Radio România Internațional

Tag: the Netherlands

  • UPDATE

    UPDATE

    THEFT The Romanian Prime Minister’s Investigation Team has discovered a series of irregularities in the process of staging the exhibition at the Drents Museum in Assen, the Netherlands, from where several ancient artefacts loaned out by Romania’s History Museum were stolen a couple of weeks ago. A report, submitted to the Prosecutor’s General Office, says that Romania’s National History Museum and the Ministry of Culture accepted less rigorous security measures than in the case of the similar exhibitions in Madrid and Rome, such as the lack of permanent guards. Another major slip was the fact that the exhibition didn’t get the approval of the Museum’s Board of Directors, as the law requires, and the loan contract had not been done in probated form. Furthermore, the insurance value for some artefacts was based on a 14-year old reassessment.

    (bill)

  • January 25, 2025 UPDATE

    January 25, 2025 UPDATE

     

    UKRAINE The president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that, taking into account Ukraine’s cooperation with the Republic of Moldova, it is possible for Kyiv to cover Moldova’s entire electricity demand, and a 30% discount on the supply price is also possible. He made these statements at a meeting on Saturday in Kyiv with the president of Moldova, Maia Sandu. The two officials also discussed possible coal deliveries to the Republic of Moldova. In turn, Maia Sandu accused Russia of trying to create economic and social chaos in Moldova and bring a pro-Russian government in power in Chisinau. She traveled to Kyiv amid energy tensions in Transnistria, a pro-Russian breakaway region between the two countries, AFP reports. This strip of land with a population of about half a million, which remains outside Moldova’s control, was supplied by the Russian natural gas giant Gazprom for free, through a pipeline that crossed Ukraine. The latter ended the contract with Moscow on January 1, thus cutting off supplies to Moldova, including to Transnistria, which declared a state of emergency. With Kyiv fighting the Russian invasion for three years, Chisinau is worried about a possible spillover of the conflict to its territory, especially through the destabilisation of Transnistria by Russia. The rest of Moldova is for now safe from energy cuts, thanks to electricity and gas imports from Romania.

     

    EXHIBITION Romania’s foreign ministry announced that on Saturday the National Museum of History of Romania (MNIR) and the Culture Ministry were notified that an explosion took place and several exhibits were stolen at the Drents Museum in the Netherlands, which is hosting an exhibition called ‘Dacia! Rijk van goud en zilver’ (‘Dacia! Kingdom of gold and silver’), organised jointly with MNIR. According to the institution, initial investigations indicate that the blast was designed to help as yet unidentified perpetrators to break into the museum building and steal pieces from Romania’s Dacian treasure. The foreign ministry notified the Romanian interior ministry and the Romanian police, while the Romanian embassies in all neighboring countries are on alert. Romania’s foreign minister Emil Hurezeanu spoke with his Dutch counterpart Caspar Veldkamp, ​​highlighting the exceptional importance of the stolen exhibits. The Dutch side assured Romania of its operational and political determination to solve the case. The Dutch police also activated cross-border cooperation mechanisms and informed the Interpol of the matter. (AMP)

  • June 6, 2024

    June 6, 2024

    WAGES The government in Bucharest is today expected to endorse a pay rise aimed at bringing the minimum wages in Romania up to 740 Euros starting July 1st. Over 1.8 million employees are to benefit the new measure. The 200 RON fiscal deduction from the minimum wages will be kept until the end of the year.

    VOTE Polling stations have today opened in the Netherlands, the first country to vote in the elections for the European Parliament due over June 6 and 9. Roughly 370 million people are expected to vote in all the 27 EU member states in the following days. Analysts are forecasting an advance of the far-right and Eurosceptical parties amid the frustrations caused by the rising cost of living, migration and the green policies that are getting more and more unpopular. Like in most EU countries, in Romania the voting for the European Parliament is due on Sunday, concurrently with the local elections. Romania gets 33 MEP mandates.

