Radio România Internațional

Tag: public

  • Safeguarding Democracy: the role of the media in the European Elections 2024

    Safeguarding Democracy: the role of the media in the European Elections 2024

     

    RRI’s Eugen Cojocariu talked to Sabine Verheyen, chair of the Committee on Culture and Education and rapporteur on the European Media Freedom Act, adopted in March by the European Parliament, about what the new legislation means for the public media and the private press sector in Europe.

     

    Sabine Verheyen also discussed the means for EU institutions to counter disinformation in the coming elections for the European Parliament, so as to prevent prospective interference from third countries.

     

    Convincing the young generations to vote is also important, Sabine Verheyen says, and in this respect European youth need more information coming from EU institutions.

     

     

  • November 3, 2023

    November 3, 2023


    STRIKE Romanian public health insurance personnel have suspended relations with the public indefinitely, because their salaries have not been increased for over 6 years. The protest disrupts services to patients and it might jeopardise the disbursement of expenses incurred by healthcare service providers, the head of the National Trade Union Bloc Dumitru Costin explained. He said the National Health Insurance Agencys budget can cover the requested pay raises, but that the measure must be endorsed in Parliament, where a bill in this respect has been pending for a long period and is currently stuck in the Chamber of Deputies. The health minister Alexandru Rafila said suspending the provision of healthcare services is unacceptable, and that he hoped for a dialogue between the management and the staff of the National Health Insurance Agency.



    BUDGET The ruling coalition have started talks on next years public budget. The government has approved a memorandum drawn up by the finance ministry, which lists the significant public investment projects on which the budget will be based. The transportation ministry has the largest number of projects in the list, i.e. 108 projects in various implementation stages, which means this ministry will receive the largest appropriations in the 2024 budget.



    HOSTAGES The Romanian foreign ministry announced that checks conducted by the Romanian authorities based on the information provided by Israel indicate that another person with dual (Romanian and Israeli) citizenship and living in Israel is a hostage in the Gaza Strip. The foreign ministry also announced that the Romanian Embassy in Tel Aviv and the Romanian Consulate in Haifa are in touch with the Israeli authorities. So far 4 people with Romanian and Israeli citizenship are known to be held hostage by the Hamas terrorists.



    ISRAEL The US secretary of state Antony Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv on Friday morning to persuade Israel to ensure the protection of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip. This is Blinkens second trip to the Middle East since the Hamas Islamists attacked Israel on October 7. International mass media report that the US diplomacy chief will have meetings with the Israeli PM, Benjamin Netanyahu, and with members of his security cabinet. From Israel, Blinken is to travel next to neighbouring Jordan. Meanwhile, Israel announced that its forces have surrounded Gaza City, the largest urban centre in Gaza and previously controlled by Hamas.



    BOOK FAIR The Gaudeamus Radio Romania Book Fair invites book lovers to Timişoara, a European Capital of Culture in 2023. The fair takes place until Sunday, and it brings together scores of publishers presenting their most recent releases, best-sellers, special offers and discounts. Todays most eagerly awaited event is the launch of a volume of dialogues between Robert Şerban and the contemporary Romanian poet Şerban Foarţă. Q&A sessions with writers, roundtables and book signing events are also scheduled. The Timisoara-based writer Patricia Lidia released a volume entitled “Adventures in Brancusis World,” an event that complements the exhibition devoted to the great Romanian-born sculptor opened these days at the National Art Museum in Timişoara. (AMP)


  • Tax and budget-related measures

    Tax and budget-related measures

    The budget deficit remains one of the weaknesses of the Romanian
    public administration, and the government made up of the Social Democratic
    Party and the National Liberal Party promises to remain strict in terms of
    public spending. The Cabinet has taken responsibility for a set
    of measures aimed at reducing waste by restricting procurement, reducing
    executive positions and merging public institutions, scrapping some tax
    facilities, fighting fraud and tax evasion.


    Moreover, as of November 1, a new emergency order takes effect,
    concerning year-end expenditure. The order introduces restrictions for public
    institutions and local administration units, including with respect to the organisation
    of festivals and competitions. Authorising officers may no longer contract
    office supplies and other goods and services used in maintenance and repair works.


    The finance minister Marcel Boloş says that in the past, in November
    and December expenses with goods and services were two, three or even four
    times higher than in other months, which is why the Cabinet decided that such
    expenses must not exceed the average level of the first 10 months of the year.


    The order also stipulates that payment of the salary rights for
    which public sector employees have won lawsuits will be postponed to 2024. The
    Social Democratic PM Marcel Ciolacu promises however that there are no reasons
    to worry and that the government has enough funds to cover salaries and other
    expenses, and pension benefits will be raised by 13.5% as of January 1, 2024 to
    cover inflation.


    The new measures were taken by the government after last week the
    European Statistics Office (Eurostat) announced that Hungary (6.6%) and Romania
    (6.3) are the countries with the highest budget deficit of the 27 EU member
    states.


    Also last week, during talks regarding the European Union budget,
    the president of Romania Klaus Iohannis called for rethinking the way in
    which budget deficits are determined. At the European Council meeting in
    Brussels, the Romanian president said the new EU budget should meet current
    challenges, such as the support for Russia-invaded Ukraine, the security crisis
    in the Middle East and the drop in the competitiveness of the EU economy.


    The request comes after, for 3 years in a row, Romania exceeded
    the budget deficit agreed on in the Stability Pact, the EU instrument that compels
    member states to keep their budget deficits within sustainable limits, so as
    not to lead to macro-economic imbalances. Iohannis also asked for the budget
    revision not to affect the agriculture and cohesion allocations, the two major
    directions through which the EU is financing Romania’s development. (AMP)

  • ACASĂ – Parcurs artistic în casele deschise din Greblești

    ACASĂ – Parcurs artistic în casele deschise din Greblești

    Satul Grebleşti, comuna Câineni, din judeţul Vâlcea, a găzduit recent un weekend plin de evenimente culturale, «ACASĂ – Parcurs artistic în casele deschise din Greblești». Publicul foarte numeros a putut vedea expoziții de artă plastică sau asista la lectură de texte şi la animaţii muzicale, iar copiii au putut participa la ateliere creative.



