Radio România Internațional

Tag: youth

  • Access to contraceptive methods in post-communist Romania: 35 years on

    Access to contraceptive methods in post-communist Romania: 35 years on

    Romanian society has a troublesome past regarding reproductive health. The country’s troubled past began in 1966. We recall that back then a decree was issued, targeting the Romanian population’s accelerated increase. For the previous generations of the communist regime, access to contraceptive methods was on the brink of illegality, while pregnancy termination was described as a crime.

    But what is Romanians’ relationship with the contraceptive methods, today?

    Andrada Cilibiu is a feminist activist for the FILIA Centre and an expert in sexual and reproductive rights. Here she is, with details on that.

    ” Given there is no free-of-charge contraceptive method especially for the most vulnerable of us women, there is no info or comprehensive sexual education in schools, therefore, it is all clear the use of contraceptive methods use is bound to be low. Which is worrying, considering two aspects: 1) an increasingly growing rate of sexually transmitted infections about which we do not speak that much as, unfortunately, in Romania, this topic related to reproductive health and sexual rights still is a taboo topic, while another aspect is related to teenage pregnancy, to the unwanted pregnancies and to a society that, unfortunately, describes contraception as being similar to abortion, and that is something we do not want.

    We want all women to have access, first of all, to contraception, to information, to sexual education and to safe pregnancy termination procedures. Yet we noticed that in the last 10 years, unfortunately, we have seen a throwback as compared to how Romanian society looked like a decade ago. “

    Andrada Cilibiu has told us how, in the years 2000, in Romania, a family planning network was established, offering access to individual discussions, with specialised physicians, about contraceptive methods, about fears and emotional deadlocks on sexual relations, pregnancy or other aspects of reproductive health.

    Furthermore, expert Andrada Cilibiu added, the network offered free contraceptive methods, while the discussion on sexual education was carried in rather more positive terms. According to the expert, what happened was that those medical doctors retired without training other specialists and without the network receiving other resources.

    Moreover, the years 2000 were marked by massive progress made in the preparation for gaining accession into the EU, which called for complying with certain standards. In another move, Republic of Moldova is mentioned as a positive example, with specialized clinics for youngsters aged between 10 and 24 who benefit from free-of-charge reproductive health services. When asked where we can borrow the good practices from, Andrada Cilibiu answered:

    “By all means from the comprehensive sexual education models we find in the Northern countries or in the United Kingdom or in the Netherlands where sexual education is made, in some of the countries, from the very early years, with info which is accessible to children, mainly laying emphasis on consent and on bodily autonomy, and then, taking one step after the next, as children grow, coming up with other pieces of info on healthy emotional and sexual relationships.

    We have examples of good practice regarding pregnancy termination also provided by the Netherlands, by France, a country which has fairly recently introduced, in its Constitution, the access to abortion rights. We also have Spain, for instance, with a very good programme of contraceptives distribution. But, in fact, most of EU member states have national contraception plans and offer free-of-charge contraception, especially among adolescents and young people, mostly, but also among vulnerable groups. Romania, in fact, is in this minority cluster of countries that do not have, do not offer free contraception at all.”

    In the spring of this year, the Filia Center launched the study “Care for democracy. The political interests of women in 2024”, with a chapter dedicated to the use of contraception by women in Romania today. According to it, 37% of respondents reported using contraceptive methods in the past 10 years, 62% said they had not, and 1% refused to answer. Of the group of women participating in the study who used a method of contraception, 63% used the condom, 55% the contraceptive pill, 42% the withdrawal method, 38% the calendar method, 24% the morning-after pill (considered more of an emergency measure) and in much smaller percentages more invasive methods, such as the IUD, tubal ligation, or contraceptive implants.

    At the European level, the World Health Organization is sounding the alarm regarding the worrying decrease in condom use by teenagers. The WHO study was conducted between 2014 and 2022, included more than 240 thousand adolescents from 42 European countries, and showed that condom use by 15-year-old boys decreased by 9% between 2014 and 2022 (from 70% to 61).

    For girls, the percentage dropped from 63% to 57% over the same time frame. The same study showed that 30% of girls and 22% of sexually active boys in Romania did not use a condom or any other form of contraception during their last sexual intercourse. Andrada Cilibiu says:

    “Unfortunately, I see many young people rather using pornography as a frame of reference on how to have safe sex. There’s a lot of confusion among them, and they end up believing a lot of myths and stereotypes and having a lot of anxieties about their body image, about the romantic or emotional relationships they get into, about sexual relationships, and so on.

    Having neither in the family nor, more importantly, at school, an authority figure to give them information validated by science, and that enters this area of comprehensive information about sex education, unfortunately we leave our young people to their own devices. As a result, they end up having sexual relationships, or enter into relationships where they do not recognize the violence, they do not recognize that what is happening to them is not ok. In this regard, we especially need compulsory and comprehensive sex education for everyone, without parental consent, youth-friendly sexual health services.”

    At the regional level, another study published in 2022 by the British medical journal The Lancet showed that, while the average choice of a condom as a contraceptive method in Eastern Europe (by those who choose to use one) is 37 .8%, in Romania, the percentage does not reach 31%. The calendar method, on the other hand, is used by 19.9% of Romanians who choose a contraceptive method, compared to 5.9% in Eastern Europe. The withdrawal method is preferred by 12.8% of Romanians, and by 10% of respondents from the region.

  • April 21, 2024

    April 21, 2024

     

    PRESIDENT The president of Romania Klaus Iohannis will be on an official visit to South Korea on April 22 through 24th, at the invitation of his counterpart, Yoon Suk Yeol. South Korea is the first Asia-Pacific country with which Romania upgraded its diplomatic relations to a Strategic Partnership level, in 2008. During the Romanian president’s visit to Seoul, this Partnership will be consolidated under a document setting the cooperation directions for the next 10 years. Agreements will be signed in fields such as defence, nuclear energy, investments and foreign trade, emergency cooperation and disaster management, culture, mass-media, youth and sports.

