Radio România Internațional

Tag: visit to Israel

  • September 5, 2024

    September 5, 2024

    MEASURES – The Government yesterday passed an emergency decree designed to improve tax collection and boost investments made by central and local authorities. Taxpayers who pay their outstanding debts to the state budget by November 25 might see their interest rates, delay penalties and undeclared revenue penalties written off. According to official data, 330 thousand legal entities and over 840 thousand natural persons might be affected by the measures. The Government also seeks to reward taxpayers with no outstanding debts. The measures are estimated to reduce the budget deficit by nearly 1.8 bln EUR, considering Romania has one of the highest deficits at EU level.

     

    ARREST – Sociologist Alfred Bulai, a former professor at the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (SNSPA) has been detained for 24 hours after previously being deposed in an investigation into abuse of office for obtaining sexual favors and for sexual abuse. Prosecutors Wednesday searched the home and vehicle of Alfred Bulai. The University dean Cristian Pîrvulescu and Bulai’s assistant were also called to give their deposition. Last month prosecutors also lifted a number of documents from the University premises. According to an investigation carried out by Snoop, Alfred Bulai reportedly submitted several of his students to various forms of sexual abuse.

     

    MOLDOVA – Moldova’s EU accession process will make good progress next year during Poland’s term at the helm of the EU Council, Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk said during yesterday’s visit to Chișinău. The Polish official met his Moldovan counterpart, Dorin Recean, and held a speech in Parliament in Romanian, boycotted by the pro-Russian opposition. Donald Tusk then met the president of Moldova, Maia Sandu, who argued that Poland is a clear example of how EU integration can transform a country. The presidents of Romania and Baltic States also paid visits to Chișinău last week to express support for Moldova’s EU accession efforts. In October, the Republic of Moldova will host a referendum regarding the country’s EU accession, jointly with the presidential election.

     

    VISIT – Romania’s Prime Minister, Marcel Ciolacu, is today paying a visit to Israel, accompanied by a delegation including Defense Minister Angel Tîlvăr, Foreign Minister Luminița Odobescu, Minister for Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism Radu Oprea, and MP Silviu Vexler, the president of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Romania. The Prime Minister’s agenda includes meetings with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanjahu and with the Minister for Strategic Affairs, Ron Dermer. Marcel Ciolacu will also hold talks with Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, followed by a meeting in Parliament with Israeli officials. Ministers part of the Romanian delegation will in turn hold bilateral talks with their counterparts, namely Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz and Minister of Economy and Industry Nir Barkat.

     

    FOOTBALL – Romania’s national football team is tomorrow playing its debut match in the 2024-2025 season of Nations League. In the first group fixture, Romania will play Kosovo away from home, while on September 9 it will take on Lithuania at home. Romania’s group, C2, also includes Cyprus. The top position ensures direct promotion to League 2 in the next season of Nations League, while teams in second place will play promotion playoffs. Teams in last place will be directly relegated to League D, while teams in third position will play in C2 the next season. Nations League standings also impact the European preliminary matches for the 2026 World Cup. Romania’s new headcoach is Mircea Lucescu, who returns to the national squad after 40 years. We recall Edward Iordnănescu resigned at the end of EURO 2024, a tournament where Romania reached the round of 16. (VP)

  • April 26, 2018

    April 26, 2018

    Tel Aviv — The Romanian PM Viorica Dăncilă on Thursday met with the Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on the last day of her official visit to Israel. She will also meet with the Greek-Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Teophilus III, and will visit Jerusalem’s Old City. Viorica Dăncilă and her Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu highlighted the excellent level of bilateral relations. The Romanian official appreciated the interest of the Israeli authorities in concluding a partnership in the field of the new technologies, which will allow for running common projects. The two also discussed issues related to cooperation in the military, strategic and cyber security fields. In another move, the two officials also talked about moving the Romanian Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Benjamin Netanyahu hailing the decision of the Romanian government to start assessing this move. Another issue on the agenda of talks was the appointment of a Romanian ambassador to Israel given that for almost one year and a half Bucharest has not sent a diplomat mission to that country.



    Diplomacy — The speaker of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies Liviu Dragnea is today meeting with the Israeli president Reuven Rivlin and with the PM Benjamin Netanyahu as part of his official visit to Israel. The visit takes place at the invitation of the Israeli PM in the context of the anniversary of 70 years of diplomatic relations between Romania and Israel and of 70 years since Israel proclaimed its independence.



    Protests — Thousands of Romanian healthcare employees are today participating in Bucharest in a protest rally organized by the Sanitas trade union federation. Trade unionists are discontented with the drop in the salaries of some of the healthcare staff following the implementation of the new salary scheme, which provides for a maximum cap on benefits of 30%. According to the rally organizers, there are two categories of employees, physicians and nurses, whose salaries have increased, but there are at least 7 other categories whose salaries dropped by 350 Euros per month. The protest rally held in Bucharest will be followed by a token strike scheduled for May 7 and on May 11 trade unionists intend to start an all-out strike in the healthcare and social services system.



    Veterans Day – The Romanian Defense Ministry is organizing, as of Thursday until Sunday, in all garrisons across Romania, manifestations devoted to the War Veterans Day. Manifestations include military and religious ceremonies, wreath laying ceremonies, solemn meetings of the associations of war veterans, shows and exhibitions. Similar manifestations devoted to the memory of the Romanian soldiers will be held at commemorative monuments in the Czech Republic, the Republic of Moldova, Russia, Slovakia and Hungary. The Veterans Day is celebrated every year on April 29 and marks the merits of war veterans in defending Romania’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. e in the healthcare and social services system.



