Radio România Internațional

Tag: local

  • Romania, before the local and European elections

    Romania, before the local and European elections

    Almost 19 million Romanians with the right to vote are expected to go to the polls on Sunday, June 9, when the elections for the European Parliament take place, as well as the local elections for the appointment of mayors, of the presidents of County Councils and of the municipal and local councilors. For this double election, the Bucharest administration is organizing almost 19,000 polling stations in the country and 915 abroad. Approximately 370 million citizens from the 27 EU member states are expected to elect their representatives in the EP. The most voters are in Germany, over 65 million, followed by those in France, 50.7 million and Italy, 47.3 million. In this ranking, Romania is on 6th position.

     

    According to the Statistical Office of the EU, Romania ranks 13th in terms of the number of people who could vote for the first time after reaching the required age, with over a million young people. The ballots for the local and European Parliament elections have already been sent to the polling stations in the country and abroad. 18 million were distributed in Romania, while 2.5 million abroad. The President of the Permanent Electoral Authority, Toni Greblă, explained that Romanians cannot vote in the country with a simple passport, but with an identity card or another equivalent document.

     

    At the same time, he briefly explained the voting procedure: “At 7:00 a.m. all polling stations will be ready for the voting process. The Romanians abroad will receive only one ballot, for the European Parliament elections. In the country, voters will receive five ballots, if they vote in the locality where they reside, and they have the right to vote for the local and European Parliament elections. They will place each of the five ballots in the five specially designated and inscribed ballot boxes and then leave the polling station.”

     

    Romanians who are not in the country on Sunday can vote in the European Parliament elections at any polling station abroad, the Foreign Ministry reported. The institution recommends that they should identify the nearest polling station on the mae.ro website and have a valid identity card. The distribution of the 915 polling stations organized abroad, a figure two times higher compared to the previous European Parliament elections, was directly proportional to the number of Romanian citizens in each country.

     

    The most stations will be in Italy, 150, followed by Spain, 147, and Great Britain, 104. There are also places where polling stations have not been established, either because the Romanian military personnel were withdrawn, or because the diplomatic mission was closed or moved, as is the case in Afghanistan, Mali, Sudan, Libya, and also in Rostov-on-Don, in Russia, and Odessa, in Ukraine. The first country where the polling stations will be opened is New Zealand, on Saturday at 10 p.m. Romanian time, and the electoral process abroad will take place depending on the time zone for 34 hours. The last stations will close on Monday morning, when voting closes on the West Coast of the US and in Canada, in Vancouver. (LS)

  • Elections and campaign statements in Romania

    Elections and campaign statements in Romania

     

    The orthopaedic surgeon Cătălin Cîrstoiu (50), a dean at the “Carol Davila” Medical School in Bucharest and the manager of the Emergency University Hospital in the capital city, is running for mayor general of Bucharest.

     

    He was introduced as the joint candidate of the ruling coalition made up of the Social Democratic Party and the National Liberal Party. The Social Democrats’ president, PM Marcel Ciolacu criticised the work of the incumbent mayor general and said Bucharest needed someone to coordinate a team, to be a manager and a catalyst of high performance in all areas.

     

    His coalition partner, the Liberal leader Nicolae Ciucă, spoke about consistency and cohesion in the Bucharest local administration, and about a common denominator for what the City Hall and the district mayors should do.

     

    The appointment was criticised by Save Romania Union in opposition, which backs the incumbent mayor Nicuşor Dan for a new term in office.

     

    Another 2 candidacies have already been announced: the incumbent mayor of Bucharest’s district 5, Cristian Popescu Piedone, backed by the Humanist Social Liberal Party, and Mihai Enache, backed by AUR party in opposition.

     

    Cătălin Cîrstoiu’s campaign will be managed by Gabriela Firea, the president of PSD Bucharest, and by her Liberal counterpart, Sebastian Burduja, 2 politicians who had previously announced their own plans to run for mayor general in Bucharest.

     

    Cătălin Cîrstoiu explained why he accepted the challenge of running for office:

     

    Cătălin Cîrstoiu: “As a physician with a sense of civic engagement, I have reached the conclusion that health is not only about the methods employed in hospitals. Patients’ health is tremendously influenced by clean air, by efficient public transportation, by an efficient road infrastructure. In short, by a beneficial environment in which, when it comes to the City Hall, citizens do not need to claim their rights, but rather they find these rights as a given.”

     

    Shortly after the new candidate was introduced, the Bucharest mayor general, Nicuşor Dan, stripped the Liberal deputy mayor Stelian Bujduveanu of his main executive powers. “For 3 years we had a right-wing majority in the Bucharest Local Council, made up the of the National Liberal Party, USR and the People’s Movement Party, but now the Liberals have decided to form another majority with the Social Democrats, which no longer matches the position the deputy mayor was holding,” Nicuşor Dan explained.

     

    Stelian Bujduveanu coordinated areas such as transportation and acted as a liaison with the Bucharest Street Administration and the Bucharest Public Transport Corporation. These responsibilities have now been taken over by the mayor general himself.

     

    Meanwhile, the Central Technical Committee coordinating the organisation of local and European elections convened for the first time on Wednesday. Citizens will be invited to polls first on 9 June, when local and European elections are to be held concurrently. Also this year, presidential elections are scheduled in September and general elections will be held in December. The Constitutional Court Wednesday dismissed a notification submitted by the opposition against bringing forward the presidential election, so the first round will be held on 15 September and the second on the 29 September. (AMP)

  • March 18, 2024

    March 18, 2024

    ELECTIONS An emergency order merging the EP and Romania’s local elections on June 9 is discussed as of today in the Romanian Senate committees. The ruling coalition says the decision was made in order to motivate citizens to vote, but the opposition criticised the move. Save Romania Union, the People’s Movement Party and the Force of the Right party argue that the draft order changes essential elements in the elections only a couple of months before the vote date, which is against constitutional and international principles. AUR party, also in opposition, urged the Ombudsman office to challenge the new legislation before the Constitutional Court. Under the document, candidates may run in the local elections on behalf of a different party, provided that they notify the candidacy 45 days before election date.

