Radio România Internațional

Tag: PM Dacian Ciolos

  • The Week in Review, August 21-27

    The Week in Review, August 21-27

    Romanians count among the victims of the earthquake in Italy


    Romanians count among the dead, injured or missing in the aftermath of the earthquake in Italy, which measured 6 degrees on the Richter scale. Bucharest sent a consular team from Bologna to the affected areas, keeping in touch with Italian authorities. At the same time, two teams from the Romanian Embassy and the Consular Section in Rome are ready to issue temporary travel documents for Romanian citizens who lost their IDs or need other consular services quickly. The Romanian Foreign Ministry has sent condolences to the families affected by the quake, expressing solidarity with the Italian people. The towns of Amatrice, Accumoli and Pescara del Tronto were destroyed almost completely. According to the authorities, hundreds were left dead or injured. In Bucharest, President Klaus Iohannis has sent his Italian counterpart, Sergio Mattarella, a message of condolence, on behalf of all Romanians. The message from Romanian PM Dacian Ciolos read in part: Our thoughts go out to the people who suffer, both Romanian and Italian, as well as to the rescuers and the people helping out victims.



    The first visit to Moldova by Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos


    During his first official visit to the Republic of Moldova, Romanian PM Dacian Ciolos met his Moldovan counterpart, Pavel Filip. The head of the Romanian government, which supports the reforms that the authorities in Chisinau have decided to undertake, said Romanias objective was to improve the situation of Moldovan citizens. On Wednesday, Romania disbursed the first tranche of its loan to Moldova, worth 60 million Euro. Here is what the PM said:


    TRACK VM: “We expect and support the continuation of the reform process. This is the aim of this loan, and we have released the first tranche of it to the Republic of Moldova. We have supported, and continue to support, the idea that this government has committed to implementing certain reforms, and that they will go through with it.”


    Pavel Filip emphasized the fact that Romania is a close and committed ally to the Republic of Moldova, proven by the fact that it has signed the Strategic Bilateral Partnership for European Integration. According to the head of the Moldovan government, the major priority in bilateral relations is energy cooperation, the most important project being the Ungheni-Chisinau gas pipeline.



    One more case of corruption in Romania


    The vice-president of the National Medical Drug Authority, Lazar Iordachescu, was taken into custody for bribe giving and influence peddling. The person who turned him in to the authorities is the official who was offered the bribe, according to a press release by the Health Ministry. According to anti-corruption prosecutors, Lazar Iordache offered the accuser 5% of the money earmarked to two hospitals. The investigators have found that in April Lazar Iordache gave the public servant 126,000 lei, around 28,000 Euro. In exchange for this sum of money, the latter was supposed to exercise influence over other people in the ministry responsible with the earmarking.



    Romanian freight truckers and farmers hold protests


    Unhappy with the recent hike in mandatory vehicle insurance fee, Romanian freight truckers joined in protest farmers, who are unhappy because certain subsidies were not issued in full for last year. Hundreds of truckers took their vehicles to the road, driving at reduced speed in order to hinder traffic on several national roads, threatening a national protest on September 15 if their demands are not met. The protest could be joined by as many as 40,000 vehicles. Farmers, some of whom went on hunger strike last week, continued protests in front of the government building. Subsidies total 360 million Euro, and protesters said that the Ministry of Agriculture should have issued the money by August 15. The Agency for Payments and Intervention in Agriculture said that it had paid out over 61% of the subsidies by mid August, the equivalent of 193 million Euro. The head of the agency, Nicolae Horumba, announced that most of the applications for payment submitted by farmers have been authorized, and that the other farmers will get payed by the end of the month.



    Modest results for Romanian athletes in the Olympic games in Rio


    Romania had a lukewarm performance at the Olympic games in Rio, bringing home only 5 medals. As a result, it ranks 47th in terms of medals won, with one gold, reaped by the womens epee team in fencing, one silver, won by the tennis pair Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau, and three bronzes, one by weightlifter Gabriel Sincraian, one by the coxed eight womens rowing team, and one by Albert Saritov in wrestling. The next city to host the Olympics, in 2020, is Tokyo.

