Radio România Internațional

Tag: strike

  • May 26, 2023

    May 26, 2023

    Strike – The Romanian government met, today, in a special session, to increase by 9% the salaries of the education non-teaching staff, in response to the all-out strike in the education system started on Monday. The trade unionists request a 25% increase in all salaries in the education sector, including the teaching staff, and for beginner teachers an average gross salary of 3,000 lei (the equivalent of about 600 Euros). Instead, the government wants to give teachers only bonuses for their teaching career in June and October. The unions rejected the offer and announced that they would continue the protest. On Thursday, more than 10,000 teachers gathered in front of the Government headquarters in downtown Bucharest. Protests were also held in other cities across Romania.



    Government – The power sharing arrangement of the parties in the governing coalition in Bucharest is postponed until the resolution of the teachers all-out strike, the liberal Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă announced. He was supposed to resign his mandate today, to be taken over by the Social Democratic leader Marcel Ciolacu. In fact, Nicolae Ciucă made the announcement alongside Marcel Ciolacu, and Kelemen Hunor, from the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania – UDMR, the third party in ruling coalition in Romania. The Prime Minister Ciucă appealed to the “reason of all teaching staff”, telling them that the Government cannot assume to unbalance the State budget by granting them the salary increases requested, and that the discussions with the unions will continue. In turn, the head of the PSD, Marcel Ciolacu, said that the decision is correct, and that the teachers and employees in the healthcare system are a priority. Predictability and responsibility are needed, the leader of the UDMR, Kelemen Hunor, also said. The agreement between the Liberal Party – PNL and PSD stipulated that each of them would hold the position of prime minister for a year and a half. In the last few days, there have been discussions between PSD and PNL regarding the distribution of ministries in the future government. A retired general, Nicolae Ciucă was sworn in as prime minister in December 2021.



    Visit — The German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is on the third day of his official visit to Romania. Today, in Timisoara (west), he will take a walk through Timisoara’s old town, will go to the German High School and the Cetate Synagogue and will visit a fine art exhibition as part of the program “Timişoara, European Capital of Culture”. The German official arrived, last night, in Timisoara, where he laid a wreath of flowers on the Heroes Day at the crucifix in front of the Metropolitan Cathedral, dedicated to the martyrs of the anti-communist Revolution of December 1989, and participated in a symphony concert. Earlier, also on Thursday, Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited Sibiu (center).



    Fair – Romania participates in the Madrid Book Fair under the slogan “Creating good chemistry with Romanian literature” (“Creando buena quimica con las letras rumanas”). Until June 11, Romania’s stand will display numerous volumes signed by Romanian authors, including those translated, in recent years, into Spanish, with the support of the Romanian Cultural Institute. The public has a wide range of activities to choose from: literary activities, book presentations, recitals, debates, round tables, scientific workshops for children and autograph sessions. There will also be events promoting Romanian culture, especially contemporary culture. The Madrid Fair has reached the 82nd edition, in 2023 marking nine decades of existence, and it is one of the most important literary events of its kind in Europe.



    Sanctions — The Consumer Protection Authority announces that it has sanctioned eight other banks present in Romania with fines of 400,000 lei each (the equivalent of about 80 thousand euros). ANPC claims that it found irregularities regarding bank loans in lei or foreign currency, in the medium and long term, with a repayment term of over 10 years. Inspectors with the Consumer Protection Authority say that the sanctioned banks would have cheated the customers, because in the first years the rate was composed of 75% interest and of only a quarter of the principal to be repaid. The representatives of the Romanian Association of Banks claim that they respect the law and that they might challenge the sanctions in court.



    Trains – Romania will have, as of the month of December, the first new trains in the last 20 years, the Transport Ministry officials have promised, giving that there are no delays in the delivery of the 37 contracted train sets, already in production in Poland. Deliveries will start this summer, but the train will actually start operating in winter, after the completion of technical tests. The first new trains will run on the Bucharest-Constanța route (south-east), then on the routes to Braşov (centre), Timisoara (west) and Iași-Suceava (east and north-east). The average age of CFR-Romanian Railway Authority trains is currently 44 years. They break down frequently, the air conditioning works intermittently, and on heavily trafficked lines, additional trains are brought through transfers from other routes. (LS)

  • May 25, 2023 UPDATE

    May 25, 2023 UPDATE

    Strike — The strike in the education system in Romania continues, after the unions rejected the latest offer made by the government, which they consider offensive. The teachers were to receive 2,500 lei this year, in two installments, and the non-teaching staff 1,000 lei. The money would have been granted on a “professional career card”. The trade unions are asking for a rise in incomes of 25% and a law under which the salary of a beginner teacher should be the equivalent of the average gross salary. A new round of negotiations took place on Thursday in Bucharest. Employees in the pre-university education system started an all-out strike on May 22, dissatisfied with the level of salaries and working conditions. The union leaders have stated that they will not give up the protest until their demands are resolved.



    Deficit – The European Commission Executive Vice-President, Valdis Dombrovskis on Wednesday called on the member states to more effectively apply their plans of recovery and resilience, to make investments and cut on spending. The European Commission has again drawn attention to the economic situation in Romania, the only EU country for which the excessive deficit procedure has been activated. According to Brussels, Romania spends more money than it has and must cut its deficit under 3% by the next year. According to the Romanian government, the budget deficit is expected to go down under 4.4% of the GDP this year and 2.9% next year.



    Visit — Currently, “a real war is going on in Europe” said, on Thursday, in Sibiu (center), the president of the Federal Republic of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who reiterated the call for unity in this context. ‘Since the beginning of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, we have considerably strengthened NATOs Eastern Flank and have considerably expanded our cooperation in the field of security policy. Both within the European Union and within NATO, our countries collaborate closely, based on trust’, the German official emphasized. Romania’s President, Klaus Iohannis, stated, in turn, that the Romanian-German friendship, with an old tradition, has now reached an unprecedented point of development. The two met with the representatives of the German community in Romania and visited the “Samuel von Brukenthal” National College, with tuition in German, a school attested in documents almost 650 years ago. The German president is on a state visit to Romania until Friday.



    Football – Sepsi OSK Sfantu Gheorghe won Romanias football cup after a 5-4 win against Universitatea Cluj in the shootouts on Wednesday evening. 120 minutes into the game, the score was nil-all. The hero of Sepsi was its goalkeeper, Roland Niczuly, a former player of Universitatea Cluj. Niczuly managed to save three shots, after Universitatea had got the upper hand but wasted two chances. Sepsi has won the trophy for the second time in a row. We recall that this ambitious football side from central Romania, lost the finals of the aforementioned competition in 2020. Universitatea Cluj was left with the trophy they won in 1965, losing the Romanian Cup finals for the fifth time.



    Moldova – Less than 0.5% of the citizens of the Republic of Moldova who spent their holiday abroad last year chose the Commonwealth of Independent States – CIS as their destination – reveals a study published in Chişinău. The research appeared in the context in which the Moldovan government made the decision to withdraw from the CIS, given the fact that one of its founding members, Russia, attacked another founding member, Ukraine. 40% of the citizens of the Republic of Moldova would, however, like the country to remain in the CIS, and Moscow claims that, by leaving the organization, the Republic of Moldova risks losing economic advantages. Official statistics show, however, that the commercial relations of the Republic of Moldova are currently mainly oriented towards the European Union. The Republic of Moldova wants to join the European Union “as soon as possible” in order to protect itself from the Russian threat and hopes for a decision “in the next few months” regarding the opening of negotiations, President Maia Sandu had previously said.



