Radio România Internațional

Tag: PSD-PNL

  • July 1, 2024 UPDATE

    July 1, 2024 UPDATE

    TALKS Romania’s Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu on Monday held talks with political parties on the presidential election schedule. The Save Romania Union, a.k.a USR, stood for holding these election in November, the term set by the law. The Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) has voiced its readiness for the election in mid-September, as the head of the Executive repeatedly announced. The Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) wants these election in October, whereas SOS Romania chose the month of November. The latest government talks on the election schedule come against the disputes within the ruling PSD-PNL coalition. In another round of talks, concurrently with the government talks, the PNL leadership unanimously voted in favour of the month of November for the presidential election. We recall that this year, besides the presidential election, legislative elections are to take place in Romania in December .

     

    OSCE Bucharest is hosting the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, whose general theme is “The Role of the OSCE in the Current Security Architecture: A Parliamentary Perspective”. The 31st meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly is an event of a major geopolitical importance, according to the head of the Romanian Parliament’s delegation to the OSCE, Dan Barna. He added that Romania’s hosting it shows the recognition of its role in the regional context of the war in Ukraine and the European security developments for the OSCE countries. The war waged by Russia against Ukraine is one of the main topics on the agenda of the meeting, Barna also said. The over 250 MPs gathering in Bucharest these days will also discuss economic development, women’s and men’s equal involvement in political life and the involvement of young people in the decision-making process.

     

    PRICES Excise duties on fuel again went up in Romania from 1st July, with the price of one litre of petrol expected to go up by around 0.43 euros, while that of diesel oil by around 0.4 euros. Gas prices will also see some changes, with the regulatory body approving an increase of 19% on average in supply prices. The minimum wage goes up to 3,700 lei from 3,300, also from 1st July.

     

    POLL 74% of Romanians see inflation as the main reason why they will spend more in the next six months, according to a survey published by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Most respondents believe they will be spending more on food, clothing, DIY products and travel. 46% and 39% respectively say discounts, followed by promotional offers are the main reasons why people change brands. The purchasing decision is influenced especially by the ads on social networks, in the opinion of more than 70% of respondents, which is similar to worldwide trends. Facebook remains the most popular social media app in Romania, while younger users prefer Instagram and TikTok. 36% of Romanian consumers buy their products from physical shops, while 29% buy online on their PCs and 31% from their phones. The Voice of Consumer 2024 survey was conducted using a sample of 20,662 consumers from 31 countries and territories, including Romania.

    (bill)

  • June 25, 2024 UPDATE

    June 25, 2024 UPDATE

    EU The ex-Soviet, Romanian-speaking Republic of Moldova and Ukraine on Tuesday officially kicked off their EU-accession talks. According to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, ‘the path ahead will be challenging, but also filled with immense opportunities for Moldova and Ukraine. Together, we can forge a larger, more dynamic and forward-looking Europe.” The first talks are taking place in Luxembourg and along the process Chisinau and Kyiv must bring their legislations in line with the EU one. According to Radio Romania correspondent in Brussels, since they were given the candidate status the two countries have carried out adjustments in key areas proving their readiness to bring their legislation in line with that of the EU. Starting with these inter-governmental conferences, the accession roads of Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova are splitting now and the two countries will be treated differently, according to the speed they are applying reforms. Pundits believe this could be an advantage for the Republic of Moldova, which, from the European Commission’s viewpoint, has progressed better than Ukraine, heavily affected by war.

     

    DATE The ruling PSD-PNL coalition in Bucharest on Tuesday postponed their decision on the presidential election as they failed to reach an agreement in this respect after several hours of talks. Two days are being considered for the first round of voting, September 15th or 29th. The government has a deadline by the beginning of the next month to endorse an emergency ordinance over the presidential election schedule, if the ballot is to take place in September. However, the Liberals insist that the election be held later this year, although they had initially agreed for the month of September. They argue the September election will disrupt the beginning of the new school year and the election campaign will overlap the period of summer holidays. The Social–Democrats are ruling out the idea of changing the election date. The two parties also have to decide whether they will have one candidate or will each present their own candidate. On June 9th PSD and PNL ran on joint tickets in the election for the European Parliament but had their own candidates for the local administration.

     

    FUNDING On Monday Romania received close to EUR 1.1 bln from the European Union for projects in the energy sector, particularly for renewable energy production. According to an EU news release, Romania and 9 other countries received total funding of EUR 3 bln, intended for 39 programmes. The largest amount was given to Romania, followed by the Czech Republic (EUR 835 mln) and Poland (EUR 700 mln).

     

    THEATRE The Performing Arts Market opened in Sibiu (central Romania) on Tuesday as part of the famous Sibiu International Theatre Festival. Currently in its 27th edition, the Performing Arts Market has, this year as well, face-to-face, hybrid and online components. More than 80 officials for cultural organisations and institutions in over 30 countries convene in Sibiu to establish contacts and implement joint projects. The Festival founder and president, Constantin Chiriac, says this is the only performing arts market in Romania and in Eastern and Central Europe.

    (bill)