  • July 21, 2016 UPDATE

    July 21, 2016 UPDATE

    Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos received on Thursday in Bucharest a delegation of the US Congress. On this occasion, Ciolos said Romania was a stability element in an area marked by uncertainties. The sides discussed, among other things, about the bilateral Strategic Partnership, the military base in Deveselu and Romania’s inclusion in the Visa Waiver programme.




    Turkey will temporarily suspend the European Convention on Human Rights after announcing a state of emergency following the attempted coup. Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said on Thursday that Turkey would follow the example set by France when it did so following last Novembers attacks by Isis militants in Paris. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the three-month state of emergency in Turkey would enable authorities to act quicker and more efficiently against the coup plotters. In his turn, German Foreign Minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier called on Ankara to limit the duration of the state of emergency. Meanwhile, around 60,000 soldiers, police, judges, civil servants and teachers have been suspended, detained or put under investigation since the coup was defeated.




    The status of the Romanians living in Great Britain will be a priority for the Romanian authorities, said the Romanian Ambassador to London Dan Mihalache during a hearing organized by the Home Affairs Committee of the House of Commons on the Brexit issue. Dan Mihalache voiced concern as regards the British debate on the current rights of the EU citizens in the medium and long run, because, he says, these citizens need certainties. The Ambassador also mentioned that he rejected any discriminatory treatment relating to the date on which the Romanian citizens arrived in Great Britain.




    The European Commission has approved the relocation of 265 million Euro that was not spent between 2007-2013 from the Sectoral Operational Programme to projects in the SMEs and research sectors in Romania. The European Commissioner Corina Cretu believes that Romania thus stands better chances of properly funding successful projects under the Sectoral Operational Programme for Enhancing Economic Competitiveness. According to the EU official, the European Commission and Bucharest authorities will keep on making efforts for the money allocated for the 2007-2013 programming period to be fully spent in Romania.




    The Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected the appeal of 68 Russian athletes seeking to overturn the ban imposed by the IAAF, following allegations of doping. However, the arbitration court stressed the decision is not binding on the International Olympic Committee, which has the final say as the supreme organizer of the games. The IOC said it would study and analyze the full decision and make its own final ruling on the participation of Russian athletes in the coming days. The Olympics open in Rio on August 5.



    (Translated by Elena Enache)





  • New Ministers in the Romanian Government

    New Ministers in the Romanian Government

    Dacian Ciolos’s
    technocratic Government has this week suffered a new loss. After the
    resignations of the Labour Minister Ana Costea and of the Minister for European
    Funds Aura Raducu, it was time for Vlad Alexandrescu to leave the Government.
    On Tuesday, Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos removed him from the office of Culture
    Minister. A university professor and former Ambassador of Romania to
    Luxembourg, Vlad Alexandrescu was criticized for the way he handled a dispute
    at the National Opera in Bucharest. Alexandrescu changed three managers in just
    one month, without managing however to ease tensions at the Opera.

    Dacian
    Ciolos believes that a Minister’s response to a crisis situation reflects his
    ability to carry out his mandate. Vlad Alexandrescu was equally accused of
    having generated controversies by first announcing his resignation, then
    stating he would only leave if Prime Minister Ciolos sacked him. In a letter
    that reached the press, Vlad Alexandrescu claimed that some members of the
    Government had tried to intimidate him and that the decisions he made in six
    months of office did not sit well with various interest groups.

    One of the
    many prestigious figures in the field of culture who voiced support for Vlad
    Alexandrescu was Andrei Plesu, himself a former Culture Minister. In an article
    on what a Romanian Minister should be like, Andrei Plesu outlined
    Alexandrescu’s merits. Among others, he saved important national heritage
    monuments, through direct intervention. He launched a public subscription
    campaign for the procurement of the Wisdom of the Earth, a masterpiece by the
    famous Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi. Last but not least, he managed to
    include Rosia Montana on UNESCO’s World Heritage tentative list, thus thwarting
    any further attempts at turning this century-old settlement in central Romania
    into a huge gold mining operation.

    Andrei Plesu did not go too far in singing
    Alexandrescu’s praises, saying the former Minister did make mistakes and caused
    a lot of inconvenience by having too much initiative. Andrei Plesu believes
    that technocrats are, in theory at least, more vulnerable than
    politically-appointed ministers. The party usually nominates them, protects
    them and only if they commit serious errors, withdraws them. Without
    Parliament’s support, Dacian Ciolos’s technocratic Government is now open to
    criticism for what it is trying to achieve, despite its uncertain position,
    Andrei Plesu also argues.

