Radio România Internațional

Tag: Revolution case

  • The Revolution case, in Court again

    The Revolution case, in Court again

    After being adjourned a couple of times, the Bucharest Court of Appeal rejected all the exceptions and requests raised by the lawyers and decided that the indictment presented by prosecutors, in the Revolution Case, was legal. As a result, the Court ordered the start of the trial on its merits. In this case, 34 years after the anti-communist revolution, former head of state Ion Iliescu, the first president of post-communist Romania, as well as former deputy prime minister Gelu Voican Voiculescu and the former head of the Military Aviation, general Iosif Rus, are accused of committing crimes against humanity, crimes which the statute of limitations does not apply to.




    The saga of the Revolution Case began four years ago. In the first phase, it was sent to Court by the Military Prosecutor’s Office in April 2019, but it was returned to the Prosecutor’s Office two years later by the judges with the High Court of Cassation and Justice, on grounds of irregularities in the indictment. After the military prosecutors redid the indictment, the former General Prosecutor of Romania, Gabriela Scutea, announced, in August 2022, that the Revolution Case was being resent to the Supreme Court, only for a preliminary chamber judge to decide, six months later, that the case was not within the Supreme Court’s competence, and to send it to the Bucharest Court of Appeal.




    A senior figure of the communist regime, the main defendant, Ion Iliescu, fell out of dictator Nicolae Ceaușescus favor in the 1970s, being consequently marginalized and removed from major political positions. In 1989 he became the central political figure of the anti-communist Revolution, and headed the Romanian state three times: first, between December 22nd, 1989 and 1992, then as elected president in 1992-1996 and again in 2000-2004. According to the indictment, during the Revolution, Ion Iliescu allegedly sought to obtain popular legitimacy intentionally, by directly spreading misinformation through televised appearances and press releases, thus contributing to the the institution of a generalized psychosis. At the same time, between December 22 and 30, he allegedly orchestrated the operation of misleading the public opinion systematically, by using military officials. Their actions and statements intentionally increased the risk of instances of friendly fire, chaotic shooting and contradictory military orders, leading to the death of 857 people, the injuring of 2,382 and the illegal detainment of 585. Ion Iliescu, as well as the other defendants, have always denied any wrongdoing. In time, the events of December 1989 were the subject of investigation in over 4,500 criminal cases. In 112 of them, 275 people were sent to Court. (EE)

  • November 29, 2019

    November 29, 2019

    REVOLUTION TRIAL – The High Court of
    Cassation and Justice in Bucharest has set for today the first hearing in the
    Revolution Case, where former President Ion Iliescu is being prosecuted for
    crimes against humanity. The indictment was sent to magistrates in April.
    Investigated in the same case are former deputy Prime Minister Gelu Voican
    Voiculescu and the former head of the Military Aviation, General Iosif Rus.
    According to prosecutors, against the backdrop of the poor relations between
    Romania and the USSR after Prague, 1968, and as a result of the general state
    of public unrest, a dissident group formed with the purpose of removing
    dictator Nicolae Ceausescu from power, but which sought to maintain Romania in
    the Soviet sphere of influence. Prosecutors say this group was made up of
    civilians and military figures, both marginalized in some way by the former
    president. Its members belonged to the Ministry of Defense and the Directorate
    of State Security, as well as to various civilian structures in the state.
    Prosecutors also claim the group surrounding Ion Iliescu acted to take over
    political and military power in December 1989. Therefore the entire military
    power of Romania, the Defense and Interior ministries, the State Security
    Department, as well as the patriot guards acted on behalf of the National
    Salvation Front Council and its leadership starting December 22, 1989.




    F-16 – Romania will be purchasing
    another 5 F-16 fighter jets from Portugal, a Government bill reads. The Defense
    Ministry says the bill was submitted to Parliament to be debated and adopted as
    a top priority. Ministry officials claim the jets will have the same
    configuration as the other 12 previously purchased by the Romanian Air Force.
    The Ministry believes this measure would involve the national defense industry
    in the maintenance, repair works and modernization of the aircraft.




