Radio România Internațional

Tag: Popescu

February 6, 2023

TEAM Romanian president Klaus Iohannis
has conveyed condolences on Romania’s behalf to Turkey, after the earthquake,
which has recently hit that country and Syria. Romania is solidary with those
affected by the tragedy, the Romanian president wrote on Twitter. The government
of Romania decided to dispatch a specialized intervention team to Turkey, a
country seriously affected by the powerful earthquake last night. The support
comes after the international assistance request Turkey launched via the EU
Civil Protection Mechanism. In another development, the Foreign Ministry
informs that Romania’s embassy in Ankara has been contacted by a group of 10
Romanian citizens – a professor and 9 Erasmus students – who were in a town
affected by the earthquake. The 10 announced they are all right and requested
consular assistance for repatriation. A 7.8 earthquake rocked Turkey and Syria last
night killing hundreds and wounding thousands. The earthquake had the epicenter
close to the Turkish city of Gaziantep, close to the Syrian border wreaking
havoc on an infrastructure already affected by the war.

ENERGY
The Minister of Energy in
Romania, Virgil Popescu, says the country has no problems regarding its natural
gas supplies during the present winter season as it has enough quantities in
store. At present we have 780 million cubic meters more than last winter -
Popescu said. The Minister held talks with all the big importers of oil
products in Romania who had diversified their sources in an attempt to avoid any
shortages. Minister Popescu recalled that next winter, Romania is going to rely
on no less than a billion cubic meters of gas from Azerbaijan, under a
contract signed a couple of days ago.

DEBATES Romanian MPs are today debating
upon the simple motion tabled by the opposition USR and the Force of the Right
against the Liberal Interior Minister, Lucian Bode amid the forgery allegations
he is presently facing. The signatories of a document entitled ‘Romania
deserves better than thieves in public positions’, say the purpose of their
move is to draw attention to the unacceptable long period of time spent in a
public position by a man who deserves neither his academic title nor the
respect of the Romania’s honest workers. The USR and the Force of the Right are
blaming the minister for the humiliating failure Romania experienced in its
attempt to join Europe’s border-free area, Schengen, as well as for the rigged public
tenders for the purchase of cars by the clients of government structures. The
motion will be voted upon on Wednesday.

PROTESTS The Sanitas Trade
Federation in Romania on Monday announced fresh protest rallies in Bucharest, aimed
at denouncing the low salaries in this field of activity. Trade unionists are
calling for a 15% pay rise and for a series of debates on the salary law and the
proper funding of medical institutions. The protesters are going to gather in
front of the government and start a march through the capital city, which will
symbolically include several big hospitals in Bucharest.

(bill)

6 February 2023
Energy prices trigger more discontent

After they have been
advised to save energy in order to pay lower bills, many Romanians have recently
learnt that something doesn’t actually add up. And that’s because the capping
decided by the government through its latest Emergency Ordinance is not based
on the last month’s consumption but on the average monthly consumption they had
last year.

Things are very
clear on paper: for 100 kilowatts one must pay 0.68 RON. Between 101 and 255
kilowatts, the price is 0.80 RON and consumptions over 255 kilowatts will be charged
heavily under the contracts consumers have signed with energy providers. So, in
order to see if they can benefit the latest measures on capped electricity prices,
the Romanians must check the bills they paid last year and assess their average
consumption on the year that passed.

But because no one
publicly explained how calculations are made, some people have had the
unpleasant surprise of receiving huge electricity bills without understanding
why. According to data published by the National Authority for Energy
Regulations (ANRE), Romania has so far had 4.9 million households in the 100
kilowatts bracket. A little over 3.5 million households are in the second
category while between 100 and 200 thousand households do not benefit any
capping regulations.

Recently submitted
to Parliament, the new capping scheme stipulated by the Emergency Ordinance is
expected to get some new amendments.

Both the ruling and
opposition parties have come up with a series of amendments to the law. For
instance, the co-ruling PSD and opposition USR have been pleading for changing
the way in which the consumption is charged, so that it may not be based on the
last year’s average consumption, but strictly on the consumption they
registered this year. However, ANRE says this solution is difficult to implement
technically and the agency endorses the older method based on the past
consumption.

The co-ruling PNL comes
up with a method based on the average consumption of the last three years. Amid
public discontent triggered by the huge energy bills, Energy Minister Virgil
Popescu has this week called on ANRE to do their job and closely monitor the
energy market while the Consumer Protection Office has been asked to sanction
the providers failing to comply with the regulations. ANRE has already kicked
off a series of unexpected controls at six energy distributors and in turn, the
National Authority for Consumer Protection has started controls at electricity
providers across the country in order to see how electricity bills are being
calculated.

(bill)

22 September 2022
August 22, 2022

CONTRACT A major funding
contract for the railway network part of the Romania’s National Recovery and
Resilience Plan (PNRR), a project of roughly 1.75 billion euros has been
signed. The contract provides for streamlining the Caransebes-Timisoara-Arad
railway with a total length of 162 kilometers. According to Transport Minister
Sorin Grindeanu this is a major step towards the modernization of the railway
network in western Romania, which is part of the European transport corridor
Orient/East Mediterranean. PNRR funds are going to be used to double and
streamline the aforementioned railway in order to allow trains to run at 160
kilometers per hour. The project also provides for the modernization and
building of railway stations in certain urban areas, building pedestrian
walkways and adjusting platforms to European standards.

