Radio România Internațional

Tag: police

  • February 10, 2025

    February 10, 2025

    PRESIDENT A third request to impeach president Klaus Iohannis may be analysed today by the leaders of the Romanian parliament in a joint meeting of the two chambers’ standing bureaus. The request is signed by 178 MPs, most of them from the self-proclaimed sovereigntist opposition (the Young People’s Party, AUR and SOS Romania) but there are also 26 signatories from the pro-EU Save Romania Union. Under the Constitution, the president can be removed from office only with a majority of the votes of senators and deputies, and only if the president breaches the Constitution. A total of 234 votes are needed, which the opposition does not have. On the other hand, the presidential candidate of the ruling coalition, the former Liberal leader Crin Antonescu, admitted that the coalition leaders could have a meeting with president Iohannis today, concerning the opposition’s impeachment attempt. In an interview on the public television station, Antonescu said that the meeting was not announced publicly and that the president may decide to step down. Mr. Iohannis has announced twice so far that he did not intend to resign. On December 21, his second and last five-year presidential term under the Constitution came to an end, but his term was extended until a new head of state has been elected and validated by the Constitutional Court.

     

    BUDGET President Klaus Iohannis Monday signed into law the 2025 state budget and social security budget bills. These were endorsed last week by the joint chambers of Parliament. The budget is based on a 2.5% economic growth rate and a budget deficit of 7% of GDP. The finance minister Tanczos Barna stated in the joint parliament meeting that the 2025 state budget is ‘modest’ and is based on a prudent increase in revenues, ‘without exaggeration’. He also pointed out that the social security budget law provides ‘primarily for pension payments’.

     

    SUPERMARKETS PM Marcel Ciolacu said legislation should be introduced so that all products in major stores should have the same mark-ups. One day ahead of a boycott on supermarkets announced for today by the supporters of the former presidential candidate Călin Georgescu, PM Ciolacu presented in an online post the Romanian products he had bought. Roughly 800,000 Romanians work in the over 4,500 large stores in the country, and the taxes paid by such chains account for 13% of the revenues to the state budget. Moreover, according to data from the agriculture ministry, 70% of the products in retail stores in Romania are made in Romania. Early this month, customers in several Balkan countries joined a large-scale boycott on supermarkets, amid rising food prices. The protests that started in Croatia have spread to Bosnia, Montenegro and Serbia.

     

    ECONOMY An International Monetary Fund delegation concluded its discussions in Bucharest with the main institutions in charge of Romania’s monetary and fiscal policies. It was not an assessment mission, but only fact-finding one, and PM Marcel Ciolacu assured the IMF experts of the government’s determination to comply with the budget deficit target of 7% of the GDP and to implement the reforms undertaken in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. The IMF made public its latest forecasts regarding the Romanian economy last autumn, when it estimated a 7% deficit for the end of 2025, the same as predicted by the Government. However, the Fund’s estimates are more optimistic both as regards the economic growth rate and the inflation. In turn, World Bank officials welcomed the government’s reform plan and the attention paid to investments, noting that Romania is a strong and resilient partner.

     

    POLICE Romanian police are still searching for the attackers involved in Saturday’s violent incident in Urziceni (not far from Bucharest), in which 2 people were killed and 5 others wounded. On Sunday, police found several weapons buried in a courtyard in the town, including a hunting rifle, a pistol with non-lethal ammunition and a belt with 5 cartridges. According to initial reports, the conflict broke out between members of two clans, and the reason is said to be related to the relationship between two youngsters. Over 25 people were involved in the clash.

     

    KOSOVO Kosovo’s left-wing nationalist PM Albin Kurti claimed victory in Sunday’s parliamentary elections, saying he was optimistic about forming a new government. Unlike in the previous term, however, his party will not be able to form a parliamentary majority on its own. Kurti and other Kosovo party leaders have made it clear that they have no intention of working together, making it unclear how a ruling coalition could be formed in Pristina. (AMP)

  • February 7, 2025

    February 7, 2025

    GDP Romania has overcome Poland in terms of the GDP per capita against purchasing power says a survey conducted by experts with the Romanian Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest. According to the same sources, Romania is also ahead other economies in the region, such as Hungary, Croatia or Greece and the nominal GDP per capita has risen by 11% in the past five years, exceeding 80% of the EU average. We’ll be having more on this after the news

    WAGES According to the latest economic forecasts of the European Commission in Romania wages will moderately increase in 2025 and 2026. The European Commission has based its forecasts on the already significant increases in the minimum wages already made by the government in Bucharest, the lower inflation and the labour market relaxation, which is expected to reduce the unemployment rate. European Commission experts are expecting price hikes in energy and food to significantly decrease. The inflation rate is expected to drop down to the Central Bank’s target of 2.5% towards the end of 2026.

    THEFT The Dutch police have announced they have received hundreds of hints regarding the theft of the precious Romanian artefacts from the Drents Museum in Assen. Many of these are about the places where the suspects have been seen and their contacts. The police last week apprehended three suspects, two men and a woman who refused to say where the stolen objects are stashed. All the three suspects are still in police custody. Art detective, Arthur Brand says there is 50% risk the suspects have already melted the golden artefacts: an ancient helmet and three bracelets dating back to the old kingdom of Dacia, 25 hundred years ago, which had been loaned out by the National History Museum in Bucharest.

    VISIT The head of the US diplomacy, Marco Rubio, will be travelling to Israel and several Arab countries in mid-February, the US Department of State has announced. This would be Rubio’s first trip as a Secretary of State to the region after the US President, Donald Trump’s statement on resettling the Palestinians outside the Gaza Strip under US monitoring. Trump’s resettlement idea has prompted a series of accusations that he is planning ethnic cleansing and has drawn condemnation from the UN, human rights groups and Arab leaders. Rubio insists that Donald Trump proposed the reconstruction of the aforementioned territory, which at present offers improper dwelling conditions. According to AFP, Rubio will be participating in the Security Conference in Munich and is going on a Middle East tour, which will take him to Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia over February 13 and 18.

    IMF Romania’s Prime Minister, Marcel Ciolacu, is meeting an IMF team, whose four days trip to Bucharest ends today. The IMF experts are having talks with Central Bank officials, including governor Isarescu. The IMF delegation hasn’t called for strict financial measures, like tax hikes or other austerity measures, Finance Minister Tanczos Barna says. Barna met the new head of the IMF mission to Romania, Joong Shik Kang on Thursday. At present Romania doesn’t have an IMF funding agreement underway, but the institution is presently monitoring Romania’s economy, under Article Four, which provides for a mandatory monitoring exercise involving all member states. The consultations’ main purpose was financial and economic assessment at national level as well as recommendations concerning monetary, financial and economic policies with a view to achieving economic stability and development.