    US – ROMANIA RELATIONS – Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu has commended
    US Ambassador Hans Klemm for his entire activity in Bucharest and his
    substantial and effective contribution to the development and advancement of
    the Strategic Partnership between the two states. Minister Aurescu and
    Ambassador Klemm referred to consolidating cooperation in the field of civil
    nuclear engineering and the security of 5G networks. At the same time, the
    Romanian official reiterated our country’s legitimate interest in acceding to
    the Visa Waiver programme, expressing hope the decreasing visa refusal rate
    during Ambassador Klemm’s term in office is a positive trend that would
    continue in the future as well. New-York-based lawyer Adrian Zuckerman is due
    to replace Hans Klemm as US Ambassador to Bucharest. Zuckerman last week was
    confirmed by the US Senate. A fluent Romanian speaker, Adrian Zuckerman moved
    to the United States with his family at the age of 10.




    CLIMATE CHANGE – Bucharest is today
    playing host to a climate action march. Held under the slogan Climate Action
    Day, the march will be organized in another 11 cities in the country: Târgu Jiu, Iaşi, Timişoara,
    Constanţa, Cluj-Napoca, Oradea, Sibiu, Braşov, Bacău, Târgul Ocna and Craiova. Organizers
    want to raise awarenes over the effects of global warming. Some 1,000 people
    attended the previous such march held on September 20 in Bucharest, and another
    800 people took part in similar events in another eight cities in Romania. We
    recall this Thursday MEPs passed a resolution declaring a climate emergency,
    just ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP25) scheduled for December
    2-13 in Madrid.




    FOOTBALL – Romanian champions CFR Cluj on
    Thursday lost 1-nil to Lazio Rome in Europa League Group E. Celtic Glasgow of
    Scotland is top of the tables with 13 points, followed by CFR Cluj with 9
    points, Lazio Rome with 6 points and Rennes of France with 1 point. CFR will
    next take on Celtic Glasgow at home on December 12, with the Scottish side
    having already secured qualification to the next phase. In other news from
    football, this Saturday Bucharest hosts the 2020 European Championship draw.
    Romania will host four matches next year, three in the group phase and one in
    the round of 16. Our national team didn’t move past the preliminaries, but
    still holds chances of qualifying, as it will play in the Nations League
    playoff scheduled for March next year. Romania will play Iceland on March 26,
    and if it wins it will play the winner of the match pitting Bulgaria and
    Hungary in a match that will decide who will qualify to EURO 2020.




    HANDBALL – The Romanian women’s
    handball team is tomorrow playing Spain in the first match in Group C at the
    World Cup hosted by Japan until December 15. Romania was drawn in Group C
    alongside Senegal, Kazakhstan, Montenegro and Hungary. The top three teams will
    advance to the next phase. From 1957 to 2017, Romania has never missed a World
    Cup. Our country won silver in 2005 in Russia and bronze in 2015 in Denmark.


    (Translated by
    V. Palcu)

  • June 22, 2018

    June 22, 2018

    SENTENCE – An emergency meeting of the executive board of the Social
    Democratic Party, the main party in the ruling coalition in Romania, is to be
    held today, to discuss the situation created by the president of the party
    Liviu Dragnea being sentenced to prison for instigation to abuse of power by a
    court of first instance. The executive president of the Social Democratic
    Party, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila, believes that Dragnea should benefit
    from the presumption of innocence until the final ruling, while the
    vice-president and Interior Minister Carmen Dan claims that the sentence issued
    by the High Court of Cassation and Justice is politically motivated and a
    revenge from those who oppose the reforming of the rule of law. The right-wing
    opposition wants Dragnea to resign from his public offices.








