Radio România Internațional

Tag: Paris

  • Romania at the Paris consultations

    Romania at the Paris consultations

     

    The security of Europe was the topic of a second meeting organised on Wednesday in Paris by the French president Emmanuel Macron, after the emergency one on Monday. This time around, Romania was also present, represented by the interim president Ilie Bolojan, alongside the leaders of Norway, Canada, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Sweden and Belgium.

     

    The meetings come after the radical change in attitude of the United States of America towards European countries, the Kyiv administration and Moscow.

     

    On the one hand, Donald Trump’s government criticises Europe for not getting more involved in resolving the conflict, calls the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy a dictator for not holding elections on time, and partly blames him for starting the war, even though Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, with the annexation of the Crimean peninsula.

     

    On the other hand, Washington seems to have softened its tone towards Kremlin, and fears are it might unilaterally negotiate not only a forced peace in Ukraine, but, according to news agencies, also a redistribution of spheres of influence modelled on the infamous 1945 Yalta conference, as a result of which Eastern Europe was ceded to the Soviet Union.

    In this context, the interim president of Romania, Ilie Bolojan, said that the security of Ukraine is also the security of Europe and Romania.

     

    Meanwhile, France will increase its support for Romania, said Ilie Bolojan, after bilateral talks with the French leader:

     

    Ilie Bolojan: “We are once again reassured that, just as France has been by Romania’s side in the very important moments of our country’s history, it remains by our side today. We have reconfirmed the strategic partnership with France. We have also reconfirmed the stability of the French military presence in Romania. At the request of our country, this presence will be consolidated in the coming period.”

     

    At the end of the meeting, Bolojan said that Eastern European states are the first to feel the consequences of the war in Ukraine, and he emphasised that, now more than ever, European unity and cooperation with the US within NATO are vital to resolving the conflict.

     

    Ilie Bolojan: “We do not stand by Ukraine out of a humanitarian sentiment alone. This, and the injustice of the war, is only the first reason. But we also do it out of a strategic interest for our own country. And the second important conclusion was that further cooperation between European countries and the US can be the best formula to solve this crisis, so that we not only have a ceasefire, but also have a just peace, so that in the coming years a new conflict does not begin again. And this just peace and equitable peace cannot be made without the participation of Ukraine and the European Union in the closing of these negotiations.”

     

    In turn, the French president said he sees Russia and Vladimir Putin as “an existential threat to Europe.” Both he and the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer have been invited to Washington next week for consultations on peace in Ukraine, President Donald Trump’s national security advisor Mike Waltz announced. (AMP)

  • February 19, 2025 UPDATE 2

    February 19, 2025 UPDATE 2

    Paris – The security of Europe is the theme of the new meeting organized in Paris by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, after the one on Monday, which took place in a restricted format. This time Romania is also attending, being represented by the interim president, Ilie Bolojan. Also participating are the leaders from Norway, Canada, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Sweden and Belgium. The French president said that he sees Russia and President Vladimir Putin as ‘an existential threat to Europe’. He recalled the activities of the Kremlin in the last period, which affected the interests of several countries in the European Union, including actions on the Polish border, cyber attacks in all EU countries and the manipulation of information or electoral processes, such as the presidential election in Romania. Macron also recalled Putin’s explicit threats regarding the use of nuclear weapons, in violation of international agreements to which Russia is a party. However, he showed his willingness to talk with Putin about ending the conflict and returning peace to Ukraine. Among the solutions that could be proposed to Ukraine as security guarantees within a possible peace agreement with Moscow would be the sending of experts or even peacekeeping troops outside the conflict zones. Macron said that there is also the possibility of organizing a peacekeeping operation under the UN mandate, to be carried out on the front line.

     

    Coalition – The leaders of the parties in the government coalition in Bucharest – the Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania on Wednesday signed a protocol for the establishment of the “Romania Ahead” electoral alliance, in order to support the sole candidate for the presidency, Crin Antonescu. According to the document, the leadership of this alliance will be ensured by the presidents of the three parties, and the decisions are binding for all members and organizations, respectively the subsidiaries of the signatory political groups. The electoral alliance also benefits from the support of the parliamentary group of national minorities in the Chamber of Deputies. The campaign for the presidential election will be led by a central team, led by national coordinators appointed by each party. They will develop the political program and strategy, respectively the common campaign timetable. Regarding the budget of the electoral campaign, the protocol shows that it is made up of contributions from the common candidate and also from the political parties. PSD, PNL and UDMR say that the “Romania Ahead” electoral alliance aims to counter violent radicalism and extremism in all its forms and, at the same time, to ensure internal political stability and balance, to promote pro-European and Euro-Atlantic values ​​and principles.

     

    Drones – The Romanian MPs adopted, on Wednesday, a draft law that allows the downing of drones that illegally enter the national airspace. According to the document initiated by the Government, these aircraft can be destroyed by air and land defense means, and the downing order is given by persons with the right to decide established by Supreme Council of National Defense (CSAT) decision. The Chamber of Deputies also passed the bill that regulates the peacetime deployment of military missions on Romanian territory. The document provides, among other things, the possibility that, for a certain period, the authority over some structures of the Romanian Army be transferred to the commanders of the NATO forces participating in various operations. In the case of this bill, the Senate is the decision-making body.

     

    Crime – Romania is among the countries with a low level of crime and a high level of safety, according to information published by the online platform numbeo.com. It collects data from around the world on people’s perceptions of safety and crime. According to the Romanian Interior Ministry, at the European level, Romania is perceived by citizens as a safer country than countries such as France, Great Britain, Italy or Germany. The online platform confirms the latest international reports, such as that of the US State Department, which highlights the progress made by Bucharest in the field of public safety and places Romania among the safest states in the EU bloc.

     

    NATO – The NATO Steadfest Dart 25 exercise, considered the biggest this year, is in full swing on the territories of Romania, Bulgaria and Greece. The drill started last month and involves the mobilization of soldiers from nine allied states. The exercise is led by the Joint Allied Command from Naples and involves the first operational deployment of the Allied Rapid Reaction Force, established on July 1, 2024. Thus, the ability of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to mobilize and rapidly deploy forces to defend its borders is being tested. More than 10,000 soldiers, over 1,500 land combat vehicles and over 20 planes and helicopters, plus 17 ships and submarines, are participating in the exercise, with combat exercises in the air, water and on land, as well as in cyberspace, being scheduled. In Romania, Steadfest Dart 25 takes place in the Smârdan range in Galati county, in the southeast, and the country participates with approximately 1,150 soldiers and 120 combat vehicles. (LS)

  • February 17, 2025

    February 17, 2025

    Energy – The Romanian government is to make a decision this week regarding the continuation of the current compensation-capping scheme for electricity and natural gas prices for domestic consumers. The energy minister, Sebastian Burduja, said however that he supported a better targeting of this support to those vulnerable consumers for whom the payment of utilities represents too big a burden. A government decision is to be implemented through an emergency ordinance.

