Radio România Internațional

Tag: seasonal

  • January 12, 2023 UPDATE

    January 12, 2023 UPDATE

    SCHENGEN Romania’s Schengen accession is a
    major priority for the country, the Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu said
    in Bucharest on Thursday. He mentioned the country counted on the support of the
    Swedish presidency of the EU. At a press conference organised by the Swedish
    Embassy to mark the start of the Swedish presidency of the EU Council on
    January 1, Mr. Aurescu also mentioned Romania’s handling of the situation
    entailed by war in Ukraine, describing Romania as a de facto guardian of EU
    security. In turn, Sweden’s Ambassador to Bucharest, Therese Hyden, pointed
    out that the Schengen file will be on the agenda of an official meeting, when
    conditions are favourable, more precisely when Austria has changed its
    position regarding Romania and Netherlands has changed its view on Bulgaria’s
    accession. Foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu also had a telephone conversation on the
    same topic on Wednesday with his Swedish counterpart, Tobias Billstrom. According
    to the Romanian foreign ministry, Tobias Billstrom emphasised that the Swedish
    Presidency was determined to be actively involved and to make all efforts for
    this goal to be met. We remind you that on December 8,
    2022, at the JHA Council, Romania was not accepted into Schengen after Austria
    voted against Romania’s joining the passport-free area, and the Netherlands
    opposed Bulgaria’s accession.


    MINORITIES Romania and Ukraine will
    initiate a consultation process regarding Ukraine’s law on national minorities,
    endorsed recently in Kyiv. The two countries’ foreign ministers, Bogdan Aurescu and
    Dmytro Kuleba, Wednesday had a telephone discussion on the topic, after a
    similar dialogue a week ago between the presidents Klaus Iohannis and Volodymyr
    Zelensky. The law triggered concerns among the Romanian authorities, as
    representatives of the Romanian community in Ukraine have not been consulted in
    drafting the document, which was endorsed without a positive opinion of the Venice
    Commission. Although the law is an improvement from the previous drafts, it
    fails to guarantee, among other things, the Romanian minority’s right to
    education in the mother tongue, the Romanian foreign ministry argues.


    FLU 15 people died from seasonal flu complications this season in
    Romania, the National Public Health Institute announced. During the first week
    of this year almost 40% more respiratory infections than in the previous week
    were reported. Drugstores still face shortages of viral infection and seasonal
    flu medication. Moreover, 7 medicines used by almost half of the cancer
    patients in the country are still not available. The health ministry promises
    Romania is not experiencing a medicine crisis and that storage facilities do
    have the drugs in stock.


    UKRAINE American aid is for the first time to reach Ukraine via the
    Romanian logistics hub in Suceava, the US Embassy in Bucharest announced. The
    shipment comprises 30 trucks with clothing, footwear, blankets, hygiene
    products, diapers and emergency kits, donated as part of a campaign launched
    last March in Utah. So far 40 tonnes of goods worth around USD 1 mln have been
    donated, as well as USD 4 mln in cash.


    TENNIS Romanian
    tennis players found out their opponents in the first round of the Australian
    Open. According to the drawing held on Thursday in Melbourne, Irina Begu will play
    against China’s Saisai Zheng, Sorana Cîrstea will take up the uncomfortable
    Kazakh player Iulia Putinteva, and Ana Bogdan will take on Anna Bondar of
    Hungary. Jaqueline Cristian will have one of the most difficult opponents – the
    American Jessica Pegula, and Patricia Ţig will be up against the Chinese Shuai
    Zhang. Romania has five players at the Australian Open, after Simona Halep was
    provisionally suspended after a positive doping test. (AMP)

  • Romanians in the labour market

    Romanians in the labour market

    Faced with a shortage of workforce for seasonal activities, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, farmers as well as other employers in Western Europe look to Romania for solutions, and Romanian authorities have authorised flights taking Romanian workers to those places. The fear of infection did not prevent Romanians from taking jobs in countries like Germany or the UK, where they get better wages than they do at home.



    The Romanian minister for labour Violeta Alexandru has recently travelled to Germany to check the working conditions for Romanian seasonal workers, and she discussed their complaints about inadequate working standards and failure to receive their salaries.



    All the Romanian nationals employed at a farm in Bornheim, Germany, have received their overdue wages, the Romanian Foreign Ministry announced, after they had recently complained that they had not been paid. Some of them had requested support for repatriation, and the Romanian authorities will also provide assistance to those who chose to stay and look for other jobs in Germany.



    “German farms offer decent working conditions, but certainly there are also a number of aspects that need addressing and improving. Apart from the working conditions, we have specifically requested that the Romanian nationals be provided basic health protection during this pandemic period, the Romanian labour minister Violeta Alexandru pointed out. She mentioned that employers will be bound to inform the authorities with respect to the transport, accommodation and working conditions for the Romanian workers.



