Radio România Internațional

Tag: Liberals

  • January 26, Newsflash UPDATE 2

    January 26, Newsflash UPDATE 2

    PNL The former PNL president, Crin Antonescu, has been unanimously confirmed as the joint candidate of the PSD-PNL-UDMR ruling coalition for the upcoming presidential election. The presidential election campaign is the most important political battle for Romania after the fall of communism, says the PNL interim president, Ilie Bolojan. He pointed out that firm actions, good ruling practices and transparency are needed to regain the trust of the Romanians. Antonescu says he is not running in the presidential race for himself or for the National Liberal Party, but for the country’s citizens and for Romania. The Liberals are the first to have officially validated Antonescu’s candidacy. UDMR is to announce its preference next week, while on February 2, the Social-Democrats are going to convene for a special congress. The first and second round of the presidential election have been slated for May 4 and 18. We recall that in December last year, Romania’s Constitutional Court invalidated the presidential election on grounds of foreign interferences in the election process. That cancelled first round had been won by the pro-Russia extremist candidate, Calin Georgescu.

    (bill)

  • Three scenarios for the new school year

    Three scenarios for the new school year

    The school year is going to start on September 14 with classes being held according to three scenarios that will be implemented in each region, depending on the number of new coronavirus infections per one thousand inhabitants. After consultations with the Liberal government, the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis announced on Wednesday that the decision regarding a possible total or partial lockdown on schools would be made by the local authorities, but most children will go to school in person.



    Klaus Iohannis: “The green scenario means a very small number of contaminations in that respective locality or no contaminations at all, while the red scenario means more than three people on average contaminated daily in the past days, which entails an alert scenario when children don’t go to school but study online. The yellow scenario is between the green and red ones. It means that kindergartens and primary schools will operate, the 8th and 12th graders who are preparing for an examination will go to school and for the rest, decisions will be made by each school. Part of the children will go to school and the others will study online, so as to ensure social distancing for those who go to school daily.”



    The education minister Monica Anisie also said that pupils will be obliged to wear masks during classes, and if the situation requires it, classes will be held online. The opposition Social Democrats have hailed the decision on the start of the school year in September but warn that children and teachers have not yet received the tablets and computers promised by the government to ensure online classes. The spokesman for the Social Democratic Party Lucian Romascanu says that the authorities have failed to properly manage the health crisis and urges them to observe their promises:



    Lucian Romascanu: “The lack of instruments for distance learning is a big problem and we hope that the epidemic will not recrudesce, so as to go back to online classes. I do hope that the education ministry will eventually do what it needs to do, given that there is enough money left following the ending of the “Crescent roll and milk” program. The later they act, the bigger the impact on children’s access to education.”



    The National Student Council has equally hailed the decision on the three scenarios for the beginning of the school year. The Save the Children Romania NGO also hailed the decision, warning that almost half of Romania’s children, 47%, have had limited access to education during the isolation measures imposed by the pandemic, as they did not have a tablet or a computer. The education minister says the government has allotted the necessary money for purchasing 250 thousand tablets for children from disadvantaged areas and is currently preparing the purchase of 74 thousand laptops for more than 1,100 high schools. (L. Simion)

  • Motion of no confidence against the finance minister

    Motion of no confidence against the finance minister


    The Romanian Chamber of Deputies debated, on Monday, a simple motion of no confidence tabled by the Social Democratic Party – PSD against the finance minister, Liberal Florin Cîțu. The PSD is showing discontent with the measures taken by the current government to re-launch the economy. The opposition claims that, after two months of state of emergency, after postponements and changes of laws, the finance minister has not managed to come up with efficient measures to support the economy.



    The Social Democrats say they tabled the motion because the government did not take any concrete measures to protect entrepreneurs and to maintain the living standards to an adequate level, in the context in which other states allotted up to 15% of the GDP to re-launch the economy. The Social Democratic MP Andrei Pop claims that, although the government has taken over a growing economy, with a small budget deficit and a low public debt, as a share in the GDP, the finance minister Florin Cîțu practically ruined the economy.



