Radio România Internațional

Tag: NAFSA

May 28, 2019

ELECTION – Sunday’s vote for the
European Parliament has earned MEP seats for six political parties, according to
partial results made public by the Central Election Authority. The National
Liberal Party in opposition grabbed 26.33% of the vote, followed by the Social-Democratic
Party in power with 23.16% and the 2020 Save Romania Union – Plus Alliance with
21.34% of the vote. The Pro Romania Party, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians
in Romania and the People’s Movement Party will also be represented in the new
Parliament, after grabbing 6.8%, 6% and 5.6% of the vote, respectively. The
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats failed the meet the election threshold.
Voter turnout stood at a record 49%. Romanians also voted in the referendum on
the judiciary called by President Klaus Iohannis, 80% of them answering Yes.
The turnout for the referendum was 41%, above the 30% threshold required to validate
the vote.

INFORMAL
MEETING – Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis is today attending
the informal meeting of the European Council in Brussels. High on the agenda is
the result of the European Parliament election, held over May 23-26. EU leaders
will also hold preliminary talks over the new leadership of community
institutions.

PROTEST – Dozens of people on Monday evening protested in
front of the Foreign Ministry building in Bucharest, calling on Minister Teodor
Melescanu to step down for the poor organization of Sunday’s European
Parliament election in the Diaspora. Thousands of Romanians couldn’t exercise
their constitutional right to vote in the election and the referendum on the
judiciary after standing in line for hours in front of polling stations.

SOCIAL-DEMOCRATS -
The Social-Democratic Party is today convening to analyze the result obtained
in Sunday’s European Parliament election and decide on the party’s future
course after the prison sentencing of its leader, Liviu Dragnea. Prime Minister
Viorica Dancila on Monday took over as interim party leader, saying these are
difficult times for the party. Dancila said she would not step down.

POPE FRANCIS – Online registration for the visit of his Holy
Father, Pope Francis, continue until Friday. Hundreds of thousands of people
have already registered, including Christians from Hungary, Serbia, Ukraine,
Pakistan, Rwanda, South Africa, Nigeria, Madagascar, Australia, Israel, Canada,
Namibia or Reunion. Held under the motto Let’s go together!, the
visit will have its first stop in the capital city Bucharest, the largest city
in the east of the country, then Pope Francis will travel to Iasi, the
spiritual capital of Romanian Roman-Catholics, Blaj, where he will beatify 7
bishops killed in communist prisons, and the Marian shrine in Şumuleu Ciuc. In
1999, Romania was the first country with a majority Orthodox population to have
been visited by a Pope, i.e. John Paul II 20 years ago.

IMF -
A delegation of the International Monetary Fund led by IMF mission chief for Romania,
Jaewoo Lee, will be in Bucharest until June 7 for its annual assessment of the
Romanian economy under Article IV. The IMF delegation will hold talks with the
Romanian authorities regarding economic developments and policies. IMF
officials will also meet representatives of the Ministry of Public Finance, the
National Bank and government agencies, as well as representatives of the private
sector and NGOs. Romania currently has no ongoing agreement with the IMF, an
institution that monitors the evolution of our country’s economy as a compulsory
process for all member states.

NAFSA – 24
universities from Romania will be presenting their educational offer in
Washington, over May 26-31 within the annual NAFSA education fair, the most
prestigious international event of its kind, Romania’s National Council of
Rectors has announced. The conference is expected to bring together more than
10,000 participants and 3,500 universities from 100 countries. According to a release
of the National Council of Rectors, Romania offers a high-quality education
environment as well as a series of facilities in its campuses up to European
standards at better prices than in other European countries.

TENNIS -
Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, no. 3 in the world, is today playing Alja
Tomljanovic of Australia (47 WTA) in the opening round at Roland Garros, the
second Grand Slam tournament of the year, where this year she returns to defend
her title. Also today Irina Begu defeated Lin Zhu of China (108 WTA), 6-1, 6-1.
On Monday, Sorana Cirstea (93 WTA) won 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 against Kaja Juvan of
Slovenia (131 WTA) and advanced to the second round. Conversely, Mihaela
Buzarnescu (30 WTA) lost 4-6, 4-6 to Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia (60 WTA).
In the men’s competition, Marius Copil (81 ATP) lost to Benoit Paire of France
in four sets. Copil is also enrolled in the men’s doubles, where together with
Rohan Bopanna of India will play Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Michael
Venus of New Zealand. Also in the men’s doubles, Horia Tecau and Jean-Julien
Rojer of the Netherlands will play Cristian Garin of Chile and Juan Ignacio
Londero of Argentina.
(Translated by V. Palcu)

