Radio România Internațional

Tag: war crimes

  • November 21, 2024 UPDATE

    November 21, 2024 UPDATE

    A roundup of local and international news.

    RULING – The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants on Thursday for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and the leader of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, Al-Masri, known as Mohammad Deif. The Hague-based court’s Pre-Trial Chamber rejected Israeli challenges to its jurisdiction and said there were sufficient grounds to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant committed war crimes and crimes against humanity by approving attacks on civilians in the Gaza Strip. The ICC also issued a warrant Thursday for the arrest of Muhammad Deif, Hamas’ military chief. Israel said in August that it had killed Deif but Hamas has not confirmed his death.

     

    ENERGY – The Bucharest Government on Friday adopted the national energy strategy for the next 10 years, with an extension until 2050. It aims at gradually shifting from coal-based production to natural gas-based production, which is less polluting, and, in the medium and long term, to nuclear energy. Three other economic strategies were also on the Government’s agenda. The first is the Romanian industrialization strategy for the period 2024-2030. This involves the transition of Romanian industry towards clean energy. The second strategy is the one regarding non-energy mineral resources and aims to develop an integrated chain in the mining industry, from research, exploitation and development to processing. The third national strategy is the one for market surveillance. It is about a single market and the need, on the one hand, to guarantee the free movement of products in the European Union and, on the other hand, to make sure that these products meet quality standards.

     

    ELECTION – The first round of the presidential election takes place in Romania on November 24. The second round is scheduled for December 8, and legislative elections are held on December 1. There are 13 candidates in the race for president, 10 supported by parties and 3 independents. There are 14 names on the ballots, but one of the candidates withdrew in favor of another. The authorities opened 950 polling stations for Romanians outside the borders, a record number. They can vote, in the first round of the presidential election, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

     

    TRACTORS – Small Romanian farms that own old and polluting tractors will be able to buy new ones by applying to the “Tractors Scrap” program. The budget allocated to the project by the administration of the environmental fund is 500 million lei (the equivalent of about 100 million Euros). The registration of the companies from which farmers can purchase the tractors starts on Friday and can be done until November 28 at the latest. The vouchers acquired by farmers will cover between 65% and 80% of the purchase value, which should not exceed 55,000 Euros.

     

    TOURISM – The autumn edition of the 2024 Romanian Tourism Fair opened on Thursday in Bucharest. Visitors have access to a wide range of promotional packages, exclusive discounts and holiday ideas for all tastes and budgets, the organizers say. More than 100 participating companies offer destinations from all over the world, and discounts on vacation packages during the fair are up to 50%. Among the participants are tour operators from Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Israel, Austria, Hungary, Egypt, Vietnam and Italy.

     

    EC – The right-wing, centrist and social democratic parties in the European Parliament reached, on Wednesday evening, a political agreement to approve the new European Commission makeup. The Romanian Roxana Mînzatu will thus become Executive Vice-president for People, Skills and Preparedness in the European Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen. The European Parliament will give its final vote on the new EC membership on November 27, in a plenary session in Strasbourg.

     

     

  • April 5, 2022

    April 5, 2022

    ADDRESS – Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday evening addressed, by video call, the plenary sitting of Romanias Parliament. He called for full embargo on Russia, saying that the European Union must deprive Russia of any economic and financial resource, to make it seek peace with Kyiv and the whole Europe. President Zelensky thanked Romanians for the way in which they welcomed Ukrainian refugees and voiced confidence that Romania would take part in Ukraine’s reconstruction programme, after the war.



    UKRAINE – Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky is today addressing the UN Security Council after saying it is in Kyiv’s best interest to have the most transparent investigation into the massacre of civilians in his country. Zelensky said on Monday night that at least 300 civilians were killed in Bucha, where mass graves and civilian corpses on the streets were found after Ukraine had regained control of the city. The Ukrainian president said he expected the number of victims to be even larger in Borodyanka and other towns seized by the Russians. Zelensky has accused Russia of genocide and has promised to bring to justice all Russian soldiers who committed these atrocities. US President Joe Biden has called for Vladimir Putin to be tried for war crimes, while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU has set up a Joint Investigation Team with Ukraine to collect evidence and investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity. In turn, the head of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola has accused Russia of committing war crimes in Ukraine. The Russian Ambassador to the UN, Vasyly Nebenzya, has denied any involvement of his country in the massacre in Bucha, calling the reports “a provocation.” The EU, the United States and their allies have announced new economic sanctions against Russia. Moreover, the United States and the UK called on Monday for Russia’s suspension from the UN Human Rights Council.