     

    AID After months of postponements, the US House of Representatives Saturday night endorsed a USD 61 bln aid package for Ukraine. This is part of a bigger, USD 95 bln amount that also comprises security aid for Israel and Taiwan. The bill needs to be passed by the Senate as well, but the Democratic majority in the Senate is in favour of the aid. President Joe Biden has already called on the Senate to rush the vote. The aid comes at an extremely difficult time for Kyiv, which desperately needs weapons and ammunitions to withstand Russia’s growing offensive. The vote was welcomed by Western countries and Ukrainian leaders, but Moscow said the aid would only result in more Ukrainians getting killed because of the regime in Kyiv.

     

    EMPLOYMENT In Romania, the employment rate in the 15 to 64 age bracket was 63% last year, the National Statistics Institute announced. According to recently released data, the employment rate was higher among men (some 72%) than women (54%). The highest employment rate was reported last year among higher education graduates (nearly 90%), as opposed to 37% among people with little formal education. According to statistics, employees still account for 86% of the employed population, whereas self-employed and unpaid family workers only made up 13% of the total employed population. Also, around 83% of job holders were employed in the private sector.

     

    BREXIT The British PM Rishi Sunak rejected a European Commission proposal concerning a post-Brexit agreement enabling British youth to live, study and work in the EU and European youth in UK for up to 4 years, France Presse reports. The scheme was intended for young people aged 18 to 30, who would have benefited from visa exemptions and fair tuition fees. London said however it was unwilling to reopen talks concerning the freedom of movement and the strict regulation of the terms of stay in UK.

     

    CHINA The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, is to travel to Beijing and Shanghai next week, in a move to appease tensions and to stabilize the relationship between the US and China. The talks scheduled to take place Wednesday through Friday would focus on “strengthening lines of communication to reduce the risk of miscalculation and conflict,” a senior State Department official said. Blinken “will raise clearly and candidly our concerns on issues ranging from human rights, unfair economic and trade practices, to the global economic consequences of PRC industrial over-capacity.  The Secretary will also reiterate our deep concerns regarding the PRC’s support for Russia’s defense industrial base,” the official said. According to the US State Department, there are indications that the relations between the US and China have improved. Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping met in California in November, resuming communication after a one-year break. The meeting was followed by high-level government talks. The Secretary of the Treasury, Jenet Yellen, also traveled to China this month, for talks with Chinese government officials and US company executives. (AMP)

  • August 6, 2023 UPDATE

    August 6, 2023 UPDATE

    WAR President Klaus Iohannis Sunday released a message occasioned by
    the centennial of the War Heroes Mausoleum in Mărăşeşti (east). The president
    points out in the message that in the most important battle of the 1917 campaign
    in World War I, in Mărăşeşti, the Romanian Army with support from the Allies
    managed to stop the offensive of the Central Powers and stabilised the front
    line for the rest of the war. Construction works on the Mausoleum, erected in
    memory of the over 5,000 officers and soldiers who died then, started on August
    6, 1923, at the initiative of the Romanian Orthodox Women Society, and ended in
    1938. The president’s message also says that the current military conflict in
    Ukraine is a reminder of the horrors of war and of the duty to strengthen
    Romania’s resilience and defence capacity. A NATO and EU member state, Romania is
    at present a pillar of regional stability, a major security provider in
    South-Eastern Europe, and it benefits from the most reliable security
    guarantees in its history, Klaus Iohannis also says in his message.


    HEALTHCARE The task group entrusted with drawing up Romania’s
    healthcare digitisation strategy had a first meeting in Bucharest on Sunday. According
    to the line minister, Alexandru Rafila, electronic and information technologies
    will improve Romanians’ access to healthcare services, will help reduce errors
    and optimise management and resource planning in the sector. Calls for
    proposals have already been opened for the introduction of electronic
    technologies in 200 hospitals and the National Health Insurance Agency, and in
    mid-August further calls will be opened for the development of the national
    telemedicine system. Romania can spend EUR 400 mln for the digitisation of the public
    healthcare sector, under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.


    FIRES The Romanian
    fire-fighters deployed to Greece worked on Saturday and Sunday together with
    their Greek colleagues to put out a fire in the Aragonitis area, around 55 km
    from the village of Vilia, in the region of Attica, the General Inspectorate
    for Emergencies announced. According to the institution, at the request of the
    Greek liaison officers, the Romanian unit supported the Greek fire-fighters
    with 4 fire engines, personnel rotating every 4 hours, and additional lighting
    equipment. Scores of Romanian fire-fighters have already taken part, over the
    past few weeks, in similar missions to support the Greek authorities manage
    extensive wildfires.


    CATHOLICS The South
    Korean capital city Seoul will host the next edition of World Youth Day, in
    2027, Pope Francis announced on Sunday during a religious service in Lisbon
    held at the end of the 16th edition of the event. Initiated in 1986 by
    Pope John Paul II, World Youth Day, the largest international gathering of
    Catholic youth, is organised every 2 or 3 years and comprises cultural and
    religious events. The 2023 edition, postponed by a year because of the Covid-19
    pandemic, brought 1.5 million worshippers to Lisbon, where Pope Francis, 86, Sunday
    concluded a 5-day visit to Portugal, his 42nd international trip since his election in 2013.
    The World Youth Day editions with the largest numbers of participants were in Manila
    in 1995 (5 million people), Rio de Janeiro (3.7 million) and Krakow (3 million).
    Around 11% of South Korea’s 52-million population are Catholic.