     

    Inflation – The National Bank of Romania (BNR) Governor, Mugur Isărescu, presents, today, the Quarterly Report on Inflation. According to a National Bank statement sent to AGERPRES on Friday, the annual inflation rate will record a pronounced fluctuation in the first semester of 2025, and in the second semester it will decrease on a higher trajectory than the one in the previous projection. Based on the evaluations and available data, as well as in the context of high uncertainties, the BNR Board of Directors decided to maintain the monetary policy interest rate at the level of 6.50% per year. Also, the BNR decided to maintain the current levels of the mandatory minimum reserve ratio for liabilities in lei and in foreign currency of credit institutions.

     

    Paris – The leaders of the main European powers are having an emergency meeting, today, in Paris, to discuss European security and the war in Ukraine. Participating are the prime ministers of Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark, the president of the European Council, the president of the European Commission and the NATO secretary general, the French presidency announced. Today’s talks could later be expanded into other formats, with the aim of bringing together all partners interested in peace and security in Europe. The meeting in Paris takes place at a particularly delicate moment in the relationship between the European Union and the United States, after the initiatives taken in recent days by American President Donald Trump and his team to negotiate peace in Europe directly with Vladimir Putin, the European countries and Ukraine being excluded from decision-making, Radio Romania’s correspondent reports. On the other hand, the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, stated that Ukraine and Europe would be involved in ‘real negotiations’ for peace. According to Reuters, Rubio’s statement suggests that the meeting between the U.S. and Russian representatives, which will take place in the next few days in Saudi Arabia, is just a move for Washington to feel the pulse and see if Moscow is really willing to negotiate. The Russian-American talks will begin on Tuesday in the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, the BBC reports.

     

    Germany – Germany is getting ready for Sunday’s parliamentary elections, in a more polarized climate than ever over immigration, further inflamed by the Trump administration’s open support for the far right, AFP reports. According to surveys, the nationalist anti-immigration movement AfD will take second place in the legislative elections, with at least 20% of the votes, behind the conservatives, who are rated at 30-32%. In a speech delivered at the Munich Security Conference, the U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance urged the traditional parties in Germany, and the classical right in particular, to give up the ‘protective wall’ or ‘sanitary cordon’ that they established after the Second World War to refuse to govern with the extreme right. I refuse such interference in the German parliamentary elections and in the formation of the government that will follow in Germany. I will not let an American vice-president tell me who I should talk to here in Germany’, said the leader of the Christian Democrats, Friedrich Merz, a favorite in the polls to become the next chancellor. In turn, the social-democratic chancellor, Olaf Scholz, described the intervention of the American vice-president as unacceptable. Instead, AfD leader Alice Weidel welcomed J.D. Vance’s statements and emphasized the similarities between her program and that of the Trump administration.

     

    Motion – The motion of censure aimed at Romania’s coalition government led by the social democrat Marcel Ciolacu will no longer be submitted to Parliament today, the president of the opposition Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), George Simion announced. In a Facebook post, he said that he expected all the opposition MPs, including those from the Save Romania Union (USR) and the Young People’s Party (POT), to join the initiative. The AUR leader added that he expected a reaction from them by Friday. The motion of censure, signed by 125 elected representatives from S.O.S. Romania and AUR, had to be submitted in Parliament today. At the moment of gathering the signatures, the USR president, Elena Lasconi, advised her colleagues not to support the initiative, on the grounds that Romania needs calm and stability. (LS)

  • August 28, 2024

    August 28, 2024

     

    ELECTIONS In its meeting today, the government of Romania is to set the calendar for the presidential election scheduled this autumn, on November 24 and December 8. The ballot will be held in parallel with the parliamentary election, which will be organized on December 1. The campaign for the parliamentary election begins on November 1 and ends on November 30, in the morning. In the country, polling stations will be open between 7 am and 9 pm, while Romanians living abroad will be able to vote between 7 am on November 30 and 9 pm on December 1. This is the first time that all the 4 types of elections (local, parliamentary, presidential, and the election for the European Parliament) are held in Romania in the same year.

     

    OECD Romania has today received a positive review in the competition sector as part of its OECD accession process. According to Romania’s Competition Council, the review was issued after an assessment that took place between 2018 and 2022. During the review, the Council had to demonstrate that its work meets the requirements of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Recommendations have also been made, and the stage of their implementation will be presented next year. Accession to the OECD is a priority for Romania, and is the country’s 3rd strategic goal after the NATO and EU accession.

     

    DEFICIT Romania’s budget deficit exceeds 4% of GDP after the first 7 months of the year, according to finance ministry data. In January – July, the government had total revenues of over EUR 66 bln, up 15% compared to the first 7 months of 2023. Budget expenditure however increased by over 23%, to more than EUR 80 bln. This year’s budget law is based on a 5% deficit level. Meanwhile, the minister for EU investments and projects Adrian Câciu announced that Romania has so far received EUR 23.84 bln under the cohesion policy in 2014-2020, reaching a 99.1% absorption rate.

     

    INDEPENDENCE The Republic of Moldova Tuesday celebrated 33 years since the proclamation of its independence from the former Soviet Union. Attending the ceremonies, the presidents of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia signed a joint statement of support for the country’s EU accession. In his message on this occasion, president Klaus Iohannis promised Romania will continue to provide strategic support to Moldova in all areas. In turn, PM Marcel Ciolacu reassured his Moldovan counterpart, Dorin Recean, that Romania will remain in the front line of the efforts to consolidate Moldova’s EU accession efforts, its stability and democratic development.

     

    WEATHER Thunderstorms were reported last night in several parts of the country. Weather experts have issued scores of extreme weather warnings. In Iaşi, in the north-east, the wind brought several trees down and damaged vehicles, while entire streets in the city were flooded. Also in the north-east, in Botoşani County, firefighters were called to put out a fire after lightning struck a tree. Tens of streets and basements were also flooded in Cluj-Napoca (north-west).

