Radio România Internațional

Tag: rights

  • Plans for child protection and higher birth rate

    Plans for child protection and higher birth rate

    A year ago, the Bucharest Government adopted the National Strategy for the Protection of Children’s Rights, and now the Parliament has passed the Law according to which 2025 will be the Year of the Child in Romania. The authorities say that they are preparing a series of measures to support children and to promote their rights, especially of those from disadvantaged backgrounds. The law passed by Parliament at the beginning of this month provides for several lines of action, including the organization of events dedicated to the social, educational, cultural and civic development of children, as well as the allocation of specific funds to support these initiatives and the prioritization of investments in infrastructure aimed for children.

     

    Although there is specific national legislation, a clear strategy and an action plan called the European Child Guarantee in all EU member states, by adopting this law, the Romanian officials say, Romania is taking an additional step forward. The UN special representative for combating violence against children, Dr. Najat Maalla M’jid, is of the same opinion. On a recent visit to Romania, he appreciated the significant progress made in the field of child protection and rights, as well as regarding combating violence against minors in the last two years. Moreover, he believes that this initiative is an example of good practice and that such a year dedicated to children in several countries could stimulate global investments in child protection. Romania has key achievements in child protection and well-being, with multiple strategies, plans and legislative reforms in this field, the UN official said. I believe that Romania is in an excellent position not only to continue to lead these efforts domestically, but also to become an example in child protection at international level, he also said. However, the UN representative emphasized that the country still faces numerous challenges in this field.

     

    On the other hand, at a round table held on Tuesday in Bucharest, the problem of increasing birth rate in Romania was also addressed. In this context, Government representatives say, infertility must be included on the public agenda and a national strategy is needed to help women and all couples who want to become parents, to support them through fiscal and economic measures, as well as through adequate access to all health services. According to official statistics, infertility affects, globally, one sixth of the adult population. In Europe, for example, it is estimated that around 25 million couples have infertility problems. According to the authorities, low birth rates and increased infertility have such effects that, unless measures are taken now, could lead to irreversible phenomena. That is why, the birth rate is and will continue to be a priority, the Government representatives say. In this context, the Minister of Family and Youth, Natalia Intotero, said that the in vitro fertilization program is functional and will be extended, as it responds to the alarming decrease in the birth rate and the financial problems faced by families in Romania.

     

  • The early days of BBC’s Romanian-language broadcasting

    The early days of BBC’s Romanian-language broadcasting

    In the world of radio broadcasting, the BBC needs no introduction. The BBC is one of the landmarks without which the history of radio broadcasting cannot be written. In its centenary existence, holding a special place is the BBC’s Romanian-language service.

    The early days of the BBC’s Romanian-language broadcasting are linked to the outbreak of World War Two in September 1939, so in September 2024 we celebrate the service’s 85 years of broadcasting. We should emphasize, at this point, Great Britain’s extremely important influence which justified the very existence of the BBC, given that after 1945, at the end of the war, the world’s geopolitical stage became even more complicated that it had been before.

    In 1997, Radio Romania’s Oral History Canter interviewed one of the first journalists who used to work for the BBC’s Romanian-language Service, Liviu Cristea. He was a BBC anchorman from 1939 to 1971.

    Liviu Cristea reminisced the beginnings of the service and the tests that were made to that effect

    ”At this radio station trials were made like some sort of test time, carried by people who had been recommended by the Romanian Legation. Some of the Brits’ radio stations where thereby checking if the broadcast was audible in Romania, at once checking whether the voices behind the mic were suitable or not. However, the first team that took over the editing work was made of four people: a Finance Ministry official, Niculae Gheorghiu, who was in London on a training stage, a history professor, Ion Podrea, who was sent by the Iorga Institute to do his research, a legal expert furthering his comparative law studies, that was me, and a young student of the London Polytechnic, Jose Campus.”

    In the beginning, the Romanian-language broadcast was a 15-minute news bulletin. It kept Romanian listeners informed with news from the international and British press. The war had broken out and the Poles, officials or ordinary people, were withdrawing to Romania, in a bid to reach the West. The slot was broadcast from the Broadcasting House in Portland Place lying in central London, it was from there that, for the first time ever in Romanian, the announcement was heard: “This is Radio London.”

    When the German bombs damaged the building, the service was relocated to a hotel and from there to a skating rink. Liviu Cristea also said that fairly rapidly he and his colleagues adapted to the demands of the job. Here he is once again, giving us details on how the editorial work was organized.