TALKS Romanian Prime
Minister, Nicolae Ciuca, Energy Minister, Virgil Popescu, and representatives
of the National Energy Regulatory Authority have convened to assess further support
schemes for the population against the background of the latest electricity
price hikes. These are to be applied after March 31st, until when
household and non-household consumers are benefitting from subsidized gas and
electricity depending on their consumption. The government wants to invest in
new energy infrastructure projects aimed at exploiting local resources. In
another development, the executive in Bucharest might endorse this week an
emergency ordinance providing for another pay rise for state employees.
According to Finance Minister Adrian Caciu, the rise has already been applied
in the country’s education and medical sectors and will soon be applied in the
other sectors of the economy.

WEATHER
Meteorologists have again issued yellow and orange alerts for unstable weather
and heavy rain in almost the entire Romanian territory. Until Tuesday night most
of the regions are to see thunderstorms, heavy downpours, gale force winds and
in some areas hail. The heat index will remain high in south-eastern
Romania.

PROGRAMME The
Environment Fund Administration (EFA) in Romania is expected to launch next
week a programme for scrapping vehicles older than 15 years. Under the
aforementioned programme owners can get 600 Euros without the obligation of
buying a new vehicle. Half of the sum will be covered from the EFA funds and
the rest from local budgets. Through its National Plan of Recovery and
Resilience, Romania pledges to get rid of 250 thousand old polluting vehicles
by 2026.

TENNIS Romanian
tennis player Irina Begu on Sunday qualified for the round of 16 of the WTA 250
tournament in Cleveland USA, which has over 250 thousand dollars in
prize-money. The Romanian secured a two-set win against US challenger Peyton
Sterns and she will be up next against the winner of the game pitching Sofia
Kenin of the USA against other qualified player. Another Romanian in the
competition, Sorana Cirstea will be playing fourth-seeded Elise Mertens of
Belgium.

UKRAINE The invading Russian
army has again shelled objectives in several regions of Ukraine. The southern
city of Mykolaiv has been struck by several S-300 missiles and the region of
Odessa has been attacked with rockets fired from vessels in the Black Sea. The
city of Nikopol close to the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia has been hit
by scores of artillery shells amid growing fears of a potential nuclear
disaster in the region. US president Joe Biden on Sunday held talks with French
president Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and German
chancellor Olaf Scholz about the safety of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants and
the support they can provide to this country. In Kyiv, president Zelensky has cautioned
against potential large-scale attacks by Russian troops around Ukraine’s
Independence Day, which marks the country’s breaking ties with the former USSR.
The event takes place on August 24, six months from the onset of the Russian
invasion. In another development, another two ships loaded with Ukrainian grain
bound for Istanbul have been authorized to leave the Ukrainian Black Sea ports
under the UN-brokered agreement signed by Ukraine, Turkey and Russia.

(bill)

22 August 2022
Romania and the crisis in Ukraine

Cyber-attacks, espionage activities and fake news phenomena have intensified in Romania, in the current regional context – said the director of the Romanian Intelligence Service – SRI, Eduard Hellvig. Heard in the standing joint committee of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies and the Senate in charge of exercising parliamentary control over SRIs work, Hellvig presented a security analysis from the perspective of SRIs legal responsibilities and in the context of the tense situation in neighboring Ukraine. According to a SRI statement, director Hellvig called for the updating of the national security law package, all the more so as the regional security environment is constantly changing.

Also in Bucharest, the defense minister Vasile Dîncu said that, in case of an armed conflict, Romania is ready to receive over 500 thousand refugees from Ukraine. “There is a plan in this regard that is being prepared in all major cities, there are areas dedicated to this purpose near the borders” minister Dîncu explained. Romania and the neighboring Ukraine share a common border of more than 600 kilometers.

The Romanian community in Ukraine numbers over 400 thousand people, most of them concentrated in northern Bukovina, northern and southern Bessarabia and Herța Land, the Romanian territories annexed by the former Stalinist Soviet Union in 1940 and taken over by Ukraine as a successor state in 1991, with the disintegration of the USSR.

In another development, Romania has decided to send medical products to Ukraine such as analgesics, anti-inflammatory drugs, antibiotics and disinfectants. The aid is provided through the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism and is a response to the request for emergency assistance made by the Kiev administration to the European Commission. Alongside Romania, Austria, France, Ireland and Slovenia will provide community aid to Ukraine. As the geopolitical crisis may worsen the energy crisis, the Romanian authorities have given reassuring signals on this issue.

A conflict in Ukraine will not cause problems with the gas supply of neighboring Romania, which, with the arrival of spring, can ensure its entire consumption from domestic sources – says the energy minister, Virgil Popescu. The decision-makers, he added, are looking into ways to diversify import routes and are also considering sources of gas other than the intermediaries of Russias energy giant Gazprom.

The local think tank Expert Forum (EFOR) writes, in its annual report for 2022, that energy prices have risen due to the gas deficit, deliberately deepened by Gazprom since the summer. According to EFOR, the Russian giant has honored its contracts with Europeans at the last minute, emptying its gas storage facilities in Europe since the summer, and has delivered as little gas as possible in the pipelines. In general, Gazproms strategy was to abuse European rules while formally respecting them, just to show that the European rules are faulty – concludes the report written by the Romanian experts. (LS)

23 February 2022
Hăbări ditu bana românească şi internaţională

COVID. Autoritățli COVID di București prilundziră adză catandisea di alertă tru aestă văsilie cu nica 30 di dzăli. Purtarea a prusupidiloru nuntru şi nafoară sunt nica tu practico, iara tru localitățli tru cari rata di infectari easti sumu 3 la ñille, cinematografili, teatrili și restaurantili lucreadză la 50% ditu capacitatea a lor. Tru regiunile cari năstrecu aestă rată, lă si da izini s’lucreadză la 30% ditu capacitate. Aproapea 17 di ñilli di noi cazuri di Covid fură raportate luni tru România, cum și 81 di decese asociate. Rata di infectari a Bucureștiului easti tru creaștire, iara căsăbălu raportă luni ună rată di infectari di 32,75 la ñillie. Cu maş 8 milioane di vaccinaț complet până tora, văsilia ari a daua nai ma scădzută rată di vaccinari ditu UE, după Vărgăria.

