Radio România Internațional

Tag: Magurele laser

  • October 4, 2019 UPDATE

    October 4, 2019 UPDATE

    Government — The PM Viorica Dancila on Friday forwarded new proposals for interim ministers to President Klaus Iohannis to fill the vacant ministerial posts. She made 7 proposals among which those for the interior, education and justice ministries. We recall that the head of state is obliged through a decision of the Constitutional Court to appoint interim ministers after the withdrawal of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats from the governing coalition. After having received the proposals, president Iohannis said in a communiqué that the Constitution does not allow him to appoint a second, successive interim minister to the education ministry after Daniel Breaz, the new proposal for the post, already held the position for 45 days.



    Brexit — As many as 200 thousand Romanians who are living and working in the UK have applied for the new residence permit in the UK, the British ambassador to Bucharest Andrew Noble told Radio Romania. The British official explained that in case of a no-deal Brexit the Romanian citizens, who go to GB as tourists but decide to stay there, have to apply for a residence permit valid for 3 years. He also gave assurances that the situation of the Romanians in Great Britain would not be affected. The British ambassador went on to say that, after Brexit, the UK would like an even-closer-than-before relation with Romania and would boost involvement in humanitarian projects and cooperation projects in such fields as domestic affairs and the fight against organized crime.



    Măgurele Laser — In Măgurele, near Bucharest, a contract was signed on Friday for the construction of the Variable Energy Gamma System. The system completes the one already installed, which, in March, reached a power of 10 Petawatts (PW) on each side. The new system will be finished most probably in 2023, said the project general manager, academician Nicolae Zamfir. This equipment, alongside the high power laser system, allows the ELI NP Extreme Light Infrastructure-Nuclear Physics Center in Măgurele to become the most advanced scientific research center in the world. (update by L. Simion)

  • June 25, 2018

    June 25, 2018


    NO-CONFIDENCE – Thousands of Romanians went to the streets on Sunday evening, calling for the resignation of the Government led by Viorica Dancila. They are worried that the current executive, formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, might adopt, under an emergency decree, the changes brought to the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure, which have been adopted recently. These changes are the object of the no-confidence motion filed by the National Liberal Party, which is being read in parliament today and will be voted on Wednesday. The right wing opposition blames the Government for having destroyed the economy and the justice system. Also today, the Romanian MPs are to debate a simple motion filed by the Save Romania Union, which calls for the resignation of the Transport Minister Lucian Sova. He is accused of incompetence and of having blocked funding for the building of motorways in Romania.



    NATIONAL DEFENSE – The meeting of the Supreme Council of National Defense will be held on Wednesday, headed by the President Klaus Iohannis. The meetings agenda includes Romanias objectives for the NATO summit in Brussels next week and the Romanian Armed Forces that can be deployed for missions and operations abroad in 2019. A fresh NATO training mission in Iraq will be officially announced at the summit of the Alliance scheduled for July. Also, NATO wants to set up ground forces command units. Romania has already announced its intention to host such a command unit. Bucharests stand on the relation between the EU and NATO, a topic that will be approached at the summit, must also be established at the meeting of Romanias Supreme Council of National Defense.



    FAC – The Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu is today attending the Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg. The EU foreign ministries will have a joint working session with the defense ministries, to assess the progress in security and defence. Also, the ministers will discuss the consolidation of the relationship between NATO and the EU, in the presence of the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Also today, Romania and Bulgaria will give briefings on the stage and prospects of EU-supported regional cooperation initiatives in the Black Sea Area.



    CVM – The European Commission is currently conducting a fresh evaluation under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism. For three days, a Commission delegation will analyze the impact of the changes brought to the justice laws and the criminal codes on the Romanian justice system. The Justice Minister Tudorel Toader has stated that a document was drawn up, highlighting the progress made by Romania.



    MOLDOVA – The Supreme Court of Justice of the Republic of Moldova (Romanias neighbor with a predominantly Romanian-speaking population) is today examining the appeal to the invalidation of the early elections for the office of mayor of Chisinau, issued by two lower courts. On June 3rd, the second round of mayoral elections was won by the representative of the pro-European opposition Andrei Nastase, who defeated the pro-Russia socialist Ion Ceban. The invalidation of the result of the election triggered large-scale protests across the country and reactions from the EU and the US, which have called for a transparent appeal procedure. In Bucharest, the Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu has warned that political tension might affect the republics stability, and the right-wing opposition has voiced support for Nastase. If Nastases win is not validated, Chisinau will have an interim mayor until the local elections due next year.



