Radio România Internațional

Tag: NUCLEAR

  • October 7, 2021 UPDATE

    October 7, 2021 UPDATE

    COVID-19. Romania recorded on Thursday almost
    14,500 new Covid cases from 66,000 tests and 263 deaths. More than 15,000 people
    are in intensive care, including 22 children. No ICU beds are available for
    Covid patients, with the exception of those who also have other medical
    conditions. In another move, the government extended the state of alert for a
    further 30 days from 10th October. Face masks are now mandatory outdoors
    in areas where the incidence rate passes 6 per thousand inhabitants.




    Politics. Romanian president Klaus Iohannis said on Thursday that
    he will invite all parliamentary parties and groups for a first round of talks
    on Monday at noon to solve the government crisis. This comes after Florin Cîțu’s cabinet formed by the National Liberal Party and the Democratic
    Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania fell on Tuesday after a vote of
    no-confidence initiated by the Social Democrats in opposition. The motion also
    got the votes of the nationalist Alliance for the Union of Romanians and the
    Save Romania Union, itself in the government coalition until a month ago.




    Nuclear.
    Nuclearelectrica, the company operating the nuclear power plant in Cernavodă,
    in south-eastern Romania, so far supplied over 200 million MWh (megawatt-hour) to the national energy grid, according
    to a statement from the company. 25 years after the first nuclear reaction went
    into operation, the plant provides around 20% of consumption, accuonting for
    33% of Romania’s green energy production. In 25 years, it prevented over 170
    million tonnes of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere. Nuclear energy
    provides jobs to 11,000 people in Romania and has a total turnover of around
    600 million euros. The Cernavodă plant has two reactors, each with an
    installed capacity of 700 MW. Both use the CANDU 6 technology developed in
    Canada which uses natural uranium as fuel and heavy water as a cooling agent.
    Energy minister Virgil Popescu said Romania is planning to build new nuclear
    facilities in Cernavodă together with American, Canadian and French partners.




    Nobel. Tanzanian novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah won the
    2021 Nobel literature prize. The Swedish Academy praised his uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the
    effects of colonialism and the fate of
    the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents. Gurnah was born in
    1948 on Zanzibar island in the Indian Ocean and arrived in the UK as a refugee
    at the end of the 1960s. He began writing in English and published 10 novels
    and a series of short stories. The Nobel winners in physics, medicine and
    chemistry were also announced this week, with the peace prize to be announced
    on Friday and that for economics on 11th October. (CM)

  • August 6, 2021

    August 6, 2021

    COVID-19 In Romania, the number of new SARS-CoV-2 infection cases remains high, over 200 per day. On Friday 230 new cases and 5 deaths were reported. Over 500 patients are hospitalized, 68 of them in intensive care. As regards the vaccine rollout, the number of fully vaccinated people went over 4.9 million on Thursday. According to a report by the National Public Health Institute, over 80% of the people diagnosed with the disease last week were not vaccinated. Data also indicates that over 85% of the COVID-related deaths were reported among unvaccinated or partly vaccinated patients. On Thursday, the government extended the state of alert by another 30 days.




    WILDFIRES Several European countries are responding to Greeces call for help under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. One of them is Romania, which is sending today over 100 fire-fighters and scores of fire engines. The hundreds of fires in Greece and Turkey have affected the air quality in the east of the Mediterranean, as smoke carrying fine particles has spread as far as to northern Africa. Adding to this is the high concentration of African dust over Greece, which also reduces air quality. The Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis said his country was experiencing an unprecedented environmental crisis. He added that if anyone still has the slightest doubt that climate change is real, they should come to Greece to see its severity first hand. Over 150 wildfires have been reported in Greece so far, and one of them is threatening Olympia, the site of the ancient Olympic Games, where the Olympic flame is lit in modern times.




    MOLDOVA In the R. of Moldovas capital city Chişinău, Parliament convenes today in a special session to vote on the new pro-European government. The prime minister designate, Natalia Gavriliţă, and the 13 members of her cabinet, presented a governing programme focused on the reform of the judiciary and the fight against corruption, as well as on improving citizens living standards. The new government also aims to strengthen the strategic partnership with Romania, so as to ensure Moldovas EU accession. The vote is expected to be unproblematic, as the Action and Solidarity Party, which backs the new government, has 64 seats in Parliament, and only 51 votes are required for the cabinet to be endorsed. Natalia Gavrilița was designated for the PM post by president Maia Sandu, under a presidential order issued on July 30, after consultations with the parliamentary parties.




    NUCLEAR Romania and Canada Thursday signed a Memorandum of Agreement on strengthening cooperation in the civilian nuclear power field. The document was signed by Romanias minister for energy Virgil Popescu and Canada’s ambassador to Romania Annick Goulet. Attending the event, PM Florin Cîţu said the memorandum would consolidate bilateral cooperation in the field, as the Canadian partners would be involved in the Cernavoda nuclear power plant projects and in other civilian nuclear power ventures in Romania. The Canadian industry has exceptional experience in CANDU projects and has already completed CANDU upgrade and construction projects, the PM added, and voiced his satisfaction that Canadian partners are joining the US ones in developing the nuclear sector in Romania. In turn, Ambassador Annick Goulet emphasised that cooperation in the nuclear power field has been a vital element of the 55-year long relations between the 2 countries.




    FESTIVAL One of the most eagerly awaited summer festivals in Romania, Electric Castle, begins today and is scheduled to end on August 15. The opening gigs are taking place at Banffy Castle in Bonţida, and others will follow in the city of Cluj Napoca in the coming days. After a difficult period for festival goers, things are returning to normal. According to the organisers, hundreds of volunteers are helping in this years edition, as they did in previous years as well. Taking part in the 10-day event held in over 20 locations in Bonţida and Cluj are 250 artists from 23 countries.