    Parcursul artistic în casele din Greblești, în Țara Lovistei, a propus un exercițiu și o pledoarie pentru redescoperirea patrimoniului construit al acestuia, îmbogățit de talentul și creativitatea artiștilor plastici, o îmbinare a trecutului cu viziunea artistică a contemporaneitații.



    Am stat de vorbă cu Liviu Hopârtean, preşedintele Arthis — Casa de cultură belgo-română din Bruxelles, unul dintre principalii organizatori ai weekendului cultural de la Grebleşti.






    Artistul vizual Gheorghe Dican este președinte Filialei Râmnicu Vâlcea a Uniunii Artiştilor Plastici din România şi vicepreşedinte al Uniunii Artiştilor Plastici din România la nivel naţional. Maestrul Dican ne-a vorbit despre expoziţiile de la Grebleşti, dar şi despre planurile artiştilor plastici vâlceni.




  • Measures to reduce public spending

    Measures to reduce public spending

    With a budget deficit in the first 3 months of the
    year above the government’s estimates, an emergency order designed to help
    reduce budget expenditure was adopted at the end of last week in Bucharest.


    The finance ministry, which drafted the order at the request
    of PM Nicolae Ciucă, mainly focused on cutting non-urgent spending. The order
    sets monthly expenditure ceilings for each ministry, and reduces expenses with
    goods and services procurement by 10%, except for those in the public
    healthcare and education sectors. The order also freezes hiring in the public
    sector, with exceptions to be endorsed in separate government memoranda, the
    finance minister Adrian Câciu explained:


    Adrian Câciu: Exams or contests to fill permanent or
    temporary vacancies in the public sector will be suspended, except for unique
    positions. Basically, the various sectors will apply for governmental
    derogations, in separate memoranda, in case further hiring is necessary,
    including in public healthcare and education.


    The decision concerns the nearly 1.3 million posts in
    public institutions and authorities in Romania this March, around 64% of them
    in central public administration, according to data made public by the finance
    ministry. The largest number of people, nearly 300,000, are employed by the
    education ministry, another 125,000 by the interior ministry, 72,000 by the
    defence ministry, 25,000 by the finance ministry and 19,000 by the health
    ministry.


    Adrian Câciu also said that the clause concerning a
    bonus for Ph.D. holders has been scrapped, and new rules in this respect will
    be introduced in a future salary law.


    The number of jobs in the PM’s office will be cut down
    to a half, and the same person will no longer be allowed to be a member of the
    board of directors of more than 2 public companies. Moreover, public
    institutions will no longer be permitted to purchase cars, furniture and office
    equipment this year.


    The order also introduces a short farm-to-fork chain,
    reducing the number of intermediate operators between farmers and consumers, in
    an effort to protect the national agrifood industry. To this end, schools,
    hospitals and military units will be bound to comply with strict rules
    concerning the procurement of Romanian-produced foodstuffs for their cafeterias
    and mess halls.


    According to the finance ministry, the measures will
    lead to estimated overall savings of little over EUR 1 bln by the end of this
    year. (AMP)

  • May 12, 2023 UPDATE

    May 12, 2023 UPDATE

    GOVERNMENT The Government of Romania passed an emergency
    order on rebalancing the state budget, in a special meeting on Friday, the
    finance minister Adrian Câciu announced. He outlined the key measures in the plan, including a 10% reduction on
    expenditure with products and services, except for expenses in public
    healthcare and education, and a ban on procuring, leasing and rentals of automobiles
    and office equipment in public institutions. One exception is the car scrapping
    programme for the public authorities purchasing non-polluting vehicles. The
    programme is designed to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the transport
    sector, by encouraging the use of eco-friendly vehicles. The
    finance minister also announced that the number of advisers to officials in
    central administration structures, currently standing at around 900, will be
    reduced by one-half following the implementation of the emergency order aimed
    at making public spending more efficient.


    INFLATION In Romania,
    the year-on-year inflation rate dropped significantly in April, to 11.23% compared
    to nearly 15% in March. While this does not mean that products and services are
    growing cheaper, the rise in prices has nonetheless slowed down. According to
    data released by the National Statistics Institute on Friday, there are
    products that were more affordable in April than in March, including sunflower
    oil. Also on Friday, the National Bank confirmed that this downward trend in
    consumer price increase will continue. But the central bank governor Mugur
    Isărescu also warned those who have or are planning to take out loans in
    foreign currencies, and said that interest rates for the euro and US dollar
    will increase further. The National Bank forecasts a 7.1% inflation rate for
    the end of this year, as against 7% announced previously, and a 4.2% rate for
    the end of next year. Mugur Isărescu added that prices for fruit and vegetables
    will likely continue to go up for another 2 months, as the yield will be
    affected by the weather conditions in Europe, the drought in Spain and the
    aftermath of the earthquakes in Turkey.


    ENERGY The Polytechnic University in Bucharest officially launched
    the first NuScale Energy Exploration (E2) Centre outside the United States on
    Friday. The centre hosts a simulator of the NuScale Power’s VOYGR™ small
    modular reactor (SMR) power plant control room, and will educate and train the
    next generation of nuclear engineers to operate advanced civil nuclear reactor
    technologies while establishing Romania as a regional educational and training
    hub for the next stage of civil nuclear deployments across Romania and Europe,
    reads a news release issued by the US Embassy in Bucharest.


    MUSEUMS
    The National Network of Romanian Museums has announced an absolute record
    number of cultural events enlisted as part of the Night of Museums – 297 in
    Romania and 14 in the Republic of Moldova. Bucharest will host around 60 events
    proposed by museums, art galleries, cultural centres, opera houses, choirs,
    palaces, institutes, high schools and music festivals. The special guest of the
    current edition is the War Childhood Museum, for the first time in Romania. The
    exhibition, entitled Listen, is hosted by the Romanian Peasant Museum. Access
    is free of charge.