    (bill)

     

  • January 26, Newsflash Update

    January 26, Newsflash Update

    REACTION Romania’s Prime Minister, Marcel Ciolacu, on Sunday announced the setting up at the government level of a crisis cell for the effective coordination of the activities of recovering the four Romanian ancient artefacts stolen from the Drents Museum in Assen, the Netherlands. The aforementioned cell includes representatives of the Romanian police as well as from the Foreign, Interior and Culture Ministries. The Prime Minister says he held talks with Interior Minister, Catalin Predoiu, on the urgent dispatching of a forensic team, who will work together with the Dutch authorities on the case. The General Prosecutor’s Office says that a criminal file has been made ex officio on the burglary in Assen. All the stolen artefacts have been insured under the Romanian and international legislation according to exhibition staging procedures. In a news conference at the National History Museum in Bucharest, director Ernest Oberlander-Tarnoveanu says the artefacts stolen from the Dutch museum are being covered by a-35 million Euros insurance with a Dutch insurance company.

    (bill)

     

     

  • January 17, 2025 UPDATE

    January 17, 2025 UPDATE

    FAIR Romania will be participating in the world’s biggest fair of bioproducts, BioFach 2025, due in Nurnberg, Germany, over February 11 and 14, the Bio-Romania Association announced on Friday. Bio-Romania is supported by the government through the Romanian Agency of Investment and Foreign Trade. According to the aforementioned association, Romania has been participating in BioFach for the past 20 years. As early as 1990, BioFach became the main meeting point of producers from the world over, offering the participants numerous network opportunities and also being an idea hub for all the main players in the field organic production.

     

    PROTESTS Thousands of police officers and employees from defence, public order and national security institutions, as well as reserve officers from all over Romania took to the streets of Bucharest on Friday. They called on the government to review an order that significantly reduced their incomes. The act scraps overtime pay and payments for days worked on weekends or public holidays. The protesters argue that the income of operational police officers will be severely affected, with decreases ranging between 200 and 400 Euros. Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu pledged on Friday that the issue of overtime pay in the field of public order would be regulated by Parliament in early February.

     

    RUSSIA The Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs firmly condemns the Russian forces’ irresponsible attacks that violate all the norms of international law, and emphasizes that Russia’s illegal and unprovoked aggression against Ukraine generates risks for the entire region. The statement was made as the monitoring and surveillance systems of Romania’s Defence Ministry Friday morning noted violations of Romanian airspace, in Tulcea county, after Russian forces resumed their drone attacks on civilian targets and port infrastructure in Ukraine. ‘Respect for sovereignty, security and peace are obligations that the Russian Federation violates systematically and without provocation. The persistent aggressive actions, the illegal occupation of some of the neighboring territories and the illegal full-scale war that Russia has been waging for almost 3 years against a sovereign neighbor are a persistent and serious threat not only to Ukraine but to the entire Black Sea region and NATO’s eastern flank,’ the foreign ministry says. The Foreign Ministry and the Defence Ministry also mention that they have been informing NATO in real time about the situations caused by these attacks, and remain in permanent contact with it.

     

    FLU Flu vaccination remains the easiest, safest and most effective protection method against seasonal diseases, Romanian doctors reiterate amid increases in the number of respiratory infections. Specialists emphasize that as the percentage of the vaccinated population increased, flu viruses spread in communities decreases. A National Institute for Public Health report shows that the number of people diagnosed with respiratory infections has doubled, with almost 91,000 cases reported in the last week. There are almost 600 patients diagnosed with clinical flu and over 200 for whom lab tests have confirmed infection with the flu virus, most of them in Bucharest, Cluj, Braşov, Constanţa, Alba and Galaţi. Five more people have died from the flu, bringing the death toll since the beginning of the season up to 9.

     

    TENNIS The Romanian tennis players Gabriela Ruse and Jaqueline Cristian, in separate pairs, qualified for the second round of the women’s doubles event at the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, after winning their respective matches on Friday in Melbourne. Ruse and Ukraine’s Marta Kostiuk won against the Australians Destanee Aiuava and Maddison Inglis 6-4, 7-6 (7/2), and in the second round they will face strong opponents in Elise Mertens (Belgium) and Ellen Perez (Australia), seeded 6th. Jaqueline Cristian and her Italian partner Camilla Rosatello defeated Cristina Bucşa (Spain)/Iana Sizikova (Russia) 6-2, 6-7 (2/7), 6-4. Cristian and Rosatello will next face Leylah Fernandez (Canada) and Nadia Kicenok (Ukraine), seeded 16th. In another first-round match in the women’s doubles, Monica Niculescu and Sofia Kenin (US) were defeated by Miyu Kato (Japan)/Renata Zarazua (Mexico), 6-4, 6-4. In the men’s doubles, the Romanian-Argentine pair Victor Cornea/Mariano Navone was defeated in the second round by Germany’s Kevin Krawietz/Tim Puetz, 4-6, 6-1.

    (bill)

  • January 17, 2025

    January 17, 2025

     

    RUSSIA The Romanian ministry of foreign affairs firmly condemns the Russian forces’ irresponsible attacks that violate all the norms of international law, and emphasises that Russia’s illegal and unprovoked aggression against Ukraine generates risks for the entire region. The statement was made as the monitoring and surveillance systems of Romania’s defence ministry Friday morning noted violations of Romanian airspace, in Tulcea county, after Russian forces resumed their drone attacks on civilian targets and port infrastructure in Ukraine. ‘Respect for sovereignty, security and peace are obligations that the Russian Federation violates systematically and without provocation. The persistent aggressive actions, the illegal occupation of some of the neighboring territories and the illegal full-scale war that Russia has been waging for almost 3 years against a sovereign neighbor are a persistent and serious threat not only to Ukraine but to the entire Black Sea region and NATO’s eastern flank,’ the foreign ministry says. The foreign ministry and the defence ministry also mention that they have been informing NATO in real time about the situations caused by these attacks, and remain in permanent contact with it.

     

    PROTESTS Several thousand police officers and employees from defence, public order and national security institutions, as well as reserve officers from all over Romania take part in a protest in Bucharest today. They are unhappy with a government order that has significantly reduced their incomes. The act scraps overtime pay and payments for days worked on weekends or public holidays. The protesters argue that the income of operational police officers will be severely affected, with decreases ranging between EUR 200 and 2,000. The participants are marching towards the ministry of finance, the ministry of justice, the labour ministry, and the interior ministry, with the government headquarters as their final destination.