    JUSTICE LAWS – Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis has sent back for
    reexamination in Parliament the bill that amends and completes the Law on the
    functioning of the Higher Council of the Magistracy. According to Iohannis, the
    bill includes provisions that are contradictory, unclear, as well as references
    to provisions and norms that do not exist. This bill, just like the ones
    regarding judicial organization and the status of judges and prosecutors, is on
    the agenda of the talks that the chairman of the parliamentary committee in
    charge with the laws Florin Iordache will have today and tomorrow at the
    plenary session of the Venice Commission, the advisory body of the Council of Europe in the field of
    constitutional law. Iordache has stated that the three bills are in line with
    the opinions expressed by the Venice Commission and do not affect the
    independence of the judiciary. A Venice Commission delegation has recently paid
    a visit to Bucharest, to analyze the justice laws. Their modification, in the
    form wanted by the coalition formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance
    of Liberals and Democrats has been criticized by the right-wing opposition,
    magistrates’ associations and many civil society voices.






    REVOLUTION CASE – Romania’s President
    Klaus Iohannis has submitted to the Minister of Justice Tudorel Toader the
    request for the criminal prosecution of the retired admiral Emil Cico
    Dumitrescu, investigated for crimes against humanity committed during the 1989
    Revolution. The first post-communist president Ion Iliescu and the former
    prime-minister Petre Roman, as well as his deputy Gelu Voican Voiculescu are
    also being prosecuted in the Revolution case. They allegedly masterminded a
    military diversion, aimed to legitimize them as leaders of the power that took
    over control after the communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu attempted to flee,
    a diversion in which many people were wounded and killed and which caused
    significant material damage. 1,166 people died in the events of December 1989,
    800 of them after the toppling of the Ceausescu regime.




    CENTER – The Romanian Defense Minister Mihai Fifor has
    announced that a recovery center for soldiers returned from theaters of
    operations abroad will be established near Targoviste, in southern Romania.
    Investment might start next year. The project is an initiative of the Veterans’
    Association and of the Disabled Veterans’ Association.






    MOLDOVA – The Court of Appeal of the Republic of Moldova endorsed on
    Thursday the invalidation of the early elections for the office of mayor of the
    capital Chisinau. The second round of the ballot was won on June 3rd by the
    representative of the pro-European opposition Andrei Nastase, who defeated the
    pro-Russia socialist Ion Ceban. Nastase has announced he will appeal the
    decision to the Supreme Court of Justice and has called for street protests.
    The decisions made by the courts have already triggered protests in the country
    and reactions from the European Union and the US embassy in Chisinau, who have
    called for the appeal procedures to be carried out in a transparent manner. In
    Bucharest, the Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu has warned that the
    invalidation of mayoral elections might affect the stability of the republic,
    and the right-wing opposition has voiced support for Nastase. If Nastase’s win
    is not validated by a higher instance, Chisinau will be headed by an interim
    mayor until the local election normally due next year.




    TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Mihaela Buzarnescu,
    ranking 29th in the WTA classification, will today play against the Ukrainian
    Elina Svitolina, no. 5 WTA, in the quarter finals of the Birmingham tournament,
    with 850 thousand dollars in prize money. If she wins, Buzarnescu will take on
    the winner of the match between Petra Kvitova (no.8 WTA) and Julia Goerges (no.
    13 WTA). In the third round of this year’s Roland Garros tournament, Buzarnescu
    defeated Svitolina 2-0.




    BAD WEATHER – The Romanian Meteorological
    Administration has issued a code yellow warning for bad weather, in place on
    Friday for three quarters of the country. Torrential rain, powerful gusts of
    wind and storms will be reported in most regions. For the south and south-east
    of the country, the warning is valid until Saturday morning. The Hydrology
    Institute has too issued a code yellow warning for flooding, affecting the
    counties in the north, center and east, in place until Saturday. Temperatures
    are dropping all over the country, with highs ranging from 19 to 34 degrees.







  • May 24, 2018

    May 24, 2018

    CAR INDUSTRY — Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis has today said in Pitesti, southern Romania that the Government should make all efforts to bring over to Romania new and highly performing foreign firms, particularly in those sectors of the economy which offer spectacular competitive advantages. Attending a debate organised by the Car Manufacturers’ Association, Iohannis said Romania is among the ten largest producers in the field in the EU, with over 350,000 cars produced at the end of 2017. Overall, the car building industry produces over 25% of Romania’s exports, and the companies active in the field are real pillars of the Romanian economy, the president has also said. We recall the French group Renault owns the Dacia factory in Mioveni, near Pitesti, and the Americans from Ford have invested in a factory in Craiova, in the southwest. Representatives of the two major companies have frequently asked the Romanian authorities to improve the transport infrastructure in order to maintain the global competitiveness of their production operations.