28 May 2019
May 27, 2019 UPDATE

SENTENCE The former head of the ruling coalition in Bucharest, Liviu Dragnea, was imprisoned on Monday night, after having been sentenced by the supreme court to prison for corruption offences. Dragnea will be quarantined for 21 days, during which he will undergo physical and psychological check-ups, and his prison activities will be decided. The head of the Social Democratic Party in power and Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Dragnea was sentenced on Monday to 3 and a half years behind bars for inciting abuse of office. The prosecution proved that while he was the president of the Teleorman County Council, Dragnea had 2 social assistance workers illegally employed with the Teleorman Child Protection Service, although in fact they were working for the local branch of the Social Democratic Party. Liviu Dragnea had also received a suspended sentence for election fraud, involving the 2012 referendum for the impeachment of ex president Traian Basescu. The Social Democrats executive president, PM Viorica Dancila, announced she will be the interim party president until a special congress is held. The Chamber of Deputies will also elect a new speaker.

ELECTION Sundays election in Romania sends to the European Parliament representatives from 6 political parties, according to the results announced by the Central Electoral Bureau after most votes have been counted. The National Liberal Party, the largest in the right-of-centre opposition, got the most votes, 26.35%, followed by the Social Democrats in power with 23.16%, and the Alliance 2020 USR – PLUS with 21.24%. Three other Romanian parties will be represented in the EP: PRO România – 6.7%, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania and the Peoples Movement Party with around 5.5% each. Seven other parties that took part in the election were below the 5% threshold. In the diaspora, many Romanians queued for hours to be able to cast their ballots. According to Radio Romanias correspondents in Rome, Madrid and London, people complained about the poor organisation of the vote. The Foreign Minister Teodor Meleşcanu issued a news release apologizing for the problems and saying he ordered an investigation in the countries in question. He also ordered the Foreign Ministry to run an immediate analysis to identify solutions and legislative measures for the development of a voting system adapted to the needs of the Romanian communities abroad. The turnout at the EP election was a record-breaking 49%. On the same day as the EP election, Romanians also voted in a referendum on the judiciary, initiated by President Klaus Iohannis. Over 80% of those who voted in the referendum answered “yes. The referendum turnover was over 41%, above the 30% minimum threashold for the vote to be validated. President Klaus Iohannis said on Monday that Romanians had cast a pro-Europe vote, in a country where thieves and criminals belong in prison, and once again criticised the organisation of the ballot in the diaspora.

COUNCIL President of Romania Klaus Iohannis takes part on Tuesday in an informal meeting of the European Council in Brussels. The main topic will be an analysis of the results of the elections for the European Parliament, held between May 23rd and 26th. The EU leaders will also have a preliminary discussion on the candidates for the top posts in EU institutions.

UNIVERSITIES Until May 31st, 24 Romanian universities are presenting their educational offer in Washington, at the annual NAFSA conference and exhibition, the most prestigious in the world in this field, the Romanian Council of Rectors has announced. The conference brings together more than 10,000 participants and 3,500 universities from over 100 countries. “Romania offers a high-quality, adequate and safe learning environment as well as European-standard campus facilities, for more competitive costs than other European countries, reads a news release issued by the Romanian Council of Rectors.

POPE Online registration for attendance of the religious services held by Pope Francis in Romania continue until Friday. Hundreds of thousands of people have already registered. Besides Romanians, Christians from neighboring countries such as Hungary, Serbia and Ukraine but also from far away countries like Pakistan, Rwanda, South Africa, Australia and Israel will come to Romania for the Popes visit. Pope Francis makes a three-day apostolic visit to Romania from the 31st of May to the 2nd of June following an invitation from President Klaus Iohannis and the Catholic Church in Romania. The motto of the visit is “Lets walk together. The pontiff will travel to the capital Bucharest, to Iasi, the biggest city in the east of the country and home to a sizeable Roman-Catholic community, to Blaj, in the centre, the spiritual capital of the Romanian Greek-Catholics and to the Marian shrine in Sumuleu Ciuc, in the centre, in an area with a majority ethnic Hungarian population.