     

    ELECTIONS The first round of the presidential elections in Romania will take place on May 4, and the second round on May 18, the government has decided. Stricter rules have also been set for the election campaign, especially regulating online campaigns. Failure to comply with them may entail fines for major online platforms of up to 5% of their turnover. Romanians in the diaspora will still have 3 days to vote, but on the last day, that is, on Sunday, polling stations will close at 9:00 p.m. Romanian time, regardless of the local time zone. The new provisions have been criticised by several NGOs. The presidential election was cancelled at the end of last year by the Constitutional Court, on grounds that the election process had been flawed.

     

    FLU Flu vaccination remains the easiest, safest and most effective protection method against seasonal diseases, Romanian doctors reiterate amid increases in the number of respiratory infections. Specialists emphasise that as the percentage of the vaccinated population increased, flu viruses spread less in communities decreases. A National Institute for Public Health report shows that the number of people diagnosed with respiratory infections has doubled, with almost 91,000 cases reported in the last week. There are almost 600 patients diagnosed with clinical flu and over 200 for whom lab tests have confirmed infection with the flu virus, most of them in Bucharest, Cluj, Braşov, Constanţa, Alba and Galaţi. Five more people have died from the flu, bringing the death toll since the beginning of the season up to 9.

     

    MIDDLE EAST Israel and Hamas have officially signed a ceasefire and hostage release agreement in Gaza, after overcoming last-minute disputes. The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced that the Security Cabinet and the government are meeting later today to ratify the document. The US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said he expects the implementation of the agreement to begin on Sunday as planned, with the release of the first 3 Israeli hostages. At least one of the far-right Israeli ministers who oppose the agreement has resigned. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent in Israel, political life in Israel is shaping up to be troubled, with a great potential for surprises and even changes.

     

    TENNIS The Romanian tennis players Gabriela Ruse and Jaqueline Cristian, in separate pairs, qualified for the second round of the women’s doubles event at the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, after winning their respective matches on Friday in Melbourne. Ruse and Ukraine’s Marta Kostiuk won against the Australians Destanee Aiuava and Maddison Inglis 6-4, 7-6 (7/2), and in the second round they will face strong opponents in Elise Mertens (Belgium) and Ellen Perez (Australia), seeded 6th. Jaqueline Cristian and her Italian partner Camilla Rosatello defeated Cristina Bucşa (Spain) / Iana Sizikova (Russia) 6-2, 6-7 (2/7), 6-4. Cristian and Rosatello will next face Leylah Fernandez (Canada) and Nadia Kicenok (Ukraine), seeded 16th. In another first-round match in the women’s doubles, Monica Niculescu and Sofia Kenin (US) were defeated by Miyu Kato (Japan) / Renata Zarazua (Mexico), 6-4, 6-4. In the men’s doubles, the Romanian-Argentine pair Victor Cornea / Mariano Navone were defeated in the second round by Germany’s Kevin Krawietz / Tim Puetz, 4-6, 6-1. (AMP)

  • January 27, 2024

    January 27, 2024

    FINES The equivalent of 3.8 million Euros in fines was applied
    last year to major supermarket chains in Romania, by the National Authority for
    Consumer Protection (ANPC). According to the ANPC president, Horia
    Constantinescu, the biggest fines went to Lidl, Profi, Penny and Kaufland, while
    Selgros and Metro got the lowest. The Auchan supermarket chain ranks first in
    terms of the products banned. In another development, in 2023, the
    aforementioned institution registered over 200 thousand complaints. Most of
    them were solved but almost 16 thousand proved to be ungrounded.






    POLICE The Romanian police have today announced that last year they
    staged 187 operative actions, which led to the dismantling of 35 networks
    involved in human trafficking and brought to court 465 people facing sexual exploitation
    charges. According to the sources, human trafficking is a complex crime with a
    significant cross-border impact but half of the investigations carried out last
    year were focused on domestic human trafficking. The same methods of recruiting
    the victims and forcing them into sex slavery were noticed, such as promises of
    well-paid jobs, the well-known lover boy technique to win the victim’s trust
    and force them into prostitution, sharing the profit, abuse and emotional
    blackmail, seizing documents, threatening with reprisals against the victims
    and family members and others. The trafficker’s profile has also remained
    unchanged from the previous years. These are mostly Romanian citizens of both
    sexes with various ages, and some of them have criminal records.






    RUGBY The new headcoach of the Romanian national fifteen, French
    David Gerard, has announced a lineup of 32 players for the team’s debut game in
    Rugby Europe Championship 2024. According to the Romanian Rugby Federation,
    only 26 players will be going to Poland. Romania has been included in Group B
    together with Portugal, Belgium and Poland. The Romanians will be up against Poland
    in an away game on February 4; then they will have two game on their own turf
    against Belgium on February 10 and Portugal on February 17.






    HOLOCAUST January 27 is the International Holocaust Remembrance Day or
    the International Day in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust. On this day in
    1945, the largest Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated by
    the Soviet Army. The day was decided through a UN resolution in 2005 in order
    to commemorate the 6 million European Jews as well as the other millions of
    victims of other nationalities killed by the Nazi regime. In a message conveyed
    today, Romania’s Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu says the Holocaust wound in the
    Romanian collective mentality can be healed only through the honest assuming
    and promotion of the historic truth, needed remedies in a democratic and
    European country. The Prime Minister has underlined the importance of combating
    any form of holocaust denial adding that education is an essential way of
    progress and cultivation of tolerance.


    (bill)



  • January 1, 2024 UPDATE

    January 1, 2024 UPDATE

    SCHENGEN The EU Council voted unanimously in favour of Romania’s and
    Bulgaria’s gradual accession to the passport-free Schengen Area, after Austria, the last member country opposing
    the measure, lifted its veto. As of March 2024, air and maritime border checks
    with these 2 countries will be abolished, with Austria, Bulgaria and Romania committing
    to also agree on a deadline for ending land border checks.The decision also comprises measures to
    tighten border checks and fight illegal migration, so that Romania and
    Bulgaria will continue to receive substantial financial support and assistance
    from FRONTEX. The European Council president Charles Michel, the head of the
    European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the European Parliament Roberta
    Metsola and the EU Commissioner for home affairs Ylva Johansson are some of the
    EU leaders who have welcomed the decision.This
    is an important first step, Romania’s president said in his turn, and added
    that lifting land border checks as well remains a priority for Romania.


    AIRLINE The Otopeni Henri
    Coandă International Airport, the largest in Romania, has been prepared for
    Schengen operation ever since 2011. According to the airport spokesman Valentin
    Iordache, two-thirds of the airport passengers have flights to and from Schengen
    member states. Meanwhile, the Romanian state-owned airline TAROM resumed
    flights to and from Tel Aviv on January 1, after having suspended them in the
    wake of the October 7 attacks by the Palestinian terror group Hamas.