    AWARD – Romanian President Klaus Iohannis will receive the Franz
    Werfel Human Rights Award granted by the German Centre against Expulsions, DPA
    reports. Aged 63, Iohannis will become the 11th winner of this award, granted
    to him for his tireless and multilateral commitment to defending human rights
    and minority rights in Romania and Europe. The award, granted every two years,
    comes along with a money prize of 10,000 euros. Among the previous laureates
    are former German president Joachim Gauck, the winner of Nobel prize in
    Literature, Herta Muller and historian Karl Schlögel. The prize will be awarded
    during a ceremony held on June 4 in Frankfurt, Germany, when a congratulatory
    speech will delivered by former European Commission President Jean Claude
    Juncker.


    YOUTH Over 1,400 Romanian 18-year olds are among the 35,000 beneficiaries
    of free EU travel passes granted this year under the Discover EU programme. In
    order to find out more about the culture and history of the EU and to come in
    touch with people across the continent, the beneficiaries will be able to
    travel by train, individually or in groups of up to 5 people, between June 2023
    and September 2024. The current round of the programme saw more than 145,000 applicants
    from EU member states and Erasmus Plus countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein,
    Norway, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey). (AMP)

  • April 23, 2023 UPDATE

    April 23, 2023 UPDATE

    VISIT The international community has a
    duty to support Ukraine, the president of Romania Klaus Iohannis and his Chilean
    counterpart Gabriel Boric said in Santiago de
    Chile. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent, president Boric condemned
    the war and expressed his country’s solidarity with Ukraine. Mr. Iohannis announced that the first Romanian language department in Latin
    America will be established this year at Universidad de Chile. During the
    visit, a memorandum was signed concerning cooperation in emergency situations,
    such as earthquakes and wildfires. Previously, president Iohannis was in
    Brazil, and the last stage of his south-American tour is Argentina.


    SPENDING Romanian authorities are looking at a plan to
    reduce public spending, which will be endorsed by the government in an
    emergency order next week, after the
    measures have been approved in a meeting of the ruling coalition made up of the
    Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party and the Democratic Union of
    Ethnic Hungarians in Romania. Both the Liberal PM Nicolae Ciucă and the Social
    Democratic finance minister, Adrian Câciu, promised that salaries and
    investments would not be cut, nor would additional taxes and charges be
    introduced. In the last government meeting, held a few days ago, PM Ciucă called
    on large-scale taxpayers to meet their obligations to the budget, and urged fiscal
    authorities to ensure tax collection.


    REFUGEES Nearly 266,000 Romanian and foreign
    citizens Saturday crossed in and out of Romania, the border police announced.
    According to a news release issued on Sunday, out of the over 112,000 people
    who entered Romania, 8,784 were Ukrainian nationals. Since February
    10, 2022, two weeks before the start of the Russian invasion of that country,
    more than 4 million Ukrainian citizens have entered Romania. Most of them
    transited the country en route to Western Europe,
    but over 100,000 have chosen to stay here. The government of Romania decided
    that private citizens that host Ukrainian refugees will only be refunded
    accommodation and meal expenses until the end of this month. As of May 1, the
    people coming into Romania from Ukraine will receive directly a fixed amount to
    cover immediate accommodation and food expenses for 4 months. The money will be
    paid from the funds of emergency inspectorates. After this 4-month period,
    financial aid will only be provided for accommodation, until the end of this
    year, and the refugees are encouraged to enrol with Romanian employment
    agencies in order to benefit from the same rights and benefits as Romanian
    nationals.


    EDUCATION Trade unions in the public education sector intend to step
    up protests primarily concerning staff salaries, after the Government announced
    plans to cut down budget spending, including a freeze on salaries and hiring in
    the public sector. Major trade union federations in the sector threaten that
    the current school year might be ended sooner than scheduled, as they are
    considering an all-out strike as of May 22. Next Tuesday and Wednesday, they
    will be picketing the government headquarters, and on May 10 a protest rally is
    scheduled in Bucharest. The education minister, Ligia Deca, said she was
    confident solutions would be found to avoid a strike.


    HOLIDAY Christians Sunday celebrated St. George, who is also
    the patron saint of the Romanian Land Forces. According to tradition, St.
    George was a high-ranking soldier in the Roman Army under Emperor Diocletian, who
    was tortured and sentenced to death for refusing to recant his Christian faith.
    St George is one of the most venerated saints in Christianity, and a large
    number of settlements have claimed him as a patron saint. Over 1 million
    Romanians bear his name.


    COIN The National Bank of Romania Monday releases a celebratory
    silver coin on the occasion of the 90th birthday anniversary of the
    great poet Nichita Stănescu. The coins will be accompanied by authenticity
    certificates and presentation leaflets in Romanian, English and French. The 5,000
    coins will be sold for EUR 90 per piece.


    SPORTS The Romanian athlete Denis Florin Mihai won the
    bronze in the 55 kg Greco-Roman wrestling category at the European championships
    held in Zagreb, Croatia, after defeating Bulgaria’s Stefan Hristov Grigorov. Before
    the last day of the competition, Romania had won a total of 5 medals, including
    2 gold ones, for Andreea Beatrice Ana, in the 55 kg and Alexandra Nicoleta
    Anghel in the 72 kg categories, and 3 bronze ones, won by Cătălina Axente in
    the 76 kilo, Kriszta Tunde Incze in the 65 kg category, and Denis Florin Mihai.
    At the previous edition, hosted by Budapest, Hungary, Romania won 4 medals, including
    one gold (Andreea Ana – 55 kg), one silver (Nicu Ojog – 97 kg Greco-Roman), and
    two bronze (Alina Vuc -55 kg and Kriszta Incze – 65 kg). (AMP)

  • The Education Laws

    The Education Laws






    For 5 years now, the current education minister, Ligia Deca, was the
    official coordinator of the Educated Romania project initiated by president Klaus
    Iohannis and reviewed throughout his 2 terms in office. Implemented these days
    in the form of the new Education Laws, the project is aimed at providing
    solutions to the serious problems in Romania’s education system. Suffice it to say
    that ever since the 1989 anti-communist Revolution, legislation in the sector
    has been habitually amended by the successive education ministers from various
    political parties, but nothing managed to address the issues that teachers,
    students and parents warned would severely affect the educational process.




    After an initial consultation stage in 2016-2017, the Educated Romania
    project was posted for public review in 2018. As a presidential adviser on
    education, Ligia Deca directly coordinated the project, took part in debates
    and in drafting the final report, issued in the summer of 2021. More than 60
    structures in education and close to 13,000 people worked to put it together.