    ”Shortly afterwards, the anchormen’s voices had become a reliable and identifiable source of information that also provided a gleam of hope in the grim days. At the same microphone science specialists offered their opinions, but also columnists, professors, trade union members, writers, army people, underground frontline fighters, refugees and prisoners who had escaped from the labour camps, or prisoners of war. The materials received by the editors of the Romanian section had already been processed in a central editorial office. The stuff had to be translated and commented upon by the Romanian editors so that it could become as accessible as possible to the average listener. The pieces of news after the outbreak of the war were checked but not censored by diplomatic and military bodies. The press commentaries were selected for each zone the broadcasts targeted, the talks given by prominent journalists sought to place the event or the news of the day against the backdrop that appeared at that particular moment. “

    The state of war demanded that the BBC broadcasts in Romanian, just like in the other foreign languages, be closely monitored. Liviu Cristea:

    ”Available for us from the very beginning was a so-called monitoring service, that is a service listening to the broadcasts from the country and from other parts. Those who closely monitored the broadcasts proper in front of the mic were supposed to monitor closely that, behind the mic, we should not read something different than what was written in the news bulletins, we should not improvise anything even with one single word, we should not stray away from the text that had been approved of by the section head prior to going to the mic. And those gentlemen who kept an eye on us were George Campbell, doctor Morrison and a gentleman who back in the day used to be a high-ranking employee of an oil company in Romania and whose command of Romanian was excellent. “

    In the building of the BBC, Liviu Cristea also recalled his seminal encounter with a character that would make history in the troubled 20th century.

    “ As I was passing by the janitor’s desk, there was a French officer there who was somehow embarrassed because he and the janitor could not understand each other. The man was a French army officer, wearing a French uniform so offered him my help right away and I asked him to tell me what it was all about. He was extremely blunt and kind of vexed as he answered me: ‘ I am colonel de Gaulle, I come from the front line and I have a meeting. I am already 5 minutes late and I don’t understand why I am being kept here and why nobody welcomed me at the reception’. I was deeply touched when later on I discovered that the one-star colonel was general de Gaulle who, as we know, led the French resistance and then he was the one who created the first post-war political structure in France.”

    The BBC’s Romanian-language service is now 85 years old. All along, the BBC was one of the citadels defending human rights, until 1989. It still is, to this day.

  • Afghanistan – 20 years after

    Afghanistan – 20 years after

    Less than 2 weeks were necessary before the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, in mid-August, as the foreign military deployed there for the past two decades pulled out.



    Sent to Afghanistan shortly after the 9/11 attacks in the USA, American and other NATO allied troops completed their mission, and with the withdrawal of the foreign military, celebrated by Islamist militants as a victory, the situation spiralled, raising even more questions regarding the future of that country and more. Was this development predictable at all? Military analyst Radu Tudor tells Radio Romania that it was:



    Radu Tudor: “It was entirely foreseeable, and unfortunately a mission that I personally have seen as a success for over 20 years, a mission originally conducted under American command, Enduring Freedom, and which then also involved NATO and UN participation and coordination, a successful mission that dismantled and drove out of Afghanistan the al-Qaida terror organisation, a mission that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks which killed nearly 3,000 innocent people in the US, well, this successful mission, which brought relative stability to Afghanistan and gave that country struggling with medieval realities a chance of becoming a modern state, hit into a very poorly made pull-out plan. Into decisions that neither the Trump administration nor the Biden administration have analysed thoroughly, which generated very strong emotions. And we can feel these emotions ourselves, when we see the footage broadcast by all television stations and websites in the world. I believe what we see now is the unfortunate ending of a very difficult, very necessary mission, a mission with good results in terms of stabilising Afghanistan. In fact, the concern of the international community with the resurgence of the Taliban and their rise to power proves that what NATO and the US did for the past 20 years in Afghanistan was a good thing. But the mission could not go on, not only because of the huge human, military and financial costs, but also because the idea that Afghanistan should take its fate in its own hands had to prevail.



    “President Joe Biden could have said that by end of September 2022 I want zero troops in Afghanistan. But until that time I want to make sure that we have a political settlement between the government and the Taliban and that we have also evacuated all our employees and local partners, said a former member of the government ousted by the Taliban, Nargis Nehan, who sees the pull-out as “irresponsible. “The US have been in Afghanistan for 20 years, staying one more year longer wouldn’t have made any difference for them, at least financially as well as politically, Nehan told AFP, 6 days after fleeing the country. Nargis Nehan deplored the waste of over 2,000 billion in international investments, as well as the bloodshed: “the sense of abandonment experienced by many Afghans would foster a sense of grievance against the international community. “That’s my fear… we’ll see much more extremism coming from Afghanistan, Nehan said, explaining that it would be fuelled out of poverty, and out of that feeling of betrayal and grievances that they have.