    AMMUNITION PM Marcel Ciolacu Sunday night announced that Romania would have the most advanced ammunition powder production facility in Europe, in which the EU will also be a partner. Romania is set to receive EUR 47 mln in EU funding for this project implemented by the Romanian state-owned company Romarm jointly with Germany.

    STRIKE In Romania, local administration staff are on two-hour daily warning strike until the end of the week. Protests were also held one month ago, but were suspended after civil servants were promised solutions for their salary problems. Meanwhile, the leaders of the “Solidaritatea Sanitară” Trade Union Federation are meeting today for talks on a prospective all-out strike. Healthcare employees have been consulted online on the issue. Unionists say the 20% pay raise recently approved by the government is insufficient. Unionists in the trade sector, affiliated to the Cartel Alfa bloc, are also picketing the labour ministry headquarters today, to demand decent wages and working conditions.

    RUSSIA Vladimir Putin won the highest election score in the history of post-communist Russia, and secured another 6 years as president of the country he has been leading since late 1999. At midnight he thanked his supporters at his campaign office, where he gave a one-hour press conference saying his main challenge in this new term would be resolving tasks related with what he calls Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine. Russia’s elections were criticised around the world. The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it was obvious for anybody that “there is no evil Vladimir Putin will not commit” in order to extend his rule. In turn, the White House claimed the elections in Russia were neither free nor fair, given Putin’s track record of imprisoning his political opponents. Poland said the vote in Russia, held under extreme pressure, made it impossible for the election to be free and democratic. News agencies mention that under Vladimir Putin Russia was involved in several brutal wars, in Chechnya, Georgia, Syria and Ukraine, and the democratic system introduced after the fall of the Soviet Union has been replaced by a regime in which independent media have been forced out of the country and the opposition has been largely eliminated, with many of Putin’s critics assassinated, arrested or forced to leave the country.

    MISSILE The US today condemned the launch of a ballistic missile by North Korea into the Sea of Japan, during the US state secretary Antony Blinken’s visit to South Korea. The presumed missile launch is the second of this kind by Pyongyang this year, after a hypersonic missile fired on January 14. Antony Blinken reached South Korea on Sunday afternoon, to take part in the 3rd Summit for Democracy conference, an initiative of the US president Joe Biden hosted by Seoul until Wednesday. (AMP)

  • October 5, 2020 UPDATE

    October 5, 2020 UPDATE

    COVID-19 1,591 new cases of COVID-19 and 45 new fatalities have been reported nationwide in the last 24 hours, the Group for Strategic Communication announced on Monday. The total number of infections stands at 137,491, while the death toll stands at 5,048. 108,526 patients have recovered. There are currently 592 people in intensive care. 6,702 Romanians living abroad have tested positive for SARS CoV-2, while 126 have died. Most of these cases have been reported in Germany, Italy and Spain. The negative evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic in recent days does not require the reintroduction of the state of emergency, authorities say, insisting however on the importance of basic health safety measures, such as the wearing of face masks, observing physical distance and rigorous hand hygiene. The head of the Department for Emergency Situations, Raed Arafat, warned that harsher restrictions might be introduced in those areas where the infection rate has gone up significantly.



    LOCAL ELECTIONS The unaffiliated candidate Nicuşor Dan, backed by the Liberals and the USR-PLUS alliance, won the election for Bucharest Mayor General with 42.81% of the votes (282,631), according to the final results of the local elections in Bucharest, posted on the home page of the Permanent Electoral Authority. The Social Democratic candidate Gabriela Firea got 37.97% of the votes, followed by Traian Băsescu, from the Peoples Movement Party, with 10.99%, Florin Călinescu (Green Party) with 2.08% and Călin Popescu Tăriceanu (ALDE) with 1.49%. In the Bucharest General Council, the Social Democratic Party holds 21 seats, followed by USR – PLUS with 17, the Liberals with 12 and the Peoples Movement Party with 5 seats. The turnout at the Bucharest local election on September 27 was 36.76%.



    PRIME MINISTER On Monday Prime Minister Ludovic Orban tested negative for the COVID-19, but he will stay in quarantine until Thursday, working without physical contact with any other individuals, the Government announced. According to the source, the test was voluntary. The prime minister will be tested again on Thursday, 10 days after he was on a TV shooting set with a person who tested positive for the virus.



    DEFENCE Romanias Supreme Defence Council will hold an online meeting on Tuesday, chaired by president Klaus Iohannis, to look at defence and national security issues, such as a defence strategic analysis, the White Paper on Defence, the implementation plan for the national defence strategy 2020 – 2024, national security risks, threats and vulnerabilities forecast for next year, the Presidency announced. The last meeting of the Council was held in late May.



    ELECTION The investigation of local election fraud allegations and the elimination of taxes for three years in the hospitality industry rank high on Parliament’s agenda this week. Another topic under debate is the proposed postponement of the legislative election to March 14, 2021. The date originally set for the legislative election is December 6. Unaffiliated MP Adrian Dohotaru, who tabled this proposal, claims the legislative election should be postponed due to the alarming increase in the number of SARS-CoV-2 infections in Romania and the growing pressure on the health care system.



