Radio România Internațional

Tag: Winter Olympics

  • February 4, 2022 UPDATE

    February 4, 2022 UPDATE

    Covid-19 update. The Romanian government has extended the state of alert
    by a further 30 days from 7th February. A number of measures will remain in
    place, including the mandatory wearing of face masks in all indoor and outdoor
    areas. The government also adopted the rule according to which the validity of
    the Covid certificate for entering Romania is nine months without the booster
    shot. Otherwise, a negative Covid test result or proof of recovery from
    infection are needed. The deadline for filling in the digital form for entering
    the country has been extended from 24 to 72 hours. The pilots of the planes
    flying to and from Romania and the Romanian citizens living on the border and
    working in neighbouring countries no longer have to fill in this form. On
    Friday, Romania reported almost 32,000 new Covid cases and some 100 new related
    fatalities.






    Cooperation. The Romanian Minister of
    Health, Alexandru Rafila, and his Italian counterpart, Roberto Speranza, signed,
    on Friday, in Rome, a memorandum of understanding that provides for the
    development of collaboration relations in the field, from public health
    emergencies, training and intervention, to pandemic management . The signing
    was preceded by a visit to the ‘Higher Institute of Health’, where the grounds
    of a collaboration with the National Institute of Public Health in Romania were
    laid. The collaboration is all the more important as there are over 1.2 million
    Romanian citizens in Italy, a communiqué reads. The Italian authorities have
    reconfirmed the commitments for the provision of medical assistance to children
    in Romania who have oncological and cardiac diseases and for the training of
    Romanian specialists in the field of pediatric cardiovascular surgery.








    B9. We cannot accept the threat of the use of
    force or outdated concepts such as that referring to the sphere of influence,
    said the Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu on Thursday in Bucharest,
    speaking about concerns that Russia’s actions are seeking to undermine the
    European security architecture. Aurescu hosted a round of talks held in hybrid
    format and attended by the Bucharest Nine foreign ministers of the states on
    the eastern flank. The talks were also attended by the French foreign minister
    Jean-Yves Le Drian, who was on a trip to Bucharest, and the Ukrainian foreign
    minister Dmytro Kuleba. Diplomatic actions to defuse the standoff on the
    Russian-Ukrainian border have also taken place in other capitals in recent
    days.








    Protest. Trade unions in the metallurgical industry on Friday
    staged a rally outside the government building in Bucharest to protest against
    the fact that businesses in this sector do not benefit from a cap on energy
    prices. The government exempted non-household users who already received state
    aid from the cap on electricity and natural gas prices. Trade unions are saying
    the move is unfair and are asking the government to cap electricity and natural
    gas prices to the level of December 2020 for at least another year. The workers
    at ALRO Slatina also staged a protest yesterday, their management having cut
    production and sent 1,500 workers on furlough.








    EU
    sanctions.     The European Union
    has prepared a robust and comprehensive package of sanctions
    against Russia if it continues its aggression against Ukraine, the European
    Commission president Ursula von der Leyen told the Handeslblatt and Les Echos
    newspapers, according to Reuters. The sanctions include limiting Russia’s
    access to foreign capital and exports controls, especially on technical goods,
    von der Leyen explained. The controversial North Stream 2 gas pipeline is also
    targeted by the package of sanctions, depending on Russia’s
    behavior if it is put into operation, she added. Russia, who annexed the
    Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 and supports the separatists in eastern
    Ukraine, has massed some 100,000 soldiers near the Ukrainian border, demanding
    security guarantees from the West, including that Ukraine would not be accepted
    into NATO. The Kremlin accused Washington of ignoring its calls for easing the
    tension as the latter said it would deploy an additional 3,000 troops to Poland
    and Romania, Reuters also reports.




    Rugby. Romania’s national rugby team will make its debut on
    Saturday, on home turf, in Bucharest, against Russia, in a new edition of the
    Rugby Europe Championship, the second best continental competition, after the
    famous Six Nations tournament. The match is also part of the qualifyiers for
    the World Cup to be hosted by France. The teams rank first and second at both
    the 2021 and 2022 editions qualify straight
    into the final tournament. In the Rugby Europe Championship rankings Georgia is
    first with 23 points, followed by
    Romania and Portugal with 14 points each.




