Radio România Internațional

Category: Today in the News

  • EU investigates TikTok

    EU investigates TikTok

    The European Commission opened formal proceedings against the TikTok social media platform for alleged violations of the Digital Services Act in the context of the presidential elections in Romania. The first round held on 24th November ended with the shock win of a nationalist and euro-skeptic independent candidate who was little known to the public, which raised many questions. The elections were annulled after the Constitutional Court received evidence from the Romanian Intelligence Service of Moscow’s interference with the election process. Also, four influential US senators warned, in a joint statement, of the threat posed by TikTok in Romania.

    “Vladimir Putin’s assault on Romania’s elections is yet another example of the hybrid war he is waging on our European allies and partners. As a strong NATO ally, we support Romania as it fights for the integrity of its elections. We condemn Putin’s manipulation of Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-controlled TikTok to undermine Romania’s democratic process”, the US senators said in their statement.

    The European Commission is investigating whether the Chinese platform properly assessed and mitigated systemic risks linked to election integrity. “We must protect our democracies from any kind of foreign interference. Whenever we suspect such interference, especially during elections, we have to act swiftly and firmly. Following serious indications that foreign actors interfered in the Romanian presidential elections by using TikTok, we are now thoroughly investigating whether TikTok has violated the Digital Services Act by failing to tackle such risks. It should be crystal clear that in the EU, all online platforms, including TikTok, must be held accountable”, said Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen.

    In response to these accusations, TikTok said it protected the integrity of the platform in over 150 elections around the world. “We do not accept paid political advertisements, we proactively remove content for violating our policies on misinformation, harassment and hate speech, and continue to work with the European Commission,” said a TikTok spokesperson.

    On 5th December, the European Commission issued an order to TikTok to preserve any data related to “actual or foreseeable systemic risks its service could pose on electoral processes and civic discourse in the EU” between 24th November 2024 and 31st March 2025.

    The threat posed by online disinformation to the integrity of elections was also the subject of a debate in the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Depending on their political affiliation, MEPs views varied, with some saying online platforms have become breeding ground for disinformation and their algorithms a threat to elections, and with others saying freedom of expression is not negotiable.

  • Russia: concerns and sanctions

    Russia: concerns and sanctions

     

    Four US Senators, both Republicans and Democrats, have condemned Russia’s interference in the Romanian presidential elections and have expressed support for Bucharest in its fight for the integrity of the election process. The signatories include Ben Cardin, head of the Senate’s committee on foreign relations, and Jeanne Shaheen, chair of the subcommittee on Europe and regional cooperation.

     

    In a statement posted on the US Senate website, they state that president Vladimir Putin’s attack on the Romanian elections is yet another example of the hybrid war Russia is waging on the United States’ European allies and partners. The Senators say the US “stands in support of Romania as it urgently moves to hold certifiably free and fair presidential elections.”

     

    The first round of the presidential elections in Romania, on November 24, was cancelled over concerns that the vote was not fair because of illegal practices supported by Moscow on social media, especially on TikTok.

     

    The US Senators condemn “Putin’s manipulation of Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-controlled TikTok to undermine Romania’s democratic process. The world must wake up to the serious threat to democracy posed by Russian manipulation of TikTok to undermine our free societies.”

     

    They add that the Romanian government has uncovered this assault on their democracy, and appreciate Bucharest’s decision to declassify intelligence related to the investigation and keep the United States and the international community informed.

     

    In turn, the European Union announced on Monday that it had adopted the first sanctions in response to “hybrid activities” on its territory, against Russian agents accused of “destabilising” actions in the EU. The bloc also accuses Moscow of cyber-attacks and disinformation, especially during elections in the EU.

     

    According to the Council of the European Union, the sanctions target individuals and entities that “undermine the fundamental values ​​of the EU and its member states, their security, stability, independence and integrity, as well as those of international organisations and third countries through hybrid activities of various kinds.”

     

    A total of 16 individuals and 3 entities are targeted by the sanctions, according to the Council. The measures, which include the freezing of assets in the EU, a travel ban and a ban on being financed by European companies, were decided as part of a new sanctions framework approved in October. This is separate from the one used against Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. (AMP)

  • What are entrepreneurs waiting from the future government

    What are entrepreneurs waiting from the future government

    Entrepreneurs, who convened on Monday for a specialized online event, have emphasized the risk of a potential economic recession that might hit Romania in the second part of 2025 and have called on the new Executive to take measures to avoid it.

