Radio România Internațional

Tag: Sweden

  • Sports Roundup

    Sports Roundup

    The Romanian athlete Alina Rotaru was ranked 4th in the long jump event on Sunday at the international athletics meeting in Stockholm, the 4th leg of the Diamond League circuit. The athlete from CSM Bucharest jumped 6 meters and 59 centimeters. The winner of the competition was the Swedish athlete Khaddi Sagnia with 6 meters and 83 centimeters. In the men’s disc throw event Alin Firfirică ranked 7th with 61 meters and 14 centimeters, the winner being Daniel Staahl from Sweden with 69 meters and 17 centimeters.



    The city of Cluj (northwestern Romania) hosted, on Saturday and Sunday, Romania’s International Athletics Championship which has reached its 65th edition. Florentina Iuşco, an athlete qualified to the Olympic Games in the long jump event, on Saturday won the triple jump event with 13 meters and 66 centimeters and Sunday she also won the long jump event with 6 meters and 43 centimeters.



    Now news from football. The weekend saw the start of the Romanian First League matches. On Friday FC Botoşani defeated, away from home, FC Argeş 3-2 after leading the match with the score 3-0. On Saturday in Ovidiu, Viitorul Constanţa drew the match with UTA Arad 1-all. In Sfântu Gheorghe Universitatea Craiova defeated Sepsi1-0. And in Giurgiu, FCSB won the match against Astra 3-0.



    On Sunday, Poli Iaşi defeated on home turf 1-0 the team Chindia Târgovişte, and CFR Cluj defeated in Clinceni, the local team Academica 2 – 1. Monday will see the last two matches of the leg: FC Voluntari will face Gaz Metan Mediaş and Dinamo Bucharest will be up against FC Hermannstadt.



    We recall that the championship has a different format as compared to last year, with 16 teams instead of 14. At the end of the regular season, the first 6 teams will go in the playoffs and play each other in a round—robin competition in 10 legs. The rest of the teams up to the 16th-ranked one will continue the play-out, which means one single match in 9 legs. (tr. L. Simion)

  • May 23, 2020 UPDATE

    May 23, 2020 UPDATE

    COUNTER-PROPOSAL Austria, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands have
    submitted a counter-proposal to the French-German initiative for a European
    Union recovery plan against the coronavirus, DPA reports quoted by Romanian
    news agency Agerpress. The four countries support the idea of a unique
    emergency fund to strengthen the EU economy and have made it clear they will not
    agree to consolidate the debt and increase the Community budget. German
    Chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Emmanuel Macron have recently
    proposed a 500-billion-euro recovery plan for the countries affected by the
    crisis. The German Chancellor said that the countries most affected by the
    crisis should be the first to benefit the plan. The French president and the
    German Chancellor agreed the funds should be provided as grants.










    PROTESTS Spain will be opening its borders to
    tourists starting July this year, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has announced.
    According to Sanchez, the first league of the Spanish football championship is
    due to resume on June 8th, when all the provinces in this country
    are going to be in the last stage of the restrictions imposed by the
    coronavirus pandemic. Saturday saw a series of protests in several Spanish
    cities staged by the far-right party VOX against Socialist premier Pedro
    Sanchez whom they blame for having inappropriately handled the corona crisis and
    are calling for his resignation. Spain has been one of the most affected
    European countries by the pandemic with over 235 thousand infections and over
    28 thousand fatalities.










    COVID 19 Another 4 people have been killed by the new coronavirus in Romania
    raising the total number of fatalities to 1170. The number of deaths caused by
    the new coronavirus has constantly dropped this week and the number of people
    cured is higher than the number of infections. Nearly 11200 people have been
    cured out of the 17850 infected, which accounts for 63 percent. The number of
    quarantined has gradually diminished by one third since the beginning of the
    week. However, the number of those in home isolation has significantly grown
    against the relaxation measures for the Romanian nationals who lived abroad and
    now are coming back to Romania. The national test rate stood at 10 thousand
    tests a day. Bucharest city hall has recently launched an online platform part
    of a free campaign aimed at testing people for the new coronavirus. A first
    group of 11 thousand Bucharesters will be tested as part of this campaign and
    the municipality is to commence a medical survey during which another 10,500
    Bucharesters will be invited to take the test.