    NOBEL PRIZE The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2020 has been awarded jointly to researchers Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton and Charles M. Rice for the discovery of Hepatitis C virus. The recipients of the Nobel Prize for physics, chemistry, literature and peace will also be announced this week. The winner of the Nobel Prize for Economy will be made public on October 12. With the latter’s exception, the other Nobel Prizes were created by the Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel (1833-1896), the inventor of the dynamite. In 2020, each Nobel Prize will be accompanied by a $1.1 million check, which is more than in previous years. In 2019 the Nobel Prize for Medicine was awarded to American researchers William Kaelin and Gregg Semenza and to British researcher Peter Ratcliffe for their study on how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability. The Nobel Awards organizers have announced that, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the prize recipients will most likely receive their awards in their home countries, without having to attend an award ceremony in Stockholm. (translated by A.M. Popescu, V. Palcu)

  • September 30, 2020

    September 30, 2020

    COVID-19 Coronavirus outbreaks are spreading in Romania, particularly in care centres and in hospitals. The number of schools resorting to exclusively online classes is also on the rise. According to the latest official report, there are 2,158 new cases in the past 24 hours, and 33 new deaths. So far, 4,825 COVID-19 patients have died in Romania, and more than 127,500 people have tested positive.



    ELECTIONS Police and prosecutors carry on investigations in a criminal case initiated after on Sunday a Social Democrat running for a local councilor post was caught by representatives of Save Romania-PLUS Alliance with nearly 500 official reports from polling stations. The Central Electoral Bureau is to announce today a decision regarding the Social Democrats request for a vote recount in Bucharest Sector 1. The candidate backed by the Liberals and Save Romania-PLUS Alliance, MEP Clotilde Armand, said she would request the General Prosecutors Office to take over the investigation. The acting Sector 1 mayor, the Social Democrat Dan Tudorache, said he also requested the Bureau to do a vote recount. According to centralised data, Clotilde Armand has won the election with 40.95%, while Dan Tudorache got 39.82% of the votes. In Bucharest, the independent candidate Nicuşor Dan, backed by the Liberals and Save Romania-PLUS Alliance, secured some 43% of the votes for General Mayor of Bucharest. At national level, partial results point to major changes in the administration of county capitals. The Liberals, in power, have won 15 county capitals, the Social Democrats in opposition 14, and Save Romania-PLUS Alliance and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians 4 each. As for county councils, the Social Democrats won 20, the Liberals 17, and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians 4.



    COURT The Constitutional Court of Romania has dismissed an objection raised by the President and Government against a bill authorizing Parliament to set the date of this years parliamentary elections. The current bill is therefore deemed in line with the constitution, and president Iohannis is either to sign it into law, or to send it back to Parliament for a review. Meanwhile, in keeping with current legislation, the Liberal government decided on Friday that the parliamentary election will be held on December 6. Until its publication in the Official Journal, the bill tabled by the opposition parties, the Social Democrats, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians and ALDE, is not in force. If this happens, which specialists say is no longer possible because there is not enough time, it will be for the first time in 30 years that the date of general elections in Romania is set by Parliament and not by the Government.



    CONFLICT The Romanian Foreign Ministry announces that Romanian embassies in Erevan and Baku are prepared to provide consular assistance to Romanian citizens in the conflict in the region. Romanian citizens are urged to be cautious and to seek information in official sources as regards possible changes in travel conditions in the 2 countries. The European Court for Human Rights (ECHR) called on Azerbaijan and Armenia to refrain from any measures, especially military ones, that might infringe upon civilians rights. Clashes between Azeri and Armenian troops over the Nagorno-Karabakh refion continue, in spite of an appeal for cease-fire and negotiations coming from the UN Security Council. According to official data, 98 people, mostly Armenian separatist fighters and , and 17 civilians on both sides, have been killed in the past few days in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.



    TENNIS The Romanians Simona Halep (no. 2 WTA, seeded 1st) and Irina Begu (72 WTA) are playing today in the 2nd round of the Roland Garros tournament. Other Romanians have also qualified into the second round: Ana Bogdan defeated Timea Babos (Hungary), Irina Bara secured a surprising win against Donna Vekic (Croatia), and Patricia Ţig outplayed the Swiss Stefanie Voegele. In the doubles, Ana Bogdan / Rebecca Peterson (Sweden) are taking today on Marie Bouzkova (Czech Republic) / Arantxa Rus (Netherlands), Romanians Andrea Mitu and Patricia Tig are pitted against Madison Brengle (USA) / Yana Sizikova (Russia), Monica Niculescu (Romania) / Misaki Doi (Japan) are playing against Irina Bara (Romania) / Fanny Stollar (Hungary), and Sorana Carstea (Romania) / Sara Sorribes Tormo (Spain) play against Alison Riske(USA) / Ajla Tomljanovic (Australia). (translated by: A.M. Popescu)

  • Local elections in Romania

    Local elections in Romania

    Strict healthcare protection rules, including face covering, hand disinfection on entering and leaving the polling stations and physical distancing of at least one metre, were for the first time in history implemented for the local elections held on Sunday in Romania.



    The COVID-19 had already disrupted the calendar of local elections, originally due in June and postponed over the pandemic. All local elected officials saw their terms in office extended by 6 months, which fuelled voters eagerness to refresh local administration.



    In all, 41 county council chair positions, over 1,300 county councillor and 40,000 local councillor seats and around 3,200 mayor offices were up for election. The turnout at national level was 46%, which is only 2% lower than in the previous elections, when people were not facing coronavirus infection fears.



    The least interested in the vote were the citizens of the capital city Bucharest: only 37% of them voted, which is still more than 4 years ago. Bucharest accounts for one-tenth of Romanias voters, and except for the president of the country, the mayor of Bucharest is the one who gets voted by the largest number of people.



    The capital city is the richest in the country, with economic and social indicators above the EU average, and the most dynamic, in terms of demographics, and as such, the Bucharest mayor post is a trophy desired by all political parties.



    The new mayor of Bucharest is mathematician and civil rights activist Nicuşor Dan. The NGO he founded years ago, Save Bucharest Union, is the seed that gave rise to todays Save Romania Union, the third-largest party in Parliament. Somewhere along the way, for ideological reasons, Dan left the party he had started, but his candidacy was backed both by its former colleagues and by the Liberals in power.