     

    PARALYMPICS Paris is hosting tonight the opening ceremony for the Summer Paralympic Games, which will end on September 8. From Champs-Elysées to the world-famed Place de la Concorde, hundreds of dancers and performers will stage a show called “Paradox”, which according to the organisers is designed to make people think about their uniqueness. Romania is represented by 6 athletes at this year’s Paralympic Games, in 3 events: para judo (Alexandru Bologa and Daniel Vargoczki), para cycling (Eduard Novak and Theodor Matican) şi para table tennis (Camelia Ciripan and Bobi Simion). The first to compete are Camelia Ciripan and Bobi Simion, on Thursday afternoon, in the mixed doubles event, against the Japanese pair Yuri Tomono and Koyo Iwabuchi. (AMP)

  • Another edition of the Olympic Games end in Paris

    Another edition of the Olympic Games end in Paris

    A small torch carried on Sunday by the phenomenal French swimmer Leon Marchand – the only athlete to have won four gold medals at the Olympics in Paris – marked the end of the 33rd edition of the Olympic Games.

    Romania ended this edition of the prestigious competition with 9 medals, of which, three gold, four silver and two bronze. Romania’s gold medalists were swimmer David Popovici, in the 200 meters freestyle race, Andrei Cornea and Marian Enache in the men’s double race and the Romania’s women eight made up of Maria Magdalena Rusu, Roxana Anghel, Ancuta Bodnar, Maria Lehaci, Adriana Adam, Amalia Beres, Ioana Vrinceanu, Simona Radis and Victoria Stefania Petreanu. Ancuta Bodnar and Simona Radis walked away with silver from the women’s double scull event and so did Ioana Vrinceanu and Roxana Anghel in the women’s pair. Gianina van Groningen and Ionela Cozmiuc also became silver medalists in the light-weight women’s double scull and so did weightlifter Mihaela Cambei in the 49 kilogram category.

    David Popovici with bronze in the 100 meter freestyle race and gymnast Ana Barbosu stepped onto the podium’s third step.

    Romania had a better presence in Paris than in Tokyo 2021 and Rio 2016, where its athletes got only four medals. And they fared better than in London Olympics, from where they walked away with only 7 medals.

    However, the number of medals won in Paris is significantly lower when compared to Sidney 2000, when our athletes reaped no less than 26 medals.

    Romania went 23rd out of the 206 participants in the medal ranking in Paris. The United States topped the table with 40 gold, 44 silver and 42 bronze medals, followed by China with 40 gold, 27 silver and 24 bronze. Japan went third with 20 gold, 12 silver and 13 bronze.

    The host country, France, ranked fifth with 16 gold medals, 26 silver and 22 bronze.

    The closing ceremony was attended by 80 thousand people who came to celebrate sports and their winners. Bearing the medals they won, athletes were allowed to enter the stadium without being imposed any alphabetical order as two weeks ago in the opening ceremony.

    An original grandiose show of light and colour with artists wearing SF costumes was staged during the closing ceremony, which also included fireworks.

    Roughly 300 dancers, actors and musicians put up a show in which extraterrestrials coming from outer space were restoring the Olympic Games and rebuilding the Olympic Circles.

    During the aforementioned ceremony, the Olympic Flag was handed over to the next host country, the USA, and a 15-minute Hollywood performance came to complete the show.

    Upon a spectacular jump over the stadium, the US film star Tom Cruise has been assigned another ‘mission impossible’, namely to carry the Olympic flag to Los Angeles.

     

    (bill)

  • August 11, 2024

    August 11, 2024

    Paris – The International Gymnastics Federation has officially confirmed that the Romanian Ana Maria Bărbosu receives the bronze medal in the floor final at the Olympic Games in Paris. The confirmation comes after the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS), following the explanatory reports submitted by the Romanian Gymnastics Federation and the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee. TAS allowed the Romanian gymnast to obtain the bronze medal, as the appeal filed by the American athlete Jordan Chiles was submitted beyond the regulatory deadline. Thus, the ranking of the floor final was changed, which is why Ana Maria Bărbosu climbed to third place, and the Romanian Sabrina Voinea to fourth. The American gymnast dropped to fifth place. On the other hand, the request made by Sabrina Voinea was rejected. The gold medal went to the Brazilian Rebeca Andrade, while the silver went to the American Simone Biles.

     

    Olympics – On Sunday the Romanian athletes are competing in athletics and wrestling at the Olympic Games in Paris. Romania dropped to 23rd place in the overall ranking, with nine medals: three gold, four silver and two bronze. Today is the last day of the Olympic Games and, this evening, the closing ceremony will take place at the Stade de France. Romania’s flag bearer at the closing ceremony will be Mihaela Cambei, silver medalist in weightlifting. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent in Paris, the ceremony will not be without surprises and, according to the little information given to the press, the spectators will follow a sci-fi story: beings from space will try to bring back to life the missing Olympic Games. The closing ceremony is also intended to be a relay handover for the Summer Games due in 4 years’ time in Los Angeles.

     

    Earthquake – A 4.7 magnitude earthquake occurred, on the night of Saturday to Sunday, in the west of Romania, in the county of Arad, according to the information published by the National Research and Development Institute for Earth Physics. The earthquake occurred at a depth of five kilometers. This year, the strongest tectonic movement, of magnitude 4.3, took place in Vrancea county (east), in January, at a depth of 74 kilometers, and last year in February, an earthquake of 5.7 occurred in Gorj county (south-west), at a depth of over 6 kilometers.

     

    Untold – The biggest music festival in Romania, Untold, ends on Sunday in Cluj-Napoca (north-west). For four days, over 250 top national and international artists were invited to entertain tens of thousands of fans from all over the world. Among the guest artists are famous performers who have been to Romania before, such as Lenny Kravitz or DJ Salvatore Ganacci, as well as some new comers such as Sam Smith and Burna Boy. The latter is the only African artist who had two sold-out events, two years in a row, at the London Stadium. Numerous law enforcement agents are present in the area, their priority being to maintain order and combat drug trafficking.

     

    Enescu – The 19th edition of the George Enescu International Competition starts on August 31, in Bucharest. This year, there was a historic record of entries to the Enescu Competition: 555 young people from 27 countries applied for the three sections of the competition – violin, cello and piano. Out of these, only 149 were selected to participate in the first stage of the competition. Each section will have two elimination stages, the semi-final and the final. The George Enescu International Competition is an event held under the High Patronage of the President of Romania and financed by the Government of Romania through the Ministry of Culture.

