Radio România Internațional

Tag: public debate

  • National recovery plan, under public debate

    National recovery plan, under public debate

    Old hospital buildings, outdated equipment, insufficient or poorly trained staff, online classes without enough devices, factories with their activity suspended temporarily, a hospitality sector on the verge of bankruptcy, closed down theatre and cinema halls, awful conditions for small farm producers forced to sell their products exclusively outdoors. The Covid-19 pandemic has spared no one and has affected the entire economy and the entire Romanian society. On Thursday evening, a draft national recovery plan that should bring Romania over 30 billion euros in EU funds, was launched in public debate by the Government, in the presence of President Klaus Iohannis. The project is likely to ensure an accelerated development of the country in the next 4 years. The European money will be spent on new hospitals, motorways, school infrastructure and the digitization of administration.



    Klaus Iohannis: ”The investment that is so badly needed in the healthcare system, mostly for the construction of new hospitals and the upgrading of others, additional investment in school infrastructure and funds earmarked for local communities, investment in administrative digitization and urban regeneration are all included in the recovery plan. It’s time to digitise administration and access the competencies of the future.”



    Out of the 30 billion euros, 14 billions are non-repayable, and the loans with good interest rates negotiated by the European Commission on behalf of the member states cover the rest of the amount.


    PM Ludovic Orban pointed out that except for this plan, there are other European financing sources: ”All measures, all programmes in this National Recovery and Resilience Plan are included in the coordination, in addition to the other financing sources Romania has in the upcoming period. We will have over 46 billion euros available for cohesion, agriculture, for the Just Transition Fund.”



    The document will be subject to public debate in the next period and has to be approved by the European Commission so that the financing of the projects proposed by Bucharest can start next year. Until then, the Romanian civil society can come up with proposals. NGOs in education, healthcare or the social sector have already voiced their intention to contribute to the Plan, and asked the Government to really consider their proposals. The civil society says the document must necessarily include measures for vulnerable categories and pay special attention to children and young people from underprivileged categories so that they can continue their studies.


    (Translated by Elena Enache)

  • Remote duel between presidential candidates

    Remote duel between presidential candidates

    The public
    dispute over the need of organizing a debate pitting the two candidates that
    will run in the second round of the presidential election, acting President
    Klaus Iohannis, supported by the right wing and the Social-Democrat leader Viorica
    Dancila, the representative of the left wing, has become the bone of contention
    between the two candidates. Viorica Dancila has called President Iohannis to
    feature in a televised dispute, while Klaus Iohannis has firmly refused. The
    latter explained in a press conference that Viorica Dancila is a dismissed and
    compromised Prime Minister, who supported what the president has called repeated
    attempts at subordinating the judiciary, also governing against Romanians’ best
    interests.


    Mrs. Dancila is
    the representative of an anti-democratic, unreformed party, that has governed
    against Romanians’ best interests. In the current election campaign, she
    pretends to be a democratic candidate, expecting due respect from everyone, as
    if she had been defending Romanian democracy and Romanians so far.


    Viorica Dancila
    retorted, arguing her opponent refuses to appear in a public debate with her,
    because this would undo the propaganda staged against the Social-Democratic
    Party and herself, its leader.


    This is the
    real motivation behind his refusal, which he has been trying to explain in a
    ridiculous fashion, presenting fallacies as arguments. There have been other
    debates between presidential candidates, it’s our responsibility towards voting
    citizens. What is Mr. Iohannis so afraid of?


    The remote
    dialogue between Klaus Iohannis and Viorica Dancila also included references to
    each candidate’s term in office. Klaus Iohannis.


    These have been
    complicated years for Romania, and now I can say that, despite the
    Social-Democrat governance, I’ve managed to keep Romania on its Euro-Atlantic
    track, to avoid serious crises in the country. I honestly would have wanted to
    work with a Government that had Romania’s interests at heart, that would help
    Romania progress! I believe, after all this time, that, considering the
    political events of the last five years, the last three years in particular,
    I’ve done everything in my power as president, as per the provisions of the
    Constitution.


    In turn, Viorica
    Dancila said:


    Mr. Iohannis
    speaks of a disastrous governance. If a disastrous governance means increasing
    salaries and pensions, investing in local communities, making Romanian economy
    second at EU level in terms of growth, then he is either dishonest or
    misinformed. Moreover, a disastrous governance wouldn’t have attracted the
    praise of Member States and third-party states for the good handling of the
    rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union.


