Radio România Internațional

Tag: Raluca Pruna

  • December 20, 2016 UPDATE

    December 20, 2016 UPDATE

    JUSTICE — The Romanian justice system is now at a level where it can no longer be influenced by politics, Romanian Justice Minister Raluca Pruna said on Tuesday. Pruna voiced hope that the new Government and the newly-elected Parliament will continue the project of modifying the laws of the Judiciary debated with the Higher Council of Magistracy and the magistrates’ associations. Raluca Pruna on Tuesday presented the on-year activity report of the Justice Ministry.




    PARLIAMENT — Senators and Deputies elected at the parliamentary ballot of December 11 on Tuesday met in separate sessions. Parliament has to validate their MP mandates, set up parliamentary groups and decide on the membership of Permanent Bureaus. President Klaus Iohannis has summoned parliamentary groups for consultations as follows: the Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania on Wednesday, while the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, the People’s Movement Party and the Group of national minorities on Thursday. This week, the Social-Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, currently holding 54% of the seats in Parliament, have signed a cooperation protocol and are expected to announce their nomination for the position of Prime Minister. Once appointed by the President, the Prime Minister has 10 days to set up his Cabinet and decide on his governing program, after which time he will receive Parliament’s vote of confidence.




    ATTACK IN BERLIN — German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed her outrage and grief in the wake of Monday night’s attack in the German capital city, promising perpetrators will be brought to justice. Angela Merkel added that the German people must be confident they can live freely in Germany. In turn, Interior Minister Thomas de Miziere has labelled the attack as an act of terrorism, saying that Christmas fairs will remain open and adequate security measures will be taken. 12 people were killed and another 48 wounded on Monday night after a lorry ploughed into the crowd of shoppers at a Christmas market in Berlin. The attack has some resemblance to the one committed in Nice this summer, when a truck driven by a Tunisian national ploughed in the crowd of people on Promenade des Anglais, killing 86 people. The Islamic State claimed the attack at the time. In a letter to his German counterpart, Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos condemned the attack and conveyed condolences to the victims’ families. The Romanian Foreign Ministry in Bucharest announced that no Romanians are among the victims.




    ASSASSINATION — Six people were detained after Russian Ambassador to Ankara Andrei Karlov was shot dead on Monday while holding a speech at a photo exhibition opening. The perpetrator was killed and identified as a former Turkish police officer. Aged 22, the killer said his gesture is an act of vengeance for Syria and the victims in Aleppo. The assassination has been condemned by the Turkish and Russian presidents, Recep Erdogan and Vladimir Putin respectively, who said the attack was an attempt at destabilizing relations between the two countries and blocking the peacemaking process in Syria. Russian experts will be involved in the investigation. In Moscow, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called on Ankara authorities not to make any concessions to terrorists regarding the Syrian crisis.




    FUNDING — The European Union, the European Bank for Investment and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development will make available a financial aid package worth 92 million euros for the construction of a natural gas pipeline linking Romania to the Moldovan capital city Chisinau. The European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development will each provide 41 million euros, while the remaining 10 million euros will be funded by the EU. The project will thus interconnect the natural gas supply systems of Romania and Moldova, linking Chisinau to the Iasi-Ungheni pipeline built in 2014 and aimed at helping Moldova diversify its energy resources. Over 90% of Moldova’s gas consumption relies on imports.




    VICTORY DAY — Victory Day was marked on Tuesday in Timisoara, western Romania. On December 20, 1989, four days after protests broke out against the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu, Timisoara became the first Romanian city free of communism. It was the day when the Romanian Democratic Front was set up, the first democratic political fraction in Romania that met popular demands. The anti-communist protest quickly spread to Bucharest and the whole country. Romania remains the only Eastern Bloc country where the communist regime was brought down through violence and the communist leaders were executed.


    (Translated by Elena Enache)



  • Corupţie şi confiscare

    Corupţie şi confiscare

    Un senator şi un deputat
    au fost, luni, în lumina reflectoarelor presei. Fostul secretar general al Partidului
    Democrat Liberal, iar ulterior fost copreşedinte al liberalilor, senatorul
    Vasile Blaga, a fost trimis în judecată sub control judiciar pentru trafic de
    influenţă.

    Potrivit rechizitoriului procurorilor anticorupţie, în perioada
    2011-2012, Vasile Blaga ar fi primit, în patru rânduri, de la o societate
    comercială, nu mai puţin de 700 de mii de euro în schimbul exercitării
    influenţei asupra unei persoane cu funcţii de conducere la două companii naţionale.

    Tot luni, deputaţii de la Bucureşti ar fi trebuit să decidă, prin vot, ridicarea
    imunităţii parlamentare a colegului lor Eugen Bejinariu, astfel încât Direcţia
    Naţională Anticorupţie să poată începe urmărirea penală la adresa lui. Fost
    secretar general în perioada 2003-2004 într-un Guvern social-democrat, actualul deputat este acuzat de abuz în
    serviciu în formă continuată în aşa-zisul dosar Microsoft 2. Este vorba despre reducerea de aproape 50%
    acordată de Microsoft pentru licenţe IT în şcoli, reducere care ar fi fost
    deturnată. Prejudiciul în acest caz, în care sunt anchetaţi şi foşti miniştri,
    dar şi doi foşti directori ai Microsoft România, depăşeşte 67 de milioane de
    dolari.

    Colegii din PSD i-au cerut lui Eugen Bejinariu să îşi dea demisia din
    Parlament, în caz contrar ei urmând să îi retragă sprijinul politic. Nu au
    nevoie de o piatră de moară în prag de alegeri legislative, pe 11 decembrie! Parlamentarul
    a refuzat, considerând că este nevinovat şi a decis să se lase pe mâna colegilor
    din Cameră.

    Cererea DNA nu a fost, însă, onorată luni, din cauza lipsei de
    cvorum. Ca urmare, deputaţii vor încerca să ia, săptămâna viitoare, o decizie
    în cazul solicitării procurorilor anticorupţie. Justiţia îşi continuă, iată!,
    ofensiva împotriva marii corupţii, putându-se felicita, în ultimii ani, pentru condamnări în
    dosare grele. Chiar şi aşa, în nenumărate rânduri, analişti politici şi
    societate civilă au criticat gradul scăzut de recuperare a prejudiciilor şi de confiscare a bunurilor dobândite prin
    corupţie. În teorie, confiscarea de averi ilicite poate descuraja corupţia în
    mai mare măsură decât o poate face o pedeapsă cu închisoarea!

    Potrivit
    ministrului Justiţiei, Raluca Prună, până la sfârşitul lunii octombrie, Statul
    a confiscat şi valorificat bunuri în valoare de circa 4 milioane de euro. Banii
    vor fi distribuiţi către mai multe ministere şi organizaţii neguvernamentale: 20%
    pentru Sănătate, 20% pentru Educaţie, câte 15% pentru Ministerul Finanţelor,
    Ministerul Justiţiei şi Ministerul de Interne şi tot 15% pentru ONG-uri. De
    anul viitor, banii obţinuţi în urma confiscărilor urmează să fie îndreptaţi
    către proiecte sociale. Ceea ce vrem, ca societate, este să ne luăm banii
    furaţi înapoi – a spus Raluca Prună.

