Radio România Internațional

Tag: Romania

  • Measures to contain the bear population

    Measures to contain the bear population

    It rarely happens that Romanian MPs have to interrupt their long summer holiday and come back to work for extraordinary parliamentary sessions. Monday was one of these rare cases, with deputies returning to work for a short while to approve new bear hunting quotas. The move comes after a recent tragedy in the mountains, when a 19-year-old young woman was mauled by a bear on a popular hiking route.

    Already passed by the Senate last year, a bill initiated by the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania stipulates that over 400 bears may be culled in 2024 and 2025. This targets mainly aggressive bears that attack humans and their goods. The counties where this is most often happening are Harghita, Covasna, Braşov and Mureş, all in the centre of the country. In Harghita alone, for example, gendarmes had to step in 231 times since the start of the year to chase the bears away.

    Former minister and current senator from the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania Tánczos Barna, who initiated the bill, says the legislation is based on a scientific survey commissioned by the environment ministry to estimate the size of Romania’s brown bear population. Tánczos Barna:

    “All surveys, including those conducted by ONGs, indicate a constant growth in the brown bear population in Romania. Romania’s brown bear population is not endangered, we need to take some steps as a precaution, as is the case in all EU member states with significant numbers of brown bears.”

    In favour of the bill were the National Liberal Party, the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance for the Union of Romanians, in opposition. The Save Romania Union, also in opposition, abstained, after several of their amendments were rejected. Diana Buzoianu, from the Save Romania Union, explains:

    “The first amendment to be rejected is about the fact that, if hunting is what we want, then to actually solve the problem, the hunting quota should be the responsibility of the specialised staff. We won’t solve the problem through trophy hunting.”

    In the meantime, the director general of the National Forest Authority Marius Dan Sîiulescu has ordered increased monitoring of the bear population in the forests managed by Romsilva, especially on tourist hiking routes. Hunters say, however, that without reducing the country’s bear population, they will continue to interfere with human habitats. Experts say that no tragedies were reported at high altitudes, because older bears, whose number is low, are behaving in a more natural way and withdraw from the path of humans. The problem is with younger bears, who are born in cultivated areas, and which are not afraid of humans and are used to finding food by raiding homesteads and harvests.

  • From the history of the women’s press in Romania

    From the history of the women’s press in Romania

    Individual rights and freedoms, enunciated since the 18th century, focused on the promotion of equality, beyond any criteria of religion, race, ethnicity, and gender. Women’s emancipation was a theme that attracted more and more followers starting with the second half of the 19th century, and socialism and feminism aimed at militating mostly for women’s rights in modern society. The most persistent efforts were made for women’s wage rights and political rights, the right to vote being a gain they obtained since the 20th century. The press also campaigned for granting equal rights to women, being among the most powerful means by which the goals of the feminist movement were achieved.

    In Romania as well, women’s emancipation and feminism appeared in the second half of the 19th century, the struggle for obtaining rights also being fought through the press. Articles of different sizes and on different topics of interest to women usually appeared in all publications. But the magazines that assumed the role of women’s emancipation began to have a constant audience, among those that committed to the project of female emancipation being “Femeia” (The Woman) magazine. Magazines with the word “woman” in the title appeared starting in 1868, “Woman. Non-political journal” being the first. Other magazines such as “Romanian Woman”, “Village Woman”, “Woman and Home”, “Orthodox Woman”, “Elegant Woman”, “Woman from Dâmbovița”, “Working Woman” appeared for shorter or longer periods and, from the title, one could guess their profile. The longest period during which a women’s magazine was published was between 1946 and 1989, entitled just like that, “Woman”, which continues to be issued today.

    Women’s magazines were not written only by women, as one might think. One could say that, on the contrary, women entered the world of journalism that defended their rights later. The social democrat Elena Gugian was one of them. In 2000, when the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation’s Oral History Center interviewed her, Gugian remembered that, at 19 years old, in 1944, when she had joined the Social Democratic Party, her career followed the working-class environments that she had joined and from where she drew inspiration for the texts that she published in the magazine she worked for.

    Elena Gugian: “There were many women from factories in the party organizations. They were from the APACA textile factory, with mostly female employees. There were women also from the Anghelescu Sweets Factory, on Şoseaua Viilor street, from the Flora can factory also on Şoseaua Viilor, from the Medicines Factory, and from the Cigarette Factory. Where the employees were mostly women, we had organizations and held meetings with them there, at the workplace. I met women, I talked with women, as I was a journalist and I recorded what was discussed there for the magazine of the women’s organization, which was called the ‘Working Woman’.”

    The “Working Woman” magazine, put out by the Romanian Social Democracy, tried to be very involved in the issues facing working-class women. Elena Gugian remembers the first issues of the magazine, and its revival after the war: “It was known under this name ever since 1930, when it was still multiplied by mimeograph as a small, 2-3-page flyer, and it died at the same time with the old democratic parties in 1938. It was reissued in 1946 as a magazine, taking over the original name. On 32 pages, originally only in black and white and later on in red and combinations of red and black or red and blue, depending on the ink we were able to find each particular time.”

    Elena Gugian did field work and was literally in love with her profession: “Because I was the youngest in the team, I would run around like crazy, together with the photographer, we would take photos, do reports, collect data. I would also liaise with the press services of the diplomatic offices set up in Bucharest, to get photos and articles about the Social-Democratic women in those countries.”

