Radio România Internațional

Tag: strike

November 3, 2017

ECONOMIC GROWTH – The National Forecasting Committee has
revised again, upwards, the forecast regarding Romania’s economic growth in
2017, from 5.6 to 6.1%. The Committee has maintained the GDP growth estimates
for 2018, 2019 and 2020 at 5% every year. The International Monetary Fund has
too revised the forecast regarding the development of Romanian economy, from
4.2% to 5.5%. According to the IMF, Romania and Iceland will register the
highest economic growth rates this year. A similar estimate has been presented
by the World Bank. In another move, specialists draw attention to the fact that
Romania’s economic growth is mainly triggered by consumption, and that the
volume of public investment has dropped.

STRIKE
– State sector employees are the main victims of the political manipulation by
means of which the payment of social security contributions has become an
employee responsibility. This decision will actually annul the 25% salary
increase, turning it into a political scam, reads a communiqué issued by the
‘Solidaritea Sanitara’ (Solidarity for Health) Trade Union Federation.
According to the federation, a general strike in the budget sector would be a
normal sanction against the government, which is trying to impose an agenda
that runs counter to the commitments it had made to the employees. On Thursday,
another trade union federation, CNSLR Fratia, announced the start of procedures
for a national strike, also in response to the government’s decision regarding
social security contributions. This decision has been harshly criticised by
other unions, as well as by the president and the liberal opposition. In
response, Prime Minister Mihai Tudose has stated that the measure will benefit
everybody.

EU
COUNCIL – The presidency of the EU Council, which Romania will be holding in
2019, will reflect the need for consensus, not political interests, said on
Thursday the Minister Delegate for European Affairs Victor Negrescu. He
attended the launch of the guide to the Romanian Presidency of the EU Council, a
document developed by the European Expertise Centre – Europuls. Victor Negrescu
has stated that currently there are some 1500 experts preparing for the future presidency. In another
development, the Minister Delegate for European Affairs will be in London for
two days to talk with representatives of the Romanian community about the
Brexit implications. The Foreign Affairs Ministry has launched an information
clip on this topic. According to the Ministry, there are 328,000 Romanians
living in Great Britain.

CATALONIA – On
Thursday, thousands of Catalans protested against the arrest of eight regional
ministers, sacked because of their involvement in the attempt to separate
Catalonia from Spain. They are accused of rebellion, revolt and embezzlement of
public funds. Prosecutors have requested a European arrest warrant for the
Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, who
is currently in Belgium. Last week, the Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy
imposed direct rule on Catalonia, dissolved the regional parliament and
announced local elections to be held on the 21st of December.

FOOTBALL – Romanian Vice-champions FCSB
(formerly known as Steaua Bucharest) has qualified to Europa League last 32
round, following the 1-1 result in Group G against Israeli football team Hapoel
Beer Sheva on Thursday evening in Bucharest. In the previous match, FCSB
defeated Hapoel 2-1 away from home. FCSB now has 10 points and heads the group.
Second comes Viktoria Plzen with 6 points, following the victory against FC
Lugano of Switzerland. FCSB will play in Group G two more matches against
Viktoria Plzen on November 23 away and against Lugano on December 7 at home.

HANDBALL – Romania’s women’s handball champions CSM Bucharest are
playing on Saturday, on home turf, against the Danish team Nykobing Falster
Handboldklub, its fourth match in Champions League’s group A. In other matches,
CSM has defeated the Slovenian team RK Krim Mercator Ljubliana and Vistal
Gdynia of Poland. In the rankings, the Romanians come first with 4 points, just
like the Danish, who come second. CSM Bucharest won the Champions League in
2016 and is one of the first seeds at the current edition of the most powerful
European inter-club competitions.

3 November 2017
Promised solutions for penitentiary staff demands

The authorities are aware that the Romanian prison system is riddled with complex problems. Both the employees in the system and the inmates are deeply dissatisfied, to such an extent that on August 1st, prison staff went on a work-to-rule strike. Prison guards demand improved working conditions, solutions to the personnel shortage problem, the reorganisation of detention facilities and the building of new prisons.

After talks on Thursday with the unionists in the penitentiary system, Prime Minister Mihai Tudose announced the Cabinets willingness to take measures to improve the activity of the National Penitentiary Agency. The Government is considering, among other things, an increase in salaries as well as a review of the personnel requirements, in line with the current relevant standards. After the meeting, the head of the National Union of Penitentiary Workers, Stefan Teoroc, said that PM Mihai Tudose had also agreed to a change in the status of penitentiary workers:

Ştefan Teoroc: “As far as our status is concerned, the Prime Minister was firmly in favour of changing the name into ‘Penitentiary Police, while as far as the number of jobs goes our position is that the same government resolution should increase the number of jobs in the penitentiary system from the current 15,000 to 20,000. We will analyse this together with the Justice Ministry, and even if this increase is to be made gradually, it should begin this year. The first step would be to add a number of jobs and to fill as many vacancies as possible.

Teoroc also said he had asked the Prime Minister not to proceed with a planned 12,500,000 euro cut in the budget of the penitentiary system, and instead to use this amount for further hiring and for improving working conditions in prisons. He also warns that the unionists will not give up their protests until at least some of the promises made during Thursdays meeting have been met.

