Radio România Internațional

Tag: swine flu

  • August 1, 2018 UPDATE

    August 1, 2018 UPDATE

    LOAN — Romania signed on Wednesday a loan agreement with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, worth 50 million Euro, for a project of improving disaster risk management, the Finance Ministry has announced. The loan is aimed at improving emergency and response infrastructure in case of disasters and enhancing the institutions’ capability to plan investment, with the purpose of reducing the risk of disasters and adjusting to climate change. The loan is granted for up to eight years and will be paid back between November 1st 2024 and May 6th 2026.




    NOTIFICATION – Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has notified the Constitutional Court in relation with the Law on the status of local elected representatives. Iohannis says the law is not clear enough and contradicts other legal provisions. Also, according to the Presidency, the definition of the conflict of interests in the case of local elected representatives comes against the rule of law as defined in Romania’s Constitution and the European treaties.




    SWINE FLU – The authorities in Bucharest presented on Wednesday new measures to combat African swine flu, which has been affecting Romania this summer. New measures will be taken after a government meeting attended by eight ministers, the head of the Emergency Department, and public health officials. According to a tally issued a few days ago, over 440 hotbeds have been identified. 99% of the cases were in household raised pigs, and two in pig farms. The first payments to owners have been issued, worth over 130,000 lei, the equivalent of about 28,000 Euro. The payments are reimbursements for culled pigs, as well as collateral losses. The swine flu was discovered in Romania last summer, but it reemerged two months ago. The disease does not affect people, but it has a high social and economic impact.




    GAS — Natural gas for consumers went up in price by 5.85% starting August 1, according to the National Energy Regulatory Agency. This is the third price hike for home consumers this year. Starting on April 1 2017, the price of gas for domestic consumption was liberalized, with producers no longer being state regulated in terms of prices. The agency issued calculations showing that between 2013 and March 2019 gas prices go up almost 76%.




    OSCARS – Radu Judes movie I dont care if we go down in history as men is Romanias entry to the 2019 Oscars in the foreign film category. The film is a behind the scenes look at a historical reconstruction of the battle of Odessa in WWII as a street performance. This is Radu Judes sixth feature length movie, and was dubbed by international critics as a smart alarm signal regarding populism, a challenging, sarcastic and crucial look into the past and the present, and a daring comedy drama. I dont care if we go down in history as men is Radu Judes second film submitted by Romania for the Oscars. The first was Aferim!, which ran in 2016.




    UNTOLD – The Untold electronic music festival starts on Thursday in Cluj, central Romania, lasting until August 5. Around 350,000 people are expected to attend. Festival goers are from 75 countries, including New Zealand, Hong Kong, South Africa, Argentina, and Canada. In total, 10 stages have been set up this year, for the 250 artists performing, such as The Chainsmokers, Armin van Buuren, Tiesto, Tujamo and Afrojack. The authorities say that the security measures taken make this the safest festival in Europe. Along the four days of the festival, over 1,100 gendarmes, police, firefighters and medical staff will provide security and safety. 70 surveillance cameras will monitor the perimeter of the festival.




    WARNING — The Romanian Foreign Ministry has issued a travel alert of bad weather for the Romanian citizens who are in Greece or are planning to travel to this country. Thus, heavy rain and storms and also hail have been forecast for Greece. A travel alert has also been issued for southern France, where high temperatures of 40 to 42 degrees Celsius are expected. On Thursday, there will be a code red alert in Italy’s capital Rome and in several other cities in the north and center of this country.




    WORKERS — The General Inspectorate for Immigration in Romania issued in the first half of the year over 4,000 work permits for foreign citizens, more than twice the number in the same period last year. According to GII data published Tuesday, Romania hosts over 100,000 foreign citizens, most of them living in and around Bucharest, Timisoara, and Cluj. In terms of the highest numbers of citizens by country, top is Vietnam, followed by Turkey, China, Serbia, and Sri Lanka.





