Radio România Internațional

Tag: Yevgeny Prigozhin

  • August 24, 2023

    August 24, 2023

    GOVERNMENT – The government will seek
    Parliament’s vote of confidence for the law package reforming the government
    structure and laying out new fiscal equalization and tax fraud regulations. Prime
    Minister Marcel Ciolacu said Romania needs a fair fiscal system. The
    squandering of public funds, tax evasion and circumventing aggregate taxing prevent
    Romania from further developing, the Romanian official said, adding that the
    talks he had in recent weeks clearly showed the country is in need of
    in-depth reforms. On the other hand, representatives of the Solidarity
    Federation of Trade Unions in the fiscal sector are today meeting with Finance
    Minister Marcel Boloș. Talks follow Tuesday’s protest action in front of the
    Finance Ministry. Unionists want to preserve their jobs, revenues and status.
    On August 11, over 15,000 employees in the fiscal administration launched spontaneous
    protests, disgruntled with the government’s measures to cut public spending,
    which could affect over 22,000 people in this sector.




    UKRAINE – Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu
    has conveyed Romania’s best intentions and support for Ukraine’s efforts to
    regain peace and freedom in a message marking the Independence Day in Ukraine.
    For the second consecutive year, Ukraine celebrates Independence Day fighting
    for freedom and its legitimate right to choose its own destiny. For a year and
    a half now, the Ukrainian people are resisting the Russian aggression with
    great courage, supported by the strong solidarity of the international
    community. Romania has had an extremely important contribution, the message
    reads. At the same time, Marcel Ciolacu pointed out that in the meeting he had
    with his Ukrainian counterpart Denys Shmyhal in Bucharest, as well as on the
    sidelines of the meeting of heads of state and government from South-Eastern
    Europe and the Western Balkans, also attended by president Volodymyr Zelensky,
    he reiterated Romania’s firm support for Ukraine. We will stand with Ukraine
    and the Ukrainian people until victory is achieved and the territorial
    integrity is restored, as well as in the following period, during the
    reconstruction of the country, the Romanian official said.




    PRIGOZHIN – The leader of the Wagner PMC
    Yevgeny Prigozhin, his deputy and eight other passengers were reportedly killed
    in a private plane crash on Wednesday in Russia. The Russian Federal Agency for
    Air Transport announced the plane crashed in Tver region, north-west of Moscow.
    On Monday, Prigozhin appeared in a video posted on social media by groups close
    to Wagner, saying he was in Africa. Prigozhin started an uprising in June
    against the Russian Defense Staff and the Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu. In
    Ukraine, Prigozhin stood out during the fight for Bakhmut in the east, where
    Wagner mercenaries, mostly recruited from Russian penitentiaries, reclaimed the
    city in May, sustaining heavy casualties. During the battle, Prigozhin’s
    conflict with the Russian high command escalated, the Wagner mercenary boss
    accusing Russian generals of incompetence and the failure of delivering
    additional ammo to Wagner troops. The Wagner private military company is also
    engaged in numerous theatres of operations in Africa, including the Central
    African Republic, Mali or Libya.




    INVESTIGATION – The Deputy Chief of the
    Constanța County Police
    Inspectorate, the head of the county’s road traffic department and the police
    chiefs of Mangalia and Vama Veche have been sacked in the wake of the
    investigation in last week’s car crash. A young man under the influence of
    drugs crashed his car into a group of people in 2 Mai seacoast resort, killing
    two and injuring another three. The Government’s control body discovered
    irregularities of criminal nature in the reaction of three police officers who
    verified the documents and took legal action against the driver. The young man
    had been stopped by the police earlier that night and although the agents
    removed drugs from his vehicle, he was let off without undergoing a drug test.
    The police officers could have tested the driver or take him to the nearest
    medical unit to undergo a clinical exam and a blood test.




    VOLLEY – The Romanian
    women’s volleyball team on Saturday will play France in the European
    Championship quarterfinals. Romania ranked 3rd in Group B after winning 3-1
    against Croatia and 3-2 against Bosnia Herzegovina. The European Championships
    take place over August 15 – September 3 in four countries – Belgium, Italy,
    Estonia and Germany. At the 2021 edition held in Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and
    Serbia, the Romanian side ranked second to last, 23. Romania’s best result in
    the women’s European Championships was in 1963, when our team won bronze at
    home.