On the other hand, the European Court for Human Rights calls on Romania to improve detention conditions. Prison overcrowding, inadequate sanitation facilities, lack of hygiene, and low food quality are some of the elements pointing to the severe failure of the prison system. In February, the director general of the National Penitentiary Agency, Marius Vulpe, announced that the fines imposed on Romania by the European Court for Human Rights over poor detention conditions totalled 1.6 million euro last year alone.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

11 August 2017
May 26 – June 2

Mini-holiday for the Romanians, between June the 1st and the Pentecost

The International Childrens Day was the first day off out of a series of five that also include the Pentecost. This was the first time when June 1st was a non-working day, a decision made by the authorities so that parents can spend the day with their children. Special events marking Childrens Day were held in the capital Bucharest and across Romania, such as contests, shows, concerts and exhibitions. In the capital city children had free access to the Zoo, they visited the Cotroceni National Museum and the National TV stations headquarters. The National Radio Orchestra offered children, parents and grandparents a surprise concert at the Radio Concert Hall, where the little spectators were invited to go on stage alongside the musicians. In the city of Sibiu, in the centre, actors with the Small Theatre presented shows for children, while the open-air museum in Dumbrava Sibiului hosted a National Toy Fair. Over 50 thousand tourists are spending this 5-day holiday on the Black Sea Coast. Several thousands have opted for the mountain resorts on Prahova Valley, where they have various ways of enjoying their time off, from mountain climbing, trips with 4X4 automobiles and ATVs and walks through the forests. Over 25 thousand policemen made sure that things unfolded smoothly during the 1 thousand public events organized these days. The Border Police has also increased the number of staff as a large number of Romanians are crossing the border to spend their holiday abroad, mostly in the neighbouring Bulgaria and Hungary.

The unexpected resignation of the president of the Save Romania Union, the third largest parliamentary party in Romania

Nicusor Dan, the leader of the Save Romania Union, USR, in opposition, the third largest parliamentary party, on Thursday stepped down from the position of president of the party he founded in 2016. The Save Romania Union announced it would organise a new congress to elect a new leader, after the unexpected resignation tendered by its founding president. The interim leadership of the party is assured by the head of the USR Cluj branch (in the north-west). Dan stepped down after the USR National Bureau decided to stand against the revision of the Constitution, meant to redefine the concept of family as a union between a man and a woman. A draft meant to revise the fundamental law of the country has already been approved by the Chamber of Deputies and if it is also endorsed by the Senate, Romanians will be called to the polls to vote in a referendum. The revision of the constitution has been demanded by a citizens initiative, signed by three million Romanians. At present, the fundamental law of the country stipulates that the family is based on the consensual marriage between spouses.

The unified pay scale bill in the Chamber of Deputies

The unified pay scale billhas been debated these days by the Labour Committee with the Chamber of Deputies and next week it will be debated in a plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies, which is decision-making body. Backed by the parties in the ruling coalition, the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania, the unified pay scale billfor state sector employees is being criticized by the right wing opposition, who says the budget impact and the funding source for the pay rises are not clear. Hundreds of trade unionists in the public administration in Romania organised in Bucharest a new protest meeting against the bill.

The strike by air traffic controllers in Romania

Air traffic in Romania was disrupted on Tuesday by the air traffic controllers 4-hour all-out strike. Also on Tuesday, the Bucharest Tribunal ruled that the air traffic controllers strike was legal. They warned however that if talks on a new employment contract end in a failure, they might resume protests. They are also discontent about the shortage of personnel and that no hiring is done. Transport minister, Razvan Cuc, has dismissed information on ROMATSAs running the risk of going bankrupt and announced that a new development strategy is being drafted. Some 3,000 aircraft are crossing Romanias airspace daily, and, under the law, during their strike, air traffic controllers must coordinate a third of these flights. On May 12, they went on a two-hour token strike.

HRH Prince Charles, on a new visit to Romania

The British Crown Prince Charles has paid another private visit to Romania this week. On Monday, he received the title of Doctor Honoris Causa of the Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj Napoca, western Romania. He received the title for the sustained efforts he made to preserve Romanias cultural heritage, its traditions and the diversity of its nature. Prince Charles also visited the village of Viscri in central Romania, a UNESCO world heritage site, where he met with forestry experts and small farmers. The Romanian branch of the Prince of Waless Charitable Foundation will launch a new project, meant to help farmers living in mountainous regions develop their products and access new markets, both in Romania and abroad. Prince Charles has also visited three medieval churches in Brasov County, located in Drauseni, Homorod and Mercheasa, built around 1200, in Romanic style by the Saxon community in Transylvania. Prince Charles takes a special interest in Romania, a country which he has visited many times in the past 20 years.

3 June 2017
May 29, 2017 UPDATE

LEGISLATION – The draft law on a unified pay scale for public sector employees in Romania has reached the specialised committees in the Chamber of Deputies, which is the decision-making parliamentary body in this case. The Labour Minister, Lia Olguţa Vasilescu, is hoping that talks in this Chamber should be quick, so that the bill may be endorsed and take effect on July 1. The draft law, which stipulates substantial pay raises for public sector staff, was passed by the Senate last week. Backed by the parties in the ruling coalition, the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania, as well as by the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, the bill is harshly criticised by the Opposition, on grounds that the impact on the state budget and the sources of funding of these salary increases are unclear.

STRIKE – Romanian air traffic controllers will be on an open-ended strike as of Tuesday. They are first and foremost disgruntled with the lack of a valid collective bargaining agreement and with the hiring freeze in the company. On Monday, negotiations between the trade union and ROMATSA, the company which has a monopoly over air traffic controlling in Romania, failed to lead to an agreement. Under the law, during the protests controllers are required to monitor one-third of the flights. On May 12, air traffic controllers had organised a two-hour warning strike.

HEARINGS – A special parliamentary inquiry commission carries on hearings into the organisation of the presidential elections of 2009, won by right-of-centre Traian Băsescu at the expense of the Social Democrat Mircea Geoană. The latter was invited to appear on Monday for the second time, after last week he said there had been a deliberate effort, coordinated by top-level civil servants, to influence the outcome of the election. Former state secretaries with the Interior Ministry were also heard. The former deputy president of the Permanent Electoral Authority, Ana Maria Pătru, once again declined the invitation, after having also missed the hearings last week. The commission was set up following reports by a journalist claiming the 2009 election process had been tampered with by senior civil servants, including heads of intelligence services and the Prosecutor General.

BREXIT – Brexit negotiations will begin on June 19, 11 days after the British snap parliamentary election, PM Theresa May announced. This is also the date proposed by the EU for the beginning of talks. The European Commission will coordinate negotiations with London on behalf of the governments of the 27 EU member states. PM Theresa May initiated the official procedure for her country to leave the EU on March 19, and negotiations will Brussels will take 2 years at most.