  • The Week in Review 16 – 22 July

    The Week in Review 16 – 22 July

    The
    justice laws in the focus again



    President
    Klaus Iohannis has challenged at the Constitutional Court the law on the status
    of judges and prosecutors, modified in Parliament, but has announced that he
    was forced to promulgate the law on judicial organization. In a news conference
    on Thursday, Iohannis called on Parliament to reintroduce the law into the parliamentary circuit as of next autumn and
    put it in line with the recommendations of the Venice Commission. The President
    has criticized the lack of transparency of the ruling coalition made up of the
    Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in passing
    these laws and has said the outcome is worrying. Iohannis has also announced
    that he notified the Constitutional Court about the law on the status of
    magistrates.


    Klaus Iohannis:
    At the moment, as regards the law on judicial organization, I have
    unfortunately exhausted all constitutional ways to challenge it, and therefore
    I must promulgate it. But this does not mean that the road is closed for good.
    As regards Law 303/2004 that has been modified, regarding the status of judges
    and prosecutors, recently reexamined by Parliament, I will notify the
    Constitutional Court and firmly require that the Venice Commission’s opinion be
    taken into account.


    President
    Iohannis has pointed out that parliamentarians’ loyalty should lie with the
    Romanian people, who still want to be part of the EU and not be shown as a
    negative example in Europe.






    In
    response to that, representatives of the governing coalition have recalled that
    the justice laws have been amended in keeping with the rulings of the
    Constitutional Court and say that discussing them again in parliament would
    make no sense. The opposition, however, supports the request made by the head
    of state, namely for the Government to take into consideration the
    recommendations made by the Venice Commission.


    On
    Monday, the Justice Minister Tudorel Toader said Romania would send its
    official opinion to the Venice Commission before the latter’s final report on
    the matter. The Venice Commission’s recommendations are generally complied with
    by the member states. The Venice Commission has warned that the changes brought
    to the three justice laws will most likely undermine the independence of
    Romanian judges and prosecutors and weaken people’s trust in the judiciary.






    The setting up of the Sovereign Fund for Development and Investment,
    declared unconstitutional




    The
    Sovereign Fund for Development and Investment will be set up through a Government
    decree, after the Constitutional Court ruled that this cannot be done by means of a law, the
    Romanian Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici has announced. On Wednesday, the
    Constitutional Court accepted the
    notification made by the Romanian President and the opposition parties,
    according to which the setting up of the Fund was not the prerogative of
    Parliament but of the Government, and therefore Parliament violated the principle
    of separation of powers.Under that law, 33 companies, in which the Romanian state is a
    shareholder, were to be included in the Sovereign Fund for Development and
    Investments, whose initial capital would amount to around 2 billion Euros.






    Bucharest asks for EU support to
    combat the effects of African swine flu




    Romania has requested funds from the European Union
    for the farmers affected by an outbreak of African swine fever in pigs. The
    request was made on Tuesday by the agriculture minister Petre Daea at a meeting
    in Brussels with his EU counterparts.The money would help cover the losses suffered by
    farmers following the culling of the sick pigs, the suspension of meat
    production and a drop in the price of pork in the areas affected. The aid will
    also cover costs related to cleaning and disinfection and the destruction of
    fodder, the Agriculture Ministry has announced, saying
    that Romania continues to take measures to
    contain the virus. At the moment, most outbreaks have been reported near the
    border with Ukraine.More
    than 300 cases have been reported so far.