  • November 10, 2016 UPDATE

    November 10, 2016 UPDATE

    TALKS Romania hails Serbia’s progress towards EU accession and will continue to support this progress, Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos told his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic in Timisoara, western Romania on Thursday. According to Ciolos, the concrete support may include expertise-exchange, workshops, training programmes, which could be offered through the Fund for Government Experts, funded through development policies. The two officials have also tackled issues part of the process of bilateral cooperation in various sectors, including in the field of labour force, economy, minorities, European integration and present-day challenges, such as migration. Several agreements have been signed, including a protocol over the formation and functioning of joint patrols along the common border and another one on the prevention and reducing the effects of disasters. The Romanian Prime Minister said that progress had been made in the common project of building the Belgrade-Timisoara motorway.



    TRANSITION The US president in office, Democrat Barack Obama, on Thursday received at the White House the president elect, Republican Donald Trump, for talks on presidential transition. Also on Thursday, Trump invited British Prime Minister Theresa May to pay a formal visit to the USA a.s.a.p. In a phone call May told Trump that after Brexit, Britain wants to strengthen trade and investment relations with the USA. In another development, several cities in the USA have seen protests after Donald Trump’s presidential victory. Protesters, carrying anti-Trump banners and flags, had blocked traffic in several cities, but according to the police most of the protests were peaceful.



    DEBATES Romanian president Klaus Iohannis on Thursday said he would have promulgated the law recently adopted by Parliament under which 102 taxes and duties are cancelled unless that included the radio-TV fee. The head of state said the fee had been eliminated without public debates and consultation with the two media institutions. Iohannis added he had received requests for vetoing the law including from international organisations and institutions. President Iohannis made the statements during a debate conference entitled ‘Canceling Radio-TV fee — support or threat to the mission of the public radio and television corporations?’. The meeting was aimed at ensuring a dialogue between the head of state and journalists, representatives of media organisations and members of civil society, about the situation of the public radio and TV stations. Participants in another series of debates also on this issue, hosted by the Romanian television, have highlighted that canceling the radio-TV fee and funding these two institutions from the state budget, cuts off the direct connection between citizens and public services. Furthermore, the elimination of the aforementioned tax would jeopardize the functioning as of January 1st of the two public media services.



    SUPPORT The Romanian Justice Minister, Raluca Prună, offered Bucharest’s support for the reform process in the Republic of Moldova. At a Forum organised in Chisinau and focusing on fighting corruption, she emphasised that a state cannot be modernised and reformed without an independent judicial system. According to a news release issued by the Romanian Justice Ministry, the Forum is organised by Ms Pruna jointly with her Moldovan counterpart, Vladimir Cebotari, and is intended to become the main communication platform leading to the development of bilateral cooperation in this sector.



  • The recovery of illegally obtained funds

    The recovery of illegally obtained funds

    In recent years, the National Anti-corruption Directorate, the
    spearhead in the fight against corruption, the scourge that still eats away at
    the foundations of the Romanian administration, has managed to recover, not
    only in terms of image, the ground lost since the fall of communism.






    Through its many indictments, many of which have ended with prison
    sentences, the National Anti-corruption Directorate has created the certainty
    that no one is above the law, regardless of popularity, position, political
    affiliation or power of influence. We have also seen, however, that the
    judicial system does not have enough powerful tools to recover the losses
    caused by corruption, which for everyone, from legal experts to ordinary
    citizens, is the true final act when it comes to carrying out justice.






    This idea has been emphasized in an address given by Romania’s
    technocratic prime minister Dacian Ciolos at the opening of the 6th
    Pan-European Conference of Asset Recovery Offices organized by the European
    Commission in Bucharest in cooperation with the Romanian justice ministry. The
    act of justice is incomplete unless the illegally obtained assets are
    recovered, said Ciolos. He also gave assurances that the National Agency for
    the Management of Frozen Assets would become functional by the end of the year.
    This is what the prime minister said about the money that needs to be recovered
    and its future destination:




    Dacian Ciolos: We are talking about over half a billion euros,
    whether in money or assets, which must be returned to the state budget. We have
    decided that the funds, the resources we recover through this agency should go
    to education, healthcare and social projects.






    Justice minister Raluca Pruna, who also attended the Pan-European
    Conference of Asset Recovery Offices, said Romania’s legal system is mature,
    stable and independent at this point and recalled that the acquittal rate in
    criminal cases is below 10%, way below the European average. Raluca Pruna also
    spoke about other aspects of the country’s legal system.






    Raluca Pruna: The news that a senior official, a minister or a
    parliamentarian is indicted and convicted is no longer a surprise for public
    opinion in Romania. Cases related to organised crime, tax evasion and money
    laundering end not only in convictions, but also in the confiscation of
    considerable amounts in damages.






    Recovering these losses is the next step, given that, as prime
    minister Dacian Ciolos put it, we cannot tolerate lucrative crookedness as a
    way of doing things and a way of living in Romania.



  • October 19, 2016 UPDATE

    October 19, 2016 UPDATE

    EUROPEAN COUNCIL – Romanias President, Klaus Iohannis, on Thursday and Friday, will attend the European Council meeting in Brussels. The agenda of the talks covers three major issues: migration management, the EUs trade policy and foreign relations. Upon leaving for Brussels, the Romanian President said that, in terms of migration, the participants will analyse the stage of implementing the mobility partnerships between the EU and third countries, non EU members, such as Mali, Nigeria and Senegal. Klaus Iohannis reiterated Romanias support for capitalising on these mobility partnerships, which produce direct benefits, for a better migration management. In another move, Klaus Iohannis underlined that Romania supports the EUs trade agreement with the US. He also expressed hope that Romania and Canada will reach an agreement as regards a visa waiver for Romanian citizens, adding that if a reasonable agreement is reached, Bucharest will withdraw its reservations relating to the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between Canada and the EU. Klaus Iohannis made clear that a reasonable agreement, means to Romania, the lifting of Canadian visas for Romanian citizens in 2017 and not 2018. The Romanian president also announced he will have bilateral talks, on the sidelines of the summit, with British Prime Minister, Theresa May, which will cover, among others, the situation of the Romanian nationals living in Great Britain.



    CONFERENCE – Bucharest is playing host to the Strategic Military Partner Conference organised by the NATO Allied Command Transformation. Around 70 NATO member and partner states are participating, as well as other countries, such as Colombia and Nigeria, which are taking part in such consultations for the first time. Talks focus on the prospects of expanding NATO partnerships and an in-depth analysis of the concepts resulting from the NATO Summit held in Warsaw in July. The meeting in Bucharest lasts three days and contains four planning workshops dealing with the maritime, air and space, land and cyber domains.

