Radio România Internațional

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  • 7 December, 2015 UPDATE

    7 December, 2015 UPDATE

    2016 state budget. The Romanian Government will hold a public
    debate on Wednesday to discuss the priorities and structure of the 2016 state
    budget. The budget bill is to be approved by the government this week, before
    being submitted to Parliament for debate and approval. The ministries of
    defence, interior, education and health will be allocated the largest amount of
    funds next year. Less money will go to the ministries of labour and transport.
    Budget returns in 2016 are expected to grow by approximately 800 million euros
    compared with 2015, while expenses are to grow by 2.9 billion euros, to make up
    for the fiscal relaxation measures already approved by Government and
    Parliament. The new budget is based on a budget deficit level of maximum 3% of
    the GDP, in keeping with the EU ceiling, and a 4.1% economic growth rate.




    Army exercises. Romanian military
    started training on Monday, alongside troops from the US and the Republic of
    Moldova, at the Smardan shooting range, in south-eastern Romania, as part of
    the Platinum Lynx 16.2 Black Sea Rotational Force exercise. This exercise is
    aimed at continuing the joint training of the military, increasing the level of
    interoperability between the participant forces and strengthening their
    partnership. In parallel, some 200 Romanian soldiers and 350 US military are
    taking part in the Dacian Thunder exercise at the army air bases in Mihail
    Kogalniceanu, south-eastern Romania, and in Campia Turzii, in the west. The
    exercise comes to an end on December 20th. According to the Romanian
    defence ministry, Dacian Thunder, which is now in its second year, is aimed at
    increasing staff interoperability, ensuring an exchange of experience and
    improving the training of both Romanian and US military staff, in keeping with
    the NATO standards.




    French elections. France’s far-right National
    Front is the big winner of the first round of regional elections held on
    Sunday. With a record national score of 30% of the votes, the Front pulled
    ahead of both the moderate right, in opposition, and the ruling Socialist
    Party. Commentators say the second round, due on December 13th, may
    confirm the rise of the far-right, whose anti-immigration and anti-Islam
    discourse has become more and more appealing to voters following last month’s
    attacks in Paris.




    Ukraine-Biden. Ukraine still has a lot of hard work to do on
    reforms, in particular the fight against corruption, said US vice-president Joe
    Biden on Monday in Kiev, in a joint press conference with Ukraine’s president
    Petro Poroshenko. Biden announced new US financial aid of 190 million dollars
    to help Ukraine fight corruption, a scourge which, almost two years since the
    regime change in Kiev and despite the promises of the new authorities, is still
    a problem in this country. Also on Monday, Biden called on Moscow to fulfil the
    peace deal in Ukraine’s pro-Russian east and hand back to Kiev the Crimean
    peninsula which it annexed in 2014.






    Humanitarian appeal. The United Nations is seeking 20 billion dollars in funding to help some
    87 million people from 37 countries next year, the largest humanitarian appeal
    in history, said the UN under-secretary-general
    for humanitarian affairs Stephen O’Brien in Geneva. He said conflicts and disasters have driven millions of children, women and men to the edge of survival. The
    humanitarian appeal for 2016 is based on response plans and strategies in 27 crises in 37 different countries
    around the world. The conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Sudan and Yemen will remain
    among the greatest drivers of prolonged humanitarian needs in 2016, according
    to the United Nations.




    Britain-EU. Uncertainty
    over the UK’s future in the EU is destabilising Europe. That is why we must
    find a way to answer the British concerns as quickly as possible, said the
    president of the European Council Donald Tusk on Monday. In a letter to EU
    leaders, who are due to meet on the 17th of December in Brussels for
    the winter summit, Tusk said reaching an agreement with the authorities in
    London is a matter of urgency. He said there is strong will among member
    states to find solutions that respond to the British requests with regard to
    the reform of the European Union, but that there is presently no consensus on
    Britain’s proposal to restrict benefits for people coming to the UK from the
    EU.




    Pollution. The Chinese authorities have issued the first ever red smog alert, in
    place from Tuesday until Thursday, and have taken exceptional measures. The
    alert comes as smog engulfs Beijing for the second time this month. According
    to the World Health Organisation, the air pollution level has in some places
    exceeded 40 times the recommended limit. The authorities have decided to close
    nurseries, schools and factories, halt all building works and impose
    restrictions on car travel.





