Radio România Internațional

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  • October 27, 2024 UPDATE

    October 27, 2024 UPDATE

    Debt – Romania’s government debt rose, in July, to 876.288 billion lei, from 860.331 billion lei in the previous month, according to data published by the Finance Ministry. As a percentage of the GDP, the government debt rose to 52% from 51.1% in June. Most of this debt was represented by government bonds. The Romanian government approved, on Wednesday, an emergency ordinance which establishes the increase in the public debt ceiling, according to the European Union’s methodology, to the level of 53% of the gross domestic product for the end of 2024. According to the government, this change aims to ensure flexibility in attracting the financial resources necessary to implement the financing plan of 2024, to pre-finance the needs in the year 2025, as well as to maintain the foreign currency reserve at the disposal of the State Treasury at a comfortable level.

     

    Moldova – The pro-European President of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, accused, on Sunday, during an electoral debate, her opponent in the second round of the presidential election, the pro-Russian Alexandr Stoianoglo, of being just a ‘Trojan horse’, a man through whom others want to rule the country’. In reply, Stoianoglo, who is supported by the Socialist Party from the Republic of Moldova, said that he is a ‘firm supporter of the country’s European integration’ and that he wants ‘the transformation of Moldova into an active provider of peace and security in the region’. The electoral debate took place without a moderator, because the journalist proposed to be moderator by the Stoianoglo camp was accused of not being honest and impartial. In the first round of the presidential election, the incumbent president obtained 43% of the votes, while Stoianoglo took 26%. The second round of the presidential election will take place on November 3. A week ago, together with the first round of the presidential election, there was also a referendum for EU integration, which was validated and in which the pro-accession voters were 12 thousand more. Maia Sandu pointed an accusatory finger to the meddling in the electoral process of some criminal groups that would have acted alongside foreign forces hostile to the interests of the country. Moscow denied any interference in the elections and referendum.

     

    Georgia – Georgia’s ruling party, Georgian Dream, won the parliamentary elections against a pro-European opposition coalition that refused to concede defeat, the Central Electoral Committee announced on Sunday morning, according to AFP and Dpa. The Georgian Dream, a conservative and nationalist party led by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, allegedly obtained 54% of the votes, compared to 37.58% for the pro-European coalition, according to the counting carried out in over 99% of the constituencies.  The pro-European opposition coalition did not recognize the preliminary results and announced the organization of protests. The opposition accuses the Georgian Dream, in power since 2012, of pro-Russian authoritarian drift and Georgia’s distancing from the EU and NATO, which it intends to join. Brussels has warned that Georgia’s chances of joining the EU will depend on the elections held in the former Soviet republic in the Caucasus, which has enshrined this aspiration in its constitution. Georgia was rocked, in May, by protests against a law on ‘foreign influence’, after the model of the Russian legislation on ‘foreign agents’ used to crush civil society, AFP reports.

     

    Winter time – Romania switched to winter time on Saturday night to Sunday. The clocks were set back by one hour, so that Sunday will have 25 hours and will be the longest of the year. Changing the time twice a year is based on the idea of ​​saving energy, by aligning the interval of human activity with that of natural light. Although this is the most important argument for changing the time, there are studies that suggest that the energy savings are minor, and citizens are more and more complaining about negative health effects. The EC and EP tried to abandon this system as early as 2021, but the member countries did not agree on which of the systems should be kept.