    After 1945, when WWII ended, everything had to be rebuilt, especially peace. And Elena Gugian and her fellow workers contributed to the general effort: :”We were interested in women’s issues, for a number of reasons. After the war, many women found themselves to be head of their households, with children to raise, after their husbands had either died in the war or returned with disabilities. So women had to find jobs. Most of them were illiterate, and our biggest concern was how to help them learn to read and write. We organised basic literacy classes, to help them at least sign their salary stubs. But some of them grew to like reading, and got ahead.”

    Between 1945 and 1948, the “Working Woman” magazine followed its goal, and continued to promote the principles of equality. Renamed “The Woman” in 1948, with the rise of the communist regime, the magazine saw another chapter in its history, one in which it served as a means of propaganda for a repressive regime. (LS, AMP)

  • Black Sea – cooperation for neutralizing naval mines in the Black Sea

    Black Sea – cooperation for neutralizing naval mines in the Black Sea

    The invasion of Ukraine by the Russian troops has been causing collateral damage. In almost two years and a half of war, both sides have resorted to the installation of naval mines around their Black Sea ports in order to prevent the other side from attacking them. Many of these mines have left the defensive networks conceived by Ukrainian and Russian strategists and are now adrift around the Black Sea posing a real threat to civilian vessels crossing it.

    In December 2023, a Panamanian ship loaded with Ukrainian grain hit a naval mine, which Kyiv says was of Russian origin, and two sailors were wounded in the incident. In October a Turkish cargo ship was slightly damaged after running into one such mine close to Romania’s coasts.

    The presence of these mines floating around the Black Sea has prevented the Romanian fishermen from taking to the sea and that led to a slump in the local fish harvest.

    According to journalists, restaurants in the area are now mainly relying on imported fish while cruise boats coming down the Danube are now cutting short their trips as neither crew members nor tourists are daring to cross the Black Sea for fear of hitting such a mine.

    So, riparian countries and also NATO allies, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey have decided to set up a joint task force for cleaning the Black Sea of mines and ensuring in this way the safety of the maritime transport, including for the vessels loaded with Ukrainian grain and bound for the world markets.

    Since the Russian invasion in February 2022, the naval forces of these three countries have discovered and destroyed numerous naval mines adrift in the Black Sea. But now they are doing it in a coordinated manner.

    During a ceremony staged in Istanbul, Turkey, Romanian vice-admiral Mihai Panait has given assurances the joint initiative of the three countries is crucial in combating the threat posed by these drifting mines and in ensuring the safety of sea traffic.

    The main goal of the MCM Black Sea naval group is to ensure the safety of traffic on the Black Sea through activities of monitoring, reconnaissance and the neutralization of these naval mines, as well as through related search & rescue operations at sea.

    Until July 16, the aforementioned naval group will be operational in the national maritime spaces of the three countries.

    The ships are going to get involved in joint drills, recon and surveillance missions, in removing naval mines and improving interoperability. The command of the operative MCM Black Sea group will be assured in the following six months by Turkey and taken over in the first half of the next year by the Bulgarian partners. Romania will take over command in the second half of 2025.

    (bill)

  • Romania clamps down on crime

    Romania clamps down on crime

    Romania takes tougher measures against labour and human trafficking and the sentences in these cases can on longer be suspended, under a new law promulgated by the country’s president Klaus Iohannis. The law, endorsed by the decision-making Chamber of Deputies on May 28 is aimed at fighting trafficking in minors and people. The new regulations do away with the possibility of suspended sentences regarding the crimes of modern slavery and human trafficking, sentences, which can reach up to 15 jail years and the cancellation of some rights.

    Furthermore, if criminals prove to be public servants, family members or foster parents, prison sentences can go up to 20 years. Under the aforementioned law, other crimes such as the production, storage, presentation and promotion in any way of pornographic materials with minors by means of IT systems or other electronic communication means are punishable with prison sentences from one to three years.

    The law also covers the attempted crimes of modern slavery and human trafficking while the victims’ consent cannot serve as mitigating circumstances.

    This law is not the only measure taken by Romania in an attempt to fight the scourge. The 2024-2028 national strategy against human trafficking has been recently launched in Bucharest with a view to curbing this phenomenon, identifying and offering assistance to the victims and punishing traffickers.

    According to the authorities, the country has made significant headway in its efforts to fight the phenomenon as compared to the early 2000s, both in terms of setting up the legal framework and the necessary institutional organization. However, authorities have admitted there is still room for improvement.

    The latest annual report on human trafficking issued by the US Department of State last year said that Romania did not fully meet the minimum standards regarding the fight against human trafficking.

    According to the aforementioned document the justice, investigators and child –protection authorities in Romania rather ‘sided with traffickers’ and proved extremely tough on victims.

    Another report released this year by the International Justice Mission, an international organisation fighting against the vulnerability of the victims of human trafficking has described the legislative amendments in the field as not being in accordance with the human trafficking problematic but rather punctual and uncorrelated.

    According to data released by the National Agency against Human Trafficking since this institution’s foundation in 2005, Romania reported 19 thousand cases of human trafficking and roughly four thousand convictions.

