Radio România Internațional

Tag: three seas initiative

  • SEPTEMBER 7, 2023

    SEPTEMBER 7, 2023

    FORUM At the Business
    Forum of the Three Seas Initiative, currently underway in Bucharest, Romanian
    president Klaus Iohannis said that the region’s potential is enormous and that
    major projects of infrastructure development need to be carried on through the
    implication of other countries in the EU and also in the Western Balkans. In
    turn, Romania’s Prime Minister, Marcel Ciolacu, says the Three Seas Initiative
    has become a shield to protect the future of the citizens, of economies and especially
    the security. Over one thousand business people, decision-makers and civil
    society representatives are today attending the Business Forum of the Three
    Seas Initiative – a format, which brings together the EU member states situated
    between the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea and the Adriatic. Talks have been
    structured in four working sessions on priority topics both from the viewpoint
    of the EU and the transatlantic relationship. The business forum was preceded
    by the Summit of the Three Seas Initiative on Wednesday.








    DRONE NATO
    does not have any indication that the drone debris found on the Romanian
    territory was caused by an intentional attack launched by Moscow, the
    Alliance’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said before the European
    Parliament on Thursday adding that they are waiting for the outcome of an
    ongoing investigation, Reuters reports.
    The North-Atlantic Alliance had previously voiced its strong solidarity
    with Romania, after being informed on the incident close to this country’s border
    with Ukraine. We are going to closely monitor the situation and keep in touch
    with our ally, Romania, NATO says. According to Romania’s president Klaus
    Iohannis, provided the drone is confirmed as belonging to Russia, the incident
    is tantamount to a severe violation of the sovereignty and territorial
    integrity of Romania. A day before, the Romanian official had said ‘there was
    no part of a drone or any other device to have reached Romania’.






    CULTURE The
    city of Timisoara in western Romania, which is the European Capital of Culture
    this year, will this month be staging a series of outdoor events, such as concerts,
    exhibitions, the famous festival Plai and a medieval one suggestively entitled
    Through Fire and Sword. The latter, which kicks off on Friday at the local
    Village Museum, is a time travel through the history of Europe from its ancient
    days to the modern time. This reenactment will be brought to life by various
    specialized groups of actors from Romania and abroad who are going to don
    vintage costumes and carry old weapons, like swords, scimitars, battle axes and
    guns in an attempt to recreate with great accuracy the atmosphere of Europe’s
    medieval burgs and not only. Visitors will be able to participate in various
    workshops of archeology, stone-carving and pottery.

    GROWTH According to
    provisional data released by the National Institute for Statistics (INS)
    Romania’s GDP registered a 0.9% growth in the second semester of the year as
    compared to the first quarter and grew by 1.7% against the similar period last
    year. Among the economic activities that have contributed to this growth were wholesale
    and retail, car and bike repair, transport and storage operations as well as
    the hospitality sector. With a limited activity in this period of time, the
    country’s industry had a negative impact upon the aforementioned GDP
    growth.

    (bill)

  • The Summit of the Three Seas Initiative

    The Summit of the Three Seas Initiative

    Romania reached its targets at the Summit of the Three Seas Initiative, said, Wednesday, Romanias President Klaus Iohannis, who was the host, in Bucharest, of the leaders of the European Union countries located between the Baltic, Black and Adriatic seas. During the meeting, two permanent objectives of the Initiative were reconfirmed: reducing the development gaps between the region of the three seas and the rest of the Union, as well as increasing the regional contribution of the Initiative to the process of strengthening transatlantic ties. The talks in Bucharest mainly focused on three key fields of cooperation: transport, energy and digitization.



    Also in Bucharest, Greece became the 13th member country of the Three Seas Initiative, while Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova received the status of associated states. In a joint final statement, the leaders participating in the summit reiterated their unwavering support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, again condemning Russia’s aggression. They have pledged to play a key role in the reconstruction of Ukraine, taking due account of all the efforts made at the international and European Union levels.



    The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who made a video speech at the opening of the Three Seas Initiative summit, said he was strongly opposed to any further restrictions on Ukrainian grain exports, because his country still needs funds, in the context in which they have to survive after the multiple Russian attacks. From this perspective, at the meeting in Bucharest, the issue of creating new transport routes for grain from Ukraine was also addressed.



