Radio România Internațional

Tag: Radio and TV licence fee

  • December 23, 2016 UPDATE

    December 23, 2016 UPDATE

    THE 1990 MINERS RAIDS FILE – Several former Romanian dignitaries, among whom the former president Ion Iliescu, the former prime minister Petre Roman and the former head of the Romanian Intelligence Service, Virgil Magureanu, on Friday were accused of crimes against humanity in the file “The Miners Raids of June 13-15, 1990. According to the prosecutors, the accused masterminded, organised and coordinated a generalised and systematic attack on those protesting in downtown Bucharest against the leftist Power, which ruled the country after the fall of the communist dictatorship in December 1989, as well as on the population of the capital city. The prosecutors claim that participating in the attack were forces of the Interior Ministry, the Defence Ministry and the Romanian Intelligence Service, adding to over ten thousand miners and workers coming to Bucharest from several regions of the country. Against the backdrop of violent incidents, that the Army had already stifled, the then president, Ion Iliescu, mentioned an attempted coup by the far right and called on the population to defend the democratic institutions. The Jiu Valley miners raids on Bucharest, where they stormed the University, the headquarters of the opposition parties and the offices of several independent newspapers, left four people dead and 1,200 injured. In 2014, the European Court of Human Rights issued a ruling imposing on Romania to continue investigations in the Miners Raids of June 1990 file.



    POSTPONED DESIGNATION OF PM – Romanias President Klaus Iohannis has postponed until after Christmas the designation of a new Prime Minister. He made the announcement after consultations held on Wednesday and Thursday with representatives of the political parties that made it to Parliament following December 11th legislative elections. The coalition made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats has proposed for the office of prime minister the Social Democrat Sevil Shhaideh, a former Development Minister and the proposal of the Peoples Movement Party was Eugen Tomac. The National Liberal Party and the Save Romania Union have announced that will stay in the opposition and will not support a government formed around the Social Democratic Party. The Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania has signed a parliamentary collaboration agreement with the majority coalition.



    RADIO AND TV LICENCE FEE– Romanias President, Klaus Iohannis, has called on Parliament to reassess the law on the elimination of several taxes and of the radio and TV licence fee, because, although the law has been declared constitutional, its reassessment is necessary given the impact on the Romanian citizens. According to a communiqué issued by the Presidential Administration, the reduction of taxes should be accompanied by the improvement of administrative procedures and budgetary discipline. As regards the television and radio public media services, the president says the problems these institutions have been facing are old and systemic, and they are mainly generated by the legislative framework which regulates their functioning. According to the Romanian president, the debate on the elimination of the two licence fees and covering from the budget the functioning costs of the two radio and television public media services cant be limited to a simple question, namely whether or not it is necessary to collect a fee to support these institutions. The elimination of the radio and TV licence fee has been harshly criticised by Romanian and international media organisations which say the measure will affect the editorial autonomy of the two public media services.



    COMMEMORATION – A mass commemorating the martyr heroes of the 1989 anti-Communist revolution in Romania was held on Friday morning at Otopeni Airport near Bucharest. 27 years ago, 40 of the 82 soldiers sent to enhance security at Otopeni airport died, killed by the airport local security, who thought they were terrorists. 8 civilian airport employees, who were on their way to work by bus were also killed in the accidental shooting. The anti-Communist revolt started 27 years ago in Timisoara, western Romania, to then quickly spread all across the country. Over December 23-25, dictators Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu were caught, tried and executed. More than 1,000 people died in the revolution, and some 3,400 were wounded. Romania was the only country in the Eastern Bloc where the regime was changed violently and its communist leaders were executed.



    ALL POINTS BULLETIN – In Romania, the former Social– Democrat MP Sebastian Ghita, prosecuted for corruption and subject to legal restrictions pending trial, has disappeared and is now wanted by authorities. The Interior Minister Dragos Tudorache has called on the head of the police to carry out an internal investigation into the circumstances under which Ghita disappeared. The former MP, a close collaborator of the former Prime Minister Victor Ponta, is banned from leaving the country and must present himself to the police once a week. He is being prosecuted, among other things, for bribe-giving, influence peddling, money laundering and blackmail.