    (bill)

  • June 27, 2024

    June 27, 2024

    FITS The International Theatre Festival in Sibiu, central Romania, continues today with over 80 events scheduled. The famous US actor John Malkovich will step onto the stage with a show entitled ‘In the Solitude of Cotton Fields’. ‘Uncle Vanya’ by Anton Chekhov is another performance scheduled, and will be put on stage by actors from the National Theatre Satiricus Ion Luca Caragiale from the Republic of Moldova. The Bucharest-based ‘Stela Popescu’ Theatre will be presenting a concert-show directed by Razvan Mazilu and the Austrian Theatre brings in a performance entitled “The Carpathians like Stains on My Skin”. Street performances are expected to animate the medieval squares and pedestrian areas in the city of Sibiu. The programme is completed by gospel concerts and Portuguese Fado performances, while a Spanish troupe is expected to give a concert in Sibiu’s Big Square.

     

    FOOTBALL Romania’s national football side qualified for the round of 16 of the European Football Championship after a one-all draw against Slovakia in Frankfurt on Wednesday night. Razvan Marin scored the equalizer from a penalty shot and his performance pushed the side coached by Edward Iordanescu on top of the group. Our footballers will be up against the Netherlands on the famous Allianz Arena in Munich. Thousands of fans took to the streets of Romania to express their joy for the performance.

     

    NATO The Dutch Premier Mark Rutte is officially the future NATO Secretary General. The 57 year-old politician has benefitted from support from all 32 representatives of the North Atlantic Council, the alliance’s main decision-making body and his mandate is to kick off on October 1st. Rutte will replace the Norwegian chief Jens Stoltenberg and is known for his critical position against Russia and for supporting Ukraine in terms of its NATO and EU accession. The Netherlands is supporting Ukraine also militarily, including with F-16 jet fighters, which have been given the permission to strike Russian targets. Besides the war in Ukraine and the tense international political background, Rutte will have the task of negotiating with a possible US administration led by Donald Trump, if the latter wins the upcoming election where he runs against the incumbent president Joe Biden.

     

    SUMMIT EU leaders are convening today in Brussels in the company of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky for talks on providing weapons to Ukraine and the latest developments in the war with Russia. This has been the second summit after the European Parliament elections early this month and the 27 heads of state and government will continue talks on distributing positions in the main European institutions. Ursula von der Leyen, from the European People’s Party, is favourite for the position of the head of the European Commission, while the former Portuguese premier Antonio Costa, from the Socialists, stands chances to head the European Council. The position of the president of the European Parliament will be shared by the EPP and the Socialists with the first two years and a half held by incumbent president Roberta Metsola from the EPP. The three main political groups are convening separately to decide their position on the final negotiation in the Council. Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis will be attending the EPP meeting while the country’s Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu the Socialists. Also high on the agenda there is the military aid for Ukraine, which has been blocked by Hungary, which is also blocking the distribution by Kyiv of the profits from the frozen Russian assets. The summit also marks the end of the Belgian EU presidency, which will be taken over by Budapest for the next six months.

     

    VISIT The head of the Romanian diplomacy Luminita Odobescu on Wednesday held talks In Warsaw with her Polish counterpart Radoslaw Sikorski on the sidelines of the trilateral meeting Romania-Poland-Turkey. Minister Odobescu has hailed the dynamic and complex character of the Romanian-Polish dialogue, assumed in the Strategic Bilateral Partnership and reflected in a busy agenda of political-diplomatic contacts and an excellent cooperation in the fields of security and economy as well as in sectoral areas. She also expressed the interest for the ongoing capitalization of the investment opportunities offered by the two states as well as in deepening cooperation in fields of mutual interest such as infrastructure, energy, agriculture and education. The Romanian minister has also hailed the effective cooperation at the EU and NATO levels as well as in regional formats. Regarding Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, the Romanian minister reiterated the need for the ongoing multidimensional support, including the military one as well as the importance of reconstructing the country’s infrastructure heavily affected by the war.

    (bill)

  • The date of Romania’s upcoming presidential election has sparked off heated debates inside the ruling coalition

    The date of Romania’s upcoming presidential election has sparked off heated debates inside the ruling coalition

    2024 is “an all-out election year” in Romania. With the elections for the local administration and for the European Parliament already consumed on June 9th, the ruling coalition in Romania convened last week for talks over the upcoming ballot, the presidential one, which sparked off heated debates inside the ruling coalition.

    The Liberals would like to push this election round towards the end of the year, to November or December, whereas the Social-Democrats are lobbying for the month of September, a date already agreed upon within the coalition, although informally.

    The Liberals argue that the September election and the holiday season in Romania would overlap and the voting may disturb the beginning of a new school year. So, talks over the election schedule continued into this week as well. The talks on Tuesday between the two ruling formations, the PSD and PNL, went on for three hours to eventually end in a deadlock. The Social Democrats are adamant that the first round of elections be held over September the 15th and 29th whereas the Liberals want to have them on November 10th or 24th.

    The PNL argues that the outcome of the previous election has reshaped the landscape for the upcoming presidential race, whereas the Social Democrats are insisting on implementing a decision that was assumed first.

    PSD has even called on the Liberal Interior Minister, Cătălin Predoiu, to decide over the date in September and forward it to the government for endorsement most likely on their next session on Friday. Here is the PSD spokesman Lucian Romascanu.

    Lucian Romaşcanu: ʺI believe that Minister Predoiu together with the National Liberal Party will do what they promised to do and we are going to have elections in September. And if they can block this, let’s see if they are going to do it. “

    In turn, the PNL’s deputy vice-president, Rareş Bogdan, says that the agreement they had in March is no longer valid and that the presidential election must take place in November.