    MOURNING – Senior
    Liberal member, Radu Campeanu, the first president of the National Liberal
    Party after the fall of the communist regime in Romania, in December 1989,
    passed away on Wednesday, at 94 years of age. He held the presidency of the
    Liberal Party between 1990 and 1993. In the wake of WWII, Radu Campeanu took
    part in the anti-communist protest movements held over February 24-28,
    1945. Arrested in 1948, he spent many
    years in the communist prisons, as a political detainee. After he was released
    from prison, he emigrated to France. In 1990, Radu Campeanu returned to Romania,
    where he reconstructed the National Liberal Party. He was senator of Bucharest
    in the 1990-1992 period and the Liberal candidate for the presidential election
    in Romania, in 1990, when he ranked second.



    TOKEN STRIKE – Members of the Sanitas trade union federation in the healthcare sector were on a 2-hour token strike on Wednesday morning. During the strike, a third of normal duties were ensured, as well as all medical and surgical emergencies. Healthcare trade unions started their protests almost a month ago. They demand a unitary salary scheme for all medical staff, for the bonuses for special working conditions to be calculated based on current salaries and for holiday and meal vouchers. Sanitas representatives say they received no offer from the authorities and threaten to go on an all-out strike on the 31st of October. Sanitas has more than 100,000 members, including medical and sanitary staff, specialist staff, and auxiliary, technical and administrative staff.



    TRIAL – The High Court of Cassation and Justice judges have rejected all requests and exceptions raised by Gabriel Oprea and ruled for the start of a trial on merits in a case in which Oprea, a former deputy prime minister and interior minister, is accused of spending operative funds from the budget of the Intelligence and Internal Protection Directorate. The courts ruling is not final. In May, Oprea was indicted by the National Anticorruption Directorate for abuse of office together with other senior officers from the Interior Ministry. Oprea is also under investigation in a separate case in which he is accused of manslaughter. A police officer died last year in a motorcycle accident while providing official escort to Oprea, who was serving as interior minister. However, Oprea is believed to have been on a personal trip at the time, which means he was not entitled to official police escort.



    JUSTICE– Romanias technocratic prime minister Dacian Ciolos believes justice minister Raluca Pruna should stay in office following the passing of a simple no-confidence motion against her in the Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday. Ciolos says the motion is a rebuke of Pruna over some of her statements, without raising any essential objections about her activity. The motion was filed by the Social Democrats after minister Pruna admitted she lied before the European Court of Human Rights with respect to the funds allocated to prisons in Romania. Pruna took responsibility for her statements saying no one can take away her right to signal the problems facing the justice system, including under-funding.



    MIGRANTS – 29 immigrants from Syria, including 17 minors aged between 2 and 17, were stopped on Wednesday morning by the Romanian border police in Timis as they were trying to cross from Serbia into Romania illegally. They did not carry identity papers but said they were Syrian nationals and that they crossed the Serbian border on foot planning to reach a country in western Europe. This is the largest group of Middle Eastern migrants to force the Romanian western border in Timis county this autumn. In the last two months, the authorities have thwarted many attempts to cross the border into Romania in the west, south-west and south.



    TENNIS- World no. 50 Monica Niculescu of Romania on Wednesday qualified for the quarterfinals of the Luxembourg tennis tournament, with 225,000 dollars in prize money up for grabs, after defeating Italys Francesca Schiavone, no.99. This is the first victory grabbed by Niculescu against Schiavone, who had defeated the Romanian player four times before. The Italian player got the first victory in the eighth finals in Moscow, back in 2009. Then she defeated Niculescu in the third round of the Australian Open in 2011, in the eights finals in New Haven, in 2011, and in the first round of the Stuttgart tennis tournament, in 2012. (Translated by D. Vijeu)

  • October 18, 2016 UPDATE

    October 18, 2016 UPDATE

    POVERTY – Romanian PM Dacian Ciolos on Tuesday said that poverty is the result of corruption and of the way in which public resources are allocated. On the other hand, Ciolos says that a change in the citizens behavioral attitudes is also necessary in order to eradicate poverty. The head of government attended debates on the program drafted by the government in an effort to curb poverty. It includes 47 measures destined for all age brackets, from preschoolers to elderly people. Over 37% of the Romanians are exposed to a risk of poverty and social exclusion, Romania ranking second in the EU from this point of view, data released by Eurostat show. One in three children in Romania is facing poverty.



    PROSECUTION – Romanian MPs on Tuesday voted in favor of the National Anticorruption Directorates request to prosecute Elena Udrea, suspected of involvement in two cases of abetting bribe-taking. The charges are linked to the presidential election campaign of 2009, when Udrea was the Minister for Regional Development and Tourism. Also on Tuesday the Directorate indicted Bogdan Olteanu, a former Chamber of Deputies Speaker, currently under house arrest for influence peddling. Prosecutors say that over July-November 2008 Olteanu received 1 million euros from businessman Sorin Ovidiu Vantu in exchange for using his influence to appoint Liviu Mihaiu governor of the Danube Delta.



    TERRORISM – EU Commissioner for Security Julian King on Tuesday told the German publication Die Welt about the risk of an influx of jihadist militants in Europe if their stronghold in Mosul is destroyed by the Iraqi offense. A 30,000-strong force, mostly Iraqi military, on Monday made their advance on Mosul on the first day of the siege on this city, the last major stronghold of the Islamic State in Iraq. There are fears the siege might generate a humanitarian crisis for the 1,5 million civilians on the ground. The military operation, supported by a US-led international coalition, is the most important action of the Iraqi military within its reinstatement since the death of dictator Saddam Hussein.



    MIGRATION – Eight Pakistani nationals were stopped at the Romanian-Serbian border, in the southwest, on Tuesday morning, while trying to illegally cross into Serbia, from Romania. Following checkouts, the police officers established that the respective persons were Pakistani citizens, who said they had crossed the border on foot, with the declared intention to head for a West European state. Many such attempts by migrants trying to illegally cross the border have been foiled in the past two months.



    CORRUPTION – One of the shareholders in the wine making company Murfatlar (in south-eastern Romania) and nine other persons have been taken into custody by the anti-corruption prosecutors, in a tax evasion file. The estimated value of the prejudice stands at some 600 million lei (135 million Euro). The anti-corruption prosecutors on Monday searched the headquarters of several firms in the wine-growing industry and the houses of several people, in several counties in the south and south-east, in a file in which investigations are carried out for crimes assimilated to corruption and tax evasion. The acts were reportedly carried out in the 2010-2014 period. In 2015, the wine company Murfatlar, one of the first ten players on the Romanian wine industry reported a turnover of 27 million Euro and a net profit of some 800 thousand Euro, according to the balance sheet submitted to the Finance Ministry.



    SIMPLE MOTION – Romanian MPs on Tuesday adopted the simple motion “Lies can kill, too, tabled by the Social Democratic Party against the justice minister in the current technocratic cabinet, Raluca Pruna. The MPs of the National Liberal Party and of the national minorities didnt cast their votes. In the document, the Social Democrats were demanding the resignation of justice minister Raluca Pruna for a series of statements she made in a plenary session of the Higher Council of the Magistracy, on October 6, when she claimed “she had lied to the European Court of Human Rights about the situation of funds allotted to penitentiaries. Ahead of the vote in parliament, Raluca Pruna defended herself, saying her mandate does not have a biased political stake. She assumed responsibility for the statements she made, saying that no one can take away her right to signal problems in the justice system, among which a severe one, such as under-financing. Todays vote does not lead to the sacking of the minister.