    Banks – The banks in Romania will have to issue new repayment schedules, where the amount of the principal on the loan will be paid by consumers in equal installments over the entire loan term, said the general director of the National Authority for Consumer Protection, Paul Anghel. Also, the president of the institution, Horia Constantinescu, pointed out that he had already signed the orders to stop these deceptive practices for 11 banks that were previously fined because the installments was mainly composed of interests in the first years of repayment. The Authority for Consumer Protection announced on Thursday that eight other banks were sanctioned for the way in which they calculate loan rates. Moreover, the Authority notified the Competition Council over what it called the cartel attitude of some banking institutions. However, the Romanian Association of Banks contradicted the Authority and showed that this calculation method was included in the Romanian legislation since the setting-up of regulations on lending activity. (LS)

  • May 25, 2023

    May 25, 2023

    DAY The Ministry of National Defence is
    today staging a series of military and religious services devoted to the Heroes
    Day celebrated every year on the Ascension Day in Romania. Romanian President
    Klaus Iohannis together with the country’s Minister of Defence, Angel Tîvăr are going to attend a series
    of ceremonies at the Heroes’ Monument near Sibiu, in central Romania, and the
    president of the Chamber of Deputies, Marcel Ciolacu, is expected to give a
    speech during the ceremony at the Heroes Graveyard in Buzau, southern Romania.
    The Heroes Day will also be celebrated by Romania’s Prime Minister Nicolae
    Ciuca at the Monument of the Unknown Soldier in the Carol 1st Park
    in Bucharest. The Heroes Day was first observed on May 4th 1920 and
    was taken over by the Romanian Parliament in 1995. It became a national day of
    the Romanian people in 2003.




    STRIKE Romanian teachers are carrying
    on their all-out strike, after trade unions in education have turned down the
    latest government offer, which they deem as insulting. Several thousand
    teachers are protesting in front of the government building in Bucharest. Representatives
    of the government and trade union leaders last night attended a new round of
    talks which ended in a deadlock. The authorities ruled out any pay rises and bonuses
    claimed by the trade unions. However, teachers were supposed to get 25 hundred
    lei in two installments this year and the non-teaching staffers 1000 lei.
    Marian Neacsu, the government’s Secretary General, explained the money would be
    given on a special card for professional career and gave assurances that the
    field of education would be a top priority in the future process of drafting
    the payment law. Disgruntled with the pay and their working conditions, employees
    of Romania’s education system kicked off an all-out strike on May 22. Trade
    union leaders have announced their intention not to give up the protest unless
    their claims are met.




    EU The European Commission
    Executive Vice-president, Valdis Dombrovskis on Wednesday called on the member
    states to apply more effectively their plans of recovery and resilience, to
    make investment and cut on spending. The European Commission has again drawn
    attention to the economic situation in Romania, the only EU country for which
    the procedure for excessive deficit has been activated. According to Brussels,
    Romania spends more money than it has and must cut its deficit under 3% by the
    next year. According to the government in Bucharest, the budget deficit is
    expected to go down under 4.4% of the GDP this year and 2.9% next year. We have
    more on the issue after the news.




    CUP Sepsi OSK Sfantu Gheorghe won
    Romania’s football cup after a 5-4 win against Universitatea Cluj in the
    shootouts on Wednesday. 120 minutes into the game, the score was nil-all. The
    hero of Sepsi was its goalkeeper, Roland Niczuly, a former player of the
    Universitatea Cluj’s. Niczuly managed to save three shots, after Universitatea had got
    the upper hand but wasted two chances. Sepsi has won the trophy for the second
    time in a row. We recall that this ambitious football side from central Romania,
    lost the finals of the aforementioned competition in 2020. Universitatea has
    lost a Romanian Cup finals for the fifth time.






    VISIT ‘A genuine war is going on in Europe at present’ the
    president of the Federal Republic of Germany, Franz Walter Steinmeier said on
    Thursday during the visit he is paying to Romania. The German official has
    reiterated his appeal to unity in this context. During the second day of his
    state visit jointly with his Romanian counterpart Klaus Iohannis he met
    representatives of the German community in Romania. The two officials are going
    to visit the National College ‘Samuel von Brukenthal’ in Sibiu with tuition in
    German, a school first documented 650 years ago. The two presidents will be
    attending a formal lunch offered by the incumbent mayor of Sibiu, Astrid Fodor.
    The last stage of the German president’s visit in the region is going to be the
    Saxon fortified church in the village of Cristian, a monument dating back to
    the 13th century. Steinmeier will next visit the city of Timisoara,
    in western Romania to lay a wreath of flowers at the monument dedicated to the
    anti-communist revolution of 1989 in front of the Metropolitan Cathedral.


    (bill)

  • Social discontent in Romania

    Social discontent in Romania

    The Romanian coalition government is in a fix, under double pressure, put by both the education and healthcare trade unions which are asking for significant salary increases, and by the excessive budget deficit, which is above the limit allowed in the European Union. The teachers and the non-teaching staff have been on an all-out strike since Monday, which they say could be extended for several weeks, jeopardizing the national exams. So far, the negotiations have failed. The trade unionists want the authorities to find quick solutions for increasing the salaries of all the teaching staff.



    The representatives of students and parents have also had talks with the government. They support the demands of the teachers, but they are worried about the approaching end-of-year exams. The government claims that the solution is the adoption of the salary law. However, the teachers have lost patience, they say that they are tired of promises and demand the adoption of a law that should increase all salaries in the education system until the new law on public sector salaries is drafted by Parliament. The authorities should increase not only the incomes of the beginner teachers but also those of all teaching staff, the trade unionists claim.




    According to Anton Hadăr, the leader of the Alma Mater National Trade Union Federation they are speaking about 260,000 people: We did not receive a satisfactory proposal. Longer-term solutions, i.e. the future salary law, are also being protracted. At this pace, I guarantee you that there will be a strike this entire week, and I think the strike will be extended, not just for a week.



    Social discontent is rising dangerously in the area of ​​healthcare too. Dissatisfied with the fact that the unitary salary law was allegedly not applied correctly, the trade unionists from the Sanitas Federation picketed the Health Ministry. A possible strike by nurses and caretakers will not affect the hospitalized patients, but it will cause the postponement of certain surgical operations.



    The president of the Sanitas Federation, Leonard Bărăscu: The all-out strike does not affect the patients, I can guarantee that, because the sick will receive the best care possible, as before. The problem is that we will have to give up certain surgical operations for chronic patients, that will be canceled or postponed for a few days.



