Radio România Internațional

Tag: relocation

  • October 28, 2023 UPDATE

    October 28, 2023 UPDATE

    ISRAEL
    Romania and other countries are
    making joint efforts to help the over 3,000 people in Gaza with dual
    citizenship, including Romanian nationals, to leave that region, PM Marcel
    Ciolacu said. He explained that the situation was not easy to handle, and added
    that 260 applications have been received from Romanian nationals who want to
    leave Gaza, but many Palestinians are trying to do the same. What matters is
    for the situation not to spiral out of control, he also said. The
    Israeli army Saturday announced it entered the north of
    Gaza Strip and expanded military operations in the Palestinian enclave, while
    stepping up attacks against Hamas. The
    army once again asked the locals still in the north of Gaza Strip to move
    immediately to the south, explaining that the north is currently a battlefield.
    According to Israeli army estimates, some 700,000 people have already left the
    area, and the UN says out of the almost 2.2 million people in Gaza Strip, around
    1.4 million have been relocated since the conflict began. In fresh talks with the Israeli defence minister, the Pentagon chief
    Lloyd Austin called
    for the protection of civilians during the operation. On Friday night, the UN
    General Assembly adopted a resolution calling for a humanitarian ceasefire. The
    resolution is not compulsory, but it has political weight. Israel and the US
    voted against, while Romania abstained.




    DIPLOMACY
    The Romanian foreign minister Luminiţa Odobescu Friday had a telephone
    conversation with the British foreign secretary James Cleverly, to discuss the
    security situation in Israel and Gaza Strip, focusing on the need to ensure
    close coordination in order to avoid regional spill-over. According to the
    Romanian foreign ministry, the 2 officials emphasised the importance of
    continued humanitarian aid to the population in Gaza and of the immediate and
    unconditional release of all hostages.The
    Romanian diplomacy chief also discussed with her Qatari counterpart, Sheikh
    Mohammed Al Thani, given that Qatar is a mediator in the Hamas hostage crisis.
    Odobescu appreciated Qatar’s diplomatic efforts to mitigate the humanitarian
    crisis, and spoke about the aid Romania has decided to send there.


    AMBASSADOR The Black Sea region plays an important
    role for NATO, and Romania is a very close partner for the USA, the US
    Ambassador to Bucharest Kathleen Kavalec reiterated. In an interview to Radio
    Romania, the US official said that Romania, which is located next to the
    conflict in Ukraine, has faced problems like the Ukrainian refugee crisis and
    the transport of grains via Romanian sea ports, and in this context the
    security and defence relations between the 2 countries have become even closer.
    We have tripled the number of US troops in Romania, so now we have over 3,000 American
    troops here and we are working with our Romanian partners with respect to
    defence and deterrence, to safeguard every piece of NATO territory, Kathleen
    Kavalec pointed out.


    POPULATION The population of Romania on July 1 was
    approx. 21.9 million, down 0.3% since the corresponding month of last year. Almost
    3 million of them are currently living abroad. Romania is also facing
    population ageing, with 125 elderly citizens for each 100 youth. The average
    age is 42.4 years, 0.3 years more than on July 1, 2022. The number of citizens
    in urban communities is nearly 3 million higher than the number of rural
    inhabitants, however urban population dropped by 0.8% over the past year while
    the rural population grew by 0.3%.


    UKRAINE Ukraine is seeking international support for its peace plan,
    in a 2-day meeting held as of today in Malta. As many as 50 countries are
    taking part, but Russia is not among them. According to AFP, this is the 3rd
    meeting of this kind, and organisers hope it would result in a joint
    declaration. The 10-point plan proposed by Ukraine’s president Volodymyr
    Zelenskyy includes, among other things, the pull out of Russian troops from the
    occupied Ukrainian territories, including Donbas, part of which is under
    separatist control since 2014, and Crimea, occupied and annexed by Russia in 2014.
    Last year, Moscow annexed 4 Ukrainian regions, partly occupied by its troops
    after the large-scale invasion of February 24.



