Radio România Internațional

Tag: Turkey

  • November 1, 2024 UPDATE

    November 1, 2024 UPDATE

     

    DEFENCE Romania and Norway continue to stand by Ukraine at these critical times, the defence minister Angel Tîlvăr said on Friday, after a meeting in Bucharest with his Norwegian counterpart, Bjorn Arild Gram. Minister Tîlvăr highlighted the successful cooperation between the two countries’ air forces under a programme in which the Romanian government awarded to Norway a contract for the procurement of 32 F-16 aircraft with initial logistic support, and for complementary goods and services from the US. A total of 12 airplanes have been received so far, after less than a week ago 3 F-16 Fighting Falcon multi-role aircraft arrived in Romania. The entire lot is expected to be received by the end of 2025.

     

    FLOODS A person on the list of Romanian nationals missing following the devastating floods in Spain has been found dead, the Romanian foreign ministry announced on Friday. The foreign ministry via the Romanian consular office in Castellon de la Plana and the Romanian Embassy in Madrid continues to check information on an estimated 15 Romanian nationals on the list of missing persons. The region of Valencia, in the south-east of Spain, has been hit by unprecedented floods. At least 205 people died in Spain following the rainfalls and floods, according to updates provided by the Spanish authorities. Scores of people are still missing. Spain declared 3 days of national mourning.

     

    ELECTIONS The election campaign for the parliamentary elections of December 1st officially got under way on Friday. Romanian voters will elect 466 MPs, 330 in the Chamber of Deputies and 136 in the Senate. The election campaign will come to an end on 30th November. Romanian citizens residing abroad will be able to cast their ballots either through postal voting or in person at one of the polling stations set up abroad. The Romanian foreign ministry submitted to the Permanent Electoral Authority its proposals for the 950 polling stations to be set up abroad for the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections. The election campaign for the presidential elections began a week ago. The first round will take place on 24th November, and the second round on 8th December. In June, Romania also saw European and local elections.

     

    ANNIVERSARY Radio Romania Friday celebrated 96 years of uninterrupted service. With over 3 million listeners a day, the public radio station must reinvent itself and make itself more attractive to younger audiences, said the director general of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation, Răzvan-Ioan Dincă. Radio Romania broadcast its first programme at 5 pm on 1st November 1928. In recognition of its decisive role in the country’s history, in December 2019 Parliament declared 1st November National Radio Day in Romania. To mark this occasion, the Radio Concert Hall Friday night hosted an anniversary concert conducted by the celebrated Romanian conductor Cristian Mandeal.

     

    TRADE The Romanian minister of the economy, entrepreneurship and tourism, Ştefan-Radu Oprea, and the trade minister of Turkey, Omer Bolat, Friday chaired the second session of the Romanian-Turkish Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO). The Romanian official said there is evident progress in terms of the value of bilateral trade, while Omer Bolat said bilateral economic relations have grown in all areas, from trade to investments, tourism, transport and services. He also appreciated Romania’s support for his country within the EU, in respect of the modernisation of the customs union. The Romanian-Turkish JETCO establishment declaration was signed by the two economy ministers on the sidelines of the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Romania on April 1, 2015.

     

    JOURNALISTS In most cases in which journalists get killed around the world, their killers go unpunished, said UNESCO in a report on International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, which is marked every year on 2nd November. 85% of all crimes against journalists recorded by UNESCO in 2006 are still not solved, the report also writes. Over the two years covered by the UNESCO report, namely 2022 and 2023, 162 journalists were killed, almost a half of them in countries with ongoing armed conflicts. In 2022, Mexico reported the largest number of journalists killed, 19, followed by Ukraine, with 11 journalists killed. In 2023, Palestine reported the largest number of journalists killed, namely 24. (AMP)

  • Black Sea – cooperation for neutralizing naval mines in the Black Sea

    Black Sea – cooperation for neutralizing naval mines in the Black Sea

    The invasion of Ukraine by the Russian troops has been causing collateral damage. In almost two years and a half of war, both sides have resorted to the installation of naval mines around their Black Sea ports in order to prevent the other side from attacking them. Many of these mines have left the defensive networks conceived by Ukrainian and Russian strategists and are now adrift around the Black Sea posing a real threat to civilian vessels crossing it.

    In December 2023, a Panamanian ship loaded with Ukrainian grain hit a naval mine, which Kyiv says was of Russian origin, and two sailors were wounded in the incident. In October a Turkish cargo ship was slightly damaged after running into one such mine close to Romania’s coasts.

    The presence of these mines floating around the Black Sea has prevented the Romanian fishermen from taking to the sea and that led to a slump in the local fish harvest.

    According to journalists, restaurants in the area are now mainly relying on imported fish while cruise boats coming down the Danube are now cutting short their trips as neither crew members nor tourists are daring to cross the Black Sea for fear of hitting such a mine.

    So, riparian countries and also NATO allies, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey have decided to set up a joint task force for cleaning the Black Sea of mines and ensuring in this way the safety of the maritime transport, including for the vessels loaded with Ukrainian grain and bound for the world markets.

    Since the Russian invasion in February 2022, the naval forces of these three countries have discovered and destroyed numerous naval mines adrift in the Black Sea. But now they are doing it in a coordinated manner.

    During a ceremony staged in Istanbul, Turkey, Romanian vice-admiral Mihai Panait has given assurances the joint initiative of the three countries is crucial in combating the threat posed by these drifting mines and in ensuring the safety of sea traffic.