    SYRIA – The Russian and Syrian forces halted air raids in Aleppo as of Tuesday morning, Russian defence minister, Sergey Shoygu, has said. He has underlined that this cessation of fire, ahead of schedule, is necessary to allow citizens to leave Aleppo on Thursday. According to Shoygu, ahead of the humanitarian break, the Syrian troops will take distance from Aleppo, for the rebels to be able to leave the city along two corridors, laid out particularly to that end. The second largest city, Aleppo, has been divided since 2012, into the eastern districts controlled by the rebels and the western districts controlled by the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Since September 22, the 250,000 inhabitants of the districts controlled by the rebels have been subjected to intense air raids by the Syrian regime and its Russian ally, harshly criticised by the West. The Syrian conflict, which started with the 2011 stifling of pro-democracy protests, has left over 300,000 people dead.



    TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Marius Copil, ranked 198th in ATP standings, defeated Joao Sousa of Portugal, 33 ATP, in the opening round of the tournament in Antwerp, Belgium, totaling 600,000 euros in prize money. In the next round Copil will face the winner of the match pitting Steve Darcis of Belgium against Benoit Paire of France. In other news from tennis, Sorana Cirstea, 82 WTA, lost to Tereza Smitkova of the Czech Republic in the opening round of the tournament in Luxembourg, totaling 225,000 dollars in prize money. Monica Niculescu, 52 WTA, has advanced to the second round after defeating Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium, 63 WTA.


    (Translated by D. Vijeu and V. Palcu)

  • October 18, 2016

    October 18, 2016

    POVERTY — Romanian PM Dacian Ciolos has today said in Bucharest that poverty is the result of corruption and of the way in which public resources are allocated. In another move, Ciolos says that a change in the citizens’ behavioural attitudes is also necessary in order to eradicate poverty. The head of government attended debates on the program drafted by the government in an effort to curb poverty. It includes 47 measures destined for all age brackets, from preschoolers to elderly people. Over 37% of the Romanians are exposed to a risk of poverty and social exclusion, Romania ranking second in the EU from this point of view, data released by Eurostat show. One in three children in Romania is facing poverty.



    CORRUPTION — One of the shareholders in the wine making company Murfatlar (in south-eastern Romania) and nine other persons have been taken into custody by the anti-corruption prosecutors, in a tax evasion file. The estimated value of the prejudice stands at some 600 million lei (135 million Euro). The anti-corruption prosecutors on Monday searched the headquarters of several firms in the wine-growing industry and the houses of several people, in several counties in the south and south-east, in a file in which investigations are carried out for crimes assimilated to corruption and tax evasion. The acts were reportedly carried out in the 2010-2014 period. In 2015, the wine company Murfatlar, one of the first ten players on the Romanian wine industry reported a turnover of 124.4 million lei (27 million Euro) and a net profit of 3.5 million lei (some 800 thousand Euro), according to the balance sheet submitted to the Finance Ministry.



    GENERAL AFFAIRS COUNCIL — State secretary for European affairs, Cristian Badescu, is today attending in Luxembourg the General Affairs Council, a communiqué issued by the Romanian Foreign Ministry shows. The agenda of the meeting also includes talks on the stage revision of the Multiannual Financial Framework. The ministers will also be briefed on the stage of implementing the provisions of the Inter-institutional Agreement, referring to annual scheduling and inter-institutional cooperation, the Romanian Foreign Ministry also writes. The debates of the EU ministers for European affairs are held ahead of the European Council meeting due on Thursday and Friday. The agenda of the Council covers such issues as migration, the trade policy pursued by the EU, global and economic issues as well as foreign relations.



    SIMPLE MOTION — Romanian MPs have today adopted the simple motion “Lies can kill, too”, tabled by the Social Democratic Party against the justice minister in the current technocratic cabinet, Raluca Pruna. The MPs of the National Liberal Party and of the national minorities haven’t cast their votes. In the document, the Social Democrats were demanding the resignation of justice minister Raluca Pruna for a series of statements she made in a plenary session of the Higher Council of the Magistracy, on October 6, when she claimed “she had lied to the European Court of Human Rights” about the situation of funds allotted to penitentiaries. Ahead of the vote in parliament, Raluca Pruna defended herself, saying her mandate does not have a biased political stake. She assumed responsibility for the statements she made, saying that no one can take away her right to signal problems in the justice system, among which a severe one, such as under-financing. Today’s vote does not lead to the sacking of the minister.



    MIGRATION — Eight Pakistani nationals were stopped at the Romanian-Serbian border, in the southwest, on Tuesday morning, while trying to illegally cross into Serbia, from Romania. Following checkouts, the police officers established that the respective persons were Pakistani citizens, who said they had crossed the border on foot, with the declared intention to head for a West European state. Many such attempts by migrants trying to illegally cross the border have been foiled in the past two months. (Translated by D. Vijeu)

  • October 11, 2016 UPDATE

    October 11, 2016 UPDATE

    VISIT Romania’s technocratic Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos received the European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation Carlos Moedas in Bucharest on Tuesday. On this occasion, Ciolos has underlined Romania’s commitment to carrying on the implementation of the European programmes in terms of research, development and innovation. The latest developments in Romania’s research and innovation sector have also been tackled as well as the main measures the executive has taken to support activity in this domain. Commissioner Moedas had earlier pleaded for a better promotion of the laser project in Magurele, southern Romania, the world’s biggest laser.



    MOTION The Chamber of Deputies’ Tuesday session in which a simple motion targeting Justice Minister Raluca Pruna was to be tackled and voted upon has been suspended due to a lack of quorum. The motion entitled “A lie can also kill” calls for the resignation of Minister Pruna after she admitted of having lied to judges from the European Court of Human Rights that she had close to a one billion euro budget for seven penitentiaries in Romania. The information was based upon official documents, but the money mentioned does not exist, Raluca Pruna has said. Her statement came against an acute investment shortage for courts, the need for such investment and for ‘multi-annual budget planning’ the Justice Minister explained. The government does not have to sack the minister, even if the motion gets Parliament’s approval.



    CELL The Foreign Ministry in Bucharest on Tuesday announced it had activated a Crisis Cell to deal with the case of the Romanian engineer kidnapped in Nigeria on Monday. According to Ministry sources, the case is being monitored by the Romanian embassy in Abuja, which is in permanent contact with competent federal authorities in Nigeria, with the employer and the family of the Romanian citizen. The Nigerian police and media say the Romanian has been kidnapped by gunmen in the southern Nigerian state of Delta, a region, which has lately seen a wave of attacks against oil and gas installations. Militants in this region fight for getting a bigger part of the oil revenues for the Delta state, which accounts for a large part of Nigeria’s crude production.



    TOUR On Tuesday the Romanian Foreign Minister Lazar Comanescu started a four-day tour of Asia. According to the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the tour includes an official visit to Indonesia, aimed at boosting diplomatic bilateral dialogue and consolidating economic cooperation with this country. On Thursday and Friday, the Romanian Foreign Minister will attend the 21st Ministerial Meeting of the European Union — Association of South-East Asian Nations (EU-ASEAN) in Thailand. On the sidelines of the meeting, Lazar Comanescu will hold a series of bilateral talks with his counterparts from ASEAN countries.