    Last autumn, president Klaus Iohannis appointed Ligia Deca as education
    minister, arguing that Educated Romania is a badly needed national project,
    which must translate as soon as possible into legislation. The undergraduate
    education bill aims at reducing school dropout rates, among other things, while
    the higher education bill is designed to support European cooperation for
    Romanian universities. Teaching staff professionalism, improved access to early
    education, curbing functional illiteracy, adjusting curricula to the labour
    market, updating test and assessment methods, as well as increasing assistance
    for underprivileged children, are also important goals being pursued.




    But for most children and parents, the question is what happens with the
    high school admission and graduation exams, the National Evaluation and the
    Baccalaureate, respectively. The Baccalaureate will include an additional exam,
    testing students’ basic skills, and another change is a Baccalaureate exam for
    technological colleges.




    Ligia Deca herself recently spoke about the high school admission exam
    on Radio Romania:




    Ligia Deca: Essentially, it is
    the National Evaluation as we know it, with Romanian language and literature
    and Maths exam, plus a mother tongue exam where applicable, followed by a
    possible high school admission exam only for those profiles where there is competition,
    and only for 60% of the seats available. The other 40% of the places will be
    earmarked by a computer system taking into account the National Evaluation
    results. Students and parents should know that these changes will not be
    implemented as soon as the law takes effect, in one or two years’ time. We want
    predictability, so the kids going into 5th grade in the first year
    after the law takes effect will sit for the National Evaluation and high school
    admission in the new format. Specifically, high school admission exams will be
    implemented as of 2027 at the soonest, and the Baccalaureate either in 2028, or
    in 2029, depending on how soon we finalise the curriculum reform.


    The new education bills are designed to shift the focus of the education
    system on students and to nurture the potential of each kid. How will this be
    achieved? Minister Ligia Deca explains:




    Ligia Deca: We are talking about
    a paradigm shift. It’s not about the curriculum being chosen by a particular
    school, but about the curriculum being chosen by each particular student from
    what the school has to offer. We want this optional component to be enhanced
    and better adjusted to children’s potential. At the same time, each student
    will have a portfolio which will reflect their educational progress, allowing
    us to step in much sooner than we do now, in case of problems. For each
    education level there are provisions in the law that improve the connections
    between school counsellors, form masters, parents, the other teaching staff, so
    as to have a customised plan for each student. Also, the national programme on
    reducing functional illiteracy will include standardised annual tests, which
    will enable us to see where we should focus, where we can move up to more
    complex subjects for high-performance kids and so on. So these laws will be
    better focused on students’ needs.






    As for the teaching staff, what will change in terms of their salaries
    and professional assessment? Minister Ligia Deca:




    Ligia Deca: The Education Ministry
    and the main trade union federations have been working, these past months, on
    what the salary system should look like in the new salary law. We have
    submitted these documents to the labour ministry as early as in February, to
    help them draft the section on the public education system in the salary law. There
    have been talks with the trade unions and between the unions and the parties in
    the ruling coalition. As for assessing the work of teaching staff, we have agreed
    to explore together ways to adjust the instruments we already have, such as the
    performance bonus, as well as ways to implement new instruments, such as
    allowing 2% of the salary funds at the discretion of headmasters, to be given
    as incentives for the teachers who get more involved in school projects.




    For the time being, figures indicate that school dropout is one of the
    major problems in Romanian schools, with Eurostat saying Romania sees the
    highest dropout rates in Europe. And the rates are even higher in rural
    communities. Another problem is functional illiteracy, measured in the 15-year-olds’
    results at PISA tests, where Romania is significantly below the European
    average. The shortage of teaching staff is another problem that has been
    lingering unsolved for years. And not least, violence in schools and the use of
    controlled substances in schools are increasingly common problems of late. (AMP)

  • December 12, 2022 UPDATE

    December 12, 2022 UPDATE

    TALKS The vote in the JHA
    Council is very problematic for all of us in Romania. I was disappointed and
    upset following this vote, the president of Romania Klaus Iohannis said on
    Monday, after receiving the president of the Swiss
    Confederation Ignazio Cassis in Bucharest. The Romanian president added that he
    would most certainly raise the issue of Romania’s denied Schengen bid at the
    meeting of the European Council due on December 15. Romania should be a part of
    Schengen, the Swiss president said in his turn. The 2
    officials discussed bilateral relations and economic cooperation, with an emphasis
    on boosting investments and identifying new areas of cooperation, and exchanged
    views on the latest international developments, including the war in Ukraine
    and its implications for the energy market and global security.


    FUNDING Romania’s PM Nicolae Ciucă Monday requested all ministries
    and coordinating institutions to give maximum priority to completing the 51 benchmarks
    and targets in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan related to the second
    payment request, amounting to EUR 2.8 bln, which Romania is scheduled to submit
    to the European Commission this month. This amount adds to the EUR 3.7 bln pre-financing
    amount and to a first EUR 2.6 bln instalment already cashed in by Romania. We
    cannot afford to deviate from our commitments, because a lot of elements
    related to reform processes, investments and even economic stability depend on
    us accessing this money, the PM said at a meeting of the inter-ministry
    Committee Coordinating the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. The Committee
    also reviewed the progress with respect to the 55 targets and benchmarks due
    for the 3rd and 4th quarters of this year, related to the
    3rd payment request that Romania is scheduled to submit to the EC
    this spring.


    BUDGET In Bucharest, Parliament’s specialist committees Monday approved
    the draft budgets of several ministries. The education, transport, development
    and defence ministries will have higher budgets next year, while the energy,
    justice and healthcare ministries will receive less money in 2023. The ruling
    coalition said the budget bill is based on record high investments and accounts
    for 7.2% of GDP. It takes into account an economic growth rate of 2.8% of GDP,
    an annual inflation rate of 8%, a growing number of people in employment and a
    lower unemployment rate of 2.7%. The opposition has criticised the budget bill.
    Both the power and the opposition have submitted amendments. The final vote is
    due on Thursday.


