Radio România Internațional

Tag: Moscow

  • March 22, 2017

    March 22, 2017

    STRIKE Part of the employees of Romania’s railway company CFR Infrastructure went on an unofficial strike causing delays on some routes with scores of trains also being halted. According to trade union leaders, the collective labour contract has expired and although the company’s board proposed a 22.5% rise in the salary funds, the move isn’t legally grounded, as the budget hasn’t been approved. CFR employees are discontented with the improper working conditions, the shortage of equipment and fuel.



    DRILL The US ambassador in Bucharest, Hans Klemm has announced that in July Romania will be hosting a large-scale military drill that brings together 30 thousand NATO soldiers from various countries. Klemm has underscored the close friendship between Romania and the USA, their bilateral strategic partnership and alliance inside NATO.



    COMEMORATION Belgium today commemorates a year since the tragic events at the Brussels airport and underground, when 32 people were killed and over 320 wounded, in what was described as the most severe attacks in the country’s recorded history. Four Romanians were killed in the attacks, including a minor. The attacks were claimed by the same cell of the Islamic State, which also masterminded the attacks in Paris in November 2015, which left 150 people dead. Belgium, France and Germany have in the past two years been the Jihadists’ target of choice.




    MEETING Romania’s Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu has arrived in Washington to attend the ministerial meeting of the anti-ISIS coalition, an event hosted by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. According to sources with the Romanian Foreign Ministry the meeting’s main objective is to assess the progress made in stopping ISIS actions with emphasis on humanitarian assistance and measures aimed at stabilizing the conflict areas freed from ISIS occupation. By participating in this event, Romania has reiterated its commitment to meeting its assumed objectives and backing international efforts meant to fight terrorism and stabilize countries in the Middle East and North Africa.



    JUSTICE PardoN is not a miracle-solution for Romania’s overcrowded penitentiaries, although the country runs the risk of being condemned by the European Court of Human Rights, Justice minister Tudorel Toader has said in a debate on democracy and justice in Romania before the Committee of Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs with the European Parliament. Toader has also said that he has called on the Legislature in Bucharest to postpone the draft law on granting pardoning in some cases so that the government may take additional measures. Romanian MEPs and civil society representatives are also to speak before the committee. Toader will also meet Vera Jurova, the European commissioner for Justice, consumers and gender equality. High on the agenda are the future European Commission report on the progress made by Romania inside the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism.



    SUMMIT The governments of Romania and the neighboring Republic of Moldova, an ex-soviet Romanian speaking country, are to meet on Thursday in Piatra Neamt north-eastern Romania, for a new common session. The two delegations headed by Prime Ministers Sorin Grindeanu and Pavel Filip respectively will be talking ways of developing bilateral cooperation, joint projects and new cooperation opportunities. Investment opportunities in the Republic of Moldova will also be tackled as well as cooperation in the fields of IT, finance, justice and home affairs. The relation between the two countries is a special one. There are common expectations and there is permanent interest from the two countries’ citizens. We’ll continue to support the European progress of the Republic of Moldova, Romania’s Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu has said on behalf of the Romanian government. The talks with Grindeanu’s pro-Western counterpart come after last week the country’s president, Pro-Russian socialist Igor Dodon, reiterated in Moscow his intention to consider denouncing the country’s association and free-trade agreement with the EU and deepening the relations with the Eurasian Economic Union as well as the federalisation of the Republic of Moldova as a peace solution in the pro-Russia breakaway region of Transdniester.




    LONDON ATTACK A car mounted the pavement and ploughed into pedestrians crossing the busy Westminster Bridge beside Londons Big Ben, killing a person and wounding several others. Then the driver entered the Parliament building and wounded a police officer. Parliament was placed on lockdown and the attacker was shot by armed police. Authorities say the attack is being treated as a ‘terrorist incident’.




  • January 18, 2017 UPDATE

    January 18, 2017 UPDATE

    DIPLOMACY – The Romanian Foreign Ministry (MAE) on Wednesday announced that it took note of the statements made recently by the pro-Russian President of the Republic of Moldova, Igor Dodon, during his visit to Russia. MAE sees Dodon’s statements as “inadequate and inconsistent with the political reality and the special relationship that Romania and the Republic of Moldova share”. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry, “continuing the modernization and reform process as well as keeping up with the aspirations of all Moldovan citizens, require responsible actions and attitude.” On the other hand, according to MAE, “the EU accession of the former Soviet republic continues to be a top priority of Romania’s foreign policy”. Igor Dodon said, among other things, that “half of the current territory of Romania is Moldovan”.