    After he lost the 2016 ballot for the same post, Dan now won by a comfortable margin, defeating the outgoing Social-Democratic mayor Gabriela Firea. A high-profile anchor for a left-wing TV station, 4 years ago Firea was the first woman and also the first Social Democrat to win the Bucharest mayoralty.



    She ran for re-election on Sunday backed by the strongest party in Parliament, but with an image affected by a rather modest performance while in office. Bucharest is suffocated by pollution, paralysed by traffic congestion, with a bankrupt heating agency and still inadequate infrastructure.



    Along with Gabriela Firea, all 6 Bucharest sectors elected Social Democratic mayors 4 years ago. This year however, the candidates backed by the Liberals and Save Romania-PLUS won half of these seats.



    The competition between the 2 main political forces was tight across the country as well. Whereas the Social Democrats managed to keep many of their strongholds in the south and east of the country, the Liberals did the same in the west. The Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania remains the top player in the centre, where ethnic Hungarians make up a majority of the population.



    Voted by one-third of the people of Bucharest, which is equal to what the Social Democrats got and almost double the Liberals score, Save Romania-Plus won a few county capitals as well: Timişoara (west), Braşov (centre), Bacău (east).



    Although mocked by many, ex-president Traian Băsescus attempt to return as mayor of Bucharest at nearly 70 years of age and almost 2 decades after leaving this office did a lot of good to his party, the Peoples Movement, which went above the 5% threshold in Bucharest.



    Local election scores are, according to analysts, a starting point in designing the strategies political parties will adopt for the parliamentary elections due this December.


    (translated by: A.M. Popescu)

  • Local elections in Romania

    Local elections in Romania

    Strict healthcare protection rules, including face covering, hand disinfection on entering and leaving the polling stations and physical distancing of at least one metre, were for the first time in history implemented for the local elections held on Sunday in Romania.



    The COVID-19 had already disrupted the calendar of local elections, originally due in June and postponed over the pandemic. All local elected officials saw their terms in office extended by 6 months, which fuelled voters eagerness to refresh local administration.



    In all, 41 county council chair positions, over 1,300 county councillor and 40,000 local councillor seats and around 3,200 mayor offices were up for election. The turnout at national level was 46%, which is only 2% lower than in the previous elections, when people were not facing coronavirus infection fears.



    The least interested in the vote were the citizens of the capital city Bucharest: only 37% of them voted, which is still more than 4 years ago. Bucharest accounts for one-tenth of Romanias voters, and except for the president of the country, the mayor of Bucharest is the one who gets voted by the largest number of people.



    The capital city is the richest in the country, with economic and social indicators above the EU average, and the most dynamic, in terms of demographics, and as such, the Bucharest mayor post is a trophy desired by all political parties.



    The new mayor of Bucharest is mathematician and civil rights activist Nicuşor Dan. The NGO he founded years ago, Save Bucharest Union, is the seed that gave rise to todays Save Romania Union, the third-largest party in Parliament. Somewhere along the way, for ideological reasons, Dan left the party he had started, but his candidacy was backed both by its former colleagues and by the Liberals in power.



    After he lost the 2016 ballot for the same post, Dan now won by a comfortable margin, defeating the outgoing Social-Democratic mayor Gabriela Firea. A high-profile anchor for a left-wing TV station, 4 years ago Firea was the first woman and also the first Social Democrat to win the Bucharest mayoralty.



    She ran for re-election on Sunday backed by the strongest party in Parliament, but with an image affected by a rather modest performance while in office. Bucharest is suffocated by pollution, paralysed by traffic congestion, with a bankrupt heating agency and still inadequate infrastructure.



    Along with Gabriela Firea, all 6 Bucharest sectors elected Social Democratic mayors 4 years ago. This year however, the candidates backed by the Liberals and Save Romania-PLUS won half of these seats.



    The competition between the 2 main political forces was tight across the country as well. Whereas the Social Democrats managed to keep many of their strongholds in the south and east of the country, the Liberals did the same in the west. The Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania remains the top player in the centre, where ethnic Hungarians make up a majority of the population.



    Voted by one-third of the people of Bucharest, which is equal to what the Social Democrats got and almost double the Liberals score, Save Romania-Plus won a few county capitals as well: Timişoara (west), Braşov (centre), Bacău (east).



    Although mocked by many, ex-president Traian Băsescus attempt to return as mayor of Bucharest at nearly 70 years of age and almost 2 decades after leaving this office did a lot of good to his party, the Peoples Movement, which went above the 5% threshold in Bucharest.



    Local election scores are, according to analysts, a starting point in designing the strategies political parties will adopt for the parliamentary elections due this December.


    (translated by: A.M. Popescu)

  • September 25, 2020

    September 25, 2020

    COVID-19 Romania has had 1,629 new SARS-CoV-2 cases in 24 hours, the Strategic Communication Group announced on Friday at noon. The total number of infections thus reaches 119,683. Also on Friday, another 42 COVID-19-related deaths were reported, taking the total death toll up to 4,633. A total of 7,245 patients are currently hospitalised, with 508 of them in intensive care. Of the Romanians living abroad, 6,693 have so far tested positive for the virus, and 126 of them died.



    ELECTIONS In Romania, today is the last day of audio-visual campaigning ahead of the local elections due on Sunday. The campaign, which started on August 28 and was rather atypical because of the coronavirus pandemic, ends at 7 AM on Saturday. For the first time ever, the campaign took place in a state of alert and under strict healthcare protection regulations, and so will the ballot itself. A total of 18 million voters are expected in polling stations, to elect, in only one round, mayors, chairs of county and local councils and county and local councillors. Analysts say voter turnout will make an important difference in Sundays elections.