    After the summit, the 5th edition of the Business Forum of the Three Seas Initiative has been scheduled for Thursday. An opportunity for the Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu to have several meetings with delegations of important American companies on the sidelines of the Forum. Besides the digitization of the administrative system, the discussions focused on the development of research and innovation projects in such fields as artificial intelligence and cyber security. Also in Bucharest, the US special presidential envoy for climate, John Kerry, recalled that Romania is among the first countries in the world and the first in Europe to introduce the innovative technology of small modular reactors. The American official warned that the goal of zero emissions by 2050 cannot be achieved without nuclear energy, and the technology of these reactors can contribute to accelerating the achievement of environmental targets. (LS)

  • September 5, 2023

    September 5, 2023


    VICTIM – Another patient severely injured in the explosions in Crevedia (southern Romania) has died this morning, bringing the number of deaths to 5, the Health Ministry announced. The victim was of Nepalese origin and had burns on more than 90% of his body. We remind you that powerful explosions followed by a fire took place, a week ago, at an LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) station in Crevedia, south of Bucharest, which was operating illegally.




    SUMMIT – Romania and President Klaus Iohannis are getting ready to host in Bucharest, as of Wednesday, a summit and a business forum of the Three Seas Initiative, a political platform that brings together 12 EU countries bordering the Adriatic, Baltic and Black seas. Talks will focus on the promotion of economic growth and strategic interconnections, but also on redefining the Initiatives relationship with its neighborhood, which has undergone geopolitical reconfiguration. President Klaus Iohannis has announced that at the summit in Bucharest, the Three Seas Initiative will expand with a new member, while two other countries will receive the associate status. The US reaffirmed its support for the objectives of the Three Seas Initiative and also its willingness to collaborate closely with partner countries. The US special presidential envoy for climate, John Kerry, will head the American delegation to the summit in Bucharest.




    DECISIONS – The PSD-PNL Government in Bucharest will assume responsibility in Parliament for the measures aimed at reducing the budget deficit. According to PM Marcel Ciolacu, the legislative package will cover the fight against evasion, the reforms in the local administration, and fiscal changes. The Liberals want to maintain the flat tax and do not agree with measures such as increasing the tax on dividends or reducing the ceiling for SMEs. The main opposition parties, however, criticize the Executives intention to assume responsibility and threaten with motions of no-confidence. The Government assuming responsibility for a legislative bill is a procedure that allows the bill to pass without being debated in Parliament.




    EXHIBITION — It is less than a month until the opening of the exhibition “Brâncusi: Romanian sources and universal perspectives”. The exhibition, on display between September 30, 2023 and January 28, 2024 will be hosted by the National Art Museum in Timisoara. It will bring together emblematic sculptures from the mature period of the Romanian sculptor Constantin Brâncuşi, brought from renowned museums such as the Pompidou Center or Tate Gallery, but also works from his youth, who are part of private collections. The exhibition, the largest one dedicated to Brâncusi in the last 50 years, is the peak moment of the programme Timișoara 2023 European Capital of Culture.




    MEETING — Romanian President Klaus Iohannis is today receiving the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Xavier Bettel, on the occasion of his visit to Cincu (centre), at the invitation of the Romanian side, the Presidential Administration announced. The two officials will have political consultations and will visit together the troops stationed at the Getica National Joint Training Center in Cincu. They will address the soldiers from Luxembourg who are part of the NATO battle group in Romania. President Iohannis and Prime Minister Xavier Bettel will discuss about the consolidation of the deterrence posture on NATO’s Eastern Flank, the continuation of the multidimensional support offered to Ukraine, as well as about the support for vulnerable partners in the region, with an emphasis on the Republic of Moldova, a country seriously affected by the consequences of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.




    TENNIS — Romanian tennis player Sorana Cîrstea is playing tonight against the Chech Karolina Muchova in the quarterfinals of the US Open, the last Grand Slam of the year. Cîrstea defeated the Swiss Belinda Bencic in the previous round, 6-3, 6-3. The Romanian athlete, (33 years old, 30 WTA), seed number 30, played only one quarterfinal at a Grand Slam tournament, in 2009, at Roland Garros, when she was 19 years old. (EE)






  • Ukraine, a Three Seas Initiative Partner

    Ukraine, a Three Seas Initiative Partner

    Ukraine has been given the status of participating partner in the Three Seas Initiative (3SI). The Initiative is a political-economic platform consisting of 12 states members of the European Union located between the Baltic Sea, the Adriatic Sea and the Black Sea. Meeting in Riga, Latvia, the leaders of Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia have decided to establish a new type of partnership, to which other countries in central and eastern Europe have access too, even if they are not members of the bloc.

    We believe that 3SI can be a platform to support Ukraine’s recovery. We support Ukraine’s ambition to join the EU reads the joint declaration adopted at the Riga summit. Participants encourage the governments of the countries in the Initiative region to coordinate the implementation of their national recovery plans aimed at ensuring a better security of energy supply and infrastructures’ connectivity and sustainability.