FRANCE – Frances new president, Emmanuel Macron, warned on Monday that any use of chemical weapon in Syria would trigger reprisals as well as an immediate response from Paris, France Presse reports. He made the statements after a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at Versailles, near Paris. The French president voiced his willingness to strengthen relations with Russia in fighting terrorism in Syria and pleaded for easing out tensions in the separatist regions in east Ukraine. This was the first meeting for Macron and Putin.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

29 May 2017
2017 European Night of Museums

The 2017 edition of the European Night of Museums hit a new record – a total of 212 institutions from Romania enrolled for the event, while tens of thousands of people went on Saturday night to visit cultural venues free of charge. 54 museums and cultural organizations played host to guided tours, exhibitions, theatre plays, concerts, discussion panels or book launches. One of the most sought-after destinations on this occasion was the “Grigore Antipa Museum of Natural History and the Geology Museum in Bucharest. Here visitors, which were mostly young people or families with children, could visit the exhibition “Night of the Dinosaurs – A Night of Magic, with replicas of dinosaurs and a quartz skull weighing over 30 kilos, the only one of its kind in Europe.

The Romanian Academy, in cooperation with the Legacy of Tomorrow Cultural Association exhibited one of Constantin Brancusis few sculptures currently on Romanian soil, “Childs Head, at the Museum of Old Western Art. The Bellu Cemetery in Bucharest also played host to jazz and classical music concerts. Astronomy enthusiasts could visit the freshly renovated Astronomy Observatory.

The Filipescu-Cesianu House this year opened the doors of its Age Museum, the first urban anthropology museum in the country, inaugurated last year. Innovative exhibitions, such as Leonard da Vincis machines, the Bucharest Art Gallery, an inter-war project, the living statues of Masca Theatre exhilarated visitors of the “Theodor Aman Museum, the Sutu Palace, the Filipescu-Cesianu House or the “Nicolae Minovici Museum.

At the Brukenthal Museum in Sibiu, the library and the wonder rooms were opened to the public, despite currently being in their design phase. The two sectors will become part of the full tour starting the second half of the year. Also taking part in the Night of Museums was the open-air museum in Dumbrava Sibiului, the largest of its kind in Romania, spreading over 100 hectares.

In 2017, the Night of Museums was preceded by a protest of museum employees, the first ever staged in post-communist Romania. Protesters rallied in front of the National History Museum in Bucharest and then before the Ministry of Culture building. Museum employees say they have been overlooked by the latest salary increases, while the current salary bill further discriminates against them and puts them in an unfair position. Unless their demands are met, employees say they will take their protest to the next level, which may include an all-out strike.

Having reached its 13th edition, the European Night of Museums enjoys a growing success from one year to the next at international level. Over 3,000 museums from all over Europe, as well as many art galleries, schools and cultural venues, took part in the event.

(translated by: Vlad Palcu)

22 May 2017
May 12, UPDATE

CYBER ATTACK – The Romanian Intelligence Service announced on Friday that it had managed to counter an attempted cyber-attack against a Romanian governmental agency. The information comes after Romanian and foreign media announced that a group of elite hackers having ties with the Russian government masqueraded as NATO representatives to send phishing emails to diplomatic organisations in Europe, including the Romanian Foreign Ministry. Experts identified the emails as having been sent by a group known to the cyber defence community as APT28. According to the US intelligence community, APT28 has been actively involved in political espionage activities in Europe over the past 10 years, and has collaborated with Russian intelligence services.

VACCINATION – The PM of Romania, Sorin Grindeanu, Friday requested the immediate set up of a task force made up of representatives of the Government, of professional associations, of civil society, which should find immediate solutions to the vaccine crisis in Romania and prevent similar occurrences in the future. The task force will have a clearly defined role, which includes the drafting of legislation which would allow, in the short run, the procurement of the required vaccines, and in the medium run to ensure predictable and steady vaccine stocks. In turn, the Healthcare Minister, Florian Bodog, said he would propose the establishment of a Vaccination Programme Management Unit within the ministry. This structure will be tasked with the timely and constant procurement of vaccines. The vaccine crisis is a recurrent problem in Romania, with shortages reported in hospitals and drug stores once every several months, although they certain vaccines are compulsory.

STRIKE – Air traffic controllers in Romania Friday were on a warning strike, guiding only one-third of the flights. The humanitarian, medical, search and rescue and the emergency flights were not affected. Air traffic controllers are primarily disgruntled with the lack of a new collective bargaining agreement for 2016-2017 and with the fact that hiring has been frozen, although since the conflict in Ukraine the number of flights in the Romanian air space has grown significantly. The latest strike of air traffic controllers took place in July 2015.

INVESTIGATION – The former Romanian MP Sebastian Ghita will be heard by the Supreme Court in Belgrade on May 19, in view of extradition, but the hearing will not be public, Serbias Supreme Court announced. Sebastian Ghita is detained in Serbia, after he was apprehended by the authorities on April 14. Bucharest requested the extradition of Ghita, who fled the country late last year, ahead of a hearing with the National Anti-Corruption Directorate and one day before his parliamentary immunity expired. Sebastian Ghita was subject to a national search warrant, and on January 10 the Romanian Supreme Court ordered the issuing of a European arrest warrant. Ghita is tried in two corruption cases and prosecuted in another two.

MOLDOVA – The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Moldova has a new president for the next 3 years, Tudor Pantaru. He has Romanian citizenship as well. Pantaru has been a judge with the Constitutional Court since 2013, and was a Deputy in Moldovas first democratic Parliament, in 1990-1994. He also served as the first ambassador and permanent representative of Moldova at the UN, and was one of the signatories of Moldovas Declaration of Independence. Pantaru held a number of international offices, including judge posts with the European Court for Human Rights and with the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina since 2002. The pro-Russian President Igor Dodon was critical of the Constitutional Court employing citizens of foreign countries, and said the institution needed to be freed of people who support Moldovas union with Romania.