    REACTION The Romanian authorities have described as completely unacceptable the
    latest statements by Ion Chicu, the Prime Minister of the Romanian-speaking
    Republic of Moldova against Romania. In a Facebook post in which he rejects
    criticism of the way in which he is handling the medical crisis and delayed
    reforms, Chicu describes Romania as ‘having the biggest corruption in Europe’.
    In turn, Romania’s Foreign Ministry says such statements are all the more so
    inadequate as Romania has recently sent substantial medical aid to the Republic
    of Moldova to help the latter deal with the pandemic. According to the same
    sources, the statements are denoting a profound lack of respect for Romania,
    for the privileged bilateral relations of strategic partnership for the
    country’s European integration. Romania has pointed out that the implementation
    of the reforms assumed through the Association Agreement with the European Union
    is not only an obligation for the Republic of Moldova but also a guarantee of
    prosperity for its citizens, which can be ensured only through sustained
    efforts of implementing the rule of law and through democratic institutions.










    INQUIRY The National Anti-Corruption Directorate in Bucharest has this week
    announced it has been working on 33 files on the organization, distribution and
    execution of public procurement contracts in the medical field during the
    coronavirus pandemic. Prosecutors have observed ex officio in 25 cases.
    According to chief prosecutor Crin Bologa, the cases involve decision-makers in
    the institutions playing a major role in the procurement of medical equipment
    and materials. An inquiry has been launched against some private companies and
    state institutions.










    (translated by bill)

  • September 8, 2018

    September 8, 2018

    Trump — Iohannis — The American President Donald Trump expressed regret for having cancelled the meeting with his Romanian counterpart Klaus Iohannis at the June NATO summit hosted by Brussels. Mr. Trump had to cancel all of his bilateral meetings at the June summit due to the prolonged heated debates about the money each member state is allotting to defense. In a letter quoted by news agencies, the White House leader also writes that he hopes to meet the Romanian president again some time soon. This month, the two officials are set to participate in New York in a UN meeting.



    Reaction — The US Embassy in Bucharest announced it shared the concerns of the German diplomatic mission in Romania related to the social network posts of one of the advisors to the PM Viorica Dancila, Darius Valcov, who suggested that the anti-government movement ‘#rezist’ and the Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania are Nazi organizations. ‘We firmly condemn any form of discrimination, defamation and hatred towards the German minority and any other minority in Romania. Such accusations that we have seen lately are ungrounded and unjustifiable’ wrote the representatives of the German Embassy in a post also shared by the American Embassy. Considered an adversary of the leftist government of Romania, president Klaus Iohannis headed the Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania between 2002 and 2013. A former mayor of Slatina, in the south of Romania, and a former Social Democratic senator and minister Valcov was sentenced in February to 8 years in prison in a corruption case. The decision is not definitive and can be appealed.



    Brussels — Romania alongside Bulgaria, Cyprus, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and Hungary has reported progress in relation to the number of projects selected for EU funding- says the EU Commissioner for Regional Policy, Corina Cretu. According to a communiqué of the EC’s Open Data Portal, the total volume of investments allotted to development projects in the EU countries stands, in the first half of 2018, at more than 300 billion Euros, higher by 42 billion. The EU Commissioner also added that the amount of money allotted for specific projects out of the total cohesion budget for Romania for the period 2014-2020 stands, at present, at 62% as compared to 54% at the end of 2017.



    Football — On Friday evening Romania’s national football team drew 0-0 (nil all) with Montenegro, on home ground, in the southern city of Ploiesti, in its debut match in the newly created UEFA Nations League. Given a sanction imposed by UEFA, the match took place behind closed doors, which is a first for a matched played on home ground by the Romanians. In the same Group 4 of UEFA Nations League C, Lithuania was defeated by Serbia 0-1. On Monday, Romania will be up against Serbia, and in October, also in an away match, the Romanian footballers will play against Lithuania. The results obtained in the Nations League count for the preliminaries of the 2020 European Championship. Also on Friday, Romania’s Under 21 team defeated Portugal 2-1 in an away match in Group 8 of the European Championship preliminaries. After 7 matches, Romania is ranked 2nd in the classification with 15 points. Leading the rankings is Bosnia with 18 points from 8 matches. The first ranking team after the preliminaries will qualify directly to the final tournament and the best 4 out of the 9 2nd-ranked teams will go to the playoffs, to select two teams that will go to the European Championship.



    Sweden — Saturday is the last day of the election campaign in Sweden ahead of Sunday’s parliamentary elections. According to opinion surveys, the main centre-left and center right parties are very close to one another in citizens’ voting preferences, and it is very likely that none of them will obtain the majority in the future parliament. The anti-immigration far right will get around 20% of the votes and might become the second stronger party in the Swedish parliament. (news translated by Lacramioara Simion)

  • December 13, 2016 UPDATE

    December 13, 2016 UPDATE

    CONSULTATIONS – On Wednesday President Klaus Iohannis begins talks with the political parties elected into the new parliament in Sundays legislative elections. Iohannis has said the new Parliament will most likely convene next week. He has also pointed out that the integrity criteria with respect to the nomination of the new prime minister, which he announced before the start of the election campaign, remain in place. Liviu Dragnea, the leader of the Social Democratic Party, announced he declined the invitation to talks and said he was waiting for the new Parliament to be validated. The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats shares this position.