  • October 11, 2016

    October 11, 2016

    TOUR – As of Tuesday the Romanian Foreign Minister Lazar Comanescu will go on a four-day tour of Asia. According to the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the tour includes an official visit to Indonesia, aimed at boosting diplomatic bilateral dialogue and consolidating economic cooperation with this country. On Thursday and Friday, the Romanian Foreign Minister will attend the 21st Ministerial Meeting of the European Union – Association of South-East Asian Nations (EU-ASEAN) in Thailand. On the sidelines of the meeting, Lazar Comanescu will hold a series of bilateral talks with his counterparts from ASEAN countries.



    TALKS – Slovakian President Andrej Kiska today took part in a Romanian-Slovakian business forum. Also today the Slovakian official is visiting the town of Nadlac in western Romania, home to the largest Slovakian minority in Romania. On Tuesday, the Slovakian president held talks with his Romanian counterpart, Klaus Iohannis, regarding the political and economic cooperation between the two states and the fight against corruption. Iohannis and Kiska highlighted that the Slovakian minority in Romania and the Romanian community in Slovakia have a substantial contribution to the development of ties between the two states. Andrej Kiska also met with Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos, discussing the development of rural areas, social inclusion policies and supporting job mobility.



    MOTION – The Chamber of Deputies is today debating and voting a simple motion targeting Justice Minister Raluca Pruna. The Social-Democrats are calling for her resignation after she admitted in a recent meeting of the Supreme Defence Council that she lied to European Court of Human Rights judges when claiming seven prisons in Romania were allotted a budget of 1 billion euros. The information was based on official documents, whereas the money didnt actually exist, Raluca Pruna said. The statement was made in the context of the underfunding in the justice system, Pruna calling for further investment and the need for a multi-annual investment plan. The Government is not forced to sack the justice minister, even if the motion is passed in Parliament.



    VISIT – EU Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation Carlos Moedas is on Tuesday paying an official visit to Bucharest. He will meet with Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos, Education Minister Mircea Dumitru, the president of the National Authority for Scientific Research and Innovation, Mihai Robert Dima, and with Romanian Academy president Ionel Valentin Vlad. Carlos Moedas will also meet with the members of Parliaments Committees on European affairs, education, science, youth and sports. Additionally, Commissioner Moedas will visit the ELI-NP laser project in Magurele.



    FOOTBALL – Romanias football team is today playing the national team of Kazakhstan away from home, in its third preliminary game in the 2018 World Cup in Russia. On Saturday, in Erevan, Romania defeated Armenia, 5-0. In the same group E, Poland won 3-2 against Denmark, and Montenegro beat Kazakhstan 5-0. With 4 points each, Romania, Montenegro and Poland top the group table. Last month the national team drew at home against Montenegro, 1-1, in the first game with the German Cristoph Daum as the first foreign manager of the Romanian team. This autumn Romania is to also play at home against Poland, on November 11.



    WEATHER – Its getting cold across the country, with overcast skies and showers reported in the southeast, northeast and center. Meteorologists have issued a code orange alert in place until Wednesday and a code yellow alert in place until Thursday against heavy rainfall. Snowfalls and strong wind are expected in the mountains. Maximum temperatures range from 6 to 18 degrees Celsius. The noon reading in Bucharest was 11 degrees.

    (Translated by V. Palcu)

  • October 10, 201 UPDATE

    October 10, 201 UPDATE

    COMMEMORATION – The Jewish and Roma victims in Nazi extermination camps were commemorated on Monday at the Holocaust Memorial in Bucharest. The National Holocaust Victim Commemoration Day is celebrated on October 9 in Romania. In a message delivered on this occasion, president Klaus Iohannis said honoring the victims of the Holocaust is a fundamental duty of the Romanian state. In turn, Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos said commemorating the victims of the Holocaust calls for a moment of reflection over some of our national historys dark chapters, learning the lessons of the past so that such tragedies may never happen again. On this day in 1941, the deportation to Transdniester of the Jewish population of Bukovina and Bessarabia began. The Romanian authorities officially accepted responsibility for the Holocaust in Romania in 2004, based on the conclusions of a commission headed by Nobel Peace Prize winner, Ellie Wiesel.



    TALKS – President Klaus Iohannis and his Slovakian counterpart Andrej Kiska discussed the consolidation of bilateral relations at political, economic and cultural level in Bucharest. Talks also tackled hot topics on the European agenda, given that Slovakia is holding the six-month rotating presidency of the EU Council. The two presidents also exchanged views referring to the EU Enlargement Policy and the Eastern Partnership, as well as regarding the future of the EU, a topic approached last month at the informal EU Summit in Bratislava. As part of NATO cooperation, president Iohannis reasserted the importance Romania gives to boosting NATOs capability of responding to current security challenges, against the backdrop of the recent developments in the Black Sea region. On the other hand, Iohannis and Kiska highlighted that the Slovakian minority in Romania and the Romanian community in Slovakia have a substantial contribution to the development of ties between the two states. On Tuesday, President Andrej Kiska will meet with representatives of the Slovakian minority in Romania in Nadlac, western Romania.



    MOTION – The Social-Democratic Party on Monday filed a simple motion against Justice Minister Raluca Pruna, who publicly admitted she lied at the European Court of Human Rights regarding funding allotted to the prison system. Last week at the Supreme Defence Council meeting Raluca Pruna said she lied when saying that Romania allots a 1-billion-euro budget to seven prisons. The information provided to ECHR judges was based on official documents, whereas in fact the money was not stipulated in the budget. According to the Chamber of Deputies regulations, the Government is not compelled to sack the Justice Minister, even is Parliament votes for the motion.



    VISIT – EU Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation Carlos Moedas is on Tuesday paying an official visit to Bucharest. He will meet with Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos, Education Minister Mircea Dumitru, the president of the National Authority for Scientific Research and Innovation, Mihai Robert Dima, and with Romanian Academy president Ionel Valentin Vlad. Additionally, Commissioner Moedas will visit the ELI-NP laser project in Magurele.



    TOUR – As of Tuesday the Romanian Foreign Minister Lazar Comanescu will go on a four-day tour of Asia. According to the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the tour includes an official visit to Indonesia, aimed at boosting diplomatic bilateral dialogue and consolidating economic cooperation with this country. On Thursday and Friday, the Romanian Foreign Minister will attend the 21st Ministerial Meeting of the European Union – Association of South-East Asian Nations (EU-ASEAN) in Thailand. On the sidelines of the meeting, Lazar Comanescu will hold a series of bilateral relations with his counterparts from ASEAN countries.



