Radio România Internațional

Tag: treasure

  • January 31, 2025 UPDATE

    January 31, 2025 UPDATE

    GOVERNMENT The Romanian government has completed all the preliminary procedures before passing the draft 2025 state budget law on Saturday. According to PM Marcel Ciolacu, the news that the budget bill has been finalised has triggered a decrease in the interest rates at which the country borrows money in foreign markets. He said that, after the budget is endorsed in Parliament, other positive effects will follow. Ciolacu mentioned that exports will increase this year by over 3% as a result of Romania’s full Schengen accession, and emphasised that the warm weather in January allowed construction works to progress significantly, especially as regards the highway infrastructure. As a result, the budget earmarked to transportation has been increased by almost 20% compared to last year. A priority for this year is attracting foreign investments, Ciolacu added. In this respect, he announced that a foreign holding has announced plans to relocate a factory from Bulgaria to Romania. Moreover, the PM said that there are clear signals that the strategic partnership with the US is entering a new economic dimension and that next week he will have talks with the heads of major American investment funds.

     

    MOLDOVA Romania has stood by the R of Moldova and will continue to do so, in order to increase its energy resilience and support it in its EU accession efforts, the Romanian foreign minister Emil Hurezeanu promised in Chişinău on Friday, during his first official visit in this capacity. He was received by president Maia Sandu and had meetings with his Moldovan counterpart Mihai Popşoi, and with the speaker of parliament Igor Grosu. Maia Sandu and Emil Hurezeanu discussed ways to strengthen economic ties between the two states and to encourage Romanian companies to invest in Moldova. Emphasis was also placed on improving transport infrastructure, including the construction of new bridges over the Prut and streamlining cross-border traffic. During his meetings in Chişinău, Emil Hurezeanu emphasised that Moldova’s citizens are not alone in facing the energy crisis and can count on the support of Romania and other partners. ‘The destabilising effects of the energy crisis have helped tighten our ties. We are happy that Romania has managed to cover over 60% of the citizens’ current energy demand, and the preparation of high-voltage lines is also underway. We have been and will remain by the side of the Republic of Moldova,’ Emil Hurezeanu concluded.

     

    THEFT The Romanian justice minister Radu Marinescu called on his Dutch counterpart David van Weel to carry on efforts in the case of the theft of Romania’s Dacian treasury items and offered the Dutch side all the necessary support. The two ministers had a bilateral meeting during an informal meeting of EU justice ministers hosted by Warsaw. So far, 3 persons have been detained in connection to the theft. A break-in occurred last weekend at Drents Museum during which a golden helmet and three gold Dacian bracelets were stolen, some of Romania’s most important national heritage items.

     

    FLU The number of respiratory infections is on the rise in Romania and the health ministry declared a state of epidemiological alert. Official data show that almost 134,000 patients were diagnosed with respiratory infection symptoms last week, including 11,000 flu cases. Eight people died from flu last week, taking the toll to 22 this season.

     

    JUSTICE The Romanian justice minister Radu Marinescu Friday took part in an informal meeting of EU justice ministers in Warsaw, where current issues were discussed, such as mutual cooperation in the field of ​​justice, the consequences of Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine and the future of justice. According to a news release issued by the Romanian justice ministry, Radu Marinescu stressed that Romania has offered war victims both support for access to justice, through professional bodies, and other forms of counseling, through Romanian NGOs and authorities. In a separate work session, Radu Marinescu welcomed the initiative of the Polish presidency to continue discussions dedicated to judicial cooperation, under the umbrella of the rule of law.

     

    SPORTS Romanian football champions FCSB (Bucharest) lost 2-0 on Thursday on home turf to the English team Manchester United, in Europa League’s 8th and final round. According to the draw in Nyon (Switzerland) on Friday, the Bucharest team will take on the Greek side PAOK Thessaloniki, coached by the Romanian Răzvan Lucescu, in Europa League’s play-offs for the round of 16. FCSB will play the first leg away from home on February 13, and the return leg in Bucharest on February 20. The winner will play in the round of 16 against Olympique Lyon. In tennis, Romania plays Bulgaria in Craiova on Friday and Saturday, in the Davis Cup World Group I play-offs. The winner moves up to World Group I, while the defeated team will play in World Group II. Romania and Bulgaria have met only once before in the Davis Cup, in 1988, when Romania won decisively with a score of 5-0. (AMP)