SECURITATE. Uidisitu cu ministrul di externe ali Românie, Bogdan Aurescu, nu ari niţi unu piriclliu ca România s’hibă acăţată tru un conflict militar cu Fedeiarația Rusă. Nu easti ananghi ca cetățeañilli români s’hibă lăhtărsiţ că văsilia va s’hibă traptă tu unu polimu tru aprukeata”, spusi Aurescu tră un post privat di televiziune ditu România. Tru aestu momentu ari ună aumbrelă di securitate cabaia vărtoasă, cari da tuti garanțiile posibile tră stabilitatea și securitatea a Româniillei și a cetățeanilor a llei, dimecu apartenența a llei la NATO, la cari s’adavgă parteneriatul strategic cu SUA”, nica spusi Aurescu. Tru cazul a unei agresiuni militară contra ali Ucraină, NATO va s’apăndăsească pritu ună prezență anvărtuşită pi flancul său estic, kiro tu cari Uniunea Europeană easti di așteptari s’bagă unu şingiru di sancțiuni economice și individuale ali Rusie, ditu cari născănti mutrescu personalităț politiţi di cumănduseari tu aestă văsilie. Uidisitu cu generalu di brigadă Constantin Spinu, șeful Direcției Informari și Relații Publice cu Ministerul Apărărillei ali Românie, criza ditu Ucraina nu easti ună situație di securitate cari s’implică directu România ică iţi altu membru NATO. Românii și alanti națiuni ditu spațiul euro-atlantic nu lipseaşti s’aibă asparizmă di ună fuvirseari directă.

MOȚIUNEA Camera a Deputațlor di București ari tu muabeti ună moțiune simplă pi cari opoziția USR u dipusi contra a ministrului Energiillei, Virgil Popescu. Uidisitu cu aţelli 51 di parlamentari semnatari a documentului, cu numa, Niaxizearea şi arăderli astingu lumina tru România”, ministrul Popescu bagă tu piriclliu securitatea energetică a Româniillei și lipseaşti s’demisioneadză. Turlia tu cari fu kivernisită până tora chestiunea ti criştearea a facturilor la energie fu zuyrăpsită ca un fănico di cătră semnatari, cari năpoi adusiră aminti că românilli ahurhiră s’păltească păhadz babageañi la energie și em cetățenilli, emu economia străxescu multu zorlea apofasea realizat di autorităţ. Moțiunea va s’hibă votată ñiercuri, kiro tu cari comisiile di specialitate ditu Senat lipseaşti s’acaţă tu debatu tru aestă stămână ună ordonanță emisă di guvernu mutrinda plafonarea și sumvenționarea a păhadzloru la energie electrică și gaze. Cu tuti aestea, prinţipalili partidi di guvernământu, PNL și PSD nu s-akicăsiră nica ti perioada tru cari lipseaşti s’hibă băgată tu lucru noua schemă di plafonari și sumvenționari. Social-democrațlli vor ca schema s’hibă băgată tu lucru retroactiv ahurhinda cu yinaru, kiro tu cari libearalii spun că aeastă minari poati s’aducă probleme di constituționalitate.

OLIMPITLLI. Natalia Ushkina, reprezentanta a Româniillei la concursul di biatlon bitisi competitia pi loclu 57 la proba individuala di 15 di kilomeatri la Jocurile Olimpiti di iarna di Beijing. Tru concursul di slalom uriaș, tut ditu România, Maria Ioana Constantin, amintă locul 45 și ună altă sportivă ditu delegația a noastră, Raluca Stramaturaru llia parti adză la cursa di ludzi. Aduţemu aminti că la actuala ediție a Jocurilor Olimpiţi di iarnă, România easti reprezentată di ună delegație di 21 di sportivi.

Autoru: Udălu a hăbărlor

Armânipsearia: Taşcu Lala

7 February 2022
February 7, 2022

COVID Authorities in Bucharest have today extended the state of alert in this country for another 30 days. Indoor and outdoor mask mandates are still in force and in localities where the infection rate stays under 3 per thousand, cinemas, theatres and restaurants are functioning at 50% of their capacity. In regions exceeding this rate, they are allowed to function at 30% of capacity. Roughly 17 thousand new Covid cases were reported in Romania on Monday as well as 81 related fatalities. Bucharests infection rate is on the rise and the city on Monday reported an infection rate of 32.75 per thousand. With only 8 million fully vaccinated so far, the country has the second lowest vaccination rate in the EU, after Bulgaria.