     

    Inflation – In Romania, the inflation rate is to decrease towards the end of the year to 4%, a value lower than the one forecasted by the National Bank, namely 4.9%. The downward trend of this indicator will continue in 2025, reaching 3.4% at the end of the year, according to data presented by Governor Mugur Isărescu. He stated that the inflation forecast also took into account possible risks or uncertainties, including the conduct of fiscal and revenue policies, as well as the evolution of energy and food prices. The national bank governor also said that the inflation forecast was also the basis for the recent drop in the reference interest rate. The National Bank has recently reduced, for the second consecutive time, the monetary policy interest rate to the level of 6.5%/year from 6.75% per year. (LS)

  • July 25, 2024

    July 25, 2024

    Paris – Romania’s president, Klaus Iohannis, is participating, today, in the inauguration of the House of Romania in Paris, an event organized by the Romanian Embassy in France. Tomorrow, he will attend the Opening Ceremony of the Summer Olympic Games in Paris, as well as the reception offered on this occasion by the French President, Emmanuel Macron. Last week, Iohannis received, at the Cotroceni Palace in Bucharest, the Romanian Olympic team that will compete in the Olympics. He handed the athletes the national flag, which will be carried during the opening ceremony by rowers Ionela and Marius Cozmiuc. The Romanian Olympic team has 106 athletes.

     

    Elections – The Romanian government is meeting today to discuss the organization of the parliamentary and presidential elections in November and December, respectively. The government will also analyze several draft emergency ordinances regarding the field of competition, the Romanian citizenship law and setting the maximum number of posts for the National Institute of Magistracy and the National School of Clerks. On the agenda of talks is also a bill that will bring a series of amendments and additions to the law on the public service of thermal energy supply, and the Interior Ministry is to benefit from a series of donations consisting of equipment, consumables and IT equipment. Also today, the budgets of the Ministries of Research, of the Environment, of the Legislative Council and the General Secretariat of the Government for the National Sports Agency will be supplemented. Last but not least, the Romanian government is to adopt a draft emergency ordinance regarding the implementation of the Start-Up Nation program for stimulating small and medium-sized enterprises, the 2024 edition.

     

    Diplomacy – Bucharest is hosting the Annual Meeting of Romanian Diplomacy. On this occasion, President Klaus Iohannis met, on Wednesday, with the heads of diplomatic missions, the heads of consular offices and the directors of Romanian cultural institutes. Romania, the president said, has become, in the last ten years, a credible, involved and respected regional, European and international actor, a real provider of stability and security. He told the Romanian diplomats that Romania’s major foreign policy objectives remain the consolidation of the role and influence in the EU and NATO and the deepening of the strategic partnership with the US. The second day of the meeting begins with a thematic session dedicated to hybrid threats and how to respond to them, with the participation of the Secretary General of the European External Action Service, Stefano Sannino and Oana Lungescu, Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) expert and former spokesperson for NATO. The debates will continue in a session with an economic theme, attended by guests from the government apparatus and the business environment. On this occasion the opportunities and perspectives regarding the stage of Romania’s accession process to the OECD and current topics on the diplomatic agenda will be addressed, as well as Romania’s economy in the current geopolitical context.

     

    Eurobarometer – More than 72% of the EU citizens believe that the community forum plays an important role in supporting the rule of law in their country, according to a recent Eurobarometer. In Romania, the proportion is 65%. The poll was released on Wednesday at the same time as the Rule of Law in the EU report, and shows that almost 9 out of 10 Europeans think it is important for all member states to respect the Union’s core values, an opinion unchanged from 2019 to present. Compared to 5 years ago, the proportion of those who feel informed about these values ​​has increased, from 43% to 51%. Through these fundamental values, Europeans understand the observance of human rights, the rule of law and democracy. The survey also shows that for 86% of Europeans it is important that the press and civil society organizations can work freely, without any pressure, even if they are critical of the government.

     

    Drone – Remains of a Russian drone were found in the north of Tulcea county, in the southeast of Romania, after the attacks from Tuesday night to Wednesday on the civil and port infrastructure in Ukraine, near the border with Romania, the Defense Ministry (MapN) reported on Thursday. According to MapN, the locations identified as possible areas of incidence are outside inhabited areas, with no infrastructure elements being affected. The Ministry announced that it has intensified the monitoring and surveillance measures of the national airspace. At the same time, MApN has sent a firm message of condemnation of these attacks by Russia on objectives and elements of Ukrainian civil infrastructure, which are unjustified and in serious contradiction with the norms of international law. We remind you that on the last two nights, the residents of the northern part of Tulcea County received RO-ALERT messages, informing them about the possibility of objects falling from the sky on the Romanian territory near the border with Ukraine. Similar incidents, in which fragments of Russia n drones fell on Romanian soil, were reported in the fall of 2023 and this year, in March.

     

    US – The US President Joe Biden said he withdrew from the race for a new term as president because he needs to unite the Democratic Party before the November elections. “I’ve decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation” he said. Biden said his domestic and foreign policies deserved another term, but American democracy must be saved, a statement that observers interpreted as an allusion to former Republican President Donald Trump’s despotic tendencies. He has said that he is now supporting Vice President Kamala Harris to become the new Democratic candidate in the electoral battle against Trump. In this context, the Democratic Party Committee agreed on a plan to officially nominate Harris as a presidential candidate on August 1, 20 days before the party convention. It is going to nominate its vice-president by August 7. (LS)

  • July 21, 2024 UPDATE

    July 21, 2024 UPDATE

    Olympics – The delegation of Romania’s Olympic Team that will participate in the 2024 Olympic Games left on Sunday with a TAROM (national airline) charter flight to Paris, aboard a Boeing aircraft recently renamed ‘Nadia Comăneci’, AGERPRES reports. The aircraft was renamed specifically for this purpose, following the agreement received from the great Romanian gymnast, winner of five gold medals at the Olympic Games. Romania’s Olympic team – Team Romania is made up of 107 athletes who will compete in 18 different sports disciplines at the Olympic Games. ‘The road to the Paris Olympic Games means getting closer to the Olympic dream. Our team is ready and is looking forward to entering the Olympic arena. We are glad that we embarked on our trip together with ‘Nadia Comăneci’, a symbol of world sports, and I am convinced that this association with the TAROM aircraft will be a good omen for our athletes. In Paris, Team Romania will be Romania in front of the world”, said Mihai Covaliu, the president of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee.