    The main goal of the MCM Black Sea naval group is to ensure the safety of traffic on the Black Sea through activities of monitoring, reconnaissance and the neutralization of these naval mines, as well as through related search & rescue operations at sea.

    Until July 16, the aforementioned naval group will be operational in the national maritime spaces of the three countries.

    The ships are going to get involved in joint drills, recon and surveillance missions, in removing naval mines and improving interoperability. The command of the operative MCM Black Sea group will be assured in the following six months by Turkey and taken over in the first half of the next year by the Bulgarian partners. Romania will take over command in the second half of 2025.

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  • Extended cooperation Romania – Turkey

    Extended cooperation Romania – Turkey

    Romanians will be able to go to Turkey, for a maximum of 90 days, without a passport, only with their identity card. The decision was made by the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in the context of the official visit that the Romanian prime minister, Marcel Ciolacu, paid to Ankara. The Prime Minister of Romania participated, together with the Turkish head of state, in the first joint meeting of the Governments of Romania and Turkey. In this context, the expansion of cooperation in the fields of the defense industry and energy was discussed, and a decision was made that Romanian farmers would resume the export and transit of meat to Turkey. PM Ciolacu said that this decision would help Romanian farmers to have access to a very large market again and to be able to open new trade routes in the region.

     

    Marcel Ciolacu: “It is a huge opportunity for Romanian producers to have access to a huge market, but, at the same time, we will be able to establish solid trade routes also with other areas of interest in the region and the Middle East. We need such measures in order to achieve the ambitious targets that we have set in the economic domain. Last year we exceeded 10 billion dollars in terms of economic exchanges, but together we set an ambitious target of 15 billion dollars that we are going to reach in the coming years.”

     

    The Romanian PM said that Romania will continue to ensure a good collaboration between Turkey and the European Union, in the context in which its accession to the EU has been blocked for several years due to numerous divergences in the field of democracy, the rule of law and the fundamental rights. At the same time, he proposed to the Turkish side a partnership formula that would allow the transfer of technology and know-how, so that Romanian companies should be able to produce in Romania components for Bayraktar military drones and Otokar armored tactical vehicles. Last but not least, PM Ciolacu declared that the administrations from Bucharest and Ankara are holding talks related to Romania recuperating the sword of the Moldavian ruler Stephen the Great. The weapon, received from Pope Sixtus IV, in recognition of Moldavia’s decisive role in the defense of Christianity, came into the possession of the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century.

     

    In turn, Recep Tayyip Erdogan emphasized that economic ties are the driving force of bilateral relations and thanked Romania for granting full rights to the Turkish minority, which numbers almost 28,000 people. He recalled that Romania and Turkey contribute to ensuring security and stability in the Black Sea region, as well as within NATO. The Turkish President has also stated that the two states, together with Bulgaria, have formed a joint group that will remove mines from the Black Sea in order to increase the safety of navigation. (LS)

  • May 20, 2024 UPDATE

    May 20, 2024 UPDATE

     

    VISIT The Romanian Prime Minister, Marcel Ciolacu, pays an official visit to Turkey, Romania’s most important trade partner outside the European Union, on Tuesday. The visit takes place at the invitation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The agenda includes a joint meeting of the governments of the two countries. The parties aim for bilateral trade to exceed 15 billion dollars. A joint declaration will also be signed, concerning the establishment of a Romania-Turkey high-level strategic cooperation council, the equivalent of joint government meetings. The council will be coordinated by the prime minister of Romania and the president of Turkey, and will act as a catalyst to strengthen cooperation in strategic areas. The two countries are also set to establish a bilateral dialogue mechanism between the two foreign ministries. A number of cooperation agreements will be signed on the same occasion, in sectors such as social security, SMEs, tourism, diplomatic missions and town planning.

     

    MONITORING Starting October 1, the Romanian Ministry of the Interior will expand, on a national level, a project on the electronic monitoring of restraining orders against aggressors. The system is currently applied in the capital city Bucharest and in several other counties, and covers only domestic violence cases for which a restraining order has been issued. In another move, an international meeting is taking place in Bucharest, which focuses on domestic violence. Official data show that in Romania, in the first 3 months of this year, around 3,000 provisional protection orders were issued, almost half of which were upheld in court. In the same period, the police intervened in almost 30,000 cases of domestic violence. The number of domestic violence offences has increased, compared to the first 3 months of last year.

     

    MINERS’ RIOTS The former leader of the Valea Jiului coal miners, Miron Cozma, was heard at the General Prosecutor’s Office on Monday, in the case concerning the June 1990 miners’ riots. A number of Romanian officials, including the ex-president Ion Iliescu, the then-PM Petre Roman, deputy PM Gelu Voican Voiculescu and the former chief of the Romanian Intelligence Service Virgil Măgureanu are charged with crimes against humanity in this case. Military prosecutors say that on June 11 and 12, 1990, the authorities initiated a violent crackdown on the protesters in Bucharest’s University Square, who were peacefully expressing their opposition to the government at the time. Over 10,000 coal miners were brought to Bucharest to restore order. Four people were shot dead, nearly 1,400 were wounded and some 1,250 others were detained.

     

    SHIP The sinking of a ship sailing under the Tanzanian flag in the Black Sea off the Romanian coast this weekend occurred following a collision with another vessel, flying the Comoros flag, the Romanian authorities announced on Monday. After the collision, the second vessel participated in rescue operations, and subsequently left for the Bulgarian port of Varna. Romanian prosecutors ordered a criminal investigation into suspected offences including the destruction or damaging of a sea vessel and leaving the scene of an accident. The sunken ship had a crew of 11 people, 8 of whom were rescued. The other 3 are still missing.