    The Government is prevented from taking too much
    action but criticized for taking too little. Other Ministers who are now in the
    crosshairs for their under par performance are the Health Minister Patriciu
    Achimas Cadariu, who failed to deal with the many flaws in the healthcare
    system, as well as the Agriculture Minister Achim Irimescu, whose only
    achievement in the six months since he took office was to be at the center of
    two scandals. Many voices claim the two are very likely next on the list of
    ministers to be given the sack.

  • Reactions and Measures against Terrorism

    Reactions and Measures against Terrorism

    Experts had warned that the Catholic Easter, celebrated on Sunday, only five days after the carnage in Brussels, was for Jihadists a good opportunity to strike again. What was unexpected was the target. This time it was not Europe, already at risk due to its Christian majority, but Pakistan that fell victim, a country where Christians account for a very small minority. More than 70 people were killed and several hundreds wounded in the city of Lahore, in a park where Catholic believers were celebrating Jesus’ Resurrection. A faction of the Pakistani Taliban movement has claimed the attack.



    Just like most of the other political leaders, President Klaus Iohannis has conveyed Romanians’ condolences and sympathy to the Pakistani people and the victims’ families. Both the Romanian presidency and Foreign Ministry have once again stressed that Romania firmly condemns such attacks and stays committed to the international fight against terrorism. Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos has stated that in Romania terrorist threats exist, but they are properly contained. In an interview to a private TV station, Ciolos said that domestic intelligence services need to be provided with the necessary tools for them to be able to properly monitor threats, without affecting transparency and citizens’ rights.



    The Prime Minister pleaded for a more rigorous control of PrePay phone cards, which in Romania can be purchased without having to provide any ID, and also said that the issue was being examined by the Justice and Interior Ministers. Prime Minister Ciolos has said he’s been informed about the fact that PrePay cards purchased in Romania were used in preparing attacks in other EU member countries. The Romanian Intelligence Service has stated it can provide no information regarding terrorists who may have used such cards to prepare terrorist attacks.



    However, the Service has mentioned the fact that the use of such non-nominal phone cards issued by Romanian phone operators in conflict areas, including Syria and Iraq, is a well-known fact. Since the identity of the people using them cannot be established, such cards may be used by both Romanian citizens residing in those conflict areas, but also by people connected to terrorist entities, the Service has also stated, in a communiqué issued at the media’s request.



    What is clear is that in Bucharest, voices pleading for a regulation of the way in which such phone cards are purchased have grown in number, just like those warning that, in the name of the fight against terror, special services may be tempted to intrude into peaceful citizen’s private lives.


    (Translated by M. Ignatescu)


  • February 8, 2016 UPDATE

    February 8, 2016 UPDATE

    The Romanian Foreign Ministry firmly condemned North Korea’s launch of a long-range ballistic missile on 7 February, and called on the authorities in that country to comply with international norms. Romanian diplomacy also called on the North Korean government to refrain from action that ‘could destabilize security in the Korean Peninsula and in the world’. This comes after the UN Security Council condemned the launch. In a unanimous statement, the Council promised to fast track a new resolution introducing new sanctions against Pyongyang in answer to Sunday’s launch, as well as the nuclear test on 6 January.




    Turkey and Germany agreed on Monday on a set of measures to tackle the Syrian refugee crisis. A joint diplomatic initiative aimed at halting attacks against Syrias largest city is one of them. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was in the Turkish capital for talks with Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoglu on how to reduce the wave of refugees who come to Europe, said that the two countries would be trying to get NATOs involvement in the refugee issue. According to PM Davutoglu, Turkey and Germany will seek the use of the Alliance’s observation capabilities at the border with Syria and in the Aegean Sea. Turkey is pressured to open its border to over 30,000 Syrians who have massed along the frontier in the past few days. Turkey agreed in November to fight smuggling networks and help curb irregular migration while the EU has pledged 3 billion euros to Turkey to help this country cope with the large number of refugees.




