Radio România Internațional

Tag: Romania’s volleyball team

  • August 29, 2019

    August 29, 2019

    STATISTICS – Romania’s population stood at 19.4 million people on January 1,
    2019, by 125,500 people less compared to the same period last year, reads a
    provisional estimate of the National Statistics Institute made public today.
    According to the Institute, the main cause of this demographic shrinkage is the
    negative population growth rate. Another reason is the high number of
    emigrants. Last year, some 240,000 people left the country, by 20,000 more than
    in 2017. Population aging has also increased compared to January 1, 2018, the
    number of people aged 65 and above being on the rise.




    MEETING – Romania’s Defence and Foreign Ministers, Gabriel Les and Ramona
    Manescu, are today attending the informal meeting of the EU’s Foreign Ministers
    hosted by Helsinki. On the last day of the event a joint panel of the defence
    and foreign ministers will focus on hot topics in the field of hybrid threats.
    The meeting is chaired by the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and
    Security Policy, Federica Mogherini. Attending the panels were NATO Secretary
    General Jens Stoltenberg and the UN Deputy Secretary General for Peace
    Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix. On Wednesday, talks tackled maritime
    coordination, artificial intelligence and new technologies, as well as the
    impact of climate change.




    VISIT – US President Donald Trump’s national security advisor, John
    Bolton, today on a visit to Chisinau, said the United States supports the
    sovereignty and independence of the Republic of Moldova, a country that must
    decide its future without outside interference. Subsequent to his meeting with
    Prime Minister Maia Sandu, John Bolton said Washington continues to support the
    Moldovan Government’s efforts to settle the conflict in Transdniestr, a
    pro-Russian breakaway region east of Moldova. According to Radio Romania’s
    correspondent in Chisinau, Prime Minister Sandu outlined the main priorities of
    her Government, including combating top-level corruption, reducing poverty and
    creating opportunities for economic developments. Sandu and Bolton also
    discussed the possibility of increased cooperation with NATO by means of a new
    joint action plan.




    VOLLEYBALL – The Romanian women’s volleyball team is today playing Azerbaijan
    in the last Group C fixture at the European Championship in Hungary. In the
    first four games, Romania defeated Hungary and Estonia 3-1, and lost to the
    Netherlands and Croatia, nil-3 and 1-3, respectively. The first four teams in
    each group will advance to the quarterfinals. This is Romania’s first
    participation after a four-year break. Our best result was bronze in 1963.




    FOOTBALL – Romania’s vice-champions FCSB are today playing Vitoria Guimaraes
    of Portugal away from home in the return leg of the Europa League playoffs. The
    first leg ended nil-all. On Wednesday, Romania’s champions CFR Cluj lost nil-1
    away from home to Slavia Prague of the Czech Republic. In the first leg on home
    turf, CFR had lost nil-1. CFR will however play in the Europa League group
    phase this season.






    TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, world no. 4, is today
    playing Taylor Townsend of the United States in the second round at US Open.
    Ana Bogdan, will be going up against Petra Martic of Croatia, while Sorana
    Cirstea will take on Aliona Bolsova of Spain. Finally, in the men’s
    competition, Marius Copil will play Gael Monfils of France.


    (Translated
    by V. Palcu)

  • August 26, 2019 UPDATE

    August 26, 2019 UPDATE

    POLITICS – The Alliance of Liberals and
    Democrats will withdraw from the governing coalition, its leader Calin
    Popescu-Tariceanu announced on Monday. The decision follows after the
    Social-Democratic Party, the Alliance’s ruling coalition partners, did not
    support their claim to reshuffle the government and present a new governing
    program, Tariceanu says. Tariceanu will also withdraw from the presidential
    race, while his party will support the candidacy of Mircea Diaconu, who has
    also rallied the support of the Pro Romania Party. Calin Popescu-Tariceanu will
    also resign from the position of Senate Speaker. In turn, Prime Minister and
    Social Democrat leader Viorica Dancila said her party will stay in power. The Prime Minister on Tuesday will make new nominations to replace the outgoing ministers from the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats.




    ELECTIONS – The
    Romanian Government’s decisions regarding the presidential election in November
    enter into force this week. The document includes information and regulations
    regarding the vote in Romania and abroad. The deadline for the submission of
    candidacies is September 22. The election campaign will start on October 12.
    The first round of elections will be held on November 10 and the second one on
    November 24.




    DIPLOMACY -
    Bucharest is hosting for four days the annual meeting of Romanian diplomacy,
    staged by the Romanian Foreign Ministry. Approached at the meeting will be the
    future of the EU and its global role, the trans-Atlantic ties, the ties with
    the eastern neighbors, European affairs, Romania’s political and economic ties
    with countries in the Asia-Pacific area, the Middle East, Africa and Latin
    America, humanitarian aid and the contribution to world peace and security.
    Attending the event are Foreign Minister Ramona Manescu, minister-delegate for
    European affairs George Ciamba and heads of Romania’s consular and diplomatic missions
    abroad. The special guests of this year’s meeting are the foreign ministers of
    Bulgaria and Moldova and the Croatian state secretary for European affairs. On
    Monday, the Foreign Ministry and the UN Development Program signed a
    cooperation memorandum.




    MILITARY – A new
    detachment of the Romanian Gendarmerie is leaving on Tuesday to Afghanistan for
    a six-month NATO mission. The 16 officers and agents will provide training,
    counseling and assistance to Afghan security forces and institutions. Attending
    the departure ceremony on Monday, Inspector General with the Romanian
    Gendarmerie Constantin Florea said the participation of Romanian gendarmes in
    missions in Afghanistan started in 2011, with notable results prompting
    international bodies to call on Romania to contribute special forces to
    training and counseling missions. So far Romanian gendarmes have helped train
    over 17,000 Afghan soldiers and police officers.




