Radio România Internațional

Tag: romania government

  • 21 January, 2018 UPDATE

    21 January, 2018 UPDATE

    Government. The National Committee of the Social Democratic
    Party, the senior partner in the ruling coalition in Romania, meets on Monday
    to discuss the membership of the new government. President Klaus Iohannis
    accepted the nomination of the Social Democratic MEP Viorica Dancila for the
    position of prime minister at the proposal of the Social Democrats and their
    ruling partners, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats. The Social Democrat
    leader and speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Liviu Dragnea has said Parliament
    will meet in extraordinary session on the 29th of January to vote on
    the new government and adopt the governing platform. Outgoing Social Democrat
    prime minister Mihai Tudose resigned almost a week ago after losing his party’s
    political support. On Friday, the minister for European funds Marius Nica also
    tendered his resignation.




    Protests. Tens of thousands of people protested
    on Saturday night in Bucharest and other big cities across Romania against the
    overhaul of the justice laws adopted by Parliament last month and the recent
    tax measures taken by the government. People from around the country came to
    Bucharest to join the protest. Traffic in the centre of Bucharest was disrupted
    and some incidents were reported between protesters and the security forces.
    The protesters gathered in the University Square before setting off on a march
    towards Parliament Palace, which they picketed for dozens of minutes. They
    shouted slogans criticising the government and the ruling coalition and
    demanding an independent justice system. In solidarity with the protesters in
    Romania, many Romanians living abroad took to the streets in several European
    cities, such as Milan, Budapest, Madrid and Paris.




    Brussels.
    The Romanian foreign minister Teodor Melescanu on Monday attends a meeting of
    the EU External Affairs Council in Brussels. Talks are expected to focus on the
    situation in Libya, a post-Cotonou agreement and the Middle East peace process.
    The EU foreign ministers will also attend a working lunch with the Palestinian
    president Mahmoud Abbas. On the sidelines of the council’s meeting, another
    working lunch will be held with Werner Hoyer, the president of the European
    Investment Bank. The Cotonou Agreement signed in 2000 is the most comprehensive
    partnership agreement between the European Union and developing countries. It
    has been the framework for the Union’s relations with 79 countries in Africa,
    including 48 from Sub-Saharan Africa. The goal of the agreement is to reduce
    and eventually eradicate poverty.


    Germany. The German Social
    Democrats decided on Sunday to start official talks with Angela Merkel to form
    a new government, the DPA news agency reports. Around 600 party delegates met
    in a special congress in Bonn to discuss a new alliance with Merkel’s
    Conservatives. Commentators say this positive outcome, almost 4 months after
    parliamentary elections in Germany, paves the way for the formation of a new
    government around Easter.




    Tourism. Romania took part in the International Travel Fair in
    Madrid with a national stand whose promotional message was Romania – A Tourist
    Destination for 365 Days a Year. To celebrate the Centenary of the Great Union
    of 1918, the Romanian stand featured a replica of the gates to the citadel of
    Alba Iulia, in the centre. Throughout the fair, visitors to the Romanian stand
    have been able to find out more about the Great Union anniversary and about
    Romanian tourist offers, such as cultural packages, nature tourism, rural
    tourism, city break packages, active and adventure tourism and spa and wellness
    tourism. Also, six Romanian travel companies attended a travel fair in
    Helsinki, the biggest in Scandinavia, which came to an end on Sunday. These
    companies promoted luxury tourism and ecological tourism, local products,
    packages focused on nature, photography and cycling, as well as experience
    exchanges in agriculture and Untold Festival, the largest electronic music
    festival in Romania that won the Best Major European Festival award in 2015.




    Australian Open. Tenth seed
    Romanian pair Irina Begu and Monica Niculescu on Sunday reached the women’s
    doubles quartefinals at the Australian Open after their opponents, the
    Ukrainian-Australian pair Nadia Kichenok and Anastasia Rodionova withdrew. Begu and Niculescu will
    next face either the American-Czech pair Nicole Melichar and Kveta Peschke or
    the all-American pair Jennifer Brady and Vania King. The Romanian-Brazilian
    pair Sorana Cirstea and Beatriz Haddad Maia lost in the fourth round to
    the Czech pair Lucie
    Safarova and Barbora Strycova. On Monday, top seed and world no. 1 Simona Halep
    plays against Japan’s Naomi Osaka in the fourth round. Halep advanced to
    this stage of the competition after a dramatic 3h and 45 min match against the
    American player Lauren Davis, who is no. 76 in the world.