    Winter
    Olympics.     The 24th edition of
    the Winter Olympic Games got under way in Beijing amid concerns about the Covid
    pandemic and a diplomatic boycott from some western countries. Beijing is the
    first city to have hosted both the Summer Games, back in 2008, and the Winter
    Games. 22 Romanian athletes are taking part in the competitions, in sledding,
    bobsled, skeleton, cross country skiing, alpine skiing, ski jumping, biathlon
    and speed skating. On 17th January, following a rise in Covid infections and
    the first confirmed case of Omicron in Beijing, the organizers announced
    tickets would not be sold to the general public and that a limited number of
    spectators would be admitted based on invitations. The US, Britain and other
    allied states launched a diplomatic boycott of the Games because of China’s
    human rights situation. Beijing denied, however, the accusations of human rights
    violations. At the opening ceremony, against the background of the current
    tense geopolitical situation, the president of the International Olympic
    Committee, Thomas Back, conveyed a strong message to the world: Give peace a
    chance! (MI)

  • February 2, 2022

    February 2, 2022











    Covid-19Ro. Romania registered, today, almost 36 thousand new cases of infection with the Sars-CoV-2 virus in 24 hours and 120 related deaths, out of which 13 from the previous reporting period. About 10,000 people diagnosed with COVID-19 are hospitalized across the country, and less than a thousand are in intensive care. The incidence of COVID cases in Bucharest has exceeded 23 per thousand inhabitants – the highest since the beginning of the pandemic. In the previous wave, the maximum value had been 16.5 on October 22. We recall that, on Tuesday, Romania exceeded the threshold of 40,000 new infections in 24 hours, out of 122 thousand tests performed. It is the absolute record since the beginning of the pandemic and more than double the peak of the previous wave. More on this after the news.

    Anniversary. The French
    Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian is on a two-day formal visit to Romania. Today, he participates in
    the solemn sitting of the Parliament in Bucharest dedicated to the 15th
    anniversary of Romania’s accession to the European Union. We recall, in this
    context, that France took over the rotating six-month presidency of the Council
    of the European Union at the beginning of January. Romania became a member of
    the European Union on January 1, 2007, after a long process of negotiation and
    adherence to Community standards, that is almost 14 years after the signing of
    the Association Agreement, on February 1, 1993. Also today, Jean-Yves Le Drian will
    hold consultations with his Romanian counterpart, Bogdan Aurescu. The latter
    will host, on Thursday, a meeting on the worrying security situation in the
    vicinity of Ukraine and the Black Sea in the Bucharest Format (B9), which will
    also be attended by the head of the Ukrainian diplomacy, Dmytro Kuleba. B9
    includes NATO member states from the Eastern Flank of the Alliance: Bulgaria,
    the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and
    Hungary.








    Protest. More than 2000
    police and prison staff, as well as reserve police officers, have protested
    today in front of the Government headquarters in Bucharest, demanding higher
    salaries and pensions. Employees in
    public order structures want salary increases and bonuses, the indexation of
    state military pensions according to the inflation rate and quality medical
    care. Other claims concern the adoption of measures to reduce the shortage of
    police personnel or to equip the police officers with intervention and physical
    protection equipment adequate for the accomplishment of their missions. Last
    but not least, they challenge the imposition, during the pandemic, of
    medical-sanitary tasks for which they do not have the necessary training.








    Government. The PNL-PSD-UDMR
    coalition government convenes today for the second meeting this week, largely
    dedicated to the adoption of legislation to support farmers. Thus, the Executive
    intends to adopt a state aid scheme that would reduce the excise duty on diesel
    used in agriculture. Another normative act refers to an aid granted to garlic
    producers who will be able to receive a maximum of 3,000 euros per hectare, but
    not more than 20,000 euros in total. The amount that the Government will
    allocate to this financial aid is 4.5 million euros. Also on the agenda is the
    draft of a decision that will support this year’s vegetable production in
    protected areas. The total amount earmarked for this State aid is 45 million
    Euro.