    FOOTBALL – The
    Romanian champions Farul Constanța are today playing HJK Helsinki of
    Finland in the first round of the Europa Conference League playoffs. Also
    today, Romanian Cup winners Sepsi Sfântul Gheorghe are going up against Bodoe/Glimt of Norway at home.
    The return legs are scheduled for next week. (VP)



  • June 25, 2023

    June 25, 2023

    Baccalaureate. In Romania, the 12th grade graduates are starting, on Monday, the written tests of the baccalaureate exam, with the Romanian language and literature. On Tuesday, they will be sitting the mandatory examination of the profile, and on Thursday the test of choice for profile and specialization. On June 29, students who belong to national minorities will sit the test in their native language and literature. Next week, the first results of the national assessment will be announced for students who have completed the eighth grade. Due to the general strike in education, registrations for the National Assessment and Baccalaureate were extended until June 16.



    SITF. Seaside Stories, directed by Radu Afrim, the winner of the UNITER award for the best show, is part of todays program of the International Theater Festival in Sibiu. In the Outdoor section, the audience will have the opportunity to watch the Pioneers Last Word, a modern show based on Hip Hop street dance culture, with a rich and energetic repertoire. Also today, the band Mahala Rai Banda will be performing on stage in the Big Square. The 30th edition of SITF started on Friday and is the biggest such event in Romania. The festival is hosting 800 events in approximately 80 locations, enjoying the participation of 5,000 artists and guests from 75 countries.



    Moscow. The forces of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner began to leave their positions in Russia as ordered by their leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who turned back after directly defying the authority of President Vladimir Putin, FP reports. After a day of spectacular armed rebellion, Prigozhin is to leave for Belarus, and the charges against him will be withdrawn, the Kremlin announced. FP recalls that Wagners troops were heading for the capital on Saturday, after occupying during the morning the headquarters of the Russian army in Rostov (southwest), the sensitive center of operations in Ukraine. Wagner claimed that the Russian strikes caused a very large number of casualties in his ranks and accused Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu of being responsible for that. According to the Washington Post and New York Times, the American intelligence services warned the White House about the imminence of a Wagner revolt in Russia a day before it broke out. Faced with the biggest challenge since he came to power in late 1999, President Putin has tried to keep his hand strong in the face of this unprecedented rebellion, denouncing a treason and evoking the specter of a civil war.



    Swimming. Romanian swimmer David Popovici won the 100 m freestyle event on Saturday at the Sette Colli Trophy competition at the Foro Italico (Rome). The double European and world champion and holder of the world record competes today in the 200 m freestyle. In the 50 m backstroke event, his compatriot, Andrei Anghel, won the bronze medal. Romania is represented at the competition by ten swimmers.



    Football. Romania failed to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Under-21 European Football Championship, which is hosting together with Georgia, after the second defeat suffered in group B, 0-1 against Ukraine, on Saturday evening, in Bucharest. In the first game, the national team lost 2-0 against Spain. The Iberians won against Croatia and qualified further along with the Ukrainians. In the last stage, on Tuesday, Spain will face Ukraine, and Croatia take on Romania. The final tournament takes place between June 21 and July 8 and brings together 16 teams, divided into four groups. Two are hosted by Romania, in Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca (north-west), and two by Georgia. In Romania, two quarter-finals and a semifinal will take place. The top three finishers qualify for the Olympic Games in Paris next year.



    Weather. Romanian meteorologists have issued two codes, orange and yellow, for severe atmospheric instability, valid until Monday. In most of the country, there will be showers, electrical discharges, short-term intensification of the wind and in some areas gales and hail. In short intervals of time or through accumulation, the water quantities will be 20…25 l/m2 and even up to 30…40 l/m2. Throughout the day, in the mountains, in the center and southeast of the country, and in the evening and at night especially in the southeast, locally there will be torrential showers, electrical discharges, short-term intensification of the wind, with gusts of 65…75 km/h and in limited areas storms and hail. In short intervals of time or through accumulation, the water quantities will be 30…40 l/m2 and isolated over 50…60 l/m2. Maximum temperatures will range from 24 to 30 degrees. Weather is turning unstable in Bucharest as well, with showers, electrical discharges and short-term intensification of the wind. (MI)