    Handball.     The Romanian women’s handball team on Monday
    defeated Kazakhstan 36:20 in their second match at the World Championship
    hosted by Denmark. In their first match on Saturday, Romania won against Puerto
    Rico 47:14. In their next fixture on Tuesday, Romania face Spain. Their group
    also includes Norway and Russia. The four best-ranked teams in each group will
    qualify for the round of last 16. The World Championship is important for the
    teams’ qualification for the Olympic Games in Rio. The winner of the
    championship will qualify automatically, while the teams in places 2-7 will
    play the Olympic test events in April 2016. Romania are the only team to have
    taken part in all editions of the World Championship since 1957, winning three
    medals in the process: gold in 1962 and silver in 1973 and again in 2005.

    (Edited and translated by: C. Mateescu)

  • Government measures

    Government measures

    Romania wants to increase its European fund absorption rate to 70% by the end of the year, according to the Minister for European Funds, Aura Răducu. The Romanian official said that any projects with EU funding still ongoing by December 31 might be co-funded, also by involving local authorities. Aura Răducu said the Government was making efforts to refund the costs for 5,500 ongoing projects.



    Aura Răducu: “We are trying to come up with a solution so that any projects finalized by December 31 should start getting European funding, especially those projects managed by local authorities. Local authorities must cover what funding the remaining projects need in order to be finalized”.



    Aura Răducu however warned that these costs would be refunded only if the projects in question are half-complete and have observed all public procurement rules and procedures. The Romanian official has explained there are nearly 80 projects that risk not being finalized by December 31.



    Aura Răducu: “In order to save certain projects we have the so-called phased projects, 77 projects that cannot be finalized, especially those referring to large water or transport infrastructure programmes. We will try to finance these projects in two phases, part of them in the current financial framework and the other part in the next framework”.



    In turn, Finance Minister Anca Dragu has warned that any failure to observe deadlines for public procurement might lead to withholding payments for all projects with EU funding. That’s why the Government in Bucharest has made reforming the public procurement system a top priority. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister Dacian Cioloş has called on Transport Minister Dan Costescu to draw up an analysis on the functioning of the Road and Highway Administration and other companies operating within the ministry. As regards investments in infrastructure, Cioloş said all construction works provided in the Transport Master Plan and agreed upon with the European Commission would continue.



    Dacian Cioloş: “The efforts to formalize and adopt the Master Plan have not been in vain. We are also working on a list of very exact goals that we want to pursue over the coming year, such as starting or continuing works for the Pitesti-Sibiu highway. Also, there are express roads and highway segments linking Comarnic to Busteni and Transylvania to Moldavia where we can make headway with feasibility studies and technical projects. As for Bucharest, we can advance with construction works for the Bucharest ring and the segment linking the city to the Ploiesti motorway”.



    The Prime Minister promised these projects would be carefully monitored, ranking high on the Government’s agenda.


  • November 14, 2015 UPDATE

    November 14, 2015 UPDATE

    The French President Francois Hollande on Saturday announced three days of national mourning following Friday night’s terrorist attacks in Paris that killed almost 130 people, according to a provisional death toll. According to the French prosecutor, François Molins, over 350 people have been wounded, of whom almost 100 are in a serious condition. The Romanian Foreign Ministry informed that two Romanian citizens are among the dead. Another two Romanians have been slightly injured: one is in hospital and the other has already been discharged. The Jihadist group the Islamic State has claimed the attacks. “France will have no pity” said the French president who asked the French people to be united and keep a cold head. Following the tragedy, a state of emergency was declared in France and temporary customs controls have been reintroduced. 6 near-simultaneous attacks took place in various locations in Paris. Tens of people were taken hostage and killed in the famous Bataclan concert hall where a rock concert was under way. Explosions were heard in the “Stade de France” area in the north, and also in the east and center, where the terrorists opened fire on crowded places. According to the French prosecutor, François Molins, there were three teams of attackers involved in the assault on Paris, some of them being from Syria and Iraq. 7 terrorists died during the attacks.