    On the other hand, the US secretary general Antonio Guterres warns against “a humanitarian catastrophe looming, and speaks about a deepening humanitarian and economic crisis and the threat of basic services completely collapsing. The UN chief mentions that “almost half of the population of Afghanistan — 18 million people — need humanitarian assistance to survive. “Now more than ever, Afghan children, women and men need the support and solidarity of the international community, Guterres insisted.



    The Taliban vowed to guarantee the security of the humanitarian teams and the access of aid into Afghanistan, but they also promised a regime that will be acknowledged by the international community and the Afghan people. In their first press conference since taking power, a Taliban spokesman said freedom of the media and the rights of women will be complied with, within the framework of Islamic law, although they provided no details as to what that means in practice.



    After the US deployed troops in Afghanistan in 2001, the restrictions against women relaxed, and even as the war continued, an internationally supported local commitment to improve womens rights led to new protection measures. In 2009, a law aiming to fight violence against women criminalised rape and forced marriages, and made it illegal to prevent women and girls from working or studying. Today, the women and girls of Afghanistan fear that they will lose the rights gained in 20 years and that they will never be regained, in spite of Taliban promises that “schools will be opened, and girls and women will go to school as students and teachers.



    Meanwhile, Europe expects a wave of Afghan migrants that would put pressure on its capacities. The memory of 2015, when Europe faced a huge illegal migration wave triggered by the war in Syria, is still very vivid. And even if the situation will not be exactly the same, Europe needs to be prepared. And to stay alert, amid fears of a possibly high terrorist risk after the Taliban took power. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • Afghanistan – 20 years after

    Afghanistan – 20 years after

    Less than 2 weeks were necessary before the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, in mid-August, as the foreign military deployed there for the past two decades pulled out.



    Sent to Afghanistan shortly after the 9/11 attacks in the USA, American and other NATO allied troops completed their mission, and with the withdrawal of the foreign military, celebrated by Islamist militants as a victory, the situation spiralled, raising even more questions regarding the future of that country and more. Was this development predictable at all? Military analyst Radu Tudor tells Radio Romania that it was:



    Radu Tudor: “It was entirely foreseeable, and unfortunately a mission that I personally have seen as a success for over 20 years, a mission originally conducted under American command, Enduring Freedom, and which then also involved NATO and UN participation and coordination, a successful mission that dismantled and drove out of Afghanistan the al-Qaida terror organisation, a mission that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks which killed nearly 3,000 innocent people in the US, well, this successful mission, which brought relative stability to Afghanistan and gave that country struggling with medieval realities a chance of becoming a modern state, hit into a very poorly made pull-out plan. Into decisions that neither the Trump administration nor the Biden administration have analysed thoroughly, which generated very strong emotions. And we can feel these emotions ourselves, when we see the footage broadcast by all television stations and websites in the world. I believe what we see now is the unfortunate ending of a very difficult, very necessary mission, a mission with good results in terms of stabilising Afghanistan. In fact, the concern of the international community with the resurgence of the Taliban and their rise to power proves that what NATO and the US did for the past 20 years in Afghanistan was a good thing. But the mission could not go on, not only because of the huge human, military and financial costs, but also because the idea that Afghanistan should take its fate in its own hands had to prevail.



    “President Joe Biden could have said that by end of September 2022 I want zero troops in Afghanistan. But until that time I want to make sure that we have a political settlement between the government and the Taliban and that we have also evacuated all our employees and local partners, said a former member of the government ousted by the Taliban, Nargis Nehan, who sees the pull-out as “irresponsible. “The US have been in Afghanistan for 20 years, staying one more year longer wouldn’t have made any difference for them, at least financially as well as politically, Nehan told AFP, 6 days after fleeing the country. Nargis Nehan deplored the waste of over 2,000 billion in international investments, as well as the bloodshed: “the sense of abandonment experienced by many Afghans would foster a sense of grievance against the international community. “That’s my fear… we’ll see much more extremism coming from Afghanistan, Nehan said, explaining that it would be fuelled out of poverty, and out of that feeling of betrayal and grievances that they have.



    On the other hand, the US secretary general Antonio Guterres warns against “a humanitarian catastrophe looming, and speaks about a deepening humanitarian and economic crisis and the threat of basic services completely collapsing. The UN chief mentions that “almost half of the population of Afghanistan — 18 million people — need humanitarian assistance to survive. “Now more than ever, Afghan children, women and men need the support and solidarity of the international community, Guterres insisted.