    Weather. Meteorologists have issued a yellow code alert for snow in half of Romania’s counties in the
    south-west, south, centre and south-east. The alert is in place starting
    tonight until Monday night.

  • 28 June, 2017 UPDATE

    28 June, 2017 UPDATE

    Government. The National Executive Committee of the Social
    Democratic Party has approved the membership of Romania’s new government
    proposed by the prime minister designate Mihai Tudose. The junior partner in
    the ruling coalition, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, said earlier it
    wished to maintain its previous portfolios, namely the foreign ministry, the
    environment, energy and the relationship with Parliament, as well as its
    occupants. The list announced by the Social Democrat Mihai Tudose includes many
    of the ministers serving under Sorin Grindeanu, who was removed from office
    last week following a no-confidence vote initiated by the ruling coalition
    itself. The Social Democrats’ leader Liviu Dragnea said Parliament may vote on
    the new government on Thursday.




    Law. Romania’s president
    Klaus Iohannis has signed into law a bill on the salaries of public employees.
    He says he is in favour of increasing salaries in a sustainable manner to raise
    people’s living standards and eliminate salary inequality and
    dysfunctionalities. In his opinion, the ruling coalition has to make sure that
    the new law does not generate an economic imbalance and does not have negative
    implications for the public budget. He says the law must be correlated with
    Romania’s commitments under the Stability and Growth Pact to maintain the
    budget deficit under 3% of the GDP. The president has also warned that the more
    problematic aspects of the law will have to be addressed by the government and
    Parliament at a later date.




    Romania-Bulgaria. Romania is ready to share with Bulgaria its
    experience with regard to the fight against corruption, president Klaus Iohannis said during
    a meeting with his Bulgarian counterpart Rumen Radev in Bucharest. He said he talked with president
    Radev about his recent visit to Washington, the two countries’ common interest
    in having a strong transatlantic relationship as well as about the security
    challenges in the Black Sea region. The two leaders also discussed the issue of
    their countries’ Schengen accession. On
    Thursday, the two presidents will attend the opening of the Romania-Bulgaria
    Business Forum. During his visit to Bucharest, the Bulgarian president Rumen
    Radev is also expected to meet ethnic Bulgarians living in Romania.




    Russia sanctions. The European Union has
    officially extended the economic sanctions against Russia by another six
    months, saying Moscow has failed to comply with its commitments with respect to
    the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine. The EU leaders approved the move last week,
    saying Russia continued to support the rebels in eastern Ukraine. The decision
    came after the presentation of a report by the French president Emmanuel Macron
    and the German chancellor Angela Merkel at the EU summit held on the 22nd
    and the 23rd of June related to the implementation of the Minsk
    agreements.






    Tennis. Three Romanian
    tennis players were in action on Wednesday in the second round of the grass
    tournament in Eastbourne, worth 750,000 dollars in prize money. World no. 2
    Simona Halep defeated the Chinese player Ying-Ying Duan in
    three sets and will next face the Bulgarian player Tsvetana Pironkova. The
    latter defeated Romania’s Monica Niculescu, ranked 51st in the
    world, in straight sets. Sorana Cirstea, world no. 62, was herself defeated by
    the British player Johanna Konta, also in straight sets. The tournament in
    Eastbourne precedes the Grand Slam tournament at Wimbledon.





  • The Week in Review 19-24.12.2016

    The Week in Review 19-24.12.2016

    President Iohannis continues talks with
    parliamentary parties to form new government


    The prime minister
    who will form the new government of Romania will be designated after Christmas,
    said President Klaus Iohanis. He pointed out that during the consultations he
    held with the 6 parliamentary parties he received two nominations for the prime
    minister position. Klaus Iohannis:




    During the
    consultations two proposals were made. The Social Democratic Party nominated
    Mrs. Shhaideh and the People’s Movement Party nominated Mr. Tomac. On the other
    hand, a majority coalition was formed in Parliament, made up of the Social
    Democratic Party, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania and the
    Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania. Therefore, we will be holding
    talks on these issues in the coming days and I will designate the prime
    minister after Christmas.