    Rares Bogdan: ʺThe two parties, which convened in Poiana Brasov and in  Sâmbăta de Sus, have decided that each party have their own candidate for the presidential race. So, practically, the agreement in March was terminated as each party want to back their own candidate in the presidential election. So, from our viewpoint, the first proposal is becoming obsolete and we strongly believed these elections must be staged in the Constitutional term, in the month of November.”  

    Whether the presidential elections are taking place in September, November or December, let’s not forget that by the end of the present year, Romania will have to stage another round of election, for its Parliament seats.

    (bill)

  • Patriot system for Ukraine

    Patriot system for Ukraine

    Romania will donate a Patriot air defense system to Ukraine. The decision was made at the meeting of the Supreme National Defense Council (CSAT) that took place on Thursday in Bucharest. The CSAT members established that the donation of the Patriot system will be made on the condition of continuing negotiations, especially with the American strategic partner, in order to obtain a similar or equivalent system, which should meets the need to ensure the protection of the national airspace. In fact, the idea of ​​donating such a system to neighboring Ukraine emerged last month, following the meeting of President Klaus Iohannis, at the White House, with President Joe Biden. Then, Klaus Iohannis said that Romania was asked to give up such a system.  Now, after the CSAT announcement, the Presidential Administration emphasized, in a statement, that the decision was based on an in-depth technical evaluation by the authorities and that all measures were taken to eliminate the risk of creating vulnerabilities for Romania.

     

    Thus, the National Defense Ministry presented within the Supreme National Defense Council a detailed analysis regarding the situation of the operationalization of the four Patriot systems that the country currently owns, the progress of the endowment program with the other three systems it ordered, as well as the impact generated by a possible transfer of a system, the press release writes. President Volodymyr Zelenski thanked Bucharest for the decision to donate Kyiv a Patriot missile system and said that he appreciated Romania’s firm support for Ukraine. ‘Today’s decision strengthens security not only in Ukraine, but also in our entire region and Europe’ the Ukrainian president wrote in a social network post. In fact, Volodymyr Zelenskiy has requested at least seven batteries, but the countries that own them have not yet decided on handing them over.

     

    Also on Thursday, when Romania made the decision to donate the system, the United States announced that it was temporarily suspending deliveries of Patriot anti-aircraft systems to other countries, and Ukraine will now have priority in receiving them. The White House evoked Kyiv’s persistent requests to receive more Patriot batteries to defend both its frontline troops and infrastructure from Russian attacks. It’s also worth mentioning that Romania’s objectives at the NATO summit in Washington, next month, were also approved within the Supreme National Defense Council in Bucharest. The continuous deterioration of the security situation in Romania’s eastern neighborhood, as a result of the intensification of Russia’s military actions, was also analyzed.

     

    At the CSAT meeting, Klaus Iohannis also announced that he had informed NATO allies, at the end of last week, about the withdrawal of his candidacy for the position of secretary general of the organization. The Romanian president asked the members of the Council to pronounce on the candidacy of the Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, and they expressed their support for the Dutch official’s candidacy for that position within NATO. (LS)

  • Romanian – Italian relations talked in Bucharest

    Romanian – Italian relations talked in Bucharest

    Romania is for Italy an extremely important partner at the bilateral, European, and international level and we wish this country join the border-free zone of Schengen including with its ground borders. The statement was made by the Italian President, Sergio Mattarella, during his formal visit to Bucharest, where he was received by the country’s President Klaus Iohannis and the Prime Minister, Marcel Ciolacu. In turn, Klaus Iohannis hailed the solid ground for the development of the bilateral relations and the multi-domain cooperation with Italy including within the European and Euro-Atlantic frameworks. Trade exchanges between Romania and Italy last year hit 20 billion Euros, the president went on to say adding his appreciation for the aforementioned meeting which is a follow-up of the constant dialogue between the two countries.

    At the same time, the head of state hailed the valuable contribution of Italy to the security of the areas neighbouring Romania. He mentioned that both countries would continue to work together with all the allies for strengthening NATO’s role in preventing any kind of war.

     

    Klaus Iohannis:  “We tackled our concerns regarding security, caused by the war Russia is waging on Ukraine, with a negative impact on the region and also the entire Euro-Atlantic zone. We are going to work together to strengthen NATO’s role in preventing any type of war and of defending our states, by consolidating its deterrence and defence posture on the eastern flank as well as on the southern flank.”

    As for the EU enlargement, the Italian president voiced hope that Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova would join as soon as possible.

    Sergio Mattarella also referred to the visit he earlier paid to Chișinău.

    Sergio Mattarella: “For us the EU enlargement is indispensable as well as the involvement of the candidate countries. I went to the Republic of Moldova and I reiterated the support for the Republic of Moldova and for Ukraine. We have similar positions regarding the accession process, namely the EU accession of these countries as soon as possible“.

     

    During the talks with Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, the head of the Italian state underlined the importance of the economic cooperation as a pillar of the bilateral relation. The Romanian-Italian economic cooperation, the common values and the connection between citizens are strengthening the bilateral relations, the Prime Minister went on to say.

     

    A major issue during the talks was that about the Romanians living in Italy, one of the most numerous Romanian communities abroad. In this context, the Prime Minister hailed the support offered by the Italian authorities for the integration of the Romanian community, the observance of rights and the acknowledgement of the benefits it brings to the Italian society.”

    (bill)

  • Cooperation Romania – Bavaria

    Cooperation Romania – Bavaria

    ‘We are supporting Romania’s fully-fledged accession to Schengen’ – Markus Soder, the Prime Minister of the state of Bavaria assured his Romanian counterpart Marcel Ciolacu during the official visit he paid as head of a ministerial delegation that went to Munich on Monday and Tuesday.