    In turn, Germany intends to introduce a ban on meat processing units hiring foreign workers through intermediaries, after 100 workers, mostly Romanians, got infected with the novel coronavirus. The German authorities promised to increase the number of inspections in meat processing companies.



    Meanwhile, the Romanian Foreign Ministry via the Romanian Embassy in the Hague took action with respect to 270 Romanian nationals working for a meat processing company in Gelderland province, after 2 of them tested positive for the novel coronavirus.



    In related news, many Romanian workers are trying to return from Western European states to their home country, which is why checkpoints on Romanias western border have been overcrowded lately, and waiting times have been extremely long. In this context, in order to streamline traffic, the Border Police announced opening additional checkpoints on the Hungarian border as of Thursday.



    Back in the country, however, the COVID-19 pandemic has left 400,000 people jobless, and some sectors are working in emergency mode.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • Regulations on seasonal worker transport

    Regulations on seasonal worker transport

    This spring, farming across Europe is severely affected by the absence of the seasonal workers involved in harvesting, triggered by the travel restrictions imposed in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of these seasonal workers used to come from Eastern Europe. This is why Romania introduced a number of conditions applying to the Romanians who leave for seasonal work abroad.



    The regulations are included in a Transport Ministry order under which all charter flights taking Romanian seasonal workers abroad must be scheduled at minimum 4-hour intervals.



    Under the order, the companies organising such flights have to notify the flight schedule ahead of time. Recruitment agencies are also bound to provide people with protection equipment, including masks and gloves, and workers will not be brought to airports more than 4 hours prior to take-off time, the regulation also says.



    Recruitment agencies will organise the transport only after they have received the greenlight from airports. Moreover, they must have at least one representative at the airport, to provide assistance to passengers, including in case of delayed or cancelled flights.



    The document tackles problems such as the one reported late last week at the airport in Cluj-Napoca, north-western Romania, when nearly 1,500 seasonal workers crowded in front of the airport, thus breaching the social distancing rules imposed under the military orders issued in the context of the coronavirus pandemic.



    Romanian workers are being brought into Germany for seasonal farm work after the local farmers warned that without Eastern European labour, harvests will be compromised. In Berlin, the agriculture minister cautioned that, in the context of the COVID-19 crisis, seasonal employees will have to comply strictly with the safety measures imposed by the authorities.



    According to the BBC, Germany, which usually employed some 300,000 seasonal workers in agriculture, has so far allowed 80,000 people to enter the country for this purpose.



    Several flights have taken Romanian workers from Sibiu (centre), Cluj-Napoca, Iaşi (north-east) and Bucharest over the past few days, and similar operations are scheduled for the forthcoming days.



    On the other hand, a number of flights to Germany have been cancelled recently over failure to comply with the provisions of Military Order no. 8 issued in Romania, under which such flights have to be approved by the Transport Ministry 48 hours prior to take-off.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • March 2, 2020 UPDATE

    March 2, 2020 UPDATE

    NEGOTIATIONS The Liberals Monday started negotiations with parliamentary parties with a view to forming a new majority that would support the investiture of Florin Citu’s Cabinet. The parliamentary hearings of the new ministers designate are scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The Social-Democrats in opposition accuse the Liberals of not giving up on the idea of early elections. Save Romania Unions president Dan Barna said on Monday that the Liberals did not expressly ask for support for the Ciţu government, and added that his party believes the goal is to attain stability. The president of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians Kelemen Hunor says his party is ready to ensure the majority required for the investiture of the new cabinet, but that a final decision depends on the order regarding early elections. The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats claims the Liberals try to make sure that the new Cabinet is rejected by Parliament, while the People’s Movement Party says a Liberal Government backed by a parliamentary minority is unlikely to be sworn in. Florin Cîţu’s nomination by president Klaus Iohannis came after the Constitutional Court ruled as unconstitutional the president’s first choice, the interim prime minister and leader of the National Liberal Party Ludovic Orban. The latter’s government had been dismissed through a vote of no-confidence at the beginning of February.



    COVID-19 The Strategic Communication Group Monday announced that in Romania 42 people are in quarantine centres and over 9,000 are under home monitoring. So far 3 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in Romania, one of whom has recovered and has been discharged, and the other 2 are reported to be in good state. Meanwhile, the Romanian Foreign Ministry announced that the 7 Romanian members of the crew of Diamond Princess vessel, who were transferred last week to a facility in Wako, Japan, are still quarantined. Two other Romanians were brought into the same facility on Sunday, and will remain there for an additional 14 days. The Foreign Ministry added that the state of the 2 Romanians infected with COVID-19 and hospitalised in Japan remains good. On the other hand, the death toll of the new coronavirus has exceeded 3,000, and over 80,000 cases have been confirmed so far, most of them in China, where the daily number of victims is decreasing steadily. South Korea and Italy are of particular concern now, reporting 500 new cases in one day and dozens of deaths so far. The coronavirus risk level in Europe has been raised from moderate to high, the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen announced on Monday. 2,100 cases of coronavirus infection have been confirmed in 18 EU member countries to date.