    OLYMPICS The Romanian Cătălin Chirilă has today qualified into the semifinals of the 1,000m canoeing race in the Tokyo Olympics, after winning the first of the 5 qualifying series held at the Sea Forest Waterway base. The semi-finals are scheduled for Saturday. Over the years, kayak and canoeing have brought Romania 34 Olympic medals. The last gold medal was won by Florin Popescu, currently the coach of Romanias Olympic canoeing team, and Mitică Pricop, 21 years ago in Sydney. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • Romanian – US cooperation in the field of energy

    Romanian – US cooperation in the field of energy

    Romania has huge economic potential, and it is a very good place for investors, not only from the US, but from around the world, the US Ambassador to Romania Adrian Zuckerman said early this month, voicing hopes that the economic partnership between the 2 countries would catch up with and even outperform the military one.



    One of the key areas where Washington and Bucharest work together is the field of energy. In order to meet its energy security and decarbonisation goals, Romania intends to upgrade one of the reactors of the Cernavoda nuclear power plant and build another 2.



    The project is estimated to cost 8 billion US dollars, and the US Export-Import Bank will provide up to 7 billion USD for its funding. Once completed, the project will enable the Nuclear Power Plant in Cernavodă, south-eastern Romania, to cover around 40% of the countrys electricity needs. This is double the rate covered at present, says Cosmin Ghiţă, general manager of Nuclearelectrica:



    Cosmin Ghiţă: “With Units 3 and 4, this means doubling the current nuclear power capacity, and this is only one of the benefits. In Romania, the nuclear industry provides around 11,000 jobs. Once these projects are started, the number of jobs could reach over 20,000. As for the benefits of revamping Unit 1, these are evident: operating this facility for another 30 years, at less than half the cost of a new reactor.



    The agreement between Romania and the US on cooperation in the Cernavoda nuclear power projects was signed in Bucharest on Wednesday by the Romanian economy minister Virgil Popescu and the US ambassador, in the presence of the interim PM Nicolae Ciucă.



    The terms of the documents had been agreed on in early October, during the economy ministers visit to the US, when the memorandum of agreement with Exim Bank was also signed.



    This week, the USA Exim Bank president Kimberly Reed went to Cernavodă, and in a subsequent meeting with minister Virgil Popescu, he emphasised that the institution is ready to provide funding to Bucharest for other projects as well. The US might also fund the development of natural gas in the Black Sea.



    Romgaz is currently negotiating the acquisition of the US company Exxons stake in the Neptun Deep offshore project, and once investments in the Black Sea are restarted, Romania may become Europes largest natural gas and energy producer.



    Ambassador Adrian Zuckerman, attending the meeting, emphasised the importance of Romania securing its energy independence and added that the visit made by the Exim Bank president highlights the US commitment to Romania. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • November 21, 2020 UPDATE

    November 21, 2020 UPDATE

    COVID-19 The total number of COVID-19 cases in Romania since the start of the pandemic passes 412,000. On Saturday, almost 9,700 new cases were reported. Another 160 coronavirus-related deaths were also confirmed, taking the death toll to over 9,900. A further 1,132 patients are currently in intensive care. Almost 70% of the total number of COVID-19 patients in Romania have recovered. Local lockdowns were introduced in several towns and villages with large number of cases, including around the capital Bucharest. Recent reports point to a plateau phase in the epidemic, president Klaus Iohannis said. He announced he would have a meeting on Monday with the health, interior and defence ministers, to clarify aspects related to the anti-COVID vaccination campaign, which he sees as a matter of national security. He added the latest data allows for “moderated optimism and called for strict observance of the containment measures introduced by the authorities.



    PANDEMIC The total number of Covid-19 cases worldwide is now over 58 million, with nearly 1.4 million deaths and over 40 million people having recovered from the disease, according to Worldometers.info. The US is the worst hit country, with over 12 million cases and at least 260,000 deaths. The American company Pfizer and their German partner BioNTech announced they have requested emergency authorisation of their COVID-19 vaccine in the US. The US Food and Drug Administration says the goal is to have the vaccine approved in the first half of December. The 2 companies claim to be able to supply the vaccine within hours of its approval. In turn, the EU may approve 2 vaccines by the end of December, the one produced by Pfizer/BioNTech and the one produced by Moderna. Over the last 24 hours, the number of infections has gone up in Ukraine, Russia, North Macedonia, Croatia, Italy and Spain. Madrid is to endorse on Tuesday a large-scale vaccination plan covering a large part of the population by next summer. The Madrid region will be under lockdown in the first half of December. The Italian government also announced plans to ease restrictions prior to the winter holidays, with tougher measures to be introduced between Christmas and New Years Eve.



    NUCLEAR The European Commission approved the cooperation agreement signed by Romania with the USA in the field of nuclear energy, the Romanian Economy Minister Virgil Popescu said in a Facebook post. He added that 7 billion USD worth of funding has been obtained from the US for the revamping of Cernavoda Unit 1, the building of Units 3 and 4 and for putting together projects in the field of energy. Virgil Popescu says the agreement will ensure Romanias energy security, investments and jobs in many sectors. A consortium will be set up to this aim, comprising companies from the US, Romania, Canada and France.



    FILM The 5th BUZZ International Film Festival, based in Buzau and devoted to European cinema, is held exclusively online as of today. Until November 26, film lovers are invited to enjoy Romanian and European films free of charge. According to the organisers, the Festival has 4 competition sections: fiction features, documentaries, short films and student films. Most of the works in the competition are screened for the first time in Romania. This years surprises include Radu Ciorniciucs documentary, “Home, awarded in major international festivals. In the BUZZ Women section, the highlights include ‘Creativ’, a documentary by Ioana Grigore, and Nora Fingscheidts ‘System Crasher,’ winner of the Silver Bear – “Alfred Bauer Award in Berlin in 2019.