    President Klaus Iohannis announced that, next year, Romania will once again host the summit of the Three Seas Initiative. He specified that taking over the mandate of organizer of the event will bring back to the Black Sea the decision-making center of the Initiative. The projects within the Initiative, a priority for Romania, are Rail-2-Sea and Via Carpathia, said the head of state, who mentioned that their implementation will improve the connections between the participating countries, but also military mobility and resilience in the field of infrastructure in the region.

    Klaus Iohannis also stated that he will discuss with Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca and the relevant ministers, to see how Romania can accelerate the implementation of the interconnection projects of the Three Seas Initiative. Klaus Iohannis:

    We must not think that we will build a brand-new highway from the Baltic to the Black Sea. This link will contain parts of the expressways or highways that already exist. The idea is to connect them in such a way that we have a fluid connection. The same goes for the rail link. The Ministries of Transport in our states have been negotiating these issues for years, and as we do every year, with sections of the highway and modernized sections of the railway, the same happens in Poland, in Latvia and everywhere.

    The head of state, Klaus Iohannis, announced that talks with Ukraine will begin in parallel, to see which of the Initiative’s investment projects the neighboring country could participate in.

    In turn, the Polish President Andrzej Duda said that work on interconnection projects was intense in his country. With regard to gas interconnectivity, Duda recalled that the gas interconnection between Poland and Lithuania had been opened in early May. Latvian President Egils Levits also stressed the need for a focus on national infrastructure projects. (MI)

  • June 19, 2022 UPDATE

    June 19, 2022 UPDATE

    Three Seas Initiative. The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, will participate, on Monday, in the 7th Three Seas Initiative Summit, and in the 4th edition of the Business Forum of the Initiative, both organized in Riga, Latvia. The leaders of the participating states will analyze how to position themselves in the current European security situation created by the war in Ukraine. They will also discuss the contribution that the Three Seas Initiative can bring, through the implementation of strategic interconnection projects, in the three core areas of the Initiative: transport, energy and digital. According to the Romanian Presidential Administration, President Klaus Iohannis will reiterate Romania’s support for Ukraine both bilaterally and multilaterally. At the same time, Klaus Iohannis will highlight the importance of the Initiative providing similar support to the Republic of Moldova and Georgia, as states that, like Ukraine, have a vocation to become members of the European Union. The Three Seas Initiative is a presidential political platform that brings together the 12 member states of the European Union located between the Adriatic Sea, the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea.
























    Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has visited
    the troops fighting the invading Russian army in the south. He’s met with
    military personnel defending the Black Sea region of Mykolaiv and Odessa near
    the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014. The president also went to the
    former Mykolaiv regional administration headquarters, which was destroyed by
    Russian bombing, which also killed 37 people there. A port and industrial city
    with almost half a million inhabitants before the war, Mykolaiv remained under
    Ukrainian control, but is close to the Kherson region, which is almost entirely
    occupied by the Russians. The city is an important target for Moscow, because
    it is on the way to Odessa, the largest port in Ukraine, located only 130
    kilometers south of the Republic of Moldova (ex-Soviet, mostly Romanian-speaking)
    and before the blockade imposed by the Russian military fleet , the main outlet
    for Ukrainian grain exports. Russia has turned the Black Sea into a war
    zone by blocking shipments of grain and fertilizers from Ukraine, and has
    limited its own exports, said EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell, who
    accused Moscow of blackmail. In eastern Ukraine, in the Donbas coal
    basin, heavy fighting continues for the towns of Severodonetsk and Lysiciansk.
    Kyiv officials say they fear that their country could be attacked again and
    again from the north, on the territory of Belarus, one of Russia’s most docile
    allies.






    Refugees.
    Nearly 11,000 Ukrainian citizens have entered
    neighboring Romania in the past 24 hours, up 19% from the previous day.
    According to the Border Police, almost 6,700 refugees crossed the border with
    Ukraine, and about 1,100 Ukrainian citizens entered Romania via the border with
    the Republic of Moldova. In both cases figures are on the rise. Since the
    invasion of their country by the Russian army on February 24, more than
    1,200,000 Ukrainians have entered Romania.












    Baccalaureate. The written
    tests for the summer session of the Baccalaureate begin in Romania on Monday.
    More than 126,000 high school graduates registered for the exam, the lowest
    number since the anti-communist revolution of 1989. The first test to be held
    is in Romanian language and literature. The compulsory profile test will take
    place on Tuesday, and the optional one will take place on Wednesday. The mother
    tongue and literature exam is scheduled for students of national minorities on
    Thursday. The first results will be announced on June 27, when appeals can be filed. The
    final grades will be published on July 1. Also next week, on Thursday, the
    first results of the National Assessment will be announced, an exam for those
    who’ve graduated from the 8th grade.