    GAMES Romania came
    out 2nd in the Francophonie Games hosted by Kinshasa (Congo), after
    Morocco, with a total 17 gold, 9 silver and 12 bronze medals. Third came
    Cameroon. On Saturday, the Romanian athletes won 2 medals, a silver and a
    bronze, in African wrestling. Romania participated in the Games with 57
    athletes, competing in athletics, women’s basketball, freestyle and African
    wrestling, road cycling, table tennis and judo. The 9th Francophonie
    Games were held between July 28 and August 6. (AMP)

  • Radio Romania International Sports club

    Radio Romania International Sports club


    The Slovenian city of Maribor for a week running
    was the capital of athletes from all over Europe. The European Youth Olympic
    Festival brought together Europe’s hopefuls in a great number of sports disciplines,
    ranging from athletics to swimming, from handball to judo. To Slovenia, Romania
    sent a 92-strong delegation of athletes who competed in 9 sports disciplines.
    The Romanian delegation’s final record was made of 20 medals, so Romania came
    in 4th according to the nations’ competition. Of the gold medals,
    five were won by swimmers. Robert Badea won the 200m and 400m mixed events, Aissia
    Prisăcariu won the 200m backstroke event, while Daria Silişteanu won gold in
    the 100m backstroke. Added to that
    was the women’s relay team that won the 4 by 100m freestyle, In judo, Tudor Mosoiu won in the 60-kilogram
    category, while David Gliga walked home with gold in the 73-kilogram category. In
    athletics, gold went to women’s mixed relay team (100+200+300+400 meters) and
    to Alin Şavlovschi, in the 2, 000m steeplechase.


    14-year-old swimmer Daria Silişteanu is a national record holder in the 50m backstroke event. In
    Maribor, Daria won the gold medal twice. Here is what Daria told upon her
    return to Romania, sounding upbeat about the Romanian delegation’s results in Maribor.

    Us, swimmers, walked away with quite a few medals. In
    athletics but also in handball quite a few medals were won as well. I am happy
    with the result, especially in the 100m backstroke. I really wasn’t expecting
    that, I listened to my coach, he said I can have a more powerful start, I took
    my chance, he said I can finish the race quite fine and I swam as powerfully as
    I could.


    Six silver medals were also won in Maribor. In tennis, Giulia Popa won,
    in the women’s singles, also securing a win in the women’s doubles, alongside Alexia
    Tatu. In men’s doubles, Yannick Alexandrescu and Alejandro Nourescu walked away
    with silver. In the 400m hurdles, Ştefania Uţă won silver as well. In gymnastics, silver went to Alexia
    Vănoagă in the beam event. Also silver went to women’s national handball team. The
    bronze medals went to swimmers Darius Coman, in the 100m 200m breaststroke and to
    Andrei Proca in the 1, 500m freestyle event. Athletes Alexandra Hudea in the 3,000m race and Cristian Popescu, in the
    long-jump event, also walked away with bronze.

  • July 30, 2023

    July 30, 2023

    GOVERNMENT The government
    prepares to pass a set of fiscal measures in the coming days, designed to bring
    more money into the state budget and to keep the deficit close to this year’s
    target of 4.4% of GDP. As of this autumn, employees in agriculture,
    constructions and IT may have to contribute 10% of their incomes to the public
    healthcare fund. The government also intends to keep only 2 VAT rates, 9% for
    foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals and hospitality services, and 19% for all other
    sectors. Governmental sources say the ruling coalition are also discussing a
    reorganization of the public sector, by scrapping 200,000 posts which are
    currently vacant. At the same time, the Cabinet is working on measures to support
    citizens cope with the rising inflation. The government is considering an
    increase in minimum wages in 2 stages: to roughly 670 euro in September and to
    750 euro as of January next year. But the plan is opposed by private
    entrepreneurs, who say they cannot afford to raise minimum wages for employees.
    According to a recent poll, should this measure be introduced, more than half
    of the private entrepreneurs in the country said they would raise prices for
    their products and services or downsize their staff.


    FIRE A Romanian fire fighter unit specialising in
    wildfires is leaving for France today, as part of a redeployment programme
    organised by the Directorate General for European Civil Protection and
    Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO). As many as 40 Romanian fire fighters
    with fire engines, water tanks and other equipment will be stationed in
    Marseilles, on the Mediterranean Coast.


    TRIBUTE The Bucharest National
    Opera orchestra performs tonight for the first time at the Musikverein hall in
    Vienna, in a tribute concert to the Romanian composer Ciprian Porumbescu. The
    year 2023 was declared the year of Ciprian Porumbescu, to mark 170 years since
    the birth and 140 years since the death of the famous composer. The concert
    will consist exclusively of works by Ciprian Porumbescu: New Moon, the first
    Romanian operetta, the Ballad, the Romanian Rhapsody. The soloists, choir
    and orchestra of the National Opera House in Bucharest are conducted by Daniel
    Jinga, with special guests including maestro Gheorghe Zamfir and the soloist
    Maria Coman.


    UKRAINE A Ukrainian drone
    attack on Moscow hit 2 office buildings last night, the mayor of Russia’s
    capital city Sergei Sobyanin said, according to France Presse. According to the
    Russian defence ministry, a drone was shot down and 2 others were neutralized but
    crashed into a building compound. This was the latest in a string of attacks
    that Moscow blames on Kyiv, while also claiming the US and their NATO allies
    have provided assistance to Ukraine. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian authorities say
    at least 2 were killed and 1 wounded in a Russian missile attack on the city of
    Zaporizhzhia.


    SPORTS Romania finished 4th
    at the European Youth Summer Olympic Festival in Maribor (Slovenia), with 9
    gold, 6 silver and 5 bronze medals. This is the best performance for Romania in
    this competition, after the ones in 1995 (Bath) and 2003 (Paris), when it came
    out 3rd. On Saturday, the last day of the event, Romania won 2 gold medals,
    thanks to Alin Şavlovschi, in the men’s 2,000 m hurdles race and Bianca Maria
    Tiţa, Ştefania Balint, Maria Denisa Capotă and Alexandra Ştefania Uţă, who won
    the women’s relay race with a new competition record (2’06”13). Romania’s
    women’s handball team won the silver after losing the final to France, 32-27. Three other
    medals were won in the tennis competition, by Giulia Safina Popa in the women’s
    singles, Giulia Popa and Alexia Tatu in women’s doubles and Yannick Theodor
    Nicolas Alexandrescou/Alejandro Mateo Berge Vega Nourescu in the men’s doubles.
    In the gymnastics competition, Alexia Gabriela Vânoagă won the silver in the
    beam final. Romania participated in the Festival with a team of 92 athletes. (AMP)

  • May 12, 2023 UPDATE

    May 12, 2023 UPDATE

    GOVERNMENT The Government of Romania passed an emergency
    order on rebalancing the state budget, in a special meeting on Friday, the
    finance minister Adrian Câciu announced. He outlined the key measures in the plan, including a 10% reduction on
    expenditure with products and services, except for expenses in public
    healthcare and education, and a ban on procuring, leasing and rentals of automobiles
    and office equipment in public institutions. One exception is the car scrapping
    programme for the public authorities purchasing non-polluting vehicles. The
    programme is designed to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the transport
    sector, by encouraging the use of eco-friendly vehicles. The
    finance minister also announced that the number of advisers to officials in
    central administration structures, currently standing at around 900, will be
    reduced by one-half following the implementation of the emergency order aimed
    at making public spending more efficient.