    SCHOOLS In Romania, face-to-face teaching in the schools where polling stations are organized for Sundays local elections will be suspended as of today, with classes only to be taught online until September 30. A number of 146 schools in Bucharest, which will not be hosting polling stations, will carry on in-person teaching, according to a scenario approved by the Bucharest Committee for Emergencies.



    RESIGNATION Giorgiana Hosu, chief prosecutor of DIICOT (the Directorate Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism), Thursday announced she was stepping down. The decision follows a 3-year suspended sentence given to her husband by a court of first instance. Appointed this February, Giorgiana Hosu is the 3rd DIICOT chief to resign in the past 5 years. Dan Hosu, former chief in the Romanian Polices organised crime division, was sentenced for inciting illegal access to a computer system and inciting the use of information not intended for publication, in view of obtaining undue benefits for himself or others. The ruling is not final.



    MILITARY Over 200 troops from Romania, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia and Turkey, with air and land equipment, are taking part in the 2020 Carpathian Eagle multinational exercise of Special Operations Forces, hosted by the Cincu base in Romania. According to the Defence Ministry, the exercise is designed to train military structures in planning, organising, implementing and managing independent special operations, with a view to enhancing regional security.



    BSEC The Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu will char today an informal, online meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), held on the sidelines of the 75th top-level UN General Assembly meeting. Romania is the acting president of the BSEC until the end of this year. The special guest of the meeting is the European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi.



    FOOTBALL Romanias football champions, CFR Cluj, qualified into the Europa League playoffs, after defeating Thursday night the Swedish team Djurgaarden IF, 1-0 away from home. In the playoff due on October 1, the Romanians will play on home turf against the Finnish side KuPS Kuopi. On the other hand, Romanias Cup winner FCSB (Bucharest), Thursday night lost at home to the Czech team Slovan Liberec, 0-2, and failed to qualify in the Europa League playoffs. FCSB played with a team of substitutes, because of the large number of coronavirus infection cases reported among its regular players. (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • September 19, 2020 UPDATE

    September 19, 2020 UPDATE

    COVID-19 Romanian authorities have reported another 1,333 coronavirus infections out of over 23,000 tests, as well as 42 new deaths. The number of patients in intensive care is 461. Since the start of the pandemic, the total number of cases in Romania is 111,550. Of them, 89,119 have recovered, and 4,402 died. The European Commission recommends extensive testing to identify COVID-19 cases as quickly as possible, and suggests a common strategy across the EU. Brussels has included Romania in a list of 6 countries where testing is based on a priority system because of inadequate testing capabilities. 18 member states use a compulsory testing system, whereas other countries encourage voluntary testing.



    PROTEST A protest was held in Bucharest on Saturday, against the protection measures introduced in schools in the new academic year. The participants oppose all healthcare recommendations, including face masks and physical distancing, and dismiss the studies that prove the efficiency of these measures and even the risks posed by the COVID-19. Gendarmes warned the protesters that they were breaking the rule banning outdoor events attended by more than 100 people during the state of alert, and reminded them of the obligation to wear face coverings and maintain physical distance from each other.



    ELECTIONS The Central Electoral Bureau has made a number of decisions to be implemented in next Sundays local elections in Romania. Among other things, a ballot will be considered valid even if the stamp exceeds the margins of a specific rubric in the form, provided that the voters choice is clear. Also, a person may vote even if the electronic monitoring system warns that the person in question has already voted. However, the person must sign a form acknowledging that if found guilty of voting fraud, the sentence is prison or a fine. In the September 27th ballot, Romania will elect 41 county council presidents, some 3,200 mayors, over 1,300 county councilors and over 40,000 local councillors. The local election, originally scheduled for June, was postponed over the COVID-19 pandemic, and local elected officials had their terms extended by half a year. Special voting rules in be in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The next election in Romania is the parliamentary election scheduled for December 6.



    CLIMATE Romanian farmers must adapt quickly to the effects of climate change. A new farming season has started this month, following a long drought, and weather experts warn that such periods will be increasingly frequent. In a statement for Radio Romania, the head of the National Meteorology Agency, Elena Mateescu, said farmers should replace sowing technologies, focus on plant species that are resistant to higher temperatures and have shorter growth periods. Also, Elena Mateescu argues, the farming calendar should be delayed. According to official data, around 1 million hectares of crops have been destroyed by drought this year.



    MARATHON Around 1,500 people, both children and adults, are taking part in the 5th edition of a marathon entitled Black Sea 24-hours Autism, held in Romania this weekend. The race started at the same time in around 100 locations in the country. The competing teams are running for a humanitarian cause in their local community. The routes—beachers, forests, parks—are monitored by judges and the data are centralized by the organizer of the competition, the Black Sea Psychology Centre in Constanţa (south-eastern Romania). The minimum requirement is to complete 100 km, with each km rewarded with a specific amount of money. This year the money will go not only to children with autism spectrum disorders, but also to other causes, such as building a home for a single mother of 6, supporting day care centres and buying school books for children with disabilities.



    TENNIS The Romanian Simona Halep, number 2 in the world, Saturday qualified into the semi-finals of the WTA tournament in Rome, after the Kazakh Yulia Putintseva (30 WTA) retired. Also on Saturday, Raluca Olaru (Romania) and Anna-Lena Friedsam (Germany) moved up into doubles final, having outplayed the Japanese Shuko Aoyama / Ena Shibahara. The tournament in Rome is held without a live audience, and competitors have to observe strict rules to prevent coronavirus infections.