    LEGISLATION The Senate Monday endorsed unanimously a bill that increases punishments for the sexual abuse of children. The bill, tabled by an independent Deputy, raises the minimum penalties for sex crimes against children and introduces in the Romanian legislation a number of provisions from the EU laws designed to fight the sexual abuse and exploitation of children and child pornography. Under the new bill, rape will be punished by 5 to 10 years in prison, as against 3 to 10 years as it was so far, and offences that result in the death of the victim will be punished by 9 to 18 years behind bars. In order to take effect, the bill must be endorsed by the Chamber of Deputies as well.



    FLU The number of deaths from seasonal flu in Romania has reached 49. The last 2 people who died are men, aged 69 and 75 respectively, in Ilfov and Harghita counties. They were both suffering from other conditions and had not received a vaccine. The number of flu cases continued to grow, with around 2,000 new cases confirmed between February 17 and 23. The overall number of people affected by acute respiratory infections (156,500) is a lot higher than last year, but the number of cases is on a downward trend compared to the previous week.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • January 30, 2020

    January 30, 2020

    PARLIAMENT The Social Democratic Party, in opposition, has today tabled its first motion of censure against the Liberal Government of Romania. The move was triggered by the Orban Cabinet’s decision to take responsibility for a bill reintroducing the 2-round voting system for the election of mayors, half a year ahead of local elections. The text of the motion entitled ‘The Orban/Liberal Government – the privatisation of Romanias democracy reads that the Government must go not only because attempting to change the voting system right before the election comes against European standards, but also because these changes were operated unilaterally, without parliamentary consultation and debate. According to the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies and interim leader of the Social Democrats, Marcel Ciolacu, this is the most serious case of abuse of power. For the motion to pass, the Social Democrats need 233 votes. The party has 198 seats in Parliament, and their allies, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians, another 30. With 5 or 6 votes short, Marcel Ciolacu said the Social Democrats are negotiating with fellow MPs. PM Ludovic Orban said he was unconcerned with the motion, and that he does not believe it has any chances to pass.




    PENSIONS The president of Romania Klaus Iohannis has a meeting today with top officials for the Higher Council of Magistrates, at their request. The meeting focuses on the scrapping of special pensions for magistrates, following the vote in Parliament on January 28th. Magistrates have initiated protests against the decision. Initiated by the Liberal Government, the bill passed by Parliament scraps all pensions that are calculated under a special procedure, except for those paid to military, police and intelligence service personnel. The benefits paid to retired artists, athletes and journalists also went untouched.




    FLU Ten people died in Romania from seasonal flu so far, according to the National Centre for Infectious Disease Monitoring and Control. The last death was reported in Sibiu (centre), where a 90-year old woman was infected with the AH1N1 flu virus. Several schools in Bucharest and elsewhere in the country were also closed because of flu cases. The Education Ministry announced that full or partial suspension of classes because of the flu affects over 4,000 students, but that this is not the number of cases among children.




    CORONAVIRUS The head of the World Health Organisation has called a new meeting today of the committee on the new coronavirus, to decide whether to label the situation as an international public health emergency. Airlines around the world have decided to suspend or restrict flights to continental China, as the virus spread, killing over 170 people so far. The total number of confirmed cases is nearly 8,000. A growing number of countries are evacuating their citizens from Wuhan, where the epidemic first started. A Romanian citizen also requested to be repatriated from the region. Although some experts say the virus is not as dangerous as SARS was, its quick spreading raises concerns, and some of its traits are still unknown.




    BREXIT Britain is leaving the EU on Friday night, after 47 years since joining the bloc in 1973. The Brexit deal was endorsed by the European Parliament on Wednesday, and some formalities are finalised in todays EU Council meeting. The transition will take 11 months, during which the EU and the UK will work to define their new partnership. At midnight on January 31, the British colours will be taken off the EU institutions. At a meeting with members of the British business community in Romania, PM Ludovic Orban said Bucharest supports the negotiations for a future close relationship between the Union and the UK.




    TENNIS The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep was defeated today by Spains Garbine Muguruza (32 WTA) 7-6, 7-5, in the semi-finals of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year. Halep fails to play a new final in Melbourne, after the one she lost in 2018 to the Danish Caroline Wozniacki. Despite the defeat, as of February 3rd Simona goes up to the second place in the WTA ranking. Halep will also be closer to the top ranked player, the Australian Ashleigh Barty, who also lost in the Australian Open semis. Muguruza will be playing the final against the American Sofia Kenin (15 WTA).


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)