    Healthcare employees want the continuation of employment in the field of Health and Social Assistance, the granting of the basic salaries in the grid to all employees, the calculation of all the increments and the hourly rate for night shifts by reference to the paid salary, the calculation of the food allowance by reference to the current minimum gross salary in Romania and the adequate funding of Health and Social Assistance institutions. On June 8, there will be a warning strike with work being interrupted for two hours, and the all-out strike is scheduled for June 15. (LS)

  • May 23, 2023 UPDATE

    May 23, 2023 UPDATE

    Strike – The all-out strike in Romanian pre-university education continues. Tuesday’s discussions between the government representatives and those of the employees did not lead to a concrete result. Union leaders say the governors have promised to present concrete calculations related to wage demands. Previously, the Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă asked the teachers to return to the classrooms. The representatives of the parents and students associations asked the authorities to come up with solutions that would end the strike in education. They said that if the strike lasted more than a week, the situation would become dangerous for the future of the students, who want the strike to end as soon as possible. In another development, on Monday, the Bucharest Senate, as a decision-making body, adopted the new education laws. The political parties in the government coalition claimed that the measures included in the pre-university and university education law reform the system. On the other hand, the opposition believes that the law will not solve the existing problems.



    Protest – Trade unionists in the medical sector, who have announced their support for the all-out strike in the education system since yesterday, have launched their own protest actions. They picketed the headquarters of the Health Ministry on Tuesday. Their claims are related to the application of the provisions of the salary law to all employees, with reference to the categories of personnel who have the lowest incomes, such as nurses or caretakers, the granting of holiday vouchers and the modification of the calculation system for increments, night shifts and food allowance.



    Border – A new border crossing point between Romania and the Republic of Moldova was inaugurated on Tuesday. At Leova – Bumbata it will be possible to cross the border, over the Prut River, on a pontoon bridge. For the moment, the border crossing point will be used only for tests, for 10 hours a day, by minibuses and cars, and then it will be available for heavy goods transport. The decision to open this border point, through which the Prut can be crossed, was made after Russia invaded Ukraine, and road freight transport from Ukraine increased considerably through the Republic of Moldova and Romania.



    Defense – The Romanian Defense Minister, Angel Tîlvăr, participated on Tuesday in the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council (CAE) in Brussels in the format of the Defense Ministers from the member states and in the meeting of the Steering Board of the European Defense Agency (EDA). “The discussions were substantial and represented a new opportunity to confirm the support of the European states for Ukraine. I emphasized the importance of consistent EU support for the defense industry in Eastern European states to ensure the strengthening of the European industrial base in an inclusive manner. I reiterated Romanias firm support for Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, for their European aspirations”, the Romanian official said. He also highlighted the importance of coordinating European actions with NATO, to ensure the coherence of response measures to challenges in common operational fields.



    Exhibition – A traveling photo exhibition celebrating the 25th anniversary of the strategic partnership between the United States and Romania was opened on Tuesday in Cluj-Napoca (north-west). The US Ambassador to Bucharest, Kathleen Kavalec, stated that, during this period, Romania made remarkable progress in consolidating democracy, became a pillar of regional peace and security and developed economically for the prosperity of all. Todays Romania is an exemplary NATO ally, the American diplomat emphasized. The exhibition, which explores the diplomatic, security, economic and cultural relations between the two peoples, will be open until June 20. It was also presented in Bucharest and other big cities.



    Trilateral – The Romanian Foreign Minister, Bogdan Aurescu, inaugurated, on Tuesday, together with his counterparts Jose Manuel Albares Bueno and Zbigniew Rau, the trilateral format Romania – Spain – Poland, during a meeting in Valencia. Aurescu welcomed Romanias excellent bilateral relations with Spain and Poland and the close cooperation between the three countries at the EU and NATO level. He also addressed the subject of Romanias accession to the Schengen area, the foreign ministers of Spain and Poland reconfirming the active and constant support given in achieving this goal. Moreover, the Spanish foreign minister emphasized that Romanias accession to Schengen would be among the priorities of the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council. It was decided that the meeting, named Valencia Trio, would take place annually, at the ministerial level.(LS)

  • An all out strike is freezing Romania’s undergraduate education system

    An all out strike is freezing Romania’s undergraduate education system

    After the COVID-19
    pandemic had moved the activity of teaching online and had significantly
    impacted an entire generation of students, another event is shaking Romania’s
    education system. Students are having a day off after teachers disgruntled with
    the government’s pay and social policies have gone on an all out strike. Over
    150 thousand teachers in Romania’s undergraduate system as well as 60-70
    thousand non-teaching staffers have joined a strike they pledge to carry on
    until a credible solution to their claims from the Executive. Against a rising inflation, which last year went
    over 15% with a heavy impact on the employees’ standard of living, the most
    difficult issue is that of the teachers’ low salaries. According to trade union
    leaders wages in this line of work should be around 4,000 lei, the equivalent
    of 800 Euros for a beginner teacher and around 7,000 lei, over 14 hundred
    Euros, for a senior teacher. The new education laws promoted by the incumbent
    field minister, Ligia Deca, have also triggered a fresh wave of discontent. As
    regards the end of the school year, which is due in June, trade unionists say
    that it is the government who must have the last say in this respect. During
    the talks with the government representatives, the president of the Spiru Haret
    Trade Union Confederation, Marius Nistor said the following.

    Marius Nistor: I wished, this also being the desire of all the education employees, this
    all-out strike had not taken place, you know. We didn’t wish for it, we were actually forced to have it. A lot of our claims have been ignored so far and the
    end of this strike mainly depends on the answer we get from the Government and
    of course on the desire of our colleagues.


    In response, the
    country’s Prime Minister, Nicolae Ciucă, says that:


    Nicolae Ciuca: Education is our top priority together with the healthcare. We can find
    solutions and we cannot allow that the students may not take their final exams
    and complete their studies.


    The strike is
    also leading to political deadlocks. Under the protocols of the incumbent
    ruling coalition, PSD leader Marcel Ciolacu is going to take over the Prime
    Minister seat from the Liberal Nicolae Ciuca shortly. However, Ciolacu has
    called for the suspension of the talks over the new cabinet until a solution is
    found to the crisis in the country’s education system.




    According to
    various publications in Bucharest though, none of the political sides seems very
    delighted to take over the leadership of the Executive at a time when trade
    unionists in Romania’s medical system could also stop activity and the police
    have also expressed their right to a strike. No matter the political colour of
    the ruling parties, experts believe, they will have to shortly deal with acute
    social disgruntlement, as Romania next year is in for a new series of
    elections, for the European Parliament, as well as local, legislative and
    presidential elections.


    (bill)

  • May 22, 2023

    May 22, 2023

    STRIKE An all-out strike has been initiated today in Romanian public
    undergraduate education. According to trade unions, taking part are over 150,000
    teachers and 70,000 non-teaching staff, disgruntled with the government’s
    salary policies. A two-hour token strike in higher education is also scheduled
    for today.


    EDUCATION The new undergraduate and higher education bills are discussed and voted on as of today in the Senate, the
    decision-making parliamentary body in this respect.
    At the end of last week’s talks in the Senate’s committee on education, the
    representatives of students and parents said that over 90% of their requests were
    answered in the new legislation. In turn, the religious denominations welcomed
    the amendments to the new bills. With respect to the undergraduate education,
    the National Liberal Party, the Social Democratic Party and the Democratic
    Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, in power, say the bill meets students’
    educational needs, supports teachers’ career development and fosters quality and
    equity in the education system. The draft law includes measures to enhance
    safety in schools and to ensure the access of children with special needs to
    regular classes. The opposition, on the other hand, believes these important issues
    noted by civil society are not solved.