    ECONOMY — The Romanian Government will further pursue a tax reduction policy, also meant to increase the minimum wage and state pensions by 2020, in an attempt to improve living standards, the president of the Social Democratic Party, the main party in the ruling coalition, Liviu Dragnea told Reuters on Wednesday. He added that choosing an optional private pension scheme might become optional. The European Commission estimates that Romania will register a deficit of 3.4% of the GDP this year, exceeding the 2.9% target, if no supplementary measures are taken to reduce costs. Liviu Dragnea is hopeful however that the Romanian Government will observe the deficit target without taking other measures and he confirmed the 5.5% economic growth target for this year. According to Dragnea, by 2020, social contributions will further be reduced, the minimum wage will be of at least 300 Euros, whereas the minimum pension will increase to 200 Euros.



    REVOLUTION CASE — Romania’s former PM, Petre Roman, appeared today for hearings at the Prosecutor General’s Office in the 1989 anti-communist Revolution case, in which he is accused of crimes against humanity. Last month, Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis, approved the prosecutors’ request to start prosecution, against Romania’s former leftist president, Ion Iliescu, Petre Roman and the former deputy Prime Minister Gelu Voican Voiculescu. They allegedly orchestrated a military diversion, meant to give them legitimacy as leaders of the then newly instated power, after dictator Nicolae Ceausescu fled Bucharest city. 1,166 people died in December 1989, over 800 of them loosing their lives after Ceausescu was toppled. This week, Ion Iliescu also went to the Prosecutor General’s Office where prosecutors told him the investigation against him has been extended. Both Roman and Iliescu rejected the accusations.



    ITALY — At the end of lengthy political negotiations which lasted 11 weeks, Italian president, Sergio Mattarella, has asked Giuseppe Conte, a professor of administrative law to form a coalition government, made up of the far right League and the 5 Star anti-establishment movement. In order to garner support and form the new government, Conte, who lacks political experience, will hold talks today with the leaders of the political parties, to later meet again with the president of the republic. The voting in Parliament is due next week. The common program negotiated by the two parties puts and end to austerity and is meant to adjust deficits, providing for a policy meant to achieve economic growth, adding to which will be tough security and immigration measures.



    GDPR — The European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force on May 25, 2018 in all member states to harmonize data privacy laws across Europe. The new regulation stipulates how companies gather data about people and how they use it and brings in multiple changes, among which the need for “genuine consent.”



    TIFF — The 17th edition of the Transylvania International Film Festival, TIFF, opens up on Friday in Cluj Napoca, in the northwest, with “Foxtrot”, a controversial, award-winning film inspired by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with the director Samuel Moaz in attendance. The 12 films running in the official competition feel the pulse of the new generation of filmmakers around the world. This year’s edition celebrates the Great Union Centennial by a selection of Romanian films, among which “The Uprising” (1965), which brought director Mircea Muresan the debut prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Soprano Angela Gheorghiu is the honorary guest of TIFF, which runs until June 3.

  • April 18, 2018

    April 18, 2018

    B 9 – Romanias President, Klaus Iohannis, has today opened the first summit of the Bucharest Format, B9, a parliamentary diplomacy meeting attended by representatives of nine European countries and NATO high officials. The Romanian president has said the national parliaments of the B9 member states play a key role in fairly sharing responsibilities within NATO, particularly by approving budgets meant to support a more daring NATO joint security and defence approach. On this occasion, president Iohannis has underlined that since as early as 2017 Romania allots 2% of the GDP for defence, every year. The conference is aimed at consolidating the role of national parliaments relative to security and defence issues. Some of the issues on the agenda of talks are strengthening NATOs eastern flank, preparations for the NATO summit due in Brussels in July and fighting terrorism. The event will come to a close on Thursday.