     

    IRAN Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has declared five days of national mourning after president Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash, and appointed the vice-president Mohammed Mokhber as interim president, the official Iranian news agency IRNA reports. When a president dies in office, the Constitution of the Islamic Republic requires the senior vice-president to serve as interim president for a period of 50 days, with the approval of the supreme leader, who has the final say in all matters of state in Iran. The announcement of the president’s death opens a period of political uncertainty in Iran, a major player in the Middle East, a region rocked by the war in Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas, press agencies note. Ebrahim Raisi had been the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran for almost three years. A hard-line cleric, he was elected in June 2021 in the first round of a vote marked by record-high absenteeism in the presidential elections and the absence of strong competitors. (AMP)

  • Foreign Policy Opinion

    Foreign Policy Opinion

    Sharing
    borders with the Black Sea and allied as NATO member states for 2 decades,
    Romania and Turkey are also tied by a strategic partnership which they have
    decided to extend. Turkey’s foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, has recently had
    talks in Bucharest with Romania’s diplomacy chief Luminiţa Odobescu, and
    announced that a high-level Council for strategic cooperation would be
    established to this end.


    The
    defence cooperation is an important component of the two countries’ bilateral
    relations, the Turkish official pointed out. A critical topic approached during
    the recent talks was the current security context and ways for the two
    countries to help consolidate and enhance security at the Black Sea, the Romanian
    foreign minister said in her turn. She thanked Turkey for its participation in
    the NATO air policing missions in Romania, which contributes to strengthening
    the Allied defence and deterrence posture on the eastern flank.


    Luminița
    Odobescu also mentioned the recent decision to set up the Romania-Turkey-Bulgaria
    Naval Group tasked with clearing the mines floating in the Black Sea, which is
    a concrete example of the way in which the three countries are able to work
    together in the region.


    Consolidating
    the economic cooperation between Turkey and Romania was also on the agenda of
    the meeting. Bilateral trade amounted to USD 9.4 bln in the first 11 months of
    last year, and is expected to reach USD 15 bln in 2025.


    The
    two officials also discussed the situation in the Middle East. The Turkish
    foreign minister argued that 2 million people are being bombed by Israel in
    Gaza and are struggling with hunger and infectious diseases. In turn, Luminiţa Odobescu said
    close coordination of international efforts is necessary in order to achieve
    sustainable peace in the Middle East. She argued that the needs of Palestinian
    civilians remain a priority for Romania, even though, like many other partners,
    Romania suspended its financial contribution to the UN agency for Palestinian
    refugees after some of the agency’s employees were found to have been involved
    in the Hamas terror attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.


    A
    major concern for the Romanian diplomacy is also the war in neighbouring
    Ukraine, which was invaded by the Russian army nearly 2 years ago. Luminița
    Odobescu emphasised that the situation in Ukraine is in fact a priority for the
    EU as well, and pleaded for continued European support to Kyiv. Since the start
    of the war, more than 7 million Ukrainian nationals have transited Romania to
    seek shelter, and the Romanian port of Constanța has become a vital hub for
    Ukraine’s grain exports. (AMP)

  • January 31, 2024 UPDATE

    January 31, 2024 UPDATE

    PROTESTS In Romania, local administration
    staff in rural areas were on a token strike on Wednesday, with demands
    primarily related to salaries. According to trade unions, almost 11,000
    employees in over 800 town halls in the country signed for the protest. Unionists threaten with an all-out strike
    starting on February 5 unless their demands are met. On the other hand, trade
    unions in the healthcare sector announced they would carry on protests, as the
    government’s current offer to raise salaries by 13.9% this year is not what
    they had expected. Solidaritatea Sanitară Union Federation notified the
    government of their plans to go on an all-out strike. According to the
    federation, under the law the government has 10 days to negotiate with the unions
    and avoid a labour dispute.






    DEFICIT Romania ended the year 2023 with a
    budget deficit of 5.68% of the GDP, as against the 4.4% originally forecast
    when the state budget for last year was drawn up. The deficit is however below
    the 6.3% estimated by the European Commission in its forecast. According to
    data supplied by the Finance Ministry, the difference between revenues and
    expenditure was almost EUR 18 bln.








    REPORT With 46 points out of 100, Romania
    remains one of the EU countries with the poorest results in the implementation
    of anti-corruption measures, according to Transparency International’s annual
    Corruption Perceptions Index. The organisation’s recommendations for Romania
    include updating the legislation in the field of public integrity, improving
    organisational and decision-making transparency, standardising and clarifying
    administrative procedures.






    EU
    Romanian President Klaus Iohannisis in Brussels to take part in a
    ceremony organised by the European Commission in memory of Jacques Delors (1925
    – 2023), a former European Commission president between 1985 and 1995, and to
    attend an extraordinary meeting of the European Council on Thursday. The
    Council meeting will focus on an agreement on the main elements of the proposed
    revision of the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework. The most important
    decisions are the support for Ukraine, including military support under the
    European Peace Facility, in keeping with the country’s needs. Klaus Iohannis
    will firmly plead for Ukraine to remain a top priority on the EU agenda.