    VISIT The president of Germany, Frank-Walter
    Steinmeier, will make an official visit to Romania on the 24th to 26th
    May, at the invitation of president Klaus Iohannis. According
    to the Romanian presidency, the visit is a major landmark for the excellent
    Romanian-German relations. Talks will focus on extending and deepening
    bilateral cooperation in political, security and economic areas. The Romanian
    presidency also mentions that Germany is a reliable ally of Romania,
    contributing to the security in the region, and also the country’s main trade
    partner and the second-largest foreign investor in the national economy. The
    two heads of state will also exchange opinions on current security developments
    and on consolidating the defence posture in NATO’s eastern flank. During
    his visit to Romania, the president of Germany will also travel to Sibiu
    (centre) and Timisoara (west).


    DIPLOMACY The Romanian foreign
    minister Bogdan Aurescu takes part today in the meeting of the EU Foreign
    Affairs Council in Brussels. The EU foreign ministers discuss measures to
    mitigate the effects of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. According to the
    Romanian foreign ministry, Bogdan Aurescu will reiterate Romania’s firm, multidimensional
    and continuing support for Ukraine and will express hopes that an agreement
    will be reached as soon as possible on the 8th support package for
    the Ukrainian air forces under the EU Peace Facility. Minister Aurescu will
    also highlight the importance of keeping pressure on Russia by consolidating
    sanctions, and will reiterate the idea of setting up a special international tribunal
    for the crime of aggression to prosecute Russian crimes of aggression during
    the war in Ukraine.


    TECHNOLOGY Bucharest Tech
    Week, the largest technology and innovation trade fair in Central and Eastern
    Europe, has begun in Bucharest today. The event brings together over 70 speakers,
    national and international tech experts, and 1,500 professionals from over 100
    companies operating in various fields. The first 5 days are devoted to
    conferences on innovation, HR, retail, Java and Software Architecture, under
    the heading Business Summits. The largest technology and innovation
    exhibition, Tech Expo, will also be open to the public over the weekend of 26 May.


    GREECE The right-of-centre party headed by Greece’s incumbent PM,
    Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has won Sunday’s parliamentary election, but failed to get
    absolute majority. New Democracy won over 41% of the votes, and will have 146 seats
    in parliament. Its left-of-centre rivals, Syriza party, won 21% of the votes
    and 71 seats in parliament. The 3% threshold has been reached by 5 of the 36 parties
    that took part in the election. Kyriakos Mitsotakis ruled out a coalition
    government. Unless the winning parties manage to form a government, early
    elections will be held on 25 June.


    FOOTBALL Farul Constanţa
    won Romania’s football championships, after defeating FCSB 3-2, on home turf
    on Sunday night, in the 9th round of the Super League. Farul managed a spectacular come-back in the championship final,
    after FCSB had been leading 2-0. (AMP)

  • May 21, 2023 UPDATE

    May 21, 2023 UPDATE

    EDUCATION On Monday the staff in Romania’s public undergraduate
    education will go on strike, the trade unions in the sector announced after
    Sunday’s talks with government officials. The protest will continue until
    unions have received a credible solution from the government, the leader of
    the Spiru Haret Trade Union Federation, Marius Nistor, said. The government put
    forth a clear roadmap for the endorsement of the new salary law and promised pay
    raises for non-teaching staff, which according to unionists would only amount
    to EUR 20 a month. Financial incentives for entry-level teachers and experienced
    staff teaching in underprivileged areas have also been proposed. The higher
    education staff will also go on token strikes as of Monday, the head of the Alma
    Mater National Trade Union Federation Anton Hadăr announced. Trade unions said
    negotiations would continue in the coming days.


    MOLDOVA
    A large-scale rally was held in Chişinău on Sunday, at the initiative of
    president Maia Sandu, in order to prove Moldovans’ support for the country’s EU
    accession. Europe is the Republic of Moldova. The Republic of Moldova is
    Europe. Moldova is not alone, the president of the European Parliament, Roberta
    Metsola said in Romanian at the European Moldova National Assembly. Participants
    adopted a resolution confirming the support of Moldovan citizens for the
    country’s EU accession efforts. The rally takes place as the Republic of
    Moldova, an EU accession candidate country, would like to begin accession
    negotiations by the end of this year. For this stage to begin, Moldova must
    complete 9 recommendations, which will be assessed by this autumn in a European
    Commission report. In Bucharest, the Organisation of Moldovan Students
    organised a similar rally in front of Moldova’s Embassy. Scores of people
    watched the speeches in Chisinau jointly with the Moldovan Ambassador to
    Bucharest, Victor Chirila.


    DIPLOMACY The Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu takes part on
    Monday in the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels. The EU
    foreign ministers will discuss measures to mitigate the effects of Russia’s
    aggression in Ukraine and the situation in the Horn of Africa. The EU officials
    will also touch on the bloc’s commitment in Central Asia, developments in Tunisia,
    the relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the context of high-level EU
    diplomatic contacts with both countries. According to the Romanian foreign
    ministry, Bogdan Aurescu will reiterate Romania’s firm, multidimensional and
    continuing support for Ukraine and will express hopes that an agreement will be
    reached as soon as possible on the 8th support package for the
    Ukrainian air forces under the EU Peace Facility. Minister Aurescu will also
    highlight the importance of keeping pressure on Russia by consolidating
    sanctions, and will reiterate the idea of setting up a special international tribunal
    for the crime of aggression to prosecute Russian crimes of aggression during
    the war in Ukraine.


    RAILWAYS The president of Romania’s Competition Council, Bogdan
    Chiriţoiu, made statements concerning Carpatica Feroviar, a new company that
    will take over the operations of the state-owned railway freight corporation CFR
    Marfă. The new company will take over the profitable contracts and the
    equipment needed for completing them, while the other assets will be sold in order
    to cover as much as possible of the old company’s debts to the state budget
    Chiriţoiu explained. He emphasised that current operations will not be
    discontinued. The financial performance of CFR Marfă improved slightly in 2022,
    but the company still owes some EUR 400 mln to the state budget and social
    security budget.


    BEEKEEPERS Romanian beekeepers say they are left with large amounts
    of unsold honey because of imports of cheaper and poorer-quality honey. The
    head of the Romanian Beekeepers Association, Ioan Fetea, says the situation is
    particularly serious as last year’s yield was a lot smaller than in previous
    years. Last year beekeepers saw modest yields, but they could not even sell those,
    precisely because of these dumping practices, obviously explained by the fact
    that that honey is not in line with EU regulations. Almost half of the honey
    imported into Europe is adulterated, counterfeit, and obviously sold very
    cheaply, which puts tremendous pressure on local producers, Fetea explained. Beekeepers
    are also struggling with a fall in the number of bee families, because of the
    use of insecticides in agriculture.