    NOBEL PRIZE – The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on Monday announced the names of the winners of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. Professor Oliver Hart and Professor Bengt Holmstrom of the Massachusets Institute of Technology were awarded the prize, for their insights into how best to write contracts. Their work paved the way for institutions and policies in many fields, from bankruptcy legislation to constitutional policies, the jury explained. The winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences was the American professor Angus Deaton, for his analysis of consumption, poverty and welfare. The Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences has been awarded since 1968 by the Central Bank of Sweden, unlike the other prizes which are financed by the Nobel Foundation. The 2016 Nobel Prize season concludes this week with the award for literature.



    US PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE – The nominees of the Republican and Democratic parties in the US election, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, Sunday night clashed in the second presidential debate. According to a CNN poll, 57% of the American viewers believe the debate was won by Hillary Clinton, while 34% say the winner was Trump. Also, 39% of the respondents said Hillary Clinton did better than in the first debate. Donald Trump attacked ex-President Bill Clinton, Hillarys husband, and accused her of having “deleted 35,000 emails that had allegedly ruined peoples lives. In turn, Hillary Clinton claimed Russia was getting involved in the US election in order to have Donald Trump win the race. The two candidates also disagreed over the way to handle the crisis in Syria, but according to commentators none of them suggested a concrete solution.



    FOOTBALL – Romanias football team is playing on Tuesday in Astana against the national team of Kazakhstan, in its third preliminary game in the 2018 World Cup in Russia. On Saturday, in Erevan, Romania defeated Armenia, 5-0. In the same group E, Poland won 3-2 against Denmark, and Montenegro beat Kazakhstan 5-0. With 4 points each, Romania, Montenegro and Poland top the group table. Last month the national team drew at home against Montenegro, 1-1, in the first game with the German Cristoph Daum as the first foreign manager of the Romanian team. This autumn Romania is to also play at home against Poland, on November 11.



    TENNIS – The best-ranking Romanian tennis player, Simona Halep, is as of Monday no. 4 in the WTA standings, one place up since last week. Halep is already qualified into the WTA Finals, a tournament that brings together the best 8 players of the world and held this year in Singapore, between October 23 and 30. Angelique Kerber, of Germany, is the WTA leader, followed by American Serena Williams and Polands Agnieskza Radwanska. Four other Romanian players are in the WTA Top 100: Irina Camelia Begu (no. 28), Monica Niculescu (no. 50), and Sorana Carstea (no. 83).



    (Translated by A.M. Popescu and V. Palcu)

  • Problemele sistemului penitenciar

    Problemele sistemului penitenciar

    Angajaţii din penitenciarele româneşti au început, de luni, pe termen nelimitat, acţiuni de protest în toată ţara. Ei cer, între altele, îmbunătăţirea condiţiilor de muncă, eliminarea inechităţilor salariale şi reducerea deficitului de personal în sistem, estimat la aproximativ opt mii de persoane. Administraţia Naţională a Penitenciarelor are 15 mii de posturi, din care sunt ocupate doar 12 mii, iar necesarul ar fi de 20 de mii de lucrători.



    Sindicaliştii ameninţă că vor refuza să mai stea peste program, ceea ce, în opinia lor, ar duce la blocarea activităţii în închisori. Preşedintele Federaţiei sindicatelor din Administraţia Naţională a Penitenciarelor (ANP), Florin Şchiopu, a anunţat, luni, după o întâlnire cu ministrul justiţiei, Raluca Prună, că negocierile au eşuat şi că protestele vor continua. Prună a spus că o parte din revendicările angaţilor din sistemul penitenciar sunt analizate de guvern. Este regretabil că în România se adoptă legi înainte să se vadă dacă este asigurată resursa financiară şi cea umană, a spus Raluca Prună.



    Conducerea ANP a anunţat că a luat act de revendicările organizaţiilor sindicale din sistem, însă atrage atenţia că angajaţii nu pot recurge la greve sau întreruperi voluntare ale activităţii, dar pot organiza forme de protest în condiţiile legii. In plus, Administraţia penitenciarelor a precizat că în prezent lucrătorilor din sistem li se acordă salarizarea stabilită prin acte normative aprobate în concordanţă cu grilele specifice acestei categorii. Administraţia Naţională a Penitenciarelor menţionează că a dispus măsuri administrative şi organizatorice legale care să evite depăşirea plafonului de 180 de ore suplimentare.



    Acţiunile angajaţilor din închisori survin după protestele zgomotoase din vară ale deţinutilor, nemulţumiţi de supraaglomerarea din celule şi de serviciile medicale oferite. Detinutii au cerut să participe la activităţi lucrative, să le fie micşorată perioada de detenţie şi termenele de eliberare condiţionată. In vara, ministrul justiţiei declara că situaţia din sistemul penitenciar e una sistemică şi gravă de mai bine de 20 de ani.



    Raluca Prună a declarat atunci că remedierea acestei situatii este o prioritate a mandatului său. La începutul lunii iulie, Ministerul Justiţiei a anunţat că a adoptat împreună cu Administraţia Naţională a Penitenciarelor un plan de măsuri privind accesul la muncă, completarea personalului medical, igienizarea spaţiilor şi asigurarea serviciilor stomatologice pentru deţinuţi. .Curtea Europeană a Drepturilor Omului a obligat în mai multe rânduri România să plătească despăgubiri unor condamnaţi pentru condiţiile improprii din închisori.

  • September 26, UPDATE

    September 26, UPDATE

    RESIGNATION – Romanias President, Klaus Iohannis, has accepted the resignation tendered by the Director of the Romanian Foreign Intelligence Service, Mihai Razvan Ungureanu, the Presidential Administration announced on Monday. According to the same source, general Silviu Predoiu will take over from Ungureanu, as interim director of the Service. Also on Monday, the Senate registered the request made by President Iohannis to declare vacant the position of Director of the Romanian Foreign Intelligence Service. Ungureanu, former prime minister and foreign minister, became head of the Foreign Intelligence Service in June 2015, after being nominated by the President and validated by Parliament. That was Ungureanus second term as Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service, after the 2007-2012 tenure.



    SUPREME DEFENCE COUNCIL – In Bucharest, the Supreme Defence Council is to convene on Tuesday. The agenda includes topics like the implementation of the decisions made in the NATO Summit, which affect Romania, the Presidents spokesman announced on Monday. Another topic on the agenda is the state of the healthcare system in Romania. The previous meeting of the Supreme Defence Council was held in late July, two weeks after the NATO Summit in Warsaw.



    PROTESTS – Romanian justice minister, Raluca Pruna, said on Monday, fresh from the talks she had had with penitentiary workers, that its regrettable that laws are adopted in Romania before properly analysing if the financial and human resources can be assured to that end. Earlier, the management of the National Penitentiary Agency had announced the institution took note of the demands of trade unions in the penitentiary system, but warned that employees cannot resort to strikes or voluntary suspension of work, although they may organise other forms of protests permitted by law. Prison staff in Romania initiated open-ended protest actions around the country on Monday. They demand, among other things, an improvement in working standards, addressing salary imbalances and a reduction of the personnel shortage, currently put at nearly 8,000 people.