    ATHLETICS The Balkan Association of Athletics Federations, jointly with the Romanian Athletics Federation, organise this weekend in Cluj-Napoca (north-west), the 73rd Balkan Outdoor Athletics Championships. Taking part are Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, the Republic of Moldova, Montenegro, Turkey, Romania, Serbia, and Ukraine. Romania is represented by 64 athletes. (translated by: A.M. Popescu)

  • September 19, 2020

    September 19, 2020

    COVID-19 Romanian authorities have reported another 1,527 coronavirus infections out of over 25,000 tests, as well as 48 new deaths. The number of patients in intensive care has dropped to 447. Since the start of the pandemic, the total number of cases in Romania is 110,217. Of them, 88,235 have recovered, and 4,360 died. The European Commission recommends extensive testing to identify COVID-19 cases as quickly as possible, and suggests a common strategy across the EU. Brussels has included Romania in a list of 6 countries where testing is based on a priority system because of inadequate testing capabilities. 18 member states use a compulsory testing system, whereas other countries encourage voluntary testing.



    ELECTIONS The Central Electoral Bureau has made a number of decisions to be implemented in next Sundays local elections in Romania. Among other things, a ballot will be considered valid even if the stamp exceeds the margins of a specific rubric in the form, provided that the voters choice is clear. Also, a person may vote even if the electronic monitoring system warns that the person in question has already voted. However, the person must sign a form acknowledging that if found guilty of voting fraud, the sentence is prison or a fine. In the September 27th ballot, Romania will elect 41 county council presidents, some 3,200 mayors, over 1,300 county councilors and over 40,000 local councillors. The local election, originally scheduled for June, was postponed over the COVID-19 pandemic, and local elected officials had their terms extended by half a year. Special voting rules in be in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The next election in Romania is the parliamentary election scheduled for December 6.



    CLIMATE Romanian farmers must adapt quickly to the effects of climate change. A new farming season has started this month, following a long drought, and weather experts warn that such periods will be increasingly frequent. In a statement for Radio Romania, the head of the National Meteorology Agency, Elena Mateescu, said farmers should replace sowing technologies, focus on plant species that are resistant to higher temperatures and have shorter growth periods. Also, Elena Mateescu argues, the farming calendar should be delayed. According to official data, around 1 million hectares of crops have been destroyed by drought this year.



    MARATHON Around 1,500 people, both children and adults, are taking part in the 5th edition of a marathon entitled Black Sea 24-hours Autism, held in Romania this weekend. The race started at the same time in around 100 locations in the country. The competing teams are running for a humanitarian cause in their local community. The routes—beachers, forests, parks—are monitored by judges and the data are centralized by the organizer of the competition, the Black Sea Psychology Centre in Constanţa (south-eastern Romania). The minimum requirement is to complete 100 km, with each km rewarded with a specific amount of money. This year the money will go not only to children with autism spectrum disorders, but also to other causes, such as building a home for a single mother of 6, supporting day care centres and buying school books for children with disabilities.



    TENNIS The Romanian Simona Halep, number 2 in the world, plays today in the quarter-finals of the WTA tournament in Rome against the Kazakh Yulia Putintseva (30 WTA). Also today, in the semi-finals of the doubles tournament, Raluca Olaru (Romania) and Anna-Lena Friedsam (Germany) are facing the Japanese Shuko Aoyama / Ena Shibahara. The tournament in Rome is held without a live audience, and competitors have to observe strict rules to prevent coronavirus infections. (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • Extended terms in office for local elected officials

    Extended terms in office for local elected officials

    Had it not been for the pandemic and other obstacles, local elections would have already been held in Romania by this time, because the terms of those elected 4 years ago were scheduled to end on June 21st. But the circumstances required an extension, as a means to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, so the Social Democrats and the Liberal Democrats, in opposition, jointly with the Liberals, in power, initiated a bill to avoid a situation where local communities would be left without mayors.



    In an emergency procedure, the bill was endorsed by Senate on Friday, so on Monday the Chamber of Deputies, the decision-making body in this respect, voted to extend the terms in office for local elected officials until November 1.



    Along with halving down the minimum number of signatures required for entering the election race, the Deputies also decided that the date of the forthcoming elections would be set at least 60 days before the vote, by means of an organic law. This latter element, that the election date cannot be set under a government order, is a bone of contention between the power and opposition.



    Just like in the Senate, the Liberals criticised this amendment and abstained from voting. The leader of the Liberal Deputies, Florin Roman, argued that setting the date through an organic law is unconstitutional and comes against provisions in the Administrative Code:



    Florin Roman: “This opens another Pandoras box, where a parliamentary majority at some point, which may be dictated by circumstances, takes away from the powers of the president, the powers of the government. So this is an issue that breaks the principle of the separation of powers.



    Conversely, the Social Democrats, which have a majority in Parliament, are of a different opinion. The Social-Democrat Marcel Ciolacu, speaker of the Chamber:



    Marcel Ciolacu: “As far as I can understand, after reading the grounds of the Constitutional Court ruling as well, it seems that both the Government and Parliament may set the date of the local elections.



    The MPs of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania also voted in favour. “This year political parties need to try and secure a much broader majority that the support the current government has in parliament, and we believe this broader majority is taking shape, the partys representatives said.



    In turn, the Save Romania Union argued that at the moment this bill is the only way to keep the local administration from collapsing.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • June 12, 2020

    June 12, 2020

    COVID-19 Another 222 cases of COVID-19 were reported today in Romania, up to a total of 21,404, with the death toll standing at 1,380. All deaths were related to patients with previous serious conditions, the Strategic Communication Group said on Friday. Over 15,445 patients have recovered, and 171 are currently in intensive care units. At least 3,300 Romanian nationals living abroad have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, and 114 have died. The Government will decide next week to extend the state of alert which was originally scheduled to end on June 16, PM Ludovic Orban has announced. In the meantime, a number of containment measures will be lifted as of Monday, June 15. Shopping centres will be reopened, except for indoor playgrounds, cinema halls and restaurants. Outdoor pools, lottery and bookmakers shops will also reopen.