    PRICES The year 2024 begins with price
    rises for fuels and foodstuffs as well as for some services. For traditional,
    organic foodstuffs and for food products made in mountain regions, the VAT went
    up from 5% to 9%. Excises are also raised for tobacco, alcohol and soft drinks
    with high sugar content. Also, certain
    micro-enterprises will have to pay higher taxes on turnover, with tax increases
    also in place for banks, hotels and restaurants. Housing costs will also be higher, as the VAT in
    the real estate sector goes up from 5% to 9% for units worth up to EUR 120,000.
    Also as of January 1, meal and holiday vouchers are to be included in the total
    incomes for which health insurance contributions are paid. Analysts predict
    retail price increases will be substantial,
    and expect consumers to turn to cheaper products, while producers will lower
    the product weight in order to observe price caps.


    POLICE Close to 24,000 interior ministry staff are on duty
    during the 4-day New Year’s holiday, while road traffic is monitored by 360 radar
    speed guns and DUI check teams. Also, around 5,000 fire-fighters are on duty
    every day around the country, to provide emergency assistance if necessary. The
    border police also took steps to enhance border monitoring and to streamline
    vehicle and person transit at checkpoints. Meanwhile, the authorities announced
    having seized over 100 tonnes of fireworks kits and opening more than 500 criminal
    investigations in this respect, and have once again called on parents not to
    buy firecrackers for their children as such materials may be extremely dangerous.


    INVOICING Electronic invoicing is compulsory in Romania as of
    January 1 for all B2B transactions. The system entails benefits particularly in
    terms of curbing VAT frauds, the finance minister Marcel Boloş told a press
    conference. He also said that those who will not use the e-Invoicing system may
    receive sentences of 3 to 10 years in prison, if the new law on fighting
    economic and financial crime passes the Constitutional Court review. The
    authorities count on additional revenues of EUR 1 bln. Minister Boloş also said
    that in December the national tax authority’s directorate for large taxpayers
    secured a record-high total of EUR 3.2 bln in state budget revenues. On the
    other hand, the government extended a cap on the price of compulsory motor
    insurance policies, which will stay at the level in February 2023 until March 2024.
    The Cabinet also passed a bill making insurance compulsory for electric bikes
    and scooters as well. (AMP)

  • January 1, 2024

    January 1, 2024

    SCHENGEN The EU Council voted unanimously in favour of Romania’s and
    Bulgaria’s gradual accession to the passport-free Schengen Area, after Austria, the last member country opposing
    the measure, lifted its veto. As of March 2024, air and maritime border checks
    with these 2 countries will be abolished, with Austria, Bulgaria and Romania committing
    to also agree on a deadline for ending land border checks.The decision also comprises measures to
    tighten border checks and fighting illegal migration, so that Romania and
    Bulgaria will continue to receive substantial financial support and assistance
    from FRONTEX. The European Council president Charles Michel, the head of the
    European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the European Parliament Roberta
    Metsola and the EU Commissioner for home affairs Ylva Johansson are some of the
    EU leaders who have welcomed the decision.This
    is an important first step, Romania’s president said in his turn, and added
    that lifting land border checks as well remains a priority for Romania.


    PRICES The year 2024 begins with price
    rises for fuels and foodstuffs as well as for some services. For traditional,
    organic foodstuffs and for food products made in mountain regions, the VAT went
    up from 5% to 9%. Excises are also raised for tobacco, alcohol and soft drinks
    with high sugar content. Also, certain
    micro-enterprises will have to pay higher taxes on turnover, with tax increases
    also in place for banks, hotels and restaurants. Housing costs will also be higher, as the VAT in
    the real estate sector goes up from 5% to 9% for units worth up to EUR 120,000.
    Also as of January 1, meal and holiday vouchers are to be included in the total
    incomes for which health insurance contributions are paid. Analysts predict
    retail price increases will be substantial,
    and expect consumers to turn to cheaper products, while producers will lower the
    product weight in order to observe price caps.


    POLICE Close to 24,000 interior ministry staff are on duty
    during the 4-day New Year’s holiday, while road traffic is monitored by 360 radar
    speed guns and DUI check teams. Also, around 5,000 fire-fighters are on duty
    every day around the country, to provide emergency assistance if necessary. The
    border police also took steps to enhance border monitoring and to streamline
    vehicle and person transit at checkpoints. Meanwhile, the authorities announced
    having seized over 100 tonnes of fireworks kits and opening more than 500 criminal
    investigations in this respect, and have once again called on parents not to
    buy firecrackers for their children as such materials may be extremely
    dangerous.


    INVOICING Electronic invoicing is compulsory in Romania as of
    January 1 for all B2B transactions. The system entails benefits particularly in
    terms of curbing VAT frauds, the finance minister Marcel Boloş told a press
    conference. He also said that those who will not use the e-Invoicing system may
    receive sentences of 3 to 10 years in prison, if the new law on fighting
    economic and financial crime passes the Constitutional Court review. The
    authorities count on additional revenues of EUR 1 bln. Minister Boloş also said
    that in December the national tax authority’s directorate for large taxpayers
    secured a record-high total of EUR 3.2 bln in state budget revenues. On the
    other hand, the government extended a cap on the price of compulsory motor
    insurance policies, which will stay at the level in February 2023 until March
    next year. The Cabinet also passed a bill making insurance compulsory for
    electric bikes and scooters as well. (AMP)

  • December 31, 2023 UPDATE

    December 31, 2023 UPDATE

    SCHENGEN The EU member countries on
    Saturday night unanimously endorsed the gradual accession of Romania and
    Bulgaria to Europe’s passport-free area Schengen, after Austria, the last EU-27
    country opposing the decision, had lifted its veto. Starting March 2024 controls
    at the interior air and sea borders with these two countries will be lifted,
    Austria, Bulgaria and Romania pledging to convene later over a date on also lifting
    controls at land borders, the Spanish presidency of the EU Council has
    announced. The decision also stipulates a series of measures on strengthening
    border control and fighting illegal migration so that Romania and Bulgaria will
    continue to get significant financial support as well as FRONTEX assistance.
    Among the European leaders to first hail the two countries’ partial accession
    to Schengen is the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, of the
    European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the European Parliament,
    Roberta Metsola and the European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson. The
    EU Council’s decision is a first major step, Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis
    has said. Romania’s key objective remains that of applying the Schengen aquis
    by eliminating controls at the land borders. The Council’s decision has also
    been hailed by the government and by Romania’s Foreign and Interior Ministers.
    The country’s Social Democratic Prime Minister, Marcel Ciolacu, has underlined
    that this government has kicked off an irreversible process adding that the
    efforts to completely close this chapter will continue the next year. In turn,
    the president of the Senate, Liberal Nicolae Ciuca said that Romania’s
    accession to Schengen is a fulfilled promise.