    REVOLUTION CASE – The Prosecutor General has today announced that Teodor Brateş, the main TVq presenter and anchor of the Public Television Company between December 22 and 24 1989, during the events which led to the fall of communism in Romania is being indicted for having been the main factor of disseminating fake, diversionist news, thus inducing a general psychosis regarding terrorists which deeply affected the whole population. On Tuesday, in the same case, army prosecutors announced the extension of the interval for the criminal prosecution of the former president of the country Ion Iliescu to December 27-31. Last week, the current president Klaus Iohannis endorsed the start of the criminal prosecution of Ion Iliescu, of the former Prime Minister Petre Roman and of the former deputy Prime Minister Gelu Voican Voculescu, who can be sent to court for crimes against humanity. According to prosecutors, the armed incidents that occurred after December 22, in several towns and cities across Romania, are indicative of the fact that everything occurred as the result of a pre-established plan, aimed at helping the new leaders take over power and gain legitimacy. According to official statistics, in December 1989 over 1,100 people were killed and more than 3,000 were wounded.



    ID CARDS– Identity cards held by EU citizens above the age of 12 will be required
    to include biometric data, fingerprints and facial images, the European
    Commission proposed on Tuesday. Thus,
    the European Commission wants that common security standards be introduced at
    community level. However, around 80 million Europeans currently have ID cards
    without biometric identifiers, so these documents cannot be scanned. The move
    taken by the EC is part of a crackdown on the criminal use of ID cards, by terrorists and criminals who want to enter the EU,
    coming from countries outside the community bloc.



    ANTI-CORRUPTION – The National Anti-corruption Directorate, DNA, has called on the Romanian President, Klaus Iohannis, to endorse the start of prosecution against former finance minister Sebastian Vlădescu. He is suspected of two bribe taking offences while he was a member of the government. In the same case, prosecution started against former MP Cristian Boureanu. The corruption offences were allegedly related to the signing and implementation of the contracts for the rehabilitation of the Bucharest- Constanta railway, as well as the recovery of the remaining VAT, for rehabilitation works on another railway, between 2005 and 2014.



    FOOTBALL – The General Assembly of the Romanian Football Federation (FRF) is today electing the future president of this forum for the following four years. The main candidates are the current president, Răzvan Burleanu, and former Romanian football player Ionuţ Lupescu, who had been the director of UEFAs Development and Technical Assistance Committee until February. 257 affiliated members have the right to vote in the elections for the leadership of the Romanian Football Federation. The campaign for the presidency of the Federation has been given wide coverage by the media, against the backdrop of mutual accusations being levelled by Burleanu and Lupescu.

  • April 17, 2018 UPDATE

    April 17, 2018 UPDATE

    REVOLUTION CASE – Army prosecutors have announced the extension of the interval for the criminal prosecution of the former president of the country Ion Iliescu to December 27-31, 1989, for which an endorsement of investigation is not necessary. Ion Iliescu has been summoned to the Prosecutor General’s Office to be informed about the start of his prosecution for crimes against humanity, in the 1989 Revolution Case. On April 13, the current president Klaus Iohannis endorsed the start of the criminal prosecution of Ion Iliescu, of the former Prime Minister Petre Roman and of the former deputy Prime Minister Gelu Voican Voculescu in the Revolution Case. The three ex-officials are now being prosecuted and can be sent to court for crimes against humanity, allegedly committed between the 22 and the 31 of December 1989, when they were holding positions in the National Salvation Front Council, which back then was holding both the executive and the legislative power. According to prosecutors, the armed incidents that occurred after December 22, in several towns and cities across Romania, are indicative of the fact that everything occurred as the result of a pre-established plan, aimed at helping the new leaders take over power and gain legitimacy. The three former officials, though, say they are innocent. According to official statistics, in December 1989 more than 1,100 people were killed and more than 3,000 were wounded, mostly after the arrest of dictator Ceausescu and his wife.