    They recalled that 2024 was an extremely challenging year, when, besides the difficult economic and geopolitical background, the business environment had to face a significant fiscal-budgetary instability. “Romania is in an extremely fragile context, being the only EU country combining big twin deficits: we have an estimated budget deficit of 7.9% and a current account deficit standing at 8.4%, which is very much likely to grow by the end of 2024. According to statistic data, the current account deficit grows by at least 1.5 in December, mainly in the context of the 2024 election year,” says Cristina Chiriac, the president of the National Confederation for Women Entrepreneurship (CONAF).

    Romania will also have elections in the first semester of 2025.

    Cristina Chiriac: “I believe that if we want to avoid going into the economic recession zone, we must adjust the budget deficit and the current account deficit, without resorting to difficult measures. I mean, we must cut public spending, mainly in the non-productive areas; we must increase the effectiveness of tax collection and avoid fiscal overcharging in the business environment.”

    Business people said that under the present circumstances, when budgets must be adjusted almost every three months according to fiscal or legislative amendments, entrepreneurial companies cannot work with multiannual budgets, draw up business plans and make future forecasts.

    The need for predictability has also been underlined by Feliciu Paraschiv, vice-president of the National Association of Small and Medium-size Entrepreneurs in Romania.

    Feliciu Paraschiv: “We are having a series of big issues with the budget deficit and the persistent inflation as they come together, you know. And, at a better look we see that we are also having uncertain taxation, where the legislative amendments are more than ever.”

    Entrepreneurs have also mentioned the need for keeping inflation under control, and avoiding the implementation of other similar measures such as the e-Factura, (e-Invoice) or e-Transport, which have hindered the activity of companies. They have also urged the Romanian politicians to rely more on business expertise and endorse the measures focusing on the good functioning of the economy only after talks with all the parties interested.

    (bill)

  • Timișoara, 35 years ago

    Timișoara, 35 years ago

    It’s been 35 years since the start of the Romanian anti-communist Revolution.

     

     

    Installed at the end of WW2 by the Soviet occupation troops, the communist dictatorship in Bucharest seemed unshakable. In November 1989, the congress of the single ruling party unanimously re-elected Nicolae Ceaușescu as secretary general, a position he had held for almost a quarter of a century. The fact that he was already in his seventies did not prevent him from making plans for the so-called socialist development of Romania by the year 2000. His ambition to pay off, ahead of schedule, the foreign debts that he had contracted,  was only a burden for ordinary Romanians, not for their leaders. Almost everything that was being produced locally, was  exported. In the country, food was rationed, apartment blocks were unheated and electricity was cut off unexpectedly, for hours. In addition to hunger and cold, fear also reigned.

     

    The regime’s political police, the Securitate, had created the myth of knowing everything about everybody, so people were afraid to protest. In an absurd game, the regime’s propaganda system – that included, the public Tv and radio stations and and the newspapers –  were painting a parallel reality in which Ceaușescu was a genius, his wife, Elena (a functional illiterate), was a world-famous scientist and a loving mother to the entire people and the Romanians lived in the best of all worlds.

     

    In Romania’s neighboring countries, encouraged by the policies of the last Soviet leader, the reformer Mikhail Gorbachev, huge street protests had overthrown communist dictatorships. Warsaw, Prague, East Berlin, Budapest, Sofia were already experiencing freedom after almost half a century of tyranny. Historians say that it was no coincidence that the spark of the Romanian Revolution occurred in Timisoara, the largest city in the west of the country, a cosmopolitan and multiethnic city, where TV signal from Hungary and the former Yugoslavia were easily received.