TENNIS – The best ranking Romanian tennis player, Simona Halep (8 WTA), Friday qualified into the final of the Madrid tournament, which has 5.4 million US dollars in total prize money. She defeated Anastasija Sevastova (Latvia, 22 WTA) in 2 sets, 6-2, 6-3. Halep will play against the winner of the match pitting Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia, 9 WTA) against Kristina Mladenovici (France, 17 WTA). Simona Halep also played the quarter-final of the doubles event in Madrid, together with Irina Begu, against Timea Babos (Hungary) / Andrea Hlavaskova (the Czech Republic), but were edged out of the competition.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

12 May 2017
May 10, 2017 UPDATE

CITIZEN INITIATIVE — The Chamber of Deputies has voted in favour of a citizen initiative to revise the definition of the term “family” in the Romanian Constitution. According to the initiative, family is based on the marriage between a man and a woman of their own consent, on equal rights between the two parties, as well as on the parents’ obligation to see to the upbringing, education and tuition of their children. The Senate is to debate and vote on this draft law.

STRIKE — Employees of the Environment Law Enforcement Agency are as of Wednesday on an all-out strike indefinitely. Employees are unhappy with pay disparities in their line of work, considering that salaries haven’t been increased since 2009. During the strike, environment officers will come to work but will not receive public notifications or carry out inspections. Previously employees with the Environment Law Enforcement Agency went on a two-hour strike on April 2, aimed at making their salary demands heard. Despite this, trade unions in the field say lawmakers have not shown any interest in solving the existing problems, adding that the protest will continue until the Government will give assurances that their demands have been taken under advisement.

KING’S DAY — Romania on Wednesday celebrated King’s Day, also coinciding with another two important moments in the country’s modern history. On May 10, 1866 King Carol of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was sworn in as ruler of Romania. Also on this day in 1877 King Carol would proclaim the country’s independence from the Ottoman Empire, only to be crowned king four years later. May 10 was the National Day of Romania until 1947, when the communist regime forced King Mihai I into abdicating and subsequent exile. King Mihai returned to Romania only after the anti-communist revolution of 1989. The King is now seriously ill and has withdrawn from public life. Mihai has entrusted Crown Princess Margareta, the first born of his five daughters, custody of the Royal Crown.

VISIT — Romanian President Klaus Iohannis will receive in Bucharest on Thursday the European Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker. According to the Presidential Administration, talks will focus on issues of topical interest on the agenda of the future meetings of the European Council, such as the process of reflection on the future of the EU and Brexit negotiations. Other issues to be approached include the political priorities of the future presidency of the EU Council, to be held by Romania in the first half of 2019. Jean-Claude Juncker is also due to meet with Romanian PM Sorin Grindeanu and will address a plenary session of the Romanian Parliament, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Romania’s joining the EU.

EBRD — Romanian economy might report a 4% growth this year as compared to the November estimate of 3.7%, reads a recent forecast of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). This is the highest growth level among European states where the Bank is conducting its operations. Next year the GDP growth will slow down to 3.5%, consumption will continue to boost growth in 2017 and 2018, sustained by the rise in the minimum wage and public sector salaries. Government spending will probably spike in 2017, running the risk of exceeding the budget deficit target of 3% of the GDP, the EBRD has warned. In turn, the IMF has upgraded its forecast on Romanian economic growth this year, from 3.8% to 4.2%. The Romanian Government has grounded its budget planning for 2017 on a 5.2% economic growth forecast.

WORK RESTRICTIONS — Switzerland on Wednesday decided to activate a clause stipulated in the EU Agreement providing for a temporary introduction of restrictions on the Swiss labour market for Romanian and Bulgarian citizens. The Romanian Foreign Ministry has expressed regret over the decision. When Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU, Switzerland introduced restrictions, limiting the access of those countries’ citizens on the Swiss labour market. Those restrictions were however lifted in June 2016. Back then, the Swiss government warned that in case the inflow of migrants from the two countries exceeded 10% of the past three years’ average figures, on June 1, 2017, or on June 1st 2018, at the latest, the Federal Council will be able to impose new restrictions on the domestic labour market, valid until May 31, 2019. (Translated by V. Palcu and D. Vijeu)

10 May 2017
March 27, 2017

ALDE – Daniel Constantin, co-president of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE), has lost the political support of his party for the positions of deputy Prime Minister and Environment Minister, which he was holding in the leftist government in Bucharest led by Sorin Grindeanu. Gratiela Gavrilescu has been proposed to replace Daniel Constantin. The decision was made after Constantin had contested a decision by some party colleagues that an extraordinary congress be staged next month, the other ALDE co-president Calin Popescu Tariceanu explained. He has also criticized Constantin for his latest political moves. Constantin has rejected the allegations adding the decision runs against the partys status. At present Gavrilescu is minister for the relation with Parliament but ALDE proposed this portfolio be taken over by Viorel Ilie. Social-Democratic Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu on Monday said upon the latest PSD-ALDE session that it would forward the proposals to president Klaus Iohannis.

CALL – The European Union has called on Moscow to release immediately the several hundred protesters the authorities arrested during the peaceful anti-graft rallies in Russia on Sunday. Famous anti-Putin campaigner Aleksei Navalny is reportedly among those arrested. Tens of thousands protesters all over the country have chanted anti-government slogans asking for the resignation of Prime Minister Medvedev whom they accuse of corruption. Navalny, who is a lawyer, has been denouncing high-level corruption in Russia for years now and has made public his intention to run in the presidential election in 2018.

CELEBRATION – Bucharest and other big cities across Romania are today hosting events aimed at celebrating 99 years since the union of Bessarabia with Romania, an event recently declared a national holiday by the Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest. On Sunday in Chisinau, hundreds of people attended a rally in support of the national flag, where they unfolded a 100-meter long flag chanting unionist slogans. On March 27th 1918, after the dismantling of the Czarist Empire, the countrys legislative body, which convened in solemn session, ruled with an absolute majority the union of Bessarabia with the Romanian kingdom after 106 years of Russian occupation. Through an ultimatum in 1940, Soviet Moscow annexed both Bessarabia and northern Bukovina, territories today belonging to the former soviet republics of Moldova and Ukraine.

