Radio România Internațional

Tag: uprising

  • December 20, 2023 UPDATE

    December 20, 2023 UPDATE

    BUDGET Romania’s Parliament Wednesday endorsed the 2024 state budget
    and social security budget bills, backed by the parliamentary majority made up
    of the Social Democratic Party and the National Liberal Party. Next year,
    Romania’s budget will focus on investments of roughly 7% of GDP and a 3.4%
    economic growth rate, while the estimated budget deficit is 5% of GDP. According
    to PM Marcel Ciolacu, the 2024 budget is aimed at development and equity, is based
    on investment and secures the required funding for the promised pension and
    salary increases. The opposition on the other hand argues that the budget is
    built on unrealistic estimates which will fail to ensure economic development.


    EVASION The Romanian Chamber of Deputies passed new measures to curb
    tax evasion. Failure to withhold taxes and charges, submitting accounting
    documents for fictitious expenses, keeping double accounting records or the use
    of cash registers that are not connected to the National Information Control
    System will be considered offences. Punishments, which range from one to ten
    years in prison, are harsher for repeat offenders.


    TIMIŞOARA The western Romanian city of Timişoara Wednesday marked 34
    years since it declared itself the first city free of communism in Romania. To
    celebrate the victory against communism, several events took place, including
    short film and documentary screenings, and a marathon tour at the Brâncuşi
    exhibition at the Art Museum. 34 years ago, after the repression of the
    uprising that started on December 17, big factory workers went on strike and
    gathered in the centre of the city. In front of the crowd, the army withdrew to
    the barracks, the people arrested were released and the Romanian Democratic
    Front was established. From Timisoara, the people’s uprising against the regime
    led by the dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu spread to several other cities in the
    country. Over 1,000 people lost their lives and around 3,000 were injured in
    the events.


    AWARD The president
    of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, was awarded on Wednesday the Timişoara
    for European values prize. The award and the EUR 30,000 prize will be handed
    to her on January 12-13. According to Timişoara’s Mayor Dominic Fritz, in
    selecting Maia Sandu as the recipient of this prize, the jury appreciated her
    clear stand on Moldova’s integrity, and her determination in pursuing the goal
    of Moldova’s European integration.


    MIGRATION MEPs and
    the representatives of EU member states have reached an agreement on a
    comprehensive approach to the Union’s migration and asylum policies, one of the
    most toxic political topics facing the bloc in recent years. The document is
    aimed at standardising and stepping up migrant verification procedures at the
    EU’s external borders, a solidarity mechanism and the repatriation of the
    migrants ineligible for the refugee status. (AMP)

  • Russia – UPDATE

    Russia – UPDATE

    RUSSIA Bucharest is closely monitoring the
    developments in Russia. President Klaus Iohannis announced he was updated
    constantly and that Romania is in contact with the Allied countries. A similar
    message came from PM Marcel Ciolacu, who said he was receiving regular updates
    from the defence and the foreign ministries. The US, UK, France, Germany, Italy,
    Poland and the European Union and NATO in turn announced they were monitoring
    the situation. The leader of the Wagner paramilitary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, stated on Saturday that he entered Russia with his
    troops in order to topple the country’s military leaders, and vowed he was
    ready to die alongside his 25,000 troops in order to liberate the Russian
    people. Russia’s prosecutor general’s office announced a mutiny investigation
    was underway against Prigozhin, who accused the army of striking his fighters. The
    Russian authorities have tightened security in Moscow and a few other regions
    in Russia. President Vladimir Putin accused Wagner of treason, and said all
    those taking part in the armed
    uprising would be punished. Until
    recently, Wagner mercenaries were deployed in Ukraine alongside the regular
    Russian army. (AMP)

  • June 24, 2023

    June 24, 2023

    PRICES
    Romania is the EU member country with the smallest prices for foodstuffs and soft
    drinks, according to the European Statistics Office. Specifically, in Romania, such
    products were nearly 30% cheaper than the European average. In fact, Romania
    also saw the lowest levels of household end consumer prices. At the opposite
    pole, Ireland, Denmark and Luxembourg are the most expensive countries to live
    in. The most significant differences were in terms of alcohol and tobacco
    prices-such products are over 3 times more expensive in Denmark compared to Bulgaria.
    The latter country also reports the lowest prices in the hospitality industry.