    INFLATION In Romania,
    the year-on-year inflation rate dropped significantly in April, to 11.23% compared
    to nearly 15% in March. While this does not mean that products and services are
    growing cheaper, the rise in prices has nonetheless slowed down. According to
    data released by the National Statistics Institute on Friday, there are
    products that were more affordable in April than in March, including sunflower
    oil. Also on Friday, the National Bank confirmed that this downward trend in
    consumer price increase will continue. But the central bank governor Mugur
    Isărescu also warned those who have or are planning to take out loans in
    foreign currencies, and said that interest rates for the euro and US dollar
    will increase further. The National Bank forecasts a 7.1% inflation rate for
    the end of this year, as against 7% announced previously, and a 4.2% rate for
    the end of next year. Mugur Isărescu added that prices for fruit and vegetables
    will likely continue to go up for another 2 months, as the yield will be
    affected by the weather conditions in Europe, the drought in Spain and the
    aftermath of the earthquakes in Turkey.


    ENERGY The Polytechnic University in Bucharest officially launched
    the first NuScale Energy Exploration (E2) Centre outside the United States on
    Friday. The centre hosts a simulator of the NuScale Power’s VOYGR™ small
    modular reactor (SMR) power plant control room, and will educate and train the
    next generation of nuclear engineers to operate advanced civil nuclear reactor
    technologies while establishing Romania as a regional educational and training
    hub for the next stage of civil nuclear deployments across Romania and Europe,
    reads a news release issued by the US Embassy in Bucharest.


    MUSEUMS
    The National Network of Romanian Museums has announced an absolute record
    number of cultural events enlisted as part of the Night of Museums – 297 in
    Romania and 14 in the Republic of Moldova. Bucharest will host around 60 events
    proposed by museums, art galleries, cultural centres, opera houses, choirs,
    palaces, institutes, high schools and music festivals. The special guest of the
    current edition is the War Childhood Museum, for the first time in Romania. The
    exhibition, entitled Listen, is hosted by the Romanian Peasant Museum. Access
    is free of charge.


    AWARD – Romanian President Klaus Iohannis will receive the Franz
    Werfel Human Rights Award granted by the German Centre against Expulsions, DPA
    reports. Aged 63, Iohannis will become the 11th winner of this award, granted
    to him for his tireless and multilateral commitment to defending human rights
    and minority rights in Romania and Europe. The award, granted every two years,
    comes along with a money prize of 10,000 euros. Among the previous laureates
    are former German president Joachim Gauck, the winner of Nobel prize in
    Literature, Herta Muller and historian Karl Schlögel. The prize will be awarded
    during a ceremony held on June 4 in Frankfurt, Germany, when a congratulatory
    speech will delivered by former European Commission President Jean Claude
    Juncker.


    YOUTH Over 1,400 Romanian 18-year olds are among the 35,000 beneficiaries
    of free EU travel passes granted this year under the Discover EU programme. In
    order to find out more about the culture and history of the EU and to come in
    touch with people across the continent, the beneficiaries will be able to
    travel by train, individually or in groups of up to 5 people, between June 2023
    and September 2024. The current round of the programme saw more than 145,000 applicants
    from EU member states and Erasmus Plus countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein,
    Norway, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey). (AMP)

  • Interview with the EU Youth Coordinator Biliana Sirakova

    Interview with the EU Youth Coordinator Biliana Sirakova

    The 2023 edition of the “Your Europe, Your Say” programme, organised by the European Economic and Social Committee, took place over 23-24 March and was aimed to ensure that the voices of young people are heard when Europes future is shaped.



    RRI’s Eugen Cojocariu has used the opportunity to talk to the EU Youth Coordinator at the European Commission, Biliana Sirakova:




  • July 28, 2022 UPDATE

    July 28, 2022 UPDATE

    UKRAINE The Romanian foreign ministry firmly criticised the move of
    the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, who posted
    on social media a map assigning current Ukrainian territories to Romania and
    other neighbouring countries. The foreign ministry regards such attitudes as
    part of the Russian Federation’s propaganda and disinformation campaign, which
    has intensified since the start of the illegal and illegitimate war against
    Ukraine. Such ‘proposals’ and ‘analyses’ concerning the random resetting of
    national borders and promoting violations of international laws are just failed
    attempts to justify Russia’s breaches of the international order based on
    rules. The institution reiterates Romania’s full support for the independence,
    sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally
    recognised borders, and once again condemns Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked
    military aggression against that country. Romania is and will remain a partner
    of Ukraine and reconfirms its full support and deep compassion for the
    Ukrainian people, the victim of a brutal aggression, the institution’s news release
    also reads.


    FUNDS The prime minister Nicolae Ciucă has said Romania’s absorption
    rate of European funds as part of the 2014-2020 financial exercise stands at
    64.5%, a level similar to that of Germany and only slightly lower than France,
    but ahead of older member states like Belgium (59%) and Italy, Spain and The
    Netherlands (each with a little over 56%). According to Ciucă, Romania absorbed
    22 billion Euros out of the 35 billion it is allocated in the 2014-2020 period.