     

    Violence – Related to the incidents produced, at the end of the week, in Leeds, the United Kingdom, the Romanian Foreign Ministry, Romania’s diplomatic mission and the Consulate General in Manchester continued communication with the family of the Romanian citizens affected by the authorities’ measures to take over their minor children and with the representatives the community and of the religious denominations, while also continuing the dialogue with the British local authorities. The latter informed, on Sunday, about the detention of nine Romanian citizens involved in the incidents of the evening of July 18. Later, eight of them were released. The Romanian Foreign Ministry explains that, at this moment, an investigation by the local police authorities is underway, and it is essential to clarify all aspects regarding the incident. The Consulate General in Manchester gives priority attention to the situation in Leeds and is prepared to continue providing consular assistance, according to the competences held, in compliance with the British legislation in force. Romanians and members of other communities in Leeds would have been involved in violent incidents, triggered by the attempt of the authorities for the protection of children in Leeds to take several Romanian minors into the care of the state, after abuses had been reported to them.

     

    Olympiad – Six high school students from Romania won medals at the International Mathematical Olympiad, according to an Education Ministry press release. They won one gold medal, four silver and one bronze medal. All six students are from Bucharest. The 65th edition of the Olympiad took place in Bath, Great Britain.

     

    Brussels – The EU foreign ministers are meeting, on Monday, in Brussels, for the first time since the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s visits to Ukraine, Russia, China and the United States, and the meeting is expected to discuss the reaction of the community block to this tour, which did not have the EU approval, EFE reported on Sunday. All EU countries, except Slovakia, and the EU institutions have condemned Orban’s meetings with the Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Chinese President Xi Jinping, and the former US President and the Republican presidential candidate in the November 5 election, Donald Trump, insisting that he has no mandate to speak on behalf of the community bloc about the war in Ukraine. The 27 members are divided on how to show their discontent: they do not agree on whether they should boycott the informal meetings held during Hungary’s six-month presidency of the EU Council, by sending to these meetings some lower-ranking officials instead of the line ministers. The EU countries’ foreign ministers will talk about military support for Ukraine, especially in terms of anti-aircraft defense, about the war in Gaza and its possible extension to the rest of the Middle East.

     

    Talks – The Romanian Foreign Minister, Luminiţa Odobescu, talked on the phone with her Egyptian counterpart, Badr Abdelatty, about concrete ways to further increase economic and sectoral cooperation, especially in areas of priority mutual interest, such as tourism, agriculture, trade and investments, labor and energy. According to the Foreign Ministry, the two high officials discussed the deep bilateral relations that the two countries have built over time, with over 115 years of official diplomatic interactions. The two ministers also had an exchange of opinions on security developments in the immediate vicinity of the two countries. The increasingly worrying developments in the Middle East were also reviewed. The Romanian FM expressed appreciation for Egypt’s special role in identifying solutions to the current regional crisis. (LS)

     

  • Athlete of the Week

    Athlete of the Week

    Last week, the Spanish city of Barcelona hosted one of the most prestigious international swimming competitions entitled Mare Nostrum. Every year this event brings together the world’s best swimmers. With the upcoming Olympics in Paris, the Mare Nostrum contest was a major landmark in the training timetable of our swimmers. Among the athletes who compelled recognition in Barcelona was the Romanian swimmer David Popovici who won the freestyle races of 100 and 200 meters with an excellent timing for which Radio Romania International has designated him athlete of the week.

    David’s first win in Barcelona was on Wednesday in the 200 meter freestyle race, which he ended in one minute, 44 seconds and 74 hundredths, a new record for the competition and Popovici’s personal record.

    The Romanian ended the race one second ahead of runner up Sun-woo Hwang of South Korea, which is also the world champion of the race. A day later, Popovici won the 100 meter race in 48 seconds and 49 hundredths. Popovici again beat Sun-woo Hwang, but only by two hundredths this time.

    David Popovici was born in Bucharest on September 15, 2004. He compelled recognition in the European championship for junior swimmers in Rome in 2021, when he won the 200, 100 and 50 meter races. In the last race he set a world record in junior competitions. He later beat the world records in the 100 and 200 freestyle races. He managed to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics where he came fourth in the 200 meter race missing the third place by two hundredths.

    In the senior competitions he obtained his first major performance in November 2021, when in Kazan, Russia, he became European champion in the 200 meter freestyle race. In 2022, he compelled recognition at the World Championship in Budapest, winning the 100 and 200 meter races, which was also a premiere for the Romanian swimming.

    Then at the European Championships in Rome he ended the 100 meter race in 46 seconds and 86 hundredths, a new world record. His performances in 2023 weren’t that good but his latest results in Barcelona prove that David Popovici remains Romania’s best bet at the Olympic swimming competitions in Paris.

    (bill)

  • Predictions for the Paris Olympics

    Predictions for the Paris Olympics

    We have 3 months left until the world’s top sports event, the summer Olympics, scheduled to take place in Paris between July 26 and August 11.

     

    Although overshadowed by a war that has reached its 3rd year in Ukraine and by a volatile situation in the Middle East, the Olympics stir well-deserved interest, including in terms of statistics.

     

    Experts have set out to produce a predicted medal table for the Paris Olympics, with the number of medals each country is expected to win. According to this ranking, released recently by Nielsen Gracenote, Romania is forecast to win 10 medals, of which two gold, three silver and five bronze ones. The country would thus come out 25th in the ranking by total number of medals.

     

    Should this projection come true, this would make Romania’s best performance in the past 5 editions of the summer Olympics, after the 9 medals won in Beijing 2008, 7 in London 2012 and 4 each in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.

     

    At the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Romania won a total of 19 medals. But all these pale in comparison to Romania’s exceptional performance at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. With 53 medals (20 gold, 16 silver, and 17 bronze) Romania ranked second in the nations’ table, after the US.

     

    According to the Gracenote predictions, the US team will dominate the Paris Game as well, with a forecast 123 medals, followed by China, with 89 medals and the UK with 66. The host country, France, is expected to win 55 medals. In a standing taking into account gold medals only, France ranks 3rd, after the US and China. While Russia and Belarus will not take part in the competitions, for obvious reasons, Ukraine is predicted to take home 13 medals.

     

    The predicted medal table is a projection based on team and individual results in the previous Olympic Games, the World Championships and the World Cups, to establish the most likely medal winners from each country.

     

    Romania so far has 80 athletes qualified for the Paris Games, in events including athletics, swimming, boxing, rowing, kayaking, artistic and rhythmic gymnastics, water polo, table tennis, wrestling and weightlifting.

