Radio România Internațional

Tag: MEP

  • June 6, 2024

    June 6, 2024

    WAGES The government in Bucharest is today expected to endorse a pay rise aimed at bringing the minimum wages in Romania up to 740 Euros starting July 1st. Over 1.8 million employees are to benefit the new measure. The 200 RON fiscal deduction from the minimum wages will be kept until the end of the year.

    VOTE Polling stations have today opened in the Netherlands, the first country to vote in the elections for the European Parliament due over June 6 and 9. Roughly 370 million people are expected to vote in all the 27 EU member states in the following days. Analysts are forecasting an advance of the far-right and Eurosceptical parties amid the frustrations caused by the rising cost of living, migration and the green policies that are getting more and more unpopular. Like in most EU countries, in Romania the voting for the European Parliament is due on Sunday, concurrently with the local elections. Romania gets 33 MEP mandates.

    TENNIS The Romanian-Ukrainian pair Gabriela Ruse/Marta Kostyuk has qualified without playing in the semis of the doubles contest in Roland Garros as Russians Mirra Andreeva and Vera Zvonareva failed to attend the quarterfinals on Wednesday. Ruse and Kostyuk have won a check of 148 thousand Euros and 780 WTA points. This is the second Grand Slam semifinals for Ruse and Kostyuk after Australian Open last year. In the semifinals Ruse and her partner will be playing the all-Italian pair, Jasmine Paolini/Sara Errani.

    BOOK FAIR Until June 16th Romania will be attending the 83rd edition of the Madrid Book Fair with a national stand and 20 literary events. This has been Romania’s 13th participation in this large-scale event staged by the Romanian Cultural Institute through the National Book Center and the Romanian Cultural Institute in Madrid with support from the Ministry of Culture and the Romanian Embassy in Spain. Among the protagonists of the aforementioned event there are writers Gabriela Adameşteanu, Eugen Barz, Aura Christi, Nichita Danilov, Cristian Fulaş, Miguel Gane, Stejărel Olaru, Radu Paraschivescu, Radmila Popovici, Andreea Răsuceanu and Radio Romania Journalist Corina Sabău.

    FOOTBALL Romania’s football side will be up against the selection of Lichtenstein in Bucharest on Friday night in their last training game before the European Championship in Germany. In another friendly on Tuesday our footballers obtained a goaless draw against the neighbouring Bulgaria. In Group E of Euro 2024, Romania will be playing Ukraine on June 17 in Munich, Belgium on June 22 in Cologne and Solvakia in Frankfurt four days later. Officials of the football federation in Bucharest say they expect the attendance of a large number of Romanian football fans, who are residents in Germany or in other countries in Western Europe. Romania’s last participation in a  European football tournament was in 2016 and in the World Cup in 1998.

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  • March 14, 2024 UPDATE

    March 14, 2024 UPDATE

    Treasure – The European Parliament adopted, on Thursday, a resolution by which it asks Russia to fully return Romania’s national treasure, which it illegally appropriated. This is an unprecedented international case of illegal appropriation of gold reserves and heritage objects and represents a permanent concern for the Romanian society, the MEPs emphasize. According to the resolution, the Parliament welcomes the substantial efforts of the European Union to protect the national, cultural and historical heritage, through the implementation of the legislation and of the cooperation mechanisms that regulate the restitution of cultural and heritage assets illegally appropriated from the territories of the Union countries, as well as its efforts to fight the trafficking in cultural assets. The MEPs request the European Commission and the European External Action Service to include the restitution of the Romanian national heritage on the bilateral diplomatic agenda that regulates EU-Russia relations, as soon as the regional context allows the resumption of political dialogue between the parties. During the First World War, between 1916 and 1917, Romania sent the national treasure (which included significant amounts of gold, heritage items, art collections, jewels, archives) to allied tsarist Russia, to be protected in case of occupation of the national territory by German, Austro-Hungarian, Bulgarian and Turkish enemy troops. After the Bolshevik regime founded by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin came to power, Russia seized the treasure and refused to return it, most of the values ​​remaining unreturned to this day. The issue of returning the Treasure has been discussed, unsuccessfully, for decades by a joint Romanian-Russian commission.