    DROUGHT Drought has so far affected 150,000 hectares of farmland in
    20 different counties across Romania, said the agriculture ministry, based on
    daily reports on the state of the crops. The irrigation systems are struggling
    to cope, owing to the drop in the level of the water used to feed the
    irrigation stations. The biggest such station, in Brăila county, in the
    south-east, was shut down because of the low Danube water flow. The station was
    providing water for 250,000 hectares of land in the region. The water flow of
    the river Prut, in the east, is also dropping, having already reached a record
    low level. Agriculture minister Petre Daea said the animal breeding sector is
    also affected by drought.


    WHISTLE-BLOWERS The president of Romania Klaus Iohannis Thursday sent
    back to Parliament for reconsideration the Law on the protection of whistle-blowers,
    stating that some of the legislative solutions must be revised. Previously, a coalition
    of 20 NGOs, civil associations and trade unions, as well as whistle-blowers,
    had sent an open letter to the president, urging him not to sign the bill into law.
    Civil society organisations argue that in the form passed in Parliament, the
    act reduces the protection mechanisms for whistle-blowers, and Romania risks
    infringement procedures for the selective transposition of the relevant EU
    Directive. Save Romania Union, in opposition, also called on Iohannis to send
    the law back for urgent reconsideration, stating that the current text
    dissuades corruption reporting and poses a major risk of Romania being left
    without the funding under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. In
    mid-July the Constitutional Court had dismissed USR party’s complaint
    concerning the law, as unconstitutional.


    DRILL Over 20 aircraft from 7 NATO member states Thursday took part
    in a joint drill as part of the enhanced Vigilance Activities – eVA headed by
    NATO AIRCOM based in Germany. According to the defence ministry, the goal of
    the exercise is to prove NATO’s capacity to plan, coordinate and execute a
    complex air space security mission in the event of any type of attack or threat
    on Allied territory. In response to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, NATO significantly
    enhanced its defence and deterrence capability, including by means of
    strengthening its presence on its eastern flank. (AMP)

  • Literature for children in Romania in the digital era

    Literature for children in Romania in the digital era


    The Fairy Tale Association has organised this autumn’s
    leading event focusing on children’s and youth literature. Running as LittleLIT
    Days, the event brought together more than 650 children who enjoyed workshops,
    public reading sessions and book launches, staged as part of the aforementioned
    project.


    For
    a whole week, more than 25 online events were held, dedicated to pupils. Among
    them, reading workshops offered by Romanian authors of children’s and youth literature,
    staged in schools around Bucharest, Timișoara and Cluj. The activities were
    dedicated to professionals in the field on children’s literature, such as
    authors, illustrators, translators, editors, PR specialists, book sellers. Part
    of the events also targeted the lay public. Together was this year’s theme,
    purposefully thought out as a feasible alternative to the social environment we
    live in, marred by fear, loneliness and isolation.

    Writer Victoria Pătrașcu, one of the founders of the Fairy Tale Association:

    When we thought out this project, that is a year ago, we never imagined things
    would be just the same, that we will still be confined indoors. We would have really
    liked to enjoy all that, together with the children, to be able to join them,
    to take their questions. Things were not the same just as we would have liked
    to, which doesn’t mean we cannot be together even in these difficult conditions,
    so that the LittleLIT story may continue, beautifully. LittleLIT stemmed from a
    collaboration between the Fairy Tale Association and EUNIC. What we had there,
    from the very outset, was an idea in a nutshell, it was a project by means of
    which we thought of taking writers of contemporary Romanian literature for
    children to their readers, so that the latter may have the chance to know those
    who craft the stories. The little ball that we had in the beginning had grown
    into a maiden edition, in 2019, themed LittleLIT Mirrorings, where we had partnerships
    with five foreign cultural institutions. Back then we had five foreign guest writers
    who gave workshops for Romanian writers as we very much want the Romanian
    writers to have examples of good practice, so they may know how to make themselves
    better known, how to become better writers, how to refine their writing. And it
    was also then that we staged meetings with potential readers, we took those writers
    to the meet the children, in schools or in rather underprivileged milieus,
    where children do not have access to culture.


    The
    LittleLIT Days, Together schedule has been thought out to highlight the importance
    of the book and reading for the development of children and in a bid to give
    them the opportunity to get acquainted with books what were written for them,
    and with those who wrote them. Equally, the project seeks to create a space of
    dialogue between children’s literature professionals (writers, editors,
    professors, reading promoters) from Romania and from other European countries. So
    The Fairy Tale Association continues to strengthen the dialogue with schools
    and the teaching staff, offering teachers specific methods for using literature
    as a method for teach the content-based items in the curricula.


    Victoria Patrascu:


    We somehow felt lonely and lost in the great Romanian literature and we
    thought it was unfair for the children’s literature to be viewed as a
    Cinderella of literature. There weren’t back then, and there still aren’t
    either, as we speak, any awards for Romanian children’s literature or if they exist,
    they’re not being awarded. Notwithstanding, there is an increasing number of
    writers of children’s literature, writers whose success has been growing. Some
    of us have got round to participating in international fairs, in the meantime,
    even at the International Children’s Book Fair in Bologna, which is something
    extraordinary, we have become increasingly aware of the importance of children’s
    literature in the world. This literature shapes up readers, it a literature
    that has been developing one year after the next. Although book sales are on
    the wane, children’s literature is on the rise, literature for children brings
    money and that’s what editors should be interested in. Many of them realized, and
    that is precisely why they created special collections, they realized children’s
    literature does have its perks, apart from those we know already: those of bringing
    up the new readers, of developing children’s emotional balance, of helping them
    develop. Now,
    returning to the 2018 moment, when we founded the Fairy Tale Association, things
    fared worse than they fare today, so we thought of turning pro. We had some
    examples as well, many of them from the Nordic countries, telling us that when
    we were together, we were able to do a lot of things. And that’s what happened,
    we were a nucleus made of four writers, Adina Rosetti, Laura Grünberg, Iulia
    Iordan and myself, who started up this Fairly Tale Association. But here we are,
    three years on, we are 20 writers already, we have three caravans who reached dozens
    of communes, as well as hundreds of workshops on the record. Also, we organize
    this event as well, the LittleLIT Days, under the form of a children’s
    literature festival. As of late, we also have a YouTube channel we want to
    develop.