    MOTION Save Romania Union in
    opposition Monday tabled a simple motion against the interior minister Lucian
    Bode, whom they see as responsible for Romania’s failure to join the Schengen free-movement
    area. According to the party, Bode shares this responsibility with the
    president Klaus Iohannis, with the parliamentary majority and the diplomacy in Bucharest.
    USR also invited the foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu to give Parliament
    explanations on this topic. Several EU member states voiced their
    disappointment with the denial of Romania’s and Bulgaria’s Schengen accession bids.
    Moreover, the EU commissioner for home affairs, Ylva Johansson, said this would
    be a priority of her term in office.



    EU European democracy is under attack, the head of the European
    Parliament Roberta Metsola said on Monday, voicing her outrage and sadness following
    allegations of corruption in the European Parliament in relation to Qatar. In
    turn, the president of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, Monday
    called for EU institutions to be governed by the highest standards of
    independence and integrity. The EU high representative for foreign affairs Josep
    Borrell described the EP corruption allegations as being of the utmost
    concern. Eva Kaili, a vice-president of the European parliament from Greece, and
    3 other individuals were detained and charged in Belgium in an international corruption
    investigation related to Qatar. The 4 were charged with participation in a criminal
    organisation, money laundering and corruption.


    FOREIGN AFFAIRS The Romanian diplomacy chief Bogdan Aurescu took part on Monday in Brussels in an informal meeting concerning the future of the Eastern
    Partnership, organised at the initiative of Minister Aurescu and his counterparts
    from Czechia, Sweden and Poland, and in a meeting of the Eastern Partnership
    foreign ministers    . In
    his addresses, Bogdan Aurescu pleaded for revitalising the Eastern Partnership
    and for adapting it to the new regional context, and reiterated Romania’s firm
    and continuing support for it. He argued that the Eastern Partnership can make
    a significant contribution to strengthening the stability, security and
    prosperity in the Eastern Neighbourhood, by consolidating regional cooperation,
    the security and resilience of partners and through an adequate joint response to
    the challenges facing the region. Mr. Aurescu also emphasised that in the new
    context generated by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, a more robust
    and more efficient security dimension of the Eastern Partnership is necessary.



    MEETING The Romanian justice minister, Cătălin
    Predoiu, had a meeting on Monday in Luxembourg with the head of the European
    Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), Laura Codruţa Kovesi. According to the
    Romanian justice ministry, the 2 officials discussed the protection of the EU’s
    financial interests, the EPPO human resources issue and the broadening of the
    Office’s powers to include the prosecution of breaches of EU sanctions. I am
    confidence that an in-depth dialogue with the EPPO may lead to ideas and
    solutions to make the cooperation between national and EPPO prosecutors more
    efficient. After all, they all fight crime, which affects both the interests of
    the EU and the national interests of member states, Catalin Predoiu said. (AMP)

  • Celula de Artă – cinq années d’existence

    Celula de Artă – cinq années d’existence

    Le paysage culturel et artistique de Bucarest inclut,
    depuis cinq années, une galerie d’art non-conventionnel. « Celula de
    Artă/La Cellule d’art » est une galerie-aquarium, ouverte sur la rue, qui
    cherche à livrer le message artistique directement aux passants. Le concept de
    la galerie laisse les ouvrages d’art s’évader des contraintes d’un espace
    conventionnel pour interagir avec un public nouveau, qui ne fréquente pas les
    vernissages d’art ou autres événements du même genre. Un dialogue libre, direct
    et non-conformiste fait ainsi tomber une barrière physique et temporelle qui
    sépare l’objet d’at et celui qui le contemple.

    L’artiste visuel Daniel Loagăr
    fait partie des fondateurs de « Celula de Artă » et connait en détail
    l’histoire, le concept et l’équipe de la galerie bucarestoise.


    « Il faut commencer avec un peu d’histoire, pour que les choses soient
    plus claires: l’atelier de création où je travaille fonctionne dans le hub
    culturel « Carol 53 » de Bucarest. D’autres artistes, de domaines
    divers (peinture, photographie, musique, bijoux, créations en métal, cuir, mais
    aussi remise à neuf de vélos classiques), ont investi ce centre culturel.
    « Celula de Artă » est née de notre besoin de nous exprimer et de
    montrer au public notre travail. Un groupe d’artistes, membres du hub, a fondé
    la galerie, qui a officiellement ouvert ses portes en octobre 2017, lors de la
    Nuit blanche des galeries, avec l’exposition « Wood Be Nice ».
    Ultérieurement, lors de la Nuit des maisons de la même année, nous avons aussi
    proposé une première performance, un live painting. Mais nous avons compris
    très rapidement que notre démarche, d’exposer seulement les artistes du hub,
    était égoïste. Nous nous sommes rendu compte que d’autres artistes aussi
    souhaitaient exposer leurs créations là-bas. C’est comme ça qu’est née « Celula
    de Artă » telle que le public actuel la connaît. « Celula de
    Artă » n’est pas une galerie d’art au sens classique du mot, et cela pour
    plusieurs raisons. C’est un espace de type « artist run space »,
    autrement dit elle est organisée et gérée par des artistes et leurs ami, qui y
    consacrent gracieusement une partie de leur temps libre. Dans notre équipe, il
    y a des gens qui font du graphic design, d’autres du social media, des photos-vidéos,
    du web design, des Relations publiques, de la logistique. Notre équipe n’est
    pas nombreuse, mais nous essayons de répondre à tous les besoins. Il n’y a pas
    d’horaires d’ouverture à « Celula de Artă ». L’objet d’art peut être
    regardé et admiré directement depuis la rue, 24 heures sur 24, 7 jours par
    semaine. Vient ensuite le public très divers de la galerie. Les amateurs d’art
    et les amis des artistes consomment ce que nous exposons, tout comme dans une
    galerie classique, mais les gens moins aguerris le font aussi. Nos expositions
    sont également vues par des passants lambda, par des élèves qui rentrent d’école,
    par des grands-parents qui vont au marché etc. Une autre raison qui fait que nous
    soyons différents, pour ainsi dire, est notre choix d’exposer quasi
    exclusivement des ouvrages en première ou bien spécialement créés pour l’espace
    tridimensionnel de type aquarium qu’est notre galerie. Nous mettons en avant
    des créations d’artistes en début de carrière, encore étudiants en licence ou
    en master, ou en train de préparer une thèse, des artistes sans formation
    formalisée dans ce domaine, des artistes qui exposent pour la première fois
    leurs créations, des artistes expérimentalistes, des artistes courageux, qui
    aiment provoquer mais aussi relever des défis, des artistes qui souhaitent
    collaborer avec nous et des artistes qui se sont déjà fait connaître sur le
    marché de l’art. Nous exposons de l’art contemporain en tout genre – peinture,
    sculpture, mix media, installation, new media – et nous accueillons des
    performances, du live painting, de la musique live, des installations interactives
    ou encore des lancements de revues. »