    Andrei Pop: “While the IMF, the World Bank and the European Commission forecast that Romania is going to face economic difficulties, the finance minister seems to be living an endless delirium, as he has announced that Romanians are in for fantastic things. The only fantastic things in store for us are: recession, unemployment, inflation, bankruptcy and poverty.”



    In turn, the leader of the Social Democratic MPs, Alfred Simonis, has criticized the finance minister for the loans taken out of late, and for their impact on citizens by the end of the year. Florin Cîțu has rejected all accusations and retorted with criticism himself, related to the economic situation left behind by the former Social Democratic government. He explained that the government had to take out loans to cover for the expenses made by the previous PSD governments, claiming that the decisions of the current government will help Romania recover fast after the crisis.



    The finance minister has given several examples to support his argument, namely the SMEs Invest Program for small and medium sized enterprises, the digitalization of the National Agency for Fiscal Administration and the increased tax collection. Minister Florin Cîțu accused the Social Democrats of using the crisis to hamper the government’s activity.



    Florin Cîțu: “I am here to tell Romanians that, while we are successfully managing this crisis, the National Liberal government and I, the signatories to the motion are trying to stop us. For two months, when the government has implemented measures to re-launch the economy, they modified all these measures in Parliament in a criminal and populist manner.”



    The Liberal MP Lucian Heiuş says that the text of the motion is a ‘black paper’ of all the Social Democratic governments, while the Save Romania Union MP, Claudiu Năsui, believes that Romania has missed the opportunity for deep reforms in this period of crisis. The simple motion of no confidence against the finance minister will be voted on Wednesday. (translation by L. Simion)

  • How fast will the Romanian economy recover?

    How fast will the Romanian economy recover?

    Romania’s right-wing President Klaus Iohannis and the Liberal government in Bucharest are convinced that Romania will come out well after the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, and that the economy will recover fast, although it is expected to report a steep downturn. Activity has been resumed these days in several economic sectors. Moreover, according to the finance minister Florin Cîțu, the government’s support measures, such as the IMM Invest – SMEs Invest program has helped the business environment.



    Florin Cîțu: “Differently from 2008, we managed to cover the furlough expenses from the budget, we have not made companies pay for their employees’ furlough. This means that companies have been left with resources than can be used. The government has taken these two measures: furlough and the SMEs Invest program, which is also valid for big companies, which, together, have ensured the production capacity. Jobs have not been lost, people can return to work and companies have not been shut down as happened during other economic crises.”



    President Klaus Iohannis also talked about an economic recovery program at a meeting with the business environment representatives. He said public investments in infrastructure should be massively increased, and the focus should be on Romanian products.



    Klaus Iohannis: “A fundamental target of the economic recovery plan that we are currently working on together with the government is the massive growth of public investments in all types of infrastructure, energy, transport, health infrastructure and so on. We are practically talking about a project for Romania’s reconstruction. Romanian quality-products are themselves a resource, which we are going to better promote, and we will support significant investments in strategic economic sectors, such as agriculture and the food industry, energy and health security.”



    The economic recovery plan has not managed to persuade the opposition, though. Here is the spokesman for the Social Democratic Party, Lucian Romaşcanu: “We remind President Iohannis that Parliament, which he has harshly criticized, voted a series of economic and social measures, such as the deferment of payments on loans without interest, the postponement of utilities and rents payment, the granting of concrete fiscal facilities for companies or the approval of transfer in lieu of payment. The President returned some of these laws to Parliament, the Liberal Party challenged others at the Constitutional Court and for other laws, the president is delaying promulgation.”



    The National Trade Union Bloc appreciates the president’s initiative to invite the business environment representatives for talks on economic recovery, but urges the president to also show availability for dialogue with the workers’ representatives. (translation by L. Simion)

  • End of the line for early elections

    End of the line for early elections

    Romania’s Constitutional Court on Thursday ruled by majority vote to invalidate the Government’s emergency decree on modifying the legislation for holding early legislative elections. The Court pointed out that the emergency decree eliminating a restrictive provision, thus allowing people to cast their votes in any polling station irrespective of the constituency they belong to, with the aim of eluding the very principle under which constituencies were created, goes against the Constitution.