    ANAF. The National Agency for Fiscal Administration
    (ANAF) has announced that checks on individuals who cannot justify their assets
    will start on July 1st. Those
    taxpayers are targeted, for whom there are very big differences, of at least 50
    thousand lei (the equivalent of 10 thousand euros) between the revenues
    estimated by the controllers of the National Agency for Fiscal Administration
    and those declared by the respective persons – said ANAF President Lucian Hey.
    He stated that the institution he runs has found such differences between the
    estimated revenues and those declared in the case of over 560 thousand people
    and stressed that the number of control teams in this field will increase from
    22, as they are today, to almost 100.






    Tennis.
    On
    Sunday, Romanian tennis players Simona Halep and Sorana Cirstea lost the
    semifinals of the WTA 250 tournament in Birmingham, England, thus failing to
    qualify for the last round. Halep, second seed at the tournament, was defeated
    by the Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. Cirstea lost to the Chinese
    player Shuai Zhang 4-6, 6-1, 7-6. (MI)



  • June 19, 2022

    June 19, 2022









    Three Seas Initiative. The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, will participate, on Monday, in the 7th Three Seas Initiative Summit, and in the 4th edition of the Business Forum of the Initiative, both organized in Riga, Latvia. The leaders of the participating states will analyze how they should position themselves in the current situation of European security generated by the war in Ukraine. They will also discuss the contribution that the Three Seas Initiative can bring, through the implementation of strategic interconnection projects, in the three core areas of the Initiative: transport, energy and digital. According to the Romanian Presidential Administration, President Klaus Iohannis will reiterate Romania’s support for Ukraine both bilaterally and multilaterally. At the same time, Klaus Iohannis will highlight the importance of the Initiative providing similar support to the Republic of Moldova and Georgia, as states that, like Ukraine, have a vocation to become members of the European Union. The Three Seas Initiative is a presidential political platform that brings together the 12 member states of the European Union between the Adriatic Sea, the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea.








    Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr
    Zelensky has visited the troops fighting the invading Russian army in the
    south. He’s met with military personnel defending the Black Sea region of Mykolaiv
    and Odessa near the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014. The president
    also went to the former Mykolaiv regional administration headquarters, which
    was destroyed by Russian bombing, which also killed 37 people there. A port and
    industrial city with almost half a million inhabitants before the war, Mykolaiv
    remained under Ukrainian control, but is close to the Kherson region, which is
    almost entirely occupied by the Russians. The city is an important target for
    Moscow, because it is on the way to Odessa, the largest port in Ukraine,
    located only 130 kilometers south of the Republic of Moldova (ex-Soviet, mostly
    Romanian-speaking) and before the blockade imposed by the Russian military
    fleet , the main outlet for Ukrainian grain exports. Russia has turned
    the Black Sea into a war zone by blocking shipments of grain and fertilizers
    from Ukraine, and has limited its own exports, said European Foreign
    Minister Josep Borrell, who accused Moscow of blackmail. In eastern
    Ukraine, in the Donbas coal basin, heavy fighting continues for the towns of
    Severodonetsk and Lysiciansk. Kyiv officials say they fear that their country
    could be attacked again and again from the north, on the territory of Belarus, one
    of Russia’s most docile allies.






    Refugees. Nearly 11,000 Ukrainian citizens have entered neighboring
    Romania in the past 24 hours, up 19% from the previous day. According to the
    Border Police, almost 6,700 refugees crossed the border with Ukraine, and about
    1,100 Ukrainian citizens the border with the Republic of Moldova. In both cases
    figures are on the rise. Since the invasion of their country by the Russian
    army on February 24, more than 1,200,000 Ukrainians have entered Romania.







    ANAF. The National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF) has
    announced that checks on individuals who cannot justify their assets will start
    on July 1st. Those taxpayers
    are targeted, for whom there are very big differences, of at least 50 thousand
    lei (the equivalent of 10 thousand euros) between the revenues estimated by the
    controllers of the National Agency for Fiscal Administration and those declared
    by the respective persons – said ANAF President Lucian Hey. He stated that the
    institution he runs has found such differences between the estimated revenues
    and those declared in the case of over 560 thousand people and stressed that
    the number of control teams in this field will increase from 22, as they are
    today, to almost 100.