    VISIT The Turkish foreign minister, Hakan
    Fidan, was on a visit to Bucharest, for a meeting with his Romanian counterpart
    Luminiţa Odobescu. The Turkish official also had talks with Prime Minister
    Marcel Ciolacu and the Senate Speaker, Nicolae Ciucă. According to the Turkish
    media, Hakan Fidan is meeting with his counterparts in Albania, Bulgaria and
    Romania ‘to discuss bilateral relations, as well as current regional and global
    developments’. Romania and Turkey signed a Strategic Partnership in 2011,
    followed by a joint action plan, signed in 2013 by the two countries’ foreign
    ministers. (AMP)

  • January 23, 2024

    January 23, 2024

    CELEBRATION On January 24 Romanians
    will celebrate 165 years since the Union of the Romanian Principalities,
    Moldavia and Wallachia, under the rule of Alexandru Ioan Cuza. Military and
    religious ceremonies will be held in major cities across the country, as well as performances,
    exhibitions, events in museums and other cultural institutions. In Focşani, in
    the south-east, a large-scale celebration will be held, including a military
    parade and the traditional Union Round Dance in the town’s central square. The
    city of Iaşi, in the north-east, will host a ceremony at the statue of ruler Alexandru
    Ioan Cuza and a military parade. In Bucharest, the George Enescu Philharmonic
    Orchestra will give a special concert. In January 1859, Alexandru Ioan Cuza was
    elected ruler both in Moldavia, and in Wallachia, and under the 1866
    Constitution, the United Principalities started using the official name of
    Romania.


    VISIT Moldova’s deputy PM and minister of foreign affairs and European integration, Nicu Popescu, is on a working visit in
    Bucharest today, where he is to have talks with his Romanian counterpart,
    Luminiţa Odobescu, and other officials, MOLDPRES
    news agency reports. The 2 foreign ministers will discuss means to develop and
    consolidate the bilateral partnership, and the next steps in Moldova’s EU
    accession negotiations. The European Council recommended the start of EU
    accession negotiations with Ukraine and the R. of Moldova in December.


    DIPLOMACY The president
    of Romania Klaus Iohannis said on Tuesday, at the annual meeting with the
    ambassadors accredited to Bucharest, that Romania will continue to
    stand by Ukraine. Iohannis emphasised that due to Bucharest’s efforts over 33
    million tonnes of Ukrainian grains, accounting for more than 60% of the
    products carried through the EU’s Solidarity Corridors, transited Romania. Klaus
    Iohannis added that Romania will stand by Moldova and Ukraine in their
    negotiations for EU accession, and emphasised that it is crucial for the 2
    countries to continue to receive financial support and know-how for the
    consolidation of their public institutions and economy. As for the situation in
    the Middle East, he voiced support for a two-state solution, in line both with
    the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people, and with Israel’s right
    to security. In this context, president Iohannis mentioned that Romania conducted
    a very difficult operation providing assistance and support to the Romanian
    citizens in that region. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the
    Romanian authorities involved in the evacuation of the Romanian nationals
    there, as well as to thank our partners in Israel, Egypt, Qatar and Jordan for
    their support, Klaus Iohannis added.


    UKRAINE
    The Romanian foreign minister Luminiţa Odobescu stated in Brussels on Monday
    that EU member countries must use all means to help Ukraine in its war
    against Russia. Attending a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council, she
    emphasised that Ukraine must remain a priority on the EU agenda. It is
    important for us to maintain pressure over Russia, and Romania supports a new
    set of sanctions against Russia, the Romanian official added. Meanwhile, the
    conflict carries on, with Russia attacking Kyiv and Kharkov with missiles this
    morning. Stay tuned for more after the news.


    VIETNAM Over 2,000 Vietnamese nationals are legally
    employed in Romania, said the president of Romania’s Chamber of Commerce and
    Industry Mihai Daraban at the Romania-Vietnam Economic Forum held in Bucharest
    in the presence of Vietnam’s PM, Pham Minh Chính. Daraban called on
    decision-makers in both countries to create a predictable environment for
    employment, because the Romanian economy needs more workforce.


    NATO Turkey’s
    Parliament is today discussing the ratification of Sweden’s accession to NATO, said
    the private tv station CNN Turk, quoted by France Presse. The foreign policy
    committee in the Turkish Parliament last month endorsed the ratification, but a
    vote in a plenary session is also necessary before the protocol may be signed
    by president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkey and Hungary are the only NATO
    countries yet to ratify Sweden’s NATO accession. Ankara cited Stockholm’s lack
    of cooperation in extraditing to Turkey a number of individuals suspected of
    ties with terrorist organisations, especially in the Kurdish region, while
    Budapest says Swedish politicians have made a habit of criticising Viktor
    Orban’s conservative regime, AFP reports.


    ISRAEL The
    Israeli Army announced today that 24 Israeli troops were killed in the Gaza
    Strip clashes in the last 24 hours, making it the worst daily toll for the
    Israeli Army since the start of the war against Hamas, Reuters reports. Last
    week, Israel launched an offensive to capture the town of Khan Yunis, which
    Israel says is now the main stronghold of the Hamas terrorists responsible for
    the October 7 attack in the south of Israel in which 1,200 people were killed.
    Some 26,000 people died in Gaza since the start of Israel’s military
    operations, the healthcare authorities in Gaza announced. (AMP)

  • October 1, 2023

    October 1, 2023

    ATTACK The
    explosion in front of the Parliament building in Ankara on Sunday morning was a
    terror attack, the Turkish Interior Ministry has announced. Two terrorists
    came with a light commercial vehicle in front of the entrance gate of the
    General Directorate of Security of our Ministry of Internal Affairs and carried
    out a bomb attack the Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya says adding that
    two policemen have been wounded. According to the same sources, one of the
    terrorists blew himself up and the other was neutralized. According to the
    Turkish media, several ministries and the building of Parliament are located in
    the aforementioned district. The country’s president Recep Erdogan was set to
    attend the opening of Parliament’s new session at 7 hours local time.