    The Taliban vowed to guarantee the security of the humanitarian teams and the access of aid into Afghanistan, but they also promised a regime that will be acknowledged by the international community and the Afghan people. In their first press conference since taking power, a Taliban spokesman said freedom of the media and the rights of women will be complied with, within the framework of Islamic law, although they provided no details as to what that means in practice.



    After the US deployed troops in Afghanistan in 2001, the restrictions against women relaxed, and even as the war continued, an internationally supported local commitment to improve womens rights led to new protection measures. In 2009, a law aiming to fight violence against women criminalised rape and forced marriages, and made it illegal to prevent women and girls from working or studying. Today, the women and girls of Afghanistan fear that they will lose the rights gained in 20 years and that they will never be regained, in spite of Taliban promises that “schools will be opened, and girls and women will go to school as students and teachers.



    Meanwhile, Europe expects a wave of Afghan migrants that would put pressure on its capacities. The memory of 2015, when Europe faced a huge illegal migration wave triggered by the war in Syria, is still very vivid. And even if the situation will not be exactly the same, Europe needs to be prepared. And to stay alert, amid fears of a possibly high terrorist risk after the Taliban took power. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • April 8, 2021

    April 8, 2021


    State of alert. The government meets today to
    approve the extension of the state of alert in Romania and to decide on a
    possible easing of restrictions for the upcoming Orthodox Easter. Prime
    minister Florin Cîţu said on Facebook that
    he will submit a number of proposals to the National Committee for Emergency
    Situations relating to the Easter celebrations, such as easing the night-time
    curfew to allow movement outside the home until 5 am for people who wish to
    attend the Easter service. He also wants to extend opening times for shops by
    two hours on Good Friday and to allow seaside resorts to open at a capacity of
    70%, just like mountain resorts. Almost 5,000 new coronavirus cases were recorded
    today in Romania, as well as 172 new deaths, while ICU cases hit a new high, at
    1,495. Almost 2.2 million people have been given at least one shot of the Covid
    vaccine in this country.




    AstraZeneca. A link between
    AstraZeneca’s Covid vaccine and rare blood clots is considered plausible but is
    not confirmed, said the World Health Organisation after the European Medicines
    Agency on Wednesday said it found a potential link between the Covid
    vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and rare blood clots in adults who received
    this jab. The Agency emphasised, however, that the benefits outweigh the risks.
    A number of states such as the UK, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy
    decided to limit the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine depending on age. Romania
    has not yet made any changes in this respect, with the exception that people
    who developed blood clots after the first dose will be given a different
    vaccine for their second dose.




    Human rights. Amnesty International writes in its annual report that human
    rights were violated all over the world during the Covid pandemic. The Covid
    crisis aggravated inequality, discrimination and oppression, the human rights
    watchdog also writes, warning that the worst affected were vulnerable groups
    such as chronic patients, refugees, healthcare workers and the minorities. In Romania’s
    case, Amnesty International notes that the government’s response raised human
    rights concerns, especially with regard to policing, the right to freedom of peaceful
    assembly and the right to education.




    Romani Day. International Romani Day
    is celebrated every year on 8th April to recognise the culture,
    history and rights of the millions of Roma around the world and to warn on the
    discrimination still faced by Roma communities in Europe and elsewhere. Romanian
    president Klaus Iohannis said in a statement that a tolerant and open society
    must reject all forms of racist and xenophobic attitudes. He said that in these
    extremely complicated times marked by the grave consequences of the Covid
    pandemic, cherishing the contribution of each and every one of us to the common
    good and social solidarity can help us overcome the difficulties were are facing.
    Prime minister Florin Cîţu emphasised that Romanian society proved in its
    history that multicultural harmony is a source of fulfilment and inspiration
    and the traditions of each ethnic group add to the national cultural heritage.








    Judiciary. The judicial committee of the Romanian Senate today began
    debates on a bill proposed by the government to dismantle a special department
    investigating crimes in the judiciary. On 24th March senators passed
    the bill with a few amendments, such as one providing that magistrates can only
    be indicted with the approval of the Superior Council of Magistrates. On Wednesday,
    the Social Democrats in opposition opposed the use of an emergency procedure to
    debate the bill and requested a detailed analysis following an opinion from the
    Venice Commission. The head of the Senate’s judicial committee Iulia Scântei
    says dismantling the department for the investigation of crimes in the
    judiciary is an emergency and will help Romania’s case in the elimination of
    the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism. Created during the former Social
    Democrat government, the department was criticised as a means of exerting
    pressure on judges and prosecutors.