  • January 29, 2025

    January 29, 2025

    Budget – The leaders of the governing coalition in Bucharest are again discussing today the draft budget for 2025. These are the last calculations regarding the distribution of the state money, before the draft budget law reaches the government on Friday for adoption and Parliament next week for the vote. The largest amounts will be allocated for the payment of pensions and for the continuation of investments, while the expenses for goods, salaries and services will be reduced in all ministries and institutions, according to the finance minister. The intention is to allocate budgets to the ministries reduced by 5% compared to last year, except for the Health, Interior, Education, Transport and National Defense ministries. Investments will exceed 7% of the GDP to support economic growth and the country’s development. In the field of agriculture, the priorities remain supporting the development of the animal husbandry sector, the continuation of the INVESTALIM program and the financing of irrigation systems. The Economy Ministry will continue the massive support for entrepreneurs through the Start-up Nation and Construct Plus programs, and the defense industry will receive over 2% of the GDP this year as well. The Transport Ministry will also continue the investments, as in the previous years, which will materialize in highways, express roads and the improvement of the national road network.

     

    Theft – New information appears around the treasure pieces belonging to Romania stolen on the night of Friday to Saturday from a museum in the Netherlands. The Dutch police announced that they had elements that show that several burglary suspects come from a province in the northwest of the Netherlands. The Dutch authorities also specify that extensive technical and tactical research has been carried out in the museum and its surroundings, and a team made up of dozens of investigators and specialists is working on the case to arrest the thieves and recover the assets. The stolen pieces are the gold helmet from Coţofeneşti and three Dacian bracelets from Sarmizegetusa Regia, Romanian heritage objects which are also essential parts of the history and identity of the Romanian people, an invaluable cultural heritage not only for Romania, but for the whole world, states the Romanian Culture Minister, Natalia Intotero. The minister dismissed the director of the National History Museum of Romania, Ernest Oberländer-Târnoveanu, whom she criticized for the way in which he communicated publicly and institutionally in the case of the theft of the treasure objects. We remind you that the History Museum is the one that sent the artefacts to the exhibition in the Netherlands.

     

    Iuliu Hossu – The Romanian Academy inaugurated on Wednesday the ‘Cardinal Iuliu Hossu Year’, through a tribute ceremony. 2025 was established ‘Cardinal Iuliu Hossu Year’ by law, to celebrate his life, work, personality, martyrdom, the determining role in the making of the Great Union and the efforts he made to save the Jews during the Holocaust. A brilliant Transylvanian intellectual, Cardinal Iuliu Hossu left a mark on Romania’s history. He was arrested and imprisoned in communist prisons following his refusal to renounce the Greek-Catholic faith and his activity in defense of the Greek-Catholic believers. President Klaus Iohannis sent a message on the occasion of the Tribute Ceremony Cardinal Iuliu Hossu Year’ in which he recalls the words spoken by the cardinal – ‘Our faith is our life!’ – and said that these words could become a strong call to civic consciousness, to unity and courage, to solidarity with fellow citizens and the future of the country.

     

    Football – Manchester United will arrive in Bucharest this evening for Thursday’s match against the Romanian football champions, FCSB, held in the eighth and last stage of the main phase of the Europa League. The famous English team holds the fourth place in the ranking, with 15 points, and FCSB is ranked 8th with 14 points. The first eight teams qualify directly for the round of 16, and the teams in positions 9 to 24 play a play-off (round-return) for access to the round of 16.

     

    Resignation – The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić (Vucici), said that he would decide in the next ten days whether he would call parliamentary elections or form a new government. The Prime Minister Miloą Vučević (Miloş Vucevici) resigned on Tuesday, after several months of anti-government protests. The rallies were triggered by the collapse of the roof of a newly renovated railway station in Novi Sad, Serbia’s second largest city, which killed 15 people. The protesters blamed the fatal accident on the corruption and negligence of the authorities and asked for the publication of all documents related to the construction and for the punishment of the culprits. The outgoing Prime Minister Vučević, a close ally of the president, was the mayor of Novi Sad when the works began.