    At the same time the Court ruled that the provisions in the Government’s decree regulating the possibility of holding legislative and local elections simultaneously in 2020 violate citizens’ right to vote, subjecting them to a tedious and complicated voting procedure that would eventually restrain their freedom to express their political will and hence the efficiency of their right to vote. The dispositions are also in breach of people’s right to re-election, as they prevent someone from running for positions in the local administration (mayor, city councilor, county councilor) or in Parliament (deputy or senator).



    Moreover, the Court also took under advisement the fact that the bill modifying the organization of legislative elections was passed less than a year before the elections were due. Court judges say the Government failed to observe the obligation to refrain from modifying election legislation, as per the recommendations of the Constitutional Court and the Code of good practices in electoral matters released by the European Commission for Democracy through Law (the Venice Commission).



    The Court notes that the Government’s bill infringes on citizens’ election rights, as well as on Parliament’s constitutional remit. The Court’s ruling basically rules out the possibility of holding early elections. Over the three decades that have passed since 1989, Romania has never had snap elections. Under the Constitution, procedures to trigger the elections require the consensus of the majority of political parties. As a result, legislative elections will be held in autumn as scheduled, during which time the Liberals will have to face a hostile Social-Democratic majority. (translated by V. Palcu)

  • The Romanian political scene is boiling

    The Romanian political scene is boiling

    2019 was a rather atypical year for Romania, when the Socialist left lost the elections and the Liberal right won almost everything. A party that has been dominating the Romanian post-Communist scene for 30 years now, the Social Democratic Party — PSD was defeated by the National Liberal Party in the elections for the European Parliament of May 2019, when they obtained only half of the votes which they had got three years before, when they had returned to power.



    The day after the elections, Liviu Dragnea, the strongman of the PSD and of the governing coalition made up of the PSD and ALDE — the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, was convicted and imprisoned for corruption. In September, ALDE went in opposition, and the government headed by the new Social Democratic leader, Viorica Dancila, became a minority government.



    In October, Viorica Dancila and her team lost the executive power after Parliament passed a motion of no confidence tabled by the former Liberal opposition which is now governing the country. Running in the presidential election, the leftist leader Viorica Dancila was defeated in November, in the second round, by the acting president Klaus Iohannis who was supported by the Liberals.



    According to a Social Democratic implacable tradition, all presidential candidates who lose the elections are removed from their positions, so Viorica Dancila, who got the poorest result ever registered by a leftist leader, was replaced by Marcel Ciolacu, the PSD’s spearhead, who also became speaker of the Chamber of Deputies.



    The PSD hopes that Ciolacu will take the Social Democrats’ revenge. And their first target is the bill on the modification of the local elections law, for which the Liberal cabinet headed by Ludovic Orban will assume responsibility, as announced. Like many politicians and civil society representatives, the Liberal PM supports the election of mayors in two rounds of voting, a move meant to increase the mayors’ legitimacy.



    The current system, according to which the winner is that candidate with the biggest number of votes won in the first round, led to strange situations, such as the one in Galati (southeastern Romania), the country’s biggest river port, where the current mayor was voted only by 9% of the electorate. The PSD blocked the respective bill in the special parliamentary committee and announced a motion a no confidence against the Orban cabinet.



    Backed by the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania that wants to preserve its political monopoly over many localities in Transylvania (in central Romania), the motion is rejected by the Save Romania Union party, the People’s Movement Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, whose members are in favor of two rounds of voting at the local elections.



    If the motion of no confidence is adopted, the PSD wants the country to be ruled by a national union government until the parliamentary elections due in autumn. Commentators argue though that the toppling of the Orban government might accelerate the procedures for organizing early parliamentary elections. And this would be a first in 30 years, and according to voter surveys, the Liberals would win an outright victory. (translation by L. Simion)

  • Early parliamentary elections under discussion

    Early parliamentary elections under discussion

    In 30 years of post-Communist democracy, Romania has been faced with many political and governmental crises, but none was solved through early elections, because the process is complicated and requires a lot of time. Nevertheless, at present, Romanian politicians have discussed the early elections scenario quite frequently, given that the minority Liberal government that came to power in November cannot promote its initiatives in a Parliament still dominated by the Social Democrats.



