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RADOR: News from Romania, 98-10-07
October 7, 1998
CONTENTS
[01] Romanian President Emil Constantinescu Met Representatives of the
Country's National Minorities, the Hungarian Minority Excepted
[02] Senate Proceedings;
[03] Hearings for the TVR Presidency;
[04] PDSR Position on Hungarian-German University Issue;
[05] Alfa Trade Unionists Protests;
[06] Romanian Prime Minister Radu Vasile Is Back from Washimgton;
[07] Romanian Concern about Kosovo Crisis;
[08] The President of the CE Parliamentary Assembly Has Arrived in
Bucharest;
[09] UDMR Honorary President, Bishop Laszlo Tokes, Blames Hungarian
Diplomats for Their Pro-Romanian Attitude;
[10] RADOR News Agency - Member of the International Association of
Monitoring Centres.
[01] <P> 1. Romanian President Emil Constantinescu met representatives of
the country's national minorities, the Hungarian minority excepted
While at the Cotroceni Palace on Tuesday, Romanian President Emil
Constantinescu met the MP group representing Romania's national minorities,
the Hungarian minority exceptedO The talks focused on the treatement the
group has suffered this year when, as the MP representing the Union of
Armenians in Romania put it, the group turned from a political into an
administrative group. He said the change was due to the fact that the
stroger parties replaced the minority representatives in many
administration councils or permanent bureaux. The Armenian delegate has
admitted however that the move had no ethnic motivation. The agenda of the
talks has also included issues concerning the future Petofi-Schiller
Multicultural University. The Roma Party representative, Madalin Voicu,
said such an institution should include every minority in the country, the
Roma included, as its number raised up to 3 million people. The Romanian
Armenian leader, Varujan Pambuccian, has shared the idea and said the
university should allow growing access while the leader of the Union of
Serbs in Romania, Slavomir Gvozdenovic, said the university should also
include a Slavonic language teOching faculty. Mr Gvozdenovic has also
presented President Constantinescu with an open letter expressing the
Serbian minority's concern about the crisis in Kosovo. The Romanian Serbs
expressed the hope that the foreign policy of the Government in Bucharest
would take into account that "there was never a conflict between Romania
and Yugoslavia in their common history as the country was Romania's only
loyal friend in the neighbourhood". RADOR
[02] Senate proceedings
At its session on Tuesday, the Romanian Senate has adopted the draft law
allowing the paternity leave when the father could benefit from a five-day
leave in eight weeks after his child was born. The draft law stipulating
the structure of Romania's Official Monitor. At a joint session on
Wednesday, the two chambres of the Romanian Parliament are expected to
celebrate five years since Romania has joined the Council of Europe. Also
on Wednesday, the chambres are expected to appoint the future president of
the Romanian TelOvision (TVR). RADOR
[03] Hearings for the TVR presidency
At a joint meeting on Tuesday, the special commissions in parliament have
examined the additional candidates for the TVR's presidency: Alex
Stefanescu - the candidate who benefits from the supoort of the Christian
DemocratNnational Peasant Party (PNTCD) and Cristian Hadjiculea, the
candidate supported by the National Liberal Party (PNL). After the hearings,
the commissions have expressed their secret votes on all the four
candidates: Lucia Hossu Longin won 15 votes, Cristian Hadjiculea won 7
votes, Alex Stefanescu - 5 votes and Neculai Constantin Munteanu - 2 votes.
