Radio România Internațional

Tag: road accident

  • November 6, 2016 UPDATE

    November 6, 2016 UPDATE

    Road accident. Prosecutors have started a criminal
    investigation to establish the people responsible for the most serious multiple
    car accident ever to occur in Romania, in which four people were killed and
    dozens injured on Saturday morning on the Bucharest-Constanta motorway.
    Starting on Monday, all vehicles involved in the crash will undergo a technical
    examination. Of the 44 people taken to hospital on Saturday, 24 are still
    undergoing treatment, the health ministry has announced.




    NATO. NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller meets Romanian
    president Klaus Iohannis in Bucharest on Monday and the country’s foreign
    minister Lazar Comanescu and defence minister Mihnea Motoc. On Tuesday, she
    will have talks with high representatives from nine allied states in Central
    and Eastern Europe, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania,
    Latvia, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, who are attending a regional meeting.
    Rose Gottemoeller is the first woman to serve as NATO Deputy Secretary General. Before taking up this
    post, she served as
    Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security for the
    U.S. State Department.




    Trade. A centre for dialogue and cooperation in
    the field of energy will be established next year in Bucharest, the Romanian
    prime minister Dacian Ciolos said in the Latvian capital Riga at a meeting of
    heads of government from Central and Eastern Europe and China. The Chinese
    prime minister Li Keqiang
    made a number of proposals to expand cooperation with the states in the region.
    Romania is interested in continuing trade exchanges with China, said Romania’s
    prime minister, adding that his government is waiting for the Chinese side to
    give concrete signals with regard to the access of Romanian agri-food products
    on the Chinese market. This would involve the development and diversification
    of the export of meet and meet products, given that only one single Romanian
    producer is present on the Chinese market at the moment. Romania is also
    interested in developing its relationship with China in the area of tourism and
    there is an opportunity in the near future to introduce charter flights between
    Bucharest and China, prime minister Dacian Ciolos also said.




    Diaspora. The pilot stage of a project entitled Digital
    Diaspora – A Partnership for Building Efficient and Transparent Cooperation has
    been launched in Madrid in the presence of the minister delegate for relations
    with Romanians abroad, Maria Ligor. The project’s main goal is to improve the
    quality and efficiency of digital communication between diplomatic missions and
    Romanian communities abroad. In its pilot stage, the project will be
    implemented in five Romanian diplomatic missions and will include training
    courses given by digital communication experts aimed at identifying the
    problems and opportunities in the area of online communication with respect to
    the Romanian diaspora and find specific solutions to address and tap into them,
    respectively. The project’s pilot stage comes to an end in October 2017 and is
    carried out at Romania’s diplomatic missions in Spain, Italy, Belgium, Canada
    and Australia.




    Football. The
    Romanian football side meet on Monday in Bucharest to prepare their Friday home
    match against Poland as part of the 2018 World Cup preliminaries. In their
    first three Group E matches, Romania defeated Armenia 5-nil in Yerevan and drew
    against Montenegro and Kazakstan. Montenegro and Poland top the group with 7
    points each, followed by Romania in the third place with 5 points. Romania
    started their World Cup qualifying run with their first ever foreign manager,
    the former German player turned professional coach Christoph Daum.





  • June 17, 2016 UPDATE

    June 17, 2016 UPDATE

    DANUBE REGION — Developing tourism in the Danube Delta was high on Friday’s agenda for talks, held in Ruse, Bulgaria, between Romanian and Bulgarian authorities, in the presence of EU Commissioner for Regional Policies, Corina Cretu, and Romanian Deputy Prime Minister Vasile Dincu, Minister of Regional Development. The European Commissioner argued that one in five Europeans live and work in the Danube region, which is now home to over 110 million people. Moreover, tourism is a sector of major importance for the EU: 1 euro in 10 of the EU’s GDP comes from tourism, and nearly a quarter of the Danube’s population have revenues from tourism-related activities. Of the 600 million tourists who visit Europe every year, 125 million choose countries in the Danube Region. In this context, Romania and Bulgaria want to turn the region into a major tourist objective.



    UNITED KINGDOM — Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos on Friday sent a message of condolences to his British counterpart, David Cameron, after the assassination of Labour MP Jo Cox. Aged 41, the pro-European Labour MP was killed on Thursday following an attack in her constituency in Birstall, northern England, one week ahead of the Brexit referendum. Prime Minister Ciolos expressed his deep regret for the abominable death not only of a politician who voiced an opinion, but also for the values the British nation shares, promotes and stands for. The Romanian official is confident such gestures would not prevent the British people, not now, not ever, from voicing their opinions freely, in private or in public.



    ROAD ACCIDENT — Four people were killed and over 26 severely injured after the coach they were on was involved in a serious car accident on a mountain national road in central Romania. The authorities have issued a code red intervention alert. Tens of firemen, paramedics, police officers and security forces came to the scene to secure the area and transport the injured to the hospital in the shortest time possible. The coach was transporting children going to a folk festival in western Romania. Prosecutors have started criminal investigations into this matter.