    G20 The online summit of the worlds 20 biggest economies, G20, hosted for the first time by Saudi Arabia, started on Saturday. The main topic on the agenda is the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. Saudi King Salman told G20 leaders that they must work towards affordable and equitable access to vaccines and other tools to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, including for poorer nations. On Friday, the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen voiced hopes that the G20 summit due this weekend will be “a new beginning for multilateralism. Ursula von der Leyen said she would call on the Unions G20 partners to step up economic efforts to provide access to COVID-19 vaccine and treatment for poorer countries as well. The goal is to purchase 2 billion vaccine doses for countries with below-average revenues, the EC president said. (translated by: A.M. Popescu)

  • November 21, 2020

    November 21, 2020

    COVID-19 The total number of COVID-19 cases in Romania since the start of the pandemic passes 412,000. On Saturday, 9,700 new cases were reported. Most of them were in the capital Bucharest and in Cluj County (north-west). Another 160 coronavirus-related deaths were also confirmed, taking the death toll up to 9,900. A further 1,132 patients are currently in intensive care. Almost 70% of the total number of COVID-19 patients in Romania have recovered. Recent reports point to a plateau phase in the epidemic, president Klaus Iohannis said. He announced he would have a meeting on Monday with the health, interior and defence ministers, to clarify aspects related to the anti-COVID vaccination campaign, which he sees as a matter of national security. He added the latest data allows for “moderated optimism and called for strict observance of the containment measures introduced by the authorities.



    PANDEMIC The total number of Covid-19 cases worldwide is now over 57.9 million, with 1.3 million deaths and over 40 million people having recovered from the disease, according to Worldometers.info. The US is the worst hit country, with over 12 million cases and at least 260,000 deaths. The American company Pfizer and their German partner BioNTech announced they have requested emergency authorisation of their COVID-19 vaccine in the US. The US Food and Drug Administration says the goal is to have the vaccine approved in the first half of December. The 2 companies claim to be able to supply the vaccine within hours of its approval. In turn, the EU may approve 2 vaccines by the end of December, the one produced by Pfizer/BioNTech and the one produced by Moderna. Over the last 24 hours, the number of infections has gone up in Ukraine, Russia, North Macedonia, Croatia, Italy and Spain. Madrid is to endorse on Tuesday a large-scale vaccination plan covering a large part of the population by next summer. The Madrid region will be under lockdown in the first half of December. The Italian government also announced plans to ease restrictions prior to the winter holidays, with tougher measures to be introduced between Christmas and New Years Eve.



    NUCLEAR The European Commission approved the cooperation agreement signed by Romania with the USA in the field of nuclear energy, the Romanian Economy Minister Virgil Popescu said in a Facebook post. He added that 7 billion USD worth of funding has been obtained from the US for the revamping of Cernavoda Unit 1, the building of Units 3 and 4 and for putting together projects in the field of energy. Virgil Popescu says the agreement will ensure Romanias energy security, investments and jobs in many sectors. A consortium will be set up to this aim, comprising companies from the US, Romania, Canada and France.



    GAUDEAMUS The Gaudeamus Radio România book fair continues online today. the 6th day of the fair comes with new online book releases in addition to the 160 that have taken place so far, and events targeting children, teenagers and teachers. The Gaudeamus Radio România book fair, a cultural project with a tradition of more than 2 decades, is held exclusively online this year. Over 100 companies are taking part, including some of the biggest publishing houses in Romania and distributors of Romanian and foreign books, music and games. The fair is coming to an end on Sunday.



    FILM The 5th BUZZ International Film Festival, based in Buzau and devoted to European cinema, is held exclusively online as of today. Until November 26, film lovers are invited to enjoy Romanian and European films free of charge. According to the organisers, the Festival has 4 competition sections: fiction features, documentaries, short films and student films. Most of the works in the competition are screened for the first time in Romania. This years surprises include Radu Ciorniciucs documentary, “Home, awarded in major international festivals. In the BUZZ Women section, the highlights include ‘Creativ’, a documentary by Ioana Grigore, and Nora Fingscheidts ‘System Crasher,’ winner of the Silver Bear – “Alfred Bauer Award in Berlin in 2019. (translated by: A.M. Popescu)

  • American projects in Romania

    American projects in Romania

    Originally designed to have 5 units, the nuclear power plant in Cernavodă, the only one in Romania, is still working today, 24 years since the first reactor became operational in 1996, with only 2 completed units, which cover around 20% of the countrys electricity demand. In the meantime, Unit 5, whose construction started in 1987, has been repurposed.



    For Units 3 and 4, the construction of which was suspended in 1992 after only around 15% of the works were completed, a number of solutions have been searched. Talks with China in this respect had made considerable progress in recent years. But this summer, Bucharest canceled the contract, and instead an intergovernmental agreement between Romania and the US was signed a few days ago in Washington.



    This is a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement to refurbish Unit 1 and build Units 3 and 4 using the same CANDU Canadian technology as for the first 2 reactors. Once operational, Reactors 3 and 4 will double the production capacity of the nuclear power plant.



    The agreement also includes academic cooperation in the field of nuclear energy, including cooperation for a new small, modular reactor technology developed by the Americans, the minister of economy, energy and the business environment Virgil Popescu said, upon signing the document.



    The project is to be implemented in the next 10 years by a consortium of companies from the US, Romania, Canada and France, headed by an American company and with financial support from all stakeholders.