    BILL – The Romanian Justice Ministry on Wednesday put up for public debate a draft emergency ordinance that establishes what categories of convicts will benefit from pardon. The document provides full pardon for inmates with prison sentences of up to five years, except for people convicted for violent crimes and corruption. Also, people over 60, pregnant women, mothers with children under five, and people with incurable diseases in terminal stages will have half of their sentences removed, regardless of the crimes they committed. According to the document, inmates who have committed a series of crimes included in the Criminal Code would not benefit from a full pardon. These include crimes against state security, murder, serious bodily injury, blows causing death, forgery, bribery, influence peddling, drug and human trafficking, prostitution, slavery, child trafficking and pornography, and fraud committed through electronic payment and information system, to name just a few. The Ministry of Justice says that these provisions are meant to solve the problem of overcrowded prisons in Romania. President Klaus Iohannis, and the heads of the prosecutors’ offices are against the bill.




    FOREIGN POLICY — The fundamental pillars of Romania’s foreign policy continue to be the consolidation of the Partnership with the United States and the consolidation of the EU and NATO, Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis said on Wednesday at a meeting with the foreign ambassadors accredited to Bucharest. He added that Bucharest should further be a pillar of stability and predictability in the region. The Romanian President also said that Romania should increase defence expenditure of up to 2% of the GDP, according to the commitments it had made. In another move, Klaus Iohannis reiterated Romania’s support for the Republic of Moldova’s European path. He stood for a Brexit that should defend the interests of the Romanians living in Britain. Other priorities of the Romanian foreign policy will be the fight against terrorism and illegal migration.




    IMF — A delegation of the International Monetary Fund, led by the head of the mission for Romania, Reza Baqir, on Wednesday started a one-week visit to Romania, to establish contact with the new government in Bucharest. The members of the mission are due to meet high representatives of the Finance Ministry and of the National Bank of Romania, the prime minister and other ministries who hold economy-related portfolios. The agenda of the talks will also cover issues related to the construction of the state budget for 2017. Currently, Romania doesn’t have a financing agreement underway with the IMF.





    TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Sorana Cirstea qualified on Wednesday to the third round of Australian Open, the first Glrand Slem of the year, after defeating Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain. Cirstea will next play against American Alison Riske on Friday. On Thursday, the first day of the women’s doubles, Begu and Lara Arruabarrena (Spain) will be up against the team made up of Louisa Chirico (US) and Elise Mertens (Belgium) while the team Raluca Olaru of Romania and Olga Savciuk of Ukraine will play against Naomi Osaka of Japan and Monica Puig of Porto Rico. In the men’s doubles, Romanians Horia Tecau and Florin Mergea, playing in different teams, qualified on Wednesday to the second round.



    (Translated by Elena Enache)













  • January 16, 2017 UPDATE

    January 16, 2017 UPDATE

    PARLIAMENT — In a plenary session on Monday, the two chambers of the Romanian Parliament voted for setting up a commission to investigate the budget rectifications made by the former technocratic government in August and November 2016. The setting up of this commission has been requested by the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, the leader of the Social Democratic Party, Liviu Dragnea, whose party returned to power, alongside the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, after winning the parliamentary elections of December 11. The opposition parties stood against the initiative. Also on Monday, the legislature decided in the plenary session to postpone talks on the setting up of a special commission to control the activity of the Foreign Intelligence Service, SIE. In exchange, a relevant commission has been set up for the Romanian Intelligence Service, SRI. Last week, the director of the Romanian Intelligence Service, Eduard Hellvig, suspended from office the first deputy director, lieutenant general, Florian Coldea, accused of having committed illegalities by former MP Sebastian Ghita, who, in his turn, is investigated in several corruption files and is reported missing.