    Tennis. The Romanian-German pair
    Mihaela Buzărnescu and Anna-Lena Friedsam reached the doubles semifinals at a WTA
    tennis tournament in Bogota worth 235,000 dollars in prize money. They defeated
    the Russian-Chinese pair Iana Sizikova and Yafan Wang in straight sets and will
    next be facing either Arina Rodionova and Rosalie van der Hoek or Lara
    Arruabarrena and Katarzyna Piter. (CM)







  • The pandemic and human rights

    The pandemic and human rights

    The world was shattered by the COVID-19 last year, and the pandemic and the containment measures taken by authorities around the world had an impact on everyone, sometimes deepening existing abuse and inequalities.



    This is the conclusion reached by Amnesty International in its latest report on human rights around the world. As regards Romania, the measures taken by the government to contain the spread of the disease raised human rights concerns including in relation to policing, the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and the right to education, the report reads.



    In March 2020, Amnesty says, the government declared a state of emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It derogated temporarily from a number of rights protected under the European Convention on Human Rights, including the right to education and to freedoms of movement, expression and association.



    In terms of discrimination, a legislative proposal which would expand existing anti-discrimination legislation remained before the Senate at years end, Amnesty International found.



    A European Commission report in February quoted by Amnesty International found that Roma continued to face discrimination and segregation including in education, employment, access to housing and forced evictions. During the state of emergency, NGOs and the media reported several cases of unlawful use of force and allegations of ill-treatment of Roma by the police. Human rights groups and NGOs raised concerns about Roma being scapegoated during the pandemic and denounced “the rise of hate speech and racism targeting Roma in mass media and social media, especially by opinion leaders and public figures.



    As for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people, in June, Parliament passed a law which, among other things, prohibited teaching and training about gender identity. The law, adopted without public debate, prohibited “activities aimed at propagating the gender identity theory or opinion, understood as the theory or opinion that gender is a different concept from that of biological sex and that the two are not always identical, Amnesty International says.



    The organisation also quotes a study by the NGO Caritas Romania, which highlighted the challenges faced by children from vulnerable groups while accessing remote learning during the March-June lockdown, with Roma among the worst affected. According to the study, an average of only 15% of children from marginalized groups participated habitually in online activities during the lockdown, the main obstacles including a lack of technical equipment, overcrowded homes with a lack of adequate study spaces, and the absence of support from parents to complete online tasks. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • April 1, 2021

    April 1, 2021

    COVID-19 President Klaus Iohannis announced today that in the forthcoming period Romania will receive a substantial number of anti-Covid doses and the vaccine rollout can be stepped up. The head of state urged Romanians to have confidence in the benefits of immunisation. Romania is drawing close to 1 million infections since the start of the pandemic, with over 6,000 cases reported in the past 24 hours alone and a record-high number of patients in intensive care (1,434). The most cases were reported in Bucharest, but the highest infection rate is in Ilfov County, near the capital city. The death toll is now over 23,500. Meanwhile, over 3 million vaccine doses have been given since the end of December to more than 2 million people.




    PROTESTS In Bucharest and several other cities in Romania protests continued on Wednesday, for the 4th night in a row, against the anti-COVID measures introduced by the authorities. Unlike previous nights, on Wednesday protests were more low-key. Participants chanted anti-government slogans, and demanded the lifting of restrictions such as mandatory outdoor face covering, online schooling and the closing of restaurants and gyms. The authorities argue however that the measures are necessary if the accelerated spread of the novel coronavirus is to be curbed.




    REPORT The US State Departments 2020 Report on Human Rights Practices points out that Romania lacks efficient mechanisms to investigate and punish police abuse, and many corruption or abuse cases end in acquittals. According to the document, charges of brutality and cruel, degrading or inhuman treatment, brought against several police and gendarme members, have been dropped. Violence against women and children is also a serious and continuing problem in Romania, the report also reads.




    INSTITUTE Bucharest celebrates today 100 years since the Cantacuzino Institute was founded under an order signed by King Ferdinand. Since 2017, the Institute has been subordinated to the National Defence Ministry. Over the years, the institution conducted research in microbiology and related fields, produced vaccines and serums and was involved in public healthcare. Cantacuzino Institute works with instituttes and universities around the world.