    Staging fair local and parliamentary elections is one of the Government’s priorities and will be carried out based on the laws in force, said Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos on Monday, at a debate on election laws. Ciolos asked the political parties who want to return to the two round election system in the local elections this year not to blame the Government for refusing to change the legislation through an emergency ordinance, but to do it themselves in Parliament, on their own responsibility. Ciolos also pointed out that parliamentary parties have divergent opinions on this matter. The PM also talked about the legislative elections and about guaranteeing the right of citizens living abroad to vote. Ciolos said that the Government was working on secondary legislation in this respect, to be adopted in the upcoming period. We recall that, in the presidential elections of 2014, thousands of Romanians were unable to exercise their civic rights due to defective organization.





    NATO defense ministers will meet on Wednesday and Thursday in Brussels to review the main challenges in defense policy for the allies. Romania is represented by its defense minister, Mihnea Motoc. The meeting comes after the announcement made by NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg on the US request for NATO assistance in the fight against the so-called Islamic State. Stoltenberg also emphasized his concern regarding Russian air strikes in Syria, saying they undermine efforts to find a political solution to the Syrian conflict. The ministerial meeting this week will also discuss the situation of military missions in Afghanistan, the conflict in Libya, as well as the next NATO summit, to take place in Warsaw.




    12 military of the Romanian Guard and Protection Service will take part in a one-year mission in Lybia, under the United Nations’ umbrella, Romanian president Klaus Iohannis has announced in a letter sent to the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies. The Romanian military will have the task to protect a number of UN officials in Lybia. The UN will cover the costs of this mission.




    Romania’s tennis team was defeated by the Czech Republic 2-3 in the Romanian city of Cluj in the first round of the Fed Cup World Group, after the pair Karolina Pliskova (13th seeded) / Barbora Strycova (41st seeded) won 6-2, 6-3, against the pair Andreea Mitu (96th seeded) / Raluca Olaru (45th seeded). In the first two games on Saturday, Simona Halep, ranked third in the world, was defeated by Karolina Pliskova (6-7, 6-4, 6-2), while Monica Niculescu, ranked 37th, disposed of Petra Kvitova (6-3, 6-4). On Sunday, Halep defeated Kvitova, ranked 37th (6-4, 3-6, 6-3), while Pliskova defeated Niculescu (6-2, 4-6, 6-3). The Czech Republic, the current trophy holder, has won four titles in the last five Fed Cups, and qualified to the semi-finals, where they face Switzerland. After the defeat, Romania will play in April in an attempt to stay in the World Group.




    (Translated by Elena Enache)



  • In the run up to local elections

    In the run up to local elections


    2016 is an election year in Romania, with local election scheduled for early summer, and legislative elections to be held in autumn. The locals are the weak point of the current election law, which stipulates that mayors will be elected in just one round of voting. The one that gets the biggest number of votes, no matter what that means in percentages or turnout, becomes mayor. And this, against citizens growing lack of trust in the political class, with a rate of absenteeism very likely to stand high, makes possible the election of candidates voted, for instance, by one fifth of the 13% of citizens casting their votes. It is not the happiest of solutions for a local administration that has practically been half sized by the anti-corruption prosecutors. Many mayors have been arrested for bribe taking, influence peddling or malfeasance in office.



    Coming back to the two-round system of voting, functional since 1992, when the first local elections in post-Communist Romania were held, was one of the main civil society claims voiced during the anti-corruption protest meetings held in autumn, and which in turn led to the fall of the three-party Government headed by the Social Democrat Victor Ponta. Also, the same claim, the media says, could be found in the first draft-governing program of the then Prime Minster Designate, Dacian Ciolos. Subsequently, though, it was removed in order to observe the ruling of the Constitutional Court, according to which elections laws cannot be amended a year before the elections proper. It is not normal, the Prime Minister says, for a technocratic government to amend under emergency ordinance a law that has already been adopted by Parliament.



    Dacian Ciolos: “The cabinet Im heading is an independent government, with no political affiliations, and I dont believe its democratic for a government to amend a political law under an emergency ordinance.”



    The Liberals, who have called for the modification of the electoral legislation, have voiced their disappointment with the PMs response. The co-president of the National Liberal Party, Alina Gorghiu, is convinced that he did not want to be accused of political bias, after the Liberals consistently supported the policies promoted by the Government wanted by their former leader, the current president of the country, Klaus Iohannis.