     

    Elections – The governing coalition (PSD-PNL-UDMR) in Bucharest adopted, on Tuesday, a decision that set the electoral calendar in the run up to the first round of the presidential election on May 4. The electoral period will start on February 18, and the deadline for submitting candidacies to the Central Electoral Bureau will be March 15. The election campaign will start on April 4 and end in the morning of May 3. Voting in Romania will take place on May 4, and abroad, in the 950 organized sections, for three days – May 2, 3 and 4. The Romanian voters abroad have the possibility to vote by mail, by registering on the portal www.votstrainatate.ro.

     

    Talks – The Romanian Foreign Minister, Emil Hurezeanu, discussed with the executive vice-president of the European Commission, responsible for social rights and skills, quality jobs and training, Roxana Mînzatu, about a series of important files in relation to the current European agenda. They addressed topics such as maintaining support for the EU enlargement process, continuing support for Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, developing a strategic vision for the Black Sea. They also discussed the promotion of convergence and cohesion objectives in the negotiations on the future Multiannual Financial Framework post-2027 or the consolidation of European action in the field of defense. The Romanian official attended the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels and met with the NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte.  (LS)

  • Reactions after the theft in the Netherlands

    Reactions after the theft in the Netherlands

    Four of the most important artefacts from Romania’s national heritage were stolen from the Drents Museum in the Dutch city of Assen. They include the gold helmet from Coţofeneşti, which dates from the 5th and 4th centuries before Christ, as well as three Dacian gold bracelets from Sarmizegetusa Regia, from the second part of the first century before Christ. The pieces, of inestimable historical value, were part of the Exhibition “Dacia – The Kingdom of Gold and Silver” which opened on July 7, 2024 and was to be closed on January 25. The robbery took place on Friday night to Saturday, when four people used an explosive device to enter the museum premises, stole only the Romanian artefacts and fled in a car. Later, they set the car on fire to hide their tracks. The Dutch police do not rule out that Romanians were also involved in the robbery and are investigating the possibility that they fled to Germany.

     

    The four stolen assets are part of the collection of the National History Museum of Romania and were the most valuable in the exhibition. All exhibited objects had been insured for 30 million Euros before being sent abroad, in accordance with Romanian and international legislation. Both the space and the showcases in which the heritage objects were displayed were secured and had surveillance systems installed, as well as alarm systems connected to the local police. In Bucharest, the General Prosecutor’s Office announced that an ex officio criminal file was opened in this case, and the investigations will be carried out by prosecutors of the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice and by specialists from the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police. At the same time, a crisis cell was created at the Romanian government, and Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said that the recovery of the helmet and the three Dacian bracelets is a priority.

     

    In turn, the Romanian Energy Minister, Sebastian Burduja, said that the theft of the Dacian treasure is an international shame and that it should be found out whether this robbery was possibly orchestrated to manipulate the nationalist trend ahead of the presidential election in Romania due in May. The prime minister’s control body is verifying at the Ministry of Culture the documents underlying the sending of objects from the national treasury to that exhibition, and the relevant minister, Natalia Intotero, will meet with the royal family and the prime minister of the Netherlands, Dick Schoof. Also, the Interior Minister, Cătălin Predoiu, announced that a team of Romanian criminologist police officers will urgently join their Dutch colleagues to help in the investigation and that the Romanian authorities maintain permanent contact with the Dutch and European ones. The Romanian President, Klaus Iohannis, had an exchange of messages with Prime Minister Dick Schoof, who has given assurances that the Dutch authorities are taking all the necessary steps to identify the perpetrators and recover the treasure. (LS)

  • January 25, 2025 UPDATE 2

    January 25, 2025 UPDATE 2

     

    RATING The financial rating agency Standard & Poor’s confirmed Romania’s ‘BBB minus’ rating, but revised the outlook from “stable” to “negative”. The reasons are related to high fiscal and external risks, the agency reports. According to S&P, the fragmented and uncertain political environment, as well as the substantial spending ahead of the elections, pushed the fiscal deficit to almost 8.7% of GDP, far above expectations. The Romanian finance minister Tánczos Barna says the change in the outlook from stable to negative indicates that measures are needed to reduce the budget deficit, and that the country needs a balanced public budget and a streamlined government structure. He also said that the government’s measures to reduce the deficit and consolidate economic growth must be implemented at an alert pace, in the form already agreed on with the EU.