    MIGRATION – The European mini-summit on migration ended on Sunday in Brussels without any concrete measures being adopted. The leaders of the 16 participant countries agreed over the need to curb illegal migration and protect the European frontiers, but there was no consensus as to how that would be achieved. The German Chancellor Angela Markel stated that, unless solutions were found at the level of the EU, bilateral agreements will be proposed, while the Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte proposed the creation of international protection centers in the transit countries and sanctions against the EU countries that do not accept refuges. The Visegrad Group (made up of Hungary, Poland, the Check Republic and Slovakia) boycotted the meeting. New talks will be held at the European Council this week.



    BACCALAUREATE – The high-school graduation examinations – the Baccalaureate – have started in Romania today. Some 137,000 students are participating, in 440 examination centers across the country. Today was the day for Romanian language and literature examination. On Tuesday, students belonging to the national ethnic minorities will sit for the examination in their mother tongues, Wednesday is the compulsory specialty examination, and on Thursday students will be tested into a matter of their own choice. For the first time, the oral examinations were taken during the school year. The first results are to be posted on July 4th, and the final ones on July 9th.



    SCIENCE – Researchers from across the world are these days in Brasov, in central Romania, attending the International Nuclear Photonics Conference. Romania was chosen to host the second edition of this event, given that it is home to the most powerful laser in the world, which will be rendered operational next year. On Sunday, the participants discussed the applications of this technology, after they had visited the Magurele facility, near Bucharest. The first edition of the Conference was held in California in 2016.



    TENNIS – The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep remains no.1 in the world, according to the WTA rankings published on Monday. To Halep, its the 34th week as world leader. Next on the podium there come Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark and Garbine Muguruza of Spain. The top 100 includes another five Romanian tennis players: Mihaela Buzarnescu (28), Irina Begu (33), Sorana Cirstea (47), Monica Niculescu (59) and Ana Bogdan (63).


    (translated by Mihaela Ignatescu)

  • Romania at Expo 2017 Astana

    Romania at Expo 2017 Astana


    At the end of last week, Romanias Day was celebrated at the 2017 World Expo, held in the capital of Kazakhstan, Astana. From officials to visitors, participants marked the occasion, with a show given by an association of ethnic Romanians living in the Kazakh city of Karaganda and by the famed Romanian panpipe player Gheorghe Zamfir. On that occasion, the director of the Romanian Cultural Institute Liliana Turoiu said:


    “I am happy and I would like to note something: nowadays, the modern concept of culture is no longer limited to the arts or the humanities. It has broadened to include new technologies and the sciences as well, because these new technologies are changing not only our present, but also our future.”



    The core of the Romanian pavilion in Astana is the ELI project, under which the worlds strongest laser will be built in Magurele, near Bucharest. The project perfectly suits the theme of this years World Expo, namely “Future Energy.” With 5 tablets connected to a scale model of the laser, the organisers of the Romanian pavilion reconstruct or simulate the process of obtaining a light beam. According to the Radio Romania special correspondent in Astana, lots of visitors are fascinated with the technology displayed, and ask for details about how it would work once the project IS completed. As for experts, last week they had meetings, hoping to be able to work as part of the Magurele project.



    The director of the Nuclear Physics and Engineering Institute, Nicolae Zamfir, explained:


    “ELI is not a project designed for Romania alone, but rather an international project. This is how it was created and this is how it will be. We hope researchers from the whole world will take part. Because this is the only way the outcomes can match the investment and the financial effort that Romania has made.”



    The exhibition in Astana may be a first step towards attracting investments that are profitable in the long run, the Commissioner of the Romanian pavilion, Mihai Dediu said:


    “As we have already said before, this is not a trade fair, but I am quite confident that it will nonetheless be followed by contracts that will mean a lot for the Romanian economy.”



    In turn, the Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu has stated that Romanias presence in Astana confirms the countrys potential in the energy sector:


    “We are able to come up with projects that are substantially ahead of our times – and I mean the laser project in Magurele, which is regarded as probably the most revolutionary project presented in the Astana edition of World Expo.”



