Radio România Internațional

Tag: presidential election Moldova

  • November 14, 2016 UPDATE

    November 14, 2016 UPDATE

    CHISINAU — The leader of the pro-Russian Socialist Party Igor Dodon won, Sunday, with 52% of the votes, the second round of the presidential election held in the Republic of Moldova (an ex-Soviet state with a majority Romanian-speaking population). His opponent, pro-European Maia Sandu, the leader of the Action and Solidarity Party got only 48% of the vote, show the results provided on Monday by the Central Electoral Committee. Also on Monday Maia Sandu announced she would challenge the result of the election at the Constitutional Court, as, according to her, there is evidence that the vote was rigged. The election was marked by protests after ballots in various polling stations in the Diaspora ran out. This election was the first after 20 years when Moldovans voted for their president through direct vote. So far the president was elected by Parliament. In Bucharest, President Klaus Iohannis reiterated Romania’s firm support for the Republic of Moldova’s European accession and for the continuation of bilateral projects.



    ELECTION BULGARIA— Sunday’s presidential election in Bulgaria was won by the candidate of the Socialist opposition, General Rumen Radev, a former air force commander and a Russia-friendly political novice. He obtained 58.1% of the votes while his challenger, centre-right speaker of parliament, Tsetska Tsacheva, won just over 35% of the vote. Following the result, the PM Boyko Borisov has tendered his resignation, after the Socialist candidate defeated his nominee in the presidential election.



    MILITARY DRILL – Romanian, Bulgarian, Croatian and Georgian soldiers are participating, as of Monday, in a multinational exercise meant to improve the activity of military engineers during operations in hostile environments under NATO command. Until November 18 the drills will take place on shooting ranges in southeastern Romania. This is an annual rotating exercise held in the 4 countries. It is meant to improve the capacity of the Integrated Logistic Support Multifunctional Unit with focus on military engineering, which participates in various missions under NATO command in several conflict areas.



    OBAMA – The American President Barack Obama started on Monday his last tour abroad ahead of the end of his term in office. He will first visit Greece and then will meet with the German chancellor Angela Merkel, the French president Francois Hollande and the British and Italian prime ministers, Theresa May and Matteo Renzi. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent in Washington, the last leg of the tour will be Peru where Obama will participate in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Obama will also have talks with the Chinese president Xi Jinping. The American President Elect, Republican Donald Trump, will take office on January 2017. (translation by L. Simion)

  • October 30, 2016

    October 30, 2016

    ITALY QUAKE – Several people have been injured and many buildings have collapsed following the 6.5 magnitude quake that hit central Italy this morning, the authorities announced. The epicenter of the quake was 68km southeast of the regional center of Perugia and close to the small town of Norcia, similar to August’s quake that killed almost 300 people. Today’s quake was followed by several aftershocks and was felt in the capital Rome. The Romanian Embassy in Italy informs that they have not received any request for assistance so far. The Romanian diplomatic mission has taken the necessary steps to gather information on the consequences of the tremor as well as on the existence of Romanian citizens among possible victims.



    COLECTIV CLUB FIRE – A rally will take place Sunday in Bucharest to commemorate the young people who died on October 30 2015 in a fire at the Colectiv club in Bucharest during a rock concert. 64 people died and more than 100 were wounded. A rock music festival was held in Bucharest meant to pay homage to the dead and to raise money for the people injured to be able to continue their treatments. President Klaus Iohannis went to the place of the tragedy and said he expected that the authorities had already discovered those guilty for the Colectiv club fire. Three files have been opened at civil and military courts in this case. Under investigation are the owners of the club, the owners of the company that provided the pyrotechnic devices that caused the fire, the former mayor of the sector where the club was located as well as employees of the Inspectorate for Emergency Situations who are supposed to have known of the irregularities of the club. Last year’s fire at the Colectiv club triggered off large-scale protests which denounced the corruption in the administrative system. Following the street’s pressure the then leftist government led by Victor Ponta resigned.



    MOLDOVA ELECTIONS – The first round of the presidential election is taking place on Sunday in the Republic of Moldova, an ex-Soviet state with a majority Romanian-speaking population. Over 3 million people are expected to the polls to elect their president through direct vote, after 16 years during which the president was appointed by parliament. Analysts say the vote has a crucial importance for Moldova’s geopolitical orientation in the context in which the pro-Russian Socialist leader Igor Dodon was given as favorite by most opinion surveys. His main challenger is the former reformist education minister, Maia Sandu, who is advocating for the reform of the state and for European integration, and who also enjoys the support of other pro-western candidates who withdrew from the presidential race.



    WINTER TIME – Romania has passed to Winter Time, as Daylight Saving Time ended on October 30. Thus when local daylight time was about to reach Sunday, 30 October 2016, 04:00:00, clocks were turned backward 1 hour to Sunday, 30 October 2016, 03:00:00 local standard time instead, with a 2-hour difference from GMT. Therefore, Sunday October 30 will have 25 hours, being the longest day of the year. Romania will return to Daylight Saving Time on the last Sunday of March next year.



    CETA – The Canadian PM, Justin Trudeau, is signing today in Brussels the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with the EU, which the sides have negotiated for 7 years. The signing of the agreement was postponed by the opposition shown by the Belgian region of Wallonia, but divergences were solved on Friday, the BBC reports. On Saturday the Belgian foreign minister, Didier Reynders, signed the EU-Canada agreement on behalf of his country. We recall that Bucharest was opposed to CETA until Ottawa agreed with the gradual lifting of visas in 2017 for the Romanian citizens traveling to Canada. At present the Romanians and Bulgarians are the only EU citizens who still need visas to travel to Canada. (translation by L. Simion)