    MINISTERS – Prime
    Minister Viorica Dancila on Monday submitted the proposals for new ministers
    decided at Saturday’s National Executive Committee of the Social Democratic
    Party to President Klaus Iohannis. The party’s secretary general, Mihai Fifor
    will be heading the Interior Ministry, Ana Birchall will become Deputy Prime
    Minister for Strategic Partnerships while MP Iulian Iancu will be Deputy Prime
    Minister in charge of economic affairs. Dana Girbovan was nominated for the
    Justice Ministry, but the move has been harshly criticized by the opposition
    who emphasized the fact that Girbovan was a staunch supporter of the justice
    reforms that had been proposed by PSD and ALDE with the alleged intention to
    gain control over the magistrates and hinder the anti-graft fight.




    G7 – World
    leaders gathered in Biarritz for the last day of the G7 Summit on Monday. UN
    Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on the international community to
    take action to protect the Amazon region, swept by wildfire. French president Emmanuel
    Macron said the industrialized states of G7 have agreed on a 20-million-dollar
    fund which states in the Amazon can use to combat wildfire. President Macron also
    said an international initiative for the Amazon at UN level will be launched,
    looking into ways to reforest the affected areas.




    VOLEYBALL – The
    Romanian national women’s volleyball team defeated Estonia 3-1 on Sunday in
    Budapest, Hungary, in Group C of the European Championship. This is the second
    consecutive win of the Romanians, after defeating the host country’s team on
    Saturday, 3-1. The Netherlands is first in the group, with 6 points in 2
    matches, followed by Romania, with 6 points in 3 matches, Croatia, Hungary,
    Azerbaijan and Estonia. On Tuesday Romania will take on Croatia and on Thursday
    it will play Azerbaijan.


    (Translated by V.
    Palcu)

  • August 25, 2019

    August 25, 2019

    MEETING – The Chamber of Deputies will
    convene over the coming days to debate the possibility of eliminating amnesty
    and pardon as well as Emergency Decree 114, providing for a series of economic
    and fiscal measures. The opposition considers the decree to be the most toxic
    instrument in Romanian economy. The Social-Democrats say the decree also
    provides for an increase in pensions starting September 1, as well as capping
    natural gas and electricity prices for home consumers.






    CANDIDACY – About
    one thousand Social Democrats from the PSD, number one in the government
    coalition in Bucharest, on Saturday convened in a congress to launch the
    candidacy of Romania’s incumbent Prime Minister Viorica Dancila for the
    presidential election in November. The country’s incumbent president Klaus
    Iohannis has also announced his intention to run for a second term in office
    with support from the main opposition party, the National Liberal Party. Dan
    Barna, leader of the opposition USR-PLUS, will also run for the presidential
    seat and so will Calin Popescu Tariceanu, leader of ALDE, part of the present
    ruling coalition. Also during the congress, the PSD’s National Executive
    Committee has also adopted proposals for the ministers the Prime Minister is
    going to submit to president Iohannis on Monday. So, the party’s secretary
    general, Mihai Fifor will be heading the Interior Ministry, Ana Birchall will
    become Deputy Prime Minister for Strategic Partnerships while MP Iulian Iancu
    will be Deputy Prime Minister in charge of economic affairs. Dana Girbovan had been proposed for the
    Justice Ministry, but the move attracted a lot of heat from the opposition who
    recalled that Girbovan was a staunch supporter of the justice reforms that had
    been proposed by PSD and ALDE with the alleged intention to gain control over
    the magistrates and hinder the anti-graft fight.






    GOLDEN STAG – The
    2019 Golden Stag trophy went to Eliza G of Italy. 12 artists from ten countries
    competed for the trophy. The jury decided on Saturday to award 1st
    prize to Sara De Blue of Austria, 2nd prize to Ralfs Eilands of
    Latvia, and 3rd prize to Monika Marija of Lithuania. Alfie Arcuri
    got the award for best interpretation of a Romanian song, awarded by the
    Romanian television and radio corporations. The Golden Stag Festival started in
    1968 and continued for 18 editions, the last staged in 2018. Radio Romania is
    co-producer of the festival.








    PROETNICA – The
    Pro-Etnica Intercultural Festival came to a close on Sunday in Sighisoara. For
    five days traditional ensembles of Italian, Greek, German, Roma, Macedonian,
    Serbian, Bulgarian, Hungarian and Jewish communities performed live on stage.
    Craftsmen’s workshops and national minority pavilions were open all throughout
    the festival. The 17th edition of the Festival also introduced the
    Literary Salon, a place devoted to national minority writers presenting their
    works, organizing debates, readings as well as book launches.






    TENNIS – Romanian
    tennis player Simona Halep, world no. 4, on Tuesday will be playing Nicole
    Gibbs of the US in the first round of US Open, the last Grand Slam tournament
    of the year. Another four Romanians have made it to the main draw. Sorana
    Cirstea (106 WTA) will play Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic, Monica
    Niculescu (105 WTA) will play Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine, Mihaela Buzarnescu
    (136 WTA) will play Andrea Petkovic of Germany, while Ana Bogdan (147) will play
    Harriet Dart of Great Britain. In the men’s competition, Marius Copil (96 ATP)
    will take on Ugo Humbert of France.






    VOLLEYBALL – The
    Romanian national women’s team on Saturday grabbed its first win in the 2019
    European Championship, defeating Hungary 3-1 in Group C. On Friday, Romania had
    lost nil-3. Romania will next play Croatia, Estonia and Azerbaijan.


    (Translated by V.
    Palcu)