    The 2017 World Expo in Astana began on June 10 and is due to end on September 10, and until then the Magurele laser scale model will continue to draw visitors to the Romanian pavilion.


    (Translated by Ana Maria Popescu)



  • July 24-29

    July 24-29

    Campaign for the immunization of children


    In Romania over 220 thousand children aged between nine months and nine years have not yet received the anti-measles vaccine, according to a report made public by the Health Ministry. The Ministry has made an evaluation of the National Vaccination Programme, and found that the shortage of anti-measles shots that can be used in case of an epidemic is one of its weak points. The authorities and the public radio are conducting an information campaign on vaccination, after 30 children have died of measles. Fearing possible side effects the vaccine may have, some of the parents refuse to vaccinate their children. Prime Minister Mihai Tudose says that the state institutions, the Child Protection Authority included, should have a say in this matter, and that parents who refuse to immunize their children are in fact putting their lives in danger. Physician Sandra Alexiu, the vice-president of the National Society of Family Physicians, says that a high vaccination rate can only be achieved if there are sufficient vaccine supplies, which has not been the case in the past few years. According to the Health Ministry, the measles epidemic facing Romania is the effect of a drop in the vaccination rate in Romania over the last ten years.



    Romania bids to host the European Medicines Agency


    A small Romanian government delegation went to London on Monday to plead for the relocation of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to Bucharest, after Brexit. Romanian authorities are trying to prove that Bucharest is prepared to host the Agency and have presented their relocation offer in London. Also competing to become hosts of EMA are France, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary and Bulgaria, which have already presented their offers. Moreover, London itself would like to keep hosting the agency, even after Brexit.



    The Government gives up the introduction of new taxes


    The leftist Social Democratic Party (PSD), the main party in the government coalition in Romania, made significant changes to the governing programme after the installation, a month ago, of a new cabinet headed by Mihai Tudose. Most of these changes targeted the fiscal area. One of them provided that Romanian businesses were to pay their taxes based on their turnover rather than their profit. A measure also included in the governing programme was the solidarity tax, which was supposed to apply to high-income taxpayers. Both measures have been given up, the first one over fears that it could prove disastrous for the business environment and generate a wave of negative consequences. The leftist Government has also given up the solidarity tax. According to Prime Minister Mihai Tudose, “its contribution to the budget would be minimal.” PM Tudose has announced the Government also gives up the idea to have the employees pay their health insurance and pension contributions instead of the employer. This controversial measure would have yielded no results either, as shown bysimulations conducted in this respect. Representatives of the National Liberal Party (PNL), in the opposition, say that this fiscal uncertainty proves once more that the Government has no major project for Romanias development.



    Romania purchases Patriot missiles


    The Romanian Defence Ministry has decided to purchase the Patriot surface-to-air defence system, and should all procedures be completed without problems, in November Romania is due to pay the first instalment for the purchase. In making this decision, the authorities took into account the risks that Romanias air space is facing, the partnership with the USA and the fact that the surface-to-air missiles that Romania has at present are obsolete. Defence Minister Adrian Tutuianu says Romania intends to purchase the latest Patriot configuration, thus strengthening not only Romanias security, but also the security of Europe as a whole. The USA, Germany, Spain, Greece and the Netherlands are also using these systems at present.



    The Magurele laser project, presented officially in Astana


    Romanias stand at Expo 2017 Astana presented, as part of Romanias National Day, the most powerful laser in the world, which is currently being built in Magurele, southern Romania. A number of universities in Kazakhstan have expressed interest in the Romanian project. If agreements are signed with these universities, students and postgraduate students from Kazakhstan will have a chance to work with the research platform in Magurele. Expo 2017 Astana which this year focuses on future energy and enjoys the participation of 100 countries, started on June 10 and is due to end on September 10. It is one of the worlds most important events of public and cultural diplomacy. Organisers hope that Expo 2017 Astana will attract over five million visitors from all over the world.



    Unstable weather in Romania


    Heat waves, storms and strong winds, hail and heavy rain that led to flooding have defined the weather in Romania in the month of July. Meteorologists and hydrologists have issues yellow and orange code alerts for bad weather almost every day for the entire country. For the upcoming period, meteorologists announce drought all across Romania, while hydrologists have warned at the beginning of the week that the level of the Danube at its entrance in Romania is half the multi-annual average of July.