    According from a news release from the US Energy Department, “this historic agreement will lay the foundation for Romania to utilize U.S. expertise and technology […] It underscores the importance of the strategic partnership between the United States and Romania and our mutual commitment to energy security in the region. Nuclear energy is crucial to ensuring Romania has a reliable, affordable, and emissions-free supply of electricity.



    This 8-billion USD project is the largest financing package ever received by Romania, which proves the confidence the US has in its long-time partner and ally, the US Ambassador to Romania said in his turn. Adrian Zuckerman also announced plans for a large-scale infrastructure project: “We are embarking on a new project for Romania, with Poland, to build a highway and railroad from Constanta on the Black Sea to Gdansk on the Baltic Sea. This infrastructure project will be a tremendous boon to the Romanian and Polish economies, and regional economies, for years to come, Adrian Zuckerman said.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • American projects in Romania

    American projects in Romania

    Originally designed to have 5 units, the nuclear power plant in Cernavodă, the only one in Romania, is still working today, 24 years since the first reactor became operational in 1996, with only 2 completed units, which cover around 20% of the countrys electricity demand. In the meantime, Unit 5, whose construction started in 1987, has been repurposed.



    For Units 3 and 4, the construction of which was suspended in 1992 after only around 15% of the works were completed, a number of solutions have been searched. Talks with China in this respect had made considerable progress in recent years. But this summer, Bucharest canceled the contract, and instead an intergovernmental agreement between Romania and the US was signed a few days ago in Washington.



    This is a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement to refurbish Unit 1 and build Units 3 and 4 using the same CANDU Canadian technology as for the first 2 reactors. Once operational, Reactors 3 and 4 will double the production capacity of the nuclear power plant.



    The agreement also includes academic cooperation in the field of nuclear energy, including cooperation for a new small, modular reactor technology developed by the Americans, the minister of economy, energy and the business environment Virgil Popescu said, upon signing the document.



    The project is to be implemented in the next 10 years by a consortium of companies from the US, Romania, Canada and France, headed by an American company and with financial support from all stakeholders.



    According from a news release from the US Energy Department, “this historic agreement will lay the foundation for Romania to utilize U.S. expertise and technology […] It underscores the importance of the strategic partnership between the United States and Romania and our mutual commitment to energy security in the region. Nuclear energy is crucial to ensuring Romania has a reliable, affordable, and emissions-free supply of electricity.



    This 8-billion USD project is the largest financing package ever received by Romania, which proves the confidence the US has in its long-time partner and ally, the US Ambassador to Romania said in his turn. Adrian Zuckerman also announced plans for a large-scale infrastructure project: “We are embarking on a new project for Romania, with Poland, to build a highway and railroad from Constanta on the Black Sea to Gdansk on the Baltic Sea. This infrastructure project will be a tremendous boon to the Romanian and Polish economies, and regional economies, for years to come, Adrian Zuckerman said.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • November 23, 2019 UPDATE

    November 23, 2019 UPDATE

    ELECTIONS Romania holds the decisive round of its presidential election on Sunday. The incumbent president Klaus Iohannis, endorsed by the National Liberal Party, now in power, is facing the former Social Democratic PM Viorica Dancilă. Just like in the first round, the Romanians living abroad have 3 days to cast their ballots, and the number of pollings stations abroad has been doubled, to 838. The vote started at noon on Friday and will continue until Sunday. The number of citizens having voted so far indicates a higher turnout in the runoff than in the first round. By Saturday evening, over 315,000 Romanians had voted in foreign polling stations, of whom 17,500 voted by post, an option introduced this year for the first time. The largest numbers of voters were reported in Italy, followed by Britain, Germany, Spain and the Republic of Moldova.




    GAUDEAMUS The Gaudeamus International Book Fair, organised in Bucharest by Radio Romania, comes to an end on Sunday. On the last day of the fair, the awards of the 26th edition will be presented. 8,000 book stands have been put up as part of this edition, devoted to the 30 years since the anti-communist revolution of 1989. A total of 900 different events were scheduled, including book launches, debates and book signing sessions. On Saturday, the 4th day of the Fair, Prof. Thierry Wolton took part in the launch of the second volume of his trilogy “A World History of Communism. In this volume, entitled ‘The Victims’, Thierry Wolton speaks about the tens of millions that suffered imprisonment, deportation, torture and even extermination for their anti-communist beliefs.




    NATIONAL DAY 3,500 Romanian troops and another 500 from over 20 allied or partner countries, 200 military vehicles and over 50 aircraft will take part on December 1 in Bucharest in the National Day parade, the Defence Ministry has announced. The Romanian military on missions in theatres of operations in Afghanistan, the Western Balkans and Mali will also organise military ceremonies on National Day. Proclaimed a national holiday after the anti-communist revolution of 1989, December 1 marks the conclusion of the establishment of the Romanian nation-state at the end of World War 1, in 1918.



    COLECTIV After the Bucharest Court completed its investigations, on Monday the prosecution and the defence will present their closing statements in the case concerning the fire in Colectiv night club in Bucharest 4 years ago, in which 64 people died, one committed suicide further to the trauma and 200 others were injured. The Colectiv trial started in April 2016. After 2 years of deferrals over procedural matters, the judge assigned to the case retired, and during another year the new judge has heard the statements of scores of witnesses and victims.




    UN The 15 members of the UN Security Council endorsed a declaration reaffirming the ban on chemical weapons. The Council has reached a consensus long undermined by the war in Syria, and the Skripal affair in the UK or Kim Jong-nam case in Malaysia, AFP reports. The Council reaffirms that the use of chemical weapons is a violation of international law, and declares its firm opposition to it. The declaration, proposed by Great Britain, was passed unanimously. The UN Security Council urges all states that have not yet done so to sign the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons, which was signed in 1993 and came into force in 1997. Syria joined the Convention in 2013, Israel has signed it, but is yet to ratify it, whereas North Korea, Egypt and South Sudan are not yet parties to this Convention.