    TENNIS The Romanian-Ukrainian pair Gabriela Ruse/Marta Kostyuk has qualified without playing in the semis of the doubles contest in Roland Garros as Russians Mirra Andreeva and Vera Zvonareva failed to attend the quarterfinals on Wednesday. Ruse and Kostyuk have won a check of 148 thousand Euros and 780 WTA points. This is the second Grand Slam semifinals for Ruse and Kostyuk after Australian Open last year. In the semifinals Ruse and her partner will be playing the all-Italian pair, Jasmine Paolini/Sara Errani.

    BOOK FAIR Until June 16th Romania will be attending the 83rd edition of the Madrid Book Fair with a national stand and 20 literary events. This has been Romania’s 13th participation in this large-scale event staged by the Romanian Cultural Institute through the National Book Center and the Romanian Cultural Institute in Madrid with support from the Ministry of Culture and the Romanian Embassy in Spain. Among the protagonists of the aforementioned event there are writers Gabriela Adameşteanu, Eugen Barz, Aura Christi, Nichita Danilov, Cristian Fulaş, Miguel Gane, Stejărel Olaru, Radu Paraschivescu, Radmila Popovici, Andreea Răsuceanu and Radio Romania Journalist Corina Sabău.

    FOOTBALL Romania’s football side will be up against the selection of Lichtenstein in Bucharest on Friday night in their last training game before the European Championship in Germany. In another friendly on Tuesday our footballers obtained a goaless draw against the neighbouring Bulgaria. In Group E of Euro 2024, Romania will be playing Ukraine on June 17 in Munich, Belgium on June 22 in Cologne and Solvakia in Frankfurt four days later. Officials of the football federation in Bucharest say they expect the attendance of a large number of Romanian football fans, who are residents in Germany or in other countries in Western Europe. Romania’s last participation in a  European football tournament was in 2016 and in the World Cup in 1998.

    (bill)

     

  • October 31, 2023

    October 31, 2023

    VOTE The Chamber of
    Deputies in Bucharest is today voting on the simple motion tabled by the
    opposition against Finance Minister Marcel Bolos. The opposition USR has been criticizing
    the fiscal measures endorsed by the government of late and has accused Minister
    Bolos of having promoted legislative initiatives at the expenses of the Romanian
    employees. In response Minister Bolos says the decisions made by the PSD-PNL
    coalition government are needed against an accentuated budget imbalance with a
    deficit of over 11 billion euros and a public debt reaching 160 billion euros.






    COMMISSIONER
    Romanian president Klaus Iohannis on Monday held talks with the European
    Commission Vice-president for Values and Transparency, Vera Jourova. According
    to a Facebook post of the presidential administration, high on the agenda were Romania’s
    accession to Schengen, the rule of law and reforms in the country’s legal system,
    as well as the support for Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East.
    Commissioner Jourova has also met Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu and other
    ministers for talks over the digitization programmes part of the National Plan
    of Recovery and Resilience, AI and fighting misinformation.






    SALARIES In a special session today, the government in Bucharest has
    endorsed the minimum salaries in the fields of construction, agriculture and
    food industry. As of November 1, the minimum gross salary in the field of
    construction will see a rise of 14.6%, reaching the equivalent of 9 hundred
    euros. The rise will be of 14.53% up to 7 hundred Euros, in the country’s food
    and farm industries. According to official data, 590 thousand employees from
    agriculture and the food industry have been paid the minimum salary. And the
    latest government move is meant to allow the aforementioned categories of employees
    to remain unaffected by the elimination of the exemption from paying the health
    insurance, which is to come into effect as of November 1. We recall that, a new
    series of fiscal-budgetary amendments are to come into effect in Romania, on
    November 1.


    PLANES A first batch of the
    F-16 fighters the Netherlands donates to Ukraine will arrive at the training
    center set up in Romania in a fortnight – the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte
    has announced. In a videoconference with Ukrainian president Volodymyr
    Zelensky, the Dutch official said the present situation in the Middle East must
    not and cannot distract the Netherlands from Ukraine’s fight against the
    Russian aggression. Reuters recalls that Denmark, Norway and Belgium have pledged
    F-16 jet fighters to Ukraine. Romania, the Netherlands and the US giant
    Lockheed Martin on August 29 signed a letter of intention for setting up a center
    for the training of the F-16 personnel. The aforementioned facility has been
    designed as a regional center for NATO countries at the air base in Fetesti,
    southern Romania, which will also benefit the Ukrainian pilots.