    DIPLOMACY – Romanian President, Klaus Iohannis on Tuesday received the foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates, Sultan al Jaber. According to the Presidential Administration, on the occasion, the Romanian president had special words of appreciation for the stage of bilateral relations, which are very good at political level. Also, President Iohannis said efforts to give an impetus to the two way trade exchanges and to boost investments are further a priority in the relation with the United Arab Emirates, (UEA), which is Romanias largest economic partner in the Gulf area. In turn, Sultan al Jaber said there are potential investment projects, particularly in such domains as energy, transport, infrastructure, logistics, agriculture, tourism and real estate. Also on Tuesday, Sultan al Jaber had talks with his Romanian counterpart, Teodor Melescanu, on trade relations. The two officials also attended the proceedings of the first session of the Romania-UEA Joint Commission.



    BUCHAREST FORMAT – Bucharest is hosting the first parliamentary summit of the Bucharest Format (B9), attended by representatives of nine European countries and high-ranking NATO officials. The summit is aimed at strengthening the role of national parliaments in the security and defence fields. The agenda of the event, which will last until Thursday, includes topics such as the future presence of NATO, the defence and deterrence posture, fighting terrorism, perceptions regarding the threats facing the participant countries and legislative consolidation in the defence field. The B9 summit is aimed at conveying a unitary and coherent message concerning the strengthening of NATO’s Eastern flank, ahead of the NATO summit to be hosted by Brussels in July.



    IMF – The IMF has revised upward, from 4.4% la 5.1%, the outlook for the Romanian economy this year, according to the World Economic Outlook report, released on Tuesday. In 2019, the IMF expects Romanias economy will slow down significantly, down to 3.5% of the GDP. In terms of inflation this year, the forecast has been revised upward, from 3.3% to 4.7%. Also in 2018, the IMF estimated the current account deficit will stand at minus 3.7% and the unemployment rate at 4.6%.



    SUMMIT – On May 4, the Bulgarian city of Ruse will play host to an informal meeting of the presidents of Bulgaria, Austria and Romania, the countries holding successively the rotating presidency of the EU Council as of January 1, 2018. According to the press office of the Bulgarian presidential administration, the three heads of state will debate topics of European interest, which are also among the priorities of the current Bulgarian presidency of the EU Council. The meeting in Ruse is an expression of the three countries’ political will to ensure a common stand with regard to the main topics on the EU agenda, such as the European prospects of the Western Balkans, the future of the cohesion policy and the interconnection of the energy networks in the region.



    HANDBALL
    –     The Romanian women’s handball champions CSM Bucharest will meet the Hungarian
    team Gyor ETO in the Champion League semi-finals, the so called Final Four. If it goes past the Hungarian team, CSM
    Bucharest will face the winning team of the match between HC Vardar of
    Macedonia and Rostov-Don of Russia. The semifinals and the final will be held
    on May 12 and 13, in Budapest, where the Romanian team won the competition back
    in 2016. (Translated by M. Ignatescu and D. Vijeu)

  • November 2, 2016 UPDATE

    November 2, 2016 UPDATE

    BILL – Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said on Wednesday that he would organise, by November 15, at least one public debate on the radio and TV licence fee, attended by experts in the field. The head of state has said that, over the past few days, a large number of European media organisations, trade unions and experts’ associations have called on him not to sign the into law the bill eliminating this fee because, if the public Radio and Television were to be financed by the state, the might turn into a political tool. 88 years from its first broadcast, Romanian public radio and television are faced with an unprecedented situation. A bill slashing the public radio and TV fees was passed by Parliament last week; it eliminates in bulk 100 more types of taxes, and was sent to President Klaus Iohannis for endorsement. Some observers have pointed out its populism, ahead of the Parliamentary elections in December, and the lack of public debate around a law of national and strategic significance.




    LOAN — Romania will sign a loan agreement with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, worth 500 million euros, according to a memorandum discussed at a Romanian government meeting on Wednesday. This is the second loan to be taken out by Romania for development policies after the one in 2014 worth 750 million euros. The loan will be taken out for a period of 20 years and should be reimbursed in 2036.