    ENVIRONMENT The US president Joe Biden yesterday put forth a USD 2-billion investment plan targeting among others the creation of jobs and fighting climate change. The American Jobs Plan is an investment in America that will create millions of good jobs, rebuild our countrys infrastructure, and position the United States to out-compete China, Biden said. According to the RRA correspondent in Washington, Bidens advisers say the pandemic changed the US citizens attitude regarding the role of the government, and created expectations of unprecedented investments in the reconstruction of the country.




    FOOTBALL Romanias football team lost to Armenia, 3-2, in Yerevan on Wednesday night. In the same group J of the World Cup qualifiers, North Macedonia defeated Germany away from home. The group also includes Iceland and Liechtenstein. With one win against North Macedonia and 2 losses to Germany and Armenia, Romania ranks 4th in the group standings, topped by Armenia and North Macedonia. Only the top team in each group moves up into the final tournament, and the second-ranking teams go into playoffs. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • August 28, 2019

    August 28, 2019

    UK The President of Romania Klaus Iohannis had a telephone conversation with the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, at the request of the latter, the Romanian Presidency announced. The 2 officials mainly discussed the relations between Romania and the UK, and aspects related to Britains withdrawal from the EU. With respect to Brexit, the Romanian President emphasised that an orderly exit is in the interest of both the UK, and the European bloc. Iohannis also told PM Boris Johnson that Bucharests top priority is to protect the rights of the Romanian citizens living in Britain. PM Boris Johnson assured the President of Romania that protecting the rights of the Romanians in the UK after Brexit was very important to London, and the British authorities would keep this goal in mind.




    LAW Romanias Ombudsperson Renate Weber challenged the new Administrative Code at the Constitutional Court. She put forth 3 reasons for the action: the emergency order endorsing the Code comes against the rules on delegated legislation, against constitutional requirements on the powers of MPs, and affects the regime of fundamental public institutions. The Administrative Code has been introduced through a government emergency order, which triggered criticism from the Opposition and civil society.




    PARLIAMENT The Chamber of Deputies, convening in special session at the request of the Opposition, Wednesday dismissed a bill on amnesty and pardons for certain offences. The document, initiated in 2017 by former justice minister Florin Iordache, from the Social Democratic Party, was passed by Senate that same year, and provides pardons for prison sentences of up to 5 years. The agenda of the Chamber of Deputies also includes a bill on repealing the Law on compensatory appeals and a bill endorsing Government Emergency Order no 114, which introduces fiscal and budgetary measures and measures concerning public investments.




    OIL Romania is among the EU countries that rely the least on oil imports, with net imports accounting for 61% of the national consumption, according to data for the year 2017 made public by Eurostat. Smaller dependency rates are reported for the UK (35%) and Denmark (negative 4%). At the opposite pole, the EU member states with the highest oil import dependency rates are Estonia (115%), Malta (104%), Slovenia (103%) and Bulgaria (102%).




    WILDFIRE Wildfires continue to ravage the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, in spite of the authorities sending the army to fight the flames with planes and ground troops. Apart from the air forces, scores of fire-fighting units have been mobilised to contain the fire. So far 7 Brazilian states have resorted to the Army, including to the 43,000 troops stationed in Amazonia, but the number of troops deployed for this operation and their intervention methods remain unclear, France Presse reports. According to governmental sources the number of wildfires in the Amazon rainforest went up 83% this year, destroying vast parts of an eco-system that is vital to combating global climate change.




    TENNIS Three Romanian players have qualified into the second round of the US Open, the last Grand Slam tournament of the year. Simona Halep, number 4 in the world, defeated the American Nicole Gibbs, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2. Sorana Cîrstea beat the Czech Katerina Siniakova, 7-5, 6-2, and Ana Bogdan won against Britains Harriet Dart, 6-3, 6-1. The only Romanian in the mens competition, Marius Copil, also moved into the US Open second round, for the first time in his career, after defeating Ugo Humbert of France, in a match that lasted more than 4 hours.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • 100 Years of Citizenship for Jewish Romanians

    100 Years of Citizenship for Jewish Romanians

    Before 1919, Jews in Romania had no civil rights, because Article 7 in the 1866 Constitution provided that only Christian Orthodox people could be Romanian citizens. In the meantime, many Jews contributed to Romanian economy, culture, and the arts, and fought in the 1877 -1878 War of Independence and in WWI.



    In 1919, in the aftermath of the Great War, Jews from the former Kingdom of Romania gained the right to be citizens of the newly formed Greater Romania. International peace treaties forced Romania to recognize the rights of the national minorities that had become part of it, along with the new territories with a majority Romanian population. Romanian legislation passed in 1919 brought the country in line with international realities, after decades of struggle for civil rights by Jewish organizations.