    BRATISLAVA Former Prime Minister Robert Fico and his populist, leftist
    party, SMER-SD have won the early Parliament election in Slovakia after 99.9%
    of the votes cast on Saturday were counted. The result contradicts the exit
    polls, which indicated the victory of the pro-European Progressive Slovakia.
    SMER-SD, which promoted anti-NATO and EU messages during their campaign and
    pledged to cut the military support given to Ukraine, has mustered 23.3% of the
    votes, 6% more than the Progressive Slovakia. Radio Romania correspondent in
    Slovakia says that a coalition is envisaged involving SMER, Hlas, which is a
    splinter group from Fico’s party and the Christian-Democrats, which together
    have most of the Parliament seats. Robert Fico was forced to step down in 2018
    amid protests caused by the killing of an investigative journalist.






    ART Almost
    100 works of art by Romania’s famous sculptor Constantin Brancusi are on
    display as of Saturday in Timisoara, western Romania, in the most important
    exhibition dedicated to this major artist in the past half a century. The
    exhibition includes sculptures, photos, archive documents and film footages on
    display at the local National Art Museum until late January. The exhibits’
    total insured value stays around half a billion euros. Under the suggestive
    title, Brancusi, Romanian sources and universal prospects the exhibition
    invites the public to explore the way in which Brancusi managed to cross all
    geographic, historical, formal and gender borders in order to ensure that
    special place unattached to any artistic current. The exhibition has on view a
    series of artefacts borrowed from the National Museum of Modern Art, Pompidou
    Center, in Paris, the Tate Gallery in London, the Guggenheim Foundation, the
    National Art Museum in Bucharest, the Art Museum in Craiova and some private
    collections. Among the famous artefacts visitors can admire in Timisoara, there
    is the Bird in Space, the Kiss, Mademoiselle Pogany or Sleeping Muse. The
    aforementioned exhibition is part of the programme Timisoara – European Capital
    of Culture.


    RUGBY Romania’s
    national rugby side lost their third game in group B of the World Cup in
    France. On Saturday in Lille, our rugby side came a cropper in their match
    against Scotland 0-84, the most dramatic defeat in its history. Our players
    have so far lost to world leader Ireland and the en-titre champions South
    Africa and will be playing their last game against Tonga on October 8.






    WEATHER The
    weather is incredibly warm for this time of the year, especially in Romania’s
    southern and south-eastern regions. Showers have been reported in the north,
    center and east and also in the mountains. The highs of the day are ranging
    between 18 and 30 degrees with a noon reading in Bucharest of 30 degrees
    Celsius.




    (bill)

  • RRI Sports club

    RRI Sports club

    Romania has been
    outperformed 3-0 by the en-titre Olympic Champions France in Varna, Bulgaria,
    in the quarterfinals of the European Volleyball Championships hosted by Israel,
    Italy, Bulgaria and North Macedonia. France has thus had their revenge after
    Romania’s 3-1 win in the group’s stage.




    Robert Adrian
    Aciobăniţei was Romania’s best scorer with 11 points whereas the best French
    player was Jean Patry with 14 points.


    The
    progress of Romania’s national volleyball side kicked off in group D with two
    defeats 0-3 against Portugal and 2-3 against Israel. The Romanians made a
    strong comeback though and defeated Turkey 3-2 and Greece 3-1.




    They also clinched a surprising 3-1 win against
    France, which ended on the first position in the group’s ranking with 12
    points. France was followed by Portugal with 9, Romania also with 9, Turkey
    with 8, Israel 4 and Greece 3. The first four sides qualified for the round of
    16 where Romania first took on Croatia. Our players secured a 3-2 win against
    Croatia, the side on the second position in Group B. The Romanians were the
    first to get the upper hand 2-0, but the Croatians managed to level the points
    later into the game. However Romania succeeded in winning the last set
    eventually.




    Alexandru Raţă
    scored 30 points for Romania, while Petar Dirlic, 29 for the Croatian side. In
    the final ranking Romania went 7th.


    We recall that at the
    previous edition of the aforementioned competition, hosted by France, Slovenia,
    Belgium, and the Netherlands in 2019, Romania ranked 21st. Romania’s
    prize closet includes a title in 1963, two silver medals in 1955 and 1958 and
    two bronze in 1971 and 1977.




    (bill)

  • Crucial meeting in Vilnius

    Crucial meeting in Vilnius

    Strengthening, in the long term, the allied posture on the eastern flank is the main stake of the participation of Romanias President, Klaus Iohannis, in the NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius. He also wishes to reiterate Romania’s robust support for neighboring Ukraine, invaded by the Russian troops, including in relation to Ukraines accession to NATO, as well as for the Alliance’s most vulnerable partners, especially the Republic of Moldova (an ex-Soviet state with a majority Romanian-speaking population). The Romanian president also wants to reflect the importance of the Black Sea region for Euro-Atlantic security in the allied documents and decisions that are to be adopted.



    Ahead of the summit, the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that most allies are expected to announce their commitment to increasing defense budgets to more than 2% of the gross domestic product starting in 2024. Only 11 member states, including Romania, have met this request starting this year. According to analysts, beyond the Ukrainian file, the North Atlantic meeting will be marked by the announcement of Sweden’s admission to NATO.