    Liberal Ludovic Orban’s cabinet has managed to pass several laws by assuming responsibility for them in Parliament, including the 2020 budget, which is a first for Romania’s governments. Although legal, the procedure is debatable, because it eliminates the opportunity for debates on the draft laws proposed.



    After 3 years of cohabitation with the Social Democratic government and the left wing majority, which from the very beginning was a an open political and institutional war, President Klaus Iohannis eventually got a Liberal partner at the beginning of his 2nd term in office, but realized that its powers were limited due to the lack of support. That is why he decided to get personally involved in promoting early elections.



    Early elections can be held if the current government is dismissed through a no confidence motion or if the PM steps down. According to Romania’s Constitution, in both situations, Parliament needs to reject two consecutive proposals for a new government, therefore the idea is for a parliamentary majority to be formed, which should reject two consecutive cabinets.



    Klaus Iohannis intends to discuss this issue with the political leaders in Bucharest: “Yes, I do want early elections. Of course, a no confidence motion is one of the options, but technically another option would be the resignation of the PM. I’m a going to discuss these issues with the PM and others.”



    The PM and the leader of the National Liberal Party Ludovic Orban has reiterated that snap elections can be triggered if and only if a parliamentary majority favoring this move is set up. The interim president of the Social Democratic Party PSD, Marcel Ciolacu, said his party was not afraid of the Romanians’ vote, no matter when parliamentary elections are held. He claims the Liberal government is a disaster and the Social Democrats are seriously considering filing a motion of no confidence. A decision in this sense will be made next week at the meeting of Social Democrats’ executive committee.



    Marcel Ciolacu: “This is a move asked for by the PSD members, by the society. It is obvious that one cannot govern a country by simply assuming responsibility and avoiding Parliament, one cannot try to observe electoral promises and cover up for the governing mistakes through slogans.”



    Political analysts are still not persuaded by the Social Democratic leader’s rhetoric, who is trying to build a platform for the future internal elections within the PSD. The Social Democrats have not yet recovered from the electoral shocks of 2019, when they lost both the EP elections and the presidential election. A recent IMAS survey shows that if parliamentary elections were held now, the Liberals would win with 45% while the PSD would get under 20% of the votes. (translation by L. Simion)

  • November 4, 2019 UPDATE

    November 4, 2019 UPDATE

    Investiture — The Liberal government proposed by the leader of the National Liberal Party, Ludovic Orban, was sworn in on Monday evening before the country’s right-wing president Klaus Iohannis. The latter congratulated the Liberals who managed to put an end to the previous Social Democratic governing which he labeled as toxic, and expressed hope that Romania would be put back on the right track. Previously, Romania’s Parliament invested the new Liberal government with 240 votes. The new minority government needed at least 233 votes to pass. Ludovic Orban signed, last week, several political agreements with the representatives of the Save Romania Union, the People’s Movement Party, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, and the national minorities group. Although the Social Democratic Party and Pro Romania party decided to boycott the vote, some deputies and senators from these two parties voted for the new government. Ludovic Orban has admitted the mandate of the new government is short, adding that urgent measures need to be taken, among which a last budget rectification to ensure all the necessary payments by the end of the year and the drafting of the 2020 budget, which should focus on investments in education, healthcare and infrastructure. The MPs that voted in favor of the new Liberal government said they would permanently monitor its activity, their vote not being a blank check. Thus, the Liberal government will take over from the Social Democratic government headed by Viorica Dancila, dismissed on October 10 through a motion of no confidence. Immediately after the vote, Viorica Dancila talked about a black day for democracy when the executive power was illegitimately confiscated. She fiercely attacked her counter-candidate in the upcoming presidential election, the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, whom she considers the mastermind of the dismissal of the Social Democratic government.



    Frigate — The frigate ‘King Ferdinand’ of the Romanian Navy, a Puma naval helicopter with a special operations navy crew on board are participating until Thursday in NATO’s ‘Sea Guardian 19’ operation in the Mediterranean. The frigate will carry out missions to deter any illegal actions on NATO’s and EU’s southern flank under NATO’s Allied Maritime Command. The program included stopovers in the ports of Aksaz in the south of Turkey, Alexandria in Egypt and Haifa Israel.