    The Bavarian official mentioned the real headway made by Bucharest.

    Markus Soder: “We are seeing the progress Romania made, the security aspects. And we are a support to Romania for its fully-fledged accession to the Schengen zone. The cooperation with Europol, the process of fighting corruption have registered great progress and the authorities are cooperating very well. We have got very important and good information from the Bavarian Interior Ministry. And for this reason it is important for Romania to join Schengen as a fully-fledged member.”

    Munich also saw the first joint session of the Romanian and Bavarian governments, where they tackled ways of consolidating the bilateral, economic, social and security cooperation. The two sides have signed a memorandum on entrepreneurship, SMEs and start-ups. Out of all German states, Bavaria is Romania’s most important investor and trade partner with a volume of trade exchanges of 8.3 billion Euros at the end of last year. Marcel Ciolacu says that he wants that all major Bavarian companies invest in Romania.

    Marcel Ciolacu: “We want the big Bavaria-based companies in the field of car-making, engineering and aero-spatial industry, invest in Romania. We have one of the best growth-rates in Europe.”

    The Bavarian Prime Minister also stood for stepping up the bilateral economic relations adding that one domain that should be given increased attention is that of the defence industry. In fact, the talks between the two high officials also focused on the security situation at the Black Sea against the background of the conflict in Ukraine.

    Marcel Ciolacu reiterated Romania’s support for the neighbouring Ukraine and the intention of Bucharest to actively contribute to its reconstruction process. The officials also tackled the EU’s enlargement process.

    Marcel Ciolacu:  “We have reiterated our staunch support for the European future of the partners in the Western Balkans, as well as the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine on the candidates’ own merits in the reform process. We have also mentioned Romania’s appreciation for the sustained efforts of the authorities in Chisinau to implement the needed reforms and have emphasized the fact that we will continue to staunchly support the Republic of Moldova on its way to European integration.”

    The officials also had a meeting with the representatives of the Romanian community in the region. “Romania is also important because more than 213 thousand Romanian nationals are living in Bavaria, the largest foreign community. They have their own contribution and we are happy to have them here – Markus Soder said.

    (bill)

  • Romania’s magical debut at EURO 2024

    Romania’s magical debut at EURO 2024

    Even the most optimistic supporters of the Romanian national football team did not believe, before the match with Ukraine, from EURO 2024, that their team could achieve such a brilliant victory. Somehow there was this hope that the Romanian footballers would have a good match that should erase from memory the poor game with no results of the last few years, but nothing more than that. Edward Iordănescu’s national team was coming after a qualification campaign in which they did not shine, but they did not lose a single match, which created some expectations, enough to bring over 40 thousand Romanians to the stands of the Allianz Arena stadium in Munich. And, surprise: the team was not a disappointment! After a start in which Ukraine controlled the game, not posing any danger to the Romanian goal, the first goal was scored in the 29th minute following a shot from outside the box sent by Nicolae Stanciu directly into the top corner of the Ukrainian goal. The Romanians braced up and attacked more insistently.

     

    Stanciu then sent the ball into the crossbar, from a corner kick, and Romania ended the first half with strength and confidence. The second half started in the same spirit. The Romanian footballers combined more and more accurately, they were the first to reach the ball, and the individual technique made the difference, with Denis Drăguş and Dennis Man outshining the others in this respect. The score became 2 to 0 in the 53rd minute, thanks to a shot on the run by Răzvan Marin that tricked the Ukrainian goalkeeper Andri Lunin. Four minutes later the score became 3 to 0, after an individual action by Man finalized by Drăguş. Then several players were changed in both teams. Romania’s game lost a bit of its consistency, and the Ukrainians became more menacing, trying to score at least one goal. But that was not the case, so the match ended with the score 3 to 0, marking the most decisive Romanian victory in a final tournament. UEFA designated the captain of the Romanian team, Nicolae Stanciu the best player of the match.

     

    Stanciu: “I think that, after the birth of my girls, this is the happiest day. I think that what I have experienced today cannot be repeated, it is incomparable”.

     

    The striker Denis Drăguş was Iordănescu’s secret weapon. His individual play made the difference, often unbalancing the Ukrainian defense.

     

    Drăguş: “You have to believe in us. We hope that we have given the Romanians what they deserved, what they expected… it’s incredible!”

     

    In the other Group E match, Slovakia defeated Belgium 1-0 in what was the biggest upset of the European Championship so far. Thus, before the second stage, Romania occupies first place in the group. On Friday, in Düsseldorf, Slovakia will face Ukraine, and on Saturday, in Cologne, the Romanian eleven will meet Belgium.

  • Romania’s relations with the Vatican

    Romania’s relations with the Vatican

    The Romanian space, today inhabited by a mostly Christian-Orthodox population, was one of spiritual and religious confluence. The multi-confessional coexistence of Christians is attested since the Middle Ages, the sources recording information about the presence of minorities alongside the majorities: Catholics alongside Orthodox, Reformed and Evangelicals alongside Catholics and Orthodox, Greek Catholics and Roman Catholics together with Reformed and Orthodox, Neo-Protestants and the other denominations. The oldest Catholic presence in the Romanian space is in the intra-Carpathian territory, namely the archdiocese of Alba Iulia, which dates back to the 11th century. The ruler of Transylvania and the regent of Hungary Iancu of Hunedoara is buried in the Roman Catholic cathedral in the city of Alba Iulia. He was the father of the king of Hungary Matei Corvin, was of Catholic religion and Romanian origin, and died of the plague in 1456.