    100 years after the restoration of civil rights for Jewish Romanians, historian Lya Benjamin spoke to us about this event. This is not only a story about the Jews of Romania, but of Romania itself a century ago: “The political history of Jews in the Romanian context, the history of the struggle for civil rights, starts in 1857, when, right before the union of 1859, a number of political events occurred. The initiator of the struggle was Iuliu Barasch, who wrote of memorandum submitted in 1857 to crown prince Ghica. It was a list of demands for rights, saying that quote ‘we expect equality of rights enjoyed by the largest part of the people who share our religion across Europe’. This claim was addressed only after WWI, with plenty of hesitation and not a lack of restrictions.



    Romania before 1918 was a primarily rural society, like most states in Central and Eastern Europe, and a xenophobic society along with that. Romanian anti-Semitism was part of a general European attitude. In spite of intense campaigns for raising awareness among politicians and within society at large, the legal status of Jews remained unchanged until the spring of 1918, when Romania, a defeated country, signed the Treaty of Bucharest.



    Here is Lya Benjamin: “The peace treaty of April 24, 1918, was a milestone on the long road to having civil and political rights granted to Jews in Romania. The German side demanded that the peace treaty included, among other things, a special article granting rights for minorities, and also another article, article 28, specifically about Jews. The article stated that differences of a religious nature cannot have any influence on civil status, especially on political rights. That same treaty dictated that a law should be passed according to which all those who did not have ‘foreign allegiance’ and who had taken part in Romania’s wars, who had been born here out of parents also born here, should be granted citizenship and rights equal to those of Romanians.



    The first step, therefore, was made right before the end of WWI. The Conservative government led by Alexandru Marghiloman was trying to enforce the treaty, but faced strong opposition, as Lya Benjamin told us: “This provision in the peace treaty between Romania and Germany, according to some suppositions, was introduced upon demand from the Jewish community in Germany. In the spirit of the treaty, in the summer of 1918, the Marghiloman law was passed, which included a number of measures to provide citizenship to Jewish people. However, the measures were fairly restrictive and fairly complicated. The main Jewish organization in the country protested in Parliament on July 25, 1918, saying that the law was in violation of the peace treaty. The text of the law was vague, and did not contain the word Jew. The head of the Jewish Union, Wilhelm Filderman, along with the rest of the organization, believed that the law was inoperable, impossible to apply.



    The autumn of 1918 brought major changes to Romanian life, which suddenly turned from a defeated country to a victorious one. Alexandru Marghiloman, who was now branded a traitor, resigned in November 1918, and was replaced by his rival Ionel Bratianu, and the Marghiloman law got the axe too. The law passed by Bratianu was not Jewish friendly either, demanding that they go through a long chain of formalities in order to gain Romanian citizenship. The situation was now absurd: Jews from Bessarabia, Banat, Bukovina, and Transylvania had been granted Romanian citizenship automatically, but not the 270,000 Jews in the Old Kingdom that had completely integrated into Romanian society.



    Jewish organizations demanded that the Jews in the Old Kingdom be granted citizenship simply by a signed statement that they had been born in Romania, and that they held no other citizenship. In the end, Bratianu conceded, as Lya Benjamin told us: “Under the pressure of these protests, Bratianu, who was abroad in the spring of 1919, sent home the text of a new citizenship law, which, in Filderman’s opinion, was generally in line with his option, as he notes in his diary. That was because it was the first law that in fact granted citizenship based on a statement signed by the applicant. It was listed in the Official Journal of Parliament on May 28, 1919.



    However, that law did not ultimately provide security for Jewish Romanians. In 1938, a law rewriting the rules for citizenship struck mostly the Jews, paving the road to the Holocaust.

  • January 19, 2019

    January 19, 2019

    RIGHTS – Minister Delegate for European Affairs, George Ciamba, on Friday had a phone conversation with the Minister of State for Europe and the Americas, Sir Alan Duncan, at the request of the latter. Sir Alan Duncan has given assurances that, irrespective of the Brexit outcome, the rights of the Romanian citizens in the UK will be respected. Over 400 thousand Romanians are currently in the UK, the second largest foreign community in the country. Sir Alan Duncan has also said that PM Theresa May wants a proper approach that should allow for a sustainable solution in the relation between the UK and the EU. In his turn, Minister Delegate George Ciamba has said that Romania, holding the six-month presidency of the Council of the EU is discussing with the other member sates and the European institutions, being ready to ensure the conditions for dialogue as soon as there is an official position of the British government. We remind you that this week the House of Commons rejected the Brexit accord negotiated with the EU. PM Theresa May is expected to come up with a new plan.