    Ukraine. US President Joe
    Biden has selected Bridget Brink, the current US ambassador to Slovakia, as
    ambassador to Kiev, euractiv.com reports. Bloomberg News had previously
    announced that Bridget Brink was considered for the post, adding that the Biden
    administration wanted to have in Kiev a career diplomat with experience in
    Eastern European affairs in the context of the growing tensions between Ukraine
    and Russia. Bridget Brink has been stationed in Slovakia since July 2019. She
    has previously served on the National Security Council and at US embassies in
    Serbia, Uzbekistan and Georgia. Bridget Brink has been actively involved in
    negotiating assistance for Ukraine, especially in the energy sector. The United
    States has not had an ambassador to Kiev since 2019, when former President
    Donald Trump withdrew Marie Yovanovitch. Since then, the embassy has been run
    by a charge d’affaires.








    Olympics. The Olympic torch
    relay for the Winter Olympics in Beijing, to be held between February 4-20, continues
    its journey today in the Chinese capital, which is preparing for the start of
    the great world sporting event, despite the diplomatic boycott of several
    countries, including the USA , Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada, but
    also concerns about the Covid-19 pandemic. More than 1,000 people carry the
    Olympic torch through various venues that will host the competitions, ahead of
    the opening ceremony, scheduled for Friday night. The torch’s journey began in
    October at the ancient Greek site of Olympia, where the ceremony was disrupted
    by protesters accusing China of human rights violations. Romania will
    participate in the Winter Olympics with 22 athletes, in the sledding, bobsled, skeleton,
    cross country skiing, alpine skiing, ski jumping, biathlon and speed skating
    events. (MI)

  • Olympic Update

    Olympic Update

    The Winter Olympic Games are in full swing in South Korea’s city of PyeongChang. A delegation from Romania is also taking part in the competition, but their results so far have been below par.



    The crew made of Mihai Cristian Tentea and Nicolae Ciprian Daroczi came in 18th in the two-men bobsleigh event. The gold medals went to competitors from Canada and Germany. The Romanians came in 14th after the first round, then they were ranked 17th following the second round, dropped to 25th position after the 3rd round and eventually settled on 12th position in the last round.



    On aggregate, the Romanian crew clocked 3 minutes, 18 seconds an 98 hundredths. Canada’s Justin Kripps and Alexander Kopacz, jointly with the all-German crew made of Francesco Friedrich and Thorsten Margis, grabbed gold, since either crew clocked 3 minutes, 16 seconds and 86 hundredths.



    In the Winter Olympics’ most popular event, the downhill event, the Romanian skier Monica Germaine Caill was ranked 28th, the Olympic downhill champion being Italy’s Sofia Goggia. Goggia clocked 1 minute, 39 seconds and 22 hundredths, that is nine hundredths of a second earlier than Norwegian challenger Ragnhild Mowinckel, who grabbed silver. Bronze medallist was Lindsey Vonn of the USA, who arrived 47 hundredths of a second later than her contenders.



    After 12 days of competition, Norway has the lead in the nations’ rankings, with a tally of 11 gold, 10 silver and 8 bronze medals. Germany comes next with 11 gold medals, 7 silver and 4 bronze medals.



    Last week saw the best performance of the Romanian delegation in PyeongChang achieved by Raluca Strămăturaru, who came in 7th in the women’s singles of the luge event. We recall that Raluca Strămăturaru’s result is the best performance ever to have been succeeded by a Romanian athlete in the winter Olympics since 1994.

  • Olympic Update

    Olympic Update

    The Winter Olympic Games are in full swing in South Korea’s city of PyeongChang. A delegation from Romania is also taking part in the competition, but their results so far have been below par.



    The crew made of Mihai Cristian Tentea and Nicolae Ciprian Daroczi came in 18th in the two-men bobsleigh event. The gold medals went to competitors from Canada and Germany. The Romanians came in 14th after the first round, then they were ranked 17th following the second round, dropped to 25th position after the 3rd round and eventually settled on 12th position in the last round.