    CONSULTATIONS — Romanian president Klaus Iohannis on Monday is holding consultations with his German counterpart, Joachim Gauck, during the latter’s official visit to Romania. President Iohannis will underline the interest of the Romanian side to intensify strategic relations with Germany, including with the federal lands. The Romanian president will also underline the need to consolidate economic cooperation, based on the fact that Germany is Romania’s largest trade partner and our economy’s third investor. The two presidents on Wednesday will attend a meeting of German and Romanian business people. The visit of the German president also includes a visit to Sibiu, where he will meet with representatives of the German minority. A former mayor of Sibiu, Klaus Iohannis himself is an ethnic German.


    EIB — The European Investment Bank granted Romania a 300 million Euro loan in support of environmental projects as part of the large infrastructure operational program over 2014-2020, according to the Ministry of Finance. The head of the ministry, Anca Dragu, said that this loan would partially cover the states contribution to projects in water safety, waste disposal, protecting and recovering ecosystems, as well as adapting to climate change. The vice-president of the bank, Cristian Popa, specified that the loan would allow the co-financing of projects worth a total of 4.5 billion Euro.



    MOLDOVA — Romanian Foreign Minister Lazar Comanescu and French foreign ministry undersecretary Harlem Desir, while on a visit to Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, were received by head of state Nicolae Timofti and Prime Minister Pavel Filip. Comanescu issued a strong message of support for Moldovas aspiration to join the EU. He urged officials there to keep up the pace of reform, especially in the judiciary and public administration, stabilizing the economic situation, the fight against corruption, as well as improving foreign investment and the business sector.

  • March 21, 2016

    March 21, 2016

    FARMING – Romanian PM Dacian Ciolos is today in Alba Iulia, central Romania, to launch a support program for farmers. The Government wants farmers to be able to support their families using the income they get from farming activities. The program contains such measures as hiring members of the family, promoting farmers associations, selling or processing production and better access to development loans or co-financed projects. At present of Romanias 3 million farmers nearly a third live off self-sufficiency farming, and only 1% are part of associations.



    BUDGET DEFICIT – Romania risks exceeding its target budget deficit of 3% of the GDP, alongside other 8 EU member states, Bloomberg reports. The EU has asked Governments to reduce their budget deficit below 3% of the GDP and cut their debts below 60% of the GDP. Failure to do so will entail fines, even if the EU has never resorted to such measures, despite the many infringements. Since the Stability and Growth Treaty was signed in 1998, 25 of the EUs 28 Member States have exceeded their target deficits. Sweden, Estonia and Luxemburg are the only states that have always observed the set norms.



    EXERCISE – Some 350 Romanian, Bulgarian, Slovenian and US military are as of today taking part in the Black Sea Rotational Force exercise under NATO auspices carried out in Babadag, southeast Romania. Held every year for a week in the Black Sea area, the Balkans and the Caucasus region, the exercise is supervised by the US Marine Corps Forces Europe and Africa. The exercise is aimed at boosting the cooperation and combat power of NATO states with a view to responding to any crisis anywhere in the world.



    STRIKE ACTION – A large part of Romanias medical staff today went on a work-in pre-emptive strike, the last in a series of protests announced by trade unions in the healthcare sector. Protesters want the provisions of the single salary law to be applied in the healthcare sector as well, so as to reposition all staff with the national minimum gross salary of 280 euros. Doctors also want their benefits to be calculated based on their total salaries, as well as their working and rest hours to be observed. Their list of demands also includes free-of-charge access to healthcare services for all the employees in the system. On Sunday, Health Minister Patriciu Achimas Cadariu said he supported the 25% salary increase for healthcare employees in 2016, after a similar increase enforced last year. The Minister will submit a new memorandum to the Government in an attempt to make more jobs available in this sector.



    ACCIDENT – A Romanian student was killed in Sundays coach crash in the Catalonia region in Spain, the Romanian Foreign Ministry has announced. At least 13 girls were killed in the accident, while another 30 wounded were taken to nearby hospitals. The coach was carrying 60 Erasmus students from 19 countries. The driver lost control of the wheel, crossing the median strip and colliding with an oncoming car, causing the coach to capsize. The University of Barcelona and regional authorities have declared two days of mourning.



    ATHLETICS – Romanias 4×400-m womens relay team won the bronze medal at the World Indoor Championships in Athletics hosted by Portland, USA. Made up of Adelina Pastor, Mirela Lavric, Andrea Mijlos and Bianca Razor, Romania finished the race in third place, after the USA and Poland. Andrei Gag also grabbed silver in the shot put final. Romanias previous medal in a World Indoor Championship was in 2004.