     

    The early Catholic presence in the Romanian extra Carpathian space is due to the kingdoms of Hungary and Poland. There were Catholic bishoprics on the eastern and southern slopes of the Carpathians, namely the one from Siret, in the north, founded in the 13th century, the one from Milcov, at the bend of the Carpathians, also from the 13th century, and the one from Severin, where the Carpathians meet the Danube, from the 14th century. Until the rise of the Ottoman Empire in Southeastern Europe in the late 14th century, Catholics and Orthodox, although often divided by political ideas, were part of the same Christian world. The late Crusades were alliances between Catholic and Orthodox kings and princes, and the anti-Ottoman coalitions of the 17th and 18th centuries co-opted armies from all Christian denominations.

     

    As the Ottoman influence north of the Danube declines starting from the 18th century and Western ideas of modernization penetrate the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia (Muntenia), the Catholic presence also increases. The first two kings of Romania from the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen dynasty, Carol I and Ferdinand I, under whose rule the modern Romanian state was formed and expanded, were Catholic. In 1883, the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Bucharest was established, during the reign of Pope Leo XIII. And the apostolic letter “Praecipuum munus” of April 27, 1883, by which the Holy See raised the vicariate apostolic of Wallachia (Muntenia) to the rank of archbishopric, meant the recognition of the importance of the Romanian state, which became a kingdom in 1881.

     

    At the end of the First World War, Romania and the Vatican formalize bilateral relations. If the Catholic presence in the Romanian space had been the historical bases on which the relations between the two states had been established, the opening of embassies began in 1920. In 1927, through the Concordat signed by the two parties, the practice of Catholic worship in Romania was guaranteed. The concordat stipulated, among other things, the recognition of the legal personality of the Catholic Church in Romania, the religious leaders had to be Romanian citizens, the Church could open schools, hospitals, orphanages and other social and educational institutions.

     

    At the end of the Second World War, defeated and occupied by the Soviet army, Romania was completely subjugated by the new communist regime. The anti-Western policy of the pro-Soviet regime in Bucharest reached its harshest forms. In the relationship with the Vatican, it meant the denunciation of the concordat of 1927, on July 17, 1948. The unilateral break of diplomatic relations with the Vatican meant the abolition of the Catholic churches in Romania and the persecution of the faithful. While the Catholic foreigners were simply expelled from Romania, the Romanian citizens of Catholic faith were made political prisoners. Mother Clara, by her lay name Ecaterina Laszlo, entered the monastery at the age of 13 and was sentenced to 15 years in prison, of which she served 14. In 2003, she recollected in an interview for the Oral History Center of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation how she witnessed, as administrator of the building of the Apostolic Nunciature in Bucharest, its evacuation immediately after the decision of the Romanian authorities to break ties with the Holy See.

     

    Mother Clara: “His Excellency O’Hara, the regent of the nunciature, was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was informed that he and his collaborators had to leave the country within 48 hours, but that he had the right to leave the building in the custody of an embassy which he could choose. Since the Swiss embassy was neutral, he chose this country. O’Hara was accused of espionage, that he was a spy for the Pope. And in 48 hours he had to leave. And there was this custom, when an embassy was leaving, to have a farewell dinner with the other ambassadors who were still in the country. And there was a dinner that evening, and at midnight, when it was over, the whole building was sealed, only one door was left in the basement for the sisters, for us who lived there, and there was a smaller house in the courtyard where three monks lived. We went out with lit candles at the main door, that’s where all the diplomats came out and that’s where the key was given to the Swiss embassy.”

     

    Non-existent between 1948 and 1989, Romania’s relations with the Vatican were restored on the last day of 1989, on December 31, nine days after the fall of the communist dictatorship on December 22. And relations have developed, the first visit of a pope to an Orthodox country taking place 25 years ago, in 1999, when Pope John Paul II arrived in Romania. (LS)

  • June 8, 2024 UPDATE

    June 8, 2024 UPDATE

    Elections – More than 40,000 employees of the Romanian Interior Ministry will be mobilized throughout the country to maintain order and public safety and to ensure protection measures at polling stations, on Sunday, when local and European Parliament elections are scheduled. According to the Interior Ministry, the electoral campaign took place under normal conditions, without serious events. The polling stations will open at 7:00 a.m. and close at 10:00 p.m. The presidents of the polling stations can decide to extend the vote until 23:59, if there are people who did not have the time to exercise this right, but are inside or in the immediate vicinity of the station. Approximately 19 million Romanians are called to the polls in the nearly 19,000 polling stations in the country. Abroad there will be 915 polling stations, twice as many as compared to the EP elections five years ago, most of them being opened in Italy, Spain and Great Britain. Romania will send 33 representatives to the EP. For the first time, the data on the voter turnout will be presented in real time, online, on the election day, for each separate election, on the website of the Permanent Electoral Authority. We remind you that this year the presidential election is scheduled in September and the legislative elections in December.