     

    Octavian Morariu, a member of the International Olympic Committee and of the Romanian Executive Olympic and Sports Committee, says the 10-medal forecast for Romania may be realistic, but should not be taken for granted. “There are events where we have really good chances to win medals, for instance rowing, swimming, weightlifting, wrestling, canoeing. So this is what we should pin our hopes on, at the Paris Olympics,” Morariu said. He argued that these are the events in which Romanians have had good results lately and which are an indication of what could be achieved this summer. (AMP)

  • March 27, 2024

    March 27, 2024

    Visit – The National Bank supports and encourages initiatives aimed at the development of the capital market in the Republic of Moldova, and as an institution responsible for prudential supervision and the stability of the financial market, we want to facilitate the free movement of capital and financial services, the governor of the National Bank of Moldova, Anca Dragu, said on Wednesday in Bucharest. She emphasized that these are actually chapters of negotiation for Moldova’s accession to the European Union, “chapters in which the National Bank has a leading role, so that the Republic of Moldova should enjoy prosperity and economic stability”. Romania commits and continues to commit unconditionally to supporting the European path of the Republic of Moldova, said, in turn, the speaker of the Romanian Senate, Nicolae Ciucă. They participated, on Wednesday, together with the Moldovan Prime Minister, Dorin Recean, and the head of the Moldovan Parliament, Igor Grosu, in a forum organized by the Stock Exchange, an event that promotes solid economic cooperation and the interconnection of the capital markets between the Republic of Moldova and Romania.

     

    Bessarabia – Romania is among the staunch supporters of the European future of the Republic of Moldova, as its citizens wish, the Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said in a message on the occasion of the Day of Bessarabia’s Union with Romania. The Romanian Cultural Institute – ICR and its representations abroad are organizing a series of cultural events to mark 106 years since this historic moment. Today, at the National Art Museum of Romania, a painting exhibition is opened that includes 100 works by artists from the Republic of Moldova, and the National Theater in Bucharest will host performances in which Romanian and Moldovan actors will participate. On March 27, 1918, the Chisinau State Council voted in favor of the Union of Bessarabia with Romania, Bessarabia being a Romanian province annexed by the Russian Empire in 1812, after the Russian-Turkish war (1806-1812). This historical act opened the process of the unification of Romania, completed on December 1, 1918, through the Union of all the Romanian provinces which were then under foreign rule. 22 years later, in the summer of 1940, following an ultimatum, Stalin’s Moscow annexed both Bessarabia and northern Bukovina, territories that currently belong to the former Soviet Republics of Moldova and Ukraine, respectively.

     

    Brancusi – The Pompidou Center in Paris hosts an exhibition-event dedicated to Constantin Brâncuşi, considered the father of modern sculpture, which can be visited until July 1. Hundreds of sculptures, photographs, sketches and archival images are on display in the exhibition which includes Brâncuşi’s Workshop, the place where the great Romanian artist created and lived, alongside works borrowed from major international museums. All of Constantin Brâncuşi’s works from the Romanian heritage are exhibited, sent by the National Art Museum of Romania and the Art Museum in Craiova (southern Romania). ‘Brâncuşi is an artist who was very little exposed during his life, as he preferred to invite his contemporaries to come to his workshop. He liked to control all dimensions of the presentation of his sculptures’, explains Ariane Coulondre, curator of the exhibition, in a press release. The Brâncusi Retrospective at the Pompidou Center, the first in the last almost 30 years and the largest ever organized event, is held with the support of the Romanian Embassy in France and the Romanian Cultural Institute.

     

    Deficit – Romania’s budget deficit reached, after the first two months of the year, almost 29 billion lei (about 6 billion Euros), accounting for 1.67% of the Gross Domestic Product, show data published by the Finance Ministry. The deficit is almost double compared to the same period of last year. The Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said, however, that it would observe the 5% threshold estimated for the end of the year. The economy is self-financing and we will have the largest economic growth in Europe, the Romanian PM also said.

     

    Handball – CS Dinamo Bucharest defeated the Danish team Bjerringbro Silkeborg, score 37-34, on Tuesday evening, at home, in the first leg of the play-off of the EHF European League men’s handball competition. The second leg will take place on April 2, in Silkeborg. Trained by the Spanidh Xavi Pascual, the Romanian champions start with the first chance in the return leg to qualify for the next stage. Afterwards, the winners of the quarterfinals will play in the Final Four Tournament (semifinals and finals). The German team Fuchse Berlin is the holder of the trophy. (LS)

  • Sports Roundup

    Sports Roundup

    Romania’s women’s handball team has qualified for the 2024 European Championships hosted by Austria, Hungary and Switzerland. On Sunday night, in Group 1, Romania, missing its star players Cristina Neagu and Crina Pintea, defeated Croatia away from home 25-23. Romania, which tops the group standings with 8 points, is yet to play against Bosnia-Hertegovina away from home and against Greece at home. The top 2 teams in each group qualify into the final tournament, along with the best 4 teams having ranked 3rd in each group.

     

    The Kenyan-born Romanian athlete Joan Chelimo Melly won Sunday’s semi-marathon race in Paris, and set a new national record on this occasion. Coached by Carol Şanta at the Dinamo Bucharest club, Joan Chelimo Melly has qualified to the Paris Olympics marathon event this summer. She finished the race in one hour, 6 minutes and 57 seconds, followed by the Kenyan athletes Veronica Loleo and Jesphine Jepleting, respectively. Romania’s previous semi-marathon record, 1 hour 7 minutes and 45 seconds, had been set by another Kenyan-born athlete, Stella Rutto, on 21 February 2021.

     

    At the Glasgow World Athletics Indoor Championships, the Romanian athlete Alina Rotaru-Kottmann finished 8th in the long jump finals. Two other Romanians, Diana Ion and Andreea Taloş, came out 9th and 10th in the triple jump final.

     

    Romania’s rugby team played on Saturday against Georgia, away from home, in the semi-finals of the 2024 Rugby Europe Championship. Georgia won the match, 43-5. In the other semi-final, on Sunday, Portugal defeated Spain, 33-30. The finals are scheduled on the 17 March in Paris, with Romania and Spain playing for the 3rd place, and Georgia and Portugal competing for the trophy.