    There were three keynote online launches of LittleLIT
    Days’ special guests this year. Swedish writer Åsa Lind, Swiss author Dana
    Grigorcea and Romanian writer Lavinia Braniște gathered more than 2, 000 young
    readers. Equally successful were the two big events dedicated to specialists and
    those interested to find out more about contemporary Romanian children’s
    literature – the webinar Incubator themed The domestic book market for
    children: a magical, otherworldly world facing worldly problems and the Masterclass
    given by the special guests.

    (Translation by Eugen Nasta)



  • July 30, 2020

    July 30, 2020

    COVID-19 President Klaus Iohannis has a new meeting today with the interior minister Marcel Vela and with the head of the Department for Emergencies Raed Arafat, to assess the situation and the causes of the steady growth in the number of COVID-19 cases. New containment measures were included by the Government on Wednesday night in an executive order concerning the state of alert. Authorities have decided that in counties or localities with large numbers of COVID-19 cases, the opening hours of outdoor bars and restaurants may be restricted. Also, in crowded areas where social distancing cannot be ensured, protection masks may become compulsory even outdoors. As of Thursday, face masks are compulsory in crowded outdoor areas in several counties in Romania where the number of coronavirus infections has risen sharply in recent weeks. The measure is adopted by an increasing number of counties, after more than a week with over 1,000 new COVID-19 cases per day. On Thursday a new record-high number of new cases was reported, 1,356, with the total so far in Romania nearing 50,000, and the death toll standing at 2,304. Nearly 26,600 patients have recovered.



    CHILDREN The labour minister Violeta Alexandru presented in the Cabinet meeting a bill providing for the gradual doubling of child benefits, to roughly 60 euros per month for children aged 2 to 18 and to 120 euros per month for children up to 2 years of age and for children with disabilities. The minister explained the increase will be gradual, up until 2022. In a first stage, in September, child benefits will be raised by 20%. The Government intends to pass the bill in Fridays Cabinet meeting. Parliament voted to double child benefits, at the proposal of the Social Democratic Party in opposition, but the implementation of the measure was postponed because the coronavirus crisis has put pressure on the state budget.



    YOUTH 56% of Romanian youth lost their confidence and motivation, according to a survey, Insights PulseZ, designed to identify the response and behaviour of young people during the 2-month state of emergency introduced in March over the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, the survey revealed, the sudden suspension of day to day activities disrupted youngsters emotional balance. More than half of them were affected by the lack of face-to-face meetings, and nearly 35% admitted to having experienced tiredness and mood swings. The survey also shows that 44% of Romanian youth spent over 8 hours a day online. 33% of them attended online classes, and an equal number watched series and films.



    ELECTION Over 2,000 Romanian citizens living abroad have registered on an electronic platform, votstrainatate.ro, to vote in this years parliamentary elections. Over 1,390 of them chose to vote by mail, and nearly 620 registered to vote in polling stations. The Permanent Electoral Authority in Bucharest urges Romanian nationals living abroad to choose voting by mail as a safe and comfortable means to cast their ballots, without queuing, traveling, costs or risks, particularly in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. Information on the registration procedure is available at votstrainatate.ro, and questions can be sent by email at contact@votstrainatate.ro. The Permanent Electoral Authority says citizens may enrol as voters abroad no later than 15 days prior to the election date.



    UNTOLD The 6th edition of the largest electronic music festival in Romania, Untold, begins today and will be held online for 4 days, amid restrictions and social distancing rules triggered by the coronavirus pandemic. The organisers have announced exceptional guests and surprises. In February, Untold announced its first participants this year, including David Guetta, Martin Garrix and Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike. Pussycat Dolls, Iggy Azalea and The Script also confirmed their participation, while Paul Kalkbrenner, Charlotte de Witte and Richie Hawtin make up the techno section of the festival. Over 80,000 fans have enrolled to take part in this online edition of the festival. (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • November 23, 2019

    November 23, 2019

    ELECTIONS In Romania, the campaign for the second round of the presidential election, due on November 24, has come to a close this morning at 7 am. Competing are the incumbent president Klaus Iohannis, endorsed by the National Liberal Party now in power, and the former Social Democrat PM Viorica Dancilă. The Permanent Election Authority has announced that the Electoral Register has been updated and the total number of voters in the roll is 18,217,411. In the first round, in which 14 candidates took part, Klaus Iohannis got nearly 38% of the votes, and Viorica Dăncilă a little over 22%. The voter turnout was 51.19%. In the Romanian communities abroad, where the vote took place over 3 days, record-high turnout was reported, with over 675,000 people showing up in polling stations. For Sundays runoff as well, the 835 polling stations abroad are open for 3 days, Friday through Sunday, with the possibility for the vote to be extended until midnight on Sunday. The number of Romanians
    having voted abroad in the runoff suggests a higher turnout than in the first round. The vote rate increased in the
    past few hours, after polling stations reopened in all the countries in Europe,
    which host the largest Romanian communities in the world. First ranking are the
    Romanians in Italy, the UK, Germany, Spain and the Republic of Moldova.




    GAUDEAMUS 8,000 book stands have been put up as part of the Gaudeamus Book Fair organised in Bucharest by Radio Romania, in an edition devoted to the 30 years since the anti-communist revolution of 1989. During the 5 days of the Fair, 900 different events are scheduled, including book launches, debates and book signing sessions. Today, on the 4th day of the Fair, Prof. Thierry Wolton takes part in the launch of the second volume of his trilogy “A World History of Communism. In this volume, entitled ‘The Victims’, Thierry Wolton speaks about the tens of millions that suffered imprisonment, deportation, torture and even extermination for their anti-communist beliefs.