    RUSSIA In an emergency tv broadcast on Saturday,
    Russia’s president Vladimir Putin said
    an armed uprising by the Wagner paramilitary group would be considered
    treason and that anyone rising against the Russian army will be punished. He also
    added that decisive action will be taken to stabilise the situation in Rostov-on-Don,
    the southern city where the Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin claims his fighters
    have taken control of military facilities. Previously, Prigozhin hinted that his mercenaries
    were heading for Moscow, Reuters reports. Prigozhin accused the Russian army of striking a
    Wagner military camp, which he used as a
    pretext for what he called a march of justice, arguing that he had 25,000 men
    ready to fight the evil at the top of the army. Yevgeny Prigozhin was accused of armed rebellion, and
    the authorities ordered he be arrested. Russia’s
    National Anti-Terrorism Committee announced an anti-terrorist alert in and around
    Moscow.


    BLOUSE Every year on 24 June, the Romanian blouse is
    celebrated both in the country and in Romanian communities around the world. The
    Universal Day of the Romanian Blouse is a cultural diplomacy instrument and a
    means to promote Romanian culture and traditions. The country hosts events
    devoted to the traditional blouse, ia, including an Art Safary exhibition of
    folk costumes in Bucharest, screenings and creative workshops for children, as
    well as a fashion show featuring the traditional blouse as a street wear element.
    Some museums, including the Ethnography Museum in Braşov and ASTRA Museum in
    Sibiu, received visitors free of charge if they come dressed in traditional
    blouses. Last year the Romanian blouse was included in the UNESCO Heritage list.


    THEATRE
    The central Romanian city of Sibiu, a European capital of culture in 2007, is
    hosting the International Theatre Festival, currently in its 30th
    year. This year’s theme is Miracle.
    Until 2 July, 825 indoor and outdoor events
    will take place, bringing together some 5,000 artists and guests from 75 countries.
    All the outdoor performances are free of charge. The festival also keeps its
    online section, which includes 40 shows. The official opening took place on
    Friday night, with the play A Cathedral Full of Organs staged at the Lutheran
    Cathedral of St. Mary in Sibiu.


    HOLIDAY Orthodox and Greek-Catholic
    Christians celebrate today the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, the last Old
    Testament prophet. St. John the Baptist was born 6 months before Jesus; he
    urged people to repent their sins and baptised them in the River Jordan. John
    also baptised Jesus, presenting him to the world as the Mesiah. The Christian
    feast day of St. John the Baptist overlaps a pre-Christian tradition in which
    24 June was devoted to the Sânziene, gentle fairies believed to bring fertility
    and wealth. (AMP)

  • December 22, 2021 UPDATE

    December 22, 2021 UPDATE

    REVOLUTION The heroes who died in the December 1989 anti-communist
    uprising were commemorated on Wednesday in Bucharest. Religious services and
    military ceremonies were held at the cemeteries and monuments across the
    country devoted to those who sacrificed their lives for freedom. Thirty-two years ago, Bucharest became the heart of the
    protests that culminated with the ousting of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. The
    president of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, sent a message on the Day of
    the Victory of the Romanian Revolution and of Freedom. December 1989 opened
    Romania’s path to democracy, allowed for our NATO and EU accession, for signing
    the Strategic Partnership with the USA and turned Romania into a regional
    security provider. None of this would have been possible without our
    anti-communist revolution, Iohannis pointed out. He said it is a shame that no one has paid for the victims of the terrible
    crackdown and called on the judiciary to bring the ones responsible to justice.


    BUDGET The draft state budget and
    social security budget laws for 2022 are being discussed by the Parliament of
    Romania. At the start of the session, PM Nicolae Ciucă said the proposed state
    budget is balanced, responsible and realistic, and able to consolidate the
    economy in the long run. He also said it is the budget that earmarked the
    largest amounts for investments in the last 32 years. Cuica promised that taxes
    will not go up and there will be no pressure on the business community.
    Previously, Parliament’s specialised committees had green-lighted the bills. The budget is based on an
    estimated economic growth rate of 4.6% and a GDP of some 260 billion euro, a
    predicted inflation rate of 6.5% and gross average salaries of 1,200 euros per
    month. USR party in opposition is considering
    taking the draft budget law to the Constitutional Court, claiming that mayors
    from that party have not received budget appropriations, which is an instance
    of discrimination.


    PROTESTS The
    Romanian police arrested 2 people and fined around 200 organisers and
    participants in Wednesday’s protest of the supporters of AUR party, an ultra-nationalist
    and anti-vaccine party in Romania’s parliament. The protest was sparked by the
    authorities’ plan to make the digital COVID certificate a requirement at the
    workplace. The rally spiralled into vandalism, with one of the arrested
    participants pushing through the Parliament’s gates and the other suspected of
    having vandalised 4 vehicles. The investigation continues.