    ROMANIAN MILITARY – The condition of the 4 Romanian troops wounded on Sunday during a mission in Afghanistan is improving, the Romanian Defence Ministry announced on Monday. According to the aforementioned source, the trauma produced by the sustained injuries didnt reach any vital organs. The military were part of the White Sharks Battalion, which ensures the protection of the military base in Kandahar and assists the Afghan security forces. They were wounded when an improvised explosive device went off during their patrol mission, and were taken to the army base hospital in Kandahar.



    NATIONAL INTEGRITY AGENCY – Romanias National Integrity Agency, ANI, on Monday sent a letter to the Standing Bureau of the Chamber of Deputies, asking it to take note of the fact that three MP seats are vacant and the disciplinary procedure has been launched in the case of two other MPs. According to the Agency, MPs Victor Roman, Ion Moldovan and Florin Ionas Urcan have been declared incompatible by the High Court of Cassation and Justice. The rulings are final. The Agency also says two assessment reports in the case of MPs Florin Paslaru and Ion Calin, respectively, show they have infringed the legal regime of conflict of interest. Therefore, in their case, ANI requests the start of disciplinary procedure, in conformity to the Statute of MPs, which provides for decreasing their MP allowances by 10 %, for a maximum period of three months.



    TAXATION – Romanian finance minister, Anca Dragu, has reiterated that no major tax increases will be made during the mandate of the current technocratic cabinet. She has added that all changes made so far were aimed at reducing red tape in the fiscal system. Anca Dragu has also said the institution will no grant any type of financial amnesty. Also, by the recently approved budget revision, the budget deficit is maintained at 2.8% of the GDP, the minister has also said. Anca Dragu participated in the so-called “Hour of the Government, in the Chamber of Deputies on Monday. The ministers presence had been requested by Liberal MPs, who called for clarifications with respect to the changes brought to the Fiscal Code and the prospective instatement of fiscal amnesty.

    FEAST OF MUSIC– RadiRo Festival, the only large-scale European
    event exclusively devoted to radio orchestras, continued on Monday with a
    concert given by the National Radio Orchestra conducted by Cristian Macelaru.
    The soloist was the highly acclaimed cello player Razvan Suma, who was
    accompanied by the Academic Choir and the Radio Children’s Choir. They
    performed Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana,
    one of the best known works of the last century. The festival, organised by
    Radio Romania, comes to an end on
    Saturday, October 1, and the concerts will also be aired live in the European
    Broadcasting Union network and the Asia-Pacific platform of public and private
    radio broadcasters.


    TENNIS – Romanian tennis player, Simona Halep, WTA no.5, on Monday qualified to the eighth finals of the Wuhan Open in China, with 2.5 million dollars in prize money up for grabs. Halep secured qualification, after her opponent and co-national, Irina Begu (WTA no.24) abandoned the match in the second set. This is the fifth match played by the two Romanian players, with Halep winning the four previous matches. (Translated by D. Vijeu)

  • Sistemul penitenciar şi confiscarea extinsă

    Sistemul penitenciar şi confiscarea extinsă

    4
    octombrie este data limită la care trebuie transpusă în legislaţia naţională a
    statelor membre ale Uniunii Europene directiva comunitară ce prevede
    confiscarea extinsă a averii celor care s-au îmbogăţit fraudulos. În România,
    urgenţa indusă de termenul fixat la Bruxelles se suprapune cu aprinsele
    dezbateri interne asupra efectelor luptei anticorupţie.

    De mult timp, presa,
    societatea civilă şi experţii avertizează că inculpările, arestările şi
    condamnările spectaculoase ale marilor corupţi rămân un exerciţiu platonic cât
    timp nu sunt urmate de recuperarea prejudiciilor.

    Ministrul Justiţiei în
    Guvernul tehnocrat de la Bucureşti, Raluca Prună, a anunţat, pentru Radio
    România, că există, deja, un proiect de lege în acest sens, care va fi înaintat
    Parlamentului. Ea nu a exclus
    posibilitatea emiterii unei Ordonanţe de Urgenţă, însă şi-a exprimat
    încrederea, că, graţie celerităţii cu care vor acţiona deputaţii şi senatorii,
    nu va fi nevoie de o astfel de măsură. Legislaţia
    actuală, adaugă doamna ministru, prevede, deja, în Codul Penal posibilitatea
    confiscării extinse. Din păcate această prevedere nu a fost foarte mult
    uzitată în dosarele în curs, iar ceea ce facem prin acest proiect e să
    transpunem în integralitate directiva. Rata de condamnare a celor
    trimişi în judecată pentru fapte de corupţie se menţine la nivelul de 90%, ceea
    ce, potrivit DNA, arată calitatea probaţiunii pe care se construiesc cauzele
    penale, precum şi profesionalismul procurorilor.

    Pe de altă parte, însă, şefa
    Direcţiei, Laura Codruţa Kovesi, sublinia că, numai în urma hotărârilor
    definitive de anul trecut ale instanţelor, statul are de recuperat aproape 200
    de milioane de euro şi insista asupra importanţei executării sentinţelor,
    inclusiv prin recuperarea prejudiciilor. Unii condamnaţi nu execută integral pedeapsa aplicată de judecători. Unii sunt eliberaţi
    condiţionat, fără se a recupera prejudiciul sau folosind tertipuri
    administrative. Astfel de situaţii duc treptat la pierderea autorităţii
    statului şi la o lipsă gravă de încredere în instituţii – avertiza doamna Kovesi.

    Acum, ministrul Justiţiei, Raluca Prună afirmă că
    pentru infracţiuni economice, un caracter de descurajare foarte puternic este
    confiscarea produsului infracţiunii şi nu executarea unei pedepse care în
    general, în România şi peste tot în lume, este o pedeapsă mai mică decât pentru
    fapte de drept comun. Ea apreciaza că preluarea directivei europene poate
    rezolva şi supraaglomerarea sistemului penitenciar autohton.

    În vară, deţinuţii
    au protestat zgomotos contra condiţiilor din celule. La rându-le, angajaţii din
    sistem spun că sunt suprasolicitaţi şi prost plătiţi şi refuză să muncească
    suplimentar, ceea ce ar putea duce la blocarea activităţii în penitenciare, din
    cauza deficitului de personal. Administraţia Naţională a Penitenciarelor are 15
    mii de posturi, din care sunt ocupate doar 12 mii, iar necesarul ar fi de 20 de
    mii de lucrători.

  • September 4, 2016 UPDATE

    September 4, 2016 UPDATE

    JUDICIARY – The Association of Romanian Magistrates (ARM) has called on Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos to dismiss justice minister Raluca Pruna as the topics for debate that she proposes have nothing to do with the objectives of the judiciary. According to a release by ARM, there are irreconcilable differences between Minister Pruna and the magistrates, triggered mainly by the latter’s behaviour, who, without any justification, presents the situations she is informed about in a distorted manner. The judiciary is thus warning over the risks Romania is being exposed to by keeping Minister Pruna in office.




