Radio România Internațional

Tag: speakers

  • December 22, 2024 UPDATE

    December 22, 2024 UPDATE

    Consultations – The future prime minister of Romania could be announced immediately after the voting of the speakers of the two chambers of Parliament, President Klaus Iohannis said on Sunday after consultations with the parliamentary parties. The representatives of the pro-European coalition made up of PSD, PNL, UDMR and the national minorities met for consultations and informed the president Klaus Iohannis that the negotiations to find a solid governing equation are heading towards completion. According to Radio Romania, the future prime minister is likely to be the same leader of PSD, Marcel Ciolacu, because the party he leads mandated him to present two work scenarios to President Klaus Iohannis. The first is with PSD in the government and Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, and the second with the social democrats in opposition, but supporting in Parliament an executive made up of PNL-UDMR. The liberals did not have a proposal for the position of prime minister, but they supported the version presented by PSD. Separate consultations were held with the USR representatives while the sovereigntist parties – AUR, S.O.S. Romania and POT did not attend the consultations. Meanwhile, PSD, PNL, UDMR and the national minorities continue negotiations for the formation of a parliamentary majority and a government with full powers. Parliament scheduled for Monday the voting of the speakers of the two Chambers.

     

    Revolution – The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on Sunday sent, on the X network, a message on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the Romanian Revolution. “35 years ago, Romanians stood up for the right to choose their own destiny. Many gave their lives so that their children could be free and live in democracy’, the EC president wrote on X. In Bucharest continue the events dedicated to the anti-communist Revolution of December 1989. 35 years ago was Victory Day, a day when the Revolution spread throughout the country. Dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu fled by helicopter from the roof of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, and people massively took to the streets and shouted “Freedom”. It was also the day after which the number of dead and wounded increased significantly. The heroes who fell in those days were also commemorated, on Sunday, at the Monument in front of the Concert Hall of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation. 11 people lost their lives to defend the Public Radio, which, 35 years ago, was hit by gunfire. The public radio was one of the most important objectives of communist propaganda, and the revolutionaries taking control of it was the first step towards victory. Romania was the only communist country in Europe where the regime change resulted in bloodshed. Captured and summarily tried, Ceausescu and his wife, Elena, were shot dead on December 25.

     

    Cyclone – The Romanian Foreign Ministry announced that nine Romanian citizens who were on the island of Mayotte following the passage of Cyclone Chido were evacuated on board an aircraft belonging to the French Air Force. The situation of the Romanian citizens came to the attention of the Consulate General of Romania in Paris a week ago, when the Cyclone hit the island, and permanent contact was maintained in order to identify a possibility for them to return to the country. The Foreign Ministry thanks the French authorities, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris, as well as the local authorities and the Prefecture of the Mayotte islands for the support and assistance given to Romanian citizens, in the difficult context caused by the extreme weather phenomena produced in the French overseas territory.

     

    Parliament – The plenum of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies voted, on Sunday, on the makeup of the specialized commissions, as well as the representation of the parties in the respective commissions, depending on the political configuration of the Chamber. Thus, PSD will lead seven permanent commissions, AUR – four, PNL – four, USR – three, UDMR – three, and S.O.S. Romania and POT a commission each. The national minorities will also have the leadership of two permanent commissions. On Saturday, the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies validated all the mandates of the new parliamentarians, after which they took the oath of allegiance. The negotiations regarding the formation of the new governing coalition have postponed the election of the speakers of the Senate and the Chamber, and, until a government formula is finalized, the Chamber of Deputies will be led on an interim basis by the social democrat Daniel Suciu, and the interim speaker of the Senate will be the liberal Mircea Abrudean. Also on Saturday, at the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, the parliamentary groups of the political parties that entered Parliament were formed. 465 parliamentarians, 331 deputies and 134 senators will be active in the new Legislature. Seven parties have representatives in the two Chambers, four pro-European parties – PSD, PNL, USR, UDMR -, and three sovereigntist parties – AUR, S.O.S. Romania and POT. The 19 national minorities also have representatives in Parliament. (LS)

     

  • April 22, UPDATE

    April 22, UPDATE

    FINANCES – Romania will keep its deficit below 3%, as undertaken before international financial institutions, and the measures taken in 2018 will secure sustainable economic growth both for this year and in the future, the Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici said at a meeting with Poul Thomsen, director of IMFs European Department. According to a news release issued on Sunday by the Ministry for Public Finances, on April 20-21 Eugen Teodorovici took part in the spring meeting of the IMF and World Bank in Washington. The Romanian official also had a meeting with Cyrill Muller, World Bank vice-president for Europe and Central Asia. The Finance Minister proposed to the WB leaders a new approach on loan granting, which would make spending more flexible, depending on the stage of preparation and implementation of projects. According to the Ministry, the agenda of the Romanian delegation also included meetings with representatives of investment banks, rating agencies and officials of international financial institutions.



    CONFERENCE – The Speaker of the Senate of Romania, Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu, and of the Chamber of Deputies, Liviu Dragnea, will take part on Monday and Tuesday in the Conference of Speakers of EU Parliaments, held in Tallinn, Estonia. Taking part will be over 40 speakers of national parliaments, as well as the President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani. The main topics on the agenda are the future of the European Union and the EU security and defence.



    HUMAN RIGHTS – Corruption remains widespread in Romania, and bribe-giving is still common practice in the public sector, reads the 2017 Country Report on Human rights issued by the US State Department. Laws were not always implemented efficiently, and officials, judges included, sometimes engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. Immunity from criminal prosecution held by existing and former cabinet members who were also members of parliament sometimes blocked investigations, the report also reads. The same document notes that some Romanian politicians own or control media organisations, influencing their editorial policy. As regards prisons, the report mentions that they remained overcrowded and in breach of international standards, although the authorities took some steps to address the situation. In Romania, the US State Department says, some cases of police abuse were reported in 2017 as well, most of them going unpunished. So were cases of anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial, and discrimination against the Roma, people with disabilities and sexual minorities. Child abuse and neglect cases were also reported.



    ANTI-CORRUPTION – The Government of Romania intends to notify the Constitutional Court with respect to President Klaus Iohannis decision not to dismiss the chief prosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, Laura Codruta Kovesi. A meeting in this respect will be held on Monday by PM Viorica Dancila and the Justice Minister Tudorel Toader, the one who requested the dismissal. According to him, the President gave no judicial or managerial arguments to substantiate his decision, which was exclusively political in nature. The head of state said the dismissal request was ungrounded, which was also the official opinion of the Superior Council of Magistracy.



    TENNIS – Romanias womens tennis team defeated Switzerland in the playoffs for the Fed Cup World Group, hosted by the north-western Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca, general score 3-1. In the last match of the competition, the Swiss pair Viktorija Golubic/Jil Teichmann defeated Sorana Cîrstea and Mihaela Buzărnescu. In the first match of the day, world no 1 Simona Halep outplayed the Swiss Patty Schnyder and won the decisive point for Romanias qualification. The previous day, Halep won against Viktorija Golubic, while Irina-Camelia Begu defeated Timea Bacsinszky. Demoted in 2016 from Fed Cups World Group, Romania thus returns to the world tennis elite in the 2019 season.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)