    COVID-19     Nearly 200,000 people have generated digital
    forms to enter Romanian territory since the launch of the application, most of
    them at the ‘Henri Coandă’ International Airport in Bucharest. As of December
    20, all passengers arriving in Romania are to fill in the Passenger Locator
    Form (PLF), a document used by 18 EU member countries. Meanwhile, 851 new Covid-19
    infections were reported for the past 24 hours in Romania, along with 62 related fatalities, 18 of them from a
    previous date. As many as 2,830 SARS-CoV-2 patients are hospitalised, including
    62 children. More than 7.7 million people in Romania are fully vaccinated. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • December 21, 2021

    December 21, 2021

    COMMEMORATION The
    heroes of the anti-communist uprising of December 1989 are commemorated in
    Bucharest today. Religious services and military ceremonies are held at the
    Revolution Heroes Cemetery and at the dedicated monuments downtown. Similar
    events are scheduled on Wednesday at the Romanian Revolution Heroes Monument,
    at the Radio Hall and the Romanian Television Corporation. Originating in Timișoara
    (west), on 16th December, the uprising spread across the country,
    culminating with dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu fleeing the capital city on 22nd
    December amid the protests of hundreds of thousands of Romanians. Captured by
    the Army, Ceauşescu and his wife Elena were subject to a summary trial and
    executed in the southern town of Târgovişte. Romania was the only country behind the
    Iron Curtain where the change of regime was accompanied by bloodshed. Over 1,000
    people were killed and some 3,000 wounded.


    BUDGET The draft 2022 state budget and social security budget laws
    will be discussed and voted on in Parliament on Thursday. MPs have until this
    afternoon to table amendments. Also today, the budgets of the main public
    institutions are discussed in Parliament’s specialised committees. The
    government passed the bills on Monday and promised they are based on
    predictability and stability. The budget is based on an estimated
    economic growth rate of 4.6% and a GDP of some 260 billion euro, a predicted
    inflation rate of 6.5% and gross average salaries of 1,200 euros per month, with
    the budget deficit expected to stay within the limits agreed on with the
    European Commission under the excessive deficit procedure, namely 5.84% of GDP.
    The public pension fund will receive 7.32% of GDP. The Liberal
    president Florin Cîţu criticised the fact that only 6.7% of GDP was earmarked
    for investments, instead of 7% as agreed within the ruling coalition. The
    Social Democratic leader Marcel Ciolacu argued however that the budget
    execution is more important than the exact breakdown of expenditure. The leader
    of USR party in opposition, Dacian Cioloş, says the draft budget relies on
    over-estimated revenues and said although public education is a priority for
    President Iohannis, not enough funding has been earmarked for the sector.


    TALKS The PM of Romania Nicolae Ciucă continues his first visit
    to Brussels since taking over the office less than a month ago. After last
    night’s working dinner with the president of the European Council, Charles
    Michel, Nicolae Ciucă has meetings scheduled today with the head of the
    European Commission Ursula Von Der Leyen, and with the NATO secretary general,
    Jens Stoltenberg. Radio Romania’s correspondent in Brussels says Romania’s
    Schengen accession is a priority in the prime minister’s talks with EU
    officials. European security, with a focus on tensions in Romania’s
    neighbouring areas and at Ukraine’s eastern border, will be tackled in the
    meeting with the NATO secretary general.



    COVID-19 Traffic is hindered in downtown Bucharest today, as protesters
    encouraged by the nationalist opposition party AUR are picketing the Parliament
    Palace, disgruntled with the authorities’ plan to make the digital COVID
    certificate a requirement at the workplace. Measures to prevent a potential new
    pandemic wave were discussed by the health minister Alexandru Rafila with
    business community representatives, and the idea of a law making access to jobs
    conditional on the digital COVID certificate was put forth. According to the
    health ministry, the measure could be taken in case the number of COVID-19
    infections goes up 1.5 times for 3 consecutive weeks. Today the
    authorities announced 826 new COVID infections in 24 hours, and 88 related
    fatalities, 22 of them from a previous date. Since the start of the pandemic, some 1.8 million COVID-19
    cases have been reported in Romania and over 58,000 COVID patients died. Romania
    has the second-lowest vaccination rate in the EU, after Bulgaria. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • The anti – Communist uprising in Romania

    The anti – Communist uprising in Romania

    It is 27 years since Romanians won their freedom in the street, giving their lives to remove the illegal totalitarian and criminal regime instated after the war. In December 1989, over 1,000 people died and at least 3,000 were wounded in Romania.