    Alina Gorghiu: “I would have expected the Prime Minister of Romania and the Government to change the legislation, in the sense of ensuring the representativity of the elected. I would have expected a different stand on the Prime Ministers part, all the more so as in that governing program the provision regarding the election of mayors in two rounds was extremely important.”



    The Social Democrats, however, through their representative, MP Florin Iordache, have voiced their satisfaction with the fact that the current provisions of the election law will not be changed, and therefore the Social Democratic Party will be the favourite in the local elections. The party has the largest number of acting mayors, especially in small towns and communes and, thanks to the one-round voting, they stand high changes of winning a new term.


  • November 25, 2015

    November 25, 2015

    The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, has signed into law a bill that raises the salaries of public healthcare personnel by 25% as of October 1, and the wages of other public sector employees by 10% as of December 1. PM Dacian Ciolos says these increases must be accompanied by an investment programme.



    The PM of Romania, Dacian Cioloş, said in the government meeting today that he wants to make sure that the chiefs of the Bucharest-Ilfov Inspectorate for Emergency Situations who had been suspended would be dismissed and would no longer be able to get back in the system. The leaders of the Bucharest-Ilfov Inspectorate were suspended nearly a month after the Colectiv nightclub tragedy. Investigations revealed that the relevant authorities had not conducted inspections at the nightclub, although the heavily attended event had been announced publicly. We remind you that a rock concert ended tragically when the soundproofing material on a support pillar caught fire, which quickly spread over the entire ceiling. Hundreds of people, 5 times more than the club was allowed to host, were caught under the burning pieces falling from the ceiling.




    Scores of cinema and theatre halls, restaurants and bars in Bucharest have been shut after last week the head of state Klaus Iohannis signed a law banning public activities from buildings with high vulnerability in case of earthquakes. Around 670 buildings, according to the Bucharest City Hall, have a heavily damaged structure, especially after the 7.2 earthquake in 1977, which killed nearly 1,600 people. The law was promulgated 3 weeks after the tragedy in Colectiv nightclub in Bucharest, in which 60 people died so far and which sparked heated debates concerning public building safety.



    The National Anti-Corruption Directorate in Bucharest has today ordered the prosecution of the Social Democratic Senator Dan Sova in a new case, in which he is suspected of being accessory to abuse of office. According to investigators, in 2006-2008 Sova apparently caused the Govora Thermal Power Complex to incur losses of over 1 million euros. On Tuesday, the Senates Judicial Committee approved Dan Sovas arrest and pre-trial detention in a separate case, concerning the period 2011-2014. Sova, a former minister for transportation in Victor Pontas Cabinet, reportedly claimed and received 100,000 euros in bribes to ensure the same Govora power plant signed a contract with a particular law firm.



    21 people, of whom 18 Afghans and 3 Moldovan citizens, were captured by a Taliban group on Tuesday, after the emergency landing of a helicopter in the north of Afghanistan, the Republic of Moldovas government announced today. According to the same source, two Afghans and a Moldovan have been killed. The interim PM, Gheorghe Brega, said the Moldovan authorities requested support from the US and Romanian embassies in Afghanistan, in order to have the hostages released. The helicopter, owned by a private Moldovan company, was on a humanitarian mission in Afghanistan, under the UN aegis.



    President Barack Obama expressed US and NATO support for Turkeys right to defend its sovereignty, reads a news release issued by the White House. The American and Turkish presidents discussed over the telephone about the incident involving a Russian warplane downed yesterday by the Turkish Air Forces. Whereas Ankara claims to have defeated its territory, after the plane entered Turkeys air space, the Russian President Vladimir Putin labels the incident as a stab in the back by the supporters of terrorism. Kremlin warned that its relations with Turkey would be affected and that it would take concrete steps. In an emergency meeting in Brussels, NATO expressed its solidarity with Turkey and called on the parties to refrain from escalating the conflict.



    The President of France, François Hollande, is scheduled to have a meeting in Paris today with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, as part of Paris efforts to rally international support in a coalition able to fight the IS terrorist group. Yesterday in Washington, François Hollande agreed with President Barack Obama to intensify air strikes in Syria and Iraq against the Jihadist group. On Monday, the head of the French State discussed the same issue with the British PM David Cameron. Hollandes diplomatic efforts to rally support against terrorism will continue tomorrow in Moscow, where the French President is to meet his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.