|
RRI newsletter subcription
(e-mail address):
|
 |
Archives:
|
|
| THE WEEK IN REVIEW 01-07/06/2009 |
| (2009-06-05) |
| Last updated: 2009-06-09 15:51 EET |
For the second times since its EU accession on January 1st, 2007, Romania is hosting elections to the European Parliament on Sunday. Fighting for the 33 seats that Romania is entitled to out of a total of 736, are 6 political parties, an electoral alliance and 2 independent candidates, all hoping to secure a 5- year term. Over 18 million Romanians are expected to go to the polls in over 18 hundred polling stations in Romania, and 190 abroad. As compared to previous elections, this time people will be able to vote in whatever polling station they wish, with the exception of hospitals, railway stations and airports. Bucharest officials have urged Romanians to vote, given that their interest in these elections is very low, a lack of interest also reflected in the other 26 EU member countries.
Early this week, Romania's president Traian Basescu paid a visit to Israel, upon the celebration of 62 years of uninterrupted relations between the two countries. The talks between the Romanian head of state and Israeli officials focused on the Israeli – Palestinian conflict, the Middle East peace and the Holocaust. In Jerusalem, Basescu stressed that Bucharest supported the Middle East peace process.
“The message I have brought with me to Jerusalem is that both directly, and as an EU member, Romania fully supports the political moves that are aimed at building peace in the Middle East, a fair and sustainable peace, that should guarantee Israel's security”
In another move, Israeli president Shimon Peres congratulated Romania for its commitment to the study of the Holocaust, and said that Israel was grateful that this country had allowed hundreds of thousands of Jews to emigrate. The Romanian-born community is the third largest in Israel.
The 4th of June will go down in history as the day when the first Romanian mission abroad of the past 60 years was accomplished, President Traian Basescu explained at the ceremony that ended Romanian military operations in Iraq. He expressed his appreciation for the Romanian army's role in carrying out missions in theatres of operation abroad, voiced gratitude towards the soldiers fighting there and paid his respects to the two Romanian soldiers killed in the line of duty in Iraq. The withdrawal of the Romanian contingent will be completed on July 31st, in keeping with the provisions of a memorandum concluded between Romania and Iraq.
Traian Basescu had a meeting in Baghdad with his counterpart Jalal Talabani, who said he hoped the Romanian military would be replaced by Romanian business people. In turn, Basescu said Romania wanted to participate in Iraq's reconstruction, and recalled that Romania boasted a long standing tradition in oil and gas exploitation, in the construction of refineries and cement factories, in the development of road infrastructure and agriculture.
Communism is opposed to human values, said Romanian PM Emil Boc, speaking in Krakow at an event marking 20 years since the fall of communism in Poland. Boc added that, quote ‘democracy is worth defending, and everything has to be done for communism never to return’. End of quote. The event was also attended by his counterparts from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania, the Ukraine, and Slovenia, as well as by the chancellor of Germany. In Romania, the communist regime was ousted through a bloody revolution in 1989. In another development, PM Emil Boc met his counterpart in Warsaw, Donald Tusk; they agreed they would sign a strategic partnership between their two countries in Bucharest this autumn. The two also agreed to boost two-way economic exchanges and more effectively promote products they trade.
Romania, alongside Greece and Hungary, is one of the states most affected by corruption in the EU, according to the international barometer on corruption for 2009, issued each year by Transparency International in 69 countries. According to the document, the top 5 institutions perceived as the most corrupt in Romania are political parties, Parliament, the justice system, followed by businesses and, for the first time, the media in general. Here is Victor Alistar, executive director of Transparency International Romania:
” Public opinion believes that theft is no longer limited to petty cash, meaning bribery, and now considers that theft is measured in billions, stolen through banks. Who is believed to generate all this? The political element.”
But why is the media now believed to be among the top five most corrupt institutions? Again Victor Alistar:
” Editorial policies, sometimes obviously partisan, are affecting trust, and Romanians realize you don’t run propaganda for someone else for nothing - you have to gain some benefit from it”.
The barometer reveals that 60% of Romanians believe that the government’s anti-corruption policies are inefficient. At the same time, the document states that, in the last year, 22% of Romanians have had to pay bribes for medical services, 13% have bribed police personnel, and 6% have given bribes in the justice system.
|
|
| |
WMA |
|
64kbps : |
1
2
3
|
|
|
128kbps : |
1
2
3
|
| |
MP3 |
|
|
64kbps : |
1
2
3
|
|
|
128kbps : |
1
2
3
|
| |
AAC+ |
|
|
48kbps : |
1
2
3
|
|
|
64kbps : |
1
2
3
|
 Historical mascot of
RRI |
2025-04-03
Print
Listen again