     

    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.

     

    ELECTIONS The Liberals will convene on Sunday in a special National Council meeting to validate the former party president Crin Antonescu as the joint candidate of the ruling coalition in Romania. The Social Democrats scheduled a special congress on February 2 for the same purpose, and UDMR will make its decision at the beginning of next week. The first and second rounds of the presidential elections are scheduled for May 4 and 18. So far, the mayor of Bucharest, Nicuşor Dan, the independent candidate Călin Georgescu and the president of Save Romania Union, Elena Lasconi, have announced plans to run for president. The latter two were top placed in the presidential elections canceled last year. After the first election round on November 24 was validated, the Constitutional Court of Romania canceled the election as a whole on December 6, although voting in the second round had already begun abroad. The Court made its decision after the Supreme Defence Council published a report indicating foreign interference in the electoral process, but investigations have so far failed to confirm it. Tens of thousands of Romanians took to the streets to demand that the second round be resumed.

     

    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 design 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, and 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.

     

    HOLOCAUST The minister of culture Natalia Intotero will represent Romania, on Monday, at the ceremony commemorating the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland. The event, held under the patronage of the president of Poland, marks the International Holocaust Remembrance Day declared by the United Nations, and brings together camp survivors, official delegations of states and international organisations. Romania’s participation in the ceremony on January 27 reflects its solid commitment to keeping alive the memory of the victims of the Holocaust, to fighting all forms of denial, distortion, or downplaying of this tragic moment, as well as to fighting anti-Semitism, xenophobia, radicalisation and hate speech, while at the same time promoting respect for fundamental human rights, both at national and international level, the Romanian culture ministry said. (AMP)

  • March 14, 2024

    March 14, 2024

     

    ELECTIONS The ruling coalition in Romania convenes today to discuss a joint candidate in the election for mayor general of Bucharest. So far the Social Democratic Party and the National Liberal Party have failed to reach an agreement on the topic. The 2 parties will however present a joint list of candidates for the elections for the European Parliament, due on 9 June, concurrently with the country’s local elections. The head of the European Commission’s representative office in Bucharest, Ramona Chiriac, the top nominee on this list, announced she would take unpaid leave to prepare her campaign. A career diplomat, Chiriac has nearly 20-year long experience in European affairs. The election campaign starts on 10 May and ends the day before the elections. Also this year, Romania will hold presidential elections in September and parliamentary elections in December.

     

    TREASURE  In a debate on Thursday, MEPs called on Russia to fully return Romania’s national treasure, and urged the European Commission and other relevant EU institutions to support Romania in its efforts. This was the first discussion in the European Parliament concerning the Romanian national treasure illegally appropriated by Russia during WWI. The EU Commissioner for cohesion and reforms, Elisa Ferreira, said the treasure had been sent for safekeeping to Russia, but was never fully returned, either by the Soviet Union or the Russian Federation. The EU is prepared to support the Romanian authorities in fully recovering the treasure, should they request EU assistance, Elisa Ferreira said, but she warned that Russia’s unjustified war against Ukraine entailed the suspension of cooperation mechanisms with Moscow. The EP debate on the treasure will be followed by a vote on a resolution in this respect. During WWI, Romania sent its national treasure for safekeeping to Russia, its only ally in the vicinity, but the Communist regime seized the assets and refused to return them. The National Bank entrusted Moscow with a total of 91.48 tonnes of pure gold.

     

    MEDIA The European Parliament passed the European Media Freedom Act, which is designed to protect journalists and media organisations in the EU from political and economic interference. According to the Radio Romania News and Current Affairs’ correspondent, under the new legislation member states will be obliged to protect journalists from governmental, political, economic and private interference, and all forms of interventions in editorial decisions will be banned. In order to ensure transparency with respect to mass media ownership, all channels, regardless of their size, will have to make public their ownership structure and their use of public funding.