    HANDBALL – The Romanian womens handball team on Sunday drew 23-all against Montenegro in the final match in the pre-Olympic tournament in Aarhus, Denmark, thus qualifying to the Rio Olympics. In the first two games, Romania defeated the host country Denmark 32-25 and Uruguay, 36-19. Last years bronze medallist at the World Championships, Romania will take part in the Olympic Games for the fourth time, being the only team to represent Romania.



    ONE WORLD – The 9th edition of the One World Romania Documentary Film and Human Rights Festival is kicking off today in Bucharest. Over 60 films will be screened as part of this years edition, dedicated to the global refugee crisis. Environmental NGOs will stage a debate on the Chernobyl disaster and the nuclear threats.



    VISIT TO CUBA – US President Barack Obama is on a historic visit to Cuba, the first visit of a US acting president to this country after 1928. The visit comes after nearly a century of hostilities between Washington and the communist regime in Havana. The agenda of the visit includes talks with his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro and an address on the public television station. Political pundits see Obamas visit to Cuba as an attempt to normalize relations with Cuba, particularly at economic level, and to persuade communist leaders to give more liberties to the people. According to Radio Romanias Washington correspondent, Barack Obama will also meet with Cuban dissidents, some of whom are outraged by Obamas affability towards a regime whose practices and values go against American fundamental principles.


    (Translated by V. Palcu)

  • March 15, 2016

    March 15, 2016

    MEETING – The countrys Higher Defence Council has convened today in Bucharest, in a meeting whose focal points include the latest developments in the migration crisis in the EU. The members of the council are also assessing the results of the fight against the illegal cutting of trees and the stage of the process of equipping the army by 2027. The agenda of the talks also covers such issues such as the evolutions in the Balkans and the impact on Romanias foreign policy and security, as well as Moldovas political outlook.



    ECONOMY – Romania is going through a crucial moment and it is important for it not to slow down the pace of fiscal consolidation or pay less attention to financial stability, the governor of the National Bank of Romania, Mugur Isarescu, said in Bucharest on Tuesday. According to the central bank governor, the country is running the risk of loosing, to a certain extent, the progress it has made and needs legislative stability and clear laws, which should not create confusion. The convergence to the Euro zone can be a beneficial process, a catalyst of reforms says the governor of the National Bank of Romania. In another move, the countrys reserves have increased by 6 billion Euros, and the country has paid back the money to the IMF, he underlined. Mugur Isarescu has admitted that many people and medium sized companies are going through difficult times and he said the GDP would be higher if the country had a better infrastructure.



    DIPLOMACY-Including Romania in the Visa Waiver Program is one of Bucharests priorities in the relation with Washington and there are lots of members of the US Congress who favour the idea, said Romanias Ambassador to the US George Cristian Maior in an interview carried on Monday by Agerpress news agency. He has stated that the partnership between Romania and the USA is a very good one, politically, economically and also with regard to security, and, no matter who will hold the reigns of power in the US in the future, be they the Republicans or the Democrats, the grounds have been set for this partnership to keep on going well and deal with all the challenges posed by the realities of the 21st century. Domestically, Romania is a very cohesive state and with a clearly set strategic line when it comes to its foreign policy, and all these strengths must be used in reaching its diplomatic, political, economic and military interests, the Romanian ambassador has also stated.



    ROAD ACCIDENT– A cell crisis has been activated within the Foreign Ministry in Bucharest, following the car crash in Turkey, in which two Romanian tourists died. Out of the other 14 Romanian citizens who were wounded in the accident, three are in a hospital in Antalya, one in a serious condition; the other 11 were only slightly injured. The Romanian Presidency and Foreign Ministry have sent condolences to the grieving families and have given assurances that all the Romanian citizens affected are properly taken care of. The most serious accident of this type occurred in June 2013, when a coach full of Romanian tourists crashed into a 40 m precipice. 18 people died then, and 29 were injured.



    SYRIA-As of today, Russia starts its military pull out from Syria, following the decision made public yesterday by President Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin leader says the measure should encourage the peaceful settlement of the Syrian conflict. In October 2015, Russia launched military operations in Syria, mainly air raids, to support the Bashar al Assad Administration. Moscow claims it targeted exclusively positions of the Islamic State terrorist network and helped the regime of the Syrian president to reconquer important territories from his opponents. The west denounced the raids, however, for having reportedly targeted Syrian insurgent groups. The decision by president Putin coincides with the resumption of inter-Syrian peace talks in Geneva. Whereas representatives of the Syrian opposition who participate in the US-Russian sponsored peace talks have hailed the Russian military withdrawal, the US had a cautious response. A White House spokesperson says it remains to be seen what Russias intentions are. Over 250,000 lost their lives in the past 5 years, since the start of anti-governmental protests in Syria.



    CAR BOMB– A car bomb exploded in a travelling vehicle on a street in downtown Berlin, killing the driver. According to the German police, an explosive device might be the cause of the blast, Reuters reports. The police forces are making thorough controls to see whether there are other explosive devices or not and called on the people living within the security perimeter set by the police to stay indoors.