     

    On December 16, 1989, the solidarity  of several parish members with the Protestant, ethnic Hungarian pastor, Laszlo Tokes, whom the Securitate wanted to deport from Timisoara, was the snowball that turned into an avalanche. More and more people gathered around the parish house, who ended up openly protesting on the streets of the city. The repression system reacted immediately and opened fire. Unarmed people were killed until December 20, when the army fraternized with the protestors and returned to the barracks. On that day, Timisoara became the first city in Romania free from communism. The revolution spread rapidly throughout the country and culminated, in Bucharest, on December 22, with Ceaușescu’s escape in a helicopter from the headquarters of the communist party’s central committee, besieged by hundreds of thousands of demonstrators. Captured and hastily tried by an improvised court, the Ceaușescus were executed on December 25th. Over a thousand people died during the 1989 Revolution. Romania was the only country behind the former Iron Curtain where liberation from communism occurred with bloodshed.

  • Structural and cohesion funds for Romania

    Structural and cohesion funds for Romania

    Romania has collected 1.9 billion Euros from the structural and cohesion funds financed in the financial year 2021-2027, the Minister of Investments and European Projects, Adrian Câciu, announced at the end of last week in a Facebook post. According to him, the general absorption rate, of 6.11%, places Romania in line with the European Union average, which is 6.19%. Things are even better for the programs managed centrally by the Ministry of Investments and European Projects and the Ministry of Transport, where the absorption rate of structural and cohesion funds stands at 7.3%.

     

    In the last few days alone, more than 650 million Euros have been collected from the structural and cohesion funds related to the 2021-2027 financial year, and reimbursements from the European Commission continue at the pace we predicted, considering that Romania has signed contracts worth over 31 billion Euros, Adrian Câciu wrote. However, he pointed out that Romania still has to catch up on the Regional Programs, where the absorption rate is only 3.2%. Adrian Câciu said he was convinced that the model that the current coalition made up of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the National Liberal Party (PNL) has set in terms of managing and implementing European funds, including their decentralization, will be continued by the future governing coalition, and the rate of absorption of European funds will be sustained so as to repeat the success of European money absorption from the 2014-2020 financial year.

     

    On the other hand, the former European Commissioner Corina Creţu claims that there is no locality in Romania that has not benefited from European funds, a fact that is due to Romania’s EU membership. The statement comes as if to give a reply to the tireless detractors of the European Union, including those in the new Parliament, who, under the name of sovereigntists, hardly hide their anti-Western sentiment. In 2023, Romania was on first place in terms of funds received, related to the population, Corina Creţu stated, citing a Euronews analysis. The former Commissioner for Regional Policy recalls that, since joining the European Union in 2007, Romania has received over 95 billion Euros worth of non-reimbursable funds, for a contribution of less than 30 billion Euros. Among the major projects that have benefited from European funds are several large regional hospitals, the Transport Master Plan, highway sectors, railway rehabilitation, the metro line that will connect Otopeni, the largest airport in the country, to the North Railway Station and, last but not least, the suspension bridge over the Danube from Brăila, the third largest in Europe and one of the most important infrastructure projects in Romania, in the last 30 years. (LS)

  • Full Schengen membership for Romania

    Full Schengen membership for Romania

     

    After years of waiting, Romania and Bulgaria are becoming full members of the Schengen area. On Thursday, the Justice and Home Affairs Council approved the lifting of the two countries’ land border controls, as of January 1, 2025.

     

    “The benefits of our membership of the free movement area​ are multiple and have a direct impact on citizens, on the economy and on the image of our country. The lifting of land border controls means faster and simpler movement for those who travel, the time spent at the borders will be considerably reduced, and logistics costs for companies will decrease, which will rapidly improve the competitiveness of Romanian products and services on the European market,” President Klaus Iohannis said.

     

    “It is a historic decision, a victory for justice and national dignity and a clear signal that we will never accept to be second-rate European citizens,” Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said in his turn. He explained that, for Romanians, this decision brings concrete and immediate benefits, especially for those in the diaspora, who travel frequently to Romania.

     

    The full accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area brings about a number of undeniable benefits for the two countries. First of all, greater freedom of movement towards Western Europe. Similarly, towards the south, Romanians will no longer be stopped either at the border with Bulgaria or at the next one, with Greece. The greatest benefits, however, will be for carriers who will no longer have to wait for hours at the borders, most often in difficult conditions.