    POPE Pope Francis arrived in Japan on Saturday, on the second leg of his tour of Asia whose main goal is to send a message against nuclear weapons in Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the only cities in the world ever hit by atomic bombs, Reuters says. On Sunday in Nagasaki the Pope, a vocal militant against nuclear weapons, will read a message against weapons of mass destruction. He will also meet with survivors of the Fukushima nuclear disaster of March 11, 2011, the most destructive after the one in Chernobyl in 1986. After Thailand, the first stop in his tour, the Pope reached Tokyo, where he will stay for 4 days. This is the first visit by a Sovereign Pontiff to this country in 38 years, and only the second in history. Another goal of his visit is to encourage the Catholic community in Japan, where only 1% of the population are Christians and half of these Catholics. The Pope will perform 2 services, one in Nagasaki and one in Tokyo, and will have meetings with senior Japanese officials and with Emperor Naruhito.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • September 3, 2017

    September 3, 2017

    PARLIAMENT – In Bucharest, the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate have convened for the second regular session of the year. At the request of the National Liberal Party, the Chamber of Deputies has decided that on Monday PM Mihai Tudose is to present a report on the national economy, as part of the “Prime Ministers Hour series. On Saturday, during a meeting of his partys National Executive Committee, the Social Democrat leader Liviu Dragnea announced the priorities of the current parliamentary session. These include laws in the fields of the judiciary, pensions, healthcare, coalmines, the Labour Code, lobbying, land sales, energy, animal breeding and urban planning. As for the referendum on modifying the Constitution in the sense of redefining the concept of “family, Dragnea said the vote would be held this autumn, and to this end the law on the referendum should be endorsed by the Senates judicial committee next week.



    ENESCU FESTIVAL – The George Enescu International Festival, one of the most prestigious music events in Europe, continues in Bucharest. The National Radio Orchestra will perform on the unconventional stage of the George Enescu Festival Square, under the baton of conductor Cristian Oroşanu and with the Czech violinist Roman Patočka as a soloist. In the series entitled “Great Orchestras of the World, the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Jurowski, which opened the 23rd edition of the Festival on Saturday, returns to the Palace Hall, to play works by Wagner, Berg and Shostakovich. For 3 weeks, 80 concerts and other events will bring together in Bucharest and 7 other major Romanian cities more than 3,000 of the best international artists. The honorary president this year is the famous conductor Zubin Mehta, and another conductor, Vladimir Jurowski is the artistic director. Radio Romania is the only media institution in the country to broadcast the concerts live, on its channels Radio Romania Music and Radio Romania Culture. First organised in 1958, 3 years after the famed Romanian composer had died, the George Enescu Festival was discontinued in 1971 by the communist regime, and was resumed in 1989. It has been held every 2 years ever since.



    NUCLEAR TEST – Japan and South Korea confirmed that on Sunday Pyongyang conducted its 6th nuclear test. The American Geophysics Institute reported a 6.3 Richter quake, suggesting a possible blast in North Korea. The artificial earthquake caused by the explosion was nearly 10 times the strength of North Koreas previous test. Pyongyang announced it had successfully tested a hydrogen bomb and said it could be installed on an intercontinental ballistic missile. This is the 6th and most powerful nuclear test conducted by North Korea, with the last one reported in September 2016. Pyongyang disregarded the UN sanctions and the international pressure and continued to develop its nuclear and ballistic programme. The country is now suspected of having built missiles able to reach the US.




    FOOTBALL – Romanias national football team is playing on Monday in Podgorica against Montenegro, in preliminary Group E of the 2018 World Cup. On Friday in Bucharest Romania defeated Armenia, 1-0, only managing to score in extra time, although their opponents had one player sent out of the pitch. Romania currently ranks 4th in the group, 7 points behind group leader Poland and 4 points behind Denmark and Montenegro. In this qualifying campaign, Romania is for the first time coached by a foreign manager, the German Cristoph Daum, who has been facing growing criticism because of the teams poor performance.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • June 14, 2017

    June 14, 2017

    CABINET – The fate of the leftist Government of Romania, headed by PM Sorin Grindeanu, will be decided today in a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Social Democratic Party in power. The Committee will assess the performance of each Cabinet minister and a possible reshuffling. At the end of last week, the Social Democrat leader, Liviu Dragnea, who is also the head of the Chamber of Deputies, voiced his discontent with the work of several ministers, without disclosing any names. Dragnea also said he was not considering dismissing the entire Cabinet. In turn, PM Grindeanu said he had made his own assessment and he was content with the effects of the measures taken by his Cabinet. The Grindeanu Government took office after Decembers parliamentary elections.




    DEFENCE – The Romanian Defence Minister, Gabriel Leş, and his British counterpart, Michael Fallon, are on a visit to the Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base in south-eastern Romania. The two officials will have meetings with the pilots and technical staff working on the Typhoon aircraft of the Royal Air Forces, which have arrived in Romania for air policing missions. The planes are taking part in joint missions with MiG-21 LanceR aircraft of the Romanian Air Forces, until the end of August. According to a news release issued by the Defence Ministry, the RAF aircraft have been deployed to Romania as part of an Action Plan to ensure the NATO operational capability both in the northern and the southern part of the eastern flank of the Alliance.