     

    This past weekend also saw matches counting towards the 29th round of the Romanian football SuperLeague. On Friday, Poli Iaşi drew against Dinamo Bucharest, 0-0. On Saturday, UTA Arad beat FCU Craiova 3-2, FC Hermannstadt defeated Oţelul Galaţi 4-1, and Farul Constanţa drew against CFR Cluj, 1-1. On Sunday, Universitatea Cluj defeated FC Botoşani 1-0 while FCSB outplayed Petrolul Ploieşti 1-0, with two other matches, Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe vs FC Voluntari and Universitatea Craiova vs Rapid Bucharest scheduled for Monday. FCSB rank first in the current standings, with 64 points, followed by Rapid (51) and CFR Cluj (50). (AMP)

  • February 27, 2024 UPDATE

    February 27, 2024 UPDATE

    Paris – The participants in the Paris Conference in support of Ukraine, organized at the initiative of President Emmanuel Macron, reiterated their unity and determination to continue supporting the war effort of the Ukrainian army. President Volodymyr Zelensky sent a recorded message, in which he thanked the French president for the initiative and the leaders present for the help given to his country so far and for their future involvement. President Macron stated that the defeat of Russia is indispensable to guarantee the security and stability of the European continent. The leaders present agreed on the formation of a coalition to provide Kyiv with medium and long range missiles and bombs, necessary for defense purposes. Attending the meeting, the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis welcomed President Macron’s approach and emphasized that the unity and solidarity of the international community in support of Ukraine are essential and must be maintained. Iohannis said that Romania would continue to support Ukraine on all levels, as long as it is needed.

     

    Law – The Romanian deputies adopted, on Tuesday, the draft law that prohibits the sale to minors of electronic cigarettes, of devices for heating tobacco, and nicotine sachets for oral use. According to the new provisions, those who violate the law will pay fines of up to 100 thousand lei (20 thousand Euros). The bill also provides that the sanctions for pupils who use these products in educational institutions will be established by the Education Ministry. Also on Tuesday, the Chamber of Deputies adopted the legal framework for the establishment of detention and education centers for minors, in all eight development regions of the country. Sections specialized in the treatment and social reintegration of young people addicted to psychoactive substances will also operate for the first time within these units. In recent years, there has been an increase in juvenile delinquency in Romania.

     

    Protests – Airport workers on Tuesday picketed the Finance Ministry in Bucharest, to denounce what they consider to be wage discrimination against other state companies. Qualified aviation personnel are not easy to find and cannot be trained from one day to the next, and Romania is already struggling with a shortage of specialized labor force, according to the aviation trade union. The union calls for the elimination of criteria based on salary ceilings, because they are discriminatory and discourage professionalism. On the other hand, taxi drivers continue their protest that started on Monday in the center of Bucharest. They claim that the alternative transport platforms give them unfair competition and ask the government to issue an emergency ordinance so that they comply with the same rules. Taxi drivers request the limitation of the number of authorizations for alternative transport and similar rates for the mandatory civil liability insurance policy for motor vehicles.

     

    NATO – NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, and the leaders of the member countries welcomed the ratification, with an overwhelming majority of votes, in the Hungarian Parliament, of Sweden’s accession to NATO, the final stage that precedes the reception of the last Scandinavian country in the North Atlantic Alliance. With Sweden within NATO, we will strengthen the defense and deterrence posture on the eastern flank and we will continue the strong support for Ukraine, said, in turn, Romania’s president, Klaus Iohannis.

     

    Nature restoration – The European Parliament adopted a new nature law on Tuesday, which stipulates that, by 2030, the Union must implement restoration measures for at least 20% of land and sea surfaces and for all ecosystems by 2050. At the moment, over 80% of European habitats are in a precarious state. In order to improve biodiversity in agricultural ecosystems, EU countries will have to make progress on certain indicators, including the grassland butterfly index and the stock of organic carbon in cropland mineral soils. Measures to increase the common farmland bird index must also be taken as birds are good indicators of the overall state of biodiversity. At the same time, measures must be taken to increase the index of common birds specific to agricultural land. The law requires, among other things, progress in relation to several indicators for forest ecosystems and requires three billion more trees to be planted. (LS)

  • Focus

    Focus

    Plichisitorlu Constantin Brâncuși, fu amintatu tu Româníi, tu dzuua di 19 di șcurtu 1876. S-află Hobița ș-numa a mșatâllei hoarâ ditu giudețlu Gorj va s-hibâ ligatâ di numa a lui, pisti tut tu lumi. Brâncuși easti cânâscut ș-mutrit cu mirachi di tuț, easti ațelu ți u revoluționă sculptura, tu ahurhita a etâllei XX, nu pritu vârâ atac contra aților ți furâ pânâ la elu, ama imnândalui pi cale a lui artisticâ, adrândalu-și opera preayalea-ayalea. Sculia u adră tu Româníi, Craiova ș-București, agiumsi plichisitoru, iara tu 1904, la 28 di añi, curdisi Paris, dupâ unâ cali aproapea inițiaticâ. Ari multâ poezie tu pirmithlu aliștei cali, ama ș-pțânâ ezitari. Brâncuși curdisi di prota Paris și acâță unâ-ș-unâ lucurlu. Nu easti unâ siligheari ică unâ eliberari, easti unâ evoluțíi excepționalâ, tu unu mediu ahoryea. Parislu eara câsâbălu a tâtâloru videiloru, tu ahurhita a etâllei XX, cându plichisitorlu român Constantin Brâncuși agiumsi aclo. Avangarda s-veadi tu tuti dumenili a banâllei culturalâ și spiritualâ. Masturlu român nu ș-avea aleaptâ unâ dumeni ici lișoarâ, reprezentarea artisticâ tu materíi sânâtoasâ. Ș-adră plasea ș-ma greauâ câțe nu lo țiva ditu viziunea di pânâ atumțea, clasițismul ți fu adratu ș-bâgatu tu practichíi di eț.