    FOREIGN AFFAIRS– The new Romanian foreign minister, Teodor Melescanu, on Monday attended in Brussels, alongside the other EU foreign ministers the monthly meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council. According to a communiqué issued by the Romanian Foreign Ministry, the Romanian official has hailed the new ceasefire agreement in Syria and underlined that it is important for all sides to abide by it. Melescanu has also expressed Romania’s readiness to support humanitarian efforts as well as Syria’s post-conflict reconstruction. The Romanian foreign minister has discussed, together with the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, issues related to the neighbouring Republic of Moldova, a former Soviet state with a predominantly Romanian speaking population, and the eastern neighbourhood. Also on the sidelines of the meeting, the Romanian official participated, alongside his Bulgarian, Greek and Croatian counterparts in an informal meeting devoted to the situation in the region.



    REP. MOLDOVA– The President of the Republic of Moldova (a former Soviet state, with a predominantly Romanian speaking population), the pro-Russian Socialist Igor Dodon on Monday started a three day visit to Moscow, for talks with the Kremlin leader, Vladimir Putin. According to sources close to his entourage, Dodon’s priorities are to resume Moldovan exports on the Russian market, as they are currently embargoed and to legalise the situation of Moldovan workers in Russia, whose legal stay there has expired. According to the same source, Dodon and Putin will allegedly approach the issue of the pro-Russian breakaway region of Transdniester, which got out from under Chishinau’s control, back in 1992. Elected in November, Dodon is the first high-ranking official in the Republic of Moldova in the past 15 years to start his mandate with an official visit to Moscow. In another move, also on Monday, Dodon called on the Moldovan government to start legal procedures to suspend the Moldovan ambassador to Romania, Mihai Gribincea. The latter has recently said that Dodon’s decree on withdrawing the Moldovan citizenship to the former Romanian President, Traian Basescu, might be unconstitutional. Dodon’s request has been rejected by Moldovan Prime Minister, Pavel Filip.



    NATO– On January 17 and 18, the Military Committee, NATO’s Highest Military Authority, meets in Chiefs of Defence Session in Brussels. Romania is represented in this 176th session by the chief of staff of the Romanian Army, general Nicolae Ciuca. According to a communiqué issued by the Romanian Defence Ministry, the agenda of the meeting covers such issues as the Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan and the current threats to NATO. Sessions devoted to NATO’s partnerships with Ukraine and Georgia will also be organised, among others things, the communiqué issued by the Romanian Defence Ministry also shows.



    TENNIS — Two Romanian tennis players, Monica Niculescu (no.32 WTA) and Ana Bogdan (no.125 WTA), on Tuesday will play against the Russians Ana Blinkova (no.189 WTA) and Elena Vesnina (no.18 WTA), respectively, in the singles, in the first round of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. On Monday, also in the first round, Sorana Carstea (no.78 WTA) defeated Russian Irina Hromaceva (no.92 WTA), 6-2, 6-1, and Irina Begu (no.29 WTA) outperformed Kazakh Yaroslava Shvedova (no.39 WTA), 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. Two other Romanians got eliminated. Simona Halep (no.4 WTA) surprisingly got eliminated by American Shelby Rogers (no.57 WTA) 6-3, 6-1 and Patricia Tig got eliminated by Puerto Rican Monica Puig, 6-0, 6-1.(Translated by Diana Vijeu)

  • May 31, 2016

    May 31, 2016

    Anti-missile shield – The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, says the recent statements made by Moscow are inaccurate, and emphasises that the anti-missile platform in Deveselu does not target Russia. Such ungrounded threats reconfirm that Romanias approach, namely to strengthen NATO security in response to Moscows stance in the Black Sea region, is the right one, Iohannis said in Bucharest today, upon opening the Black Sea Security Programme. On Saturday, the Romanian Foreign Ministry expressed its surprise with the statements of the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, who said Romania might be in the sight of Russian rockets because it hosts elements of the American missile defence system. These statements, said the Foreign Ministry, may be read as a threat to regional security.



    Corruption – The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, has today sent to the Justice Minister a request to prosecute four ministers accused of establishing an organised criminal group. They are Mihai Tanasescu, Sebastian Vladescu, Gheorghe Pogea, former finance ministers, and Dan Ioan Popescu, former Economy and Commerce Minister. According to prosecutors, there are indications and data that the four committed offences like abuse of office, aiding embezzlement and establishment of an organised criminal group. They are suspected of having colluded with several business people to promote an emergency ordinance under which the 2003 public budget debts of Rompetrol Rafinare, amounting to more than 600 million USD, were converted into bonds underwritten by the Finance Ministry.