    REVOLUTION CASE – Military prosecutors on Wednesday decided to extend the prosecution in the 1989 Revolution case to crimes against humanity. The extension was made “in rem”, meaning that it is the act and not people that are targeted. According to prosecutors, the incidents that happened after December 22nd, 1989 in a big number of Romanian localities indicates that things had been orchestrated so as to allow the new leaders take over power and offer them legitimacy. According to official statistics, over 11 thousand people lost their lives and around three thousand were wounded during the Romanian 1989 Revolution.




    EUROPEAN UNION – EU Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, Günther Oettinger, is on a two-day official visit to Romania starting on Wednesday. On Thursday he will deliver a speech at the Digital Romania International Forum held in Bucharest. The event, staged by the Prime Minister’s Chancellery, is attended by President Klaus Iohannis, PM Dacian Ciolos and 250 representatives of the IT sector.




    PUBLIC SECTOR PAY RISE – The budget-finance and labour committees of the Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday amended an ordinance on public sector pay rises to extend the rise to education and healthcare employees. The Chamber of Deputies will vote on the bill next week. The technocratic prime minister Dacian Ciolos said the salary rises and the elimination of a number of taxes recently proposed by Parliament ahead of the parliamentary elections of December 11th will have a great impact on the state budget.




    IMF REPORT – The economic growth rate remains solid in much of Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe, credit will pick up again and inflationary pressures are still low, according to the International Monetary Funds autumn report. The shadow economy has been shrinking in all states in the region since 2005, in particular in Latvia, Lithuania and Romania, the IMF notes. The report also highlights the significant progress made by some states, including Romania, in reducing non-performing loans. With respect to consumer prices, the IMF estimates that Bulgaria and Romania will have some of the highest negative average annual inflation rates in the European Union, but that in Romania, consumer prices will return to positive values in 2017. The IMF also projects a minus 2% current account deficit in 2016 and a minus 2.8% in 2017. In the case of the Romanian economy, the IMF expects a GDP growth of 5% in 2016 and of 3.8% in 2017, the highest economic growth rate in Europe.




    MILITARY EXERCISE – Romanian and American military are taking part in the Patriot Shock V exercise at the Capul Midia shooting range in south-eastern Romania, until November 12. A battery of US Patriot missiles are participating for the first time in an exercise in Romania. This is an advanced surface-to-air defence system that can be used in the event of an attack with aircraft, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles and which, according to the Romanian defence ministry, can detect around 100 targets and guide up to nine missiles. The US and Romanian military will be testing the reaction speed in the event of a crisis. The two army detachments will test their response as part of a fictitious air defence scenario. Also for the first time, the F-16 aircraft recently purchased by Romania took part in the Scorpions Fury multinational exercise which ended on Wednesday at a shooting range in Cincu, in Brasov county, central Romania. 1,300 military from Canada, Germany, the Republic of Moldova and Romania have taken part, as well as 200 pieces of technical equipment and 13 Romanian Air Force planes.




    FOOTBALL – Two Romanian football teams will play in the Europa League on Thursday. In Group E, champions Astra Giurgiu face the Czech side Viktoria Plzeň at home. AS Rome and Austria Vienna top the group, with 5 points each, followed by Astra with 3 points and Plzeň with 2. In Group L, vice-champions Steaua Bucharest play against FC Zurich away. In this group, Villareal lead with 5 points, followed by Osmanlıspor and Zurich, each with 4 points, and Steaua at the bottom of the ranking with 2 points.


    (Translated by Elena Enache)















  • The 1989 Uprising in Romania

    The 1989 Uprising in Romania

    During the Communist period, that lasted more than 40 years, Romania was a country difficult to live in. The obsessive control exerted by the regime on the population, by means of the much-feared Securitate, the then political police, the cold in people’s homes, the lack of food, the violation of fundamental human rights and of the right to freedom of speech and even of the right to life in the case of political opponents, were the instruments used by a ruthless regime. A former political dissident, Radu Filipescu, talked about the oppression of the Communist regime in an interview to Radio Romania:



    “Communism was a society of failure. One cannot speak in positive terms about those times, one can only speak about a personal experience. It is good that the Communist regime fell, that Ceauseascu was toppled, even if we still have a lot of things to set right.”



