Radio România Internațional

Tag: miners’ protest

  • November 7, 2019 UPDATE

    November 7, 2019 UPDATE

    Miners — The miners in Uricani and Paroşeni (center west) on Thursday suspended their protest started 11 days ago when they barricaded themselves in the underground. They have stopped the protest and are now waiting for the new government to meet its promises to solve the miners’ problems. On Wednesday the government officials had a first reading of an emergency decree related to the social protection of sacked miners. It refers to a monthly income granted for 2 years and the registration of this period of time as seniority. Trade unionists say this is the longest miners’ protest in the past 15 years. A program to close and clean up the two mines started at the end of 2017. Also, tens of miners from the Ocna Dej salt mine in the north-west have barricaded themselves underground to protest against the fact that they have not received their holiday vouchers. For this reason, the salt production was suspended for a week at several salt mines in Romania.



    Visit — On a visit to Hungary, the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened again, on Thursday, that he might let the almost 3.5 million refugees from Turkey leave if the EU did not provide enough support. The Turkish president said the EU promised to grant his country 6 billion Euros, but that they received only a part of the money. In 2106 Brussels and Ankara concluded an agreement under which Turkey committed to stopping the wave of migrants in exchange for substantial financial aid. According to the EC over 2.6 billion Euros have been granted so far. Erdogan also called on the EU to support his initiative to create in northern Syria a ‘security zone’ where part of the Syrian refugees who are currently in Turkey should be repatriated. (update by L. Simion)

  • November 6, 2019

    November 6, 2019

    SESSION – The new Liberal Government in
    Bucharest, led by Prime Minister Ludovic Orban, is today convening for its
    first joint session. According to the Prime Minister, the agenda for today
    includes an emergency decree on reducing the number of ministries, from 24 to
    16. On Tuesday the newly-appointed ministers took over their portfolios.
    Ludovic Orban promised the new Government will engage in permanent dialogue and
    will take into account Romanians’ expectations. Orban’s Cabinet has replaced the
    outgoing Social-Democratic Government led by Viorica Dancila after the later
    did not survive a no-confidence motion in Parliament on October 10.




    TRANSPORT – Romanian haulers have pointed
    the serious issues reported on the Hungarian border in the last few days, where
    freight trucks wait in a 25-km-long line to cross the border. One of the
    biggest employers in the field has announced protests and the blocking of
    crossing points for light traffic. The Europa 2002 Association of Transport Employers
    from Arad say crossing the Hungarian border has never been harder, pointing the
    finger at Hungarian authorities, who starting November 1 have been performing
    detailed inspections of freight transport vehicles, which incrementally
    increases waiting times for crossing the border.




    PROTEST – Coal miners from Paroseni and
    Uricani on Jiu Valley continue to protest underground for the tenth consecutive
    day. Due to be laid off on January 1, miners demand the same rights as other
    employees made redundant in the sector, namely monthly redundancy payments for
    two years and the inclusion of this period on their seniority with the mining
    company. Trade unions say the 100 miners are determined to continue their
    protest, the longest in the last 15 years, until the Government passes an
    emergency decree that meets their demands. The matter could be settled in today’s
    Government session, which will discuss the passing of a decree. Laszlo Domokos,
    the head of a miners’ syndicate, is today in Bucharest discussing the miners’
    demands with representatives from the line ministry. At the end of 2017 the two
    mines were listed for shutdown and remand.




    TABLE TENNIS – Romania’s table tennis
    team, the defending European champions, is today playing its first match at the
    World Cup in Tokyo against Taiwan. Drawn in Group C, Romania will also play against
    Vanuatu on Thursday. The top two teams will qualify to the quarterfinals.
    Romania’s team is made up of Elizabeta Samara, Daniela Dodean Monteiro, Bernadette Szocs and
    Adina Diaconu. We recall that in September Romania reaped gold at the European
    Table Tennis Championships in Nantes, France, defeating Portugal in the final.




    HANDBALL – The Romanian men’s handball team Dinamo Bucharest on Wednesday
    is playing Kadetten Schaffhausen of Switzerland in Champions League Group D.
    The match has a major stake. If it wins, Dinamo will secure mathematical qualification
    to the playoff. Dinamo ranks first in the group tables with 10 points, followed
    by GOG Svendborg of Denamrk with 8 points, Kadetten of Switzerland with 6
    points, Wisla Plock of Poland with 5 points, Chehkovskie Medvedi of Russia with
    4 points and Kristianstad of Sweden with 3 points. The top two teams will
    advance to the next phase. In the women’s Champions League, CSM Bucharest has
    already qualified to the main group phase, while champions SCM Ramnicu Valcea
    on Sunday is playing SG BBM Bietigheim of Germany in Group C. Brest Bretagne
    Handball of France is top of the tables with 6 points, followed by Buducnost of
    Montenegro with 6 points, SCM Ramnicu Valcea with 2 points and SG BBM
    Bietigheim with 0 points. The top three teams will qualify to the main group
    phase.


    (translated by V.
    Palcu)