Displaying items by tag: Romania

Brutal winter weather is battering Europe, with ‘significant and disruptive’ snow forecast to continue for up to two weeks. Snow trapped hundreds in Alpine regions, caused avalanches and flight delays, and worst of all hit dozens of refugees housed in tents in northern Greece as temperatures sank to -20C. There have been at least 13 deaths so far in Greece's islands. Poor visibility halted Norway’s attempts to find the bodies of four skiers presumed dead after a huge avalanche hit a valley. Romanian police found the frozen body of a 67-year-old man in a car park where temperatures were -24C. Austrian residents were housebound due to blocked roads, and some regions experienced power outages, closed schools, and buildings collapsing from snow-laden roofs. Many are bracing themselves for more snow, while others prepare for subsequent floods. See

Klaus Iohannis, Romania's president, does not believe his country is ready to take over the rotating leadership of the EU on 1 January 2019. He said that 'things have gone off the rails' and there is a 'political necessity to replace the government', which he called an 'accident of democracy'. With the country facing political turmoil, Mr Iohannis has called for the Romanian government to step down instead. His remarks came after the European affairs minister Victor Negrescu, who was tasked with preparing for the EU presidency, unexpectedly resigned last week. Viorica Dancila is Romania's prime minister, but has little executive power. Liviu Dragnea, chairman of the ruling Social Democratic Party, effectively runs the government, but cannot be prime minister because of his previous convictions for fraud and election rigging.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered in Bucharest the day after 450+ people were hurt and about 30 arrested in a huge anti-corruption protest on 10 August. Police had used water cannon and tear gas to disperse protesters calling for the left-wing government to resign. Many protesters needed treatment after inhaling pepper spray and tear gas; others suffered blows. Floarea Toader, 64, said, ‘My children work in Spain and they would like to come back. But for now that's not possible as the politicians are only interested in themselves and do nothing for anyone else.’ Four million people have left Romania in the last fifteen years, seeking a better life. Romania's average monthly wage is £465. Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz, whose country currently holds the EU rotating presidency, criticised the violence, in which an Austrian public broadcaster cameraman was hurt.

After only six months, Romanian prime minister Sorin Grindeanu has been forced from power, losing a no-confidence vote in parliament by 10 votes to 241. His left-wing Social Democrat party (PSD) had accused him of failing to carry out necessary economic reforms. He had also been involved in a power struggle with party leader Liviu Dragnea, who was barred from office after a conviction for voter fraud. The decision by his own party and its allies to oust him was seen as a first, even for Romania's turbulent politics. The PSD won elections in December, but within weeks protests erupted across the country over a decree seen as weakening anti-corruption measures in one of the European Union's most corrupt member states. Although Mr Grindeanu withdrew the decree, the crisis weakened his government and soured relations between himself and Mr Dragnea. In its most recent report, the EU's executive praised Romania's anti-corruption agency (DNA), but warned that the fight against corruption was under serious threat from political and media attack.

A Christian in Romania writes, ‘We need prayer for President Klaus Iohannis to be strong in this time of battle against corruption. The left wing want to remove his right to nominate the general prosecutor and the director of the National Direction against Corruption. Until this time the justice representatives did their job and thousands are in prisons or attending court. The coalition majority is very corrupted. Many have committed felonies and should be in prison, but they have parliamentary immunity. Pray for those who are honest to dissociate from those corrupted and for this coalition to be dissolved. In this way we can hope for the election of a new government.’ The current law pardons politicians who commit felonies, receive bribes or offer favourable contracts for families and friends. This parliament wants to decriminalise these actions and set prisoners free. The people are demonstrating in the streets against this proposals.

The Roma people, often referred to as Gypsy, are originally from India and now live scattered all over the world, especially Europe. After attending a training workshop, Marlute works with a Roma man on a OneStory project in a Central Romani dialect in Romania. OneStory works with mother-tongue speakers to develop and record worldview-sensitive, chronological Bible story sets. The whole project will take about two years. The team has drafted several Bible stories and is testing them. New-Neighbour-Bible.org was recently launched by Wycliffe Germany. The website provides information about Scripture resources in the languages spoken by the people arriving from other nations now living in Europe. Links to Bibles, Bible stories, videos and audio recordings are listed for the languages of Syria, Iraq and Lebanon. Resources for other countries will be added soon. Pray that churches and Christian refugee networks will find out about and use this site.

Last week we prayed for a peaceful and satisfactory outcome when 200,000 people took to the streets over a government decree to free dozens of officials jailed for corruption. This week Romania's government scrapped the controversial decree. Now many politicians will no longer be shielded from prosecution for corruption. The decision came at an emergency meeting on the issue, following days of further street protests. One of those behind the move said it was to restore calm in Romania, but also strongly criticised the judiciary. Protesters have vowed to keep the pressure on the cabinet, with some demanding that the entire government should quit. One of them, Daniel, said, ‘I hope that this is a real repeal. We are going to keep an eye on them to make sure we are not being had’. The protests have been the country's largest since the fall of communism in 1989.

Romania's new leadership is facing growing pressure after some 200,000 people took to the streets on Wednesday, over a government decree to free dozens of officials jailed for corruption. The president said he would challenge it in court, while the business minister has resigned over the measure. The justice minister, who introduced the decree, has temporarily stood down. The protest march in Bucharest ended in clashes between alleged football hooligans and the police, leaving eight wounded. The leftist government, led by prime minister Sorin Grindeanu, returned to power last month after protests forced the previous leaders from power in October 2015. The emergency decree, which comes into effect in ten days, decriminalises several offences and makes abuse of power punishable by incarceration only if the sums involved are more than €44,000 (£38,000). The new government says the decree is needed to ease overcrowding in prisons, but Mr Grindeanu's critics say he is trying to release allies convicted of corruption.