TALKS – A new round of talks is taking place in Bucharest between the authorities and representatives of the policemen discontented with their low salaries. Interior Minister Carmen Dan said she would try to identify solutions together with trade unionists so that policemen may benefit from bonuses of 40% and 100% if they work during the weekends and other legal holidays. The minister of Public Consultations and Social Dialogue, Gabriel Petrea has explained that pay differences and other flaws in the system cannot be settled without affecting the budget. The policemen claim a 20% pay rise as well as bonuses for difficult work conditions, night shifts, for working on weekends and other legal holidays.

GAME Romanias national eleven ended in a draw their home fixture on Sunday against the Danish side in qualifying group E for the next years World Cup in Russia. Also on Sunday Montenegro conceded a 1-2 defeat to Poland and Armenia outperformed Kazahstan 2-0. The qualifyiers next leg is due on June 10th when Romania will be up against Poland in an away match. On the same date Kazahstan will be playing Denmark and Montenegro takes on Armenia. Poland tops the groups table with 13 points followed by Montenegro and Denmark both with 7, Romania and Armenia each with 6 and Kazahstan with 2 points. We recall the Romanian national side is for the first time in its history led by a foreign selector, German Cristoph Daum, who came to the helm in autumn upon the teams lackluster play at Euro 2016 in France.

TENNIS The worlds fifth tennis player, Romanian Simona Halep, today takes on Australian Samantha Stosur (WTA19) in the round of sixteen of the tournament in Miami, Florida, a competition with 6.9 million dollars in prize money. In the third round on Sunday the Romanian secured a two-set win 6-3, 6-0 against Estonian Anett Kontaveit. Another Romanian playing in Miami Patricia Tig has conceded a two-set defeat, 6-3, 6-0, to Venus Williams of the USA.

(translated by: Daniel Bilt)

27 March 2017
Higher salaries for railway workers and the police?

Police employees are staging three days of protests until Saturday, on Romanian Police Day, to demand that their salaries are also increased, as has happened in the healthcare system and other areas. On Thursday, they held a three-hour-and-a-half protest in front of the Labour Ministry building, where they blew vuvuzela horns, waved flags and carried placards saying that more than 60% of the Interior Ministry staff earns the minimum wage and warning that the equipment they work with is constantly degrading. During this time, police representatives were having talks with the ministry officials about the unitary pay law due to come into force on the 1st of July.

After the talks, the president of the National Trade Union of Police Employees and Contract Workers, Dumitru Coarna, said the Interior Ministry employees earning the minimum wage of around 320 euros will benefit from a pay rise when the new law comes into force. 86,000 employees will see their salaries double, in several stages, within the next four years. Dumitru Coarna said, however, that protests would go ahead as planned, with a rally in front of the Interior Ministry building followed by a march towards the Government building. Members of the two trade unions that organised the protests are expected to take part, as well as unaffiliated employees. Police employees request the government to issue an emergency order to revise their pay scale, eliminate certain caps on benefits, compensations, bonuses and individual allowances and increase pay for overtime and weekend and public holiday work.

Railway worker representatives have also obtained the promise of a pay rise this week. After two rounds of talks with the administration, it was decided that railway employees would see their salaries go up after the signing of the new collective employment contract. The wage bill of the Passenger Division of the Romanian Railways Company is to grow by more than 17%, while that of its Infrastructure Division by 22%. A new collective employment contract may be signed after the 5th of April.

Until then, a new agreement that extends the current contract will be applied. Fresh talks with the administration will take place next week to discuss proposals made by trade unions, including pay rises for the staff of the Freight Division of the Romanian Railways Company to reflect the amount of work performed. A spontaneous strike on Wednesday, when over 150 trains were cancelled, caused the Railways Company losses of around 17,500 euros.

(Translated by Cristina Mateescu)

24 March 2017
March 23, 2017

LONDON ATTACK — ”We will never give in to terror”, British Prime Minister Theresa May said in parliament a day after the attack in central London. The attacker, a Briton, was known by the security services, May pointed out. Eight people were arrested in relation to the attack. The Police has revised the death toll to 3, including a policeman. We remind you that on Wednesday an attacker drove his car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, killing two, before crashing it outside parliament and trying to enter the building, armed with a knife. The attacker, believed to have had connections with international terrorism, stabbed an unarmed police officer who later died from the injuries, before being shot by armed police. 7 of the people injured in the attack are in critical condition. Among them a Romanian woman who was thrown into the Thames from Westminster Bridge. She was rescued from the water but had sustained injuries and is now in critical condition in hospital. Bucharest, just like the international community, has firmly condemned the attack.

ENVIRONMENT — The Bucharest Government will finance this year environment protection projects and programmes worth almost 1 billion lei, that is some 220 million euros. Environment Minister, Daniel Constantin has said that the 2017 budget for the Environment Fund will be earmarked for the implementation of 11 measures, such as the car renewal programme, the GreeHome programme regarding the instalattion of heating systems running on renewable energy, as well as the water resources protection programme. Also, important amounts of the 2017 budget will go to afforestation and ecological reconstruction and to the waste management programme.

ISIS – As many as 69 foreign ministers, among whom the head of the Romanian diplomacy Teodor Melescanu, attended on Wednesday, in Washington DC, the first summit of the Global Coalition working to Defeat ISIS. Wednesdays event was the first meeting of the coalition since the election of Donald Trump, who has pledged to make the fight against Islamic State a priority. US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, who chaired the meeting, said the United States would set up “interim zones of stability” to help refugees return home in the next phase of the fight against Islamic State and al Qaeda in Syria and Iraq. Tillerson called on coalition partners to make good on financial pledges to secure and rebuild areas where Islamic State has been pushed out. The coalition has pledged more than 2 billion dollars in assistance for Iraq and Syria in 2017.