    Election. The French are called to the polls on Sunday for the
    second round of legislative elections, the outcome of which depends on the
    reforms promised by centrist President Emmanuel Macron, re-elected in April for
    a new five-year term. In the first round, on June 12, the Coalition Together !,
    dominated by the presidential party, and the cartel of the radical left, Nupes,
    obtained almost identical scores, 25.75% and 25.66% of the vote, respectively.
    Nothing indicates, analysts note, that after the decisive ballot, the centrists
    could obtain an absolute majority, i.e. 289 of the 577 seats in the National
    Assembly, the lower house of Parliament. The alliance of the left, led by the
    septuagenarian Marxist Jean-Luc Mélenchon, third in the first round of the
    presidential election, hopes, in turn, to win the majority and impose on Macron
    a so-called cohabitation with a government that would be rather hostile. The
    far right, led by Marine Le Pen, defeated by Macron in the decisive round of
    the presidential election, could win at least 15 seats and thus reach the
    threshold set to form a parliamentary group, for the first time in more than
    three decades. Polling institutes predict that last Sunday’s record absenteeism
    rate of 52.49% could be surpassed in the second round. Especially young people,
    potential left-wing voters, seem disinterested in the political game: 75% of
    those aged 18 to 24 and 65% of those aged 25-34 did not come to the polls last
    Sunday.






    Swimming. Romanian swimmers Robert Glinţ and David Popovici have qualified
    for the semifinals of the 100 m backstroke and 200 m freestyle events,
    respectively, at the World Aquatics Championship in Budapest, in neighboring
    Hungary. Robert Glinţ competed in the sixth series in the 100 m backstroke and
    was timed with 53 sec 86/100, the 13th
    in the series. In his first participation in a World Championship for seniors
    in the Olympic pool, David Popovici managed the best time in the series in the
    200 m freestyle, 1 min 45 sec 18/100. The semifinals are due today. (MI)





  • May 25, 2022 UPDATE

    May 25, 2022 UPDATE

    Withdrawal. The Romanian Government has approved the bills on Romanias withdrawal from two banks with Russian capital: the International Bank for Economic Cooperation and the International Investment Bank, the Finance Minister Adrian Caciu has announced. He has also stated that the withdrawal negotiations will start soon, in parallel with Parliaments debates on the two bills. Both banks were set up in Moscow in 1963 and 1970, respectively, through international conventions, at a time when Romania, turned by force into a communist country after WW2, was one of the Soviet Unions satellites. Other former USSR satellites, such as Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Bulgaria, who are now part of the EU and NATO, will also withdraw from the International Bank for Economic Cooperation.



    Aid. The Bucharest Government on Wednesday endorsed a draft order on granting the neighboring Moldova free humanitarian aid for a smooth running of its energy system. The aid consists in petrol, diesel and fuel oil worth around 4 million euros. Romania will also grant Ukraine humanitarian aid consisting in food and basic products, petrol and diesel fuel worth 2 million euros and will cover the cost of the transport.



    Agreement. The National Gas Transmission Company Transgaz has signed a roadmap agreement with the Three Seas Initiative Investment Fund, a dedicated commercial fund targeting infrastructure investments in Central and Eastern Europe, to collaborate on the construction of planned greenfield gas infrastructure in Romania. According to a release by Transgaz, the roadmap agreement acknowledges the strategic and economic importance of investment in Romanias natural gas pipeline infrastructure, which is expected to drive economic development in the region, while also supporting European energy security and the energy transition in the Three Seas region.



    Visit. The heir to the British throne, Prince Charles, was received on Wednesday in Bucharest by President Klaus Iohannis. The talks focused, among other things, on bilateral relations and the Romanian-British Strategic Partnership, Romanias assistance to Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees, as well as solutions to limit the effects of climate change and to preserve biodiversity. The British guest also met with Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca and the custodian of the Romanian Crown, Princess Margaret. He also visited a Ukrainian refugee center. Prince Charles has been visiting Romania for over 20 years now and is a great promoter of the unique heritage and biodiversity of its rural areas. He has also developed support programs for small farmers and a special program in support of wounded Romanian soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq. This is the Prince of Wales s first visit to Romania in three years due to the pandemic.



    Protest. Three representative trade unions in education protested in Bucharest on Wednesday because the government has not yet enforced the payroll law, two years after the legally stipulated deadline. The unionists say that many schools are facing an acute shortage of non-teaching staff. Moreover, some teachers and union members say, this category of staff still does not benefit from the bonuses for working conditions. Also, despite working overtime due to the lack of staff, teachers are not paid for these extra hours. Employees from school clubs also took part in the protest. They are dissatisfied with the intention of the Ministry of Education to place these institutions, including the human resources, under the management of the local authorities.(MI)


  • September 18, 2018 UPDATE

    September 18, 2018 UPDATE

    SUMMIT At the end of the ‘Three Seas
    Initiative’ Summit, which took place in Bucharest in the past two days,
    Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis said the summit can strengthen the economic
    development and can contribute to the EU consolidation. In his opinion,
    increased inter-connectivity as well as the economic convergence will contribute
    to a better cohesion inside the EU. The Romanian official went on to say that
    the initiative was aimed at giving an impetus to business contacts and
    investment in the region and announced a decision to accept Germany as a state
    partner. In turn, the European Commission president, Jean Claude Juncker, at
    his first participation in the event, has voiced his support for the ‘Three
    Seas Initiative’ adding that the rule of law is essential and investments have
    no sense in its absence. The European official also had a brief meeting at the
    airport with Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila. Also attending the
    Summit, the US Secretary of Energy, Rick Perry, said that Romania can rely on
    the United States in this respect. The next summit of the ‘Three Seas
    Initiative’ will be taking place in Slovenia. ‘The Three Seas Initiative’ is an
    informal political platform at presidential level, which brings together 12 EU
    countries.