    SWEARING IN CEREMONY – The President -Elect of the Republic of Moldova, the pro-Russian Socialist Igor Dodon, officially started his term in office on Friday, in a solemn Parliament session. Dodon announced that his first visit abroad will be to Moscow, where he will try to resume the strategic partnership with the Russian Federation. Domestically, Igor Dodon will oppose the pro-Europe government in Chisinau and will try to dissolve Parliament in order to force early parliamentary elections. During his election campaign, Dodon said that his first decree would annul a law endorsed by parliament, under which the loan granted to the banking system in 2014 as a result of a 1 billion dollars embezzlement was turned into state debt. His announced priorities include banning the organisations that plead for the unification of the Republic of Moldova with Romania.



    SAFETY AND SECURITY MEASURES – The Romanian Interior Ministry has announced that some 22,000 police, fire fighters and gendarmes will be mobilised every day across Romania during the Christmas holidays. Also, the border police will operate at full capacity in order to reduce the waiting time for those who travel across the border. In Romanias mountain resorts, some 200 gendarmes will join the existing squads in order to be able to rapidly intervene should the tourists need it, the Interior Ministry has also stated.



    BERLIN ATTACK – The suspected perpetrator of the Berlin attack, the 24 year old Tunisian Anis Amri, was shot dead on Thursday to Friday night by the Milan police, the Italian Interior Ministry has announced. An international warrant had been issued for his arrest. He was fatally shot after firing at police who had stopped his car for a routine identity check. The Tunisian had connections with members of the Islamic State terrorist organisation, which claimed the attack in Berlin. We recall that the perpetrator drove a truck into a packed Christmas market in Berlin, Germany, on Monday, killing 12 people and injuring 48. In another move, on Thursday night, German police officers arrested two men suspected of having planned an attack on a shopping centre in Oberhausen, in the west, one of the largest shopping areas in Germany.



    HIJACKING – A Libyan plane with 118 people on board, on a domestic flight, landed in Malta, after having been hijacked. At the end of hours of negotiations with the Libyan authorities, the two hijackers released the passengers, the crew-members and turned themselves in. According to international news agencies, they are allegedly loyalists to former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.(Translated by M.Ignatescu and Diana Vijeu)

  • October 26, 2016 UPDATE

    October 26, 2016 UPDATE

    RADIO AND TV LICENSE FEE– Representatives of the Romanian Government and of the National Liberal Party (PNL) consider appealing to the Constitutional Court the bill on the elimination of over 100 non-fiscal taxes as of January 1, including the radio and TV licence fee. The bill, proposed by the Social Democratic Party (PSD) was passed on Tuesday by the Chamber of Deputies, which is the decision-making body in this case. The bill has been passed without an assessment of its impact on next years state budget and the MPs have not indicated the source of funding, the bills opponents have argued. They have also said that the elimination of the radio and TV licence fee by law infringes on the independence and impartiality of the public broadcasters. A number of media organisations call on President Klaus Iohannis not to promulgate the law and launch a public debate on the status of public media services.



    NATO MEETING– Romanian Defense Minister Mihnea Motoc on Wednesday attended a NATO meeting in Brussels. Motoc also met with several NATO defence ministers. The US Ambassador to NATO, Douglas Lute, said in Brussels that NATO would consolidate its presence in Romania and neighbouring Bulgaria. Ambassador Lute said that, for the time being, plans on consolidating the presence of NATOs air and naval forces in the Black Sea region are still being discussed.



    MILITARY DRILL – A multinational military drill involving 1,300 military is unfolding until November 2 at the Land Forces training centre in Cincu, Brasov county. The three stage “SCORPIONS FURY – 16 exercise has been designed by the NATO Southeast Multinational Division Command. Romanias land forces participate in the military exercise with around one thousand troops, alongside colleagues from Canada, Germany and the Republic of Moldova.