    ISRAEL
    Clashes continued in the Gaza Strip last night where explosions and machine gun
    fire was heard. Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes in the past days
    and its tanks have entered deep into the Palestinian territory, where for a
    short period of time they interrupted an evacuation route to the south.
    According to international publications, 600 thousand people could still be in
    the northern part of the Strip, and the UNO believes that most of them have
    taken refuge in the 10 hospitals in the area, which have received evacuation
    orders. According to Phillipe Lazzarini, the head of the UN Palestinian refugee
    Agency, the Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip were being subjected to
    forced displacement and collective punishment. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
    Netanyahu has rejected the humanitarian agencies’ appeals for a ceasefire,
    arguing this would be tantamount to capitulation to Hamas and terrorism. During
    a military operation in Gaza, a young IDF woman held captive by Hamas has been
    liberated in what Prime Minister Netanyahu has described an emotional success adding
    that all efforts must be made to free all the hostages taken by Hamas.

    (bill)

  • Debates on Schengen in the EP

    Debates on Schengen in the EP

    Romania and Bulgaria are ready to be accepted in the Free Travel Area, the EU has the legal obligation to ensure this, and the two countries legitimately expect to join, said Tuesday the European Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson in the plenary session of the European Parliament, in Strasbourg, where a debate took place on this topic. The European Commission believes that the authorities from Bucharest and Sofia have met all the accession criteria and have been waiting for this moment for over a decade. Ylva Johansson has emphasized that the two states are fulfilling a huge task and have received more than a hundred thousand Ukrainians who took refuge because of the war.



    The European Commissioner emphasized that the Schengen Area also needs Romania and Bulgaria, to face the challenges regarding migration and security. ‘We have to fight organized crime, we have to support the cross-border cooperation of the police forces, and the accession of the two countries would facilitate the exchange of information between the border guards and the police’ Ylva Johansson also said.



    The European official has promised that her main priority remains the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area, stating that she is determined to achieve this next year. During the debate in the European Parliament, Romanian MEPs joined hands in condemning Austrias veto and in asking for solutions to unblock Romanias accession to Schengen, including discussing the problem in the European Council or referring it to the EU Court of Justice.



    Last week, within the Council for Justice and Home Affairs (JHA), a unanimous decision failed to be adopted in relation to the accession to the Schengen area of the two countries that became EU member countries in 2007, after Austria and the Netherlands opposed.



    The Austrian chancellor, Karl Nehammer, motivated this position by mentioning the illegal migrants who arrived in his country, many of whom, according to him, supposedly have come through Romania and Bulgaria.



    In turn, the Netherlands says that it supports Romanias accession, but not together with Bulgaria. At the same time, Croatia, a member of the EU since 2013, has received the green light to join Schengen from January 1, 2023. The Romanian president, Klaus Iohannis, said that this negative vote was undeserved and incomprehensible. In his opinion, steps must be taken through all diplomatic channels to achieve the goal of joining the free travel area.



    On Thursday, at the European Council meeting, he intends to put this extremely important topic for Romania on the agenda, although a new vote can only be cast in the future JHA Council in March 2023. President Iohannis has also said that he is going to present two-three actions that he intends to initiate, so that Romania could make progress towards joining the Schengen Area. (LS)

  • Schengen, cold shower from the Netherlands

    Schengen, cold shower from the Netherlands

    At present, there are five EU member countries that are not part of the Schengen area: Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus and Ireland. 15 years after joining the EU and 11 years since the envisaged entry into the free movement area, Romania was waiting for the green light for Schengen in December. Optimism was growing, especially since countries such as Germany and France had overcome their initial reservations and stated their support for this move. However, unanimity is needed on the vote, and the chances for unanimity to be reached decreased after Thursday’s vote in the Parliament of the Netherlands.