    COLECTIV After the Bucharest Court completed its investigations, on Monday the prosecution and the defence will present their closing statements in the case concerning the fire in Colectiv night club in Bucharest 4 years ago, in which 64 people died, one committed suicide further to the trauma and 200 others were injured. The Colectiv trial started in April 2016. After 2 years of deferrals over procedural matters, the judge assigned to the case retired, and during another year the new judge has heard the statements of scores of witnesses and victims.




    DiscoverEU Youth of over 18 years of age may enrol by November 28 in a programme called DiscoverEU, which enables them to travel free of charge in the European Union. Eligible applicants must be citizens of one of the member states and fill in an online form. This is an initiative of the European Parliament, designed to provide young people with new mobility opportunities. The selected candidates will be able to travel, especially by train, for max. 30 days between April 1 and October 31, 2020. Since the programme was launched in 2018, Romania offered nearly 2,000 such permits, out of a total of 50,000 issued in the EU.




    UN The 15 members of the UN Security Council endorsed a declaration reaffirming the ban on chemical weapons. The Council has reached a consensus long undermined by the war in Syria, and the Skripal affair in the UK or Kim Jong-nam case in Malaysia, AFP reports. The Council reaffirms that the use of chemical weapons is a violation of international law, and declares its firm opposition to it. The declaration, proposed by Great Britain, was passed unanimously. The UN Security Council urges all states that have not yet done so to sign the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons, which was signed in 1993 and came into force in 1997. Syria joined the Convention in 2013, Israel has signed it, but is yet to ratify it, whereas North Korea, Egypt and South Sudan are not yet parties to this Convention.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • July 20, 2019

    July 20, 2019

    PROSECUTOR The president of France, Emmanuel Macron, told president Klaus Iohannis over the telephone on Friday that France would withdraw Jean-François Bohnerts candidacy and would back the Romanian Laura Codruța Kövesi instead for the post of head of the European Public Prosecutors Office, the Romanian Presidency announced. Previously, the European Parliament reaffirmed its support for the former head of Romanias Anti-Corruption Directorate becoming the chief EU prosecutor. This spring the European Parliament decided to back Kovesis candidacy, whereas the EU Council preferred the French Jean-Francois Bohnert. Several rounds of negotiations between the 2 institutions yielded no results. Under the rules of organisation of the new EPPO, the Parliament and Council must jointly appoint the EU chief prosecutor, for a non-renewable 7-year term in office.




    INVESTMENTS A delegation from the Romanian Ministry for the Business Environment, Trade and Entrepreneurship is in Japan until July 26th, to attract Japanese investors in Romania. According to the Ministry, the agenda of the visit includes meetings and talks in Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto and Tokyo, with Japanese governmental officials and representatives of the local business and banking community, concerning the new business opportunities entailed by the Economic Partnership Agreement between the EU and Japan. Meetings will also be held with representatives of major Japanese corporations. The talks are aimed at identifying trade and investment projects of mutual interest. Last year, the bilateral trade amounted to 710 million US dollars. The main Romanian products exported to Japan included tobacco, wood, honey, vehicle components and accessories, clothes, pharmaceuticals and electrical appliances, whereas Romanias imports from Japan consisted in automobiles, tools and equipment, metal and chemical products, optical and photographic equipment and devices.




    FESTIVAL The 11th Film and Histories Festival continues in Rasnov, central Romania. Until July 28th, a special new venue in the centre of the town will be hosting film screenings, theatre performances, Baroque and rock music concerts. Conferences and roundtable talks will also be organised, on topics such as the 1989 Romanian Revolution, economic freedom, the music of freedom, freedom won and lost, cinema and freedom. Other topics approached include the Romanian migration, Europes post-Brexit future, the digital society and minorities. The 50th anniversary of the first Moon landing and the 70th anniversary of the founding of NATO will also be marked. The 2019 edition of the Festival will also host a Summer School for 72 university students and 23 high school students from Romania and the neighbouring Republic of Moldova.




    HOLIDAY Orthodox and Catholic Christians in Romania celebrate today Prophet Elijahs feast day. According to the Bible, the prophet lived nearly 2,800 years ago and brought back faith in the Hebrew God among the people of Israel. Elijah did not die like a human, but was taken to heavens in a chariot of fire. Due to this biographic detail, St. Elijah is the patron saint of the Romanian Air Forces, which celebrate July 20th with military and religious ceremonies. Nearly 130,000 Romanians celebrate their name day on Prophet Elijahs Feast Day.




    YOUTH Romania will be represented by 103 athletes in the 15th Summer European Youth Olympic Festival, held between July 21st and 27th in Baku (Azerbaijan). The Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee announced the participants are athletes aged between 14 and 18, who will take part in the athletics, cycling, artistic gymnastics, handball, swimming, judo, wrestling, tennis and volleyball events. The Committee also says the Romanian delegations objective is to come home with 8 to 10 medals from Baku.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • Education for life, in school and at home

    Education for life, in school and at home

    Recently, 154 teachers who are teaching at least 4,200 students from 8 counties of Romania and from Bucharest have benefited from training provided under a project called “For girls and boys run by the Association “Youth for Youth. The purpose of the project is to approach issues specific to puberty with secondary school pupils, especially with 6th and 7th graders.



    They have chosen this age group because they have identified a major lack of information among high school students, although adolescents should have had better knowledge of their body, emotions and dangers specific to their age. The same lack of information is also considered to be partly responsible for certain worrying statistics: annually 10% of women in Romania who give birth are under age, and 6 out of 10 teen mothers have never had access to information about reproductive health. Although public education has provided an optional course on ‘Education for health starting in 2004, which can be taught from the 1st grade to the 12th grade, only 6%-7% of the students in the pre-university system took this course in the 2017-2018 school year.