MOLDOVA – The governments of Romania and Moldova are meeting today in Piatra Neamt, in northeastern Romania, to assess the stage of joint projects under way and find new ways of cooperation. The two delegations are headed by the Romanian PM Sorin Grindeanu and his Moldovan counterpart, Pavel Filip. “The relationship that Romania and Moldova share is special. There are constant expectations from the citizens of the two countries. We will further support Moldova’s development and modernisation as well as this country’s bid for the EU”, PM Grindeanu has said.

STRIKE – In Romania, rail traffic has gone back to normal after Wednesday’s spontaneous strike in several stations across the country, which caused huge delays. Negotiations with trade unions are being resumed today at the Transport Ministry’s offices. According to trade union leaders, the collective employment agreement has expired and, although the companys board proposed a 22.5% rise in the overall salary fund, the move isnt legally grounded, as the budget hasnt been approved.

(Translated by Elena Enache)

23 March 2017
January 6, 2017 UPDATE

LAW – The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, Friday signed into law a bill scrapping 102 charges and fees, after the Chamber of Deputies, the decision-making body in this respect, rejected his request to have the bill revised. Previously, the head of state had also challenged the law with the Constitutional Court. The charges in question include the public radio and television license fee, the environment fee charged on second-hand vehicles, a number of consular and citizenship fees, and the ones for the re-issue or the amendment of certain documents.

LOCAL WEATHER – The east of Romania remains subject to a code yellow alert against blizzard and snowstorms until Saturday. Snowfalls will not be substantial, but the wind is expected to reach 50 – 60 km/h and even 70 km/h in places. Several counties in the east and south-east of the country were subject to red code and orange code alerts against bad weather. The Interior Minister, Carmen Dan, announced that a person died, because the ambulance arrived too late. Tens of national roads were closed down and hundreds of villages and towns were left in the dark by power shortages. Railway traffic was temporarily suspended in the south east, while several other trains, connecting Bucharest to other European capital cities and Romanian destinations were cancelled.

WEATHER IN EUROPE – Blizzard and extremely low temperatures are also reported in the Republic of Moldova, where a code orange alert against heavy snowfalls is in force, in the centre and the south. Operations in the international commodity and passenger port Giurgiuleşti were suspended and several checkpoints on the Romanian and Ukrainian borders were closed down. The heavy snowfalls and blizzard also disrupted air traffic at the Chisinau International Aiport. Flights from and to Bucharest, London, Istanbul and Moscow reported delays and some were cancelled altogether. The situation is similar in central Europe. Poland is swept by a wave of cold, with temperatures dropping to minus 25 degrees Celsius. Heavy snowfalls are reported in the northern half of Italy and Germany is facing the same situation, with a high risk of flooding. Bad weather is also reported in Denmark, Sweden and Croatia.

Govt – The Government of Romania Friday approved an increase of the national minimum wage from about 280 euros to 320 euro as of February 1. According to a news release issued by the Government, the measure will raise the economic growth rate by a rough 0.2% and will encourage employment. At the same time, the document reads, the increase will have a notable social impact, helping to raise living standards and bridging social gaps. Also, the salaries of artists and the personnel of performing arts institutions were raised by 50%. The Government also raised public pensions, with the minimum guaranteed social pensions set to reach 115 euros as of March 1.

STRIKE – The coal workers at the Lupeni pit in the Jiu Valley area in south-western Romania Friday resumed the protest they had suspended on Thursday night, disgruntled with not seeing any of their demands met. Among other things, they want solutions to be found for the supply of strictly necessary materials underground, and want the management to give up plans to idle the employees for a one-week period each. Several miners and trade union leaders are on hunger strike.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

6 January 2017
November 25, 2016

CONSTITUTION – Romanias Constitution is twice celebrated today, as November 25th marks 150 years since the adoption of the 1866 Constitution and 25 years since the adoption of the 1991 Constitution. The Romanian Constitution has been revised several times thoughout its history. The first Constituion, adopted in 1866, stipulated for the first time the indivisible character of the Romanian state, which was officially called Romania. Following was the Constitution passed in 1923, seen as the country’s first democratic Constitution, and the one adopted in 1948, when the communist regime took power and instated a totalitarian regime. The 1991 Constitution marked the country’s return to democracy. Romania is the first European country to have stipulated, in its Constitution, the right of national minorities to be represented in Parliament.

STRIKE – Lufthansa pilots have cancelled thousands of flights in extended strike action. The airline has already grounded nearly 1,800 flights since the strike began on Wednesday. It had originally been planned as a 24-hour walkout but has been extended three times. Travel plans for more than 300,000 passengers have been disrupted. The strike has also affected flights to and from Bucharest.This is the pilots’ 14th walkout in under three years. The union wants a 3.7 percent pay rise over five years from 2012. Lufthansa has offered 2.5 percent over a six-year period until 2019.

WARNING – President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned Turkey could open its border for refugees to stream into Europe as EU lawmakers vote for a temporary halt to membership talks. MEPs voted in favor of halting long-term membership talks with Ankara at a plenary session in Strasbourg on Thursday amid concerns about the brutal crackdown on political dissidents since the failed coup in July. More than 110,000 people, including soldiers, academics, judges, journalists and Kurdish leaders, have been detained or dismissed over their alleged backing of the July 15 coup attempt. We remind you that in March, Turkey made a landmark deal to stop illegal migration to Europe via its shores.

UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, observed on November 25 every year since 2000, is an occasion for governments, international organizations and non-governmental organizations to raise public awareness of violence against women. In Romania, three in ten women are victims of physical, verbal or psychological violence after the age of 15, according to a study published by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights based on data collected in 2014. 14 counties in Romania have no support services or shelters for women faced with domestic violence and in small communities in particular, women don’t know what they can do when subject to aggression.

HEALTH – In Bucharest, the Prime Minister’s Control Team will make checks at the National Health Insurance House to find out what causes the flaws in the health cards’ system. The move has been triggered by repeated malfunctions in the system this year. The national health card system cost over 180 million euros and has been operational since last May. General practitioners and pharmacists, who are allowed to operate only based on health cards, have argued that the system gets blocked very often, causing huge problems and delays.