    Special announcement – 1 of the 5 short wave transmitters that beam RRI’s broadcasts is not working. The transmitter in Tiganesti, BD 300-1 near Bucharest, is still out of work. RADIOCOM, our broadcasting service provider, has announced that it will take up to several months to replace the broken components.


    In exchange, another short wave transmitter, in Galbeni, in the northeast of Romania, ID 300-1, has been repaired and is currently working.


    Due to the failure of the transmitter in Tiganesti, the digital broadcasting (standard DRM) of some RRI programs in English, French, German and Russian has also been disturbed. Meanwhile, we are kindly asking you to tune in for RRI’s short-wave broadcasts on the second frequency which we listed on the frequency schedule, as RRI usually broadcasts its programs on two frequencies to one target area. You’ll find the frequency schedule on RRI’s webpage www.rri.ro, under the ‘Frequencies’ button.


    We are sorry for any inconvenience and hope the situation will be remedied soon!


    (update by L. Simion)

  • Proposals for ministers after interviews

    Proposals for ministers after interviews

    The Romanian MPs and senators are expected to vote on Monday on the new Liberal government designated to govern Romania until legislative elections are held. After two days of hearings in Parliament’s special committees, on Tuesday and Wednesday, of the 16 candidates proposed by the PM designate Ludovic Orban only 13 have received a favorable vote, while 3 have been rejected. The 3 rejected candidates were to lead the ministries of finance, labor and development, that is those ministries that have to manage the country’s budget, more precisely big amounts of money necessary for Romania’s development. The Liberal leader and PM designate Ludovic Orban stated that he was satisfied with the proposals he made and announced he would maintain his proposals for Monday’s vote in Parliament.



    Ludovic Orban: “I am very content with the performance of the candidates appointed by the National Liberal Party. They have lived up to expectations, and I must underline that there has been a marathon 3-hour interview as never before, when the candidates were asked tens of questions by MPs.”



    The vote of the special parliamentary committees is advisory. Nevertheless, the speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Social Democrat Marcel Ciolacu, reminded of an unwritten rule according to which the candidates that do not get the green light in the committees are generally replaced by the PM designate. According to him, a new round of hearings might be held in due time, to observe the voting schedule established initially.



    Marcel Ciolacu: “If the PM designate is willing to do that, both I and the speaker of the Senate, Mr. Teodor Melescanu, are open to hold a new round of hearings to be able to observe the voting deadline of November 4, 2 p.m.”



    Ludovic Orban’s cabinet, which is to replace the Social Democratic government headed by Viorica Dancila, dismissed through a motion of no confidence, needs at least 233 votes in Parliament to be endorsed. In this sense, the PM designate Ludovic Orban has signed early this week accords and political agreements with the Save Romania Union party, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians’ in Romania, the People’s Movement Party, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats and the national minorities group.



    In exchange, Pro Romania, a splinter group from the Social Democratic Party PSD, said they were to decide whether to vote or not for the new government, while the PSD stated they would not participate in Monday’s plenary meeting vote. Therefore, the question is whether there will be the necessary quorum for the Liberal government to pass. That is why Ludovic Orban said negotiations with MPs would continue up until early next week to make sure MPs will attend Monday’s plenary session. (translation by L. Simion)

  • New regulations for the elections abroad

    New regulations for the elections abroad

    The Romanian Senate has convened in
    an extraordinary session to pass amendments to the Election Code, unanimously
    considered an emergency issue following the row caused by the huge queues at
    polling stations abroad, where many Romanians had to wait for hours to be able
    to cast their ballot in the latest European Parliament elections.






    In fact, the elections in May this
    year were considered a reiteration of the organizational fiasco of the 2014
    presidential voting abroad, when a significant number of Romanians from the
    Diaspora, was even unable to vote, a situation, which sparked off protests in
    front of the polling stations.






    The Social Democrats (PSD), number
    one in the coalition government, have attracted a lot of criticism for their
    failure to stage civilized elections. Under the pressure exerted by the public
    opinion, the presidency and the opposition, a draft on amending the election
    code, designed to eliminate dysfunctions that might appear during the election
    process, has been debated upon and approved by the Senate.