     

    Inflation – The annual inflation rate in Romania fell to 7.2% in February, from 7.4% in the previous month – according to the data of the National Institute of Statistics. The prices of non-food stuffs increased the most, on average, followed by service and food prices. In the top of price hikes in the last 12 months, postal services and detergents are on the first places, followed by water, sewage, and sanitation services and the hygiene, cosmetic and medical services and articles.

     

    Searches – The Romanian prosecutors and police officers found pyrotechnic materials, lethal firearms and white weapons at the residences of supporters of the football team Rapid Bucharest, one of the most popular in the country, following searches carried out on Thursday in Bucharest and the counties of Ilfov, Prahova (south) and Iasi (northeast). According to judicial sources, the president of the Rapid club, former international footballer Daniel Niculae, is a suspect in the case. According to a press release from the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the Bucharest Court, 17 people were charged with the crimes of forming an organized crime group, operations with pyrotechnic articles carried out without having the right, non-compliance with the weapons and ammunition regime and destruction. The Prosecutor’s Office attached to the Bucharest Court notes that in the course of 2023, an organized crime group was established in the city of Bucharest, which was joined by several people and whose purpose was to introduce and use pyrotechnic materials in the football stadiums, during the matches, disturbing public order through violence against property and destruction of the grass court through the use of pyrotechnic materials, causing degradation of the grass through the explosion of pyrotechnic materials, endangering the physical integrity of other people (ball girls, stewards, football players, firefighters, reporters). On the occasion of the home searches, several pyrotechnic materials, lethal firearms, white weapons and sums of money were discovered and seized.

     

    Hungary – The circulation of all vehicles heavier than 7.5 tons will be restricted on Friday in Hungary. The measure will apply to Romania’s borders with the neighboring state starting Thursday evening, from 11:00 p.m. The restrictions will not apply to means of transport that carry dangerous goods, live animals or perishable food products or that have a special temperature regime. The border authorities of the two states will keep in constant contact with a view to establishing common measures, so that when the traffic restrictions for motor vehicles on the territory of Hungary are lifted, the border control should be carried out efficiently. March 15 is the Day of Hungarians Everywhere. (LS)

  • January 3, 2023 UPDATE

    January 3, 2023 UPDATE

    IMF The IMF expects 2023 to be tougher than
    2022 for most of the global economy. The main economic growth engines, namely
    the United States, the European Union and China will see their economic
    activity slow down, so that 2023 will be difficult for the global GDP, the head
    of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, told the
    American TV station CBS. In October, the
    IMF downgraded its global economic outlook for 2023, following the war in
    Ukraine, sharply rising interest rates and inflationist pressure. Georgieva
    said that China, which sees a surge in COVID-19 cases following the dismantling
    of its strict zero-COVID policy, may have its economy affected. Meanwhile,
    the EU has been especially hard hit by the war in Ukraine, with half of the
    bloc expected to be in recession this year, Georgieva said. Also, the global
    growth rate will slow down from 3.2% in 2022 to 2.75 this year, while
    governments will have to make sure they have sufficient revenues for
    expenditure, as they will no longer be able to borrow money in advantageous
    conditions. As regards Romania, the economic growth rate will slow down to 2.8% this year, from more than 5% in 2022.


    NATO NATO allies will discuss, in the
    upcoming months, about the share earmarked for defence, given that some of them
    have requested that the current 2% share of national output to be the minimum
    target spent on defence, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told the
    German news agency DPA. The chief of the Alliance also said he would chair a
    number of meetings on this topic, and that his goal was to reach an agreement
    ahead of the next summit in Vilnius in July 2023.




    SURVEY 2023 starts on a pessimistic note for
    most Romanians, according to a survey conducted by the Romanian Institute for
    Evaluation and Strategy. More than half of the participants in the poll believe
    2023 will be worse for Romania than the year before. Active people aged 36 to
    65 are the most pessimistic, while the less educated respondents are more optimistic
    in this respect. In terms of living standards, half of respondents have little
    expectations from the year that has just started. People aged over 51, with
    monthly revenues below 400 euros, have the darkest view of the future. Unlike
    them, those with incomes above 800 euros a month say 2023 will be the same as
    2022. However, the most optimistic in terms of financial future are young
    people aged below 35. As for the changes they would like to see in their
    country, most respondents indicated the politicians, the political class or the
    country leaders, followed by the Government and the ruling parties.