    HIKES The new year kicks off with
    higher prices in food products and fuel but also in a series of services. The
    VAT for traditional and organic food that is produced at altitudes over 1,000
    meters will rise from 5% to 9%. Excises for tobacco, alcohol and sweet drinks
    will also rise while some small enterprises will be paying higher taxes as well
    as banks, hotels and restaurants. Excises for fuel will be also on the rise in
    2024 and so will real estate, whose VAT rises from 5% to 9% for units with a
    value over 120 thousand euros. Analysts believe the effects of the latest price
    hikes will be higher on the market, and consumers are expected to buy cheaper
    products, whereas producers will have to trim output in an attempt to cap
    prices.




    POLICE Roughly 24 thousand employees of the Romanian Interior
    Ministry will be on duty during the New Year mini-holiday. Traffic police units
    are monitoring the motorways with 360 radars and have set up checkpoints in an
    attempt to discover drunk and drugged drivers. 5000 firefighters and paramedics
    are ready to intervene in any emergency situations that might occur. Border
    police have also implemented a series of measures aimed at easing the traffic
    of people and vehicles at the border checkpoints. In an attempt to protect
    citizens, the policemen from the units specialized in Guns, Explosives and
    Dangerous Substances, jointly with their colleagues from other structures have
    stepped up their actions of preventing and fighting the illegal trade with
    pyrotechnic devices. Authorities have seized over 100 tons of pyrotechnic
    materials have opened 500 criminal cases and have renewed their appeal to
    parents to avoid the purchase of fire crackers, which could be extremely
    dangerous.


    TAROM Romania’s air carrier, TAROM, will resume its flights to Tel Aviv
    starting January 1 2024. According to company sources, Tarom continues to
    monitor the security situation in Israel and keeps in touch with the local and
    international authorities with a view to resuming its biweekly flights to that
    country. The flights will be adjusted according to the security situation in that
    Middle East country and be visible in the flight-booking schedule.

    (bill)

  • December 30, 2023 UPDATE

    December 30, 2023 UPDATE


    INVOICING Electronic invoicing will become compulsory in Romania as of January 1 for all B2B transactions. The system entails benefits particularly in terms of curbing VAT frauds, the finance minister Marcel Boloş told a press conference. He also said that those who will not use the e-Invoicing system may receive penalties of 3 to 10 years in prison, if the new law on fighting economic and financial crime passes the Constitutional Court review. The authorities count on additional revenues of EUR 1 bln. Minister Boloş also said that in December the national tax authoritys directorate for large taxpayers secured a record-high total of EUR 3.2 bln in state budget revenues. In fact, this month was also exceptional in terms of revenues from EU funding, which exceeded EUR 2.6 bln.



    INSURANCE The government extended a cap on the price of compulsory motor insurance policies, which will stay at the level in February 2023 until March next year. The cap will stay in place for as long as it is necessary for market regulation, but in 3-month stages, the government spokesman Mihai Constantin announced. The Cabinet also passed a bill making insurance compulsory for electric bikes and scooters, but exempting electrically powered wheelchairs used by people with disabilities from compulsory insurance.



    POLICE Close to 24,000 interior ministry staff will be on duty during the 4-day New Years holiday, while road traffic will be monitored by 360 radar speed guns and DUI check teams. Also, around 5,000 fire-fighters are on duty every day around the country, to provide emergency assistance if necessary. The border police also took steps to enhance border monitoring and to streamline vehicle and person transit at checkpoints. Meanwhile, the authorities announced having seized over 100 tonnes of fireworks kits and opening more than 500 criminal investigations in this respect, and have once again called on parents not to buy firecrackers for their children as such materials may be extremely dangerous.



    POLL The activities carried out part of the Timişoara – European Capital of Culture 2023 programme, including the Constantin Brâncuşi exhibition, received the most votes (29%) to be designated the event of the year 2023 in Romania, in a survey carried out by the Romanian Institute for Evaluation and Strategy (IRES). According to the poll, the second event that marked Romania in 2023 was the qualification of the national football team to the final tournament of the European Championship – UEFA EURO 2024, which will take place next summer in Germany (24% of responses). Regarding culture and free time, 58% of the survey respondents said that they read at least one book in 2023, and 41% that they also bought books, 36% went to a show, and 20% went to a stadium or attended a sports competition. More than three quarters of the survey participants (76%) stated that they went to church this year.



    UKRAINE Fridays massive Russian strikes on Ukraine, which killed at least 30 people and wounded over 160 others, are “appalling assaults” the UN deputy secretary general Mohamed Khiari said in a Security Council meeting in New York. Ukraines president Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the situation as the largest Russian air attack since the start of the war, with close to 160 missiles and drones hitting a maternity ward, educational facilities, and other industrial, military and civilian targets. NATO member Poland also reported the violation of the Polish airspace by a Russian missile. The strikes triggered large-scale international condemnation, with the US president Joe Biden calling on Congress to take immediate steps to send fresh aid to Kyiv. Meanwhile, Russias ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya blamed the toll on the misuse of Ukraines air defence systems, “the use of which has led to the deaths of civilians.” (AMP)


  • December 30, 2023

    December 30, 2023


    AUTONOMY Romanias Senate Friday dismissed 3 bills tabled by the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romaniaregarding the autonomy of the Szeklers Land, a region in the centre of the country. At the plenary talks, the MPs from all the other parties stressed that the bills came against several articles in the Constitution and harmed the rule of law, while the initiators argued the opposite, saying that territorial autonomy did not entail changes in the national borders, but was a right which worked in a number European states. The bills provided for the “Covasna and Harghita counties and a part of Mureş county becoming autonomous, as part of a region with legal personality.” In that presumed autonomous entity, the Hungarian language would have had the same status as the official language of the Romanian state. The land would also have its own president. The so-called Szeklers Land, the only area in Romania where the Hungarian population is the majority, was autonomous between 1952 and 1968. According to historians, this was an experiment imposed in Soviet-occupied Romania by the dictator Joseph Stalin, at the insistence of the communist leaders in Budapest. The ethnic Hungarian population in Romania has been represented, without interruption, in the Parliament of post-communist Romania, by the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians. Since 1996, the UDMR has been part of numerous coalition governments in Bucharest, whether right-wing or left-wing.



    INSURANCE The government extended a cap on the price of compulsory motor insurance policies, which will stay at the level in February 2023 until March next year. The cap will stay in place for as long as it is necessary for market regulation, but in 3-month stages, the government spokesman Mihai Constantin announced. The Cabinet also passed a bill making insurance compulsory for electric bikes and scooters, but exempting electrically powered wheelchairs used by people with disabilities from compulsory insurance.