    REFERENDUM Romania’s left wing government approved on Tuesday the technical
    details concerning the staging of a referendum on redefining the family in
    early October. Prime Minister Dancila has called on the institutions involved
    in staging the referendum to show maximum responsibility and take the necessary
    action shortly. On Monday, Romania’s Constitutional Court ruled that the law on
    revising the Constitution to define that the family is the freely consented
    marriage between a man and a woman and not between spouses as it is at present,
    observes the constitutional provisions. The
    law on revising the Constitution in the sense of redefining the concept of
    family is based on a citizens’ initiative of some Christian organizations that
    managed to obtain 3 million signatures. The initiative is being contested by
    the associations defending the civil rights and liberties, including those of
    sexual minorities.












    MEETING Heads of state and government from the EU
    countries are to convene in Salzburg, Austria, on Wednesday and Thursday for
    talks over the final stage of the Brexit negotiations. The participants are
    also expected to have their say on staging an extraordinary session of the
    European Council on this issue. The proposal was launched by the European
    Council president, Donald Tusk, who recalled that all the details must be
    completed so that the UK could leave the Union as scheduled, in March 2019.












    CCR
    Romania’s Constitutional Court on Tuesday rejected as ungrounded a notification
    by president Klaus Iohannis over amendments to the law on the functioning of
    the Higher Council of Magistracy (CSM), Romanian news agency AGERPRESS reports.
    According to Iohannis, the amendments bear on the CSM’s constitutional role as
    a guarantor of the independence of the judiciary as well as the good
    functioning of the legal inspections. Also on Tuesday, the court admitted the
    president’s notification on the law on serving sentences, which it described as
    unconstitutional as a whole. The CCR has postponed for September 25th
    the assessment of the president’s notification over the law on the status of
    judges and prosecutors. We recall that Klaus Iohannis has lashed out at the
    latest amendments to penal legislation, which have also been criticized by the
    opposition parties in Romania and contested by the country’s High Court of
    Cassation and Justice.






    (translated by bill)

  • Economic projects at the summit of the Three Seas Initiative

    Economic projects at the summit of the Three Seas Initiative

    Including 12 of the 28 EU member states, the Initiative of the Three Seas – the Black Sea, the Adriatic Sea and the Baltic Sea – is one of the biggest EU forums with a strong economic vocation. The Initiative summit hosted by Bucharest on Monday was attended by nine heads of state, two parliament speakers, a prime minister and a foreign minister as well as by the president of the European Commission, Jean Claude Juncker. The opening Business Forum ended with the signing of a declaration on establishing the network of chambers of commerce from the 12 participating Central and East European countries. As a host, Romanias president, Klaus Iohannis, underscored the need for the Three Seas Initiative to pass on to the stage of concrete economic projects and pragmatic results. He believes that the Forum is a first step jointly made by the most dynamic EU economies towards capitalizing on the regional potential and is a good opportunity to give political support for the regional priority projects of interconnection in the energy, transport and digital fields. Klaus Iohannis:



    “I firmly believe that a greater interconnectivity among the 12 participating states will contribute to increasing economic convergence and cohesion among the EU members, to deepening European integration and implicitly to the EU stability and prosperity. The future of the European Union is one of unity and cohesion and the Three Seas Initiative can make a concrete contribution to achieving this goal.



    President Iohannis went on to say that an appropriate way of bridging the gap of economic development between old and new EU member states was the increase of interconnectivity in the area of the three seas. Austrias president, Alexander Van der Bellen, said that the common goal of Initiative member countries should be ensuring energy security for all European citizens and, to this end, energy sources and transport routes need to be diversified. Also attending the Bucharest summit is US Secretary of Energy, Rick Perry. Polands president, Andrzej Duda highlighted the geopolitical dimension of the Initiative. He said that both the European Union and NATO are key factors in the success of the Initiative. As all participants estimate, the Initiative has the role of contributing to consolidating the transatlantic relationship, by boosting the American economic presence in the region, as a catalyst of consolidated cooperation. As president Iohannis said, Romania is interested in maintaining an operational and robust transatlantic relationship, vital for the system of Western civilization values.