    DST
    On Saturday night, Romania switches to winter time, setting clocks back one
    hour from 4 AM to 3 AM. Sunday will thus be 25-hour long. Daylight saving time,
    first suggested by the scientist Benjamin Franklin in 1784, is currently used
    in 70 countries. The concept has come under debate in recent years, with the EU
    asking member states to end seasonal clock changes and choose either winter
    time or summer time, but a decision in this respect is yet to be made. (AMP)

  • January 7, 2020 UPDATE

    January 7, 2020 UPDATE

    Bavaria — On Tuesday the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis paid a working visit to the State of Bavaria where he attended a meeting of the local government. The Romanian head of state met with the prime minister of Bavaria, Markus Söder, who is the president of the Christian Social Union (CSU). The two discussed bilateral relations as well as European issues such as the EU future multiannual budget, Brexit and the migration policy. Klaus Iohannis has promised that Romania will get involved alongside the other member states to make the EU stronger and more united. He has also announced that there will be a meeting of the Romania-Bavaria joint committee, which is critical both for the political and economic relations. The PM of Bavaria Markus Söder underlined that from a geographical point of view Romania is very important to Europe. On Tuesday President Iohannis participated in the annual meeting of the parliamentary group of the CSU in the Bundestag, and met with the speaker of the Bavarian Parliament, Ilse Aigner.



    Brussels — The Romanian PM Ludovic Orban on Tuesday met with the president of the European Council Charles Michel on his first day of his working visit to Brussels. PM Orban said that Romanian would back the promotion of the EU strategic agenda, which focuses, besides protecting the citizens and their liberties, on building a green Europe, fair and neutral from the point of view of the climate impact, on promoting the European interests and values in the world. As to the challenges facing the EU, Ludovic Orban said they should be solved in a balanced manner, while taking into account the citizens’ interests. Also on Tuesday the Romanian PM and the EU chief negotiator for Brexit Michel Barnier highlighted the importance of the Brexit deal, especially for the protection of the citizens’ rights. Mr. Orban said that the future partnership with Great Britain needs to be ambitious and balanced and should take into account aspects beyond the commercial and economic framework. On Wednesday Ludovic Orban will talk with the president of the EP David Sassoli and will participate in the meeting of the European People’s Party in the EP. On Thursday, the Romanian PM is to meet with the president of the EC Ursula von der Leyen and with the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.



    Baghdad — The 14 Romanian military on mission in Iraq will be temporarily relocated to another coalition base. The measure follows the decision made by the ambassadors of NATO’s North Atlantic Council during Monday’s meeting to temporarily suspend the mission of training the Iraqi troops against the backdrop of escalating tensions in the Middle East. NATO subsequently announced that it also temporarily withdrew part of its personnel from Iraq. The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said he was closely monitoring the situation in Iraq and that the crisis in the region could be solved by diplomatic means and the return to calm. He added that the Strategic Partnership with the US is solid and unfolding well, and that the antimissile defense shield in Deveselu, a part of the NATO defense system, is functioning optimally. The Romanian president underlined that the situation in Iraq also concerns Romania because there are many Romanian citizens who live and work in the Middle East.



    Damascus – The Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday met with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad on the occasion of a surprise visit to Damascus, the first visit he pays to the Syrian capital since the beginning of the conflict in 2011. According to the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov, Vladimir Putin referred to the ‘immense’ progress made by Syria and the peaceful atmosphere on the streets of Damascus. Reuters news agency recalls that president Putin had previously visited Syria in 2017 when he visited the Hmeimim air base, the largest Russian base in that country. In turn, the Syrian president expressed gratitude for Russia’s help in the fight against terrorism and for the restoration of peace. The conflict started in Syria through the repression of the pro-democracy manifestations turned into a complex civil and military war which involved Jihadist groups and foreign powers. The conflict has left behind more than 380 thousand dead and millions of people displaced and stranded.