    The Parliament in the Hague adopted a resolution asking the Government to be cautious in relation to the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen Area. The document asks the executive led by Mark Rutte not to take any irreversible steps regarding the expansion, until they undertake further investigations regarding the surveillance of the borders by the two countries.



    Prior to the vote, Prime Minister Rutte had stated, in Parliament, that, theoretically, there were no objections to the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen Area, but that an update of the monitoring within the CVM, the EU Cooperation and Verification Mechanism of the judiciary would be necessary, as well as a broadening of the evaluation mission on Schengen. The two countries can join the free movement area when they are ready, Rutte said. Broadly speaking, this was the message he sent during his recent visit to Romania, which the journalists, and not only them, saw as a redeeming visit which was meant to put an end to the Netherlands long opposition to Romania’s acceptance into Schengen. It was not meant to be, and not even the recent vote in the European Parliament, favorable with a large majority to the entry of Romania and Bulgaria into Schengen, was likely to remove the reticence of the authorities in The Hague.



    Some of the Dutch MEPs abstained from the vote or voted against, but their number was lower than those who voted for. In the Romanian Parliament, however, things are more complicated, and the dependence of the fragile cabinet led by Rutte on Eurosceptic, anti-migrant parties forces it to be cautious. The Romanian officials say that, from a technical point of view, Romania has long been eligible to enter Schengen. Moreover, the way it managed the crisis of Ukrainian refugees caused by the Russian invasion should have proved that Romania behaves as a de facto member of the free movement area.



    The Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă believes that, as regards the rule of law and the judiciary, the government and the coalition supporting it have done their homework, in direct coordination with the European Commission, primarily through the adoption of the Justice Laws. And in relation to organized crime, the states competent institutions are well consolidated and doing their job, the prime minister says. Everyone recognizes that the only obstacle that still needs to be overcome on the way to Schengen is of political nature. And for that you need credibility, diplomatic effort and power of persuasion. Not everything is lost, but the time is running short. (LS)

  • Romania, one step closer to joining Schengen?

    Romania, one step closer to joining Schengen?

    Bucharest authorities have hailed Germany’s support for Romania’s
    Schengen accession bid, and have thanked Chancellor Olaf Scholz for his message
    of support in this respect. In his address on the EU meeting in Prague, the
    German Chancellor said Romania, Croatia and Buglaria have complied with all
    technical criteria for becoming a full member of the Schengen Area, which must
    be protected and developed. I will act to make sure they become full members,
    the Berlin official said. The announcement follows after France’s president,
    Emmanuel Macron, during his visit to Romania in June, equally announced his
    support for Romania’s critical objective. Following Monday’s announcement made
    by Olaf Scholz, president Klaus Iohannis underlined on social media that
    Romania joining the Schengen Area is a national objective of strategic
    importance.

    In turn, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă said the move might give a
    significant boost to Romanian exports. Chamber of Deputies Speaker, Marcel
    Ciolacu, said Romania deserves to be in Schengen, a move that will
    significantly shorten waiting times for the transport of merchandise. The
    announcement is extremely important, as for the first time Germany announces
    its unconditional support at international level, Romania’s Foreign Minister,
    Bogdan Aurescu, said in turn. Interior Minister Lucian Bode said Romania’s
    Schengen accession remains a key objective for our country, also hailing
    Germany’s public support. Political pundits in Bucharest say, however, it will
    take a longer time before Romania will join the travel-free area. Radu Magdin,
    a foreign policy consultant and commentator.


    I don’t know how
    long it will be, but it will certainly take a while. Don’t expect the Dutch
    government to miraculously come out and say ‘hey, we’ve seen what the Germans
    said, and given they are a big and strong nation and we coordinate our efforts,
    we will be lifting any opposition towards Romania and Bulgaria’s Schengen
    accession’. Therefore, the political signal is, indeed, important. The
    Netherlands’ opposition regarding our accession might remain in the short run,
    as we won’t be seeing a change of attitude any time soon. But again, the
    political message is what matters.