EU The Council of the European Union Monday adopted a negotiating mandate allowing the Commission to take part in multilateral negotiations on electronic commerce. “The digitalisation of our economy has fundamentally changed the way businesses and consumers do trade. It was high time for international rules to reflect this transformation. The EU is committed to working with its WTO partners to put in place an ambitious and pragmatic framework that will guarantee a safe and predictable environment for online trade, said the Romanian Minister for Business Environment, Trade and Entrepreneurship Ştefan-Radu Oprea, who chaired the formal meeting of the Foreign Affairs (Trade) Council, as part of Romanias presidency of the Council of the EU.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

27 May 2019
May 25, 2019 UPDATE

ELECTIONS Romanians will be voting in the European Parliamentary elections
this Sunday and will also have their say in a referendum on justice summoned by
the country’s president, Klaus Iohannis. 13 political groups and 3 independent
candidates are vying for the 33 MEP seats earmarked to Romania but the 33rd
mandate will come into effect though only after Britain’s leaving the block has
produced judicial effects. 441 polling stations have been set up for the
Romanians abroad, most of them in Italy, Spain and the neighboring ex-soviet
Republic of Moldova, a country with a Romanian-speaking majority. Citizens in
20 other EU countries are called to cast their ballot in these elections on
Sunday. Britain, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Slovakia, Latvia
and Malta have already voted in the European Parliamentary elections.

FINES Romanian police have given fines
up to 13,800 Euros to people involved in illegal fishing activities on Danube
River in a larger sting operation at European level, which involved several
riparian countries. 90 people are being investigated for their alleged
involvement in no less than 138 illegal activities on the Romanian side of this
river. According to Romanian police sources, 26,500 Euros worth of goods have
been seized by the police, consisting mainly in boats, fuel, fishing tools as
well as roughly 200 kilos of fish. Search operations at European level, involved
18 hundred vessels and over 25 thousand people.

CONFERENCE Romania’s Agriculture Minister Petrre Daea on Saturday attended a
conference entitled ‘Beekeeping in A European and Global Context’, an event
held in Bucharest during Romania’s holding the EU rotating presidency. The
event, staged on the occasion of the World Bee Day, was aimed at underlining
the importance of these insects for the entire ecosystem against the background
of the present climate change as well as their crucial role in raising crops
production. Daea said Romania comes second in the EU after Spain in terms of
bee families and the first in terms of honey production. Romania produces on an
average 22 thousand tons of honey annually ranking fourth in Europe in terms of
honey output. Statistics show though that Romanians are consuming 3-4 times
less honey than in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium.

DISEASE 90 fresh cases of rubella have
been reported in 8 counties across Romania and in capital Bucharest. According
to the National Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance and Control, the
total number of infections has reached 16,888; 64 of those infected have been
killed and statistics show that a quarter of the people infected need hospital
treatment, while a case out of one thousand dies. Doctors in Romania have again
drawn attention to the need for immunization, especially of children, against
serious diseases.

NAFSA 24 Romanian universities are presenting their educational offer
in Washington, over May 26th and 31st within the annual
NAFSA exhibition, the most prestigious international event of this kind,
Romania’s National Council of Rectors has announced. The conference is expected
to bring together more than 10 thousand participants and 35 hundred
universities from 100 countries. According to a communiqué of the National
Council of Rectors, Romania offers a high-quality education environment as well
as a series of facilities in its campuses up to European standards at better
prices than in other European countries.

(translated by bill)

25 May 2019
25.05.2019 (mise à jour)

Elections – En Roumanie seront organisés, le dimanche 26 mai, les élections européennes et un référendum sur la justice, convoqué par le chef de lEtat, Klaus Iohannis.13 formations politiques et 3 candidats indépendants sont inscrits sur les listes. La Roumanie enverra 33 eurodéputés au futur Parlement européen. Le candidat déclaré élu pour le 33e mandat pourra le prendre, mais selon la décision du Conseil européen, uniquement après la date à laquelle le retrait du Royaume Uni du bloc communautaire produira des effets juridiques. 441 bureaux de vote ont été créés pour les Roumains de l’étranger, la plupart en Italie, en Espagne et en République de Moldavie. Toujours dimanche, les citoyens de 20 autres Etats membres de l’UE sont attendus aux urnes pour désigner leurs représentants à la nouvelle Assemblée législative européenne. Le scrutin a déjà été organisé au Royaume-Uni, aux Pays-Bas, en République tchèque, Irlande, Slovaquie, Lettonie et à Malte.

Conférence — Le ministre roumain de l’Agriculture et du Développement rural, Petre Daea, a participé ce samedi à Bucarest à la conférence « L’apiculture dans le contexte européen et mondial ».Organisé dans le cadre de la présidence roumain du Conseil de l’UE et à l’occasion de la Journée mondiale des abeilles, cet événement s’est proposé de mettre en exergue l’importance des pollinisateurs pour l’humanité et pour l’ensemble de l’écosystème, la nécessité de développer le secteur apicole dans le contexte des changements climatiques ainsi que le rôle crucial des abeilles pour un rendement agricole accru. Le ministre Daea a précisé qu’au niveau de l’UE, la Roumanie occupe la deuxième place après l’Espagne en matière de nombre de familles d’abeilles et la première place pour ce qui est de la production de miel. La Roumanie produit en moyenne 22.000 tonnes de miel par an, ce qui la classe à la quatrième position en Europe. En 2015, elle recensait près d’un million et demi de familles d’abeilles. Quant à la consommation annuelle de miel, avec 450 à 500 grammes par habitant, la Roumanie est loin derrière des pays tels que l’ Allemagne (2 kilos), les Pays – Bas et la Belgique (1,5 kilos).