    Venice Commission — The Monitoring Commission of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly approved the request of the Romanian right wing opposition party, the National Liberal Party, to ask the Venice Commission for an opinion regarding the modifications to the justice laws proposed by the ruling coalition made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats. The Liberals explained that they resorted to this gesture after the repeated refusals of the coalition to ask for the opinion of international experts regarding these modifications. Some of these modifications to the justice laws adopted by parliament in winter resulted in large-scale street protests.



    Tennis — The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, world’s no.1, has qualified to the quarterfinals of the WTA tournament in Stuttgart, which awards total prizes worth 816,000 dollars. Halep defeated Slovak Magdalen Rybarikova (18 WTA) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. Next Simona Halep will take on the winner of the match pitting the German Laura Siegemund against CoCo Vandeweghe of the US. Halep was defeated, in the past 2 years, in Stuttgart by the German Laura Siegemund, in 2016 in the eight finals and in 2017 in the semifinals.



    Handball — 4 handball players with CSM Bucharest, Paula Ungureanu, Cristina Neagu, Marfit Frafjord and Camille Ayglon Saurina were nominated for the ideal team of the women’s handball Champions League as part of a survey conducted by the European Handball Federation. On May 12 CSM Bucharest, Romania’s champions, will take on the Hungarian team Gyori Audi ETO KC, a trophy holder, in the semifinals of the Champions League, at the Final4 tournament in Budapest. In the other semifinal, Rostov on Don (Russia) will be up against Vardar Skopje (Macedonia). CSM Bucharest won the Champions League in 2016 and in 2017 it got the 3rd position. (news translated by Lacramioara Simion)

  • February 26, 2018 UPDATE

    February 26, 2018 UPDATE

    ANTICORRUPTION — The head of the National Anticorruption Directorate, Laura Codruta Kovesi, on Tuesday is due to appear before the Superior Council of Magistracy, as a first step in the process Justice Minister Tudorel Toader has started with a view to removing Kovesi from office. The Council’s Prosecutors’ Department is expected to rule on the Justice Minister’s request. Under the law, the Superior Council of Magistracy is due to issue an opinion in this matter and refer it to President Klaus Iohannis, who will make a final decision. In another development, large-scale protests were staged in Bucharest and other large cities across the country against the Social-Democratic Party, the main coalition party in Romania, and against Justice Minister Tudorel Toader. The protests started on Thursday evening, in the wake of a report Toader presented to the media, whereby he started proceedings to having Kovesi removed from office. Toader accused Kovesi of overstepping the bounds of her authority, getting personally involved in some of the pending cases and of not investigating certain prosecutors suspected of having abused their position. The Justice Minister also claimed that the National Anticorruption chief defied Parliament’s authority on numerous occasions and challenged rulings of the Constitutional Court. Backed by the Parliament majority held by the Social-Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, Toader’s report has been harshly criticized by the right-wing opposition.



    FAC – Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu on Monday took part in Brussels in the monthly meeting of the EUs Foreign Affairs Council, where he discussed with his counterparts the situation in the Republic of Moldova, the crisis in Venezuela, and the Middle East peace process. On this occasion Minister Melescanu hailed the progress Moldova has reported, reiterating Romania’s full support for the EU integration of its neighbor state. On the sidelines of the Council meeting, the Romanian Foreign Minister chaired the meeting of the Group for Moldova’s European Action, with Moldovan Foreign Minister Tudor Ulianovschi as special guest. On Tuesday, Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila will travel to Moldova to discuss with her counterpart Pavel Filip the bolstering of cooperation between the two states.



    RULING — The High Court of Cassation and Justice in Bucharest Monday ruled against a request from the National Anti-Corruption Directorate to re-open an investigation which may involve Social Democratic Deputy Prime Minister Paul Stanescu. Judicial sources claim that the case started from a memo issued by the Court of Accounts regarding embezzlement involving the county council of Olt county, which Stanescu was head of between 2008 and 2016, with the fraudulently obtained funds allegedly being used to finance a soccer team. The official said he would resign if he is indicted in this case.




    WEATHER — Bucharest and 27 counties, mostly in the east and south of Romania, are under extreme cold weather warning until March 1. In these areas, low temperatures will be around the record lows registered in previous years. Maximums will frequently fluctuate between -12 and -8 degrees Celsius, with minimums of -22 and -12 degrees. Thousands of intervention workers have been mobilized in case of emergencies. Traffic has been cut off by snow on two national motorways in the south, and three Black Sea ports have been shut down by strong wind.



    VISIT — Romanian Defense Minister Mihai Fifor is on a three-day official visit to Israel, invited by his counterpart, Avigdor Lieberman. The main points on the agenda are defense cooperation and the security situation worldwide. This year, Romania and Israel celebrate 70 years of continuous diplomatic relations.



    FLU — The flu has killed 57 people in Romania this season according to the latest toll published by the National Centre for the Supervision and Control of Communicable Diseases. 800 people have the flu virus, mostly in Bucharest and the counties of Constanta, in the south-east, Brasov, in the centre, and Iasi, in the north-east. The authorities advise people to get vaccinated, and the health ministry says around 80,000 vaccine doses are still available. So far 920,000 have received vaccination. The healthcare minister Sorina Pintea says Romania is not faced with a flu epidemic.



    TENNIS — Romanian tennis player Simona Halep is back at the top of the WTA standings, published on Sunday, after five weeks of being second to Danish player Caroline Wozniacki. The latter replaced her after winning the finals in the Australian Open. Halep held the first place in the world between October 2017 and January 2018. Five other Romanians are in the top 100 in the world. Sorana Cirstea is up one place, to 35, Irina Begu went up two notches, to 36, and Mihaela Buzarnescu went up one place, to 38. Monica Niculescu went down three places to 72, and Ana Bogdan climbed one step, to 86.


    (Translated by C. Cotoiu & V. Palcu)