SECURITY According to Romanias Foreign Minister, Bogdan Aurescu, there is no danger for Romania to be attracted into a military conflict with the Russian Federation. “There is no need for the Romanian citizens to be alarmed that the country is to be dragged in a war nearby”, Aurescu told a private TV channel in Romania. “At this moment there is an extremely strong security umbrella, which offers all the possible guarantees for the stability and security of Romania and its citizens, namely its NATO membership, to which it adds the strategic partnership with the USA”, Aurescu has also said. In case of a military aggression against Ukraine, NATO will respond through a beefed up presence in its eastern flank while the European Union is expected to slap a series of economic and individual sanctions on Russia, some of which are going to target political leading figures in that country. According to Brigadier General Constantin Spinu, head of the Direction of Information and Public Relation with Romanias Defence Ministry, the crisis in Ukraine is not a security situation directly involving Romania or any other NATO member. Romanians and the other nations in the Euro-Atlantic space should not fear a direct threat.

MOTION The Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest is today debating upon a simple motion the opposition USR has tabled against Energy Minister Virgil Popescu. According to the 51 MPs signatories of the document, suggestively entitled, Incompetence and lies are switching off the light in Romania, minister Popescu is actually putting Romanias energy security at risk and must step down. The way in which the issue of hiked energy bills has been handled so far has also been described as disastrous by the signatories who recalled the Romanians started to pay huge prices for energy and both the citizens and the economy are presently bearing the brunt of the decision made by the authorities. The motion is to be voted upon on Wednesday while the specialized committees in the Senate are this week expected to debate upon an ordinance issued by the government on capping and subsidizing electricity and gas prices. However, the main ruling parties, the PNL and the PSD havent yet agreed upon the period in which the new capping and subsidizing scheme should be applied. The social Democrats want the scheme to be applied retroactively starting January, whereas the Liberals say the move could entail constitutionality issues.

OLYMPICS Natalia Ushkina, Romanias representative in the biathlon contest has ended the competition on the 57th position in the individual 15 kilometer race at the winter Olympics in Beijing. In the giant slalom contest, Maria Ioana Constantin also from Romania, has obtained the 45th place and another athlete from our delegation, Raluca Stramaturaru is today participating in the luge race. We recall that at the present edition of the winter Olympic Games, Romania is being represented by a delegation of 21 athletes. (bill)

7 February 2022
January 19, 2022 UPDATE

ENERGY The Executive in Bucharest on Wednesday made it
compulsory to recalculate erroneously issued energy bills by non-compliance
with mechanisms of capping and subsidies. Suppliers have been given 15 days to
operate the necessary changes penalty-free, Energy Minister Virgil Popescu has
announced adding that in order to prevent any possible abuses, for the duration
of the emergency ordinance, it is illegal to go off the grid. The government
has approved a memorandum under which Romania will carry on its technical and
financial assistance to the Romanian-speaking ex-soviet Republic of Moldova in
order to support the latter’s efforts to join the European Union. This support
has recently materialized into a non-reimbursable financial aid of 100 million
euros.

PROGRAM Authorities in Romania on Wednesday launched the National Program for
Combating Cancer in an event attended by president Klaus Iohannis who said the
document has realistic and measurable objectives. According to the Romanian
official, the program lays emphasis on supporting and granting additional
funding to medical investigations. In February 2021, the European Commission
launched the Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, allotting €4 billion to finance
cancer prevention, research and treatment programs across the community bloc.
Meanwhile, the Romanian Parliament set up a special task force charged with
transposing the Commission’s plan into national law. Right now, part of the
cancer treatments, lab tests and prevention programs are funded under a
nationwide program.

COVID-19 Authorities in Romania on Wednesday reported
16,610 new Covid-19 infections in addition to 58 related fatalities, of which 2
were prior to the reference period. Half of Romania’s counties are in the
so-called ‘red tier’ with a high infection rate. Since the start of the
pandemic, over 1.9 million Romanians have got infected with the virus and some
60,000 died. Against the backdrop of an anti-vaccination campaign fuelled by
part of the media, a number of politicians and other public figures, Romania
has the second-lowest national vaccination rates at EU level after Bulgaria.

PLAGIARISM The Carol I National University in Bucharest has launched a process
examining the observance of quality and academic standards in the case of Prime
Minister Nicolae Ciucă’s PhD thesis, defended in 2003. The decision follows
revelations and plagiarism allegations from the media. The Prime Minister has
denied the allegations, claiming he observed all legal and academic
requirements. Ciucă is the third head of government facing plagiarism
allegations after Social-Democrats Victor Ponta and Mihai Tudose. Last month
Research Minister Florin Roman resigned after facing similar accusations
regarding his MA thesis.

(bill)

19 January 2022
January 17, 2022 UPDATE

ENERGY Four employers’ associations and five major trade
unions in Romania on Monday called on the country’s Prime Minister to cap
electricity and gas prices to their value in December 2020 for a period of at
least one year. The signatories of an open letter have underlined the fact that
price hikes in Romania are exceeding the international ones by far, putting the
citizens and the country’s entire economic system in extreme situations, as it
can no longer cope with fair competitiveness. In another development, Energy
Minister Virgil Popescu on Monday announced the Government would amend the
law on capping and subsidizing energy bills, adding that the subsidy for
natural gas bills might be increased from 33 to 50%. Measures to extend the
current government assistance scheme for both household users and SMEs will be
included in the new draft emergency decree, which is expected to be passed this
week, Minister Popescu went on to say.

TENNIS Romanian tennis player Gabriela
Ruse on Monday secured a two-set win against Jasmine Paolini of Italy in the
opening round of Australian Open, the year’s first Grand Slam tournament. This
is Ruse’s first participation in the prestigious tournament. Also on Monday,
Jaqueline Cristian of Romania clinched a two-set win against Greet Minnen of
Belgium while Irina Bara, another Romanian player at her first participation in
the tournament, lost to Nurria Parrizas Diaz of Spain. Bara came from the
position of ‘lucky loser’ after Ons Jabeur of Tunisia, the world’s number ten,
had to withdraw due to medical issues.