     

    There will be, however, a six-month period of partial controls at the borders with Hungary and Bulgaria. Such controls have been temporarily initiated on various internal Schengen borders, due to the increase in illegal migration into the Union. The justice minister Cătălin Predoiu provided more details:

     

    Cătălin Predoiu: “Whenever border police notice something wrong with a vehicle carrying individuals or when they receive information that there is a risk in terms of compliance with the law, they step in and carry out checks.”

     

    Bulgaria and Romania, members of the EU since 2007, partially joined the Schengen area in March, with passport controls abolished for those crossing the air and sea borders.

     

    Romania went through several Schengen assessment reports before 2011, the first deadline for joining the area. Subsequently, over the years, countries such as France, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands or Austria opposed Romania’s accession, citing issues related to corruption, organised crime, judicial reforms or migration.

     

    With a population of almost 420 million people, Schengen is the largest free movement area in the world, covering over 4 million square kilometers and now including 29 countries. (AMP)

  • Money for local investments

    Money for local investments

    In the last days of their mandate, at least theoretically, the PSD-PNL Government in Bucharest decided, in Thursday’s meeting, to allocate total funds of billions of lei for a series of new investments. It is money that would support local communities, as well as projects in the fields of industry and health.

    The Bagdasar-Arseni Emergency Clinical Hospital in Bucharest is the largest neurology clinic in Romania. It has 263 beds and already treats traumatic, vascular, cranial, degenerative and spinal pathology, as well as oncological diseases. An oncology and stereotactic radiosurgery center will be added to the compound, over an area of over ten thousand square meters. “We continue investing in health and allocate over 200 million lei (the equivalent of 40 million euros) to the oncology and radiosurgery center of the Bagdasar-Arseni Hospital in Bucharest. This center will offer innovative treatments to patients with oncological conditions”, said Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu.

    The Government also approved a document aimed at reducing the seismic risk for vulnerable buildings in a country where earthquakes occur frequently. The value of the non-refundable financing granted to a beneficiary is a maximum of 300,000 euros. The Government spokesman, Mihai Constantin, stated that the scheme is valid until December 31, 2030, and payments will be made until the end of 2036. The estimated budget is over 1.3 billion lei. The design and execution of intervention works for spaces where economic activities are carried out, as well as for buildings of public interest or utility, will be financed. The consolidation of private homes is not included in the financing through this program. According to estimates, 750 enterprises will be able to benefit from this form of support.

    Also on Thursday, the Ciolacu Cabinet also approved the reorganization of the National Anti-Drug Agency, at a time when drug trafficking and consumption have become widespread practices in Romania. The new vision is not limited to the enforcement of the criminal law, but emphasizes prevention and integrated assistance to victims of drug use, especially minors, who need special support. Assistance is moving from the Ministry of the Interior to the health system, and the coordination of anti-drug policies is under the direct attribution of the prime minister. Also, special centers for the prevention of addictions will be established, where all those who need them will receive specialized medical assistance. The project, the Government says, was developed based on consultations with non-governmental organizations and experts in the field. (MI)

  • Inflation on the rise again

    Inflation on the rise again

    Postal services, fresh fruit or margarine were among the most expensive items in Romania in November this year, show data published by the National Institute of Statistics, according to which the annual inflation rate increased, again, compared to the previous month. More precisely, it reached 5.11% of the Gross Domestic Product, from 4.67% in October. It thus reached a level similar to that recorded in August, and also to that recorded in May. It shows the oscillating trajectory that the indicator followed in 2024, after it decreased from 6.61%, as it had been in December 2023. Romanians had to take more money out of their pockets, especially for fresh fruits, over 6.5% and also for electricity, approximately 3.4%. On the other hand, in November compared to October, air transport services recorded a decrease of over 8.2%, followed by thermal energy almost 5%.

     

    Statistics for the last 12 months reveal price increases for postal services, with average increases of almost 18%, followed by fresh fruit with over 17% and margarine, with approximately 16%. Compared to November 2023, the prices of foods increased, on average, by 5%, and of services by 7.5%.

     

    Financial analyst Adrian Codirlaşu, president of CFA Romania, an association that brings together investment professionals is here with details: ʺAs to the services component, if we look at all the monthly reports, we see that it remains consistently at high levels. We have had successive increases in the minimum wage. Most of the workers, paid with the minimum wage, are in this services component, and therefore, on the services side, we had an increase in cost, which is then reflected in prices, as is normal. Hence this slight increase in inflation. We also have a high budget deficit. The high budget deficit is inflationary. Why? Because the action of the Government, when issuing debt to finance it, is practically the equivalent of printing money, money that seeks to buy goods and services, so it increases demand and automatically prices.”