    The uprising started in Timişoara (western Romania), where a spontaneous protest broke out in response to the Communist regime’s attempt to evacuate reformed pastor Laszlo Tokes, as he had leveled criticism against the regime in the international press.



    As usual for those times, the pastor’s criticism was interpreted as instigation to ethnic division. People gathered around the pastor’s house following the Communist authorities’ action, which they saw as another attempt to limit their religious freedom. On December 17th the protest extended to the center of the city, which became the scene of the anti-Communist slogans and chants that were inconceivable at the epoch.



    Faced with an unprecedented situation, the authorities ordered the army to go to the streets that were already teeming with the omnipresent informers of the then political police, the Securitate. The army intervened brutally and tens of people were killed. In order to completely remove any trace of the violent repression, the bodies were taken from the hospital morgue and sent to Bucharest where they were cremated and their ashes thrown into a storm drain as part of “Rose” operation.



    Nevertheless, protests continued until December 20 when the army fraternized with the protesters and withdrew to their barracks, the people arrested were freed and from the balcony of the Opera House in Timişoara the protesters declared Timişoara the first city “free of Communism”. The following day, the anti-Communist uprising extended to Bucharest and culminated on December 22nd with the fleeing of the dictatorial couple. Later the two dictators were caught and killed right on Christmas day after a superficial trial. 27 years on after those events Romanians are still waiting for answers about who opened fire on the anti-communist protesters.



    Initially classified, the Revolution File was re-opened this year after judges became aware of the superficial investigation conducted in the case. Military prosecutors announced the extension of prosecution in rem, the main charge in the case being crimes against humanity. According to magistrates, the new political and military power instated after 1989 ordered the killing and deprivation of freedom of many people in order to keep power. Through misinformation and manipulation the then leaders created the illusion of a civil war, the magistrates say. The division of the Army, the dissemination of false orders and information that eventually led to fighting between the army and the militia or between units of the army, was meant, according to prosecutors, to allow the new leaders to take over power and be legitimized.


  • 25 Years Since the Anti-Communist Revolution in Romania

    25 Years Since the Anti-Communist Revolution in Romania

    December 22nd, 1989, soon after Timisoara had proclaimed itself the first communism-free city in the country, and Bucharest had witnessed the first meeting during which dictator Ceausescu’s speech was interrupted by a discontent crowd, was the day when the Romanian Revolution gained its momentum. Twenty-five years on, Romanians are recalling the first hours of that day.



    Early in the morning, over 100 thousand people gathered in front of the Romanian Communist Party’s headquarters in downtown Bucharest, although the rally was blocked by militia, Securitate and army forces. Ceausescu tried, unsuccessfully though, to speak to the crowd from the building’s balcony. People started chanting anti-Ceausescu slogans and hooting the dictator. Protesters took over the Palace Square and forced their entry into the Central Committee’s headquarters, while the dictator and his wife fled the building on board a helicopter.



    On the 22nd of December, the army joined forces with the revolutionaries and power was taken over by the National Salvation Front. December 22nd was also the day when groups faithful to the communist regime opened fire against protesters, both in Bucharest and in other cities, and killed hundreds of them. Their actions only stopped after a shallow trial of Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu, who were executed just a few days later, on Christmas day.



    After 25 years, the heroes of the Romanian Anti-Communist Revolution are being commemorated all across the country. The pain of losing their loved ones and the dread they experienced back then have not gone away:



    “My husband had just turned 47 on December 12th and on the 23rd he was shot dead, at four o’clock in the morning, so on the 25th, instead of laying the Christmas table, I organized a memorial service for him.”



    “I was there, night after night, and I had my daughter with me. I was so afraid for her and for myself. I saw many people suffer, some I took to the hospital myself, and some died in my arms. I always come here with my wife to light candles for their souls.”



    Other people are sad that, although over one thousand people died back then, the guilty ones have not yet been disclosed. An INSCOP survey shows that almost 80% of the Romanians do not know the truth about the events of December 1989. More than one-third of them believe that what happened then was the will of the people, who could no longer bear the oppression of the communist regime. Another one-third of the Romanians, however, believe that it was actually a coup d’etat, staged by people who wanted to oust Ceausescu, while 20.9% say that the events were the consequence of the big powers’ decision to dismantle the communist system in Eastern Europe.