     

    Iran – The UN Security Council will meet on Monday to discuss Israel’s attack on Iran. The meeting was requested by Tehran with the support of Algeria, China and Russia. The Israeli regime’s actions represent a serious threat to international peace and security and further destabilize an already fragile region, the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a letter to the Council. Dozens of Israeli jets carried out three waves of strikes on the night of Friday to Saturday against missile factories and other military centers near Tehran and in western Iran, the Israeli army representatives said. They were in retaliation for Iran’s October 1 attack on Israel with about 200 ballistic missiles, and Israel warned its heavily armed enemy not to retaliate after the latest strike. On Sunday, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, rejected Iran’s complaint saying in a statement that Iran ‘is trying to act against us in the diplomatic arena with the ridiculous claim that Israel has violated international law’. (LS)

  • January 16, 2024 UPDATE

    January 16, 2024 UPDATE

    Protests – Further talks took place on Tuesday afternoon at the headquarters of the Romanian Transport Ministry, attended by the representatives of the main professional associations, but not of those who are protesting across the country. Employers say that they reached a consensus with minister Sorin Grindeanu and a protocol with very clear deadlines was signed, which benefits the transport of people and goods, even for those who are protesting. The president of the COTAR confederation, Vasile Ştefănescu, says that immediate measures have been established to streamline traffic in customs points, and in relation to the legislative changes that he considers necessary, including the elimination of unfair competition and unauthorized activities, the setting-up of working groups has been agreed. Discussions were also held with the professional associations at the Agriculture Ministry. The authorities promised a constant dialogue with the farmers representatives and to make decisions following consultations within working groups. Minister Florin Barbu says that at this moment the claims presented by farmers have all been solved.



    Schengen – Romania and Bulgaria have made considerable efforts to meet the criteria for Schengen accession – says the Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union. He is convinced that the partial accession of the two countries with maritime and air borders, as of March 1, is a first step and a good sign. De Croo made the statements in Strasbourg, where he went on Tuesday to present his countrys priorities to the members of the European Parliament. 2024 will be a crucial year, because much is at stake for Europe; the stake is very high for the West, it will be a year in which our democracies and freedoms will be put to the test – says the Belgian Prime Minister, referring to the elections for the European Parliament, as well as the presidential election in the US.



    Videoconference – The Romanian Defense Minister, Angel Tîlvăr, had a video conference call with his counterpart from neighboring Ukraine, Rustem Umerov, on Tuesday. According to a Romanian Foreign Ministry communiqué, the two ministers discussed the evolution of the Russian Federations war of aggression against Ukraine, almost two years after the start of the conflict. “I told Minister Umerov that Romania condemns in the harshest terms the Russian aggression, the attacks on the Ukrainian population and civil infrastructure, actions that have intensified in recent weeks, and I assured him that Romania continues to support Ukraine, alongside allies and partners” said the defense minister Tîlvăr. The two officials also discussed concrete measures to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the field of defense, with emphasis on the importance of training Romanian and Ukrainian pilots at the European F-16 Training Center in Romania.



    Polo – Romanias mens polo team finished 8th in the European Championship in Croatia, after being defeated by Serbia 18-7 in the last match on Tuesday. Romania had won all matches in Group D, 12-8 against the Netherlands, 13-5 against Slovenia and 8-7 against Slovakia, and in the play-off it defeated Georgia 18-11. In the round of 16, the Romanians were outclassed by Spain 7-24, and in the first match for the 5th to 8th places they lost to Montenegro 11-18. At the last edition of the championship final, from 2022, Romania ranked 10th. The best European ranking was 4th place, in 1993 and 2006. Next the Romanian national team will participate in the World Championship in Doha, in Qatar, where it will play in group D, against Hungary (on February 5), Kazakhstan (on February 7) and Italy (on February 9).



    Gaza – Israeli army tanks have returned to the north of the Gaza Strip, from where they left last week – residents of the area told international media on Tuesday. Violent explosions were reported there, after two weeks of relative calm. At the time, Israel had announced the withdrawal of its forces from the north as part of a transition to smaller, targeted operations against the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas. The army claims that, overnight, it killed dozens of Hamas fighters in the clashes in Beit Lahiya, also in the north of Gaza Strip. The health authorities in Gaza say, in turn, that in the last 24 hours, Israeli bombings have killed 158 people in the enclave, raising the death toll of the war to 24,285 people. (LS)