    CERN — Romanian President Klaus Iohannis will attend on Monday in Geneva the flag raising ceremony on the occasion of Romania’s joining the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN). According to a release by the presidency, Klaus Iohannis will be accompanied by Education Minister Mircea Dumitru and a delegation of Romanian researchers that have been collaborating with CERN. Romania, that has become the Organisation’s twenty-second member, has been cooperating with CERN for 25 years. “These are exciting times for CERN and particle physics, and I am very glad that the Romanian scientific community, in particular the younger generations, will now have increased opportunities to contribute to our truly international research programme,” Fabiola Gianotti, the Organisation’s Director-General has said. Romania’s scientific community at CERN is made up of around a hundred visiting scientists. Founded in 1954, CERN is a European research organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world.




    CANONIZATION — Pope Francis proclaimed Mother Teresa of Calcutta a saint of the Roman Catholic Church on Sunday, 19 years after her death. Around one hundred thousand people, among whom twelve heads of state, attended Sunday’s ceremony at the Vatican. A Nobel peace prize winner, Mother Teresa was one of the most influential women in the Churchs 2,000-year history, acclaimed for her work amongst the worlds poorest of the poor in the slums of the Indian city now called Kolkata. Mother Teresa was born of Albanian parents in 1910 in what was then part of the Ottoman Empire and is now Macedonia. She became a nun at 16 and moved to India in 1929, creating her mission in 1950.




    G20 – Leaders of the G20 nations are in the Chinese city of Hangzhou for a two-day summit to find ways of boosting global growth. Set to be high on the G20 agenda are strengthening the economic rebound, the Paris climate change agreement and cracking down on corporate tax avoidance, but also Brexit and Syria. Attending the summit, the European Council President Donald Tusk has said: ”We will urge the G20 to seize the opportunity of the forthcoming summits on refugees and migrants hosted by the UN and President Obama to increase aid and resettlements by countries outside Europe. It is even more important in view of the fact that the practical capabilities of Europe to host new waves of refugees, not to mention irregular economic migrants, are close to the limits.” In his turn, the European Commission President, Jean-Claude Junker has said that Brussels “will continue to negotiate” with the US on free trade transatlantic treaty as the mandate of the European Commission to do so remains fully valid.




    VISIT – Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos is paying a visit to Germany as of Sunday. Ciolos will meet with officials from Bavaria, North Rhine–Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg,with representatives of German companies with investments in Romania and with potential investors. This is the Romanian PM’s second visit to Germany this year, after a meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin in January. Ciolos said at the time that Germany was a partner of strategic importance for Romania and Bucharest’s first commercial partner. Acording to the PM, bilateral trade exceeds 20 billion euros every year.




    CLIMATE DEAL – The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, hailed the ratification by the United States and China of the Paris climate deal on Saturday. History will show that the Paris deal will “ultimately prove to be a turning point, the moment we finally decided to save our planet”, President Obama has said at the ratification ceremony in the Chinese city of Hangzhou. The Paris agreement aims to limit global temperature increases to two degrees centigrade, and will be triggered after at least 55 countries, accounting for 55 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, ratify it. China is responsible for almost a quarter of the world’s emissions, with the US in second place with around 15 percent, so their participation is crucial.




    TENNIS — World no. 5 Simona Halep of Romania will be up against Spanish Carla Suarez Navarro on Monday in the fourth round at the US Open, the final Grand Slam tournament of the year worth over 22 million dollars in prize money. On Saturday Halep defeated the Hungarian player Timea Babos. In the mens doubles, the Romanian-Dutch pair Horia Tecau and Jean Julien Rojer also made it to the fourth round and will next play against Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan and Robert Lindstedt of Sweden.



    (Translated by Elena Enache)


  • 04.09.2016 (mise à jour)

    04.09.2016 (mise à jour)

    Physique – Le président roumain Klaus Iohannis participera lundi à Genève à la cérémonie pendant laquelle le drapeau roumain sera érigé pour marquer l’adhésion de la Roumanie à l’Organisation européenne pour la recherche nucléaire CERN. Selon un communiqué de l’administration présidentielle, le chef de l’Etat roumain sera accompagné par le ministre de l’Education, Mircea Dumitru, par une délégation de chercheurs roumains qui collaborent avec le CERN, ainsi que par deux jeunes élèves, gagnants du concours national de Physique. A cette occasion Klaus Iohannis doit s’entretenir avec les représentants de la direction de l’Organisation européenne pour la recherche nucléaire. Il rencontrera également des chercheurs roumains qui travaillent au CERN ou collaborent aux projets de l’Organisation. Rappelons-le, le 17 juillet 2016, la Roumanie est devenue le 22e Etat membre à pleins droits de l’Organisation européenne pour la recherche nucléaire, le plus grand centre au monde de recherche dans le domaine de la physique des particules élémentaires.

    Economie – Le premier ministre roumain Dacian Ciolos a entamé dimanche une visite en Allemagne, portant sur des priorités économiques. A l’agenda : des rencontres avec des responsables des lands de Bavière, de la Rhénanie du Nord Westphalie et de Bade -Wurtemberg, des représentants des compagnies allemandes qui ont déjà investi en Roumanie ainsi que de potentiels nouveaux investisseurs. C’est la 2e visite de cette année du premier ministre roumain en Allemagne. Rappelons-le, en janvier, Dacian Ciolos s’est entretenu à Berlin avec la chancelière allemande, Angela Merkel et d’autres hauts responsables allemands. A cette occasion-là, M Ciolos avait précisé que l’Allemagne était un partenaire d’importance stratégique pour la Roumanie et le premier partenaire commercial de Bucarest. Selon le chef du gouvernement roumain, les échanges commerciaux bilatéraux dépassent les 20 milliards d’euros par an.

    Magistrats – L’Association des Magistrats de Roumanie demande au premier ministre Dacian Ciolos de démettre la ministre de la Justice Raluca Pruna, estimant que les thèmes qu’elle a soumis au débat n’ont pas de liaison avec les objectifs du système judiciaire. Selon un communiqué de l’Association, il existe des différences irréconciliables entre la ministre Raluca Pruna et le corps des magistrats, principalement en raison du comportement adopté par la ministre, qui transmet de manière dénaturée les situations qui ont été portées à sa connaissance et ce pour des raisons injustifiées. Par conséquent, le système judiciaire tire la sonnette d’alarme, attirant l’attention sur les pertes auxquelles la Roumanie est exposée si elle maintient à la tête du ministère de la Justice une personne qui, par des déclarations publiques impardonnables, nuit à l’image et à la crédibilité d’un pouvoir de l’Etat, lit-on encore dans le communiqué de l’Association des Magistrats de Roumanie.

    Tennis – La joueuse de tennis roumaine Simona Halep (n° 5 WTA) renontrera lundi dans les 8e de finale de l’US Open, Carla Suarez Navarro d’Espagne. Simona Halep a obtenu samedi une victoire difficile face à la Hongroise Timea Babos, nr 34 WTA. Toujours lundi, dans les 8e de finale de l’épreuve de double messieurs de l’US Open, le Roumain Horia Tecau et le Néerlandais Jean-Julien Rojer joueront contre le duo Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi (Pakistan) / Robert Lindstedt (de Suède).

    Météo – Le météorologues annoncent du beau temps en Roumanie dans les 24 prochaines heures. Le ciel sera couvert par endroits sur le sud-est, le nord et le centre. Les températures maximales iront jusqu’à 34 degrés.