    UKRAINE The US president Joe Biden Sunday announced new military aid
    measures for Ukraine, following talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy,
    on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima. The new aid package will
    consist of ammunitions, artillery and armoured vehicles, Joe Biden explained, just
    days after approving the provision of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. According
    to Reuters, this new package is worth up to USD 375 mln and is designed to
    strengthen Ukraine’s defence in the war against Russia. The British PM Rishi
    Sunak also announced in Hiroshima that his country would start training
    Ukrainian pilots this summer, to support Ukraine’s air forces in the conflict.
    Rishi Sunak added that no one wants peace more than Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but
    the terms for peace, he added, should be based on Ukraine’s principles. In the
    3-day summit in Japan, the G7 nations voiced their willingness to stand by
    Ukraine in the long run.



    ROWING Romania won 2 gold and 3 silver medals at
    the 2023 European Rowing Under 19 Championships in Brive-la-Gaillarde, France,
    in which it took part with 11 boats. Romania came out second in the overall nations
    tables, behind Italy and ahead of Turkey. In last year’s competition, Romania
    had won 5 medals (3 gold, one silver and one bronze), and finished top of the
    ranking by nations. (AMP)

  • May 21, 2023

    May 21, 2023

    EDUCATION
    In Bucharest, the Liberal PM Nicolae Ciucă, the Social Democratic leader Marcel
    Ciolacu and the labour minister Marius Budăi invited trade unions in public
    education to talks in order to avoid an all-out strike announced for tomorrow. Unionists
    said protests could only end when the solutions to their demands, particularly
    concerning salaries, were introduced in officially endorsed legislation. The
    finance minister Adrian Câciu said the teaching staff’s demands could have been
    solved, if Romania had received the money in the second disbursement round
    under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, which is currently suspended
    because of targets that have not been met in the field of energy, for which the
    National Liberal Party is responsible. On the other hand, PM Nicolae Ciucă said
    the solution to the unions’ demands has to do with the unified salary law that
    the labour ministry headed by the Social Democrats has failed to finalise in
    spite of the support of the entire ruling coalition. Amid these disagreements, the
    president of the Social Democratic Party, Marcel Ciolacu, demanded that
    negotiations on the new cabinet make-up following the PM rotation should be
    suspended until the issue in the education sector has been solved, and the Democratic
    Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, a junior partner in the ruling
    coalition, agreed. The Liberals on the other hand argue that the government
    transition should be completed quickly in order to maintain stability and
    balance. Under a protocol signed by the 2 parties, on 26 May the Social
    Democrats should take over the prime minister post from the Liberals, for the
    next 1,5 years, until the next general elections.


    MOLDOVA
    A large-scale rally is held in Chişinău today, at the
    initiative of president Maia Sandu, in order to prove Moldovans’ support for
    the country’s EU accession. Europe is the Republic of Moldova. The Republic of
    Moldova is Europe. Moldova is not alone, the president of the European
    Parliament, Roberta Metsola said in Romanian at the European Moldova National
    Assembly. Participants adopted a resolution confirming the support of Moldovan
    citizens for the country’s EU accession efforts. The rally takes place as the Republic
    of Moldova, an EU accession candidate country, would like to begin accession
    negotiations by the end of this year. For this stage to begin, Moldova must
    complete 9 recommendations, which will be assessed by this autumn in a European
    Commission report. In Bucharest, the Organisation of Moldovan Students
    organised a similar rally in front of Moldova’s Embassy. Scores of people
    watched the speeches in Chisinau jointly with the Moldovan Ambassador to
    Bucharest, Victor Chirila.


    UKRAINE The US president Joe Biden Sunday announced new military aid
    measures for Ukraine, following talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy,
    on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima. The new aid package will
    consist of ammunitions, artillery and armoured vehicles, Joe Biden explained, just
    days after approving the provision of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. According
    to Reuters, this new package is worth up to USD 375 mln and is designed to
    strengthen Ukraine’s defence in the war against Russia. The British PM Rishi
    Sunak also announced in Hiroshima that his country would start training
    Ukrainian pilots this summer, to support Ukraine’s air forces in the conflict.
    Rishi Sunak added that no one wants peace more than Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but
    the terms for peace, he added, should be based on Ukraine’s principles. In the
    3-day summit in Japan, the G7 nations voiced their willingness to stand by
    Ukraine in the long run.


    FLOODING
    In Italy, code red alerts for heavy rainfalls with landslide risks are valid
    today as well, in the Emilia Romagna region in the north of the country, already
    affected by unprecedented flash floods. Fourteen people died and 36,000 others
    were evacuated by the authorities. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent
    in Italy, in Ravenna province alone, the most severely hit by the floods, over 16%
    of the territory has been evacuated. A preliminary estimate by Confagricoltura,
    the association of Italian farmers, indicates that the flooding in Emilia
    Romagna caused crop damages of over EUR 1.5 bln.


    GREECE
    Greece is holding elections today for its single-chamber 300-seat parliament, with
    around 9.5 million people expected to take part in the vote. As many as 36 parties
    and political associations are running for parliamentary seats, for which they
    need at least 3% of the votes. The most likely to win is incumbent PM Kyriakos
    Mitsotakis’s party, New Democracy, with 33% of the voting intentions in polls. The
    left-of-centre Syriza party, headed by Alexis Tsipras, is predicted to carry
    26% of the votes. A novelty in this election is the scrapping of the 50-seat
    bonus for the winning party. Unless the parties manage to form a new
    government, early elections will be held in July, with a return to the previous
    bonus system. (AMP)

  • May 17, 2023 UPDATE

    May 17, 2023 UPDATE

    Strike – In Romania, education employees will go on an all-out strike as of Monday. The meeting that the leaders of the main education trade union federations had, on Wednesday, in Bucharest, with the liberal Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca and the leader of the Social Democratic Party – PSD, Marcel Ciolacu, did not produce any results that convinced the representatives of the employees to give up the protest, the president of the Federation of Trade Unions, Simion Hăncescu, announced. In turn, the Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă said that there would be a new discussion on Monday. Education employees organized a two-hour warning strike on Wednesday. The unions announced that the protest is a stage in the labor conflict generated by the low wages and the lack of investments in the field. The National Federation of Parents Associations in the pre-university education system supports the teachers approach and understands their grievances, but specifies that the initiation of the all-out strike would harm the students, especially those in the final years.



    Diplomacy – Romania is deeply committed to combating any form of extremism and hate speech at home and anywhere in the world and supports all the European projects dedicated to combating anti-Semitism. The statement was made on Wednesday morning by the Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă, at ​​the solemn joint session of the Romanian Parliament marking 75 years of uninterrupted diplomatic relations between Romania and the State of Israel. “Israel is one of Romanias strongest and most important partners in the Middle East, but also the state with which we have an increasingly strengthened economic relationship. I think, however, that the potential of commercial exchanges is much higher”, Nicolae Ciucă said. Present at the meeting in Bucharest, the Speaker of the Israeli Parliament, Amir Ohana, stated that Romania was one of the first countries to recognize the State of Israel and took important steps to commemorate the Holocaust, which demonstrates its commitment to combating anti-Semitism. According to Amir Ohana, the ties between Romania and Israel are “better than ever”.