SCHOOL The second semester of the
2021-2022 school year started on Monday in Romania with nursery school, school
and high-school students returning to full physical class attendance. The
provisions of the new joint decree of the Health and Education ministries took
effect as of Monday, impacting the functioning of schooling units. Under the
new decree, the incidence rate and the vaccination of teaching staff are no
longer to be considered as criteria for moving classes online. Authorities
decided that classes should move online only when 75% of beds for COVID
patients, including in ICUs, are taken.

COVID -19 Authorities in Bucharest on Monday announced
over 8 thousand new Covid-19 infections and 17 related fatalities in the past
24 hours. 16 counties and the capital city Bucharest are presently in the red
tier with more than three cases per thousand. 4 thousand people are being
treated in hospitals across Romania and 485 in ICUs.

(bill)

17 January 2022
The Year 2021 in Review

Under the Sign of the Pandemic

In 2021 Romania
was for the second year affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Facing wave after
wave of an epidemic caused by the dreadful virus, the Romanians had no choice
but to comply with the restriction measures imposed by the authorities, which
displeased with a vaccine rollout that didn’t go as planned, made decisions
that mainly affected the rights and liberties of those who refused the vaccine.
The low infection rate in summer was followed by another outbreak in autumn
with an increased number of infections and related fatalities. The fourth wave
took a heavy toll on the lives of the Romanians and according to statistics,
the most difficult period since the onset of the pandemic in Romania was
registered in mid-October when ICUs were overwhelmed and Bucharest had to ask
for international assistance. 2021 was also the year of hospital fires, which
killed scores of the infected patients. The first incident took place in Piatra
Neamt, north-eastern Romania in 2020, and was followed by others in Bucharest
and Constanta the following year. The dark situation prompted the Romanian
president, Klaus Iohannis, to make the famous statement that ‘the state failed
in its fundamental mission of protecting its citizens’. Luckily the situation
improved towards the end of 2021 putting Romania in the green tier, a unique
case in Europe.

Political crises

In this year of
medical crisis, Romania had no less than four Health Ministers – two from the USR,
one from UDMR and a PSD representative who started his mandate in late
November. The political unrest kicked off in April upon the then Prime Minister
Florin Citu’s decision to sack the USR Health Minister Vlad Voiculescu. On
September 1st, Justice Minister Stelian Ion was also dismissed and
the political crisis that followed lasted for three months. An enraged USR left
the ruling coalition and in October endorsed a censure motion initiated by the
Social-Democratic opposition. Two attempts to forge a minority cabinet failed
and the Romanian politicians resorted to a third alternative no one forecast.
Following intense negotiations, two political enemies PNL and PSD decided to
shake hands and work together with the UDMR part of an Executive headed by the
retired army general, Liberal Nicolae Ciuca. Florin Citu headed the Senate and
the National Liberal Party, the presidency of which he won in September against
the former PNL leader Ludovic Orban, who eventually left the party and decided
to forge a new political formation. The USR also held its own elections won by
the former European commissioner Dacian Ciolos.

A Standard of Living going down

Skyrocketing
energy prices were felt all over Europe with Romania bearing the brunt. The
situation worsened after the liberalization of energy market on January 1st.
After a chaos of almost half a year, the Romanians and the market apparently
calmed down. Sadly, in summer energy prices went through the roof again and the
government had to issue an emergency ordinance to cap energy prices for
households and cover part of the costs through the state budget. The latest price
hikes reignited inflation, which in October went up to 7.9% although employees
hadn’t seen a pay rise in years. The Romanian economy is expected to register a
7% growth in 2021 after a contraction of 3.7% caused by the pandemic in 2020. Salvation
could come from the National Plan of Recovery and Resilience approved by
Brussels in autumn, under which Romania would get up to 29 million euros in
investment until 2026.

Romanian
culture at home and abroad

During the 25th
edition of the George Enescu International Festival, in September classical
music lovers from Romania were delighted by the performances of 3.500 artists
from their country and from abroad. During the prestigious event, 32 orchestras
from 14 countries performed on stages in Bucharest and other big cities across
the country.

2021 was also an
important year for the Romanian cinematography! Director Radu Jude’s film ‘Bad
Luck Banging or Loony Porn’ reaped the Golden Bear award at the International
Film Festival in Berlin while Alexander Nanau’s documentary Colectiv got
Oscar nominations for the best international feature film and best documentary
feature.

2021- Not a good year for Romanian
athletes

The National
Arena in Bucharest hosted four matches, three of group C and one in the round
of sixteen of the European Football Championship, a competition for which the
Romanian national squad had failed to qualify. And to add insult to injury, athletes
from Romania managed to walk away only with four medals from the 32nd
edition of the Olympic Games in Tokyo, coming only 46th in a nation
ranking.

The world’s best
epee fencer Ana Maria Popescu announced her withdrawal from competitions after a
prestigious activity of two decades. Famous tennis player Horia Tecau also
withdrew from competitions in 2021 and so did world-reputed gymnasts Marian
Dragulescu and Larisa Iordache.

Those who left us …

Let’s not forget
those who left us in 2021! Actors Ion Dichiseanu and Ion Caramitru – the
director of the National Theatre in Bucharest and chair of Romania’s Theatre
Union, writer Ileana Vulpescu; multiple kayak-canoe champion Ivan Patzaichin,
historian Dan Berindei; director and leading figure of Radio Romania, Dan
Puican; folk singer Doru Stănculescu and Victor Socaciu as well as the
appreciated traditional music singer Benone Sinulescu.