    26 years after the 1989 anti-Communist uprising, the Romanian society is still far from the ideals that Romanians nourished at the time. And that happens in spite of the fact that Romania has rediscovered its European vocation. A member of NATO since 2004 and of the EU since 2007, Romania now enjoys rights that it could not even dream of during Communism. A former prime minister of post-Communist Romania, Petre Roman, talked at Radio Romania’s microphone about one of those dreams:


    “The big win of the Revolution was freedom. When you have freedom you don’t appreciate it enough. People nowadays consider freedom a current, normal reality”.



    However, after all these years, many Romanians continue to be disappointed. A big disillusion of these 26 years is the failure to finalize the so-called Revolution case that has been recently closed. The opening of the case was considered a natural attempt to find the people guilty of crimes, to establish the historical truth and to come to terms with the past, given that more than 1,000 Romanians lost their lives in December 1989. But the wish for justice to be done is still alive. The wife of a man killed in Sibiu at the 1989 Revolution told Radio Romania:



    “For us it was a tragedy back then, and continues to be a tragedy now. We want our voice to be heard, after 26 years, we want the big leaders, politicians, governing parties or whomever they are to listen to us, to pay attention to our wishes. It is not possible to close the Revolution case. No people have been found guilty of the crimes in Sibiu, but 99 people died here during the 1989 Revolution”.



    The closing of the Revolution file is the result of a society which, according to many Romanians, is going in the wrong direction, but in which they can feel free, though.



    (Translated by Lacramioara Simion)

  • Commemorations on December 22

    Commemorations on December 22

    The violent break with the Communist regime and the fateful consequences it had on the following four decades in Romanias history return in the focus of attention every end of the year. Preceded by the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the totalitarian regimes in Central and Eastern Europe, the ousting of the Ceausescus and Romanias ultimate separation from Communism were by no means easy. Unfortunately, Romania was the only country in Communist Europe where blood was shed and top-level leaders were executed.



    It all began on December 16, 1989, in Timisoara, the cosmopolitan city in the west of the country, and by December 22 the protests had spread across the country. This is precisely why on December 22 every year the Parliament of Romania, as a key entity in democratic Romanias institutional structure, holds a formal meeting in memory of the over 1,100 victims of the Communist repression. In their addresses, the Senators and Deputies noted, as they do every year, that the ideals expressed 26 years ago are yet to be attained. Here is the Social Democrat Bogdan Niculescu Duvaz:



    Bogdan Niculescu Duvaz: “There was such tremendous joy at that time. We all believed in our future and I think we were not that wrong to do so, even though today there is so much discontent.



    Still, most of the speeches tackled the recent dismissal of the Revolution case, a judicial proceeding initiated as a natural attempt to find out the truth and the guilty parties, and to pave the way for reconciliation with the past. The co-leader of the National Liberal Party, Alina Gorghiu, said these were questions that needed answering:



    Alina Gorghiu: “There can be no prescription for crimes against the Romanian people, and the Romanian state is under a duty to establish the truth. This is why I believe the Revolution case cannot be closed.



    Similarly, Gheorghe Firczak, representing the ethnic minorities in Parliament, said,



    Gheorghe Firczak: “Dismissing this case is an utterly anti-democratic thing to do, and is incompatible with the current position Romania has in the international context.



    On December 22, the Revolution heroes are commemorated in several cities in Romania. Bucharest hosted several religious ceremonies, and flowers and candles were brought to the Cemetery of Revolution Heroes and the University Square, the place seen as a symbol of the fight against Communism. Similar events were organised at the head offices of the Romanian Radio and Television Broadcasting Corporation, the media institutions that played a key role in December 1989.


    (translation by: Ana Maria Popescu)