    Calea a plichisitorlui Brâncuși easti unâ cali di geniu, unâ viziuni personalâ, ti cari ș-lo borgea cu tutu geanlu. La Brâncuși, arta fu mira a lui. Anchisitâ ditu Hobița a Gorjului, calea alu Brâncuși pari zuyrâpsitâ ditu ahurhitâ ș-tiñisitâ tu nai ma ñițli lucri. Alâsă nanâparti sculptura figurativâ ș-adră plasi ți au unâ multu mari forțâ expresivâ. Chiro di ținți dețenii adră unâ operâ ți easti luyursitâ revoluționarâ, tuchindalui bicimea ș-bâirușlu ti sugestia artisticâ ali unâ imaghini, ali unâ idei, a unlui pirmith. Filisi tuti materialili tu cari s-plichisea aoa ș-unâ sutâ di añi, tu ahurhita a etâllei XX. Umblisi loclu ș-turnă bâcârea, ți, dapoaia, u lucră para multu, ta s-parâ transparentâ i vinitâ ditu țer. Plichisi lemnul tu tuț añilli a lui di lucru, plichisi ș-chiatra, ti ciuduseara a tâtâloru. Marmurâ i chiatrâ di arâu, lâ deadi bicimi di mindueari i yisu, li plichisi ș-li mută pi piedestallu tutu di elu adratu. Tuchi amintarea a banâllei tu imaghinea a Sărutului/Bâșarillei, plichisi Zborul și Măiastra/Azbuirarea ș-mâistra, muzi ș-prințesi, seria Domnișoara Pogany. Tu 1913, andridzeara a cânâscutlui Armory Show, expoziția ți aduțea avangarda evropeanâ pi continentul evropeanu, ahurhi tu atelierlu a lui. Fu unu pirmithu iu dauli părțâ s-vrea, americañilli lu mutrea cu multâ ihtibari, iara Brâncuși, plichisitolru ți s-avea aflatâ tu Româníi âlli vrea pi americañi. Dupâ ți, tu 1938, aștirnu, acasâ, tu Gorj, calea a nimurearillei, Coloana a Infinitlui, Measa a tâțearillei ș-Poarta a bâșerillei, operi amplini di noimi, ca unu vârots mesaj esoteric și spiritual, Brâncuși s-trapsi Paris ta s-treacă aclo doilu polimu mondialu,dupâ cari Evropa xana anyie, ama nu ș-vâsilia a lui, România, iu vru ta sâ-și discurmâ eternitatea, intratâ ti unâ giumitati di erâ tu scutidea ți yinea ditu Apirita sovieticâ.



    Muri tu 1957, la 81 di añi, ș-âlli alâsă a cratlui francez atelierlu a lui di Paris, cu troplu s-armânâ ași cum eara. Atelierlu fu adratu diznău prota la Pâlatea Tokyo, ditu Paris, dapoaia la orighinallu Centre Pompidou. Tu 1997, arhitectul Renzo Piano plâseadzâ spațiul di tora a Atelierlui a marlui plichisitoru. Estâ primuvearâ, Centre Pompidou ș- Atelierul Brâncuși va s-hibâ unu șantieru multu mari di lucrări di mirimeti ș-tuti operli di artâ inestimabili ți li apânghisescu va s-hibâ mutati. Prota operli ditu Atelierlu Brancusi va s-hibâ bâgati tu Centre Pompidou, iara tu marțu va s-hibâ dișcllisâ unâ expozițíi mari, cu numa simplâ “Brancusi”. Tu 2015, Parlamentul a Românillei apufusi dzuua di 19 di șcurtu s-hibâ, ufițial, Dzuua Naționalâ Brâncuși. Cu aestâ arasti, româñilli andregu iventuri ți u aducu aminti personalitatea ș-opera a cânâscutlui plichisitoru.



    Autoru: Marius Tița


    Armânipsearea: Mirela Biolan Sima


  • Les poloïstes roumains se sont qualifiés aux JO de Paris

    Les poloïstes roumains se sont qualifiés aux JO de Paris

    La sélection de Roumanie de water-polo a
    obtenu son ticket pour Paris, après que l’équipe sud-africaine, au sommet du
    classement africain, a déclaré forfait. La sélection roumaine de water-polo a
    terminé les Championnats du monde déroulés en février, à Doha, en dixième
    position. Or, pour obtenir la qualification pour Paris, il aurait fallu se
    situer parmi les 8 premières équipes. Mais, par sa décision, l’Afrique du sud a
    fait un cadeau inespéré à l’équipe roumaine, soit la mieux située dans le
    classement des équipes non qualifiées. Suite au tirage aux sorts pour les JO,
    la Roumanie fera partie du groupe A, tout comme la Croatie, l’Italie, la Grèce,
    les Etats-Unis et le Monténégro. Le water-polo devient donc le seul sport
    d’équipe auquel la Roumanie participera aux JO de Paris, douze ans après sa
    participation aux Jeux olympiques de Londres, de 2012.


    Dans le bassin de Doha, au Qatar, les
    poloïstes roumains se sont inclinés devant les sportifs hongrois, 15 à 8,
    devant l’Italie aussi, 16 à 10 avant de remporter une victoire contre le
    Kazakhstan, 25 à 3. Malheureusement, la Roumanie a perdu aussi le match de
    barrage contre le Monténégro du premier tour de la Coupe du monde et a raté sa
    qualification pour les quarts de finale. La sélection roumaine a réussi à avoir
    raison de la Chine lors d’un match de qualification, mais a perdu face aux
    Etats-Unis. Le sélectionneur Bogdan Rath considère que la participation aux JO
    de Paris n’est pas le fruit de l’hasard. « C’est une qualification très
    importante pour le sport roumain. J’ai déjà dit avant notre départ à Doha que
    la Roumanie avait des chances et voilà qu’elle est arrivée à les mettre à
    profité ».



    A ses dires, suite au tirage au sort du tour
    préliminaire qui a lieu samedi, 17 février, la Roumanie a rejoint un groupe
    d’enfer, puisqu’elle sera censée d’affronter des adversaires redoutables. Des
    propos que le capitaine de l’équipe, le gardien de but, Marius Ţic, a renchéri, tout en affirmant qu’en ce
    moment, la Roumanie devrait tout simplement se réjouir de sa participation aux
    JO, quels que soient les résultats finals. Et lui de préciser que le ticket
    pour Paris représente le moment le plus important de sa carrière et de celle de
    ses coéquipiers. Certains d’entre eux ont fondu en larmes de joie au moment où
    ils ont appris la nouvelle. La Roumanie a terminé 8ème les
    Championnats d’Europe organisés en janvier, en Croatie, après avoir perdu
    devant la Serbie le dernier match de qualification. Dans un premier temps, les
    poloïstes tricolores rouge jaune bleu avaient enchaîné les victoires et
    remporté tous les matchs disputés au sein de leur groupe. Par la suite, ils ont
    perdu dans les huitièmes de finale face à l’Espagne et ils se sont inclinés
    devant le Monténégro lors d’un match de barrage. « Mais, à Paris, il est
    sur et certain que nous pourrions battre les Monténégrins, même si nous ne
    sommes pas si bien notés qu’eux. J’espère que nous pourrions faire belle figure
    en France et surprendre tout le monde » a déclaré le poloïste Tudor Fulea.