    The Romanian Government earmarks 1
    billion Euros for the protection of the cultural heritage




    The
    Bucharest Government has approved the financing of two extensive cultural
    projects worth a total of 12 million Euros. These projects are E-culture:
    Romania’s Digital Library and Historical monuments, strategic planning and
    optimized public policies, respectively. Under the E-culture project, 550,000 cultural resources will be
    included in Romania’s digital library, and an IT platform for the digital
    library and a catalogue titled ‘culturalia.ro’ will be created. Also, some
    200,000 cultural resources will be included in the europeana.eu portal. The
    second project’s outcome will be a cultural heritage code, as well as a
    national strategy concerning the preservation of historical monuments. The
    projects will benefit from European non-reimbursable funding. Also on
    Thursday, the government adopted an emergency ordinance regarding the approval
    of an investment program in culture. One billion Euros have been allocated for
    its implementation, based on which multi-annual financing programmes can be
    signed. Its beneficiaries are the central public authorities, including the
    Ministry of Culture and National Identity, as well as its subordinated
    institutions, irrespective of the system of financing, as well as the local
    public administration. The money will be used for the purchase of historical
    monuments and classified tangible cultural assets, by exerting the state’s right
    of preemption, the construction of cultural buildings to host cultural,
    information and educational activities, as well as for intervention,
    rehabilitation and/or modernization and restoration works.









  • February 12, 2016 UPDATE

    February 12, 2016 UPDATE

    Romania continues to support the consolidation of the EU’s external borders and a more efficient management of the wave of immigrants, said Friday, in Munich, the Romanian President, Klaus Iohannis. After his meeting with the PM of the state of Bavaria, Horst Seehofer, President Iohannis said that the Black Sea region had to be considered strategic, also for NATO. Klaus Iohannis made these statements ahead of his participation in the 52nd Conference for Security. On Saturday Iohannis will be main speaker at the conference, in the panel devoted to the future of NATO. The topics to be discussed at the conference include NATO’s stand on the Russian Federation, the refugee crisis, the future of NATO, terrorism, the situation in Syria, Ukraine and Africa and climate change.



    The Romanian PM Dacian Ciolos will pay a visit to Brussels on Monday and Tuesday where he will meet with European high officials, among whom the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, and the president of the European Parliament, Martin Schultz, it was announced Friday in Bucharest. According to a government communiqué, the Romanian PM will present the priorities of his cabinet, their vision of economic development and the administrative reform program. Talks will also focus on the phenomenon of migration, the Energy Union and energy security, the progress made by Romania as part of the Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification, highlighted in the latest EC report on justice, as well as Romania’s prospects of accession to the Schengen area. The delegation that will accompany PM Ciolos to Brussels will also include the foreign minister, Lazar Comanescu, the communiqué shows.



    The healthcare authorities in Romania are on the alert after more than 20 children under 3 were taken to hospital in Bucharest and the county of Arges, in the south, due to a serious digestive infection. According to the Healthcare Ministry, which for the moment rules out an epidemics, the causes of the infection are not known. A baby girl 11 months old died, last week, because of an infection with E-coli. In another move, the National Centre for Monitoring and Control of Communicable Diseases announced that swine flu killed 8 people in Romania, in the first week of February. So far 9 people infected with the AH1N1 virus have died in Romania.



    Last year Romania reported an economic growth rate of 3.7% as compared to 2014, above the estimated 3.5% announced by the European Commission. According to data made public on Friday by the National Statistics Institute, Romania’s GDP went up in the last quarter of 2014 by 1.1% as compared to the third quarter. Recently, the European Commission has upgraded its economic growth forecast for Romania in 2015, to 3.6% of the country’s GDP. The Commission believes Romania’s economic growth might reach 4.2%, only to balance out at 3.7% in 2017.



    In Romania direct foreign investments exceeded, in 2015, 3 billion euros, which is by 25.3% more than in 2014, shows a central bank communiqué. In another development, the National Bank of Romania announced that last year the current account deficit rose by 156% as compared to 2014, exceeding 1.7 billion euros, against an increase in the primary income balance and in the asset balance. Also Romania’s total foreign debt dropped, in 2015, by more than 3.8 billion euros.