    Romania has over 2,000 kilometers of EU borders, and was supposed to join
    Schengen 11 years ago. Germany was one
    of the countries that opposed the move, invoking such reasons as corruption and
    judiciary-related issues. Later, some countries have toned down their
    opposition, with the exception of the Netherlands. (VP)

  • March 15, 2015

    March 15, 2015

    The Dutch Parliament does not support at the moment Romania’s Schengen accession, on grounds that Bucharest has not met all the original requirements for becoming an EU member. The statement was made by the Dutch Ambassador to Bucharest, Matthijs van Bonzel, in an interview to a private television station in Romania. He added that according to the Dutch Parliament, Romania joined the EU without meeting a number of key requirements concerning fields like legislation, the judicial system, efficiency and impartiality in law enforcement, and institutional corruption, and that the country is now catching up, reaching the level it should have reached in 2007. The Dutch diplomat added that there is a connection between the Schengen accession and compliance with the European standards.



    The Romanian Defence Minister, Mircea Duşa, will attend on Monday the Black Sea drills of the vessels in the Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG-2), which will be joined by two corvettes, two missile carriers and the “Marasesti” frigate, from the Romanian Naval Forces, and three aircraft of the Romanian Air Forces. SNMG-2 is one of the four multi-national naval groups of the North Atlantic Alliance. The group includes four frigates—from Canada, Turkey, Italy and Romania—an American cruiser (the flagship USS Vicksburg) and a tanker (FGS Spessart, from Germany). Meanwhile, armoured vehicles of the US Army will take part in an exercise on Romanian territory. On Saturday the vehicles reached the Mihail Kogalniceanu base in south-eastern Romania. The American troops will take part in joint exercises with their Romanian colleagues, the Defence Ministry in Bucharest announced.



    Romania continues to support the authorities of the neighbouring Republic of Moldova on their pro-European track, and tries to attract as many other EU member states in this process as possible. The Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu has made this statement today on the public radio station. He added that the government in Chisinau is complying with its commitment to carry on reform processes. Aurescu announced that on Monday in Brussels 26 EU foreign ministers take part in the 10th meeting of the “Moldova Friends Group.”



    Romania last year saw a 514-million euros surplus in farm products and food trade, up nearly 60% since 2013, the Romanian Agriculture Minister Daniel Constantin has told the Agerpres news agency today. According to him, 2014 is the second consecutive year with positive results in terms of the foodstuff trade. Last year Romania exported agricultural products and food worth a total 5.4 billion euros, 6% more than in 2013.



    The Vatican says a military intervention might be necessary in order to stop ISIS attacks on Christians and other ethnic or religious minorities. Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Ambassador of Vatican to the UN, accused the jihadist group of genocide, and said this must be ended. If political solutions fail, the Vatican supports military action against the IS, the Vatican official added, and emphasised that any coalition should include the Muslim countries in the Middle East. According to the BBC, the Vatican has traditionally opposed armed interventions in the Middle East, but Pope Francis has said the use of force is legitimate if aimed at stopping an aggressor.



    The Romanian/British pair Florin Mergea/Dominic Inglot has today qualified into the eighth-finals of the WTA tournament in Indian Wells, California, with over 5 million US dollars in prize money. Mergea/Inglot defeated Tommy Robredo and Viktor Troicki (Spain/Serbia). In the women’s singles, the Romanian Simona Halep, no 3 WTA, is playing tonight against Varvara Lepchenko (USA), 31st WTA, in the third round of the competition, while in the men’s singles the Romanian Victor Hanescu (no 146 ATP) is playing in the second round against no 33 ATP, Andreas Seppi. In the women’s doubles, Raluca Olaru from Romania and Olga Savciuk from Ukraine are playing today in the eighth-finals against Caroline Garcia (France) / Katarina Srebotnik (Slovenia), while Monica Niculescu (Romania) / Alexandra Panova (Russia) will be meeting Lisa Raymond (USA) / Samantha Stosur (Australia).