    On aggregate, the Romanian crew clocked 3 minutes, 18 seconds an 98 hundredths. Canada’s Justin Kripps and Alexander Kopacz, jointly with the all-German crew made of Francesco Friedrich and Thorsten Margis, grabbed gold, since either crew clocked 3 minutes, 16 seconds and 86 hundredths.



    In the Winter Olympics’ most popular event, the downhill event, the Romanian skier Monica Germaine Caill was ranked 28th, the Olympic downhill champion being Italy’s Sofia Goggia. Goggia clocked 1 minute, 39 seconds and 22 hundredths, that is nine hundredths of a second earlier than Norwegian challenger Ragnhild Mowinckel, who grabbed silver. Bronze medallist was Lindsey Vonn of the USA, who arrived 47 hundredths of a second later than her contenders.



    After 12 days of competition, Norway has the lead in the nations’ rankings, with a tally of 11 gold, 10 silver and 8 bronze medals. Germany comes next with 11 gold medals, 7 silver and 4 bronze medals.



    Last week saw the best performance of the Romanian delegation in PyeongChang achieved by Raluca Strămăturaru, who came in 7th in the women’s singles of the luge event. We recall that Raluca Strămăturaru’s result is the best performance ever to have been succeeded by a Romanian athlete in the winter Olympics since 1994.

  • February 9, 2018 UPDATE

    February 9, 2018 UPDATE


    INFLATION – The National Bank of Romania has revised upwards to 3.5% the inflation forecast for the end of this year, the Governor of the Central Bank Mugur Isarescu announced on Friday. The previous forecast had indicated a 3.2% inflation rate for 2018. For the year 2019, the Central Bank estimated a 3.1% rate. Isarescu explained that the main driver of economic growth was consumption, which had a negative effect on the trade deficit, which grew by 30% in 2017. As regards the structural issues affecting the economy, Mugur Isarescu highlighted the tensions in the labour market, the growing gap between imports and exports, to the detriment of the latter, but also problems relating to the fiscal and incomes policy, whose effects are expected to fade away no sooner than next year.



    DIPLOMACY – Several Russian companies are interested in the Romanian gas reserves in the Black Sea, said on Friday the Russian Ambassador to Bucharest, Valery Kuzmin, at an event celebrating 140 years of Romanian – Russian diplomatic ties. The ambassador said that last year, trade exchanges went up by 20% and could reach 4 billion dollars in 2018, but as regards political and diplomatic ties, things had been rather modest. Valery Kuzmin also said he hoped relations between Romania and Russia would improve, especially considering Romanias taking over the presidency of the EU Council in 2019 and its running for a seat as non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in 2020-2021.



    PRISONS – The legal status of prison staff in Romania will be promoted in Government by the Justice Minister Tudorel Toader within two weeks, and then it will be submitted to Parliament for debates, according to the President of the Trade Union Federation of the National Administration of Penitentiaries, Sorin Dumistrascu. He talked with minister Toader about the problems in the system: improper working conditions, shortage of staff and unpaid overtime. Tudorel Toader has posted on a social network the measures that have already been taken to improve the penitentiary system. Among them, a 10% salary increase as of October 1st, an additional 1000 jobs in the organizational chart and some 1700 new employees. Also, this years budget includes money for expanding prison space for another 5000 inmates in the 2019-2023 time-frame.



    MODERN SLAVERY – On Wednesday, the British police arrested three men on suspicion of modern slavery offences, as some 200 immigrants from Romania, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Poland were found working at a flower farm in Cornwall, in south-western England. According to Reuters and the BBC, humanitarian organizations will provide counseling, shelter, legal and immigration advice. The British Government estimates that at least 13,000 people are victims of forced labour, sexual exploitation and domestic servitude, but the police say the real figure could be much higher.