    The presidential
    duel will most likely continue along the same lines, making for a very
    heated election debate.

    (translated by V. Palcu)

  • January 30, 2017 UPDATE

    January 30, 2017 UPDATE

    PUBLIC DEBATE — Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on Monday called on the country’s leftist government to scrap the controversial draft emergency orders aimed at granting collective pardon and amending the criminal codes. The President’s request came on the same day with a public debate on the matter, hosted by the Romanian Justice Ministry. Following the debate, Justice Minister Florin Iordache said that all the “unclear” provisions would be removed from the drafts. On Sunday evening massive street protests took place in Romania and abroad against these draft laws.




    UN – The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, on Monday released a brief statement on Twitter, referring to Donald Trump’s immigration ban, saying that discriminating against people on the basis of their nationality was illegal. Moreover, according to Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, the US ban was also mean-spirited, and wasted resources needed for proper counter-terrorism. On Friday, the US President Donald Trump had signed an executive order that banned the arrival of all refugees for 120 days, indefinitely barred all Syrian refugees, and suspended the entry of all nationals from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for at least 90 days. Trump’s actions have been heavily criticised by world leaders, EU leaders included, and sparked massive protests across the US.




    TRIAL – The city of Izmir, in western Turkey, is hosting, as of Monday, the biggest trial yet over the failed July coup aimed at ousting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. As many as 270 suspects are on trial, including, in absentia, the alleged mastermind, Fethullah Gulen. The Islamic preacher Gulen, who is currently in the US, is charged with ordering the failed coup, an accusation he strongly denies.




    MEDIA ATTACKS – The National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA) on Monday called on the Higher Council of Magistracy (CSM) to take a firm stand against what the first defines as “unprecedented attacks at the institution’s prosecutors.” According to a DNA release, media groups supporting certain political factions or interest groups in the business field, as well as people convicted or under investigation are behind these attacks that risk obstructing justice.




    INVESTIGATION – Romania’s National Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE) has started an investigation in the case of two energy contracts suspected of being illegal. ANRE has also asked for the Competition Council’s support in this matter. The two energy contracts are suspected of being over-evaluated. Prices on the energy market have reached historic highs over the past few days, almost double their level at the start of the year.


    (Translated by Elena Enache)

  • With or without the radio and TV license fee

    With or without the radio and TV license fee

    Recently voted by Parliament and seen by many as a populist measure, the cancellation of the radio and TV license fee alongside 101 other taxes has generated heated reactions in Romania. Actually the law has been voted extremely fast both in the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies.



    Romanian cultural personalities, politicians, NGO representatives as well as media institutions from Romania and abroad have criticized the measure, which has raised lots of questions. Is it a good thing to cancel this fee or not? Have the consequences of this measure been considered? Which are the arguments to support the cancellation of this fee? Will the independence of the public radio and TV stations be affected?



    A public debate was held in Bucharest to try to answer all these questions and to analyze possible effects and alternatives for keeping the radio and TV license fee in place. The participants in the debate have warned on the risk of political control of the two public institutions if they are exclusively financed from the state budget. By canceling this fee the direct link between citizen and public service will be severed, says Ioana Avădanei, the director of the Center for Independent Journalism. She also pointed out that the population would however continue to pay the fee, which will be included in the budget.



    Ioana Avădanei: “The cancellation of the radio and TV license fee is a myth. Actually, the fee does not disappear. It will be incorporated in the state budget, which is made up of the citizens’ money. But the link will no longer be direct”.



    In turn, academician Răzvan Theodorescu has criticized Parliament’s decision, claiming that the elimination of the radio and TV license fee is nothing but political vengeance. Răzvan Theodorescu: “I believe the Romanian President has to make the gesture of rejecting this absurd measure which might place the two public media corporations into a difficult situation.”



    The presidents of the two public corporations are also opposed to the measure. The President Director General of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation, Ovidiu Miculescu, has warned that the elimination of the fee is a threat to the very functioning of the two public services as of January 1, 2017.



    In turn, the President Director General of the Romanian Television, Irina Radu, says that once the fee is eliminated as a source of funding, the public radio and TV corporations will no longer be able to carry out their activity under Law 41 which currently regulates their functioning and organization.



    However, the draft law on the cancellation of the radio and TV license fee is still to be promulgated by President Klaus Iohannis. He has recently stated that many European media organizations, media trade unions as well as professional associations have called on him not to promulgate the law in its current form, because the two public media institutions risk being controlled politically if they are funded from the state budget.