FOOTBALL – Thursday’s Europa League matches brought wins for the two Romanian teams playing in this competition. On home turf, Steaua defeated the Turkish side Osmanlispor 2-1, while Astra Giurgiu secured an away win against Austria Vienna, also 2-1, now having a good chance to advance to the Europa League round of last 32. On the National Arena stadium in Bucharest, Steaua had a bad start against Osmanlispor. However, in the second half of the game, Steaua played a lot better and clearly dominated the game. In the other Group L fixture, FC Zurich drew at home against the Spanish side Villareal 1-all. Ahead of the last round, Osmanlispor are top the group table with 7 points, followed by FC Zurich, Villareal and Steaua, each with 6 points. On December 8 Steaua will travel to Spain for a game against Villareal, while Osmanlipsor take on FC Zurich in Ankara.

(Translated by Elena Enache)

25 November 2016
The Week in Review 31.10 – 06.11

The strike of the healthcare staff has been declared illegal

The
Bucharest Court on Thursday ruled that the strike of the healthcare staff held
early this week was illegal. The decision can still be appealed, but it is
binding. The magistrates thus agreed with the Health Ministry officials who
claimed, among other things, that the trade unionists’ action did not comply
with the legal conditions for starting a labor conflict. The healthcare staff
went on strike on October 31, asking for higher salaries and better working
conditions. On November 1st the protest was suspended, after the
parliamentary committees approved a pay rise for the healthcare staff and the
trade unionists received assurances that the amendments would be voted in the
plenum of Parliament next week. The labour minister, Dragoş Paslaru, has warned that these pay rises could
affect the country’s economy.

The government criticizes the pay rises and the
elimination of charges proposed by Parliament.

The
Romanian government believes that the pay rises and the elimination of more than
100 charges, as proposed by Parliament proposals, will have a negative impact
on next year’s state budget.

Dacian
Cioloş: As
is customary for Romania’s Parliament before elections, a number of measures
have been passed in recent months, which raise salaries for various categories
of public sector employees, without thorough previous calculations. The total
amount of money stands at around 9 billion lei, that is more than 1% of the
GDP.

The budget
impact of the populist laws voted before the elections amounts to 2 billion
euros, which will lead to either a deeper budget deficit or to a reduction of
the funds to be allotted for investments. Moreover, the imbalances between
several categories of state employees will increase. If the bills are passed in
the form wanted by Parliament, the Government will challenge the salary law at
the Constitutional Court. In the run up to the December 11 elections, on
Tuesday the MPs in the joint budget – finance and labour committees amended the
order on the salaries of state employees and introduced new categories of staff
in the education and healthcare systems that will benefit from pay rises or
bonuses, although salaries in these fields have already been increased in the
past year by an average 30%. These pay rises were announced shortly after the
MPs passed a draft law on the elimination of more than 100 non-fiscal taxes,
including the radio and TV license fees.

The government sets maximum levels for
mandatory motor-vehicle liability insurance policies.

Wednesday’s
decision by the Romanian Government to impose certain caps, for a period of 6
months, on the mandatory car liability insurance policies, has triggered
conflicting reactions depending on the interests of the sides involved. The
National Union of Insurance and Reinsurance Companies notified the European
Commission on the 6-month freeze on car liability insurance prices, claiming
that the measure infringes on the principles of free market and competition as
stipulated in the Romanian Constitution. On the other hand, road carriers have
hailed the measures passed by the government. Moreover,
they call on Parliament to issue a new insurance law in these 6 months, before
the expiry of the government’s ordinance on capping car liability insurance
policies. Transporters also ask for the future law to ensure total transparency
as regards the calculation of tariffs for all categories of vehicles held by
natural persons and legal entities. The insurance companies that will sell
insurance policies at prices exceeding the maximum value set by the government
risk big fines. New regulations in the insurance field were adopted by the
government after the protests organized by transporters. They have frequently
contested the very high prices they had to pay especially for trucks and the
fact that car liability insurances policies are growing by the year.

Criminal prosecution to expand in case related
to the 1989 anti-communist revolution.

Almost 27 years after the fall
of the Ceausescu regime, army prosecutors have expanded in rem the
criminal proceedings in the so-called Revolution case to investigate crimes
against humanity committed after the 22nd of December 1989.
Prosecutor Marian Lazăr
explains the reasons of this decision.

Marian Lazar: It transpires from documents that are part of the case that,
in order to hold on to power, through their actions and measures, the new
political and military leadership instated after the 22nd of December
1989 caused the death, gunshot injury, physical and psychological damage and
unlawful deprivation of freedom of a large number of persons, actions that fall
into the scope of crimes against humanity.

The actions in question point
to the existence of a plan aiming to create a state of confusion among the
armed forces and thus enable the new leaders to take over power and acquire
legitimacy. According to a document from the Military Prosecutor’s Office with
the High Court of Cassation and Justice, more than 1,200 people were killed in
the events of December 1989, of whom 800 died after 22nd of
December, when the regime collapsed. More than 5,000 people were wounded and
several thousand unlawfully deprived of freedom and subjected to bad treatment.
The reopening of the Revolution case, which earned Romania a series of
convictions at the European Court of Human Rights, comes a few months after
interim prosecutor general Bogdan Licu called for the reopening of the
inquiries. According to Licu, the ruling to close the case in October 2015 was
ungrounded and illegal, and the legal classification of the deeds was wrong.

5 November 2016
October 31, 2016

COLECTIV – A silent march in Bucharest and other rallies in several other Romanian cities commemorated one year since the fire that destroyed the Colectiv nightclub in Bucharest, killed 64 people and injured more than 100 others. President Klaus Iohannis and PM Dacian Ciolos paid tribute to the victims. Crown Princess Margareta, Custodian of the Romanian Crown, sent a message emphasising the importance of preserving the unity of feeling and conscience. In another message, the Ambassador of the US to Bucharest, Hans Klemm, encouraged Romanians in their fight against corruption and effort to build a safe, democratic and successful country. In turn, the Ambassador of France to Bucharest, Francois Saint-Paul, has expressed his compassion for the victims families and has said his country will continue to train Romanian healthcare professionals.