    REFUGEES — A large number of refugees have entered Romania after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. Solidarity with those over 650,000 neighbors and friends who came to Romania has been shown not only at the level of public institutions, but also at the level of NGOs and most importantly, at the level of Romanians, of simple citizens, PM Nicolae Ciuca has said. The situation of the Ukrainian refugees was on Monday on the agenda of talks between the Romanian PM and the US Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield. Millions of Ukrainians have fled the devastating war in their country.



    MOTION – The Save Romania Union (URS), in opposition, has today tabled a simple motion in the Chamber of Deputies, against environment minister Tanczos Barna. USR accuse him of destroying the environment, including by promoting the interests of the so called ‘timber mafia’. The motion’s initiators say Tanczos Barna has to resign for ignoring court rulings and for wasting large amounts that should be spent on truly useful projects.



    MEASURES – The ruling coalition in Romania is convening today to discuss social measures in support of vulnerable categories and economic measures such as increasing the value of meal vouchers and of hospital meals. According to the Social Democratic leader Marcel Ciolacu, vouchers worth 50 euros could be granted every two months to underprivileged families. Also, vouchers worth 30 euros could be granted to poor students for food, clothing and school kits. Coalition leaders also plan to increase the value of food vouchers to up to 6 euros and to double the amount for hospital meals to around 4 euros. In turn, the former Liberal leader, Florin Citu, said all measures that are to be taken must be carefully assessed, because, although they look good on paper, can destabilize economy. PM Nicolae Ciuca said these measures will have a budgetary impact of more than 3% of the GDP and that the authorities plan to use as many European funds as possible so as not to increase budget deficit. (EE)



  • War crimes in Ukraine

    War crimes in Ukraine

    Allegations of genocide
    and war crimes continue to target Putin’s Russia after the grim discoveries made
    by the Ukrainian army all around Kyiv, where a number of towns were captured by
    the invaders. The bodies of hundreds of dead civilians have been found, and
    forensic teams have already examined part of them, Ukraine’s prosecutor general
    has said. At the same time, investigators are deposing eye witnesses and
    gathering photo and video evidence. In Bucha alone, some 300 people were buried
    in mass graves, Ukrainian authorities say, accusing the Russian army of
    massacring the people of this town and committing atrocities in other towns
    that have been liberated. Russia has denied Ukraine’s accusations, claiming the
    images of corpses were doctored. The West was appalled by the images, and said
    it would introduce new sanctions against Moscow, although more is expected of
    its leaders, as Russia recently announced its true goal is the destruction of
    Ukraine.

    The tone changed in Bucharest as well, where president Klaus Iohannis
    said the dreadful images of Bucha and other Ukrainian cities is a message to
    the whole world that this illegal aggression must be stopped and the people
    responsible be held accountable. Russia’s invasion in Ukraine has terrible,
    unspeakable consequences – the images from Bucha and other cities in Ukraine
    should remind the whole world we need to stop this illegal aggression and the
    culprits must pay. International justice must prevail!, Iohannis tweeted. In
    turn, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă called on international courts of
    law to prosecute what he described as the terrible crimes committed in
    Ukraine by Russian soldiers. Children, women, civilians abused and killed in
    cold blood await their justice, the prime minister wrote on the Government’s
    Twitter page.

    Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu firmly condemned the atrocities
    in Bucha and other cities and asked that the culprits be brought before the
    International Court of Justice. The president of the Republic of Moldova, Maia
    Sandu, expressed her shock, decreeing Monday a day of national mourning in
    memory of the victims killed so far in Ukraine. We were shocked by the
    massacre of Bucha. Moldova firmly condemns these crimes against humanity, as well
    as this illegal and unprovoked war launched by the Russian Federation against
    Ukraine, president Sandu wrote on Facebook. (VP)



  • November 22, 2017 UPDATE

    November 22, 2017 UPDATE

    LANGUAGE – The Romanian Government passed on Wednesday a series of measures aimed at granting direct support to the Romanian ethnics who study in their mother tongue in the neighbouring Ukraine and also to the teachers who teach courses in the Romanian language. The measures, proposed by the Ministry for the Romanians Abroad, consolidate the legal framework that allows for educational support from Romania for the Romanian ethnics in Ukraine. The Ministry for the Romanians Abroad will continue dialogue with the Ukrainian side, in trying to promote and protect the minorities’ right to study in their own language. The purpose is to find solutions so that the Romanian ethnics’ right to linguistic identity be respected.




    EC — The European Commission has established that Romania took no effective action in response to the EU Council’s recommendation of June to correct its significant deviation from the adjustment path towards the medium-term budgetary objective, according to a EC release on Wednesday. In this context, the Commission proposes that the EU Council should adopt a revised recommendation to Romania, of an annual structural adjustment of at least 0.8% of the GDP in 2018. The European Commission recommends Bucharest to use any windfall gains for budget deficit reduction, while the budgetary consolidation measures should secure a lasting improvement in the general government structural balance, in a growth-friendly manner. Romania must report to the EU Council by April 2018 on the action taken in response to the EC’s recommendation.




    WAR CRIMES — Former Bosnian Serb army leader Ratko Mladic was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday after being found guilty of genocide, for atrocities committed during the Bosnian war from 1992 to 1995.The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) convicted Mladic of crimes it labelled as some of the “most heinous” in human history. Mladic, aged 75, is responsible for the slaughter of 8,000 unarmed Bosnian Muslim men and boys in the town of Sebrenica and for his role in the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, during which 100,000 people were killed and another 2.2 million displaced. Mladic had pleaded not guilty to all charges. His legal team said he would appeal against the verdict.




    SMART CITIES – Romania is a good place for investors, but there are two things that scare business people off, namely, the unpredictable legal system and the bribes, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said on Wednesday in Ploiesti, in the south. Taking part in the debate “Romania’s cities 100 years since the Great Union. A smart future for Ploiesti”, the head of state signalled again the fact that the government’s so-called fiscal reform created confusion likely to affect investors’ confidence. Iohannis also said that the concept of smart city means a more active involvement of the citizens in the local governing and the communitys life.




    PARLIAMENT — The no-confidence motion introduced by the right wing opposition against the ruling coalition in Bucharest will be debated and voted on in full Parliament session on Thursday, as decided by the two chambers on Wednesday. The motion calls for the resignation of the cabinet headed by the Social Democrat Mihai Tudose, who is accused of sparking confusion in the economic environment and the legal system, as well as of lowering the living standard of the population. In response, PM Tudose claimed that the fiscal reform will bring more money to the budget and the pension fund, while companies will benefit from simplified procedures.




    PARADE — About 3,500 Romanian and foreign soldiers take part in the December 1st parade in Bucharest for Romanias National Day, the Defense Ministry announced on Wednesday. 50 aircraft will fly over the city’s Triumphal Arch, with 300 vehicles being part of the parade. December 1st marks the moment, right after WWI, when Greater Romania was formed of formerly divided territories with a majority Romanian population. This date was proclaimed the national day after the 1989 regime change in Romania.




    FAIR – The 24th edition of the Gaudeamus – Book of Learning International Fair, organized by the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation, opened on Wednesday in Bucharest. It features 300 participating companies and over 800 editorial and professional events. The honorary president of the fair is Matei Visniec, a French based writer and journalist from Romania while the honorary guest this year is the European Commission. The event marks 60 years from the signing of the Rome Treaties, three decades since the launch of the Erasmus program, and 10 years since Romania joined the EU.


    (Translated by Elena Enache)