    ANNIVERSARY – The series of events occasioned by the birthday anniversary of King Mihai I of Romania, who turned 95 on October 25, continues across the country. On this occasion, the kings eldest daughter, HRH Princess Margareta, Custodian of the Romanian Crown, has attached special importance to this years birthday anniversary of king Mihai, concurrently with the celebration of 150 years of the Romanian Crown, serving Romanias history, the nations identity and continuity. On Thursday, Princess Margareta and Price Radu will attend the public presentation of a stamp collection entitled “Engines, a royal passion, issued by Romfilatelia. The event will be hosted by the Carol I Central University Library in Bucharest. On this occasion the Royal Choir will give a short recital. Mihai I is Romanias last king and the only surviving head of state from WWII. He ruled the country two times, between 1927 and 1930, and between 1940 and 1947, respectively. Forced by the communists to abdicate, on December 30, 1947, the former monarch lived in exile. After the Anti-communist Revolution of 1989, he returned to his native Romania.



    ECONOMY – Romania ranks 36th in the World Banks classification “Doing Business 2017, one place down as against the previous year. Romania advanced in terms of tax payment, but went down in terms of starting a business. Romania is rated ahead of countries like Hungary, Belgium, Italy and Turkey, but comes after countries like New Zealand, which ranks first, Poland, the Czech Republic and Kazakhstan. The World Bank report assesses 190 economies based on 11 criteria such as taking out loans, access to the electricity network and cross border transactions.



    REP OF MOLDOVA – The candidate for the presidential elections in the Republic of Moldova, the leader of the Democratic Party, Marian Lupu, has withdrawn from the race, three days ahead of the ballot scheduled for October 30, in favour of the common candidate of the right wing, Maia Sandu. He said that it is important to his political party for a pro-European candidate to win the elections. Opinion polls credited Lupu with 13% of the voting intentions and Maia Sandu with 16% and already enjoyed the support of three pro-European parties. Most likely than not she will face in the runoff pro-Russian Socialist, Igor Dodon, credited with some 35% of the intended votes.



    TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Simona Halep (WTA no. 4) will take on Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia (WTA no. 8) on Thursday in the Red Group at the WTA finals in Singapore. On Tuesday, Halep lost to Angelique Kerber of Germany (WTA no.1), 4-6, 2-6. Simona is second seeded in her group, after Angelique Kerber. In the White Group, the Czech player Karolina Pliskova (WTA no.5) defeated the Roland Garros defending champion, Spanish Garbine Muguruza (WTA no.6), and Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova (WTA no.9) defeated last years winner of the title, Polish Agnieszka Radwanska (WTA no.3). Simona Halep is participating for the third time in the WTA Finals, after in 2014 she met Serena Williams in the finals, and last year failed to go past the group stage.(Translated by E. Enache and D. Vijeu)

  • October 24, 2016 UPDATE

    October 24, 2016 UPDATE


    ARMY DAY – Marked every year on October 25, the Romanian Army Day is being observed this year both at home and abroad. On Tuesday events will be held in all towns and villages hosting military units, in countries where defense attaches are accredited and in military bases and theatres of operations where Romanian military are deployed. Floral tributes will be paid at the cemeteries and monuments devoted to Romanian heroes in Austria, Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Russia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. A memorial service for the re-burial of the Romanian military killed in the battle of Stalingrad will be held at the Rossoshka Military Memorial in the Volgograd region.



    PRESIDENCY – The Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Cioloş announced on Monday that the government almost finalized the master plan including the priority administrative and technical actions to be taken in the run up to Romanias taking over the presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2019. Attending, in Bucharest, the conference “Start 2019: Romania at the presidency of the Council of the EU, Prime Minister Cioloş added that the Government started assessing the human resources in the public administration in order to identify well-trained people that will make up the elite body of the Romanian administration to deal with European issues. He underlined that during Romanias presidency several thousand working group meetings will have to be managed as well as various specialized experts committees within the Council of the EU. The prime minister also announced that a number of debates on this topic would be launched in the coming period.



