 points each, Romania and Armenia, 6, and Kazakhstan, with 2 points. In this preliminary campaign, the Romanian team is for the first time in its history managed by a foreign coach, the German Cristoph Daum.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • August 31, 2016 UPDATE

    August 31, 2016 UPDATE

    FUNERALS Romanias Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos on Tuesday participated in the national funerals held in Amatrice, Italy for the 37 victims of the earthquake in Italy. Ciolos also visited the Romanians whose shelters were destroyed by the quake, pledging support. The Romanian Labour Minister Dragos Pislaru, also on a visit to Italy, said the families left without shelter after the earthquake in Italy can benefit from financial support offered by the authorities in Bucharest after applying for it. The application is available at Romanias diplomatic missions and consular offices in Italy as well as at the county agencies for payment and social inspection in Romania. September 2nd has been declared a day of national mourning for the victims of the earthquake in Italy, which includes 11 Romanians.



    ELECTION Parliamentary election is to be held in Romania on December 11th 2016, under a decision the Bucharest government made on Wednesday. According to the spokesman for the Executive, Liviu Iolu, the date of December 11th has been accepted by all Parliamentary parties. The members of the cabinet of ministers have also adopted an emergency ordinance allowing for the setting up of election polls abroad in areas where voters were reported in large numbers in the past. The ordinance gives the voters abroad the possibility of voting in any poll, by enlisting in additional lists. Under the same law, the application of enlisting in the election registry and the copies of identity papers can be send also electronically.



    EDUCATION A series of cultural and educational programmes and events are held by the Romanian authorities, public institutions, diplomatic representations and cultural institutes abroad to celebrate Romanian Language Day on the 31st of August. Celebrations include Romanian traditional music shows, theatre performances and poetry readings both in Romania and abroad, in countries with large ethnic Romanian communities, such as Serbia, Bulgaria and Ukraine. The ex-Soviet, majority Romanian-speaking Republic of Moldova, where Romanian became the official state language in 2013, also celebrates Romanian Language Day.



    CONTRIBUTION Romania must have an active contribution to the efforts of the international community, the European Union and NATO, that is the community of values it belongs to, the Romanian president Klaus Iohannis told the Annual Meeting of Diplomacy in Bucharest. Romanias interests as a state located on the external border of this community obliges us to act in such a way as to ensure the security of the nation and that of the essential organisations, the EU and NATO, of which we are part of. At the same time, Romanias stability and economic growth, its low energy dependence, democratic predictability and support for the rule of law, as well as its actions in the areas of foreign policy and security are very important assets, especially in this region. They must be used wisely and in a visionary way so that Romania becomes stronger and more efficient, president Iohannis also said. At their annual meeting, Romanias ambassadors and consuls are looking at the main challenges, such as the relationship with the countrys main partners, the development of the international institutions Romania is part of, security and economic development. Both prime minister Dacian Ciolos and the foreign minister Lazar Comanescu said that in the face of the crises threatening Europe, Romania would continue to urge for a process of reflection so as not to deepen the already existing rifts between various states and groups of states.



    UNDESIRABLE The Bucharest Court of Appeal has declared the Pakistani citizen Shahzad Ahmed undesirable in Romania for a period of 10 years. This ruling came after the intelligence service had discovered that he carried out on-line propaganda for terrorist groups active in Pakistan, supporting the supremacy of extremist Islamism. Shahzad Ahmed, who is married to a Romanian national, has been placed under public custody prior to his removal from Romania.