    WINTER OLYMPICS -29 hundred athletes, including 28 from Romania, are attending the 23rd edition of the Winter Olympics underway in the South Korean city of PyeongChang between February 9th and the 25th. At the foot of the Taebaek Mountains, the city of PyeongChang has won the right to stage the Winter Olympic Games after having applied two times before, in 2010 and 2014. This is the first edition of the Winter Olympics and the second Olympic Games staged by South Korea. PyeongChang has become the third Asian city to stage the Winter Olympics after the Japanese cities of Sapporo in 1972 and Nagano in 1998. Over the following two weeks, the city of PyeongChang will be seeing 102 sporting events in 15 disciplines of seven major winter sports.



    TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Sorana Carstea will be playing Carol Zhao in a singles game in Cluj Napoca, north-western Romania on Saturday, the first game of a series pitching Romania against Canada in the Fed Cup World Group ll. The cast drawn on Friday pitched Irina Begu against Bianca Andreescu, in the competitions second game. Begu will be up against Zhao on Sunday, and Carstea will be playing against Andreescu on the same day. Ana Bogdan and Raluca Olaru will take on Katherina Sebov and Gabriela Dabrowski in the doubles. Ana Bogdan is replacing the worlds number two player, Simona Halep, who is recovering from an ankle injury she got during the Australian Open last month. (translated by Mihaela Ignatescu)




  • February 8, 2018

    February 8, 2018

    FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE — In 2016 Romania earmarked 240 million Euro for foreign development assistance and the neighbouring Republic of Moldova was the main beneficiary of these funds, having received 86% of them. “The National Report on the official development assistance granted by Romania in 2016”, made public by the Foreign Ministry, mentions the fact that a total of 80 states have benefited Romania’s assistance. Among them are Serbia, Ukraine, Georgia, Syria, Turkey, Iraq, and countries from Africa and Central Asia. The total amount granted by Romania accounts for 0.14% of the countrys GDP.




    FOREIGN AFFAIRS — Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melscanu has said that no accord regarding Romania’s gas exports to the neighbouring Hungary or other new bilateral projects in the energy sector was signed on the occasion of Monday’s visit to Bucharest of his Hungarian counterpart, Peter Szijjarto. Minister Melescanu has announced in a release that tackled at the meeting was the stage of the undergoing projects, without any new aspects such as ensuring the interconnection of the gas infrastructure. The Romanian Minister’s announcement comes after the Hungarian news agency MTI has reported that Romania allegedly committed itself to ensuring until 2020 the technical conditions for the natural gas export to Hungary and that it could deliver up to 4.4 billion cubic meters of gas every year, to Hungary. This is the first opportunity that Hungary has had in decades to purchase large quantities of natural gas from a source other than Russia, the Hungarian news agency quoted Peter Szijjarto as saying.




    RULINGS – The High Court of Cassation and Justice is today debating the request of the National Anti-corruption Directorate (DNA) to confirm the reopening of a criminal prosecution case that involves, among others, the Social-Democrat Deputy PM Paul Stanescu. Last month Stanescu said he would resign his post if he were indicted in this case of misappropriation of public funds. Also today, the same Court sentenced Darius Valcov, the former Social Democrat mayor of Slatina and former finance minister, to eight years in prison for influence peddling and money laundering. Also, he will have to pay 1.3 million euros worth of damages. The ruling is of first instance.




    STRASBOURG – EU Commissioner for Justice, Vera Jourova reiterated the European Commission’s request that the Romanian Parliament should call a debate on the modifications to the justice laws, in line with the EU’s recommendations, so as to reach consensus in this matter. The domestic turmoil stirred by the modifications brought to the justice laws in Romania has reached the floor of the European Parliament, which on Wednesday hosted a debate on this issue. Romanian Justice Minister Tudorel Toader said the debate had a political stake. Find out more about it, after the news.




    WINTER OLYMPICS – As many as 28 Romanian athletes are attending the 23rd edition of the Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang, Soth Korea, that officially open on Friday. These will be the largest Winter Olympics in history, with a record-high number of participants and more than 100 medal events. A total of 2,925 athletes from 92 countries have confirmed their participation in PyeongChang, which beats the record numbers seen at the Sochi Olympics in 2014, when 2,858 athletes from 88 countries participated. South and North Korean athletes will also march together under one flag at the opening ceremony on the 9th of February. (Translated by Elena Enache)