    Daniel Loagăr a ajouté une présentation rapide des
    principales réalisations des cinq années d’activité de la galerie « Celula
    de Artă »:


    « A l’heure où l’on parle, nous sommes arrivés à l’événement n° 137 et à
    une bonne centaine d’artistes exposés. Nous n’avons pas vraiment fait le
    calcul, mais c’est à peu près ça. Sur les 137 événements, j’en mentionnerais
    les plus inattendus. La performance de Teodor Grigoraș, qui a suivi le modèle
    de « Rostopasca » et s’est enfermé dans la galerie durant 30 heures
    pour peindre 30 tableaux. L’installation new media de Dorin Cucicov, qui
    intégrait chaque passant à une galerie virtuelle. Une expo manifeste pro-Ukraine
    réalisée, cette année, sur la Place Regele Mihai à Bucarest. Une expo mise en
    place en collaboration avec l’association « Art Mirror » de Cluj et
    consacrée à l’environnement, présentée à Chișinău, en République de Moldova. Un
    live painting à l’occasion de l’ouverture de la « Galerie Verticale »,
    durant lequel les artistes ont peint des toiles les yeux bandés. Une
    performance de body drawing de l’artiste et amie Evghenia Grițco, de la ville
    ukrainienne de Tchernovtsy. Un projet de grandes dimensions appelé « IN-TO-IT »,
    réalisé en collaboration avec ASUNAB – l’Association des Etudiants d’UNARTE, un
    projet qui a inclus de la musique live diffusée par Radio IN-TO-IT, une exposition
    de groupe des étudiants d’UNARTE et une installation des étudiants en design.
    Une expo manifeste « Bombe și oameni »/Des bombes et des gens, pro-Ukraine
    et contre la guerre, une première du genre réalisée en Roumanie et dont Raluca
    Ilaria Demetrescu et moi-même avons été les commissaires. Il faudrait aussi que
    je mentionne les nouveaux espaces « Celula de Artă », à savoir pop-up
    windows « Celula Art Kulterra Gallery », qui est le résultat d’une collaboration entre
    notre galerie et la galerie « Kulterra » débutée en avril 2022, et
    puis « Galeria Verticală by Celula », une nouvelle galerie de la
    marque « Celula » dans la cour de « Random Space », un
    espace pour consommer de l’art. La « Galerie Verticale » s’est
    ouverte en mai 2022.     »


    L’artiste
    visuel Daniel Loagăr a aussi exprimé son souhait concernant la galerie
    « Celula de Artă » pour les cinq prochaines années:


    « Moi, je crois que nous allons continuer à avancer sur le même chemin.
    Nous essayerons de dénicher des gens brillants, inconnus du public, aussi
    nombreux que possible, d’expérimenter, de jouer, de créer des performances. ».
    (Trad. Ileana Ţăroi)

  • November 22, 2022

    November 22, 2022

    PENSIONS The
    ruling coalition in Romania has decided to increase public pensions by 12.5%,
    as of January 1. The increase applies for all pensions, regardless of level,
    but low-income pensioners will also receive additional aid from the government,
    provided in 2 instalments. Child allowances and the allowances for war veterans
    and widows will be adjusted to inflation, while people with disabilities will
    receive a 13th allowance, the ruling coalition also decided.


    VISIT The president of Romania Klaus Iohannis will make an official visit to Latvia
    on Wednesday and to Lithuania on Thursday. On Friday, he will take part in a
    summit with his counterparts from Lithuania, Latvia and Poland, and in an
    international symposium. According to the Presidency, in Latvia Klaus Iohannis will
    have talks with his counterpart Egils Levits, with PM Krisjanis Karins, and the
    parliament speaker Edvards Smiltens. In Lithuania, the official agenda includes
    consultations with president Gitanas Nauseda and the parliament speaker,
    Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen.


    NATO Romania will host for the first time, on November 29th
    and 30th, a meeting of the NATO foreign ministers. The meeting will
    have 4 sessions, focusing on the implementation of the Madrid Summit decisions,
    on the war in Ukraine, on energy security and partners. Ukraine, the Republic
    of Moldova, Georgia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, as well as Finland and Sweden, were
    invited to attend. It is for the first time that the Republic of Moldova takes
    part in a NATO ministerial meeting. In fact, in this summer’s summit in Madrid,
    NATO leaders announced measures to support Moldova, Georgia and Bosnia-Herzegovina
    in the current security context in Europe. The foreign ministers of the 3
    countries are expected to discuss in Bucharest means to strengthen their
    defence and resilience capabilities. The foreign minister of Ukraine, Dmytro
    Kuleba, is also scheduled to attend the meeting in Bucharest.


    AID Romania, France and Germany have agreed
    on a new aid instalment to help the Republic of Moldova cope with the energy
    crisis this winter. Officials of the 3 countries convened in Paris for the 3rd
    ministerial conference of the Moldova Support Platform, initiated by Bucharest,
    Berlin and Paris this spring. Moldova is to receive another EUR 100 mln in
    international support to handle the consequences of the war in
    Ukraine, including the energy crisis and the refugee inflow, and also to carry
    on the reforms initiated in order to join the EU, the president of France,
    Emmanuel Macron announced. The Romanian foreign minister said Romania intends
    to pay a first instalment of EUR 25 mln by the end of this year, intended for
    the implementation of projects in education, regional development, and public
    utility services.