     

    For 2025, analysts anticipate an inflation rate around 5%, with a higher value being possible at the beginning of the year. The National Bank of Romania has revised upward, to 4.9%, the inflation forecast for the end of 2024 and anticipates that it will reach 3.5% only at the end of next year. But nothing is certain! Fiscal policy and salary increase at the national level, as well as, externally, the evolution of the European economies, the dynamics of the oil price or the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East generate uncertainties. (LS)

  • The Republic of Moldova’s Euro-Atlantic Option

    The Republic of Moldova’s Euro-Atlantic Option

    The relations between NATO and the Republic of Moldova, an ex-Soviet, Romanian-speaking country, have along the years known several development stages, being marked by political changes at regional and global levels.

    Chișinău has lately stepped up the relations it has with the North-Atlantic Alliance against the background of the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine. During one of her visits to Brussels, the president of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, reiterated before the NATO headquarters her state’s commitment to peace and regional security.

    The Peace Partnership between the Republic of Moldova and NATO “has contributed to a safer environment for citizens, for strengthening the army’s defence capabilities and the resilience of our entire society,” Sandu said during the meeting she had with NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte, according to a press release by the presidency in Chisinau.

    Talks focused on regional security, hybrid threats, including interference in the election process and corruption as well as the need for joint actions for the protection of the regional democracies.

    Talking to the North-Atlantic Council, NATO’s main decision-making structure, made up of the representatives of all the 32 members, president Sandu underlined the efforts made by the Republic of Moldova to maintain peace and stability in spite of the war going on at its borders, and to consolidate its resilience against hybrid threats.

    The head of the Moldovan state drew attention to foreign interference tactics targeting democratic processes such as the illegal funding of parties and the manipulation of information, with a view to undermining democracy and the citizens’ trust.

    She also highlighted the importance of international cooperation for defending democracies the world over and promoting peace. According to the Moldovan President, her visit to the NATO headquarters is proof of Chisinau’s commitment to ensuring the security of its citizens, of protecting the democratic processes in the Republic of Moldova and strengthening its role as a trustworthy partner in the regional security. Sandu’s visit to Brussels took place after the confirmation of the country’s European roadmap in the referendum, where Moldovans voted for this national objective to be included in the country’s Constitution.

    The visit came after the new European Commission had kicked off its mandate underlining the continuity and consolidation of the country’s strong ties with the European Union. During her visit, the Chisinau leader also met the European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, who on Tuesday announced a 60 million Euro support package for the Republic of Moldova, which will use the money to reform its legal system and achieve economic stability.

    (bill)

  • Steps towards a majority government and parliament

    Steps towards a majority government and parliament

    The pro-Europeans in the future Parliament have agreed to form a parliamentary majority and the government.

     

    On December 4, the PSD, PNL, USR, UDMR and the group of national minorities signed a document that was intended to be a pact for a pro-European and Euro-Atlantic coalition. This took place shortly after the parliamentary elections and the validation, by the Constitutional Court, of the first round of the presidential elections, and before what was supposed to be the second round, on December 8. The pact was aimed to block the access to the position of head of state to the independent candidate Călin Georgescu, a pro-Russian extremist and anti-West candidate, whose victory in the first round had stunned and worried Romania’s strategic partners. The  December 4th pact spoke about forming a coalition for stability and modernization, a commitment to development and reforms and the reaffirmation of Romania’s European and Euro-Atlantic path. In the end, the signatories called on citizens to vote, in the second round, in an informed and rational manner, to choose a pro-European, democratic and secure Romania and to reject isolation, extremism and populism.

     

    On December 6, the Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) cancelled the presidential election, motivating that the entire election process was flawed, with Călin Georgescu being the beneficiary. Even though he seems to be out of the competition, the parties which would have supported him in the second round and which share, at least in part, his ideas, namely the AUR, SOS Romania and POT, are in Parliament, where they hold a third of the mandates. Against this background, PSD, PNL, USR, UDMR and national minorities other than the Hungarian one, renewed their commitments, prior to the CCR ruling.