    POLICE Close to 24,000 interior ministry staff will be on duty during the 4-day New Years holiday, while road traffic will be monitored by 360 radar speed guns and DUI check teams. Also, around 5,000 fire-fighters are on duty every day around the country, to provide emergency assistance if necessary. The border police also took steps to enhance border monitoring and to streamline vehicle and person transit at checkpoints. Meanwhile, the authorities announced having seized over 100 tonnes of fireworks kits and opening more than 500 criminal investigations in this respect, and have once again called on parents not to buy firecrackers for their children as such materials may be extremely dangerous.



    POLL The activities carried out part of the Timişoara – European Capital of Culture 2023 programme, including the Constantin Brâncuşi exhibition, received the most votes (29%) to be designated the event of the year 2023 in Romania, in a survey carried out by the Romanian Institute for Evaluation and Strategy (IRES). According to the poll, the second event that marked Romania in 2023 was the qualification of the national football team to the final tournament of the European Championship – UEFA EURO 2024, which will take place next summer in Germany (24% of responses). Regarding culture and free time, 58% of the survey respondents said that they read at least one book in 2023, and 41% that they also bought books, 36% went to a show, and 20% went to a stadium or attended a sports competition. More than three quarters of the survey participants (76%) stated that they went to church this year.



    UKRAINE Fridays massive Russian strikes on Ukraine, which killed at least 30 people and wounded over 160 others, are “appalling assaults” the UN deputy secretary general Mohamed Khiari said in a Security Council meeting in New York. Ukraines president Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the situation as the largest Russian air attack since the start of the war, with close to 160 missiles and drones hitting a maternity ward, educational facilities, and other industrial, military and civilian targets. NATO member Poland also reported the violation of the Polish airspace by a Russian missile. The strikes triggered large-scale international condemnation, with the US president Joe Biden calling on Congress to take immediate steps to send fresh aid to Kyiv. Meanwhile, Russias ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya blamed the toll on the misuse of Ukraines air defence systems, “the use of which has led to the deaths of civilians.” (AMP)


  • December 29, 2023 UPDATE

    December 29, 2023 UPDATE

    BUDGET President
    Klaus Iohannis Friday promulgated the state budget law and the social security budget
    law for the year 2024. Next year, Romania’s budget will be focused on
    investments of about 7% of the GDP, as well as on an economic growth rate of
    3.4%, while the budget deficit is estimated at 5% of the GDP. The government
    passed the bills on December 15, and the budgets were endorsed five days later
    by the joined chambers of the Romanian Parliament.


    PARLIAMENT Romania’s Senate Friday dismissed 3 bills
    tabled by the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania regarding the autonomy of the Szeklers Land, a
    region in the centre of the country. The
    initiatives were rejected by the Chamber of Deputies on Thursday. At the
    plenary talks, the MPs from all the other parties stressed that the bills came against
    several articles in the Constitution and harmed the rule of law, while the
    initiators argued the opposite, saying that territorial autonomy worked in a
    number European states. The bills provided for the Covasna and Harghita
    counties and a part of Mureş county becoming autonomous, as part of a region
    with legal personality. In that presumed autonomous entity, the Hungarian
    language would have had the same status as the official language of the
    Romanian state. The land would also have its own president, elected for a
    four-year term by universal ballot. The so-called Szeklers Land, the only area
    in Romania where the Hungarian population is the majority, benefited from
    autonomy between 1952 and 1968. According to historians, this was an experiment
    in Soviet-occupied Romania imposed on Bucharest by the Kremlin dictator Joseph
    Stalin, at the insistence of the communist leaders in Budapest. The ethnic
    Hungarian population in Romania has been represented, without interruption, in
    the Parliament of post-communist Romania since 1990 until today, by the
    Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians. Since 1996, the UDMR has been part of
    numerous coalition governments in Bucharest, whether right-wing or left-wing.


    EDUCATION The Romanian government Friday passed the 2024 – 2027
    National Strategy on Adult Education, aimed at enhancing citizen participation
    in life-long learning programmes and at improving the quality of adult
    education and training. The targeted participation rate by the end of 2027 is
    12%, as against 5.9% at present. The EU average life-long learning
    participation rate is 11.9%. The low level of participation in lifelong
    learning schemes has led to persisting lack of skills, which prevents economic
    development and hinders Romania’s adjustment to a fast-changing labour market
    in the digital era, the government said in a news release.


    TIMIŞOARA The activities carried out part of the ‘Timişoara – European Capital
    of Culture 2023’ programme, including the Constantin Brâncuşi exhibition,
    received the most votes (29%) to receive the title of ‘event of the year 2023
    in Romania’, in a survey carried out by the Romanian Institute for Evaluation
    and Strategy (IRES). According to the poll, the second event that marked
    Romania in 2023 was the qualification of the national football team to the
    final tournament of the European Championship – UEFA EURO 2024, which will take
    place next summer in Germany (24% of responses). Regarding culture and free
    time, 58% of the survey respondents said that they read at least one book in
    2023, and 41% that they also bought books, 36% went to a show, and 20% went to
    a stadium or attended a sports competition. More than three quarters of the
    survey participants (76%) stated that they went to church this year.


    POLICE Close to 24,000 interior ministry staff will be on
    duty during the 4-day New Year’s holiday, while road traffic will be monitored
    by 360 radar speed guns and DUI check teams. Meanwhile, the authorities announced
    having seized over 100 tonnes of fireworks kits and opening more than 500 criminal
    investigations in this respect, and have once again called on parents not to
    buy firecrackers for their children as such materials may be extremely
    dangerous.