    ELECTIONS Romanias Senate Friday endorsed a bill extending the term in office of local elected officials. This is an emergency procedure, given that the current term in office ends on June 21st and local communities would be left without mayors. The bill was introduced on Thursday following an agreement between the Social Democrats, the Liberals and the Liberal Democrats, and extends the mandate of local officials to November 1. Under the law, the date of local elections must be set 60 days in advance, the minimum number of supporters for a candidate has been halved, and candidacy files may be submitted online. The bill is to be discussed by the Chamber of Deputies next week, for a final decision in this respect.



    THEATRE This years edition of the Sibiu International Theatre Festival, which begins today, is held exclusively online. This years theme is “Empowered. For 10 days, 138 performances from 30 countries on 5 continents will be available free of charge on the Festivals home page, www.sibfest.ro, and on its Facebook page and YouTube channel. Adding to these are 12 special online conferences, an absolute first for the Sibiu Festival. According to the organisers, more than 250 hours of theatre, dance, music, contemporary circus, conferences, debates, play readings and childrens shows will be streamed free of charge until June 21st.



    INFLATION The annual inflation rate in Romania dropped to 2.3% in May, from 2.7% in April, with prices going up 25% for foodstuffs, 2.6% for services and 0.15% for non-foods, the National Statistics Institute reports. Consumer prices in May 2020 as against April 2020 rose by 0.05%. The finance minister Florin Cîţu recently estimated that this years inflation rate will fall below 2% this year, given the current downward trend. The National Bank of Romania also lowered its inflation forecast for the end of this year, from 3% to 2.8%.



    PANDEMIC The COVID-19 pandemic has killed at least 423,000 people worldwide since it first appeared in China in December, according to worldometers.info. A total of at least 7.5 million cases have been reported, with 3.8 million patients recovered. The US remains the worst hit country, with 116,000 deaths out of over 2 million cases, followed by the UK (41,000 deaths), Brazil (41,000 deaths), Italy (34,000), France (29,000) and Spain (27,000). The European Commission recommends the lifting of all travel restrictions within the EU and Schengen area as of June 15. Some EU member countries however, like Spain, decided to implement this measure at a later date. The Commission also considers a gradual opening of the EU external borders as of June 30, first of all to citizens from the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia), where the epidemiological situation is comparable with or even better than the one in the EU.



    FOOTBALL Romanias football championship, scheduled to be resumed tonight, was once again postponed, after the doctor for FC Botosani in League 1 tested positive for COVID 19. The national championship was suspended in March over the pandemic. The defending champions are CFR Cluj, followed by FCSB. On the other hand, further to Wednesdays drawing of lots, the Bucharest clubs Dinamo and FCSB will play one of the semi-finals of Romanias Cup, with the other semi-final pitting Sepsi OSK Sfântu Gheorghe against CSM Poli Iasi. The two semi-final legs will be played on June 24 and July 8, with the final scheduled on July 22.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • The Week in Review 31 May – 6 June

    The Week in Review 31 May – 6 June

    COVID-19 restrictions further eased in Romania


    June 1 came with a new stage in easing restrictions in Romania, even though the threat of the novel coronavirus is not yet behind us. With the death toll recently passing 1,300 out of 20,000 infection cases confirmed in the 3 months since the virus first hit Romania, the country now lifts another set of restrictions.



    Some of the measures introduced on March 15 to contain the spread of the virus had already been lifted two weeks ago, when the state of emergency was replaced by a state of alert. As of May 15, for example, people could leave their homes without needing a sworn statement to travel within the locality. Parks and museums reopened, and things took a turn to normalcy.



    The results of an analysis run by decisionmakers now, 2 weeks into implementing the new rules, prompted them to announce that as of June 1 Romania would take further steps to lift containment measures.



    These steps include the reopening of outdoor bars and restaurants and beaches, as well as the organization of outdoor performances with up to 500 people in attendance. Sports competitions that do not require direct contact between athletes are also resumed, and so is international road and railway transport. People can also travel freely from one locality to another. But even though some restrictions were eased, president Klaus Iohannis reiterated, caution is still needed.




    Constitutional Court rulings


    Romanias Constitutional Court ruled down any extension of local elected officials terms in office, and the date of the forthcoming elections must be agreed on by the Government and Parliament. On Wednesday, the Court ruled that a government emergency order extending the terms in office of local elected officials was unconstitutional. The Court also dismissed a bill passed by Parliament on the term in office for local public authorities and on the date of the local elections.



    Judges argued that an extension of these terms in office can only be regulated by law, and not by a government order. Parliament had passed a bill extending the term in office in local administration until the end of the year, in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, and giving Parliament the right to set a date for local elections.



    Constitutional Court judges argued however that institutional cooperation between Parliament and Government is necessary, and that local elections must be scheduled before the end of local authorities current term in office, on June 21. This means that as of next week parliamentary parties must start to prepare and table legislation to regulate the forthcoming local elections.




    New economic recovery measures


    The IMM Invest programme has been improved by the Government, which announced plans to also increase the budget earmarked for this programme, so as to triple the number of companies benefitting from these funds in a few weeks. Moreover, the Government has put together a plan to also support large companies affected by the crisis, similar to the programme devoted to small and medium-sized enterprises.



    The finance minister Florin Cîţu said the programme to support large companies will have a budget of around 1.6 billion euro, and will be ready within a month. He also announced that Bucharest will have to deposit guarantees of 393 million euro to be able to access funds under the EUs SURE programme, which targets active employment measures and which could channel up to 5 billion euros into Romania.




    Festivals postponed in Romania


    Major festivals, which had become a tradition in Romania and used to be scheduled every summer, were officially cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic and of relevant restrictions. Untold was due to take place between July 31 and August 2 in Cluj-Napoca (north-west), while Neversea was scheduled for early July in Constanţa, on the Black Sea coast.