    AUTOMOTIVE Romania is the EU’s six-largest car manufacturer, with an
    average of over 40,000 vehicles per month. According to the latest report by
    the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), nearly 50 million
    cars were produced worldwide in the first 9 months of this year. China comes
    first, with 16.3 million, followed by the US with 5.3 million. As many as 7.96 million
    cars were produced in the EU during the same period, up 5.8% compared to 2021.
    Germany tops the European ranking, with 2.4 million vehicles produced, which is
    considerably less than the 3.4 million cars made in 2019. In Romania, the only
    country where this year’s output was higher than in 2019, 376,000 cars were
    made, of which some 60% were Dacia and 40% Ford. Recently, the Romanian
    Carmakers Association announced that the national output went up 27.7% in the
    first 10 months of the year, compared to 2021.


    EARTHQUAKE Rescue teams in Indonesia
    continue to search for survivors of Monday’s earthquake, in which hundreds of
    people died or were injured. Many victims were school children. The 5.6 Richter
    quake occurred at a depth of 10 km, and destroyed many buildings. According to Reuters,
    Indonesia is on the so-called Pacific ring of fire, an area with many active
    volcanoes that frequently produce tremors. In 2004, a magnitude 9.1 off the
    Indonesian island of Sumatra caused a tsunami that killed 226,000 people in 14 countries,
    with almost half of the victims reported in Indonesia.


    FOOTBALL Today at
    the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the defending champions, France, will play against
    Australia, while two-times world champions Argentina take on Saudi Arabia. The
    other matches scheduled for today are Denmark vs. Tunisia and Mexico vs.
    Poland. On Monday England defeated Iran, 6-2, and in the same group the US and
    Wales drew 1-1. Also on Monday, the Netherlands, who have played 3 world cup
    finals without winning, defeated Senegal 2-0. (AMP)

  • November 18, 2022

    November 18, 2022

    ENERGY Romania will secure its energy independence in 2027 and will even become a provider of security in the region, including for
    the neighbouring Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, said the president of the
    National Energy Regulatory Authority, Dumitru Chiriţă.
    He added that over the past few years Bucharest invested EUR 3 bln in natural
    gas and electricity transport and distribution systems. On the other hand,
    investments in production operations only amounted to EUR 30 mln, but this will
    change as massive funding will be channelled in this sector. According to the Authority, new production
    units will be operational in 3-4 years’ time, with a combined output of over 10,000
    MW, and investors are quite interested in the projects, some of which are
    funded from loans and others from private sources.


    BUDGET The
    government of Romania Thursday approved this year’s second public budget
    adjustment, with approx. EUR 100 million in additional funding. According to
    the government, the budget adjustment covers compulsory spending, operating
    expenses and social assistance expenses. According to the finance minister
    Adrian Câciu, the budget deficit is reduced from 5.84% to 5.74%. A majority of
    funds will be earmarked for the finance, labour, agriculture and economy
    ministries. Also, under the new budget, the energy, transport, public
    healthcare and interior ministries are set to lose part of their funding.


    DEFENCE The
    Romanian defence minister Angel Tîlvăr took part this week in a meeting of
    South Eastern European defence ministers, held in Sofia under the Bulgarian
    presidency of the initiative. The participants analysed the progress in the
    projects organised by this initiative and approved a number of documents
    concerning the planning of SEDM operations. Angel Tîlvăr reiterated Romania’s
    commitment to contribute even more actively to the implementation of the
    initiative’s projects. On the sidelines of the meeting in Sofia, the Romanian
    official had bilateral meetings with his Moldovan, Bulgarian and Georgian
    counterparts.


    UKRAINE
    Over 10 million Ukrainians were left without electricity, especially in the
    Kyiv region, the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced. Several
    Ukrainian cities, including the capital, were hit by Russian attacks on
    Thursday, concurrently with the first snow in a country affected by blackouts,
    where temperatures may drop to negative 10°C, AFP reports. The resumed shelling
    targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure constantly deprives millions of
    Ukrainians of electricity and water supplies.


    MISSILE The
    missile launched by North Korea on Friday had enough range to hit the US, and a
    range capability of 15,000 km, said Japan’s defence minister Yasukazu Hamada,
    quoted by Reuters. The intercontinental ballistic missile reached an altitude
    of 6,000 km and landed roughly 200 km west of a Japanese island. Over the past
    2 months North Korea has tested over 50 missiles, most of them in the
    short-range class. Medium and long-range missiles are a direct threat to the US,
    as they are designed to carry nuclear warheads to the US mainland, the BBC says.


    FOOTBALL
    Romania’s national football team lost 2-1 a friendly game played last night in
    Cluj-Napoca against Slovenia. On Saturday, Romania is to play another friendly
    against the Republic of Moldova, in Chişinău. Romania has failed to qualify to
    the Qatar World Cup and is training for the Euro 2024. The national team will
    play in Group I against Switzerland, Israel, Kosovo, Belarus and Andorra. Meanwhile,
    Romania’s Under-20 football team was defeated by Italy, 2-1, in a friendly
    match hosted by the Romanian city of Arad. (AMP)

  • Romanians’ Trust in Public Institutions

    Romanians’ Trust in Public Institutions

    A national-scale representative poll conducted over the telephone between September 29 and October 10, 2022, and involving some 1,000 citizens aged between 18 and 65, Romanias Security Barometer reflects the current trust that people have in the national and international institutional environment.



    The hierarchy has not changed much, but even the national institutions that regularly enjoyed high levels of public confidence, such as the Church and the Army, are now seeing their image tainted by recent difficulties.



    According to the Lab for Information War Analysis and Strategic Communication (LARICS), in a partnership with the Romanian Academys Institute for Political Sciences and International Relations, the year 2022 has been marked by the war in the region and the quite significant energy price surges. This set of crises has eroded even the publics confidence in NATO and the EU.



    Even so, Romania remains a mostly pro-Western and pro-European nation: 68% of Romanians are optimistic with respect to the EUs short-term future, 78% of them are optimistic as regards the US support for Eastern Europe, and only 10% of them believe the EU ought to disappear in the future.



    In spite of serious criticism against the Union, 74% of Romanians argue that it is better to be an EU member state than to be outside it. Romanians criticism with respect to the EU has to do with the current economic and energy-related situation: some member states are perceived to take economic advantage of Romania, the EU policies are not always seen as matching Romanias interests, and the bloc is sometimes believed to impose too many rules.