    HANDBALL The men’s national handball team of Romania Friday won the
    Carpaţi Trophy international handball tournament, organised in Pitesti,
    southern Romania, after defeating Georgia 31-25 in the final. For Romania, trained by the famous Spanish
    coach Xavi Pascual, this was the last test before the European Championship -
    EHF EURO 2024 to be held in Germany, between January 10 and 28, 2024. The
    Romanians will play in Group B, alongside Spain, Austria and Croatia. The first
    two ranked teams will qualify for the so-called main groups. A 4-times world
    champion in the 1960s-70s, Romania had not qualified for a European
    Championship since 1996. (AMP)

  • La semaine du 28 août au 3 septembre 2023

    La semaine du 28 août au 3 septembre 2023

    Une nouvelle tragédie roumaine


    La commune de
    Crevedia, près de la capitale roumaine, se trouve depuis une semaine sur la
    carte des tragédies nationales que l’on aurait pu éviter. Les explosions
    dévastatrices produites à une station de gaz liquéfié ont fait des morts et des
    dizaines de blessés, des pompiers pour la plupart. Même si les circonstances
    diffèrent, la catastrophe nous fait penser à l’affaire Colectiv, quand plus de
    60 jeunes sont morts dans l’incendie déclaré dans une boîte de nuit de
    Bucarest. Dans les deux situations, les enquêtes confirment des abus et des
    irrégularités ayant conduit au désastre. La station de GPL continuait à
    fonctionner, même si le certificat de fonctionnement lui avait été retiré en
    2020. Quatre enquêtes ont été déclenchées: l’une du Parquet général qui porte sur
    la cause des explosions, une deuxième du Parquet militaire qui vise
    l’intervention des pompiers et deux autres de la Direction générale de lutte
    contre la corruption qui examine de potentiels abus de fonction des
    fonctionnaires publiques. Suite aux deux déflagrations, les autorités roumaines
    se sont mobilisées et des contrôles sont en cours dans les stations-service à
    travers la Roumanie. Parallèlement, la presse a appris que l’un des
    actionnaires de la société qui détenait la station GPL de Crevedia est le fils
    d’un maire du Parti Social-Démocrate d’un autre département, qui finançait avec
    générosité le parti. D’ailleurs, en dix ans de fonctionnement, le chiffre
    d’affaires de la société en question a 500 fois augmenté.






    Le remaniement de la Police roumaine


    Les chefs de la
    Police de Constanţa, dans le sud-est de la Roumanie, ont démissionné après
    qu’un chauffeur de 19 ans, drogué, a perdu le contrôle du volant, tuant deux
    personnes et blessant trois autres. Les commissaires de police ont déposé leur
    lettre de démission au moment où le ministre des Affaires Intérieures, Cătălin
    Predoiu, a présenté les conclusions du rapport mené par le Corps de contrôle
    dans le cas de l’accident. Le responsable roumain s’est engagé à réorganiser
    toutes les structures de la Police à commencer par l’Inspection de la Police de
    Constanţa qui depuis quelques années, perd constamment la lutte contre la
    criminalité. Rappelons-le, un soir, un jeune de 19 ans drogué a tué deux jeunes
    et blessé trois autres dans la commune de 2 Mai, au bord de la mer Noire. Trois
    heures avant cet accident, un équipage de police alerté par un coup de fil avait
    arrêté le chauffeur de 19 ans et l’a soumis à un test d’alcoolémie dont le
    résultat fut négatif. Les policiers ont décidé de relâcher le jeune. Le
    ministre Predoiu a annoncé que plusieurs officiers impliqués dans le cas du
    chauffeur drogué sont actuellement enquêtés pour négligence professionnelle. Le
    ministre prévoit des modifications de la législation routière, une
    militarisation des institutions d’enseignement auprès du Ministère des Affaires
    intérieures et une réforme de l’Agence nationale de lutte contre la drogue, en
    rapport avec une hausse de la consommation de substances illicites en Roumanie.
    Dans ce contexte, la ministre de la Justice, Alina Gorghiu, a déclaré que la
    lutte contre les stupéfiants nécessitait un effort commun. Or, le nombre de
    procureurs en charge de tels dossiers est très réduit. Depuis le début de
    l’année, les 14 procureurs anti-drogue de Roumanie ont solutionné presque 4 700
    dossiers relatifs aux substances illicites.


    La réunion annuelle de la diplomatie
    roumaine


    Organisée
    traditionnellement à l’approche de la Journée de la Diplomatie, célébrée le 1er
    septembre, la réunion de la Diplomatie Roumanie de cette année a eu pour
    thématique la gestion des défis dans la zone de la mer Noire et la maximisation
    des opportunités. La Roumanie continuera à appuyer l’Ukraine tant que cela sera
    nécessaire et restera aux côtés de la République de Moldova en lui accordant de
    l’assistance financière, de l’expertise et du soutien politique en vue d’un
    parcours européen irréversible et de la construction d’un Etat sûr et prospère
    – a assuré le président roumain Klaus Iohannis devant les chefs des missions
    diplomatiques, ceux des bureaux consulaires et des directeurs des Instituts culturels
    roumains. Par ailleurs, c’est toujours un devoir de la Roumanie de rester un
    fournisseur authentique de sécurité et de prospérité dans la région, de sorte
    que la mer Noire devienne une région où la paix et la prospérité ne sont plus
    menacées – a encore souligné le président roumain. Objectif pas encore accompli
    dans le processus d’intégration totale dans l’Union européenne, l’adhésion de
    la Roumanie à l’espace Schengen reste une priorité pour la période à venir, a
    assuré le président roumain Klaus Iohannis. Par ailleurs, aux dires de la ministre
    roumaine des AE, Luminiţa Odobescu, la Réunion annuelle de la diplomatie
    roumaine est une occasion de mettre à jour les priorités dans un contexte
    dominé par la guerre d’agression menée par la Fédération de Russie en Ukraine,
    une menace sans précédent à l’adresse de la paix, de la sécurité et de l’ordre
    international fondé sur des règles. La ministre a aussi déclaré que les
    démarches censées renforcer l’image de la Roumanie au sein de l’UE, de l’OTAN
    et au niveau international seraient intensifiées.


    Le Festival international de musique
    classique « George Enescu » – à la 26e édition


    Jusqu’au 24
    septembre, Bucarest est la capitale musicale du Vieux continent. 3 500 artistes
    invités se succéderont sur la scène du Festival international de musique
    classique « George Enescu » qui réunira à l’affiche 90 concerts. Arrivé
    à sa 26e édition, il se déroule sous le slogan « La générosité
    à travers la musique ». L’édition de 2023 a un nouveau directeur
    artistique, le maître chef d’orchestre Cristian Măcelaru, qui dirige
    l’Orchestre national de France. En ouverture du festival celui-ci a
    dédié la Rhapsodie no. 2 du compositeur roumain George Enescu ; à tous
    ceux qui ont besoin de réconfort spirituel suite à la tragédie de Crevedia (à
    savoir les explosions et l’incendie produits à une station de gaz liquéfié du
    sud du pays qui ont fait de nombreux blessés). Parmi les orchestres importants
    qui participent à l’édition de cette année notons l’orchestre de la Philharmonie
    de Vienne, l’Orchestre Royal du Concertgebouw d’Amsterdam, l’Orchestre National
    de France, l’Orchestre de la Tonhalle de Zurich, l’orchestre symphonique de Londres
    et l’Orchestre de la Philharmonie tchèque. Des chefs d’orchestre de premier
    rang monteront sur la scène du festival, dont Cristian Măcelaru, Zubin Mehta,
    Sir Simon Rattle, Wilson Hermanto, Paavo Järvi, Delyana Lazarova, Lawrence
    Foster, Vladimir Jurowski. Parmi les 6 ensembles musicaux de Radio Roumanie,
    quatre ont été invités sur la scène du Festival. Il s’agit de l’Orchestre National
    de la Radio publique roumaine, l’Orchestre de Chambre de Radio Roumanie, la
    Chorale Académique de Radio Roumanie et la Chorale d’enfants de Radio Roumanie.