The two chambres are expected to express their vote on Wednesday. RADOR
[04] PDSR position on Hungarian-German university issue
The opposition Party of Social Democracy in Romania (PDSR) says the
government decision to set up a Hungarian-German university is a serious
violation of any democratic standards and affects the status of Romania's
state institutionsO PDSR vicepresident Ioan Mircea Pascu told a press
conference on Tuesday that the government's unconstitutional and
undemocratic decision was despising and ignoring the opinions expressed by
most Romanian academic circles and the public opinion. Mr Pascu has warned
about the real danger of irredentist actions in and outside Romania and the
country's federalisation. RADOR
[05] Alfa trade unionists protests
More that 10,000 trade unionists are expected to boycot the local elections
in Bucharest. The leaders of the Alfa cartel are persuading the trade
unionists to boycot the first round of voting on October 25. The move is a
protests against the rulers who are accused of breaking the governing
programme and the protocols already signed with the trade unions. Trade
union leader Bogdan Hossu believes the boycot is to prove its efficiency
depite the cartel Alfa's only 10,000 members. The trade unionists are
expected to launch further protests (marches and rallies) in most major
citieO around the country. The street protests will end with a general
strike early in December. RADOR
[06] Romanian Prime Minister Radu Vasile is back from Washington
Romanian Prime Minister Radu Vasile has arrived in Bucharest on Tuesday, He
attended the annual meeting in Washington between the World Bank and the
IMF. RADOR
[07] Romanian concern about Kosovo crisis
Prime minister's statement
Referring to the Kosovo crisis, Romanian Prime Minister Radu Vasile has
expressed his deep concern and insisted that the province of Kosovo should
be further remain as part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The prime
minister said he would regret an alleged military intervention, but it
seemed it was the last solution to bring a comprehensiv peace in the
region. RADOR
MAE communique
In a communique concerning the Kosovo crisis, Romania's Foreign Ministry
(MAE) says it is essential that the Yugoslav authorities observe the
provisions in the UN Security Council's 1199 resolution rOquesting the
immediate cease of the fighting, the withdrawal of Serbian security forces,
an urgent solution to the refugee crisis, the immediate and free access of
aid workers and monitorig groups representing the international community
and the resumption of negotiations between the waring factions. MAE
expresses its political support of NATO efforts to solve the crisis. MAE is
still expecting a political solution to the crisis and reiterates its
commitment to solve the crisis in cooperation with the Contact Group, OSCE,
EU, UN and other humanitarian NGOs. RADOR
A statement by Foreign Minister Andrei Plesu at the end of an official EU
meeting in Luxembourg
Romanian Foreign Minister Andrei Plesu, who attended a meeting in
Luxembourg between EU foreign ministers and their counterparts in the EU
associate members, has provided details about the working lunch where the
26 ministers have expressed their full support of the UN Security Council's
1199 resolution and the decisions Oade by the Contact group. For the
neighbouring countries around the conflict area, a growing military
conflict would be disastrous aand the public opinion and the parliament
were not supposed to accept so easely a military intervention. Mr Plesu
said that his Bulgarian and Greek counterparts have both shared such ideas
and the countries in the region proved a certain coherence which had to be
taken into account. RADOR
[08] The president of the CE Parliamentary Assembly has arrived in
Bucharest
The president of Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly, Mrs Leni
Fischer, has arrived in Bucharest on Tuesday. She said she was happy to
return to Romania and she was hardly waiting for the celebrations tomorrow
(Ed.n. Wednesday) when Romania honours five years since it became full
member of the Council of Europe. Mrs Fischer then met the speaker of the
Romanian Senate, Mr Petre Roman, who said that her presence proved the
consideration the Council showed to Romania. RADOR
[09] UDMR Onorary president, bishop Laszlo Tokes, blames Hungarian
diplomats for their pro-Romanian attitude
In an interview with the Hungarian press on Tuesday, the honorary president
of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarian in Romania, bishop Laszlo Tokes,
has criticied Hungary's official policy towards Romania. Bishop Tokes has
blamed Hungarian Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi and chief commissioner for
foreign affairs in the Hungarian Parliament Istvan Szent- Ivanyi for their
pro-Romanian attitude. Mr Tokes says the Hungarian foreign minister had
inexplicably encouraged the UDMR to stay in Romania's governing coalition.
He also criticises Mr Martonyi for his position on the double citizenship
matter. Seen as the leader of UDMR hard-liners, Mr Tokes says the Hungarian
state should find an institutionalised way to guaratee the rights of the
Hungarians abroad as part of the Hungarian nation. In support of his
statement, bishop Tokes has mentioned Austria for its protective role in
South Oirol. RADOR
[10] RADOR news agency - member of the International Association of
Monitoring Centres
Since Monday, the Romanian Broadcasting Corporation (SRR) through its RADOR
news agency, became a full member of the International Association of
Monitoring Centres. While in Boston, the SRR secretary general Dragos
Seuleanu said "it is a great achievement as our monitoring centre, the
RADOR, is the only insitution of its kind in Central and Eastern Europe to
be accepted as member of this prestigious body". The first and most
important condition allowing RADOR to join the International Association of
Monitoring Centres was the respect for its members' ethics meaning the
respect for the customer, the respect for the radio and TV broadcasters
under monitoring and the immediate delivery of information, Mr Seuleanu
said. The SRR monitoring centre was established in 1990 and it gained news
agency status in 1996. Its customers include the Romanian Presidency,
Romania's Government and PaOliament, ministries, banking institutions,
radio and TV stations, newspapers and some of the candidates for mayor
general of Bucharest. RADOR
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