     

    After further talks, the pro-European parties pledged to form a pro-European majority in Parliament and a pro-European government and to support a possible joint pro-European candidate in the presidential elections. In keeping with this commitment, the four parties and representatives of national minorities will work on a joint governing program, based on development and reforms and which will take into account the priorities of the Romanian citizens. The signatories have agreed that a concrete plan is needed to streamline and reduce public spending and red tape in public administration. They have also agreed to increase the current pace of investments and reforms under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. The pro-European parties have also committed to increasing trust in institutions and the political class, to bring more transparency in public spending  and more respect for citizens.

     

    George Simion, the leader of AUR, the flagship party of the sovereigns’ bloc in Parliament, has criticized in harsh terms the pro-European parties, accusing them of clinging to power. The future Government will only be known after the new Parliament is sworn in, on December 21st. Its priorities will include  drawing up the next year’s budget and the establishment of the calendar for the presidential elections.

     

     

  • Statements about Romania’s belonging in NATO and the UE

    Statements about Romania’s belonging in NATO and the UE

    At the question ‘in what country they would want to work or study for a longer period of time’, 42% of the respondents to an opinion poll made by INSCOP in Romania in June 2021 opted for a Western country, in the EU or for the United States or Canada. Only 4% chose Russia and China whereas 47% said they would not leave their country. 66.6% said they preferred the Western-style rights and liberties to the traditional values Russia pretends to promote and only 16.2% stood in favour of the so-called Russian values. 56.2% of the Romanians believed that Romania’s accession to the EU brought along advantages whereas 35.1% saw only disadvantages. 65.8% of the respondents said they want Romania to be a NATO member, so that it may be well-defended militarily, 28.6% stood for neutrality as they believed Romania was not going to be attacked by anyone.

    73.8% believed the US bases on Romania’s territory contribute to the country’s defence in the event of a foreign aggression. Even at that time, the respondents overwhelmingly voiced their discontent with the activity of their leaders irrespective of their political creed.

    The sociologists’ conclusion at that time was that the Romanians did not contest their belonging to the free world but only the legitimacy of a political class, which ignored them and looked down on them. Romania is firmly committed to its assumed Euro-Atlantic headway and the decision to bring our own contribution to strengthening security in the area remains a solid one, Romania’s Minister of Defence, Angel Tîlvăr said on Tuesday during the visit he paid together with the US ambassador Kathleen Kavalec to the Mihail Kogălniceanu airbase in southeastern Romania.  There they met a delegation of military attaches from NATO countries accredited to Bucharest, the US troops deployed there as well as their Spanish, French and Romanian counterparts.

    According to ambassador Kavalec ‘Romania is investing quite a bit of funds to improve this important airbase, which is one of the most important in NATO and which helps defend the Eastern Flank and which helps defend the Black Sea area’.

    Also on Tuesday, the Custodian of the Romanian Crown, Princess Margareta says that never in its modern history has Romania enjoyed a higher security level and better conditions for economic prosperity than now as a fully-fledged member of the EU and NATO.

    In another development she described the latest presidential and Parliamentary election as a cry for help from the voters who against a rapid but unequal economic development are feeling ignored. She gave as example the differences between the country’s capital Bucharest and the poverty in rural Romania or the investment in modern technologies whereas expenditures in the health sector remain the lowest in the European Union.

    (bill)

  • Austria no longer opposes Romania’s Schengen accession

    Austria no longer opposes Romania’s Schengen accession

    The Austrian Interior Minister, Gerhard Karner, has announced his country no longer opposes Romania and Bulgaria’s accession to Schengen with their ground borders. A decision in this respect is expected at the meeting of the European Interior and Justice Ministers in Brussels this week, where in order to be adopted, it will have to be voted unanimously by the EU members.

    Austria opposed Schengen expansion two years ago in spite of the European Commission recommendations arguing that the EU’s external border wasn’t well-protected against illegal migration by these two countries.

    Gerhard Karner explained that Austria’s requests on fighting illegal migration have brought down the number of immigrants close to the Hungarian border, the most preferred entrance route to his country.