  • July 27, 2016

    July 27, 2016

    EU – Romania will hold the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union for January-June 2019, by six months earlier than initially scheduled. The EU Council has taken this decision following Britain’s vote to leave the EU. British Premier Theresa May has said that her country will not take over the EU presidency next July as the London government will be busy negotiating the terms of its EU exit. Estonia will be the country to hold the EU presidency as of next July, instead of Britain.




    SOLIDARITY – The Romanian Orthodox Church has said that the attack that took place in a church in northwestern France is a “symbolic attack on Europe’s Christian identity”, and has voiced solidarity with the French people. On Tuesday, two terrorists killed in a barbaric way an 84-year old priest during the religious service he was holding in the presence of several people. One of them was seriously injured in the attack. The perpetrators were killed by the police. ISIS has claimed the attack.




    DRILL – Over July 27th and August 7th, 27 hundred soldiers from 10 countries are participating in a large-scale exercise in Cincu, central Romania. Five NATO members are to join the drill: Romania, the USA, Canada, Poland and Bulgaria. They will join five members of the Partnership for Peace: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the ex-soviet Romanian-speaking Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. The opening ceremony will be attended by Romanian Defence Minister Mihnea Motoc.




    VOTING – The Bucharest Government will submit to public debate, until mid-August, a draft emergency order on the revision of the postal voting law for Romanians abroad, PM Dacian Ciolos has announced today. We remind you that parliamentary elections will be held in Romania at the end of this year. The National Liberal Party has asked the Government to take several measures to facilitate voting abroad. One of these requests is to increase the number of polling stations abroad at least to the level of 2014. Also, applications by Romanian citizens living abroad to be included in the Election Registry should be submitted by made electronic post. According to the Electoral Authority, over 3,600 applications to be included in the Election Registry have been submitted by July 25, 2016. Over 3 million Romanians are currently working abroad legally, most of them in EU countries.



    TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, WTA’s 5th seed, qualified on Wednesday morning to the round of sixteen of the tennis tournament in Montreal, Canada, after defeating Australian Daria Gavrilova no 54 WTA, 6-2, 6-3. Halep will next meet the winner of the game between Czech Karolina Pliskova and Italian Sara Errani.




    FOOTBALL – Romania’s vice champion Steaua Bucharest was up against the Czech side Sparta Praga in an away match on Tuesday evening in the third qualifying round of the Champions League. The match ended in a draw with both teams scoring once. In the same stage of the competition, Romania’s champion Astra Giurgiu is today playing at home against FC Copenhagen.



  • Strategy for Romania’s Future

    Strategy for Romania’s Future

    Ten years after its EU accession, Romania does not yet have a national strategy to outline its future in Europe, and this has to change, President Klaus Iohannis said on Monday, during a new round of consultations with the PM, the Central Bank Governor and the leaders of the main parties in Parliament, after Britains EU referendum. The head of state believes Romania needs a post-accession strategy and suggested, during the consultations, that a task force should be set up to this end.



    Klaus Iohannis: “Unfortunately, in Romania weve had a lot of so-called country projects, which have neither lasted, nor been implemented, because there was no political consensus in this respect. This time, we will join forces and draw up a strategy to guide Romania within the EU in the medium and long run, to define Romanias place, role and ambitions in the Union.



    The idea enjoys political consensus, the President also said, and added that this is what the previous strategies lacked, and what prevented their implementation.



    Klaus Iohannis: “The best would be for this task force to be subordinated to the Presidency, given that this year we have parliamentary elections. I would also like to emphasise the very constructive nature of these talks, and the fact that all political leaders have embraced this project. Such a national strategy may only work if all stakeholders adopt, approve and support it.



    The country project coordinated by President Klaus Iohannis will broadly define Romanias goals in the forthcoming years, and will include an economic component, among other things, PM Ciolos said in his turn, just one day before launching a public debate on a strategy entitled “Competitive Romania: a project for sustainable economic growth, which, he explained, will be a component of the country project.



    Dacian Ciolos mentioned that, at the start of his term in office, the Cabinet announced public debates on two topics, namely a plan for Romanias economic development and the countrys position within the EU ahead of the Romanian presidency of the EU Council in 2019. These two topics, PM Ciolos said, are in line with what President Klaus Iohannis has suggested.