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RADOR: News from Romania, 97-12-22
December 22, 1997
CONTENTS
[01] Eight Years since the 1989 Revolution
[02] Majority State Capital Companies to Be Privatised
[03] Rates of People's Opinion
[04] Concert
[05] Romanian - Hungarian Bilateral Cooperation
[06] First Christmas in Romania in 50 Years
[07] Different Perspectives
[08] Emergency Government Order Regarding the Revenue Tax
[09] Weather in Romania
[10] Currency Rates
[01] Eight Years since the 1989 Revolution
It is 8 years this Sunday since the start in Bucharest of the December 1989
Revolution that broke out in Timisoara, Western Romania, five days earlier.
On December 21st 1989, on the occasion of a rally staged by authorities to
prove the people' support for Ceausescu's regime and to condemn the
uprising alredy began in Timisoara - the people in Bucharest rose against
the comunist dictatorship. After a night of bloody repression, on December
22nd, the army sided with the demonstrators and Ceausescu left the building
of the Central Committee of the RCP by helicopter; later on he got
arrested. The power was taken over by the Council of the National Salvation
Front formed on the spot by the former comunist official Ion Iliescu.
Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena were summarily trialed and got
executed on December 25th. In tribute to the December 21st 1989 events the
Romanian President Emil Constantinescu attended a memorial service in
memory of the heroes who died during the Revolution. The service was
performed by a group of priests headed by Patriarch Teoctist. The Romanian
head of state together with the speaker of the Senate Petre Roman, the
speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Ion Diaconescu and other senior
officials laid flower wreaths in various locations where significant events
took place during the 1989 uprising. President Constantinescu assured the
parents of the dead heroes that the Justice would solve the mysteries of
the 1989 Revolution in Romania. RRI-RADOR, December 22
[02] Majority State Capital Companies to Be Privatised
The Romanian Government discussed and addopted on Sunday the emergency bill
on the law over the privatisation of companies with majority state capital.
The law states over the creation of the Ministry of Privatisation that will
work out over the privatisation policy and over the regulations and will
coordinate the whole privatisation process. The trade with those companies'
shares will be performed only through and by the State Ownership Fund. RRI-
RADOR, December 22
[03] Rates of People's Opinion
According to an opinion poll conducted and published in the press by the
Center of Independent Social Studies and Polls, Romania's President Emil
Constantinescu has maintained his popularity rate (52%). In a previous
survey conducted in September this year no political leader has got the
main percentage of the population's confidence as it happened to the
political groups. The general trend is that Romanians' confidence in
political parties somehow decreased but on the other hand they hope for
economic recovery of the country and greater living standards. Thus, 62% of
the Romanians believe that their general status was better as regards
family life compared with the one in 1996 but things were worse as regards
the purchasing power. RRI-RADOR, December 22
The Palace Hall in Bucharest hosted on Saturday December 20th a performance
that the well known Romanian pianist Dan Grigore offered to the public on
the occasion of the 40th anniversary of his debut on October 16 1957.
Romania's President Emil Constantinescu, the former sovereign of Romania
Mihai the Ist, his wife Ana de Bourbon-Parma and several Romanian culture
personalities were among the audience. RRI-RADOR, December 22
[05] Romanian - Hungarian Bilateral Cooperation
Romanian and Hungarian Defence Ministers signed an accord on bilateral
cooperation in military transportation. The agreement was signed on
Saturday in the western Romanian city of Oradea. Gyorgy Keleti And Victor
Babiuc will sign on February next year in Budapest the agreement over
setting up the joing Romanian - Hungarian batallion. Keleti said that
Hungary's admission into NATO would have a positive influence over the
military cooperation between Bucharest and Budapest. RRI-RADOR, December
22
[06] First Christmas in Romania in 50 Years
The former King of Romania Mihai the Ist is in Romania again together with
his family. The former King will spend his first Christmas holidays in
Romania since the comunists drove him out of the country some half a
century ago. On December 30th 1947 Mihai the Ist was forced to give up his
throne. Later on the authorities have withdrawn his right to Romanian
citizenship and he got it back after the ruling team that has won the
November 1996 elections installed to power. Mihai the Ist accepted in 1997
the title of Romania's special Ambassador and interceded for Romania's
joining NATO with the European monarchs. RRI-RADOR, December 22
[07] Different Perspectives
Romania's Prosecutor General Sorin Moisescu said on Friday that he fully
backed Prosecutor Dan Voinea's statement that the former president of te
country Ion Iliescu was involved in the the events that took place in
December 1989 at the Romanian National Television station. At that time the
crossfire nearby the TV station made many dead and wounded victims among
both military and civilians. In the coming days the Romanian Social
Democracy Party will call on the inter-parliamentary Union, the European
Council and on the ambassadors of the NATO members to Bucharest to brief
their state governments on the dangerous way the events in Romania have
just taken. These event were caused - according to RSDP - by the frequent
violation of the functioning rules of the Romanian state and by the
constant political harrasment the former head of state and the oposition
parties were subject to. The Social Democracy Party has announced it would
not take part in the joint session of the two chambers of the Romanian
Parliament due be held today as long as the uncontested leaders of the
Romanian Revolution are threatened with trials and imprisonment while those
who had no part in the Revolution want to change history for their own
benefit.RRI-RADOR, December 22
[08] Emergency Government Order Regarding the Revenue Tax
The Government adopted Sunday an emergency order regarding the revenue tax,
this representing the first step towards the introduction of the global
revenue tax. According to this order, each person will pay the revenue tax
for any activity, being excepted the activities for which the income tax or
the agricultural tax is payed, the family associations developping economic
activities on the bases of the free initiative according to the legislation,
the associated Romanian or foreign citizens, the foreign citizens with a
fix income. RRI-RADOR, December 22
[09] Weather in Romania
Weather in Romania will be cold and cloudy all over the country.
Temperatures will range from -4 centigrades in the morning to 8 centigrades
at noon. RADOR, December 22
[10] Currency rates
1 USD = 7,994 lei; 1 DEM = 4,518 lei; 1 CHF = 5,583 lei; 1 FRF = 1,349 lei;
1 GBP = 13,372 lei; 1 XEU = 8,930 lei. RADOR, December 22
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