    Romania will grant humanitarian aid to the Republic of Moldova in the context of the economic and social crisis facing this ex-Soviet country, the Moldovan PM Pavel Filip announced on Friday. According to him the aid from Romania will consist in foodstuffs for the socially vulnerable category of people, and fuel oil to supplement reserves in case gas supplies are disconnected. This was announced after the Moldovan PM visited Bucharest in late January, when he met with his Romanian counterpart, Dacian Ciolos. ly to balance out at 3.7% in 2017.



    In 2016 Romania is represented again at the famous Berlin Film Festival, which reached the 66th edition. On Saturday, on the second day of the Berlinale, Adrian Sitaru’s independent feature film “Illegitimate” will be presented in the Forum section, while in the Generation 14plus, Roxana Stroe will present the short “A night on Tokoriki”. Actress Iulia Ciochină and scriptwriter Ruxandra Ghitescu will be present in the Berlinale Talents section. 18 feature films will compete for the grand prize, the Golden Bear, that will be awarded by a jury presided this year by the American actress Meryl Streep, winner of 3 Oscar awards. Last year the Silver Bear award for best director went to Radu Jude for his feature film Aferim!



    The “Dimitrie Gusti” National Village Museum is hosting until February 29 the exhibition “Discover Africa”. The exhibition is an incursion into the African traditions of craftsmanship and gastronomy specific to the 12 participant countries. The event is organized by the National Village Museum and the Group of African Diplomatic and Consular Missions accredited to Romania.


    (translation by Lacramioara Simion)

  • January 31, 2016 UPDATE

    January 31, 2016 UPDATE

    Romanian President Klaus Iohannis will hold talks on Monday in Bucharest with the head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Suma Chakrabarti. The foreign official’s agenda also includes meetings with PM Dacian Ciolos, Central Bank Governor Mugur Isarescu and Finance Minister Anca Paliu Dragu. According to Suma Chakrabarti, Romania has great potential and the EBRD is ready to expand its activity in the country, following the demand for financing. The EBRD is one of the biggest institutional investors in Romania.




    The Senate and Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest are resuming activity as of Monday, when the spring session of Parliament starts. Political parties have already set their priorities in terms of laws that they want to see passed. Analysts say the upcoming period will be defined by preparations for the local elections in June. The locals are the weak point of the current election law, which stipulates that mayors will be elected in just one round of voting. The Social Democartic Party and the National Union for the Progress of Romania are supporting the election of mayors in just one round of voting, while the National Liberal Party, the People’s Party as well as President Klaus Iohannis and the civil society favor two rounds of voting and have called on the Government to pass an emergency ordinace in this respect. On Monday, PM Dacian Ciolos will hold talks with parliamentary parties on this issue.




    As many as 28 parliament members from 14 states have called on the Council of Europe to urgently examine the functioning manner of the Norwegian child protection services. Initiated by Romania’s representatives in the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly, the measure stipulates that separating a child from his or her family should be considered only after some intermediary measures have been taken, such as social investigation, psychological counselling and mediation. The move comes after all five children of a Romanian-Norwegian family, settled in Norway, were taken by the local social services over minor physical punishments from their parents. The case continues to generate emotional responses, with thousands of people having participated in street protests in several Romanian cities on Saturday, in solidarity with the Romanian families in Norway that have been separated from their children by authorities in this country.




    The Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem has today proclaimed the canonization of John Jacob of Neamt, a monk of Romanian origin. Born in 1913 in northeastern Romania, he became a monk at the Neamt Monastery in the country and soon after he moved to the Holy Land where he lived near Jordan River and, towards the end of his life, in the wilderness of Hozeva. All his life he took care of the ill and the wounded. He later withdrew to a cave, where he died at the age of 47. The Romanian Orthodox Church declared him Saint in 1992.




    The Authority for Emergency Situations in the county of Suceava, northeastern Romania, has approved a series of measures against swine flu that killed over 120 people in the neighbouring Ukraine. Five people have died in the Cernauti region alone, at the border with Romania. The Romanian Foreign Ministry recommends Romanian citizens to avoid travelling to Ukraine in the upcoming period.