    CORRUPTION The European Parliament has
    launched an urgent procedure to wave the immunity of two members of the
    European Parliament – Italian Andrea Cozzolino and Belgian Marc Tarabella,
    following a request from the Belgian judicial authorities. A number of current
    and former European officials or employees are investigated in this case. The
    scandal began in December, with the arrest of the Greek MEP Eva Kaili, who is
    accused of accepting large sums of money to peddle influence for Qatar and
    Morocco at the European Parliament.


    FOOTBALL FIFA will ask every country in the
    world to name a stadium in honour of Pelé, said FIFA president Gianni Infantino,
    attending the funeral in Santos, Brazil. Edson Arantes do Nascimento by his
    real name, Pelé, the only footballer who won three world titles, died aged 82.
    Throughout his career he scored almost 1,300 goals. He was designated
    footballer of the 20th century by the International Olympic Committee in 1999,
    Player of the Century by FIFA in 2000 and won the Golden Ball. (EE, AMP)

  • The Week in Review 22-28 April

    The Week in Review 22-28 April

    Interim ministers at the Justice,
    European Funds and Romanians Abroad ministries




    Romanian
    President Klaus Iohannis on Wednesday approved the new proposals for interim
    ministers made by PM Viorica Dancila. Deputy prime minister Ana Birchall is the
    new interim Justice Minister, Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici is interim
    Minister for European Funds while the Minister for Business Environment, Commerce and
    Entrepreneurship, Stefan-Radu Oprea, is interim head of the Ministry for the
    Romanians Abroad. PM Dancila will decide, after Easter, if she keeps these
    interim ministers or she goes for a government reshuffle. The Social Democrat
    leader Liviu Dragnea gave assurances that the current coalition made up of the
    Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE)
    is stable and has by 30 votes more than the number needed for a government
    reshuffle. From the opposition, the Liberals say this new change of ministers
    proves a lack of responsibility in the act of governing, given that some were
    rejected by the head of state for not complying with the office requirements.
    We remind you that the three portfolios became vacant after the resignation of
    ministers Tudorel Toader, Rovana Plumb and Natalia Intotero.




    Deputies have passed the
    amendments to the criminal legislation approved earlier by the Senate


    The
    Chamber of Deputies on Wednesday passed the changes to the criminal code and
    the code of criminal procedure in exactly the same version as that adopted by
    the Senate. A series of articles were thus adopted that were criticised by the
    opposition but were declared constitutional by the Constitutional Court. These
    include the reduction of the statute of limitations, the introduction of a
    one-year deadline for denunciations with respect to bribe taking and peddling
    in influence, the complete decriminalisation of negligence in employment and
    the reduction by half of punishments for embezzlement and abuse of office. The
    speaker of the Chamber of Deputies and president of the Social Democratic Party
    Liviu Dragnea says the legislation passed is constitutional, while the
    opposition sees it as an attack on the rule of law and on democracy. President
    Klaus Iohannis has said that Parliament has once again re-discussed and adopted
    the two amended bills in a hasty, superficial and non-transparent manner. He
    approached the subject in Bucharest with the representatives of the Venice
    Commission, saying that the adoption of measures that have an impact on the
    judicial system without holding public consultations and taking into account
    the opinion of the judicial system makes this vital area for democracy
    extremely vulnerable. The president has also said that Romania is now in the
    situation that the Government passes laws and the parliament is just informed
    on it. The European Commission says it will look closely into the amendments
    passed and has recalled that its position on the situation of the rule of law
    is very clear and that Bucharest must urgently resume the reform process.




    Romanian President Klaus Iohannis
    has announced the two questions for the referendum on justice due on May 26




    Romanian president Klaus Iohannis on
    Thursday announced the two questions for the referendum on justice due on May
    26. The questions are: Do you agree with banning amnesty and pardon of
    corruption offenses? and Do you agree with banning the Government’s emergency
    decrees in the field of corruption offenses, correlated with the extension of
    the right to appeal emergency orders directly at the Constitutional Court?The Romanian Parliament, convened in
    joint session, approved President Klaus Iohannis’s request to hold a referendum
    on May 26, at the same time with the European Parliament elections. The
    President’s move comes against the background of numerous legislative changes
    in the field of the judiciary, promoted by the ruling
    coalition made up of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the Alliance of
    Liberals and Democrats (ALDE), changes contested at home and criticised
    by Romania’s European partners. In March, the head of state held consultations with
    representatives of judges, magistrates and civil society.