    Amendments include an extended
    election period for the Romanians abroad as well as the introduction of postal
    voting at the presidential elections in autumn. Senator Calin Popescu
    Tariceanu, leader of ALDE, the second political force in the government
    coalition, has shared with us the main amendments regulating the election
    process abroad.






    Calin Popescu Tariceanu: We
    are going to have a prolonged early voting session on three days: Friday,
    Saturday and Sunday. Polling stations are going to remain open on Sunday until
    24 hours and we are also going to have the postal voting, which wasn’t
    available in the presidential election, but only in the Parliament elections.






    According to opposition Liberal
    senator Laura Scantei, the aforementioned amendments are going to prevent
    dysfunctions in the future elections involving the Romanians abroad.






    Laura Scantei: This draft on
    amending several election laws is focusing on concrete measures, aimed not only
    at ensuring people’s fundamental right to vote, but also at preventing
    administrative hindrances to exercising this right. It is very important that
    all Romanian citizens in the Diaspora have been given voting alternatives,
    starting with the three-days early voting and the postal voting.






    On the other hand, the Liberals
    have called on the executive to mount an information campaign for the Romanians
    abroad, briefing them on the latest amendments to the Election Code. The
    Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) refused to endorse the
    amendments as they consider unfair for the voting to continue after 21 hours on
    Sunday as the Romanians abroad have been given three days to vote. The
    legislative amendments endorsed by the Senate have been submitted to the
    decision-making Chamber of Deputies for the final decision.




    (translated by bill)



  • June 17, 2017 UPDATE

    June 17, 2017 UPDATE

    GOVERNMENT – The Social Democratic Party, the main member of the ruling coalition in Romania, stepped up the process of dismissing its own Cabinet headed by Sorin Grindeanu. Parliament will convene on Sunday to present a motion to censure, and the document will be discussed and voted on three days later, on Wednesday. The Social Democrats need 233 votes to have the motion passed, and together with their allies, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania, they have 247 seats in Parliament. On Friday, ex-PM Victor Ponta was appointed secretary general of the Grindeanu Cabinet, in what analysts see as Grindeanus attempt to secure allies among the influential members of the Social Democratic Party, from which he has been recently expelled. In turn, the Social Democrats claim Sorin Grindeanu and Victor Ponta are trying to highjack the executive power. We remind you that PM Grindeanu will not step down, although the ruling coalition withdrew its political support for the Government and most ministers have resigned. Sorin Grindeanu is criticised for lack of efficiency in implementing the governing programme. In turn, he says the situation will be settled in compliance with the Constitution and the applicable legislation. The head of state, Klaus Iohannis, has called on the coalition to solve its internal crisis.




    POLITICS – Ludovic Orban, a minister of transport in 2007-2008, was elected on Saturday the new president of the National Liberal Party, the largest right-wing party in the Romanian parliamentary opposition. MEP Cristian Buşoi was his challenger in the election. Both candidates promised a revival of the party, after the deafeat in the 2016 general election, when they only got 20% of the votes, as compared to 45% for the Social Democrats. Comentators believe that, against the background of the current acute divergencies among the Social democrats, the Liberals stand good chances to return to the forefront of the domestic political arena. Attending the Liberal Congress was also the secretary general of the European Peoples Party, Antonio Lopez Isturiz White. For a long time affiliated to the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Europe, the National Liberal Party switched to the EPP in 2014. On Sunday, the Liberal Partys National coordination Council convenes to hold elections for 36 leading positions, for which over 100 party members are competing.




    HELMUT KOHL – President Klaus Iohannis sent condolences to his counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier on the death of former Chancellor Helmut Kohl. The head of the Romanian state paid tribute to “a great statesman and European leader and a source of inspiration for his handling of the challenges posed by the Cold War and the fall of the communist regimes in Eastern Europe. Iohannis added that Kohl was a close friend of Romania, having contributed to the success of the current Romanian-German relations. In turn, Emil Constantinescu, president of Romania in 1996 to 2000, said Helmut Kohl would be remembered in the history of Europe for his contribution to the remodelling of NATO and the EU in keeping with the great challenge represented by the end of the Cold War and its ultimate symbol, the fall of the Berlin Wall. Helmut Kohl died on Friday at the age of 87. Politicians from around the world have praised the outstanding European leader.