    LIBERALS – Raluca Turcan is the interim president of the National Liberal Party, unanimously elected by the party leaders after president Alina Gorghiu and other prominent members resigned following the poor performance of the party in Sundays parliamentary election. Raluca Turcan will head the Liberal delegation taking part on Wednesday in the consultations with President Iohannis on the appointment of a new prime minister.



    LEGISLATION – The PM of Romania, Dacian Ciolos, takes note of the Social Democratic Partys proposal to postpone some provisions in the Fiscal Code for a year, and is considering the legal effects and the timeliness of such a decision. According to a news release issued by the Government, PM Dacian Cioloș expects the Social Democratic Party, the winner of the legislative elections, to keep its promises and the governing programme presented to citizens during the election campaign, and to take responsibility for the fiscal policy and legislation already endorsed by Parliament. Prior to this news release, some information suggested that the PM had already accepted the request of the Social Democratic leader.



    EURO – The inter-ministerial committee in charge with Romanias switch to the European single currency will be chaired by the Prime Minister, and will also include the finance minister and the governor of the National Bank of Romania as vice-presidents, under a resolution passed by the Government on Tuesday. The Government stands by its commitment to adopt the Euro, but the date will be set according to a calendar defined by the time of the forthcoming edition of the convergence programme, namely April 2017.



    HANDBALL – Romanias womens handball team Tuesday defeated the Czech Republic, 30-28, in main group 2 of the European Championships in Sweden. Romania is to play next against Denmark, in a decisive game for Romanias qualification into the next stage of the competition. Romania is coached by the Ambros Martin, from Spain, who last month replaced the Swedish Tomas Ryde, the one who was in charge of the national team when it won the bronze medal at the 2015 World Championships in Denmark.


    (translation by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • January 5, 2016

    January 5, 2016

    Although temperatures are slightly increasing, the weather remains very cold for this time of the year in Romania. Snowfalls are still reported in the south-east and north-west. The highs range between minus 8 and 5 degrees Celsius, with a minus 6 degree reading in Bucharest at noon. Over the past few days, 3 people died because of the biting cold, and 42 others have been rescued by the authorities. Road, railway and air transport is disrupted by the snow and wind.



    Bulgaria, Romanias southern neighbour, announced a code yellow alert against snow, black ice and strong wind, valid today in several parts of the country, the Romanian Foreign Ministry announced. Romanian citizens who travel or intend to travel to Bulgaria are urged to have their vehicles properly equipped and to check the latest news in this respect. The Foreign Ministry previously warned Romanian tourists that a similar alert was in place in Bosnia-Herzegovina.



    The importance of guaranteeing the freedom of the press is vital to any democratic country, particularly in a EU member state, said the Liberal Deputy Ionuţ Stroe, the head of Romanias delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. In a statement to Radio Romania, he described as disquieting the fact that a law drafted by the new Conservative power in Poland, under which the directors of the public radio and television stations are to be appointed by the finance minister, was passed by the Parliament in Warsaw without public debate. On Monday, 4 international media freedom watchdogs filed a complaint in this respect with the Council of Europe. They criticise the law as threatening the independence of public media. The authors of the protest urge the Polish Conservative party “Law and Justice to immediately scrap this law, which is pending for promulgation by President Andrzej Duda, from the same party.



    Copenhagen announced temporary controls on its German border, shortly after Sweden had taken similar measures at its border with Denmark. The Danish PM Lars Lokke Rasmussen warned that unless the EU manages to protect its borders, several countries will have to tighten security checks. He explained that, following the restrictions imposed by Sweden, Denmark might be faced with a large number of illegal immigrants. In turn, the Swedish authorities claim that they are trying to reduce the number of refugees reaching their country. Last year, 160,000 people applied for asylum in Sweden, the largest number in Europe after Germany. Denmark and Sweden are the last states to introduce border checks in the Schengen zone. In September 2015, Germany introduced controls on its Austrian border, and last week Norway, which is not an EU member but is part of the visa-free area, announced that travelers without a visa would be denied access to the country.



    The leaders of the Moldovan pro-Western Liberal and Democratic parties, announced they would hold new talks in order to form a new parliamentary majority and a new government. The announcement comes after on Monday the prime minister designate, Ion Sturza, failed to get the votes of a sufficient number of MPs in the Moldovan Parliament, more than half of whose members were absent from the session. The Parliament Speaker, Adrian Candu, said that the vote is failed according to the Constitutional Court rules, and the head of state Nicolae Timofti is now to nominate a new candidate for the PM seat. Should the new attempt fail as well, Timofti must dissolve the Parliament and announce early elections. The previous cabinet, headed by the Liberal-Democrat Valeriu Streleţ, was dismissed on October 29, following a no-confidence motion tabled by the pro-Russian Communists and Socialists, but backed by the Democratic Party as well.