(bill)

1 January 2022
July 13, 2020

BILL A bill
regulating the quarantine and self-isolation in situations of epidemiological
risk is now being debated upon by the decision-making Senate in Bucharest. The
aforementioned bill has been endorsed by the government after the
Constitutional Court in Bucharest ruled that self-isolation, quarantine and
hospitalisation could not be imposed under a ministerial decision but under a
law clearly regulating the issue. On Thursday night the Chamber of Deputies
endorsed the document, which contained a lot of amendments than the Executive’s
version. However, debates upon the aforementioned law in the legal committee were
stopped in their tracks a couple of days ago by a request from the Senate’s
interim president, Social-Democrat Robert Cazanciuc, who called for a viewpoint
from the Liberal government and the Ministry of Justice concerning the
mandatory hospitalisation of the infected persons and the physicians’
deployment. The country’s Prime Minister Ludovic Orban has described the
document as indispensable adding that postponing the Senate debates on the
aforementioned bill is tantamount to a dramatic increase in the number of
infections. According to Orban, the government’s objective is no further
restrictions, but he has also cautioned against the worrying number of
infections. On Sunday night scores of people protested in front of the
government’s building in Bucharest against the bill on quarantine and
self-isolation.

COVID – 19 Authorities in Romania have reported another 413 new Covid infections
bringing the total number close to 33, 000 since the beginning of the
pandemic. 21,692 out of
those who confirmed positive have been cured and left hospitals. 235 patients are in intensive care units while the death
toll stands at 1,901. The number of Romanians abroad confirmed infected
stands at 5,105,and the number of fatalities at 122.

FENCING The International Fencing Federation has designated Romanian Ana
Maria Popescu winner of the Women’s Epee Cup this year as many competitions
could not be staged because of the Covid pandemic. The Romanian has been
followed by Brazilian Nathalie Moellhausen and Sun Yiwen of China. Ana Maria
has won the competition three times in the seasons of 2007-2008, 2008-2009 and
2012-2013.

TALKS Brussels is today seeing the seventh round of talks for a
post-Brexit trade agreement. Chief negotiators David Frost of Britain and
Michel Barnier of the EU have agreed to step up negotiations but have also agreed
that the two sides are facing major issues such as competition. According to
Radio Romania correspondent in London, the EU negotiator has said that his team
will be carrying on talks with their British counterparts with patience,
respect and determination but has cautioned against the inevitable changes in
the relations between the two sides as of January 1st.

RESTRICTIONS Authorities in Lithuania have banned the Romanians’
access to this country due to the raising number of Covid-19 infections
reported in Romania. Authorities in Vilnius are assessing the decision on a
weekly basis though. Lithuania isn’t the only European country imposing
restrictions to Romanian citizens. Greece is also asking tourists to produce a
negative Covid test taken in the past 72 hours at the border whereas Austria requires
Covid tests not older than 4 days. Other European countries like Finland, Malta,
Slovakia, Estonia, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Hungary have resorted
to other measures such as quarantine or self-isolation. Romanians have so far been
imposed travel restrictions in 20 European countries

(translated by bill)

13 July 2020
March 25, 2020

POLICE Romanian president Klaus Iohannis has today conveyed a message on
the occasion of Romanian Police Day calling on the policemen to be role models
of conduct and responsibility to apply the law with firmness and respect for human
dignity. In his message, Iohannis describes the Romanian police as an
institution with an essential role in maintaining public order guaranteeing the
safety of all the Romanian citizens. The Romanian president says quote even if
the enemy is an invisible one, the fight is as real as it can be and there is a
fight that we must win.

DRILL 82 sailors from Romania’s Navy are in the
Mediterranean to ensure the command of NATO anti-mine group SNMCMG-2, Standing
NATO Mines Countermeasures Group. Romanian warship Vice-Admiral Constantin
Balescu has so far travelled over 55 hundred miles since its departure from the
Romanian port of Constanta. The Romanian sailors are participating in enforcing
collective security measures on the southern flank of the North Atlantic
Alliance to prove Romania’s solidarity with its NATO partners. The Romanian war
vessel has so far conducted a series of maneuvers part of this mission together
with their counterparts from Germany, Turkey, Italy and Canada.

MEASURES Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis is today having talks with the
country’s Prime Minister Ludovic Orban, Interior Minister Marcel Vela, Finance
Minister Florin Citu, the country’s Defence Minister Nicolae Ciuca, the
Minister of Economy Virgil Popescu and the Minister of Labour and Social
Protection Violeta Alexandru on the measures taken in order to contain the
COVID-19 pandemic. Circulation around the city has been restricted and people
over 65 years are allowed to leave their homes only between 11 and 13 hours.
All those returning from abroad will be placed in home isolation or quarantined.

COVID-19 The pandemic continues to spread around the
world. Spain, Europe’s second affected country, on Tuesday requested help from
NATO for test kits and protection masks. Spain has registered a new record
death toll of 514 in the past 24 hours. The total death toll in this country comes
close to 3000 and the number of confirmed cases has exceeded 42 thousand. In
Italy, the number of deaths exceeded 68 hundred. Lombardy, in the north,
remains Italy’s most affected region. France has also reported 11 hundred
deaths while Germany 159. The virus has killed 780 people in the United States
and 19 hundred in Iran.