    HEARINGS – The Mayor of Cluj in north-western Romania, Emil Boc, was heard by a special parliamentary committee investigating the circumstances of the 2009 presidential election. The prime minister of the country at that time and a loyal aide to then President Traian Basescu, who won a new term in office after defeating the former Social Democrat leader Mircea Geoană, Boc was the only one heard today. The head of the National Anti-Corruption Agency, Codruta Kovesi, refused to appear before the committee, but apparently she will receive a new invitation. The committee also requested a 60-day extension of the investigation and the postponement of the deadline for their report to early September. The committee was set up after the controversial journalist Dan Andronic, a political adviser to Basescu in 2009, made public allegations that the 2009 presidential vote had been tampered with.




    DIPLOMACY – The Romanian Foreign Minister, Teodor Meleşcanu, took part on Tuesday in Berlin in a conference on a decade of Romanian EU membership. On this occasion, he said that although Romania was not a founding member of the EU, it wishes to make a significant contribution to the future of the European project, so that the Union may remain an efficient and united community of values, playing a major role at world level. The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, will also be on a visit to Berlin between June 19 and 21, during which he will have meetings with his German counterpart, Frank – Walter Steinmeier, and with Chancellor Angela Merkel.




    NUCLEAR PHYSICS – The director for nuclear security at the National Institute for Nuclear Physics and Engineering Research and Development in Măgurele, southern Romania, Mitică Drăguşin, Ph.D., is the first Romanian expert in nuclear decommissioning and the management of radioactive waste at the European Commission and parliament. The physicist was selected by the EUs Joint Research Centre. The Măgurele high power laser project is taking part in the World Expo 2017 in Kazakhstan, where the team will also present their offer in the field of decommissioning nuclear research facilities. The scientists in Măgurele are thus trying to generate top-level trade contacts to promote Romanian technologies and experts.




    HANDBALL – Romanias womens handball team has qualified to the World Championship due in December in Germany, after outplaying Austria 33-24 away from home on Tuesday night, in the second leg of the playoffs. In the first match, played on Friday at home in Oradea, Romania won 34-29. Romania is the only country to have taken part in all the 22 editions of the World Championship so far, and in 2015 it won the bronze medals.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • May 19, 2017 UPDATE

    May 19, 2017 UPDATE

    REPUBLIC Igor Dodon, president of the ex-soviet, Romanian-speaking Republic of Moldova on Friday said upon a meeting with experts of the EU’s Venice Commission that he wanted that the Republic of Moldova turn from a parliamentary republic into a presidential one. Dodon, a Russian-speaking socialist, wants additional rights for the president, so that he could dismantle the Legislature and call snap elections. Out of the Parliament parties, only Dodon’s socialists have voiced support for these amendments. The other Parliament groups, which declared themselves pro-European, have criticised the initiative because such prerogatives for the president are far-fetched in a Parlimentary republic as the Republic of Moldova is.



    INVITATION Romania has been invited by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development to become a full member of the Nuclear Energy Agency as well as to be included in the agency’s data bank, a government communiqué has announced. Bucharest officially applied for becoming an NEA member in October 2016 and Romania’s nuclear programme was being evaluated by the Agency’s secretariat. Romania’s accession to the NEA will be completed through an exchange of letters in the presence of the OCDE secretary general Angel Gurria in June. Once the accession process is finalized, Romania will be joining the 31 NEA members, which are working together on developing the best practices and policies in the nuclear field. On Thursday, Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu said in Bucharest that Romania’s accession to the OCDE is a priority of his cabinet.



    TALKS Romania remains the staunchest partner of the Republic of Moldova in the process of its European integration, the Romanian Minister delegate for European Affairs Ana Birchall said in Chisinau on Friday. She chaired jointly with the Moldovan Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Daniela Morari the fourth conference of the Romania – the Republic of Moldova Intergovernment Commission for European Integration. The commission included plenary sessions of working groups in fields like harmonisation of law, strengthening the rule of law, domestic affairs, regional development, agriculture, sanitary-veterniary policies and food safety. The following session of the aforementioned intergovernmental commission is due in Romania this autumn.



    HEARING A businessman and former social-democratic MP in the Bucharest Parliament, Sebastian Ghita was being heard on Friday by a court in Belgrade in a closed-door session. According to Serbian news agency Tanjug, Ghita refused to be extradited to Romania invoking political persecution. The hearing was the first stage in his extradition process and comes a month after his capture in Belgrade. Under trial or penal prosecution in a few corruption files, the former Romanian MP fled to Serbia at the end of last year right before being heard by anti-corruption prosecutors and a day before having its Parliamentary imunity removed. He shortly became one of Romania’s most wanted offenders and had his name later added to the Interpol’s most wanted list.



    TENNIS The world’s fourth tennis player Simona Halep of Romania on Friday qualified for the semifinals of the WTA tournament in Rome with 2.7 million dollars in prize money after a two-set win against Estonian Anett Kontaveit, 6-2, 6-4. Halep 25, who is seeded 6th at Foro Italico, will be playing her third semifinals in Rome after those in 2013 and 2015. Last week she won the tournament in Madrid for the second year in a row.

  • 18 August, 2016

    18 August, 2016

    NUCLEAR — The Romanian Foreign Ministry rejected information according to which the United States started to transfer nuclear weapons from Turkey to Romania. EurActiv.com, quoting two independent sources, wrote that the US started the transfer of weapons stationed in Turkey to Romania against the backdrop of deteriorating relations between Washington and Ankara. According to one of the sources, the transfer raises numerous technical and political issues. Another source told EurActiv.com that US- Turkey relations deteriorated so much after the attempted coup in July that Washington no longer trusts Ankara to harbor its nuclear weapons. These are about to be transferred to the airbase in Deveselu, in southern Romania, according to EurActiv.com.



    CAR SALES — Car sales in Romania went up almost 15% in the first seven months of the year compared to the same period last year, according to the Automobile Makers and Importers Association. Production for domestic brand Dacia, made by Renault, went down 6.6%, but continues to be the best selling brand in Romania, with a market share of over 30%. Next come Volkswagen, Skoda and Renault.