  • November 6-12

    November 6-12

    Romanian reactions to the US presidential election



    Romanian authorities have hailed Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election and have conveyed messages of congratulations. The Romanian President, Klaus Iohannis, underlined Romania’s firm commitment to deepening cooperation with the future American Administration in the field of security and to developing the economic side of the US-Romania Strategic Partnership.



    Klaus Iohannis: We are willing to cooperate in order to strengthen the Strategic Partnership between Romania and the US. In the event of changes, they will be in the sense of consolidating this partnership with focus on its three components: politics, security and economy. I have repeatedly said that although the first two components are functioning extremely well, we still need to boost economic cooperation, and maybe this is an opportunity.



    The PM Dacian Ciolos has talked about the importance of the bilateral Strategic Partnership saying that increased importance should be attached to developing and boosting economic relations.



    Start of election campaign in Romania



    Friday marks the start of the election campaign for the December 11 parliamentary elections in Romania. This year’s elections will unfold according to new legislation. The party-list system will be used again, just as in 2004, and there will be new regulations in terms of representation: 1 deputy for 73 thousand inhabitants and 1 senator for 168 thousand people. 6,493 persons have signed up and are currently running for the 466 MP seats.



    Most candidates are members of the parties with big chances to enter Parliament, namely the Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, the People’s Movement Party, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania and the Save Romania Union. There are also independent candidates running. A first for this winter’s elections is postal voting for the Romanian citizens who have their residence or domicile outside Romania. Ion Barbu, a director with the Romanian Post National Company, says a first envelope has already arrived from abroad.



    Ion Barbu: I can confirm that a voter from Austria has already returned by post the ballot papers received. The Electoral Bureau will keep safe and store the papers until December 11, the date of elections, when they will be opened and counted.



    NATO ministerial meeting in Bucharest



    The Foreign Ministers of nine NATO members from Central and Eastern Europe (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania) have this week met in Bucharest. Launched last year upon the initiative of Romania and Poland, the talks held in this format represent a platform for cooperation on issues specific to the region and on the initiatives which the participating countries want to promote within the Alliance. NATO’s Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller also attended the meeting in Bucharest.



    At a joint press conference, the Romanian Foreign Minister Lazăr Comănescu said:


    We have made similar assessments of the special importance that is to be attached to consolidating the presence of the Alliance in our region. We need to pay increased attention to the southern component of NATO’s eastern flank, given that the biggest challenges in terms of security come from that area.



    Romania supports Serbia’s EU accession



    Romania has reiterated its support for Serbia’s accession to the European Union on the occasion of the meeting, in the western Romanian city of Timisoara, between the PM Dacian Cioloş and his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vučić.



    Dacian Cioloş: It is also in our interest to have an all-European Serbia in the Western Balkans. We have signed an agreement and have assured the Serbian prime minister that he will have Romania’s full support for the reforms Serbia intends to carry out in order to prepare its EU accession.



    The two prime ministers have tackled issues related to the consolidation of cooperation including in the fields of labor force, economy and minorities. Several agreements have been signed among which a Protocol on the setting up of common patrols along the border between the two states and its activities, and another Protocol on preventing and responding to disasters. Also progress has been reported with regard to the common project of building a highway linking Belgrade to Timişoara.



    The laser facility in Măgurele introduced to businesspeople and civil society



    Early this week, researchers with the National Institute for Physics and Nuclear Engineering in Măgurele presented to businesspeople and civil society the domains in which the high-power laser facility will be used. The government’s representative responsible for the project , Adrian Curaj, has conveyed a message of the PM, which highlights the project’s capacity to generate development and economic growth.



    Adrian Curaj: Măgurele is a unique scientific and technological project. It has an extraordinary force to generate development. It is not a project of the region, it is rather a project of Romania because Romania is willing to and can achieve many things. The results obtained at the laser facility in Măgurele will have a strong impact on the Romanian economy in the sense of creating jobs and welfare. I am confident that the scope of this project will make it a priority for each government. Of course, each government can relate to it in its own way, but the importance and scale of the project cannot be ignored.



    The facility in Magurele, which aims to host the highest-intensity laser system in the world, is to become operational by 2019.