    The French ambassador to Bucharest, François Saint-Paul, on Saturday thanked the Romanian authorities for the support provided after Friday night’s terrorist attacks in Paris and for the solidarity messages received. According to the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis these attacks should be a signal for the entire international community that should become more determined to fight terrorism and defend human values. A book of condolence has been placed at the French embassy in Bucharest in which various public personalities from Romania recorded their condolence messages. On Sunday afternoon a meeting for solidarity and unity will be held in front of the French embassy in Bucharest for all the French citizens who want to express their support and show solidarity, a meeting at which Romanian citizens are also expected. In Paris, in sign of solidarity with the French people, the Romanian embassy lowered the national flag at half-mast. In another development, the Romanian Foreign Ministry has activated a crisis unit and the Romanian Intelligence Service pointed out that the level of terrorist alert would not be changed.



    13 people who were injured in the October 30th fire in the Colectiv nightclub in Bucharest continue to be in a critical state. According to data provided by the Health Ministry, on Saturday morning 56 people were still in the care of Bucharest hospitals and around 30 are being treated in Great Britain, Belgium, Austria, Israel and the Netherlands. So far 55 young people have died following the terrible fire. The fire at the rock concert that was attended by several hundreds people started from the fireworks used in the show. Many of the people who were in the club on October 30th sustained burns but the great number of deaths was due to poisoning with toxic fumes.



    The unprecedented attacks in Paris marked Saturday’s meeting in Vienna focusing on the situation in Syria. The meeting was attended by representatives from 20 countries and international organizations. More determined than ever to fight terrorism, the participants agreed on a concrete timetable regarding the formation of a Syrian transition government in the next 6 months and the organization of elections in the next 18 months. In spite of all that, there are still divergent opinions on the situation in Syria. While Russia and Iran support Damascus, the US and its European and Arab allies support certain groups in opposition and ask for the resignation of the Syrian president Bashar al Assad. Another international meeting on the Syrian issue will take place in about one month.



    The structure of the new Romanian government and the governing program are expected to be presented by Sunday. The hearing of the future ministers is scheduled for Monday and Tuesday when Parliament is expected to vote for the new ministers. The prime minister designate Dacian Ciolos has not ruled out a new round of negotiations with some parliamentary parties ahead of presenting the list of ministers. We recall that in the wake of the devastating fire in the Colectiv nightclub in Bucharest, the Social Democrat PM Victor Ponta resigned following the pressure of the street protests in which tens of thousands of Romanians participated. The protesters denounced the corruption of the central and local authorities.

  • The government faces motion of no-confidence

    The government faces motion of no-confidence

    On Wednesday, the motion of no-confidence
    tabled by the Liberal opposition was read before the two chambers of
    Parliament. Its initiators took the opportunity to reiterate their claim that
    given the charges brought by anti-corruption prosecutors against prime minister
    Victor Ponta, namely forgery and accessory to tax evasion and money laundering,
    Victor Ponta should no longer have the authority to sign bills and approve the
    state budget.




    According to the leader of the Liberal group
    Eugen Nicolaescu, in any other EU country, a prime minister in Victor Ponta’s
    situation would have already resigned. He recalled that his party had been
    asking for Mr Ponta’s resignation since June 5th when the National
    Anti-Corruption Directorate made public its accusations against him. Also on
    Wednesday, before leaving for Brussels, president Klaus Iohannis said it would
    be a good thing if the adoption passed.




    Just like Dan Sova, a former university
    colleague and later business partner of Victor Ponta and who worked under him
    in the party and in the cabinet, Mr Ponta is accused of involvement in illegal
    actions at the Rovinari and Turceni energy companies that caused the state more
    than 16 million euros in losses.




    Convinced that the gravity of the charges
    brought against the prime minister should prevail over any political loyalty,
    the Liberals called on the parties in the government coalition to vote in
    favour of the motion on September 29th. In order to be passed by
    Parliament, the motion needs a majority of 276 yes votes. However, by the time
    it was submitted, the motion had only been endorsed by 180 MPs, mostly from the
    National Liberal Party. Kelemen Hunor, the leader of the second largest party
    in opposition, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, said most
    of his MPs would vote in favour of the motion. For the motion to pass, however,
    more votes are needed from the parties in the ruling coalition, which won’t be
    easy.




    The interim president of the Social Democratic
    Party, Liviu Dragnea, says the party will support its former leader whose prime
    ministerial performance they see as a success. The party’s spokeswoman,
    Gabriela Firea, says the situation of prime minister Ponta has not changed,
    because he remains innocent until the court gives its final verdict. The junior
    partners of the Social Democrats said they would support the coalition. Led by
    the deputy prime minister and interior minister Gabriel Oprea, the National
    Union for the Progress of Romania announced they would vote against the motion,
    while the leader of the Liberals’ and Democrats’ Alliance and Senate speaker
    Calin Popescu Tariceanu believes that Ponta’s case is an example of how the
    judiciary can be used as a political weapon to help a group take over power
    by eliminating its rivals.