    NATO — NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has confirmed his presence at the informal meeting of the EU defense ministers to be held in Bucharest on January 30 and 31. The announcement was made by the Romanian Defense Minister Gabriel Les, according to whom the meeting will be held in the presence of the High EU Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini. Gabriel Les has also said that the informal meeting is the first ministerial event organized by Romania since its taking over, on January 1st, of the presidency of the Council of the EU. The event aims to be a common reflection and exchange of opinions on the consolidation of the European project, with an emphasis on security and defense.




    CENTRAL BANK — The National Bank of Romania (BNR) says there is no reason for concern about the depreciation of the domestic currency, the leu, reported lately. After being on the decrease for a number of days, the leu ended the week at a record low level as against the euro, getting closer to 4.7 lei for 1 euro. According to BNR, the depreciation of the Romanian currency has been of only 0.6% since the start of the year, and an intervention by the Central Bank could be considered only if it exceeds 4% or 5%. Economic analysts have told Radio Romania that an exchange rate closer to the reality of the Romanian economy would be 4.75 lei for one euro.




    FLU — Romania is close to declaring a flu epidemic, Health Minister Sorina Pintea has said, explaining that last week the number of people who got the flu virus exceeded the estimated number. If this tendency maintains three weeks in a row we can speak of an epidemic. 19 people have died of flu in Romania this winter, of whom 7 on Friday alone. People are advised to avoid crowded places.




    TENNIS — World No. 1 Simona Halep will face seven-time champion Serena Williams in the standout fourth-round clash of Australian Open 2019 after downing Venus Williams today 6-2 6-3. The reigning Roland Garros champion, who reached the final at Melbourne Park last year, was fresher and sharper throughout the contest, with Williams’ 33 unforced errors proving decisive. Also today, in the women’s doubles, Romanians Irina Begu and Mihaela Buzarnescu failed to qualify to the 3rd round of the Australian Open, being defeated by the French-Croatian pair Alize Cornet/Petra Martic, 2-6, 6-3, 6-1. (Translated by Elena Enache)

  • Bucharest condemns limitation of rights for Romanian ethnics in Ukraine

    Bucharest condemns limitation of rights for Romanian ethnics in Ukraine

    A unanimous vote in the Parliament of Romania is a rare occurrence. One such example was this Wednesday, when all the MPs attending a joint meeting of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies, without exception, endorsed a declaration expressing their disagreement with a new bill on education in neighbouring Ukraine.



    The controversial draft law, which only needs the signature of President Petro Poroshenko to take effect, drastically restricts the access to education for many ethnic minorities in that country. Under the bill, all high school and university classes are to be taught in Ukrainian, and mother tongue tuition is only allowed in kindergartens and primary education.



    Romanian MPs say they are monitoring these developments “with concern and the utmost attention, and call for prompt measures taken in good faith, in the spirit of cooperation and in strict compliance with the European standards in the field of national minority protection and with the relevant bilateral and multilateral agreements to which Ukraine is a party.



    The Parliament of Romania also wants proper protection of the linguistic, cultural and linguistic identity of the nearly half a million Romanian ethnics in the neighbouring country, most of them living in the territories annexed by the former Soviet Union under a 1940 ultimatum and taken over by Ukraine as a successor state.



    From the parliamentary majority, the Social Democratic Senator Titus Corlatean, a former foreign minister, says the way in which Ukraines Education Law is being modified is a major step back in Kievs European and democratic endeavour.



    Deputy Attila Korodi, from the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, also believes Ukraine is backing away from the fundamental principles of democracy, the rule of law and human rights guarantees. In turn, Senator Ion Hadarca from the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania warns that the Romanian ethnics in Ukraine risk losing their cultural identity.



    In the Opposition, the former president of the National Liberal Party Alina Gorghiu calls on the Government of Romania to find solutions to work with Kiev on the matter, and suggests that Romania should cover the costs of textbooks and teacher salaries for the Romanian children in Ukraine.



    According to Deputy Constantin Codreanu, a member of the Peoples Movement Party, Bucharest should demand that Ukraine reciprocate Romanias protection of ethnic minority rights. Also in the Opposition, Save Romania Party member Matei Dobrovie says that, since the annexation of Crimea, Ukraines squabbles with its neighbours have given Russia further pretexts to strengthen its military presence at the Black Sea.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)