    Summit — The Romanian President, Klaus Iohannis, participated, in Reykjavik, between May 16-17, in the 4th Summit of the Council of Europe, held during the mandate of the Presidency of Iceland. On Wednesday, he delivered a speech during the general debate “United for Europe”. On the other hand, Klaus Iohannis said that Russias aggression against Ukraine must remain a central point on the organizations agenda. He pointed out that Romania fully supported the Reykjavik Declaration, adopted at the end of the summit, which reconfirms the particular role of the Council of Europe in the multilateral architecture at the European and international level. At the same time, the establishment of the International ‘Register of Damage’ caused by the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, in which Romania participates as a founding state, was also announced in Reykjavik. Also on Wednesday, the Romanian head of state had a series of bilateral meetings, on the sidelines of the Summit, with his counterparts from the Czech Republic, Austria and Slovenia.



    Conference – The Chief of the Romanian Defense Staff, General Daniel Petrescu, participates, between May 17 and 19, in the 16th edition of the Conference of the Chiefs of the Defense Staffs from the Balkans on military cooperation issues, organized in Sofia, in neighboring Bulgaria. According to Romanian Defense Ministry, the agenda of the forum includes analyzes of the security situation in the Balkan area, as well as methods of collaboration between the states in the region. At the same time, General Daniel Petrescu will have a bilateral meeting with his Turkish counterpart. The forum takes place annually and brings together the chiefs of defense staffs from nine countries in South-Eastern Europe: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Turkey. The forum aims to boost regional military cooperation by strengthening security and ensuring a climate of stability in the Balkan region, to identify and develop a regional crisis management mechanism and joint participation in exercises to increase the interoperability of the armed forces in the region. Defense chiefs from Croatia and Slovenia, as well as high-level representatives of NATO and the EU, are also invited to this edition of the conference.



    CCR – The Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) decided on Wednesday that the crime of abuse of office can be criminalized even without a value threshold, the judge being the one who can decide on the seriousness of the act. The Court rejected as unfounded the objection of unconstitutionality formulated by the High Court of Cassation and Justice regarding the criminalization of abuse of office without a value threshold. At the same time, the Court decided that the Romanian Intelligence Service’s interceptions cannot be used as evidence obtained on national security warrants also in the case of corruption cases. We remind you that, initially, the Senate established a value threshold of 250,000 lei (approx. 50,000 Euros) for criminalizing abuse of office, but following the scandal caused in the public space, the Justice Minister, Cătălin Predoiu, proposed a new threshold of 9,000 lei (approx. 1,800 Euros). Later, the Legal Committee of the Chamber of Deputies gave up the threshold, and the plenum adopted the draft law that amends the Criminal Code and refers to abuse and negligence in office without any threshold. (LS)

  • May 10, 2023

    May 10, 2023

    EDUCATION Trade
    unions in Romanian public education organise a protest rally in Bucharest today, as a way to sound
    the alarm on the problems facing the Romanian education sector. The unions demand pay raises in the sector, as well as an
    annual increase in investments in order to improve the relevant infrastructure
    and equipment. Unionists also warn that a poll
    is under way among education staff, with respect to an all-out strike starting
    on May 22. Meanwhile, new draft
    education laws are being discussed in the Chamber of Deputies for a first vote,
    after the specialist committee introduced a number of amendments to the
    original bills, including a national plan to curb violence in schools.


    VISIT The PM of the Republic of Korea, Han
    Duck-Soo, is on a visit to Bucharest today, and is scheduled to have meetings
    with president Klaus Iohannis and with PM Nicolae Ciucă. The 2 prime ministers
    are to sign a Memorandum of Understanding between the Romanian Maritime Port
    Authority and the Busan Port Authority. The Korean official is also scheduled
    to have a meeting with the Chamber of Deputies speaker, Marcel Ciolacu.


    DEFENCE The Romanian chief of defence,
    general Daniel Petrescu, is taking part today and tomorrow in the meetings of
    the NATO Military Committee and the EU Military Committee, respectively. Defence
    chiefs from the 31 Allied states, with the Swedish chief of defence as a guest,
    will look at the dynamics of the war in Ukraine. Talks will focus on analysing
    the implementation of measures aimed at strengthening NATO’s defence and deterrence
    posture, ahead of the decisions to be made at the NATO Summit in Vilnius. The
    participants will also look at ways to continue supporting Ukraine. Another
    major topic of the meeting is the analysis of member and partner states’
    participation in EU missions and operations.


    INDEPENDENCE Romania celebrates its
    National Independence Day today. On May 10, 1877, Prince Carol I, who would
    subsequently become the first king of Romania, signed the country’s
    Proclamation of Independence from the Ottoman Empire. The document had been
    read in Parliament the day before by the foreign minister Mihail Kogălniceanu, and
    endorsed by Parliament’s two chambers. The occasion is celebrated in Bucharest
    with a ceremony at the Heroes Monument in front of the National Defence
    University, while military and religious ceremonies are also held in cities
    across the country.


    EUROPE In a message on Europe Day, celebrated on May
    9, president Klaus Iohannis said Romania is a mature and responsible member
    state, with a solid and credible European profile, recognised and appreciated
    by our partners. In turn, PM Nicolae Ciucă said Romania is part of the
    solution to the security challenges that the EU is facing, and that now is the
    time for Romania to be acknowledged as a full Schengen member.




    TRANSPORT The European Commission for
    Transport, Adina Vălean, is in Romania today and tomorrow, to hand over to
    Romanian beneficiaries 2 grants for military mobility, in Constanta, in the presence of the
    Romanian transport minister Sorin Grindeanu, the European Commission announced.
    The two projects concern the design and building of the Ungheni bridge and
    upgrading the railway infrastructure in the port of Constanţa, a critical
    element of the EU – Ukraine solidarity lanes. (AMP)

  • April 30, 2023

    April 30, 2023

    Farmers. Until May 11, Romanian cereal producers can submit requests for financial support to make up for the losses suffered due to cheap cereal imports from neighboring Ukraine. The total amount is approximately 20 million euros, half from the European Union budget, and the other from the Romanian state budget. On Saturday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kyiv said that the limitation of Ukrainian grain imports into the Union countries was categorically unacceptable and that such restrictions would not be in accordance with the association agreement between Ukraine and the EU and with the principles and rules of the European single market. Previously, the European Commission announced that an agreement in principle had been reached to allow the resumption of the transit of Ukrainian grain through Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania. In Bucharest, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă has welcomed the agreement that provides for a new support package worth 100 million euros for the affected farmers and stressed that Romanias strictly European position was a correct and balanced one.



    Aid. The Romanian Government has changed the method of granting the financial support offered by the Romanian state to Ukrainian refugees. As of May 1st, the money is allocated directly to the refugees, and not to the families that host them, as has happened so far. The aid will be offered unconditionally for one month only. In the next three months, Ukrainian refugees will have to get a job and enroll their children in school or kindergarten. From the 5th month, they can benefit from the help of the Romanian state only if they find a job.



    May 1st. For the current May 1 mini-holiday, Romanians have chosen, as usual, the mountain resorts on Prahova Valey and the seaside resorts. The seaside festivals have attracted tens of thousands of young people from the country and abroad, and the accommodation units have reported an occupancy rate of over 90%. About 400 festivals, concerts, fairs and sports activities are scheduled in Romania these days. The Ministry of Internal Affairs has announced that approximately 24 thousand policemen, gendarmes and firefighters are on duty, throughout the country, to prevent and combat illegal acts, to ensure the flow of road traffic, as well as for the safe conduct of public events. Also, the Border Police has announced that all the necessary measures have been taken to ensure an effective control and reduce waiting times at the border, in particular the crossing points on the borders with Hungary and Bulgaria.