    This massive reduction in illegal migration wouldn’t have become visible had we not opposed until now – the Vienna official went on to say. We saw 70 thousand interceptions until October last year alone and only 4 thousand in the same period this year, Minister Karner said adding that it wasn’t sure whether those illegal migrants had made it to Austria via Romania.

    In December 2023, the EU Council decided to accept in its borders-free area Romania and Bulgaria, two EU members since 2007. However, these two countries’ accession was only partial in March 2024, and only those travelling by air or by sea were exempted from passport checking. The Foreign Ministers of Austria, Romania and Bulgaria, as well as the Hungarian presidency of the EU Council have recently agreed over a new measure package on border security.

    Under the document signed in Budapest, even after the two countries’ ground accession, a transition period of 6 months will follow when checking is to continue at the two countries’ borders, a condition imposed by Austria. However, the checking is no longer needed at the Greek-Bulgarian border.

    Romania had witnessed several Schengen assessment reports before 2011, the first assumed term for joining the zone. Along the years countries like France, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands or Austria opposed Romania’s accession invoking issues such as corruption, organized crime, legal and migration reforms.

    In May 2022, the European Commission reiterated the recommendation that Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia be admitted to the Schengen zone. The last, an EU member since 2013, joined on January 1 2023, both the border-free area and the Eurozone, whereas Romania and Bulgaria had to wait.

    In October 2024, the European Parliament endorsed a new resolution, the fourth of this kind since 2011 – calling for the immediate accession of Bulgaria and Romania. Schengen is the world’s largest free-movement area covering 4 million square kilometers with a population of 420 million people and includes 27 countries.

    (bill)

  • Budget deficit like in pandemic times

    Budget deficit like in pandemic times

     

    Romania’s budget deficit in the first 11 months of this year reached 7.11% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), over EUR 25 bln, according to information obtained by the Romanian media. The government’s deficit target for 2024 is 8.58% of GDP, over EUR 30.5 bln, which means that substantial spending is planned for December as well. A higher budget deficit as a share of GDP was most recently recorded in 2020, the year of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the indicator stood at 9.6%.

     

    The deficit is the difference between the state’s lower revenues and the higher expenses it must cover. Since the government does not have this money, it has to borrow it. The higher and longer the deficits, the more alarming the public debt growth rate.

     

    Together with slower economic growth, as expected for Romania in the coming years, large budget deficits can lead to alarming situations, such as the one forecast for 2031. For that year, the fiscal plan stipulates that Romania will pay 3.5% of GDP (EUR 20 bln) in interest on government debt, as opposed to 2% today.

     

    Official data and data collected by the press show that the new government will take over a difficult economic situation: a huge budget deficit, interest on government loans that have broken the European Union record, and European funds partly suspended.

     

    At the moment, the incumbent government, comprising the Social Democratic Party and the National Liberal Party, cannot draft the budget law for next year. With the new parliament not yet convened, the future parliamentary majority, on which several budget chapters depend, is not clear. And without a national budget, city halls cannot prepare their own budgets, and citizens will immediately feel the effects.

     

    The Liberal finance minister Marcel Boloş acknowledged that “political instability is creating difficulties with regard to the strategy for borrowing on foreign markets to ensure the financing of the budget deficit and public debt, as the budget for 2025 cannot be finalised.”

     

    The Social Democratic PM Marcel Ciolacu said in recent months that the colossal loans taken out by his executive team were primarily intended for investment. He mentioned the example of Western European countries such as Portugal, Spain or Italy, which went into massive debt before creating their remarkable present-day infrastructure. Commentators say, however, that much of the deficit is due to electoral measures—e.g. substantial increases in pensions and salaries in the public sector—implemented by the government in 2024, which in Romania was a year with all types of elections: elections for the European Parliament, as well as local, legislative and presidential ballots. (AMP)

  • The structure of the new Parliament

    The structure of the new Parliament

    2024 saw local, European, parliamentary and presidential elections in Romania, and the young democratic state did not handle the election marathon well. On December 6, just two days before the second round of the presidential election, the Constitutional Court annulled the election, claiming the electoral process was encroached upon. According to the Court, the freely expressed nature of the vote was violated by a campaign seeking to disinform voters, one where independent candidate Călin Georgescu, the winner of the first round of the presidential election, benefited from aggressive promotion, circumvented national electoral legislation, by abusing social media platform algorithms and the lack of specific electoral advertising regulations.

