Radio România Internațional

Tag: news and current affairs

  • December 20, 2024

    December 20, 2024

    Parliament. The two chambers of the Romanian Parliament resulting from the elections on 1st December are meeting today in separate sessions for the first time, being summoned by president Klaus Iohannis. The speakers of the two chambers and the other members of the permanent bureaus are also elected. The parliamentary groups are being presented and the parliamentary committees are established, in keeping with the political make-up of each chamber. The new Parliament numbers 465 MPs, including 331 deputies and 134 senators. Seven parties have representatives in the two chambers, namely the Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, as well as three sovereignist parties, the Alliance for the Union of Romanians, SOS Romania and the Party of Young People. Of the 465 MPs, 364 are men and 101 women, and most of them are between 45 and 64 years old.

     

    Talks. The representatives of the Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania may today resume talks to form a new government, political sources have said. Negotiations came to a standstill on Thursday, following the unexpected announcement of the Social Democratic leader Marcel Ciolacu that his party would no longer take part in the talks, but will support a possible minority right-leaning government. Ciolacu later met the Liberals’ interim leader Ilie Bolojan. The president of the Save Romania Union Elena Lasconi said her party is again willing to take part in talks to form a ruling coalition, but under the same conditions as before, namely the transparency of the budget situation. President Klaus Iohannis called on pro-European political parties to resume talks on the formation of a government and said he would call for consultations with parliamentary parties.

     

    Visit. Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orban is in Bucharest for talks with prime minister Marcel Ciolacu. On 22nd November, the Romanian prime minister met his Hungarian counterpart in Budapest, for talks, among others, on Romania’s full entry into Schengen. Hungary is holding the rotating EU presidency until the 31st of December.  Prime minister Orban was in Brussels to attend the EU-Western Balkans summit on Wednesday and the European Council on Thursday. On Friday, Orban will also travel to Bulgaria.

     

    EU summit. The war in Ukraine, the EU’s trade relations with the United States, the situation in the Middle East and Russia’s interference in the elections were some of the subjects discussed at the EU winter summit in Brussels. Attending the summit was also Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky, who called for unity between the European Union and the United States to obtain peace and save Ukraine. The EU heads of state and government also discussed the supply of military equipment and ways to consolidate Ukraine’s energy sector and other civilian infrastructure that has come under deliberate and increasingly intense attacks by Russia. Talks also looked at the effects of Donald Trump’s return to office on transatlantic trade relations. The EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the EU and the United States should do everything to avoid a trade war because both economies would be affected and China would be only one standing to gain. Also, European leaders recognised Russia’s meddling in the election process in Romania, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia and called for more efficient coordination across the Union to combat Moscow’s hybrid attacks.

  • Romania hit by a wave of polar air

    Romania hit by a wave of polar air

    Autumn officially arrived in Romania precisely on Sunday at 4:54 hours local time. The equinox marked the arrival of the astronomical autumn in the northern hemisphere, where days will continue to get shorter and nights longer, right up to the winter solstice on December 21st. These longer nights are expected to usher in lower temperatures, which during the day will rise only until 2 p.m. or 3 p.m., unlike in summer, when we saw them rising until evening. Romania has made the transition to autumn more abruptly than expected by many.



    A wave of cold air has engulfed the entire country in only 2-3 days. After on Saturday and Sunday temperatures soared to 30-31 degrees Celsius in certain areas, they shortly plummeted to values by 10 and 15 degrees lower than usual for this time of the year. Romania actually had two seasons on Monday: in its central regions people switched on their heating systems, whereas on the Black Sea coast others were having a great time basking in the sun and swimming in the warm sea water.



    On Monday night, the wave of cold air swept over all the territory and temperatures plunged below zero in the mountainous regions on Tuesday. Minus 8 degrees C were reported at the Omu Peak in the Carpathians and minus 5 degrees in the Fagaras Mountains. Snow removal operations commenced on Romania’s highest and most spectacular motorway the Transfagarasan, where the snow layer reached up to 10 centimeters. So, temperatures sharply dropped all throughout Romania on Tuesday with intensified wind and local showers in the country’s northern and central regions as well as with snowfalls in the mountains.



    According to the latest weather forecasts, the bad weather will continue to keep Romania in its grip until Friday, when temperatures are expected to rise again. However, experts believe that in spite of these cold days, Romania will see genuine autumn days only in October though temperatures are expected to be higher than usual for this time of the year, with scarce rain. Experts have also agreed that seasons are no longer what they used to be, as global warming has a significant impact in the northern hemisphere as well.