    Book Fair. Today is the last day of the Leipzig Book Fair, in Germany, where Romania is present with over 150 new titles, but also with numerous events. Famous writers such as Mircea Cărtărescu, Gabriela Adameșteanu or Ioana Pârvulescu participated in the fair. According to the organizers, the 2023 edition has enjoyed great success especially because its been the first since 2019, because of the pandemic, and the public is particularly interested in getting back in touch with the world of books and their authors. About 2,500 exhibitors from over 40 countries presented their new editorial productions. This year, Austria was the guest of honor at the Leipzig Book Fair.



    Strike. Nurses in Great Britain are going on a one-day strike today, following a disagreement with the government over wage increases. They are demanding 10% higher salaries while the health minister has offered five percent and refuses to negotiate. According to the Radio Romania correspondent in London, the strike seriously affects the medical system, as, for the first time, the nurses who work in intensive care or in other wards where vulnerable patients are cared for are participating in the protest. In the following days, teachers will also go on strike, demanding higher salaries. Other union protests will take place at the end of next week, when the coronation of King Charles III takes place. Traffic officers and those who ensure regular parking will be on strike during the coronation.



    Handball. CSM Bucharest meets, today, away from home, the Danish team Esbjerg, in the quarterfinals of the Womens Handball Champions League. The return is scheduled for next Sunday, in Bucharest. The two teams have met 10 times since 2017. CSM has won 5 games, Esbjerg 3 and 2 games ended in a draw. Also in the quarterfinals of the Champions League, CS Rapid Bucharest takes on, on home turf, the Norwegian team Vipers Kristiansand. The return match is scheduled for next Saturday, in Norway. The Romanian national mens handball team plays, this evening, in Gummersbach, in Germany, against the team of Ukraine, the last match in Group 4 of the preliminaries of the European Mens Handball Championship – EHF EURO 2024. (MI)


  • April 22, 2023

    April 22, 2023

    VISIT On Saturday, the president of
    Romania, Klaus Iohannis is paying a formal visit to Chile, the first of a
    high-level Romanian politician in the past 10 years. The visit is aimed at
    giving an impetus to the political cooperation, the economic exchanges and
    sectoral cooperation between the two countries and also at encouraging
    inter-human contacts. Multilateral cooperation, aspects related to the security
    climate in the neighbourhood of the two countries, human rights observance, as
    well as ways of consolidating democracy around the world are also high on the
    talks agenda. As part of his South American tour, the Romanian official has so
    far visited Brazil, Chile and will next go to Argentina.



    EXTRADITION The former president of the County Council in Neamţ, north-eastern Romania, Social-Democrat Ionel Arsene will not be extradited to Romania where he must serve a prison sentence of six years and eight months on corruption charges. A court in Italy has rejected the extradition application filed by the Romanian authorities. The politician had fled the country shortly before the sentence was pronounced and went to Italy to join the other indicted Romanians who found refuge in that country. According to the Radio Romania correspondent in Italy, extradition in that country is conditioned by the so-called ‘double criminality’ requirement, which means the act that is the subject of the criminal procedure for which extradition is requested must be provided as a crime both in Italian and in foreign criminal law.




    GOLD
    Romanian athlete Nicoleta Anghel walked away with gold from the European
    Wrestling Championships in Croatia after a win against Turkish opponent Buşe Tosun in the 72 kilogram
    category. This has been Anghel’s best performance so far after the bronze medal
    she reaped in Kaspiysk, Russia and the world’s third performance she obtained last
    year in Belgrade. Anghel has also brought the second continental title for
    Romania that she won in Zagreb after that claimed by Andreea Beatrice in the 55
    kilogram category. Romania has so far won four medals, all in the women’s
    contest, two gold and two bronze, claimed by Catalina Axente in the 76 and
    Kriszta Tunde Incze in the 65 kilograms category.






    STRIKE Trade unions in Romania’s education system have commenced the
    procedure of gathering signatures for an all-out strike after their claims have
    been rejected by the authorities. According to a press communiqué released on
    Saturday, the decision to launch this extreme form of protest is all the more
    so justified as under the latest emergency ordinance on new fiscal-budgetary
    measures, the government intends to implement more measures with an additional
    negative impact for the employees in the country’s education system. Several
    major trade unions in the field are going to again picket the headquarters of
    the Romanian government over 25th and 26th of April and
    stage a protest march, which is expected to be attended by 15 thousand trade
    unionists on May 10th.




    (bill)

  • The February 16, 1933, railway workers’ strikes in Bucharest

    The February 16, 1933, railway workers’ strikes in Bucharest

    A deep economic crisis hit the whole world between
    1929-1933. Also known as the Great economic Crash, the crisis, among other
    things, translated into violence, an increasingly poor living standard, strikes
    and protest rallies. Romania was also marred by this crisis, having its dismal share
    of the aftermath and the ensuing social unrest. Strikes and protest rallies
    flared up countrywide, especially in the industrial regions. Illustrative of such
    a situation was the 1929 miners’ strike in Lupeni. Back then workers were
    protesting against the so-called sacrifice curbs, meaning salary cuts and price
    hikes. During the aforementioned four-year span, another strong protest
    movement was the strike staged over January-February 1933 by the railway
    workers employed by Bucharest’s Grivita Repair workshops. However, the strike
    was equally politicized by the communist regime that held Romania under its
    grip between 1945 and 1989.


    If we take some time to examine documents of that
    time, we can detect two stages in the unfolding of events. The first stage was
    the legitimate strike staged by the railway workers’ unions, who negotiated
    some of the claims employers even complied with. Over January 31st
    and February 2nd, 1922, the Grivita trade unions obtained an increase
    in wages as well as other benefits, for their members. The second stage unfolded
    after the communist and Comintern-controlled unions were a lot more focused on their political claims. We
    recall the Comintern used any form of social unrest to cause instability.


    Negotiations were brought to a standstill
    for a couple of days, while immediately afterwards, on the morning of February
    16, 1933, the government took forceful action against the 4,000 workers who had
    barricaded themselves on the premises of the repair workshops. The gendarmes’
    intervention claimed the lives of seven workers, while 15 others were wounded. 160 workers were arrested.


    The communist regime that was instated in Romania after
    1945 had been constantly using that strike as a propaganda tool and for the particular
    reason whereby communist leader Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej had been employed by
    Grivita, where he was one of the instigators and where he was imprisoned. Notwithstanding,
    after 1989, archive research and the interviewing of the very few surviving
    witnesses have revealed a different kind of reality. In 1998, Radio Romania’s Oral
    History Centre interviewed engineer Constantin
    Negrea, who in 1927 was a young employee with the Romanian Railway Repair Workshops.
    Negrea reminisced the 1931 protest rallies he joined himself with the 800
    workers, and which claimed the lives of two people.