    Madrid — The Spanish Socialist Pedro Sanchez was reconfirmed as prime minister after narrowly winning Parliament’s confidence vote. This ends a period of 8 months of political deadlock. Sanchez will be able to form a new government coalition together with the radical left Podemos that will be supported by several small regional and national parties. In their highly criticized program, the Socialists and Podemos promised to make a left turn in the sense of increasing the minimum wage, introducing taxes for the richest and for companies, and partially abrogating the controversial labor market reform, adopted by the Conservatives.



    Consumer protection — The European Commission has hailed the enforcement of the new EU consumer protection rules. The EU Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders considers the rules a strong warning to traders who should play by the rules, not bend them. The new rules will ensure greater transparency of online marketplaces: it will become clearer whether products are sold by trader or a private individual, and fake reviews will be forbidden. Moreover sellers will not be able to advertise fake price reductions and price comparison sites will need to inform consumers about the ranking criteria. The new rules will also enforce consumer rights: by ensuring compensation for victims of unfair commercial practices and imposing penalties in case of “mass harm situations” affecting consumers across the EU. Member states have 2 years to transpose the rules into their national legislation. (news udpate by L. Simion)

  • November 16, 2017 UPDATE

    November 16, 2017 UPDATE

    PRESIDENCY – Romanias president Klaus Iohannis travels to Gothenburg, in Sweden, on Friday, to attend a social summit on fair jobs and economic growth. The event brings together EU heads of state and government, social partners and other key players. The summit consists of an introductory meeting and three other meetings focusing on specific themes that will discuss access to the labour market, the situation of the labour market and the transition between jobs. The Romanian president Klaus Iohannis is to give a talk on the access to the labour market.




    NO-CONFIDENCE MOTION – The National Liberal Party, the main party in opposition in the Parliament of Romania, announced that it would table a no-confidence motion on Friday against the government made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania. The Liberals main criticism against Mihai Tudoses Cabinet concerns the changes in the tax code. The new version of this law switches the responsibility for social security payments from employers to employees and cuts income taxes from 16 to 10%, as of January 1, 2018. Over the past few weeks, street protests have been held in Bucharest and other major Romanian cities against the governments plans to change the tax code and the laws on the judiciary. On the other hand, PM Tudose claims that the new fiscal reform would result in more money to the state budget and social security budget, and will reduce bureaucracy.




    JUDICIARY – The Constitutional Court of Romania postponed to next week the ruling on a notification filed by the Senate Speaker Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu with respect to an alleged conflict between the Government and the Public Ministry over government resolutions. The notification was tabled against the backdrop of an investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, concerning 2 former members of the current Cabinet, namely the former deputy PM and minister for regional development Sevil Shhaideh, and former minister for European funds Rovana Plumb. They resigned a month ago, after being accused in this case. The National Anti-Corruption Directorate claims that in 2013 two plots of land in the Danube plains were illegally transferred, under a government resolution, from state property into the property of Teleorman County and the management of the Teleorman County Council. At that time, Shhaideh was a secretary of state with the Ministry for Regional Development, and Plumb was minister for the environment.




    EU AGENCY – The assessment made by the European Medicines Agency on its possible relocation from London to Bucharest exceeds its responsibilities, says the Romanian foreign ministry. The assessment made by the Agency, argues the Romanian ministry, should have only covered a number of specific aspects to facilitate a final assessment of the European Commission. The Romanian side is also unhappy with the content of the Agencys report. The winner of the bid to host the European Medicines Agency after the UK leaves the European Union will be announced on the 20th of November. Now based in London, the European Medicines Agency is considered one of most important of the European Unions 40 specialised agencies. It employs 900 people and receives visits from around 35,000 national regulation authorities and scientists every year given its essential role in approving new medicines on the European market. Bucharest has made a bid to host this agency along with other big cities in the EU.



    AUTOMOTIVE – The sale in Europe of Dacia cars made by Renault in Romania saw a 20.3% growth in October compared with the same month last year, while its market share grew from 2.6 to 2.9%, according to statistics made public on Thursday by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association. In the first ten months of the year, deliveries of Dacia cars saw an 11.3% increase in Europe. The Dacia car factory was taken over by Renault in 1999. Relaunched in 2004 with the Logan model, Dacia has become an important player on the European car market.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu, Cristina Mateescu)