    According to organisers, the decision was made in the context of the uncertainties looming over the events industry and of the strict conditions under which people are allowed to meet. The Culture Ministry presenting Parliament with a bill banning events with more than 1,000 people in attendance until August 31, 2020, did not help either.



    Summer Well, held every summer for the past few years near Bucharest, was also rescheduled for next year, and so was Electric Castle, another festival due in Cluj in mid-July. Also in Cluj, another landmark event, Jazz in the Park, was cancelled over the COVID-19 pandemic. Those who have purchased tickets for this years festivals may choose to use them for the forthcoming editions, or to get a refund, where possible.



    On the other hand, the 19th Transylvania International Film Festival, deferred because of the coronavirus containment measures introduced this spring, will be held between July 31 and August 9. TIFF comes with a summer edition with lots of outdoor screenings, holiday atmosphere and a programme adapted to the context. The screenings will be held in specially designed areas, with seats placed a safe distance from one another.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)



  • Orban Cabinet out: what comes next?

    Orban Cabinet out: what comes next?

    Criticised by his political opponents for trying to change the election laws without proper parliamentary debate just months ahead of the local elections, the Liberal PM Ludovic Orban Wednesday failed the test of a no-confidence motion tabled against his team. The 4th government since the 2016 parliamentary election and the first Liberal government in the same period only lasted for 3 months in power.



    The Social Democrats, now in opposition following a no-confidence motion passed in October, joined forces with Pro Romania, the party headed by the former prime minister Victor Ponta, and, also backed by the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, came up with more than enough votes to bring the Orban Government down.



    The stakes are high: the voting system for the forthcoming local election. The current format, with only one round of voting, favours the big parties, including the Social Democrats. And although its approval rates are declining, the Social Democratic Party continues to have the largest number of seats in Parliament and the largest number of mayors in the country. So the change in the voting system pushed forth by the Liberal Party would first and foremost affect the Social Democrats.



    In turn, the National Liberal Party, whose number of supporters has almost doubled since 2016 to around 47% according to opinion polls, also has a substantial number of mayors, but says a 2-round election system would ensure more legitimacy to local officials.



    The fall of the Orban Cabinet also paves the way to early elections, a scenario that both the Liberal Party and president Klaus Iohannis favour at present. According to president Iohannis, turning to voters is, at present, the most reasonable solution for the country. But the procedure for holding early elections is rather complicated, according to the Constitution. For the president to be able to dismantle Parliament, 2 prime minister nominations must be rejected within the coming 60 days.



    This outcome is desirable for both the Liberals and the Social Democrats, for different reasons, says political analyst Cristian Pirvulescu. As he put it, “the Social Democratic Party found itself in a position to choose the lesser evil, between the 2-round voting in local elections and early parliamentary elections.



    Another political analyst, Radu Magdin, agrees that the current result is good for the National Liberal Party and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians as well. “The Liberals target a 35% score in the parliamentary election, which is quite likely in the current circumstances, whereas the Social Democrats and the Ethnic Hungarian party focus on keeping the single-round voting for mayors. “Beyond going through the motions of political competition, Radu Magdin also says, this result also indicates heavy backstage negotiations. And the only party that stands to lose, according to opinion polls, is the 3rd placed actor, the USR-PLUS alliance.



    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • January 20, 2020 UPDATE

    January 20, 2020 UPDATE

    PARLIAMENT The Parliament of Romania will convene on January 29, for a joint session of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The Government will ask the 2 chambers for a confidence vote over a bill reintroducing the 2-round election system for mayors, arguing that this will improve democratic standards at local community level. The election of mayors in 2 rounds, says the Government, will give local elected officials more legitimacy. President Klaus Iohannis had previously asked Parliament to convene in a special session for the amendment of election laws. The Social Democratic Party in opposition announced that, jointly with the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, will table a no-confidence motion against the Liberal Government.




    FOREIGN AFFAIRS The Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu took part on Monday in a EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels. The agenda included talks on Sahel region and on climate diplomacy, and a working lunch focusing on developments in the Middle East. As regards Sahel, Aurescu mentioned the dramatic deterioration of the security and humanitarian situation, and argued for a more substantial engagement of the EU in the region. He also emphasised the importance of consistent and quicker implementation of the Mali peace agreement. On the other hand, the Romanian diplomat said the EU must promote measures to address climate change among G20 and big polluters, as well as through a regional approach. With respect to the Iranian nuclear deal, Bogdan Aurescu welcomed the decision of the EU three to trigger the dispute resolution mechanism.




    POLLUTION The Environment Minister Costel Alexe Monday had a meeting with representatives of Brasov, Iasi and Bucharest, the 3 Romanian cities that are currently under an infringement procedure because of serious air quality problems. The Environment Minister said the local authorities understood that the agreed measures must be implemented at a much higher pace. The Bucharest Mayor Gabriela Firea said a lot more drastic measures will be taken with respect to the sanitation companies which must wash the streets more often. She explained that the dust in Bucharest is primarily caused by private construction sites, as well as by sites developed by the local authorities. In turn, the Iasi Mayor Mihai Chirica says local administrations cannot take all the necessary measures by themselves, and need governmental support.




    RUSSIA Russias president Vladimir Putin Monday presented Parliament with his suggestions to amend the Constitution, less than a week after a surprising announcement regarding a reform of the countrys political system. The bill includes measures such as strengthening the role of Parliament in appointing the prime minister and limiting the number of presidential terms in office to 2, instead of 2 consecutive terms. Another provision is the establishment of a State Council to “determine the main directions of home and foreign policy. Mondays amendments seem to rule out a prospective return to Kremlin for Putin after 2024, when his current term in office ends, but observers expect him to try to secure his control over the country after that date. Putin wants to remain Russias ruler for life, his main opponent Aleksei Navalny has said.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)