    The UN Security Council strongly criticized the attack on the Saudi Embassy in Tehran, and Saudi Arabia suspended diplomatic ties with Iran after its embassy in Tehran was stormed and set alight by violent protesters, disgruntled with the execution of Shia Muslim cleric Nimr Baaqer al-Nimr by Riyadh. As tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran escalate, Russia expressed willingness to host negotiations between the two foreign ministers. In turn, the EU and USA call for calm following the row between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran.



    The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, number 2 in the world, has withdrawn from the Brisbane tournament in Australia, having nearly 900,000 US dollars in prize money, and so did the current trophy holder, no. 4 WTA Maria Sharapova of Russia. Simona said that, in spite of the problem with her left leg, she would take part in the Sydney tournament next week. Two other Romanian players, Andreea Mitu and Patricia Maria Ţig, have qualified in the doubles quarter-finals of the Shenzhen tournament in China, which has 500,000 US dollars in prize money. In the first round, they defeated Zarina Dias / Ling Zhang (Kazakhstan/China), 6-2, 6-4.

  • January 4, 2016 UPDATE

    January 4, 2016 UPDATE

    COLD WEATHER – The wave of cold weather which is sweeping the region has hit Romania, where temperatures dropped to minus 16 degrees Celsius. Three people died from the cold and scores have been hospitalised with hypothermia. Bucharest authorities decided to start offering hot tea and hot soup to the homeless. Snow has disrupted road traffic in the south and south west of the country and rendered air traffic difficult. Speed restrictions have also been imposed in places and many trains have failed to arrive on time. Several ports on the Black Sea Coast have also been closed down.



    CURRENCY – Romanias national currency, the leu, will this year maintain its stabilization trend against the Euro, but it will slightly depreciate against the US dollar. The forecast was made by the Financial – Banking Analysts Association in Romania, according to which the national currency will be mostly influenced by external factors. The President of the Association, Radu Craciun, has said that, although Romanias perception at international level is very good, the leus exchange rates will very much depend on the dynamics of the volatile currency markets. On the other hand, he has warned that certain promises made in the run-up to the 2016 local and legislative elections might raise worries among the foreign investors, and this could impact the evolution of the exchange rate.



    MOLDOVA– The Prime Minister Designate of the Republic of Moldova (a former Soviet state with a predominantly Romanian speaking population), the technocrat Ion Sturza, could not ask for a vote of confidence in Parliament on Monday because of a lack of quorum. The Sturza cabinet had however stood slim chances to get Parliaments endorsement, because the Prime Minister Designate failed to secure the needed 51 votes in order to take office. We recall that on December 21, the President of the Republic of Moldova, Nicolae Timofti, designated Ion Sturza, a businessman and former Prime Minister in 1999, for the position of Prime Minister, in the absence of a parliamentary majority willing to assume responsibility for the new cabinet. If President Timofti nominates a new candidate for the position of Prime Minister, who fails again to get Parliaments endorsement, the Moldovan President will be forced to dissolve Parliament and to call snap elections. The former cabinet, led by Liberal Democrat Valeriu Strelet, was sacked on October 29, under a no-confidence motion filed by the pro-Moscow left and voted by the Democratic Party.



    SEVERED DIPLOMATIC TIES – The EU and the US have launched an appeal for calm after Saudi Arabia, a country with a majority Sunni population, severed diplomatic ties with Iran, a country with a predominantly Shia population. The EU calls on the two sides to show restraint and responsibility, and the US Department of State said diplomatic relations are instrumental in solving differences between the two sides. Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic ties with Iran, after its embassy in Tehran was stormed by violent protesters, discontent with the execution by the Riyadh authorities of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr. Sheikh Al Nimr, a harsh critic of Saudi Arabias ruling Sunni dynasty, was accused of terrorism, conspiracy and breaking the oath of allegiance to the sovereign.



    REFUGEES– The Swedish authorities, overwhelmed by the huge inflow of migrants, on Monday instated new controls on the border with Denmark, France Presse reports. Everybody who crosses the Ostersund Bridge, which is the main gateway used by the refugees, must present an ID. The measure also applies to those who come on board ships departing from the Danish and German ports on the Baltic Sea. Sweden, where over 20% of the residents are of foreign origin, received over 160,000 refugees in 2015 alone. In turn, Denmark on Monday temporarily introduced controls on the border with Germany, to prevent the entrance of migrants without valid travel papers.


    (Translated and edited by Diana Vijeu)