    On the eve, the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated that the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, agreed to support the accession of the Scandinavian kingdom, a move that he opposed for months in a row. Stoltenberg described the day as historic. Asked about Hungary’s opposition to Sweden’s accession, Stoltenberg said that the problem was solved, because the authorities in Budapest had informed him that they did not want to be the last to ratify the protocol. At present, all 31 NATO member states want Sweden to join the Alliance, as does neighboring Finland, which was admitted on April 4. After the launch of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the two Scandinavian countries renounced their strict neutrality, maintained for decades, and opted for joining NATO.



    Turkey had given the green light to Finland, but had blocked the accession of Sweden, which it accused of hosting Kurdish militants, described by Ankara as terrorists. President Erdogan would have wanted to condition the admission of Sweden on the negotiations regarding his country’s accession to the European Union. Turkey submitted its application for accession to the European Economic Community, the forerunner of the current community bloc, in 1987 and to the Union in 1999.



    Accession negotiations began in 2005 and, ever since, Brussels has not tired of repeating that Ankara does not meet the admission criteria. Admission to NATO and to the EU are two processes that have nothing to do with each other – repeated, on Monday, the EU deputy chief spokesperson, the Romanian Dana Spinant. The ECs latest communiqué on this topic dates to 2022 and stated that the European Union had serious concerns on the continued deterioration of democracy, the rule of law, fundamental rights and the independence of the judiciary in Turkey. (LS)


  • June 4, 2023 UPDATE

    June 4, 2023 UPDATE

    Pentecost — The majority Orthodox Christians in Romania and the Greek Catholics will celebrate on Monday, the second day of Pentecost, dedicated to the Holy Trinity. On the second day of Pentecost in some areas of the country pots are offered to people, which should be decorated with flowers and be accompanied by a bread ring with a candle on top for those who have passed away. Beautifully decorated plates are also given away for the living. Pentecost or the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles marks the foundation of the Christian Church and is celebrated 50 days after Easter. According to the New Testament, the 12 Apostles, gathered in a house, received the Holy Spirit, who gave them the power to preach in languages ​​they had never spoken before. Following the sermon of the Apostle Peter, 3,000 people were baptized and formed the first Christian community. In churches, on Pentecost day, the faithful receive blessed walnut leaves, symbols of the flames that appeared above the heads of the Apostles, at the time of the Descent of the Holy Spirit.



    Prize – Human rights and human dignity are key elements for the construction of societies characterized by freedom, democracy and solidarity, President Klaus Iohannis said on Sunday, upon receiving the Franz Werfel Prize for Human Rights for the year 2023, during a ceremony held in Frankfurt on Main. The head of the Romanian state showed that for Romania, the people belonging to national minorities represent not only a rich cultural and human heritage, but also a real added value for the whole society. During the ceremony, the Laudatio speech was delivered by Jean-Claude Juncker, former President of the European Commission and former Prime Minister of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, who highlighted the merits of President Klaus Iohannis in the fight against corruption, in the observance of the rule of law and the protection of minorities. On Saturday, also in Germany, the Romanian president received the German Civic Award, granted by the Bad Harzburg Civic Foundation, in Dusseldorf. In his acceptance speech, Klaus Iohannis reiterated Romanias support for the European values, which gives legitimacy to the citizens desire to benefit from integration into the Schengen Area. He reminded that Romania fully meets the criteria for integration, managing the external borders with responsibility and efficiency. The foundation decided to award the prize based on the evaluation of the entire political career of the Romanian head of state.



    Visit — King Charles III of Great Britain continues his private visit to Romania. On Saturday and Sunday, the British sovereign walked the streets of Valea Zălanului village in Covasna county (center), where he owns three houses. Dressed casually, the king was welcomed by the locals with flowers. He talked with the villagers and tourists who came especially to see him, and he also visited some picturesque places in the area. I love to come to Romania, said the monarch. Charles III was received, on Friday, at the Cotroceni Palace, by President Klaus Iohannis. It is the first visit that a British monarch pays to Romania, and also the first foreign trip of the sovereign since his coronation, which took place last month. As a Crown Prince, Charles visited Romania several times, the first time in 1998 and he declared himself an admirer of the country. He got involved in preserving the Romanian cultural heritage, buying and restoring old houses in the countryside, which he saved from destruction. In 2017, the Presidency granted him the National Order “Star of Romania” in the rank of Grand Cross.



    Tennis — The Romanian tennis player Gabriela Ruse and Marta Kostyuk from Ukraine lost, on Sunday, in three sets, 7-6, 4-6, 2-6, the match in the round of 16 of the womens doubles in the Grand Slam tournament at Roland Garros, against Jessica Pegula and CoCo Gauff, both from the USA. Ruse and Kostyuk were seeded 13th at Roland Garros, one of the most important international tennis tournaments.



    Turkey – The Romanian Foreign Minister, Bogdan Aurescu, congratulated Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on behalf of Romania, for his reconfirmation as President of Turkey and wished him success in fulfilling his new mandate, during the investiture ceremony that took place on Saturday. The event was attended by heads of state and government, ministers of foreign affairs, as well as representatives of the diplomatic corps accredited to Ankara, among whom the NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg. He is in Turkey also for discussions aimed at solving the objections of the Ankara administration regarding the ratification of Swedens request for NATO membership. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry, the Romanian officials participation in the ceremony reflects Romanias desire to strengthen the bilateral Strategic Partnership, based on consistent political dialogue and close cooperation in a wide range of sectoral fields. For Romania, Turkey is the second commercial partner outside the EU and the first destination of Romanian exports outside the Union, last year the volume of exchanges registering almost 9.6 billion dollars. Recep Tayyip Erdogan took oath as president for the third time. On May 28, in the second round of voting, he defeated the candidate of the united opposition, Kemal Kilicdaroglu. The Turkish leader dominated the countrys politics for 20 years, first as prime minister, then as president, but critics accuse him of authoritarianism and mismanagement of the economy. (LS)