  • The Week in Review 17-23 August

    The Week in Review 17-23 August

    Government takes new measures in the public healthcare system


    The Romanian Government announced that salaries in the public healthcare sector, which employs nearly 200,000 people, will be raised by 25% as of October 1. The measure, which will be endorsed in next week’s Cabinet meeting, was followed by criticism from the Opposition and similar demands from other categories of state-sector personnel, including teachers and policemen. Also next week, the Government will send a bill to Parliament, with clarifications on how patients can give doctors the so-called “bribes.” The Justice Ministry will draw up a law laying down the terms under which patients may offer supplemental contributions to the doctors who have treated them. Such contributions will not qualify as bribery and will not entail prosecution if they meet 3 criteria: they have been volunteered by patients, they have been offered after the treatment is over and they have been declared by recipients for tax purposes.



    Parliament to vote on the draft Fiscal Code on Monday


    On Monday the Parliament of Romania is to convene in a special session to discuss and vote on the President’s request to re-examine the new Fiscal Code bill. The parliamentary parties have agreed on the key technical details of the Code. The VAT for foodstuffs is to be cut from 24 to 20% as of January 1, and further to 19% in 2017. The additional excise on fuels remains in place next year as well, while provisions regarding the scrapping or keeping of other taxes will be decided on at a later date. Last month, President Klaus Iohannis sent the draft Fiscal Code back to Parliament, which had unanimously endorsed it. The President argued that its enforcement was not sustainable. PM Victor Ponta on the other hand says the new Code is sustainable and the roughly 1.5-billion euros impact of the VAT cut on the state budget may be offset by improved collection of budget revenues, put at 2.2 billion euros.



    Former MPs are facing corruption charges


    The former presidential adviser and interior minister Gabriel Berca has been taken into detention pending trial, under charges of influence peddling. The same measure was taken against Mihai Banu, a Liberal Democratic Deputy at that time, and his son. According to prosecutors, between 2010 and 2012, Gabriel Berca claimed and received, via Mihai Banu, 185,000 euros from a businessman. The money was split between Berca and the National Liberal Party, which he was a member of. In exchange for the bribe, Berca promised to use his influence to get the government allot a substantial amount to a particular local administration.



    Moldovan Defence Minister visits Bucharest


    The formation of a new pro-Western Government in Chisinau paves the way for stepping up bilateral projects, the Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu said during a meeting with the Defence Minister of the neighbouring Republic of Moldova, Anatolie Salaru. Aurescu emphasised Romania’s constant support for Moldova’s European accession efforts and for its larger campaign to modernize the state, including in the defence sector. In turn, Salaru presented the priorities of his term in office and the main action lines in reforming the country’s defence sector, while also thanking Romania for its consistent and substantial support. He also had a meeting in Bucharest with his Romanian counterpart, Mircea Dusa, who announced that a NATO liaison office will be opened this autumn in Chisinau, to support Moldova’s NATO accession and the inter-operability of its army with the Allied forces. The vice-president of the Moldovan Liberal Party, Salaru was appointed defence minister last month in the new Cabinet headed by the Liberal Democrat Valeriu Strelet.



    Heavy rainfalls follow extreme heat wave in Romania


    After more than two months of extreme heat, heavy rainfalls have hit Romania. The drought has however caused substantial damages already in most regions of the country, with farmers putting losses at more than 2 billion euros. The Government made an analysis of the measures that can be taken to help farmers whose crops have been affected, including aid from the European Commission for large-scale farms. For small farms, the authorities promised aid from the state budget. The most affected crops are maize, sunflower and soy, but according to experts wheat, rape, vegetables and fruit will also stand to suffer. One immediate consequence will be a spike in fruit, vegetable and grain prices, producers warn.



    Europa League playoffs bring mixed results for Romanian teams


    The football team Astra, from the southern Romanian town of Giurgiu, defeated on Thursday, on home turf, 3-2, the Dutch team AZ Almaar, in the first leg of the Europa League playoffs. After the Dutch players scored twice in the first 15 minutes, Astra recovered spectacularly and took the lead by half time. Also on Thursday, in Bucharest, Romania’s defending champions, Steaua, was outplayed 0-3 by Norway’s Rosenborg Trondheim. Viewed by sports media as quite shameful, the defeat comes after last month Steaua was kicked off the third preliminary round of the Champions League by the Serbian team Partizan Belgrade.