     

    European elections – Tens of thousands of people demonstrated, on Saturday, in Germany, the day before the European elections, against the extreme right, AFP informs. ‘Germany is diverse!’, ‘Stop the hate!’, ‘Down with racism!’, were the slogans written on the placards of the demonstrators in Berlin.  Demonstrations also took place in Stuttgart, Leipzig, Dresden, Munich, and Frankfurt. Despite the scandals that marked its campaign for the European Parliament, the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) hopes to achieve its best performance in this election on Sunday. The elections for the 720 members of the European Parliament are already taking place in several states of the EU. In the Netherlands, the vote took place on Thursday, and in Ireland the electoral process took place on Friday. The Czech Republic voted on Friday and Saturday. Voters from Italy, Latvia, Malta and Slovakia also went to the polls. At the level of the European Union, more than 370 million voters are expected to go to the polls.

     

    Weather – Areas in southern Romania, including the capital Bucharest, will come under a Code Orange alert for scorcher and severe thermal discomfort on Sunday, and the warning is valid until Tuesday morning. Particularly high temperatures will be recorded for this time of the year, with highs ranging between 35 and 37 degrees Celsius. The weather will be scorching which leads to a heightened thermal discomfort, and the temperature-humidity index (ITU) will exceed the critical threshold of 80 units. Meteorologists warn that temperatures will remain particularly high in the coming days, especially in the southern and southeastern regions. Also, the National Meteorological Administration issued for the same period a Code Yellow alert for thermal discomfort and high temperatures in the east, south-east, south-west and center. On Sunday, the sky will be variable, with temporarily heavy clouds, showers, electrical discharges and short-term intensification of the wind, in the northwest and center. There will be torrential rains, storms and hail. The maximum temperatures will generally range between 26 and 37 degrees C, and the minimum between 11 and 22 degrees C.

     

    Denmark – Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s office said on Saturday that she suffered a slight cervical strain following an assault on Friday evening when a man punched her in a market in Copenhagen, Reuters reports. ‘Apart from this, the prime minister is fine, but she is shocked by the incident,’ the official statement said. After the incident, Frederiksen was taken to the hospital for a check-up. All the official events that the Danish PM was supposed to attend on Saturday have been cancelled. The attacker, a 39-year-old man, was detained. The incident took place two days before the Danes went to the polls in the European Parliament elections. Three weeks ago, the Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was seriously injured in an assassination attempt. “I am shocked by the news of the attack on the Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. Violence has no place in our societies”, the Romanian Prime Minister, Marcel Ciolacu, wrote on the X platform. (LS)

  • June 7, 2024

    June 7, 2024

    Elections – In Romania, Friday is the last day of the first electoral campaign in 2024. Citizens with the right to vote are expected, on Sunday, to go to the polls to choose both their representatives in the future European Parliament and in the local authorities. According to the data of the Permanent Electoral Authority, over 200,000 candidates have tried, starting from May 10, to convince voters to vote them. The oldest candidate is 100 years old, and the youngest is just over 23 years old. 11,386 people are running for mayoral positions. All in all, 207,389 candidates have registered for all the positions of local, county and municipal councilors, mayors and presidents of county councils. For the European Parliament elections, 12 political parties and electoral alliances and four independent candidates have registered, i.e. a total of 494 candidates, of whom the Romanians with the right to vote must choose 33 that will represent Romania in the European Parliament. The electoral campaign will end on Saturday morning, at 7:00 a.m.

     

    Relations – The Ambassador-at-large of the Russian Federation in Romania, Vladimir Lipaev, was received at the Romanian Foreign Ministry by the Secretary of State Ana Tinca, for the presentation of the copies of the accreditation letters. The representative of the Romanian Foreign Ministry emphasized that the Russian Federation is solely responsible for the current state of bilateral relations and reminded the Russian diplomat that Romania condemns the war of aggression against Ukraine, which represents a brutal violation of international law, including the UN Charter. Vladimir Lipaev is a career diplomat. He has most recently been ambassador to Estonia, from where he was expelled in 2023.

     

    Gaza – 17 heads of state, including the president of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, have signed a joint statement asking Israel and Hamas to make any possible compromise for the ceasefire in Gaza. The call came after dozens of Palestinians died in an attack that the Israeli military said targeted 30 Hamas fighters that were hiding in a school, along with displaced people. The US State Department said that, although the Hamas fighters are known to be mixing with civilians, Washington is waiting for more information about the raid. Meanwhile, related to the ceasefire plan recently presented by the US President Joe Biden, the Hamas group claimed that it had not received any written commitment regarding any truce.

     

    Salary – Almost 1,900,000 employees in Romania will receive increased salaries by 284 lei (57 Euros) net value, from July 1, after the Romanian Government approved the increase of the gross minimum wage from 3,300 lei (about 660 Euros) to 3,700 lei (approximately 740 Euros) and raised from 200 lei (approximately 40 Euros) to 300 lei (almost 60 Euros) the monthly amount exempted from the payment of the income tax. The executive believes that this approach will have positive effects on economic growth, the purchasing power of employees and will contribute to the reduction of undeclared work. However, the decision does not apply to employees in agriculture and the food industry, as legal provisions in force apply to these categories. The government representatives said that this increase is a step towards the adoption, from November, of the minimum wage at the European level.

     

    Football–Romania’s national football team meets, this evening, in Bucharest, the team of Liechtenstein, in its last training match before the European Championship in Germany. On Tuesday, also in Bucharest, and also in a friendly match, the Romanian footballers drew 0-0 with the team from neighboring Bulgaria. In Group E of Euro 2024, Romania will meet Ukraine, on June 17, in Munich, then Belgium, on June 22, in Cologne, and Slovakia, on June 26, in Frankfurt. Officials of the Football Federation in Bucharest say that they are counting on a massive presence of Romanian supporters at matches, whether they come from the country, settled in Germany or in other countries of Western Europe. Romania last participated in a continental final tournament in 2016, and in a World Cup in 1998.