    CELEBRATION – The PM of Luxembourg, Xavier Bettel, accompanied by the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, took part in Sibiu on Saturday in the celebration of 10 years since this Romanian city and Luxembourg were together European Capitals of Culture. A member of the German community in Romania, the descendants of the Saxon colonists coming to Transylvania in the Middle Ages, President Iohannis was the Mayor of Sibiu in 2007, when Romania joined the EU, and his city was a European capital of Culture together with Luxembourg. The partnership between Sibiu and Luxembourg remains an example of what the European spirit is all about, Klaus Iohannis said on Saturday, and voiced hope that the borders that may build walls between Europeans would be replaced by bridges of culture, freedom and tolerance. Also on Saturday, the two officials attended the opening of an honorary consular office of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in Sibiu.




    FRENCH ELECTION – France is holding the second round of legislative elections on Sunday, under the restrictions of the state of emergency following the terrorist attacks of November 13, 2015. The newly elected president Emmanuel Macron is seeking to secure a parliamentary majority to support the programme on which he won the presidential ballot last month. With over 32% of the votes in the first round, held last Sunday, Macrons Republique en Marche movement is expected to win between 400 and 445 seats out of the total 577 in the French Parliament.




    FENCING – Romanias womens epee team won the bronze on Saturday in the European Fencing Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia, after beating Estonia 45-38. Romania also won the bronze in last years edition of the competition, held in Torun, Poland. Romanias participation in the Tbilisi championships thus ends with 2 bronze medals, the first of them won on Monday by Bianca Pascu, in the individual sabre event.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • June 17, 2017

    June 17, 2017

    GOVERNMENT – The Social Democratic Party, the main member of the ruling coalition in Romania, stepped up the process of dismissing its own Cabinet headed by Sorin Grindeanu. Parliament will convene on Sunday to present a motion to censure, and the document will be discussed and voted on three days later, on Wednesday. The Social Democrats need 233 votes to have the motion passed, and together with their allies, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania, they have 247 seats in Parliament. On Friday, ex-PM Victor Ponta was appointed secretary general of the Grindeanu Cabinet, in what analysts see as Grindeanus attempt to secure allies among the influential members of the Social Democratic Party, from which he has been recently expelled. In turn, the Social Democrats claim Sorin Grindeanu and Victor Ponta are trying to highjack the executive power. We remind you that PM Grindeanu will not step down, although the ruling coalition withdrew its political support for the Government and most ministers have resigned. Sorin Grindeanu is criticised for lack of efficiency in implementing the governing programme. In turn, he says the situation will be settled in compliance with the Constitution and the applicable legislation. The head of state, Klaus Iohannis, has called on the coalition to solve its internal crisis.




    POLITICS – MEP Cristian Buşoi and the former transportation minister Ludovic Orban are competing in Bucharest today, for the presidency of the National Liberal Party, the largest right-wing party in the Romanian Parliament. Both candidates promise a revival of the party, after the defeat in the 2016 general election, when they only got 20% of the votes, as compared to 45% for the Social Democrats. Commentators believe that, against the background of the current acute divergences among the Social Democrats, the Liberals stand good chances to return to the forefront of the domestic political arena. Attending the Liberal Congress is also the secretary general of the European Peoples Party, Antonio Lopez Isturiz White. For a long time affiliated to the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Europe, the National Liberal Party switched to the EPP in 2014. On Sunday, the Liberal Partys National coordination Council will convene, to hold elections for 36 leading positions, for which over 100 party members are competing.




    HELMUT KOHL – President Klaus Iohannis sent condolences to his counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier on the death of former Chancellor Helmut Kohl. The head of the Romanian state paid tribute to “a great statesman and European leader and a source of inspiration for his handling of the challenges posed by the Cold War and the fall of the communist regimes in Eastern Europe. Iohannis added that Kohl was a close friend of Romania, having contributed to the success of the current Romanian-German relations. In turn, Emil Constantinescu, president of Romania in 1996 to 2000, said Helmut Kohl would be remembered in the history of Europe for his contribution to the remodelling of NATO and the EU in keeping with the great challenge represented by the end of the Cold War and its ultimate symbol, the fall of the Berlin Wall. Helmut Kohl died on Friday at the age of 87. Politicians from around the world have praised the outstanding European leader.