     

    RECOVERY The Romanian PM Marcel Ciolacu Thursday announced that the ministers coordinating reforms would have a meeting next week with Celine Gauer, the European Commission’s director general of the Recovery and Resilience Task Force, to analyse major benchmarks in Romania’s 3rd payment request. He denied that the National Recovery and Resilience Plan has reached a deadlock, and emphasised that Romania’s relation with the European Commission is quite good. Previously, the minister for European investments and projects, Adrian Câciu, also said the 3rd payment request was not frozen. The explanations came after information was leaked regarding the European Commission freezing the 3rd payment request under the NRRP for failure to meet certain benchmarks, which according to Save Romania Union in opposition were related to appointments in the management of state-owned energy corporations and the agency charged with monitoring state-owned companies. Under the NRRP, all these institutions, without exception, must operate in compliance with corporate governance principles. On Thursday the government approved changes to the multi-annual budget for the reforms and investments undertaken in the NRRP.

     

    AID The National Emergency Committee passed a resolution under which Romania is to grant international assistance to Jordan, consisting in medical equipment and supplies necessary for the operation of a field hospital in Gaza. The donated products and equipment come from the medical emergency inventory managed by the Inspectorate General for Emergencies, and were flown to the site by aircraft made available by the defence ministry.

  • March 5, 2024 UPDATE

    March 5, 2024 UPDATE

    Treasure – The National Bank of Romania and MEP Eugen Tomac organized an exhibition at the European Parliament on Tuesday about the Romanian Treasure owned by Russia and which has not been returned to our country for over a hundred years. It is a unique case in history, and Bucharest wants to bring it to the attention of the European Union as another example of violation of international law by Moscow. Next week, the European Parliament is expected to demand the reparation of this injustice, through a resolution supported by all political groups. The treasure consists of 91 tons of gold, works, artifacts and archival documents, which were sent to Moscow in 1916 and 1917, during the First World War, when much of the country was occupied by the forces of the Central Powers. Later, after the Bolshevik Revolution of 1918, the Soviet Union and then the Russian Federation refused to return the treasure, except for works of art and other cultural values. The exhibition at the European Parliament presents legal evidence and historical documents regarding the sending of the Romanian Treasure to Moscow, as well as Russia’s commitments to return it at the request of our country.

     

    Meeting – The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, had a meeting, on Tuesday, in Bucharest, with his counterpart from the neighboring Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu. Earlier, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu also discussed with Maia Sandu. In the context he reconfirmed his “firm” support for Chisinau’s European path. The meetings took place a day before the Congress of the European People’s Party (EPP), scheduled in Bucharest on Wednesday and Thursday. Led by Iohannis before he became president, the National Liberal Party – PNL (today in the governing coalition with the Social Democratic Party – PSD) is affiliated with EPP. Present in Bucharest, the president of the European People’s Party, Manfred Weber, said that he supported the decision to have “someone from a Central or Eastern European country” at the head of the EU, in the next mandates of the community institutions. Over 1,500 representatives of the European People’s Party, including 13 heads of state and government, are in Romania to participate in the congress of this political group in the next two days.

     

    Motion – The Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday dismissed the simple motion against Finance Minister Marcel Boloș, filed by Save Romania Union – USR and Force of the Right opposition parties. The motion was debated on Monday, opposition members criticizing the Minister for introducing a 10% tax on medical leave to cover the holes in the state budget. Minister Boloș is also accused of violating the law that stipulates that any tax must be enacted six months after its introduction. Marcel Boloș denied all accusations, slamming the opposition’s motion as a politicized initiative. The healthcare system is underfunded, and the government sought to discourage medical leave, which would bring less benefit to working employees, the Finance Minister said in response.

     

     

    Tennis – The Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne has shortened tennis player Simona Halep’s sentence for doping from 4 years to nine months. The Romanian, the former world number one, will be able to return to the court, as her provisional suspension began on October 7, 2022. The Court decision, published on the court’s website, is final. We remind you that the tennis player has always claimed that she took a contaminated supplement, and at the hearings in February, she sought the help of a French expert specialized in pharmacology, toxicology and biology. The International Tennis Integrity Agency stated in September 2023 that Simona intentionally violated the anti-doping rules and suspended her for 4 years.

     

    Drugs – In Romania, high-risk drug traffickers will no longer be able to receive suspended sentences, and trading psychoactive substances will be punishable by 3 to 10 years in prison. A draft law in this regard was adopted on Tuesday by the Chamber of Deputies, which is a decision-making body. The MPs emphasized that the phenomenon of drug use has been ignored for a long time and that additional measures are needed to combat it: border scanners, rehabilitation and prevention centers. (LS)