     

    Tennis– The pair Elena Gabriela Ruse/Marta Kostiuk (Romania/Ukraine) qualified for the semifinals of the doubles event of the Grand Slam tournament at Roland Garros. The Romanian player and her colleague reached the semifinals after the withdrawal of their opponents from the quarterfinals, the Russians Mirra Andreeva and Vera Zvonareva. Today, in the semifinals, Gabriela Ruse and Marta Kostiuk meet the Italian team Sara Errani/Jasmine Paolini, seeded 11. (LS)

  • Romania, before the local and European elections

    Romania, before the local and European elections

    Almost 19 million Romanians with the right to vote are expected to go to the polls on Sunday, June 9, when the elections for the European Parliament take place, as well as the local elections for the appointment of mayors, of the presidents of County Councils and of the municipal and local councilors. For this double election, the Bucharest administration is organizing almost 19,000 polling stations in the country and 915 abroad. Approximately 370 million citizens from the 27 EU member states are expected to elect their representatives in the EP. The most voters are in Germany, over 65 million, followed by those in France, 50.7 million and Italy, 47.3 million. In this ranking, Romania is on 6th position.

     

    According to the Statistical Office of the EU, Romania ranks 13th in terms of the number of people who could vote for the first time after reaching the required age, with over a million young people. The ballots for the local and European Parliament elections have already been sent to the polling stations in the country and abroad. 18 million were distributed in Romania, while 2.5 million abroad. The President of the Permanent Electoral Authority, Toni Greblă, explained that Romanians cannot vote in the country with a simple passport, but with an identity card or another equivalent document.

     

    At the same time, he briefly explained the voting procedure: “At 7:00 a.m. all polling stations will be ready for the voting process. The Romanians abroad will receive only one ballot, for the European Parliament elections. In the country, voters will receive five ballots, if they vote in the locality where they reside, and they have the right to vote for the local and European Parliament elections. They will place each of the five ballots in the five specially designated and inscribed ballot boxes and then leave the polling station.”

     

    Romanians who are not in the country on Sunday can vote in the European Parliament elections at any polling station abroad, the Foreign Ministry reported. The institution recommends that they should identify the nearest polling station on the mae.ro website and have a valid identity card. The distribution of the 915 polling stations organized abroad, a figure two times higher compared to the previous European Parliament elections, was directly proportional to the number of Romanian citizens in each country.

     

    The most stations will be in Italy, 150, followed by Spain, 147, and Great Britain, 104. There are also places where polling stations have not been established, either because the Romanian military personnel were withdrawn, or because the diplomatic mission was closed or moved, as is the case in Afghanistan, Mali, Sudan, Libya, and also in Rostov-on-Don, in Russia, and Odessa, in Ukraine. The first country where the polling stations will be opened is New Zealand, on Saturday at 10 p.m. Romanian time, and the electoral process abroad will take place depending on the time zone for 34 hours. The last stations will close on Monday morning, when voting closes on the West Coast of the US and in Canada, in Vancouver. (LS)

  • The EU and the Black Sea

    The EU and the Black Sea

    “The EU’s strategic approach for the Black Sea region must also include support for the states in the region facing hybrid threats and the consequences of the aggression war Russia is presently waging on Ukraine”. The statement was made by Romania’s Defence Minister Angel Tîlvăr, who on Monday met the interim chief of the European Commission Representation in Romania, Mara Roman.

    According to a communiqué of the field ministry, the European developments in the area of defence and the prospects of Bucharest in this context were high on the talks agenda of the two officials. Angel Tîlvăr and Mara Roman also tackled the EU’s role in supporting Romania’s two neighbours, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova.

    On this occasion, the Defence Minister highlighted the support Bucharest offered the two countries both in terms of their European integration efforts and in boosting resilience. The two also referred to the main initiatives and European instruments with relevance in the field of defence, such as the European Defence Fund, military mobility, the EU’s Defence Industry Strategy, namely the need for strengthening the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base. “It is important that the European defence industry develop in a geographically-balanced manner, and the small and medium-size enterprises as well as the start-ups in the entire Europe be integrated in the industrial ecosystem” – Angel Tâlvăr said. According to him, the “EU-NATO cooperation on this issue for using the potential of the instruments the two institutions have at their disposal is essential.”

    According to the communiqué, the meeting between the two officials highlighted the ever increasing role played by the European Commission in supporting member states in terms of security and defence with emphasis on the need for carrying on the development of the synergic EU-NATO relations.

    In fact, at a specialized forum held last month in Bucharest, the head of the Romanian diplomacy, Luminita Odobescu said the Black Sea is essential from the viewpoint of security and connectivity for Europe and it is needed to be an open and free sea. “When we are thinking about the Black Sea, we are speaking about two key words, – security and connectivity” – Minister Odobescu went on to say.

    The official also pointed out that Romania contributes to the Black Sea security through national, bilateral actions, but also through projects and formats of regional cooperation as well as actions at the level of the EU and NATO. According to her, “reestablishing peace and security at the Black Sea is essential for the security of us all. The same idea has been repeatedly conveyed by the European officials, underlying the joint commitment to maintaining stability and security in this area of top strategic importance.

    (bill)