STRIKE – More than 80,000 healthcare staff in Romania are on all-out strike as of today, the leaders of the SANITAS Trade Union Federation have announced. Throughout the protest, one-third of the employees will continue to work and emergencies will not be affected, the unions say. The protesters are mainly unhappy with the imbalances in the salary system and say they will only go back to work if their demands are granted. This is the last stage of the action initiated by public healthcare employees in September. Sanitas represents the interests of over 100,000 members.

MISSILE DEFENCE – The Romanian Defence Minister, Mihnea Motoc, is taking part in London today in the Multinational Ballistic Defence conference. The conference is organised by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the Missile Defence Agency of the US Department of Defence. As a special guest, Minister Motoc will present Romanias view on the ballistic defence issue, given that Romania hosts the Aegis Ashore American missile defence system in Deveselu (south). The Romanian official will receive, on behalf of the Romanian Defence Ministry, the ‘David R. Israel’ award for merits in the anti-missile field and in recognition of the efforts and active involvement of Romania in preparing the military base in Deveselu. On the sidelines of the conference, Mihnea Motoc will have a meeting with the head of the Missile Defence Agency, vice-admiral James D. Syring.

ELECTION – The President of the neighbouring Republic of Moldova will be decided in the November 13 election runoff, between the pro-Russian Socialist Igor Dodon and the candidate backed by pro-European parties, Maia Sandu. According to official figures, in the first round held on Sunday, Dodon came out the first of the 9 candidates, with 48% of the votes, followed by Sandu, with 38%. The turnout rate was the lowest in the history of parliamentary and presidential elections in the Republic of Moldova.

EARTHQUAKE – Many Romanians living in the Puglia province called the emergency number provided by the Romanian consular office in Rome, after the 6.5 Richter earthquake that hit the centre of Italy on Sunday. A mobile unit of the Romanian Embassy is trying to provide assistance to the nearly 140 Romanian citizens who live in the towns of Norcia and Preci, severely affected by the quake, which was the strongest since 1980. The Italian authorities announced there were no casualties, but scores of people were nonetheless injured, and most buildings were seriously damaged.

TENNIS – The Romanian Simona Halep concludes the year 2016 on the 4th position in the world ranking of professional tennis players, and is in the top 10 WTA for the third consecutive year. The top 3 places are held by German Angelique Kerber, the American Serena Williams and Radwanska Agnieszka of Poland. Three other Romanian players are in the Top 100. Irina Begu is ranked 29th, Monica Niculescu 39th and Sorana Carstea 81st. The last major competition of this year for Simona Halep was the WTA Final in Singapore. In January 2017 she will play in Shenzhen (January 1-7), where she won the 2015 final, and then in the first Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

31 October 2016
July 12, 2016 UPDATE

VISIT – The PM of Romania, Dacian Cioloş, attended on Tuesday in Hanoi the opening of a Romanian-Vietnamese business forum. He presented to Vietnamese business people Romanias main economic and geostrategic advantages and pleaded for stronger economic cooperation, relying on 66 years of good bilateral relations. PM Cioloş also spoke about the Romanian authorities special interest in developing trade with non-European countries with high potential, particularly south-east Asian states. In the first visit by a Romanian Prime Minister to that country in 21 years, Dacian Cioloş met with his counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc. Later this week, Ciolos will attend the 11th Europe-Asia Summit, held in Mongolias capital city Ulan Bator.

STRIKE – Some 30,000 employees of the Romanian local public administration went on a one-day strike on Tuesday. Unionists were angered by the fact that the agreement they were scheduled to sign with the Government had been drawn up without including a minimum 25% salary increase and holiday vouchers, as agreed in previous negotiations. Civil servants also claim to be the poorest paid and the most discriminated against category in the public sector, with most of them earning close to the minimum national wage of 277 euros.

ZIKA – Romania reported on Tuesday its first Zika virus infection case. A 27 year-old woman who spent a vacation in Martinique was identified with the illness while in hospital. The Health Ministry specified that the case was isolated, with minimal risk of spreading. The virus was identified in 1947 in Uganda, and is spread mainly by mosquitoes. It is able to produce congenital conditions in babies born of infected mothers. At present, no vaccine is available to counteract the virus, which so far has spread in South and Central America mainly.

POLITICS – After two weeks of negotiations, the Peoples Movement Party headed by Romanias former right-wing president Traian Băsescu and the National Union for the Progress of Romania (UNPR) agreed to merge. Traian Băsescu made the announcement on Tuesday, and added that the new party will keep the name and logo of the Peoples Movement Party. The merger of UNPR into the Peoples Movement Party is the de facto dissolution of this small party that failed to set up any alliances with the Liberals and Social-Democrats ahead of this autumns parliamentary election. The founder of UNPR, former interior minister and deputy PM Gabriel Oprea, withdrew from the party after he was prosecuted in two corruption-related cases.

RAIL CRASH – Romanias consular office in Catania took note of the railway accident in the south of Italy and contacted the Italian authorities to establish whether there were any Romanian citizens among the victims, the Foreign Ministry has announced. Scores of people died or were injured on Tuesday after two passenger trains collided in one of the worst such accidents in Italy in years. According to the Radio Romania correspondent in Italy, around 5,700 Romanians currently live on the Adriatic coast near Bari, where the accident took place.

BRITAIN – The outgoing Prime Minister David Cameron Tuesday chaired the last meeting of the British Cabinet before handing over on Wednesday to Home Secretary, Theresa May, who will implement the British citizens decision to leave the European Union. Theresa May will be in charge with triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which regulates the procedure for member countries to leave the EU and sets a 2-year deadline for completing the separation. Theresa May will be the second woman nominated as Britains Prime Minister, after Margaret Thatcher.

12 July 2016