    (Translated by A.M. Palcu)

  • July 5, 2017 UPDATE

    July 5, 2017 UPDATE

    SUMMIT – On Thursday, Romanias president Klaus Iohannis is attending a summit of the Three Seas Initiative, namely the Baltic Sea, the Adriatic Sea and the Black Sea, hosted by Warsaw. The heads of state and representatives from 11 other Central and Eastern European countries, namely Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Hungary, are taking part. The US president Donald Trump will also attend the summit as a special guest. The purpose of the Initiative is to provide political support for the cooperation and interconnection between the economies of the countries in the geographical area bordered by the three seas in fields such as energy, transport, telecommunications and environmental protection.



    EMA – Relocating to Bucharest the European Medicines Agency, EMA, continues to be a major objective of the Bucharest government, says PM Mihai Tudose, in a press release issued by the cabinet on Wednesday. According to the aforementioned source, the prime minister called on the Health Ministry and the National Medicines Agency, in their capacity as institutions with responsibilities in preparing Romanias candidacy file for relocating the EMA to Bucharest, to finalise this file, so as to observe the deadline set at European level, namely July 31. Last month, after the summer European Council in Brussels, President Klaus Iohannis said, in his turn, that the new cabinet should secure an agreement on relocating the EMA, after Brexit, from Great Britain to Romania. Other countries willing to host EMA include France, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary and Bulgaria, which have already forwarded their offers.



    BACCALAUREATE – 71.4 % of the Romanian high-school graduates passed this years first session of the baccalaureate exam, the education minister Liviu Pop announced on Wednesday. He recalled that last year only 66.7% of the high-school students passed the exam. Pop also said less than 10 high schools in Romania reported that no candidate passed the exam. The counties with the highest performance rates are Sibiu (in the centre), Bacau, Iasi (both in the north-east) and Cluj in the west, with over 80%, whereas the lowest rates were registered in Ilfov – 42% and Giurgiu – 50% (both in the south). Raluca Turcan, first vice-president of the National Liberal Party, in opposition, has noted that this year 70,000 high-school pupils add to other 800,000 high school pupils who do not hold a diploma either because they failed to pass the baccalaureate exam or they dropped out high-school. Turcan says the results of the baccalaureate exam show the authorities must take urgent measures to support the education system.



    PUBLIC MEDIA SERVICES – The Constitutional Court of Romania says it will discuss, on the 12th of July, a complaint by the main opposition party, the National Liberal Party, in respect of an amendment to the law regulating the activity of the public radio and television services. The National Liberal Party says the law irremediably compromises the statutes, organization and activity of these two autonomous public services of national interest. The Liberals also say the law does not clarify the legal status of the two services given the change in the way they are funded following the elimination of a number of duties at the beginning of the year. They moreover argue that the new law eliminates the states constitutional obligation to consolidate ties with the Romanians living abroad from an identity, ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious point of view following the repeal of an article providing funding for the production and broadcast of programmes for the Diaspora. This, in the Liberals opinion, will lead to a blocking of the activity of Radio Romania International and TVR International. The law in question was adopted on the 20th of June by the Senate, the decision-making body in this case.



    WTO – Romania will continue to promote the multilateral trading system, the elimination of barriers hampering free trade and the elimination of discriminatory treatment in international commerce, Romanian foreign minister Teodor Melescanu said in Bucharest on Wednesday, in a meeting with the Director General of the World Trade Organisation, Ricardo Azevedo. Melescanu assured the WTO official of Romanias support during his term in office as Director General of the organization. In turn, Azevedo hailed the evolution of the Romanian economy and encouraged the promotion of investment, particularly in education and infrastructure, as well as fiscal stability, which can be instrumental in making the Romanian market attractive for investors, and in reducing regional gaps. Set up in 1995 and having Romania among its founding members, WTO is an international institution which establishes international trading regulations.



    VISIT – The Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Liviu Dragnea, will pay a visit to Israel next week, at the invitation of the Speaker of the Knesset, Yuli-Yoel Edelstein. According to a memorandum endorsed by the Standing Bureau of the Chamber of Deputies on Wednesday, Dragnea will travel to Israel over July 11-13, and the delegation accompanying him will be made up of five other deputies and a senator. According to a communiqué issued by the Chamber of Deputies, the visit brings into the spotlight the common wish to develop bilateral relations between the two countries and to boost dialogue at parliamentary level.