    Romania is attending for the 8th consecutive year the famous Venice Carnival that officially opened today. Tourists and locals will have the chance to see a special ethnographic exhibition, a selection of the most beautiful and representative heritage objects from the collection of the Village Museum in Bucharest. The exhibition is aimed at promoting Romanian culture.



    (Translated by Elena Enache)

  • January 31, 2016

    January 31, 2016

    The Republic of Moldova’s Parliament begins its spring session on Monday, against the background of protests by the pro-Russian opposition and the civil society who push for early elections. According to Parliament Speaker Adrian Candu, one of the legislative body’s first meetings will focus on aproving a referendum on the president’s election directly by citizens. Analysts, however, see this measure as a concession made to protesters who nevertheless consider it insufficient. The Moldovan Parliament’s agenda also includes a series of important laws meant to bring their country closer to the EU, such as implementing the association agreement, reforming the judiciary and fighting corruption. On Saturday evening, Romanian PM Dacian Ciolos conveyed a letter to his Moldovan counterpart, Pavel Filip, with the reforms that Chisinau has to implement as soon as possible so that a first instalment of 60 million euros to be disbursed from the 150-million euro repayable loan granted by Bucharest. Among these reforms are the urgent implementation of EU-Moldova Association Agenda, initiating a set of laws likely to improve the business environment, taking the necessaty stepts to reach an agreement with the IMF and appointing a governor of Moldova’s National Bank.





    As many as 28 parliament members from 14 states have called on the Council of Europe to urgently examine the functioning manner of the Norwegian child protection services. Initiated by Romania’s representatives in the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly, the measure stipulates that separating a child from his or her family should be considered only after some intermediary measures have been taken, such as social investigation, psychological counselling and mediation. The move comes after all five children of a Romanian-Norwegian family, settled in Norway, were taken by the local social services over minor physical punishments from their parents. The case continues to generate emotional responses, with thousands of people having participated in street protests in several Romanian cities on Saturday, in solidarity with the Romanian families in Norway that have been separated from their children by authorities in this country.




    The Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem has today proclaimed the canonization of John Jacob of Neamt, a monk of Romanian origin. Born in 1913 in northeastern Romania, he became a monk at the Neamt Monastery in the country and soon after he moved to the Holy Land where he lived near Jordan River and, towards the end of his life, in the wilderness of Hozeva. All his life he took care of the ill and the wounded. He later withdrew to a cave, where he died at the age of 47. The Romanian Orthodox Church declared him Saint in 1992.




    The Authority for Emergency Situations in the county of Suceava, northeastern Romania, has approved a series of measures against swine flu that killed over 120 people in the neighbouring Ukraine. Five people have died in the Cernauti region alone, at the border with Romania. The Romanian Foreign Ministry recommends Romanian citizens to avoid travelling to Ukraine in the upcoming period.




    Romania is attending for the 8th consecutive year the famous Venice Carnival that officially opened today. Tourists and locals will have the chance to see a special ethnographic exhibition, a selection of the most beautiful and representative heritage objects from the collection of the Village Museum in Bucharest. The exhibition is aimed at promoting Romanian culture.




    The pair made up of Romanian Horia Tecau and Coco Vandeweghe of the US on Sunday lost to fifth-seeds Elena Vesnina of Russia and Bruno Soares of Brazil, 6-4, 4-6, 10-5 in the mixed doubles final of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. In 2012 Horia Tecau won the mixed doubles at Australian Open together with Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the US. On the other hand, German tennis player Angelique Kerber won her first Grand Slam tournament on Saturday, after defeating Serena Williams of the US in the women’s finals. For her win Kerber will step up to 2nd place in WTA standings, replacing Romanian Simona Halep. Serena Williams will remain world leader.