  • Sports Club

    Sports Club

    The domestic volleyball championship
    just ended in Romania with the country’s cup finals held in Pitesti last
    weekend. The winner was CSM Lugoj, which won the trophy for the first time in
    the club’s history. Lugoj outperformed CSM Targoviste 3-1 on Sunday and also
    secured a 3-2 win against the defending champions Volleyball Alba Blaj in the semis
    on Sunday. It was a very good season for the side in Lugoj, which secured the
    country’s cup and supercup trophies and also played in the finals of the
    Challenge Cup. Dan Brudiu, president of CSM Lugoj told us more on these
    performances.

    Dan Brudiu: We had
    an extraordinarily difficult match in autumn, when we eliminated the
    representative of Turkey, a first for a Romanian volleyball side. As you may
    know, Turkey, Italy, Russia and Poland are the countries with the best
    volleyball sides in Europe. And so is Serbia. So, the match against the
    representative of Turkey was a crucial stage in our European performance. We also
    managed to outperform the vice-champions of Portugal, Kairos Ponta Delgada, and
    two extremely strong sides, Beveren of Belgium, a former CEV Cup winner, and particularly
    Jedinstvo Stara Pazova, the incumbent champions of Serbia, which we managed to
    defeat in the semis. The finals against Chieri was a real slice and it was an
    honour to put up such a great performance in front of more than 4000 fans in
    Turin. Like I said it was a great opportunity of putting up such a high-quality
    show.




    Romania’s men volleyball side is presently in
    a full training campaign in Brasov, central Romania in an attempt to get in
    good shape for their Golden League matches. They will have their first away match
    against Portugal on May 27. They will take on Denmark in an away match on 31
    May and on Turkey four days later. Romania will play their last three games at
    home, in Brasov, on 10 June against Turkey, four days later against Denmark and
    against Portugal on 18 June.


    (bill)

  • Sports Club

    Sports Club

    The domestic volleyball championship
    just ended in Romania with the country’s cup finals held in Pitesti last
    weekend. The winner was CSM Lugoj, which won the trophy for the first time in
    the club’s history. Lugoj outperformed CSM Targoviste 3-1 on Sunday and also
    secured a 3-2 win against the defending champions Volleyball Alba Blaj in the semis
    on Sunday. It was a very good season for the side in Lugoj, which secured the
    country’s cup and supercup trophies and also played in the finals of the
    Challenge Cup. Dan Brudiu, president of CSM Lugoj told us more on these
    performances.

    Dan Brudiu: We had
    an extraordinarily difficult match in autumn, when we eliminated the
    representative of Turkey, a first for a Romanian volleyball side. As you may
    know, Turkey, Italy, Russia and Poland are the countries with the best
    volleyball sides in Europe. And so is Serbia. So, the match against the
    representative of Turkey was a crucial stage in our European performance. We also
    managed to outperform the vice-champions of Portugal, Kairos Ponta Delgada, and
    two extremely strong sides, Beveren of Belgium, a former CEV Cup winner, and particularly
    Jedinstvo Stara Pazova, the incumbent champions of Serbia, which we managed to
    defeat in the semis. The finals against Chieri was a real slice and it was an
    honour to put up such a great performance in front of more than 4000 fans in
    Turin. Like I said it was a great opportunity of putting up such a high-quality
    show.




    Romania’s men volleyball side is presently in
    a full training campaign in Brasov, central Romania in an attempt to get in
    good shape for their Golden League matches. They will have their first away match
    against Portugal on May 27. They will take on Denmark in an away match on 31
    May and on Turkey four days later. Romania will play their last three games at
    home, in Brasov, on 10 June against Turkey, four days later against Denmark and
    against Portugal on 18 June.


    (bill)

  • May 14, 2023

    May 14, 2023

    Commemoration — The wounds caused by communism will never be fully healed, and our duty is to cultivate, every day, the respect for democratic values, as well as for the historical truth, and to educate the younger generations in this sense. This message was conveyed on Sunday by the Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă on the occasion of the National Remembrance Day of Martyrs of Communist Prisons. “75 years ago, on the night of May 14/15, 1948, the communist authorities launched a vast repressive operation, marking the beginning of a long series of horrors. For almost half a century, Romania was in the darkness of totalitarianism, all the strongholds of democracy being destroyed, one by one” the prime minister said in his message. According to him, all this ordeal ended in December 1989, through blood sacrifice, when Romanians won the fight for freedom and democracy.



    Education – The draft laws of Education, of higher and pre-university education, will enter, as of Monday, the debate of the Senate in Bucharest, which is the decision-making body in this case. The changes brought in the Chamber of Deputies are supported by the parties in the governing coalition, which state that the new measures will reform the educational system. On the other hand, the opposition representatives believe that the problems in education will not be solved with the adoption of these laws. According to the calendar established by the leadership of the Senate, the specialized committee must give a report by May 19. Save Romania Union – USR requested an extension of the calendar, given that, they claim, a hasty adoption of documents of such complexity would harm education. The deputies substantially modified the two bills compared to the form adopted by the Government, hundreds of amendments being accepted. The laws might equally undergo changes in the Senate as well.