    This is the context in which the precisely in order to help teachers tackle these sensitive issues with the students. They are sensitive issues both from a psychological and physiological point of view, says Adina Manea, the project coordinator:



    Adina Manea: “The programme addresses form masters, whether or not they teach the optional course ‘Education for health. What we have produced, namely the teaching materials for the teachers and the workbook for pupils, can be used both during the educational class and during the ‘Education for health class, where such classes are held. During puberty, apart from the occurrence of natural hormonal changes which teenagers may or may not understand, which may or may not be explained to them, there emerges a new range of emotions. It is important for them to learn how to deal with these issues. Moreover, at this age, children are very interested in communicating with and relating to the others, including in a romantic way. How we communicate with one another, what persuasive communication means, how we protect ourselves and what virtual communication means, what ones self-image is in the real and virtual environments, are also issues of interest to children. Children are meaner to one another, but they are also vulnerable to ill-intentioned people they may meet online. Young people need to learn how to discriminate between different attitudes.



    Teachers and students have learnt how to better communicate with one another in relation to issues such as the human body and its development during puberty, self-esteem and relationships, ways to prevent violence, values, family and plans for the future. But while pupils are poorly informed on these issues, the question is how prepared teachers are to approach them.



    Adina Manea: “The most important thing as far as teachers are concerned is that they intend and are willing to contribute to the childrens good. Teachers also admit that they lack in-depth understanding of certain issues of the younger generations, and that they need support by means of training. From the very start, we have intended to include parents in this discussion. After a period of training, teachers went back to their classes, where they used what they learned during our courses. Furthermore, the teaching staff, the pupils involved in the project, and the volunteers of the Association ‘Youth for youth are organizing activities in which they also invite parents to talk about these issues. Thus, parents are invited to recollect their puberty and the difficulties they had in coping with the issues typical of this age, to realize the importance of supporting their children through this natural process, from puberty to adolescence.



    Of the schools that participated in the project ‘For girls and boys, 29 were from urban areas and 16 from rural communities. It is common knowledge that the rural areas in Romania are quite disadvantaged from many points of view. Here is Adina Manea with more:



    Adina Manea: “We wanted to see the response of the parents and students from rural areas, which, according to statistics, are faced with poverty, lack of opportunities and reduced education level. Plenty of data clearly shows that, at present, rural areas are at a disadvantage against urban areas. We wanted to see if the reaction of people in those areas is as grim as the statistics suggested, but they had a very good response. Everybody was happy with the impact of these courses on children and the way in which the meetings with parents unfolded.



    It remains to be seen to what extent the model of communication between teachers and children implemented by the Association ‘Youth for Youth will be applied so as to boost the level of information and self-awareness among teenagers.



    (translated by: Lacramioara Simion)

  • October 11, 2018

    October 11, 2018

    TRANSPORTS – Intercity passenger transport is severely disrupted in many counties in Romania, where carriers protest the line ministrys plans to change the rules for the award of licenses. The protest was organised after the Transport Ministry announced it would change the scoring system for the companies taking part in bids for transport routes, on grounds that the current system has led to a monopoly in the market. Carriers around the country are waiting for a meeting with PM Viorica Dăncilă, before they make a decision regarding future protests. Meanwhile, the Transport Committee in the Chamber of Deputies has invited the line minister, Lucian Sova, to provide explanations.




    JUDICIARY – The Public Ministry has all the resources required in order to make the Section investigating magistrate offences operational, the Prosecutor General Augustin Lazăr announced today. The statement comes after the Government passed an order on Wednesday regarding the establishment of that section, which is to take over all pending and finalised cases from the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, as of October 23. Augustin Lazăr said the act has already been made public in the Official Journal. Under the law, the new Section is to start working within six months after the law has taken effect, and the Higher Council of Magistrates is yet to initiate the procedures for making it operational. The new unit will be made up of 15 prosecutors, and its chiefs will be appointed further to a selection process run by a commission of 3 judges and a prosecutor from the Higher Council of Magistrates.




    PENSIONS – In Romania, a new Pension Bill is to be sent to Parliament, after having been passed by the Government. The Labour Minister Olguta Vasilescu says no pension will be reduced under the new law, nor will the standard retirement age and contribution period be amended. Novelties include the introduction of masters degree and doctoral degree studies as corresponding to pension fund contribution periods. The new law is to come into force in several stages until 2021, when it has taken full effect. Its provisions will regulate the benefits paid to over 5 million Romanian pensioners.




    COURT – The Constitutional Court of Romania is discussing today the notifications filed by the Supreme Court, the National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union and President Klaus Iohannis against a bill amending the Code of Criminal Procedure, as it has been drafted and approved by the ruling coalition. The magistrates claim the text is fraught with ambiguities, whereas the Opposition says the bill helps favour offenders. Also today the Constitutional Court is to discuss the bill on the organisation of courts.




    BREXIT – German Chancellor Angela Merkel says progress has been made in the Brexit negotiations, just one week ahead of a meeting of EU leaders in Brussels for what might be one of the last chances to reach an agreement on the terms of the separation between Britain and the European bloc. Merkel said the 27 remaining EU member countries are very united and that they have great confidence in the EU chief negotiator, Michel Barnier. Negotiations are stuck particularly over the Irish border issue and ways to monitor trade over that border.




    FOOTBALL – Romanias national football team is playing today, away from home, against Lithuania, in the UEFA Nations League. On Sunday the Romanians will take on Serbia, in Bucharest. In the group standings, Montenegro and Serbia have 4 points each, Romania 2 and Lithuania nil. Depending on its performance in Nations League, Romania may have a better position in the draw for the Euro 2020 preliminaries. Moreover, if they fail to qualify, the Romanians might still have a chance in the play-offs, provided they finish at least 2nd in their group. Meanwhile, Romanias Under 21 team is playing on Friday against Wales, at home, and on Tuesday against Liechtenstein, in the last games of the 2019 European Championships qualifiers. Top of the group is Bosnia, with 18 points, followed by Romania. The last time Romania took part in a Euro Under 21 final tournament was 20 years ago.




    YOUTH OLYMPICS – The Romanian table tennis player Andreea Dragoman won the bronze in the womens singles event at the Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires. This is the 7th medal for Romania, which Wednesday night was ranking 7th in the nations with 2 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze medals. Romanias Youth Olimpics delegation is made up of 34 athletes, 21 girls and 13 boys, competing in 14 events. The Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires conclude on October 18th.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)