    Justice – The Romanian Justice Minister, Raluca Prună, says the rate of recovering damages in the criminal cases where a final sentence has been passed is only 8%. She also says that recovering the proceeds of crime remains a priority, although for the time being it is a chapter that she describes as “defective. Minister Prună explained that the Justice Ministry, the Ministry for Public Finances and the National Tax Administration Agency (ANAF), with its specialised directorate, are working together to improve the damage recovery rate.



    OLAF – Nearly one billion USD worth of EU funds were paid last year to fraudulent applicants, with the highest frequency of suspected fraud cases reported for Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary, reads the 2015 report of the European Anti-Fraud Office released today and quoted by Reuters. Last year, 187 million euro were recovered through judicial proceedings and returned to Brussels, which is 10% less than in 2014. OLAF has the authority to investigate corruption cases, but it cannot take the perpetrators to court.



    NATO – The NATO Parliamentary Assembly Monday called on the Allies, at the end of a three-day session in Tirana, to be prepared to respond to Russias potential threat against one of its members, France-Presse reports. The declaration, signed unanimously by the nearly 250 representatives of the 28 NATO member states, urges the Alliance to provide guarantees to its members, particularly those on the eastern flank, Romania included, that feel their security comes under threat. NATO strengthened its eastern flank further to Russias annexation of Crimea and to its support for the separatists in east Ukraine.



    Diplomacy – The Romanian Foreign Minister, Lazar Comanescu, is taking part today, in Pravetz, near Sofia, in a meeting of the 12 foreign ministers of the South-East European Cooperation Process, at the end of the one-year Bulgarian presidency of the structure. According to the Bulgarian presidency, the participants will discuss the current challenges facing South-Eastern Europe and joint actions for the future development of the region. The meeting takes place one day ahead of the Summit of the South-East European Cooperation Process due on Wednesday in Sofia, where Romania will be represented by PM Dacian Ciolos. In 2016 the initiative, aimed at promoting dialogue and regional cooperation in various fields, celebrates 20 years since its launch at Bulgarias initiative.



    Roland Garros – The Romanian player Simona Halep (seed no. 6) and the Australian Samantha Stosur (seeded 21) are to resume today their game in the eighth-finals of the Roland Garros Grand Slam, which was suspended on Sunday because of the weather. Originally rescheduled for Monday, the game, suspended at 5–3 for Halep, could not be resumed yesterday, because of the rain. In the mens doubles, Florin Mergea of Romania and the Indian Rohan Bopanna Sunday won the match against Brian Baker/Marcus Daniell (US/New Zealand), in the eighth-finals of the same tournament.

  • December 15, 2015

    December 15, 2015

    COLECTIV — The death toll of the tragedy which struck the “Colectiv” nightclub in Bucharest on October 30, has risen to 62, after another person who sustained burn injuries died in a hospital in Bucharest. Some 40 people are still undergoing treatment in hospitals in Bucharest and abroad. The Romanian Health Ministry is now looking into the possibility of building a new burns hospital in Bucharest. In the same line, three burns centres will be built in Iasi (north-east), Targu Mures (centre) and Timisoara (west), under a program with the World Bank.



    COMMEMORATION — Ceremonies are being held today to mark 26 years since the flame of the Anti-Communist Revolution of December 1989 was kindled in the Western Romanian city of Timisoara. A symposium devoted to controversial aspects of the events that occurred in 1989 is scheduled for today. Attending the debates will be both historians and revolutionaries. Started on December 16, 1989, by the Timisoara inhabitants’ opposition to an abusive measure taken by the local authorities, the Revolution spread to the whole country at a fast pace. It culminated on December 22, when dictator Nicolae Ceausescu fled Bucharest, leaving power. Over 1,000 people died and some 3,400 others got injured between December 16 and 25, 1989. Romania was the only country in the former Eastern Bloc that violently overthrew the communist regime and executed its communist leaders.



    DIPLOMACY — US Secretary of State, John Kerry, is holding talks in Moscow today with Russian President Vladimir Putin on ways to put an end to the civil war that has been ravaging Syria for almost four years now. The US has announced that, on December 18, New York will be the venue for the future meeting of the International Syria Support Group, adding that it counts on Russia to bring Syrian president Bashar al-Assad at the negotiation table with the Syrian opposition. Over 250,000 people died and million others have fled civil war, which has been ravaging Syria since as early as 2011. News agencies underline that the US Secretary of State paid his latest visit to Moscow in May, for talks with president Vladimir Putin and foreign minister Sergei Lavrov on the Ukraine crisis.