    Even commentators believe the motion has slim
    chances to pass, while noting that Romania’s image is greatly affected by the
    fact that its prime minister is facing corruption charges.

  • The Romanian Prime Minister Steps down as Leader of the Social Democratic Party

    The Romanian Prime Minister Steps down as Leader of the Social Democratic Party

    After 5 and a half
    years as leader of the biggest party in Romania, Victor Ponta has decided to
    step down and take no position within the Social Democratic Party until, as he
    says in a Facebook message posted on Sunday,
    he proves his innocence in the case in which the National Anticorruption
    Directorate has accused him of corruption. Currently the prime minister is
    being prosecuted for forgery, tax evasion and money laundering, which he
    allegedly committed while a lawyer. The case also involves his party colleague,
    Senator Dan Sova.

    In the same Facebook message, Ponta says that other members
    of the ruling Social Democratic Party too have temporarily given up their
    political positions within the party until they have clarified their legal
    situation, and he cannot ask the others to make such a sacrifice, without
    making it himself. This is his first step backwards following November’s
    presidential elections, the moment that actually marked the decline of one of
    the most prominent young politicians in Romania. The resounding failure in the
    race for the office of president of the country, caused by a tactical error,
    that of treating voters abroad with contempt, has weakened his position within
    the party.

    Still, despite the party tradition, which says that if the leader of
    the party loses the election, he also loses the position of head of party,
    Victor Ponta miraculously managed to ease tensions within the Social Democratic
    Party and stay president. That was an absolute first in Romania, which,
    unfortunately, was followed by another one, starring the same Victor Ponta. He
    became the first acting head of government to be prosecuted for corruption.
    Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis and the right-wing opposition called on
    Ponta to resign and thus avoid having Romania suffer from a bad image, the more
    so as the country was making efforts to convince its western partners that the
    fight against corruption was not phony.

    However, Ponta refused to do so, and
    played a trick, which weakened even more his political position. On the very
    same day when he was supposed to be heard by the anticorruption prosecutors,
    the prime minister left to Turkey to have his knee operated on. He has now
    finally returned, one month later. In the meantime, the coalition formed around
    the Social Democratic Party has suffered one first major blow: the National
    Union for the Progress of Romania, member of the coalition, has endorsed Mihai
    Razvan Ungureanu as head of the Foreign Intelligence Service.


    Following the announcement that he
    steps down as president of the Social Democratic Party, the Liberal Party has
    again called on Ponta to also step down as prime minister. Victor Ponta has
    understood that his remaining president of the Social Democratic Party damages
    the image of the party, so, logically, he should also understand that the
    damage for the Government and for Romania is even bigger said the liberal
    co-president Alina Gorghiu. The story, therefore, might have the ending desired
    by the liberals, even in the short-run. Without him being a leader of the
    Social Democratic Party, Victor Ponta risks being affected by major
    consequences, both with regard to his authority within the government and also
    within he coalition which seems so far from the initial harmony.

  • Budget Rectification

    The Romanian Government will approve, on Tuesday, the 2nd budget rectification in 2014, which, all in all, is a positive one, just like the one operated in summer. However, some institutions and ministries will have their funds cut. According to the draft emergency ordinance on the state budget rectification posted on the site of the Finance Ministry, the Labor Ministry will receive most of the money, namely 1.2 billion lei for the payment of salaries and social services. The Ministry of Regional Development will receive additional funds worth almost 600 million lei while the Interior Ministry will get 250 million lei.



    Also the budgets of the Public Administration, Defense and Justice Ministries will be increased. The Foreign Ministry will benefit from additional funds worth 96 million lei for the functioning of diplomatic missions as well as for its development assistance programs. Additional amounts of money will also go to the Senate, the High Court of Cassation and Justice, the Ombudsman and the special services. In exchange, the Government will reduce the state budget expenses by almost 4 billion lei, through which projects benefiting from post-accession non-reimbursable external funds are co-financed. Of this sum, more than one billion lei accounts for cuts in the budget of the Government’s General Secretariat, which manages, through the Department for Infrastructure and Foreign Investments Projects, big infrastructure projects, mainly the building of highways.