(translated by bill)

25 March 2020
Sports roundup

Romanian athlete Georgeta Popescu has
walked away with gold from the one-woman bobsleigh race at the Youth Winter
Olympics in Laussane. Popescu’s time in the two rounds of the competition stood
at 2 minutes, 26 seconds and 84 hundredths. Viktoria Cernanska of Slovakia came
second and Celine Harms of Germany ended the race on the third position.

Another athlete from Romania Antonia
Sarbu came 13th in the same competition. This is the second medal
won by the Romanian delegation after the bronze reaped by Ramona Ionel in the
speed-skating relay race on Wednesday.

Romanian women’s side Magura
Cisnadie came a cropper 33-22 in an away match against Danish side Kobenhavn
Handball. Cisnadie has lost all the matches they played in the competition’s
groups. In the same group, Siofok of Hungary ended in a 30-all draw their match
against the Croatians from Podravka Koprivnica.

Siofok ranks first in the group’s
ranking with five points followed by Koprivnica also with five, Kobenhavn with
two and Cisnadie with no points. Cisnadie will be playing Kobenhavn again on
January 26th, which will also see the return game pitching Podravka
against Siofok.

In group C Gloria Bistrita-Nasaud
has lost to another Danish side Odense Handbold 19-25 in an away game.
Hungarian side ERD has secured a 29-24 win against MKS Lublin of Poland. Odense
comes first in the ranking with 6 points, followed by ERD with 3, Bistrita with
2 and MKS with one. Gloria will be up against Odense in a home game on January
26th, while the Polish side will be playing on their own turf the
Hungarians from ERD.

Romanian tennis player Sorana
Cirstea has qualified for the second round of Australian Open, the year’s first
grand slam tournament, after a 6-2, 7-6 win against the Czech challenger
Barbora Strycova. Cirstea’s next opponent will be the young US player Cori
Gauff, who comes after a 7-6, 6-3 win against Venus Williams.

Another three Romanians are on the
competition’s main draw; Simona Halep, who will be up against Jennifer Brady of
the US, Irina Begu, who will be playing Kiki Bartens of the Netherlands and
Monica Niculescu, who will take on Alize Cornet of France.

(translated by bill)

20 January 2020
Sports roundup

Romanian athlete Georgeta Popescu has
walked away with gold from the one-woman bobsleigh race at the Youth Winter
Olympics in Laussane. Popescu’s time in the two rounds of the competition stood
at 2 minutes, 26 seconds and 84 hundredths. Viktoria Cernanska of Slovakia came
second and Celine Harms of Germany ended the race on the third position.

Another athlete from Romania Antonia
Sarbu came 13th in the same competition. This is the second medal
won by the Romanian delegation after the bronze reaped by Ramona Ionel in the
speed-skating relay race on Wednesday.

Romanian women’s side Magura
Cisnadie came a cropper 33-22 in an away match against Danish side Kobenhavn
Handball. Cisnadie has lost all the matches they played in the competition’s
groups. In the same group, Siofok of Hungary ended in a 30-all draw their match
against the Croatians from Podravka Koprivnica.

Siofok ranks first in the group’s
ranking with five points followed by Koprivnica also with five, Kobenhavn with
two and Cisnadie with no points. Cisnadie will be playing Kobenhavn again on
January 26th, which will also see the return game pitching Podravka
against Siofok.

In group C Gloria Bistrita-Nasaud
has lost to another Danish side Odense Handbold 19-25 in an away game.
Hungarian side ERD has secured a 29-24 win against MKS Lublin of Poland. Odense
comes first in the ranking with 6 points, followed by ERD with 3, Bistrita with
2 and MKS with one. Gloria will be up against Odense in a home game on January
26th, while the Polish side will be playing on their own turf the
Hungarians from ERD.

Romanian tennis player Sorana
Cirstea has qualified for the second round of Australian Open, the year’s first
grand slam tournament, after a 6-2, 7-6 win against the Czech challenger
Barbora Strycova. Cirstea’s next opponent will be the young US player Cori
Gauff, who comes after a 7-6, 6-3 win against Venus Williams.

Another three Romanians are on the
competition’s main draw; Simona Halep, who will be up against Jennifer Brady of
the US, Irina Begu, who will be playing Kiki Bartens of the Netherlands and
Monica Niculescu, who will take on Alize Cornet of France.

(translated by bill)

20 January 2020
October 9, 2019

VOTE
Tomorrow is a decisive day for the cabinet led by Social-Democrat Viorica
Dancila. As Romania will see presidential election next month, senators and
deputies are to debate upon a censure motion tabled last week. The opposition
is blaming the government for having lost European funds, the lack of
infrastructure and the disastrous situations in the healthcare, justice and
education systems. The National Liberal Party of president Klaus Iohannis says
it is ready for both snap election and for ruling the country until the
Parliamentary election next year. The People’s Movement Party (PMP) has voiced
its readiness to assume a future government, while the Save Romania Union (USR)
believes that staging snap election is the main solution to the political crisis
currently facing Romania. PRO Romania, a splinter group from the ruling PSD
will cast their vote in an open ballot and the group’s leader Victor Ponta
announced that if the censure motion passed, he would propose the
Social-Democrats a government formula with an independent Prime Minister backed
by a majority made up of the PSD, ALDE and PRO Romania. ALDE, a former ruling
political group believes the Romanian president will not accept a Prime
Minister from a majority the PSD is part of. The Democratic Union of Ethnic
Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) will vote the motion in a secret ballot and it is
not willing to become part of a provisional government. Prime Minister Dancila
has accused the opposition of lacking political responsibility and is convinced
her cabinet will remain in power. The motion has been signed by 237 MPs and it
needs 233 votes to pass.