    TENNIS — Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, 4th seeded, plays today against Daria Gavrilova of Australia, 47th seeded, in the eighth finals in Cincinnati. Also today, Horia Tecău (Romania) with Jean-Julien Rojer (Holland) play against Dominic Inglot (Great Britain)/Marcin Matkowski (Poland), while Florin Mergea (Romania) paired up with Rohan Bopanna (India) to take on Treat Huey (Filippines), paired up with Maxi Mirnyi (Belarus) in the games coming up in the eighth finals of the mens doubles in the same tournament. At the same time, Monica Niculescu of Romania, pairing up with Vania King of the US, and the French pair Caroline Garcia- Kristina Mladenovic, play in the eight finals of the womens doubles. This tournament is the last ahead of the US Open, the last major competition of the year.



    OLYMPICS — Today is the 13th day of the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, and Romania has a single athlete running, Andrei Gag, in the shot put event. After 12 days, Romania still has only four medals in Rio: : the gold obtained by the womens epee team, the silver obtained by the pair Florin Mergea/ Horia Tecau in the mens tennis doubles, and two bronze medals, obtained by Gabriel Sincraian in weightlifting, and by the womens coxed eight rowing team. Romania did not get any medal in gymnastics at this edition, which happens for the first time in the last 44 years.



    FOOTBALL — Romanias football champions Astra Giurgiu play today at home against English team West Ham United, in the qualifiers for the Europa League groups. Vice-champion Steaua Bucharest has secured its place in the groups of the second continental competition. On Tuesday, Steaua was crushed by another major English team, Manchester City, nil to five, in the first leg of the play-offs of the Champions League. Three other Romanian teams, CSMS Iasi, Viitorul Constanta and Pandurii Targu Jiu, were eliminated in the preliminaries of European cups.



    MINORITIES — Debates continue today at the Summer University dedicated to Romanians living abroad. Items on the agenda include preserving Romanian identity in the Hungarian majority counties of Covasna and Harghita, as well as that of Roman Catholics in the region of Moldavia. One other issue raised was that of illegal restoration of property in Transylvania, claimed by Hungarian citizens.



    TRADE — Romanian Minister of the Economy, Costin Borc, receiving in Bucharest Turkish Minister of Development Lutfi Elva, discussed Turkeys role as the premier trade partner for Romania outside the EU. According to a press release, Minister Borc said that the Romanian offer for the Turkish market is generous, and suits its needs. The two offiicials convened to continue these talks this autumn in Ankara, at the meeting of the mixed government commission that supervises economic relations between the two countries. In 2015, Turkey, aside from being the most important trade partner outside the EU for Romania, was the fifth most important such partner overall, the sixth most important export market, and the 9th most important supplier.



    TURKEY — The Turkish economic police this morning ran numerous raids in Istanbul against companies suspected of supporting financially Fethullah Gulen, in exile in the US, accused by the government to be behind the attempted coup last month. 200 arrest warrants were issued in the raids. This is the second such operation this week, mostly against prominent business people. On Wednesday, Turkish PM Binaly Yildirim said that over 40,000 people have been detained after the failed coup, half of them being placed under arrest, facing prosecution. According to the head of government, over 4,200 companies and institutions with ties to Gulen have been shut down. The purges in the army, police, the judiciary and public administration removed 80,000 people from public service, the PM announced.

  • Nuclearul şi vizualul

    Nuclearul şi vizualul

    Dacă pe vremea
    Războiului rece nuclearul era un subiect la ordinea zilei, în prezent, opinia
    publică internaţională de abia dacă a auzit de aşa ceva. Subiectul a revenit in
    actualitate odată cu semnarea acordului privind programul nuclear iranian. Ani
    de zile am tot avut ştiri despre continuarea negocierilor, dar rareori aflam
    noutăţi care să se impună în agenda zilei. Păreau a fi genul de discuţii care
    continuă până la totala dispariţie din atenţie şi, totuşi, în spatele uşilor
    închise, pe care nici jurnaliştii nu mai păreau interesaţi a le deschide, se
    negocia intens şi serios. Indirect, acordul reprezintă o evoluţie şi în
    sensibilile relaţii ruso-americane. Cele două părţi s-au implicat în
    finalizarea cu succes a negocierilor şi s-au felicitat reciproc.

    Acordul are
    elemente concrete, cu prevederi care vor înlătura pericolul ca Iranul să posede
    arma nucleară. Vor fi desfiinţate centre, reactoare şi alte instalaţii, vor fi
    reduse stocurile de material nuclear şi totul sub un control strict. În acelaşi
    timp, gradual, vor fi ridicate sancţiunile ONU împotriva Iranului, instaurate
    din cauza programului nuclear lansat cu ani în urmă. Detaliile tehnice sunt
    bogate şi semnificative, dar din ce în ce mai greu de înţeles pentru cei care
    nu sunt specialişti sau măcar avizaţi în fizică nucleară, diplomaţie sau
    securitate internaţională. A fost înlăturat un pericol ce nu apărea pe lista
    temerilor de primă pagină. Acolo se află, fără îndoială, imaginile şi ştirile
    despre atrocităţile incredibile comise undeva, în zone care pe agenda
    diplomaţilor apar ca fiind diferite ţări, toate membre ale Organizaţiei
    Naţiunilor Unite.