    European elections in
    May




    April 27 marks the beginning of the
    campaign for the European elections in Romania. The upcoming European
    Parliament election, to be held between May 23 and 26, are crucial for the
    future of the EU and its members. At present there are 751 MEPs elected by
    citizens in 28 Member States. If Britain leaves before May 23, Great Britain
    will not take part in the vote and the number of MEPs will drop to 705. Romania
    is expected to have 33 MEPs in the new Parliament, one more compared to the
    2014-2019 legislature. The Foreign Ministry in Bucharest has published the
    Handbook of the Romanian Voter Abroad in the run-up to the European Parliament
    elections. The document seeks to provide accurate information to Romanians
    abroad over the ways they can cast their vote in the election. The handbook
    includes information regarding people with the right to vote, the documents
    based on which they can vote abroad and the voting procedure. The handbook also
    includes information on the prerogatives of the Foreign Ministry and of the
    Permanent Electoral Authority in the context of the European elections.






    Romanians
    return to the country for Easter




    Just like every year around the Easter
    holiday, the Romanians living abroad return home to celebrate with their
    friends and relatives. All Romanian checkpoints will remain crowded in the days
    to come, and the Romanian Border Police announces that the number of staff on
    duty will be increased and that all border crossing units will work at
    full capacity.













  • November 16, 2016

    November 16, 2016

    HEARING – The president of the Permanent Electoral Authority of Romania, Ana Maria Pătru, is to be heard by judges today, after the National Anti-Corruption Directorate requested her arrest pending trial. She was detained last night under charges of influence peddling and money laundering. Pǎtru allegedly demanded and received over 200,000 euros in bribe in exchange for implementing IT procurement contracts with a particular company, and tried to conceal the source of the money by setting up a fictitious circuit. Ana Maria Pătru announced her resignation as head of the Permanent Electoral Authority.




    CORRUPTION – The ex-MEP Adrian Severin is to find out today whether he must serve a harsher sentence instead of the three and a half year imprisonment ruling initially passed against him. Anti-corruption prosecutors requested penalties of 6 and a half years for bribe taking and 5 years for influence peddling. Adrian Severin is accused of having accepted the 100,000 euros per year promised by two journalists from The Sunday Times, who were running an undercover investigation, in exchange for submitting amendments in the specialised committees of the European Parliament. Two other MEPs, from Slovenia and Austria, also accepted to sell their services to The Sunday Times journalists. Unlike Adrian Severin, they resigned following this corruption scandal.




    ECONOMY – In Romania, the hard-won macroeconomic balance must be preserved, the governor of the National Bank of Romania Mugur Isărescu warned once again. The central bank official says that in spite of Romanias economic growth, encouraging demand and consumption has created jobs in other countries rather than in Romania, given that the demand has been primarily met by imports, which are going up at a much faster rate than exports. Financial-banking analysts estimate that Romania needs a 5% annual growth rate for a long period if it is to recover its development delays compared to Western Europe.




    BOOK FAIR – Bucharest is hosting until Sunday the 23rd Gaudeamus International Book and Education Fair, the longest-lived and most dynamic book fair in Romania, organised by Radio Romania. The highlights of this years fair include events devoted to the Romanian film industry, attended by the directors Cristian Mungiu and Radu Jude, and some of the most recent international releases launched in their Romanian version. This years guest of honour is China. During its 96 editions in various Romanian cities in 20 years of existence, the fair has brought together more than 2,600,000 visitors and some 10,500 special events.




    US PRESIDENT – The US President Barack Obama will give a speech in Athens today on his views on democracy. Yesterday, during a meeting with his Greek counterpart, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, Obama pleaded for a strong, united and thriving Europe. Greece is the first destination in the last foreign trip made by Obama as President of the USA. In Europe, Obama will have meetings with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the President of France, Francois Hollande and the Prime Ministers of UK and Italy. He will then travel to Peru, to attend the Asia-Pacific Cooperation Summit. The outgoing White House leader intends to reassure his European allies of the future of the trans-Atlantic relations, amid concerns triggered by the intentions of his successor, Donald Trump.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)