RANKING Romania comes 51st, a position higher than last
year, in a ranking of the world’s most competitive economies, the latest report
published by the World Economic Forum shows. Romania scored 64.4 points out of
100 and is lagging behind countries like the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia,
Russia, Hungary and Bulgaria, but still ahead of countries like Greece, Turkey,
Serbia and the Republic of Moldova. Singapore overtakes the United States as
the world’s most competitive economy this year. The last countries in the
ranking are the Democratic Republic of Congo, Yemen and Chad. The report
measures economic competitiveness based on some indicators such as
infrastructure, healthcare, labour market, the financial system, the quality of
public institutions and economic openness.

HOLOCAUST Every year on October 9th
Romania pays homage to the Holocaust victims. On this day in 1941, Jews from
Romania started to be deported to Transdniester, currently in the Republic of
Moldova. On Tuesday, Romanian president Klaus Iohannis promulgated a law on the
setting up of the National History Museum of Jews and the Holocaust in Romania
in capital city Bucharest. The institution will be housing a permanent
exhibition presenting the history of the Jewish community in Romania from the
17th century up to the present day.

PARTNERSHIP The ex-soviet Romanian-speaking Republic of Moldova will have in
Romania the most sincere and committed partner in the region and in the
European Union, the statement belongs to Romania’s Foreign Minister Ramona
Manescu currently paying a formal visit to Chisinau, the local radio station
has announced. In a news conference with her Moldovan counterpart Nicu Popescu,
the Romanian official has said that the gas pipeline linking the city of Iasi
in eastern Romania to Ungheni in the Republic of Moldova will become
operational in the spring of next year allowing the ex-soviet Republic to not
depend upon a single source of supply. The two officials have signed a roadmap,
which provides for cooperation in the transport infrastructure, finances,
agriculture, justice, education or interior affairs. The Romanian official will
also be having talks with Moldovan Prime Minister Maia Sandu.

(translated by bill 51)

9 October 2019
June 23, 2019 UPDATE

INVESTMENT According to a report published by the Foreign Investors Council,
foreign investment in Romania amounts to a total of 75 billion euros, being
comparable in size with the European funds. 90% of foreign investment in
Romania comes from EU members, Germany, France, Austria and the Netherlands. Investment
has been made in all sectors of Romania’s economy, mainly in industry. Foreign
investment reached its climax around Romania’s EU accession, when it stood somewhere
around nine billion euros a year. At present foreign companies in Romania boast
around 1.3 million employees, who account for 25% of their total number.

FOOTBALL
Romania’s Under-21 football
side will be up against France on Monday in Group C of the European Under-21
Football Championship underway in Italy and San Marino. The Romanians started
off on the right foot on Tuesday with a 4-1 win against Croatia and later
clinched a 4-2 victory against England. This is Romania’s second participation
in a final tournament after the one it hosted in 1998. Winners of the three
groups as well as the best side on the second position will qualify for the
semifinals. The first four sides will qualify for the 2020 Olympics.

DELEGATION A European Parliament delegation is to arrive on Monday in
Chisinau, the Republic of Moldova, an ex-soviet Romanian-speaking country, for
an opinion exchange with the country’s fresh government. Made up of four MEPs,
the delegation, which is headed by David McAllister, Chair of the European
Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee, is going to hold talks with the country’s
Prime Minister Maia Sandu, President Igor Dodon, Foreign Minister Nicolae
Popescu, Interior Minister Andrei Nastase and Parliament Speaker Zinaida
Greceanii. In another development, the new head of diplomacy in the Republic of
Moldova will be paying a visit to neighboring Romania on July 1st -
the Foreign Ministry in Bucharest has announced. Nicolae Popescu already talked
on the phone with his Romanian counterpart Teodor Melescanu on Friday; the
latter gave assurances on Bucharest’s readiness for a tight cooperation in the
spirit of the Strategic bilateral partnership for the Republic of Moldova’s
European integration. Sworn in by Parliament on June 8th, Moldova’s
new government took over its prerogatives a week ago upon the political
deadlock caused by the former centre-to-left executive controlled by tycoon
Vladimir Plahotniuc who refused to step down.

FESTIVAL Over 50 cultural events were scheduled for Sunday, the last day of
the 26th edition of the International Theatre Festival (FITS) hosted by Sibiu,
a city in central Romania. This year’s edition unfolded under the motto The
Art to Give and also included circus performances, music, book launches and
other related events. The Walk of Fame in Sibiu on Saturday was added more
stars to honour celebrities from the local and international showbiz, including
Romanian actress Maia Morgenstern, Italian director and actor Pippo Delbono,
and the director of the Theatre de Ville and the Autumn Festival in Paris,
Emmanuel Demarcy-Mota. This year’s edition of FITS, which kicked off on June 14th,
included roughly 540 events held in 75 performance areas, and has been attended
by 33 hundred artists and invitees from 73 countries. FITS, which has Radio
Romania among its co-producers, has been described as the largest and most
complex event of this kind in Romania and even Europe.

FOOTBALL
Romania’s Under-21 football
side will be up against France on Monday in Group C of the European Under-21
Football Championship underway in Italy and San Marino. The Romanians started
off on the right foot on Tuesday with a 4-1 win against Croatia and later
clinched a 4-2 victory against England. This is Romania’s second participation
in a final tournament after the one it hosted in 1998. Winners of the three
groups as well as the best side on the second position will qualify for the
semifinals. The first four sides will qualify for the 2020 Olympics.

(translated by bill)

23 June 2019