    G20 – The G20 summit taking place on Friday and Saturday in Hamburg may turn out to be one of the most conflicting since the creation of this forum, with bilateral tensions being fed by the international developments and essential disagreements with the US president Donald Trump, the France Presse news agency notes. According to the agency, the talks between Trump and the Chinese president Xi Jinping are set to be difficult following the launch of North Koreas first intercontinental missile on Tuesday, seen as a provocation to America on its national day. China, which is North Koreas main ally, said earlier that its relationship with the US had been affected by “some negative factors, after a US war ship sailed close to an island claimed by China. Hamburg will also host the first meeting between Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, with the latter expected to propose the normalisation of relations between the two countries, relationships that have been strongly affected by the crisis in Ukraine, the war in Syria and accusations of Russias interference in the American elections. The France Presse also notes that the relations between Germany and Turkey have continued to deteriorate after a failed coup against president Recep Tayyip Erdogan in July last year. Turkey became even more vexed with Germany when the latter rejected a request from Ankara that Erdogan be allowed to address members of the ethnic Turkish community living in Germany on the sidelines of the G20 summit.

  • 5 July, 2017

    5 July, 2017

    Three Seas Initiative summit. On Thursday, Romania’s
    president Klaus Iohannis is attending a summit of the Three Seas Initiative,
    namely the Baltic Sea, the Adriatic Sea and the Black Sea, hosted by Warsaw.
    The heads of state and representatives from 11 other Central and Eastern
    European countries, namely Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic,
    Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Hungary, are taking
    part. The US president Donald Trump will also attend the summit as a special
    guest. The purpose of the Initiative is to provide political support for the
    cooperation and interconnection between the economies of the countries in the
    geographical area bordered by the three seas in fields such as energy, transport,
    telecommunications and environmental protection.




    Public
    broadcasting law.     The Constitutional Court of Romania says it will discuss, on
    the 12th of July, a complaint by the main opposition party, the
    National Liberal Party, in respect of an amendment to the law regulating the
    activity of the public radio and television services. The National Liberal
    Party says the law irremediably compromises the statutes, organisation and
    activity of these two autonomous public services of national interest. The
    Liberals also say the law does not clarify the legal status of the two services
    given the change in the way they are funded following the elimination of a
    number of duties at the beginning of the year. They moreover argue that the new
    law eliminates the state’s constitutional obligation to consolidate ties with
    the Romanians living abroad from an identity, ethnic, cultural, linguistic and
    religious point of view following the repeal of an article providing funding
    for the production and broadcast of programmes for the Diaspora. This, in the
    Liberals’ opinion, will lead to a blocking of the activity of Radio Romania
    International and TVR International. The law in question was adopted on the 20th
    of June by the Senate, the decision-making body in this case.




    G20. The G20 summit taking place on Friday and Saturday in
    Hamburg may turn out to be one of the most conflicting since the creation of
    this forum in 2008, with bilateral tensions being fed by the international
    developments and essential disagreements with the US president Donald Trump,
    the France Presse news agency notes. According to the agency, the talks between
    Trump and the Chinese president Xi Jinping are set to be difficult following
    the launch of North Korea’s first intercontinental missile on Tuesday, seen as
    a provocation to America on its national day. Hamburg will also host the first
    meeting between Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, with
    the latter expected to propose the normalisation of relations between the two
    countries. France Presse also notes that relations between Germany and Turkey
    have continued to deteriorate after a failed coup against president Recep
    Tayyip Erdogan in July last year. Turkey became even more vexed with Germany
    when the latter rejected a request from Ankara that Erdogan be allowed to
    address members of the ethnic Turkish community living in Germany on the
    sidelines of the G20 summit.




    North Korea. An emergency meeting of the UN
    Security Council requested by the US following North Korea’s successfully
    testing its first intercontinental ballistic missile will take place today. The
    test sparked a strong reaction from US president Donald Trump, who called on
    Beijing, Pyong Yang’s main ally, to act firmly to end such moves. Russia and
    China, two permanent members of the UN Security Council, have described the
    test as unacceptable. They urged North Korea to reinstate a moratorium on
    nuclear tests and ballistic missile testing, while also requesting the US to
    put an end to its military exercises in the area to defuse the situation in the
    Korean Peninsula.




    Wimbledon. Three
    Romanian tennis players, namely world no. 2 Simona Halep, the 64th-ranked
    Irina Begu and the 115th-ranked Ana Bogdan, are today in action in
    the second round at Wimbledon. Halep faces the Brazilian player Beatriz Haddad Maia, Begu faces Croatia’s
    Ana Konjuh, while Bogdan meets France’s Caroline Garcia. Also in the second
    round, another Romanian player, Sorana Cirstea, faces the American player Bethanie
    Mattek-Sands on Thursday. The doubles matches also begin today, with Begu,
    Cirstea, Monica Niculescu and Raluca Olaru playing in the women’s doubles and
    Horia Tecau, Marius Copil and Florin Mergea playing in the men’s doubles.