  • August 29, 2023 UPDATE

    August 29, 2023 UPDATE

    DIPLOMACY Romanian
    president Klaus Iohannis says that Romania wants to see an increased American
    presence in the region at all levels, military, economic, political as well as in
    the field of energy. The Romanian official delivered a speech on Tuesday at the
    meeting, which brought together heads of diplomatic missions, consulates and
    directors of Romania’s cultural institutions. The development and deepening of
    our Strategic Partnership with the United States represents a pillar whose
    relevance has been reconfirmed and consolidated. We are profoundly committed to
    maintaining and strengthening the transatlantic relationship, the president
    went on to say adding that Romania’s accession to Europe’s border-free area, Schengen,
    remains a priority for the coming period. Bucharest is these days hosting the
    Annual Meeting of the Romanian Diplomacy, under the suggestive motto ‘A firm
    foreign policy of Romania’s: managing challenges and making the most of opportunities’.
    The special guests of Romania’s Foreign Minister,
    Luminita Odobescu, are her counterparts from Chile, Alberto van Klaveren Stork
    and Lithuania, Gabrielius Landsbergis. Against the background of Russia’s war
    of aggression in Ukraine, the event is focusing on the need for stepping up
    diplomatic dialogue and social-economic efforts with a view to strengthening
    the security architecture and the rule-based international order.






    POLICE The
    Romanian Minister of the Interior, Cătălin Predoiu, has announced that the new
    interim head of the Constanţa Police Inspectorate (IPJ) is Chief Commissioner
    Mădălina Sorina Vlangăr. She has replaced Chief Constantin Glugă, who announced
    his resignation following the investigation into the accident on May 2, in
    which a 19-year-old drugged driver killed two young people and injured another
    three. According to the minister, the entire organizational structure at IPJ
    Constanta will be rethought and adapted to the extent of the criminal
    phenomenon specific to this county and a new transitional managerial team will
    ensure the operation of the system until the new organization comes into
    operation. The control body of the Minister of the Interior proposes the
    initiation of a preliminary investigation of the head of the Constanta County
    Police Inspectorate, as well as of other officers involved in the faulty
    management of the May 2 case. Cătălin Predoiu has announced that IPJ Constanţa
    will be completely reorganized, and that is where the reformation of the entire
    Romanian police apparatus will start.






    TALKS The
    Romanian ministers of Finance, Labour and European Funds held talks in Brussels
    with the technical teams of the European Commission on issues related to the
    National Plan of Recovery and Resilience and the future law of special
    pensions. The Romanian authorities want to convince Brussels to accept a budget
    deficit of up to 5.5% instead of the previously assumed 4.4%. The one percent
    difference, the ministers say, comes from unplanned additional expenses owing
    to the war in Ukraine. Romania has spent 0.5% more from the GDP on defence-related
    issues and has incurred losses because of the imports of cheap Ukrainian grain.
    Radio Romania’s correspondent in Brussels recalls that Romania is the only
    country with an infringement procedure opened against it on budget deficit,
    which has been suspended due to the crisis.






    F-16 Romania’s Minister
    of Defence, Angel Tilvar, on Tuesday signed the letter of intent with the
    Netherlands and the US company Lockheed Martin on setting up the F-16 training
    center for Ukrainian pilots in Romania. According to the Romanian Defence
    Ministry, the Dutch Royal Forces will deploy several F-16 jet fighters to the
    86 Airbase in Romania while Lockheed Martin, which produces this aircraft, will
    ensure the technical support consisting of flight instructors and engineers. By
    setting up this centre, Romania joins the other NATO allies in the process of training
    the Ukrainian pilots allowing them to use these planes in the future. Minister Tilvar
    is presently in Toledo, Spain, to attend the informal meeting of the EU defence
    ministers.


    (bill)

  • Changes in the Romanian Police

    Changes in the Romanian Police

    The Romanian Police will be reorganized. The announcement was made by the Interior Minister Cătălin Predoiu on the occasion of the presentation of the conclusions of the Inspection Body in the case of the tragedy in the seaside resort of 2 Mai, where a 19-year-old drugged driver killed two young people and injured three others who were walking on the side of the road. He had been stopped in traffic by the police about three hours before the road accident and taken to the police station where, after having been tested for alcohol and the result came out negative, he was allowed to go. In this context, Cătălin Predoiu stated that the change will start from the Constanța Police Inspectorate, where the battle with crime “has been lost” in recent years. In this context, he announced that a preliminary investigation was ordered for negligence in the case of several officers involved in the mishandling of the 2 Mai case. Among those targeted is also the head of the County Police, Adrian Glugă, who has actually requested his release from office. The minister promises a complete resetting of the entire law enforcement apparatus within the structures of the Interior Ministry and of the structure of the Ministry per se.



    “We will start this resetting not through strategies and theories, but through concrete measures applied on the ground, from the street, where the citizen must be protected. We will start from Constanţa county and gradually expand it throughout the country. Constanţa County, alongside Bucharest, is one of the most difficult communities from the point of view of law enforcement and the challenges posed by the crime phenomenon, minister Cătălin Predoiu emphasized. At the same time, the minister wants more changes to the road traffic legislation, saying that he intends to militarize all the educational institutions of the Interior Ministry and that he will rethink the National Anti-Drug Agency, in relation to the evolution of consumption in Romania. In this sense, Cătălin Predoiu promises to co-opt the best specialists. Thus, the Police Academy and the school for police officers of the Romanian Police, the Border Police, the Gendarmerie, the centers for the training and application of the status of military personnel at the level of all these educational institutions will be reorganized.



    In this context, the Justice Minister Alina Gorghiu said that the fight against the drug phenomenon requires a joint effort and added that the number of prosecutors currently dealing with drug cases is very small. She also referred to the tightening of punishments for those who get behind the wheel after consuming alcohol or drugs, and to the part of education related to the prevention of drug consumption. According to the Justice Minister, almost 4,700 drug-related cases were resolved this year in Romania, although only 14 prosecutors are active in the section for combating drug trafficking in the central structure of DIICOT — the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism. Currently, they are working on 7,000 drug-related cases, of which 2,700 were opened in the first six months of the year. (LS)