    Museums — More than 300 cultural events took place as part of the European Night of the Museums 2023, which took place on Saturday in a joint edition between Romania and the Republic of Moldova (an ex-Soviet state with a majority Romanian-speaking population). Of these, about 60 events took place in Bucharest in museums, art galleries, cultural and exhibition centers. The special guest of the Night of Museums 2023 was the world-wide phenomenon museum – War Childhood Museum, for the first time in Romania. The Romanian Athenaeum, the Football Museum and the Bucharest Chamber of Commerce and Industry participated in this initiative for the first time this year. The National Art Museum of Romania turned on its lights on Saturday, thus joining museums from dozens of European countries that opened their doors on the same night.



    Forum — The Romanian Foreign Minister, Bogdan Aurescu, represented Romania, on Saturday, in the EU Ministerial Forum for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, organized in Stockholm by the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The forum included a series of simultaneous debates organized in the form of round tables dedicated to connectivity, energy and security. Bogdan Aurescu co-moderated the round table on security issues, entitled Joint management of security challenges in the Indo-Pacific. In his speech, the Romanian FM highlighted the interdependence relationship between the EU and the Indo-Pacific in terms of consolidating the prosperity of the two regions, the prospects for intensifying cooperation between the EU and the region, as well as the ways of jointly defining and combating security threats. According to the Romanian official, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia has a major impact on global stability and prosperity, being not just a regional conflict, as it has effects at the world level. In this context, Bogdan Aurescu presented Romanias consistent and multidimensional efforts in support of Ukraine, as well as in support of the Ukrainian citizens affected by the war.



    Elections – The first round of the presidential election is taking place in Turkey on Sunday. In power for over two decades, the current head of state, the Islamic-conservative Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is facing what the press calls “the toughest challenge of his career”. His secular opponent, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, is leading in opinion polls. He promised to restore democracy and improve Turkeys relations with the West. If none of the candidates gets more than 50% of the votes, a second round of voting will take place in two weeks’ time. (LS)

  • April 12, 2023 UPDATE

    April 12, 2023 UPDATE

    Ordinance – The public expenditure reform bill should be ready next week, the Romanian Finance Minister Adrian Câciu announced. Until then, the Government members will present solutions to reduce expenses in their areas of responsibility. The Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă asked them not to plan salary cuts or give up investments. He also said that he wanted to improve the collection of taxes, not to increase taxes. All in all, the cuts should amount to 20 billion lei – approximately 4 billion Euros – by the end of the year. On Wednesday, the Romanian government approved an emergency decree that provides for simplification and digitalization measures for the management of European funds for the 2021-2027 Cohesion Policy. Also on Wednesday, the program through which the Romanian state financially supports the refugees from Ukraine was modified: from now on they will receive an amount of money per person, for four consecutive months. After this period, they will be able to benefit from unemployment or enter the employment program, but before that, they must register with the employment offices. Those who host the refugees will no longer receive money for accommodation and food, as was the case until now.



    Aid – The Romanian government will grant a first installment of the financial aid intended to compensate for the losses caused by the conflict in Ukraine to cattle breeders and the dairy market. More than 21 million Euros will be granted starting on May 15, with a second tranche, worth 22 million Euros, to be disbursed in the second semester. Following Tuesday evening’s consultations between the government team led by the Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă and the representatives of dairy processors and big store chains, a price reduction for milk was agreed upon for the next six months. Also to support the consumption of milk produced in Romania, the Government wants to expand the “Hot Lunch in Schools” Program starting next year. Thus, pupils will receive milk every day at school, not just three times a week, as happens at present.



    Visit – The European Commission has identified 15 companies, from 11 countries, where the production capacity in the defense industry could be increased, and Romania is one of these countries, said the European Commissioner for Internal Market, Thierry Breton. On Wednesday, he visited two factories in Romanias defense industry. Breton previously met in Bucharest with the Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă, and, following talks, he stated that Romania would be able to play an even more important role in the defense industry, in the context of the war in neighboring Ukraine. Breton highlighted the fact that Romania increased the budget allocated to defense from 2% to 2.5% of the GDP, giving Romania as an example to follow. The discussions with Nicolae Ciucă also focused on cyber security, the European commissioner saying that the field should be competitive.



    Gymnastics — Romania’s mens team ranked 11th, on Tuesday, at the European Championships in Artistic Gymnastics in Antalya (Turkey), thus qualifying for the World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium. The Romanian athletes needed to be ranked among the first 13 teams to obtain qualification for the World Cup, a competition that will decide the teams that will participate in the 2024 Olympics. Italy won the gold medals, the silver went to Turkey, and Great Britain got the bronze.



    Motion — In Bucharest, Save Romania Union – USR and ‘Forţa Dreptei’ – Force of the Right party (both opposition) tabled a simple motion to the Chamber of Deputies against the Agriculture Minister, Petre Daea. The signatories claim that he is the weakest agriculture minister in the last 30 years, registering failure after failure and endangering both Romanias economy and development, as well as the countrys food security. They accuse him of willingly destroying Romanian agriculture. This is what people can see in the markets where the prices are the highest in the last 30 years, said the leader of the USR deputies, Ionuţ Moşteanu, who announced the initiative. The motion will be voted on next Wednesday.



    NATO – The Romanian Defense Minister Angel Tîlvăr and the Chief of the General Staff General Daniel Petrescu, met on Wednesday with the Chair of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Robert Bauer. He is visiting Romania from April 11 to 14. According to a press release from the Romanian Defense Ministry, talks will focus on the security situation in the Black Sea region, the dynamics of the implementation of allied measures to deter and defend the Euro-Atlantic area, NATO operations and missions, as well as major training events this year. (LS)