    Dar ce se întâmplă pe teritoriile Statului islamic scapă
    oricărei reglementări internaţionale, oricărei rezoluţii ONU, oricărei
    înţelegeri între marile puteri. În realitate, acolo funcţionează o structură
    statală informală ce transpune în realitate cele mai negre gânduri ale fiinţei
    umane. Acolo sunt măcelăriţi oameni, sunt distruse valori uriaşe ale
    patromoniului umanităţii, acolo se pregătesc acţiuni ucigaşe în întreaga lume.
    Deşi sunt negate valorile democraţiilor occidentale, nimic nu îi împiedică pe
    promotorii acestor idei întunecate să dispună de tehnică avansată, inclusiv
    internetul, creată de cei a căror distrugere este scopul declarat al pseudo-statului
    islamist.

    Tot ce se întâmplă pe pământurile unde s-a instalat are rezonanţă şi
    efecte de război distructiv împotriva societăţilor occidentale, este o
    ameninţare uriaşe pentru securitatea lor. Si aceste efecte nu se manifestă la
    vreo frontieră, cu armate faţă în faţă, ci vin drept în mijlocul societăţii, în
    viaţa de zi cu zi, pun sub semnul întrebării realizări sociale şi politice de
    zeci de ani. Această ameninţare de tip nou crează psihoze şi tensiuni direct în
    viaţa membrilor societăţii, pătrunde mai bine, mai eficient şi mai ieftin decât
    orice armă. Proprii soldaţi, membrii societăţii care ar trebui să îi
    aprecieze valenţele şi valorile, cedează unor atracţii aventuriste, trădează şi
    se întorc împotriva propriei patrii, lumea democratică. Şi totul în urma unei avalanşe informative ce are
    aspectul clar, de manual, al unei acţiuni propagandistice de mare eficienţă. În
    această luptă nu e folosită vreo armă modernă şi complicată, şi nici alta veche
    şi cutremurător de eficientă ci un principiu democrartic, libertatea
    informaţiei. Statul terorii împotriva oamenilor trăieşte mai ales prin vizualul
    agresiv ce ne invadează mecanismul sensibil al informării zilnice.

    Spaţiul
    virtual abundă de imagini suficient să te şocheze pentru toată viaţa, mai ales
    că se derulează în zona de interes general, dând de o parte inclusiv ştirile
    despre negocierile din nuclearul iranian sau chiar cele despre succesul
    acestora. Vizualul concret bate nuclearul virtual iar soluţia este şi mai
    simplă. Ea vine tot din spaţiul digital şi din accesul la aceste mecanisme,
    repudiate dar intens folosite de fundamentalişţi.

  • Reacţii la acordul cu Iranul

    Reacţii la acordul cu Iranul

    A fost nevoie de 21 de luni de negocieri pentru ca Iranul şi grupul
    ‘5 plus 1’ (Statele Unite, Rusia, China, Marea Britanie, Franţa şi Germania) să
    încheie un acord privind programul nuclear al Teheranului. Dacă va fi
    respectat, el ar urma să risipească, treptat, temerile privind ambiţiile
    nucleare militare ale Iranului şi să ridice, gradual, de pe umerii acestuia,
    povara sancţiunilor internaţionale.

    Un acord despre care preşedintele american,
    Barack Obama, spunea, lucid, că nu este construit pe încredere, ci pe
    verificare. Inspectorii – a subliniat liderul de la Casa Albă – vor avea acces
    24 de ore din 24 la instalaţiile nucleare cheie ale Iranului, pentru a se
    asigura că acesta nu va transfera materiale nucleare de la instalaţiile
    cunoscute la instalaţiile pe care le ascunde.

    O realizare istorica care, atunci
    când va fi implementată, va întări securitatea internaţională, a calificat NATO
    acordul de marţi.

    La Bucureşti, Ministerul Afacerilor Externe a salutat, la
    rândul său, înţelegerea. Esenţială – consideră MAE român – este implementarea
    pe deplin a măsurilor asumate, astfel încât comunitatea internaţională să poată
    conta, în permanenţă, pe garanţii incontestabile asupra naturii exclusiv
    paşnice a programului nuclear iranian, în acord cu dreptul legitim al Iranului
    de a utiliza paşnic energia nucleară.

    Moscova a profitat abil de entuziasmul
    provocat de încheierea acestui acord pentru a reveni la una din chestiunile
    care îi dau frisoane: instalarea în Europa de elemente antibalistice. Ministrul
    rus de Externe, Serghei Lavrov, a declarat că Rusia se aşteaptă ca Statele
    Unite şi NATO să anuleze planul de instalare a elementelor antirachetă pe
    continent, în noul context creat de acordul marilor puteri cu Iranul în
    domeniul nuclear.

    Amintim că Moscova a exprimat în mai multe rânduri preocupări
    în legătură cu elementele antirachetă care vor fi instalate în România,
    Polonia, Spania şi Turcia.

    Recent, Nikolai Patruşev, secretarul Consiliului rus
    pentru Securitatea Naţională, afirma că sistemele antibalistice ale Alianţei
    Nord-Atlantice sunt îndreptate împotriva Rusiei şi Chinei. Ameninţarea
    balistică la adresa NATO este în creştere. Numeroase ţări deţin sau încearcă să
    dobândească tehnologie balistică.

    Acordul internaţional cu Iranul nu modifică
    situaţia a replicat un oficial al Alianţei, sub acoperirea anonimatului.
    Potrivit acestuia, sistemul antirachetă va proteja aliaţii europeni ai NATO de
    ameninţările balistice, deci este justificat atât timp cât rachetele balistice
    există şi au capacitatea de a atinge partea europeană a NATO. Scopul – a
    precizat el – este contracararea tuturor ameninţărilor din afara zonei
    euroatlantice. Statele Unite şi NATO au afirmat, repetat, că elementele
    antirachetă instalate în Europa nu sunt îndreptate împotriva Rusiei, ci au
    rolul de a contracara ameninţări provenind din ţări care nu se conformează
    reglementărilor internaţionale.