Universités — 24 universités roumaines présenteront leur offre éducationnelle du 26 au 31 mai, à Washington, durant la conférence et l’exposition annuelle NAFSA, l’événement international le plus prestigieux en la matière — a annoncé le Conseil national des présidents d’université de Roumanie. La conférence, à laquelle plus de 10.000 participants sont attendus, réunit 3500 universités d’une centaine de pays. « La Roumanie offre un environnement d’études de qualité et sûr, ainsi que des facilités au niveau européen dans les campus universitaires, à des tarifs plus compétitifs par rapport à d’autres pays européens », lit-on dans un communiqué du Conseil.

Rougeole — Près de 90 nouveaux cas de rougeole ont été confirmés cette dernière semaine dans 8 départements de Roumanie. Selon le Centre national de surveillance et de contrôle des maladies transmissibles, le nombre total de cas de rougeole confirmés est actuellement de 16.888, dont 64 mortels. Les médecins ont à nouveau insisté sur la nécessité de la vaccination, notamment chez les enfants.

Enfants disparus — Plus de 5.000 enfants ont été portés disparus ces 12 derniers mois en Roumanie, révèlent les données fournies par la Direction d’investigations criminelles au sein de l’Inspection générale de police. Dans près de 70% des cas, il s’agit de mineurs âgés de plus de 14 ans. La plupart des disparitions ont été signalées à Bucarest, la capitale ainsi que dans les départements de Constanţa (sud-est) et de Neamţ (nord-est). Dans 95% des situations, les mineurs quittent volontairement le domicile familial ou le centre d’accueil pour une période indéterminée. A l’occasion de la Journée internationale des enfants disparus, marquée le 25 mai, l’organisation « Sauvez les enfants Roumanie » a attiré l’attention sur le fait que la fugue des enfants est aussi la conséquence des conflits familiaux, des abus, de l’influence de l’entourage ou de la pauvreté .

25 May 2019
May 25, 2019

ELECTIONS Citizens of Latvia, Malta, the Czech Republic and Slovakia are
today voting in the European Parliament elections. Britain, the Netherlands and
Ireland have already cast their ballot in this election while in the other EU
countries, Romania included, people are going to vote on Sunday. 13 political
groups and 3 independent candidates are vying for a seat in the European
Parliament and Romania has been earmarked 33 seats in the European Legislature.
The 33rd mandate will come into effect only after Britain’s
withdrawal from the block has produced judicial effects. 441 polling stations
have been set up for the Romanians abroad, most of them in Italy, Spain and the
neighboring Romanian-speaking Republic of Moldova. Romania is the only member
state, which is staging a referendum concurrently with these elections. The
referendum on legal issues has been summoned by the country’s president Klaus
Iohannis.

CONFERENCE Romania’s Agriculture Minister Petrre Daea has today attended a
conference entitled ‘Beekeeping in A European and Global Context’, an event
held in Bucharest during Romania’s holding the EU rotating presidency. The
event, staged on the occasion of the World Bee Day, is aimed at underlining the
importance of these insects for the entire ecosystem against the background of
the present climate change as well as their crucial role in raising crops production.
Daea said Romania comes second after Spain in terms of bee families and the
first in terms of honey production. Romania produces on an average 22 thousand
tons of honey annually ranking fourth in Europe in terms of honey output. Statistics
show though that Romanians are consuming 3-4 times less honey than in Germany,
the Netherlands and Belgium.

NAFSA 24 Romanian universities are presenting their educational offer
in Washington, over May 26th and 31st within the annual
NAFSA exhibition, the most prestigious international event of this kind,
Romania’s National Council of Rectors has announced. The conference is expected
to bring together more than 10 thousand participants and 35 hundred
universities from 100 countries. According to a communiqué of the National Council
of Rectors, Romania offers a high-quality education environment as well as a
series of facilities in its campuses up to European standards at better prices
than in other European countries.

FOOTBALL Former champion sides, Astra Giurgiu and Viitorul Constanta are
today meeting in Ploiesti, southern Romania for the finals of Romania’s football
cup. Another famous football side from Romania, CFR Cluj has for the fifth time
and the second in a row won Romania’s football championship. They are followed
by FCSB, formerly known as Steaua Bucharest.

(translated by bill)

25 May 2019