    CELEBRATION – The PM of Luxembourg, Xavier Bettel, accompanied by the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, are taking part in Sibiu today in the celebration of 10 years since this Romanian city and Luxembourg were together European Capitals of Culture. A member of the German community in Romania, the descendants of the Saxon colonists coming to Transylvania in the Middle Ages, President Iohannis was the Mayor of Sibiu in 2007, when Romania joined the EU, and his city was a European Capital of Culture together with Luxembourg. Also today, an honorary consular office of the Great Duchy of Luxembourg is opened in Sibiu. On Friday in Bucharest, PM Xavier Bettel and his Romanian counterpart Sorin Grindeanu discussed bilateral cooperation, particularly in fields like IT, communications, tourism and banking.




    SIBIU THEATRE FESTIVAL – Many theatre performances, exhibitions, workshops and conferences are taking place in theatre halls and unconventional venues, as part of the Sibiu International Theatre Festival. Medieval market places and the pedestrian area in the centre of the city have been turned into stages for parades, concerts and circus acts presented by artists from around the world. The Sibiu International Theatre Festival, the greatest performing arts festival in Romania and one of the most important in the world, started on June 9 and comes to a close on Sunday. One of the special guests this year was the famous Russian-born dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov, who said he was impressed with the Festival in Sibiu.


    (translated by: Ana Maria Popescu)

  • Swearing in of local officials

    Swearing in of local officials

    After the local elections held in early June, the political parties started intense negotiations, at central and local level, in order to create a majority in the municipal, communal and county councils. The Social Democrat leader Liviu Dragnea says his party will have the dominant majority, together with its junior partners, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats- ALDE and the National Union for the Progress of Romania- UNPR, in almost 30 of Romanias 41 counties.



    The post-election map, dominated by the Social Democrats, actually reflects voters choice. In the local councils, the Social Democrats got 41.39% of the votes, the Liberals got 32.8% and ALDE got 6.22%. In the local councils the same hierarchy has been preserved. Of the 3,184 mayors seats in cities and communes, the Social Democrats got 1,677. They are followed by the Liberals with 1,081 mandates, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania with 195 and ALDE with 64. Although known as the most demanding and sophisticated voters, with pro-rightist options, Bucharesters also voted, for the first time, for a woman mayor, a Social Democratic Party member, senator Gabriela Vranceanu Firea. A former controversial journalist who got involved in politics 4 years ago, she was, according to analysts, the engine that towed the whole party forward and offered the Social Democrats all the mayors seats in Bucharests 6 districts.



    But its worth noting that the voter turnout was only 33%, much under the national average of 48%. Moreover, the officials were elected in one single round, the winner being the candidate who got the simple majority of the votes cast. The measure has been criticized by the civil society and the press, as, in the context of a low voter turnout, the mayors may be contested as illegitimate. Commentators also said that Romanians missed the chance to renew a local administration seriously discredited by the many corruption scandals.



    Last year alone 14 city mayors, 9 county council presidents and a prefect were prosecuted. In Bucharest anti-corruption prosecutors arrested the general mayor and 4 of the 6 district mayors elected 4 years ago. A paradox for many, in the northwestern city of Baia Mare, a local official, Catalin Chereches, was elected again by two thirds of the voters while he was arrested on charges of corruption. Another recently elected official, Mircia Muntean, the mayor of Deva, in the west, received a 6-year prison sentence immediately after the elections.



    In Ramnicu Valcea, in the south, the court invalidated the new mandate of Mircea Gutău who had already lost his right to be elected following a previous sentence. An important test ahead of the legislative elections due in autumn, the local elections show, according to sociological research, that the Social Democrats and the Liberals will continue to fight over political supremacy in Romania. However, the new political parties might create a surprise at the autumn elections, such as the Save Bucharest Union, an NGO turned into a party that has become the 2nd political faction in Bucharest.


    (Translated by L. Simion)