    But an equally disapproving attitude is reported as far as national and local authorities are concerned. Some 48% of the public blames the skyrocketing energy prices on Romanias leaders, 28% on EU policies and only 24% on the war in Ukraine.



    Should Romania come under attack, 36% of citizens say they would take part in the defence efforts, 33% are undecided and 29% would try to leave the country together with their families.



    Most Romanians believe Russia is to blame for the war in Ukraine and that the main obstacle to peace is Russia. Although Moscows responsibility is clear for most Romanians, 70% of them want the war stopped, and only 28% believe it should continue until Russia has been defeated. The reasons include fears that the conflict may spill over and that the economic crisis may deepen.



    According to Romanias Security Barometer, although a strategic shift in Romanians orientation is out of the question, a growing number of citizens argue that the country should be more pragmatic and focus on its own interests. Still, this should be done within the Euro-Atlantic framework, rather than outside it. (AMP)

  • November 4, 2022 UPDATE

    November 4, 2022 UPDATE

    LAW Romania’s
    president Klaus Iohannis Friday signed into law a bill banning convicted offenders
    from running for public offices such as senators, deputies, mayors, chairs or
    members of county councils and others. Under the said law, the ban does not
    apply in cases involving rehabilitation, amnesty or decriminalisation.




    AIRCRAFT Romania has signed an agreement to purchase 32 F-16
    fighters from Norway. According to the Defence Ministry, the first aircraft
    will be delivered towards the end of next year, and total costs amount to EUR 388
    mln. The ministry also explains that the aircraft will be operational and fit
    for use for another at least 10 years. The agreement is supported by the US
    Government and is a capability transfer between 2 NATO member states, aimed at
    enhancing Romania’s defence capacity and at ensuring the country’s contribution
    to the collective defence as part of the Alliance. At present the Romanian Air
    Forces operate 17 F-16 fighters.


    TRADE The volume
    of trade exchanges between Romania and Germany in the first 9 months of the
    year exceeded EUR 28 bln, 18% higher than in the same period last year, says
    the Federal Statistics Office quoted by the Romanian-German Chamber of Commerce.
    According to the same sources, German exports to Romania stood at roughly EUR 15
    bln, while imports exceeded EUR 13 bln, placing Romania on the 19th position in
    a ranking by exports and on the 21st position in terms of imports. Federal
    authorities have voiced hope that Romania will join the Schengen zone as soon
    as possible in what is seen as a strong political signal acknowledging the
    country’s positive achievements in terms of European integration.


    EXTREMISM The Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation condemns the
    xenophobic statements made by a Hungarian politician on a visit to Sfântu
    Gheorghe (central Romania). Barna Bartha, a Deputy affiliated with the
    extremist party Mi Hazánk (Our Motherland) made racist statements concerning
    Roma and Jewish people, and threatened Boróka Parászka, a Hungarian ethnic
    employed as a journalist with Radio România Tîrgu Mureş. The management of the
    Radio Broadcasting Corporation sees these statements as unacceptable and a
    serious attack against basic rules of democracy and against the rule of law. PM
    Nicolae Ciuca also described the threats against journalist Paraszka Boroka as
    a serious attack on democratic values and urged the relevant authorities to
    use their legal powers to protect the members of mass media. Mi Hazánk is a
    far-right party in Hungary, set up 4 years ago by dissidents from Jobbik party
    after its leaders moved away from the organisation’s radical roots.


    UKRAINE Some 4.5
    million Ukrainians, accounting for one-tenth of the country’s population, were
    left without electricity on Thursday night, after Russian attacks on the
    country’s energy network. Power went out both in the capital Kyiv and in 10
    other regions. The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Russians
    cannot beat Ukraine on the battlefield, so they try to break our people by
    resorting to energy terrorism. Meanwhile, Ukraine firmly condemned the
    massive displacement of civilians in Russian-controlled Kherson region (south)
    for fear of a massive Ukrainian counteroffensive. Civilians were reportedly
    also moved in the neighbouring region of Zaporizhzhia and in Crimea, the
    peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014, as well as in the eastern provinces of Luhansk
    and Donetsk, partly controlled by pro-Moscow secessionists. (AMP)

  • The education law under review

    The education law under review

    During the 32 years since Romania’s
    anti-communist revolution, no other sector has been subject to so many, and
    often so confusing, changes as public education. The country’s chronic
    political instability brought at the top of the education ministry a long line
    of characters eager to introduce innovations that would make them famous. They
    were quickly replaced, so all they managed to do was to cancel the reforms
    promoted by their predecessors.


    Three decades of constant innovation
    later, the results are evident. Both students and parents complain about the
    sense of confusion caused by rules changing midgame. Romanians who can afford
    it send their children to school abroad, and in turn the country’s brightest
    graduates chose to leave the country.


    There is no vocational education to speak
    of, so it is increasingly difficult to find a good plumber or mechanic. Because
    of the stress and low pay, the teaching profession is no longer attractive, so
    the number of substitute teachers is growing, especially in the countryside and
    in smaller towns. And relevant surveys converge with respect to the high rate
    of functional illiteracy among Romanian school graduates.


    In this rather dismal context, the
    incumbent education minister Sorin Cîmpeanu, a Liberal Party member, announces
    notable changes in the field, which, he claims, are likely to improve the situation.


    National colleges, i.e. the best high
    schools in the country, will be able to select 90% of their students by
    organising their own admission exams. The remaining 10% of the students will be
    selected based on candidates’ results in the national evaluation, a test that
    middle school graduates must take at present.


    Moreover, starting in 2024, the middle school grade average will no longer be taken into account in the high school
    admission process, because, minister Cîmpeanu says, it has lost its relevance.


    Changes are planned for the baccalaureate
    exam as well, which will no longer be conditional on passing the optional
    written test in a candidate’s major specialisation.


    Access to a teaching career will also be
    different, the education minister announced. Under the new law, a one-year
    traineeship under a tutor’s guidance will be introduced, and tenure exams and
    organisation will be changed.


    The new education bill will be subject to public
    review for a month, until August 17. And according to commentators, just like
    many draft legislative acts put together by the Cabinet, this too will very
    likely be amended substantially. (AMP)