    Constantin Negrea:


    In 1931, certain
    problems occurred. We had been threatened with the sacrifice curb. And we, on
    January 29, 1931, we staged a protest rally against the implementation of the
    sacrifice curb. We were deprived of our dues, bit by bit. And then, we took to the
    streets after 4 pm, heading towards the Grant Bridge, to the Repair workshops,
    we wanted to get there. We also had a couple of sergeants in tow, they were
    accompanying us. We were shouting we did not want the sacrifice curb. When
    we hit the Grant Bridge, we got shot at! One man, Craciun, died, he was a carpenter,
    and a Jew, Schwartz, who came from
    Oradea to get married. So there were two people dead!


    Two years later, the 1933 strikes began with staging
    protest rallies, just like their predecessors, yet they changed the tactics, so
    their voice could be better heard.


    Instead of moving about and shouting in the street we
    didn’t want the sacrifice curb, we replaced that with the activation of the siren
    every thirty minutes, many times. We replaced taking to the streets in protest
    rallies. We began to organize ourselves in union groups and everyone knew on
    the day of 15 we were supposed to rally, all of us, even though the frost was
    so harsh. We intended to get out in the repair workshops’ courtyard where there
    was some kind of a little park set up on the premises. Constructions works for
    the park were not completed, so a couple of sand loads had been unloaded, and
    there was a sand bank there. Well, several cauldrons were brought there, 5,
    maybe 6, where we warmed ourselves lighting a fire. After that, a plank
    barricade was erected at the back entrance of the Locomotives Division, it was
    an entrance there and there also was a roof.


    Despite strikers’ radicalism, among
    them there were people who were talking sense and the fears they voiced turned out
    to be real, in the long run.


    Evening set in and,
    logically, the people there, there was a one Mogos who worked at the plant and there
    was another one, they stepped aside, they kind of dodged, and said: We get
    fired and we won’t be able to earn our keep anymore! They were older, more sensible,
    more well-advised, quite unlike us, who were younger. The last time we rallied
    was around 5 pm, at five past I’d already made for the siren, and in ten
    minutes I walked back to the gates. At 5.45am sharp, live rounds were fired. They
    shot on sight and six people died, that’s how many were shot dead.


    The dead and the communist
    organizers, who were sentenced to prison, saw their worst when the strike of
    February 1933 ended. The events in Grivita that happened 90 years ago were the events
    of a generation that firmly opposed the deterioration of their lives. Sadly,
    the February 1933 strikes were partially hijacked by the radical communists, the advocates of
    a criminal regime.(EN)


    .

  • February 1, 2023

    February 1, 2023

    Parliament. The Romanian Senate and Chamber of Deputies are today holding the first parliamentary session this year. The agenda includes the most important bills with regard to the deadlines assumed under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. The leaders of the main parties in the ruling coalition, the Social Democratic Party and the National Liberal Party, have announced, as legislative priorities, those on education and the reform of special pensions. The Liberals are also particularly interested in increasing the threshold from which pensions are taxed and a bill to merge the local elections with the parliamentary ones, in 2024. In May, according to the coalitions protocol, the rotation of premiers between the Liberals and the Social Democrats will take place. The Social Democrats have announced that they are working on a new government program, and the Social Democrat president, Marcel Ciolacu, who will take over the position of prime minister in this case, set forth the idea of ​​reducing labor taxation and overtaxing companies with very high incomes. From the opposition, the Save Romania Union has announced that it will initiate, on the first day of the parliamentary session, a new simple motion against the Minister of the Interior, Lucian Bode, against the background of accusations of plagiarism regarding his doctoral thesis.



    Visit. The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, will pay an official visit to Baku, Azerbaijan, on February 2-3, at the invitation of his counterpart, Ilham Aliyev. The two presidents will open the Ministerial Meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council. The visit of the head of the Romanian state takes place in continuation of the very good talks held with the Azerbaijani president, in Bucharest, in December 2022, on the occasion of their participation in the signing ceremony of the Agreement between the Governments of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania and Hungary regarding the Strategic Partnership in the field of green energy development and transport . In Baku, the state of implementation of regional interconnection projects such as the submarine electricity transmission cable will be assessed and the initiation of similar projects in the digital field will be addressed. Azerbaijan is the first country in the South Caucasus region with which Romania raised bilateral relations to the level of Strategic Partnership in 2009.



    Corruption. The Bucharest Tribunal has rejected the National Anticorruption Directorates request for a 30 day custody for the Romarm director Gabriel Ţuţu and Alexandru Piţurcă, the son of the former coach of the Romanian national football team, Victor Piţurcă, in the case related to the purchase of non-compliant protective masks for the Ministry of Defense. The two will be placed under legal restrictions pending trial. Alexandru Piţurcă was detained for 24 hours on Tuesday, being accused of influence peddling, while Gabriel Ţuţu was also detained for a day. In the same case, Victor Piţurcă is also being investigated under legal restrictions for influence peddling. According to the Anticorruption Directorate, against the backdrop of the pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus, between March 2020 and September 2021, Gabriel Ţuţu, as general manager of Romarm, a state-owned company and the main supplier of defense technology, allegedly concluded with an association of companies, of which one was controlled by Alexandru Piţurcă, under disadvantageous conditions for the company he was running, two public procurement contracts for the purchase of non-compliant equipment for the production of protective masks. Gabriel Ţuţu allegedly received the bribe through an intermediary in the amount of 50,000 lei, the equivalent of 10 thousand euros.



    Ukraine. The Russian invasion forces are making small progress on the front in eastern Ukraine – international news agencies report. Their main target remains the city of Bakhmut, which they have been trying to seize for months without success. Both Bakhmut and the neighboring villages of Kliškiivka and Kurdiumivka, located south of the city, came under new Russian fire. According to the Ukrainian military, though, the Russians allegedly got stuck near the town of Avdiivka, the second focal point of their attacks in the disputed Donetsk region. Troop movements are also registered in Lyman, a city recaptured by the Ukrainians in October. In an unusually detailed intelligence update, British Ministry of Defense experts, who are constantly monitoring the situation on the front, note that Russian forces have advanced several hundred meters across a river towards the town of Vuhledar, and recorded made small wins. Specialists say that Moscows troops would like to attract the Ukrainian forces defending Bakhmut to Vuhledar.



    Borders. The General Inspectorate of the Romanian Border Police informs that on Tuesday, 56,908 people, including 7,395 Ukrainian citizens, entered Romania through the border-crossing points. According to a press release, since February 10, 2022, two weeks before the Russian army invaded their country, 3,443,915 Ukrainian citizens have entered neighboring Romania. The majority have continued their way to countries in Western Europe, but around 100 thousand, according to the Bucharest authorities, chose to stay in Romania.



    Strike. The Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs informs Romanian citizens who are in, transiting or intending to travel to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland that the British Border Force has announced the organization of a strike on Wednesday and Thursday. According to the MFA, all international border crossing points (maritime and airports) in the United Kingdom will be affected, as well as border points in the north of the French Republic: Calais, Dunkirk and Coquelles. People who are going to travel from or to the United Kingdom, during the mentioned period, will face longer waiting times at the border control, the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs warns. The Radio Romania correspondent in London reports that, after the first 100 days of his mandate, the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, is facing a drastic drop in popularity, against the background of union grievances related to salaries and the governments refusal to accept negotiations, against the background of unprecedented high levels of inflation. Moreover, political scandals abound in the ruling conservative party. (MI)