    The Social Democrat
    Sevil Shhaideh, of Turkish origin, is currently an adviser to the Minister of
    Regional Development. She was herself minister of regional development for a
    short while, in Victor Ponta’s Cabinet.




    Deputy Eugen Tomac
    was secretary of state with the Department for the Romanians in the Diaspora
    within the Foreign Affairs Ministry between 2009 and 2012.




    The Social
    Democrats, the winners of the December 11 elections, made a coalition with the
    Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania, the party led by the speaker of
    the Senate, Călin Popescu Tăriceanu. They also signed a protocol of
    parliamentary cooperation for the next 4 years with the UDMR. The three parties
    have committed to holding regular consultations and support legislative
    initiatives together. The UMDR pledged to back all the bills drafted by the
    government.




    The legislative steps made in the fields of
    education and healthcare, as well as the finalisation of the road transport
    infrastructure projects included in the governing program of the new coalition
    are considered top priorities.




    The new Romanian
    Parliament has taken office


    On Tuesday the newly
    elected Senate and Chamber of Deputies convened for the first time, with the
    procedures for the validation of mandates, the swearing in ceremony, the
    setting up of expert committees and the election of the speakers of
    Parliament’s two chambers taking place at a fast pace.

    Călin Popescu Tăriceanu,
    the co-president of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania was
    elected for a new term as speaker of the Senate, with 87 votes in favour and 40
    against. He urged his fellow Senators to take their mission seriously and to
    act in such a way as to make Parliament a powerful institution. The Social
    Democrat leader Liviu Dragnea was elected Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, with
    216 out of 317 votes. He called on MPs to support the important projects for
    the country, irrespective of their political affiliation.




    The members of the
    two Permanent Bureaus, of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, were also
    elected. Another necessary step for Parliament to start working is the setting
    up of floor groups. The Senate has 6 groups, represented by the Social
    Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union, the
    Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians
    in Romania and the People’s Movement Party, whereas the Chamber of Deputies
    also includes the group of ethnic minorities apart from the 6 aforementioned
    groups. Senators also voted on the membership of the 22 expert committees, as
    well as the chairs, deputy chairs and secretaries of the permanent committees
    in keeping with the number of seats held by each political party.




    The Social Democrats
    will chair 11 committees, among which the legal, budget and education
    committees. The Liberals will lead 5 committees, including the defence and
    economic ones, while the Alliance of Liberals and Deputies heads the
    constitutionality and regional development committees. The recently set-up Save
    Romania Party holds the presidency of the committees on environment and equal
    chances. The People’s Movement Party, headed by the former president Traian Băsescu, heads the committee on development and
    economic strategy, while the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians leads the
    committee on healthcare.




    Commemorations of
    1989 anti-Communist uprising held across Romania


    Ceremonies continued
    this week for the commemoration of the heroes of the 1989 anti-Communist
    uprising. December 22, 1989 was the day when tens of thousands of Bucharest
    residents took to the streets to protest against Ceauşescu’s regime.


    The protests started
    on December 17 in the western city of Timişoara,
    which became the first city free of Communism. In Bucharest, the protesters
    occupied the Palace Square and stormed the headquarters of the Communist
    Party’s Central Committee. The dictatorial couple managed to escape, to be
    later apprehended. Meanwhile, the protesters occupied the headquarters of the
    public radio and television stations, which announced the fall of the Communist
    regime and kept people informed on the events taking place at that moment.




    Ceremonies
    commemorating the people killed in those days in Bucharest and other cities
    have been held in Romania this past week. Romania’s Parliament held a solemn
    session on the anniversary of 27 years since the 1989 anti-Communist uprising.
    President Klaus Iohannis conveyed a message on the occasion, in which he
    underscored the need to remember the martyrs of the 1989 revolution with
    respect and gratitude, because their sacrifice led to a free and democratic
    Romania. Romania is the only country in the eastern bloc where the change of
    regime was made by force and the communist dictators executed.