Radio România Internațional

Tag: rotating

  • July 1, 2020

    July 1, 2020

    COVID-19 So far 27,296 coronavirus infection cases have been reported in Romania, with 326 new cases confirmed over the past 24 hours Over 20,749 of them have recovered, and 1,667 people died. The healthcare minister Nelu Tătaru announced 2 days ago that the increase in the number of new COVID-19 cases prompted the authorities to postpone the lifting of further restrictions as of July 1. Three relaxation stages have been introduced since mid-May, when Romania switched from a state of emergency to a state of alert. Among the Romanians living abroad, 4,795 have so far tested positive for the novel coronavirus, and 115 of them died.




    ECONOMY In Bucharest, in the presence of president Klaus Iohannis and Cabinet members, PM Ludovic Orban is presenting tonight a national economic recovery plan following the coronavirus crisis. The PM has recently stated that the regulations required for the implementation of this plan will be adopted shortly. According to the prime minister, infrastructure investments are a fundamental pillar in upgrading and restarting the economy, because Romanias priority is modernisation through investments in transport, energy, healthcare, communications, education and agriculture.




    NATURAL GAS The Romanian natural gas market is fully liberalised as of July 1. Tariffs are no longer regulated by the government, but by demand and supply mechanisms. The liberalisation comes at a time when the energy market is highly concentrated, with 2 companies accounting for 90% of the household consumers. These companies have sent their clients offers with the same prices as before, and unless they receive an answer, the new contracts will take effect by default. A week ago, the Energy Minister, Virgil Popescu, told AGERPRES news agency that households should pay 10-15% less for natural gas after deregulation. He explained that unless major suppliers cut down prices, the Competition Law enables the government to intervene in the market for a 6-month period.




    PARLIAMENT The Parliament of Romania convenes until mid-July for a special session. The Chamber of Deputies is set to discuss a number of bills, including the one setting the date of local elections and an initiative banning people with criminal records from running for public office. On Monday the Deputies will hear PM Ludovic Orban on the procurement contracts signed during the pandemic. In turn, Senate is also to vote on the local elections bill, after the Government decided the election should take place on September 27.




    EU Germany will hold the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union for the next 6 months, taking over from Croatia. The coronavirus crisis and its aftermath is the main challenge for Berlin during this term in office, according to a plan approved by the German government on June 24, and entitled “Together for Europes Recovery. Germanys priorities also include the completion of the Brexit negotiations and topics like environment protection, digitisation and Europes relations with China and the US. With the EU facing the deepest economic recession since World War 2, member states must agree in the following months on a multi-annual budget for 2021-2027 and on the operation of the 750-billion euro European Recovery Fund designed by the European Commission to support the economies of the countries that were hit the worst by the pandemic, particularly Italy and Spain.




    PANDEMIC The total number of COVID-19 cases worldwide passes 10.5 million, with the death toll standing at 514,000, and 5.8 million patients recovered, according to Worldometers.info. In the US, the last 24 hours brought over 47,000 new cases, the highest daily rate since the start of the pandemic, Reuters reports. More than 126,000 Americans died and millions have lost their jobs. The economy collapsed in the first quarter, and is expected to further drop in the second one. Meanwhile, the EU has approved today a list of safe countries for non-essential travel. The list, which includes 14 countries (Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, and Uruguay) will be updated every 2 weeks, depending on local COVID-19 developments.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • The Week in Review 15-21.07.2019

    The Week in Review 15-21.07.2019

    Overview of Romanias presidency of the Council of the EU in the European Parliament


    Romania will continue to support the European project and will equally focus on completing its integration, said the Romanian PM Viorica Dancila on Tuesday in the plenum of the European Parliament, where she presented an overview of Romanias presidency of the Council of the EU in the first half of 2019. The Romanian PM underlined that Bucharest managed to show that the European institutions are working in the interest of the citizens and to provide prospects for the future. Europe should not have more speeds, PM Dancila told the MEPs, and there should be no gaps among member states, given that progress is going to be thorough and benefits for the citizens measurable if countries work together, cohesion being one of the strongest binding forces of the European project. The PM also added that Romania was at the helm of the Council of the EU in a period of challenges, in the context of Brexit and the EP elections but it still managed to finalize 90 pieces of legislation related to copyright on the Single Digital Market, to amending the directives on natural gas, to the European Border and Coast Guard Agency and to improving reaction to cyber attacks. During its presidency of the Council of the EU Romania proved its capacity to bring added value to the EU, PM Dancila also said.