    REFUGEES — Multiculturalism continues to be an “illusion”, being conducive to the emergence of “parallel societies”, German chancellor, Angela Merkel told a meeting of her Christian Democratic Union party, yesterday. Merkel presented the guidelines of her policy on refugees, evoking “humanitarian imperatives” , but she accepted a compromise with the critical voices, by promising to reduce the number of asylum-seekers in Germany, Reuters and France Presse news agencies report. She also stood for the complete integration of non-EU citizens by their embracing of the German language and values. Thus, the German chancellor believes multiculturalism risks to generate political isolation, and the emergence of suburbs just like those on the outskirts of Paris, with alienated individuals and where the crime rate is very high. Some one million non-EU citizens arrived in Germany in 2015, against the backdrop of the flexible policies pursued by the government led by Angela Merkel.



    ECONOMY– Foreign direct investments in Romania increased by 270 million Euros in October, exceeding 2.8 billion Euros in the first ten months of the year. The figure has exceeded by almost 1.2 billion Euros the amount registered in the same period of 2014. According to the National Bank of Romania, capital participations, including the estimated reinvested net profit, stood at 2.7 billion Euros.



    TOURISM INDUSTRY–Some 1.75 million foreign tourists visited Romania in the first nine months of the year, spending here approximately one billion Euros. According to the National Institute for Statistics, most non-resident tourists came to Romania on business, they were followed by those who participated in congresses, conferences, fairs and exhibitions or attended courses and by holiday makers. Approximately half of the tourists who arrived in Romania in the first nine months of the year had their stays organised by a travel agency, and over 28% made their travel plans by themselves. The main means of transportation was the plane.



    SPORTS — The Romanian national women’s handball team on Wednesday will be taking on the host country’s national squad, in a fixture counting towards the quarter-finals of the World Handball Championship, underway in Denmark. In the three other fixtures at this stage of the competition, France is pitted against the Netherlands, Poland will be taking on Russia, while Norway will go against Montenegro. Whereas Poland grabbed a surprising win over Hungary in the eighth finals, Romania will have to earn at least the 7th position in the final rankings in order to make headway into next year’s pre-Olympic tournaments in Rio. Romania is the only country to have participated in all final tournaments of the World Championships, since 1957, boasting three medals: gold in 1962 and silver in 1973 and 2005, respectively.


    (Translated by: Diana Vijeu)

  • Loan to the Republic of Moldova

    Loan to the Republic of Moldova

    On Wednesday, in New York, at the UN General Assembly, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis met the PM of the Republic of Moldova, Valeriu Strelet, to discuss the loan granted by Bucharest to Moldova. On the same day, the government in Bucharest has granted a 150-million-Euro loan for five years, for a token interest rate. At the joint government session held by the two countries last week, PM Victor Ponta explained:



    “They really need our help in this area. It is a project in which we have to be united, both the government and the opposition, for a truly national project.



    Ponta added that Romanias fundamental duty was to aid the Republic of Moldova, lacking alternatives. He also said that the country risked reverting to the same situation as 70 years ago, with pro-Russian forces in control, in reference to the 1940 annexation by Stalins USSR of Moldova. The latest events in Chisinau seem to be in line with his worries. The Sunday anti-government protest organized by Socialists and pro-Moscow populists, brought out to the street 20,000 people who took over downtown, which most times in the last 25 years was the venue for protests in favor of the opposite political opinion.



    The opposition pushes for Moldova to get closer to Moscow and join the Russia-Belarus-Kazakhstan customs union. On the other side, the three party government, made up of Liberal Democrats, Democrats, and Liberals, openly pro-European, has a feeble 51% majority, and was discredited after the worst political and financial scandal of the last 25 years of the republic. The central bank uncovered the fact that three financial institutions in Chisinau, making up for about a third of the countrys assets, gave out unreturned loans worth 1 billion dollars, the equivalent of 15% of the GDP. The transaction was signed right before the Parliament elections at the end of November 2014, in which the pro-European parties won very closely against pro-Russian opposition.



    There are voices that say that the Republic of Moldova is headed for early elections, since the parties in power have neither the vision, nor the energy to change the situation radically.