    The Finance and Agriculture Ministries will lose in turn one billion lei, and the Healthcare Ministry will be deprived of almost 300 million lei. Nevertheless, the government will allot about 120 million lei to national healthcare programs related to HIV, oncology and TB, for the payment of salaries to the staff of hospitals under the authority of the local public administration, for ambulance services, the rehabilitation of maternities, the funding of after-hours medical centers, and for EBOLA prevention measures.



    Smaller sums of money will be cut from the Presidential Administration, the Romanian Academy, the Education, Sports and Culture Ministries. Under the 2nd budget rectification local authorities will receive more than 1.16 billion lei plus one billion lei through the Local Development National Program. The opposition claims that the money received by mayors has an electoral connotation, given the upcoming November presidential election.

  • Draft Law on Tax Amnesty

    The Romanian Government on Tuesday approved two draft laws on exempting pensioners and mothers from paying back their undue gains due to faults within the administrative system. Thirty thousand pensioners and some 13 thousand mothers with child rearing benefits will become eligible for tax amnesty. Labour Minister Rovana Plumb says the measure will apply to all pensioners in the public sector until the law comes into effect. Rovana Plumb:



    “The law exempts all pensioners from paying their outstanding debts to the social security system with the exception of debts accrued due to the exclusive fault of pensioners, meaning by submitting false income statements and documents. The National Pension Authority will be in charge with verifying all these cases”.



    Some 9,500 pensioners have been found guilty of tax fraud by submitting false statements or inaccurate documents for personal benefit, and will have to pay back these unduly gains within 3 years. Mothers accruing debts through personal fault will also be held accountable. Rovana Plumb again:



    “Eligible for tax amnesty will be the mothers who received child-rearing benefits and obtained additional gains that they reported to fiscal administrations”.



    According to the Ministry, the amnesty law will apply to 30 thousand pensioners who accrued some 14.5 million euros in debt and to 12.500 mothers with 3.3 million euros in debt. Rovana Plumb says these sums will not affect the social security budget for 2014. The two bills will be submitted to Parliament for debate and approval. Prime Minister Victor Ponta said Parliament might make additional categories of people eligible for tax amnesty, should similar problems be discovered. The Government must deal with the cases where civil servants err to the detriment of the citizens, Ponta went on to say.



    The Government should send out a message to these people to prevent them from panicking and to reassure them they won’t have to pay back any undue benefits accrued through no fault of their own. The press has reported several cases of pensioners who committed suicide for fear of having to pay back the money they had received unlawfully for several years.

  • Motion of censure against the government

    Motion of censure against the government

    Two years after coming to power, the country’s Social Democratic Prime Minister Victor Ponta will face on Monday the first motion of censure against his cabinet. The initiators of the motion are the Liberals, who, surprisingly enough, were Ponta’s partners in the ruling coalition until two months ago.



    Joining forces as part of the Social-Liberal Union and winning the 2012 parliamentary elections with nearly 70% of the votes, the Social Democrats and the Liberals also formed the government together, in a common effort to address what they called the abuse of the previous Liberal Democratic cabinets guided by president Traian Basescu. Those days are now gone, and the Liberals now joint forces with the Liberal Democrats, the representatives of the pro-presidential People’s Movement, as well as the populist Party of the People for their last motion of censure against the Social Democratic government.



    In the text of the motion, the Liberal Party accuses the government of failing to keep its promise as regards tax exemptions for reinvested profits, a 5% reduction in social security contributions, endorsing legislation to regulate first-time land registry entries for farmland and forests and amending the Fiscal Code and the new Forestry Code. The initiators of the motion also accuse the Prime Minister of trying to control the judiciary. In response, the minister delegate for budget Liviu Voinea has recently announced that the 5% reduction in social security contributions will take effect on July 1st.



    Analysts expect the Ponta cabinet will have no problems passing this test in Parliament. In order to be passed, the motion needs at least 286 votes, and the Liberals, the Liberal Democrats and the Party of the People only have 218 MEPs in total. The Liberal leader Crin Antonescu is himself sceptical about the chances for the motion to pass, but says the debates will at least give rise to a thorough analysis of the government’s work.



    The motion will be discussed in Parliament one day after the European Parliament elections, in which, according to opinion polls, the candidates of the left, mostly from the Social Democratic Party, will get more votes than all the opposition parties together.