     

    The victory in the first round of a pro-Russian extremist strengthened the entire self-proclaimed sovereigntist movement. Sovereigntist is the term widely adopted by ultranationalist parties, often with xenophobic and anti-Semitic, populist views, voicing fierce criticism against the EU and NATO, and spreading conspiracy theories. Three representatives of this movement, the Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), SOS Romania and POT (The Young People’s Party) entered Parliament, the first with a very good score, following the December 1 parliamentary election, held just a week after the first round of the presidential election. For this very reason, DREPT party referred the election to the High Court of Cassation and Justice, challenging its fair organization. DREPT claimed that, throughout the November election campaign, foreign interference, illegal financing, neo-legionnaire propaganda and the influence of various underworld crime figures had been officially documented. However, the Court rejected its request to annul the parliamentary election, which means that, on December 21, Romania will have a new Parliament.

     

    The Social-Democratic Party (PSD, currently part of a ruling coalition with the National Liberal Party – PNL), grabbed the largest number of MP seats, 120, followed by AUR, with 93 and PNL, with 71. The fourth-largest parliamentary party will be USR – the Save Romania Union, with 59 elected representatives. The SOS România party, will be represented by 40 MPs, and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians (UDMR) and POT, each by 31. The Chamber of Deputies also includes the national minorities group, which holds 19 seats. Two more parliamentary seats will be assigned. Two senators and four deputies will represent Romanians in the diaspora in Parliament. Given the fragmented legislature, a stable majority is needed to form a government, ideally by the end of this year.

     

    Inevitably, there will be a ruling coalition, whose urgent mission is to set the calendar for the presidential election. The pro-Europeans, namely PSD, PNL, USR and UDMR, had agreed to form a common front against extremism, but nothing is certain after the cancellation of the presidential election. President Klaus Iohannis is expected to remain in office until the new president is sworn in next year, and many have been quick to analyze his 10-year presidential mandate. (VP)

  • Major social networks and online disinformation

    Major social networks and online disinformation

               

    “Voters’ freedom to form an opinion is based on the right to get accurate information on candidates, therefore the involvement of state or non-state entities in propaganda or election disinformation campaigns must be eliminated,” the Constitutional Court said on Friday, in presenting the grounds for cancelling the presidential election in Romania.

    According to the information presented by the intelligence services to the Supreme Defence Council and subsequently declassified, “the main flaws concerning the process of electing the president of Romania in 2024 have to do with voter manipulation and with distorting equal opportunity for the election contenders, by means of un-transparent usage, against election laws, of digital technologies and artificial intelligence in the election campaign, as well as through online and other campaign financing from undeclared sources,” the Court also said.

    The target of all these accusations is the extremist, sovereigntist candidate Călin Georgescu, a Vladimir Putin admirer who reached the second round of the presidential ballot virtually out of the blue.

    As far back as in August, the National Communications Administration and regulatory Authority (ANCOM) and the Permanent Electoral Authority (AEP) sent an official notification to the major online platforms, informing them of their obligations during the electoral process. The AEP then submitted notifications to TikTok on various irregularities, requesting measures to ensure the lawful conduct of the election campaign in Romania, but the platform failed to answer these requests promptly, ANCOM said.

    The National Audio-Visual Council and ANCOM also notified Meta, TikTok, X and Google of their obligations to combat disinformation, in line with the relevant EU regulation, and called for enhanced content moderation mechanisms.

    In spite of these calls and requests, the defence ministry warns that fresh online disinformation activities are reported, especially on TikTok. According to InfoRadar, an information portal run by the defence ministry to counter fake news, the new campaign focuses on Romania’s borders and port infrastructure.

    One of the posts claims that Romania will close its borders and secure them with troops, while another one falsely presents military equipment that the Romanian Army does not possess and claims that equipment is deployed in the port of Constanţa, allegedly in preparations for war.

    The ministry explains that this is false information and promises its communication structures will continue to warn against disinformation attempts as they are identified. (AMP)