    A Romanian in NATOs leadership


    NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has decided to appoint Mircea Geoana from Romania as the next Deputy Secretary General. Mr. Geoana will take up his post in mid-October 2019. According to Mr. Stoltenberg Mircea Geoana, the first Romanian to hold this senior office, is a staunch advocate of the transatlantic bond and will bring long experience as a statesman and diplomat to this post. So far, the highest position held by a Romanian within NATO was that of Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges. The post was held between 2013-2017 by Sorin Ducaru, who was the head of the Emerging Security Challenges Division. Mircea Geoana is the founder and president of the Aspen Institute Romania and he previously served as President of the Romanian Senate, Foreign Minister, and Romanias Ambassador to the United States. After the announcement made by Jens Stoltenberg Mircea Geoana wrote on a social network that his appointment was a huge challenge and an opportunity to represent the interest of the Alliance, which ensures the security of more than 1 billion people. The Romanian diplomacy has hailed Mircea Geoanas appointment to the post and considered the decision a special moment for Romanias NATO membership, which acknowledges Romanias important contribution within NATO 15 years after its accession to the Alliance.



    The Constitutional Court and reviewing the Constitution


    Proposals to amend the Constitution that would forbid pardoning or amnesty for acts of corruption run counter to the law, as ruled by the Constitutional Court on Thursday in Romania. The proposals were made after Romanians went to the polls on May 26, in a referendum called by the president. They voted to turn down proposals made by the ruling coalition for changes to the penal code that would have drastically reduced penalties for acts of corruption; the changes were planned under the form of government orders, but were challenged in the highest courts. President Klaus Iohannis called the referendum to stop what he referred to as the assault of the ruling coalition on the entire judicial system. The court’s argument was that outlawing pardoning or amnesty would violate the principle of equality before the law, and would be paramount to a suppression of human dignity. At the same time, the other proposals for amending the Constitution submitted by the coalition in power and the opposition have been declared constitutional. One such proposal provides that citizens who have been sentenced to definitive terms in jail for premeditated violations would be barred from running in parliamentary, local, European Parliament, and presidential elections. Also, according to the same bills, there will be an end to abusing government orders, and they will be available for a constitutionality review which the president will be able to call. The reviews can also be called by the Constitutional Court, 50 deputies or 25 senators, as well as by the Ombudsman.



    Romanian triumph at Wimbledon


    Romanian tennis star Simona Halep won her first Wimbledon title in the singles, and the first for her country, facing off against super-champion Serena Williams. This is what she said in the aftermath:



    Simona Halep: “I am happy with how I played, and the way in which I reacted to such an important event and such a great day. I reached a high level, and I feel much more confident. I never thought I would become number one and that I would win a Grand Slam, but this has been the dream, and that is why I worked so much every single day. As I keep saying, Romanians are very talented, but we lack confidence in ourselves. We should try to improve, believe in ourselves, and see things in a more positive light.



    Back in the country, she presented her trophy on the National Arena stadium for tens of thousands that came to share in her joy. It is Simona’s second Grand Slam, which she won in Roland Garros last year.


    (translated by: Lacramioara Simion, Calin Cotoiu)

  • Bulgaria takes over rotating EU presidency

    Bulgaria takes over rotating EU presidency

    Deemed by most specialists as the poorest member of the European Union and criticized, both by its own citizen, as well as by its Western partners, for its ineffectiveness in combating corruption, Bulgaria hopes that its first term at the helm of the EU should significantly improve its image.



    Under the slogan “Unity Makes Strength, Bulgaria will focus its efforts on three main directions: consensus, competitiveness and cohesion. The number one priority, according to Sofia, is the future of Europe and young people. Overseeing Brexit negotiations, the European prospects of countries in the Western Balkans, security and stability in a strong and united Europe, and combating illegal migration also rank high on the Bulgarian presidencys agenda.



    The Bulgarian Foreign Minister, Ekaterina Zaharieva, expressed hope that Bulgaria would join the Schengen Area by the end of the year, admitting that there are countries within the EU that believe Bulgaria and Romania dont belong to the travel-free area due to unsolved corruption issues. “The latest vote in the European Parliament showed that these skeptics are becoming fewer, but we can’t be absolutely certain that they will change their mind in the next six months, Minister Zaharieva told the press.



    In turn, Prime Minister Boiko Borisov hopes that Brussels would lift the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism, under which Bulgarias and Romanias efforts to reform their justice systems and combating top-level graft have been monitored ever since the two countries joined the EU in 2007.



    Romania is set to take over the rotating presidency of the European Council on January 1, 2019. This week Minister Delegate for European Affairs, Victor Negrescu, updated EU leaders with respect to the ongoing preparations ahead of Bucharests European presidency. According to a press release, the timetable for the six-month mandate has already been sketched out, while internal consultations are underway with a view to identifying Romanias topics of interest, at the level of public ministries and institutions. Victor Negrescu also discussed with EU officials ways to coordinate actions in order to set out the operational program of the Trio of Presidencies, which starts on January 2019 and also includes Finland and Croatia. Bucharest wants to be an unbiased mediator while holding the EU presidency, seeking to advance the European agenda by accommodating the views of as many Member States as possible, Minister Negrescu also said.


    (translated by: Vlad Palcu)