    CETA – Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said his country couldnt reach a consensus for the signing of the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement between the European Union and Canada. The EU had given Belgium an ultimatum to take a domestic decision on this matter by Monday evening, after the Wallonia region expressed discontent with certain provisions in the document. Romania and Bulgaria had blocked the agreement for a while, demanding the lifting of Canadian visas for their citizens as a prerequisite to signing the agreement. The Canadian side reached an agreement with Bucharest authorities for the gradual lifting of visas as of next year. With Belgium vetoing the CETA agreement, President Iohannis said Romania would continue negotiations with Canada, irrespective of the fate of the agreement. Romania and Bulgaria are the only EU member states whose citizens still require a visa to travel to Canada presently.



    RADIO AND TV LICENCE FEE – The budget and finance committee in the Chamber of Deputies gave its positive opinion on a draft law spearheaded by the Social-Democrats, allowing for the elimination of some non-fiscal fees. The Committee established, however, that the radio and tv licence fee, originally included in the draft law, would not be eliminated. Previously representatives of the political class, civil society and public media institutions said that eliminating the fee would seriously affect the autonomy and independence of the public radio and television. Already passed by the Senate, the law will be voted on Tuesday by the Chamber of Deputies, the decision-making body in this case.



    TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Simona Halep (4 WTA) is leader in the Red Group at the WTA finals in Singapore. On Tuesday, Halep will take on Angelique Kerber of Germany in the eighth direct encounter with this player. In the other fixture in the Red Group, Madison Keys will play Domonika Cibulkova. The White Group includes Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, Svetlanta Kuznetsova of Russia, Karoline Pliskova of the Czech Republic and Garbine Muguruza of Spain. This is Haleps third participation in the WTA Finals, after in 2014 she played the final against Serena Williams of the US and last year was knocked out in the group phase.

    (Translated by V. Palcu)

  • The funding of Radio Romania and editorial independence

    The funding of Radio Romania and editorial independence

    The funding of public radio and television services from the state budget is the worst possible solution, says the Legal Director of the European Broadcasting Union, Richard Burnley, who has been on a trip to Bucharest. In a statement to the Romanian Television, he has voiced concerns about the proposed elimination of the radio and TV licence fee under a new bill initiated by the Social Democratic Party and has called on Parliament not to endorse it. He said the radio and TV licence fee is not a form of taxation, but the societys important contribution to funding public and television services.



    The attempt to eliminate it is a worrying move, he said, because practice has shown that this is the best solution to fund public radio and television. This helps ensure the full independence of the two services and create a relationship with the public, who becomes the owner of the two media. In the opinion of the Legal Director of the European Broadcasting Union, funding the two services through the state budget is the worst possible solution. In Europe, there are only a few countries with such a politicised form of funding in which the entire power rests with the political class. When a new government comes in power, it may easily cut the budget, which upsets the entire activity of the public radio and television services.



    Richard Burnley called on Parliament to reconsider its position. The Board of Directors of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Union does not support the bill on the elimination of the radio and TV licence fee. In a press release, the Board says its elimination would radically change the autonomous and independent nature of the public broadcasting services.



    The leader of the Liberal MPs Eugen Nicolaescu also said that, through their proposal to eliminate the radio and TV licence fee, the Social Democrats wish to achieve the political subordination of the public broadcasting services. The finance minister Anca Dragu has warned that the elimination of the 102 non-fiscal charges would cost the budget almost 400 million euros, which is double than the initiators of the bill estimated. Dragu insisted that next years budget deficit must not exceed 3% of the countrys GDP.



    The bill on the elimination of 102 non-fiscal charges starting on the 1st of January 2017 passed in the Senate last week, the first chamber to discuss the bill. More recently, the proposal was also approved by the Chamber of Deputies Legal Committee. Next Tuesday, the parliamentary group of the Social Democrat Party hopes the bill will also pass in the Chamber of Deputies, which has decision-making powers.


    (Translated by C. Mateescu)