Romania Libera

In February, police officers attacked two reporters of the daily Romania Libera in the city of Sighet after one took a photo of their police car. Police beat and handcuffed one journalist and destroyed film from his camera. In September, the journalists won a lawsuit with the court ruling that the officers had to pay damages to one of the journalists as well as court-related expenses. ... [Read More]

2004 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Romania

In October, the Senate withdrew the accreditation of the national daily Romania Libera for covering its activities. Romania Libera had printed an article alleging that the PSD general secretary of the Senate promoted employees in exchange for sexual favors. The Senate also asked Romania Libera to apologize publicly for the article. Following pressure from other media outlets, key civil society and legal figures, the Senate restored Romania Libera's accreditation. ...

In early December, RTV-1 news reporter Alexandru Costache, backed by several of his colleagues, denounced what he called government-pressured censorship and manipulation in an open letter to Evenimentul Zilei, accusing the station of deliberate and biased coverage in favor of the ruling PSD party during the Romanian presidential campaign runoff elections. The day after the letter was published, the station manager threatened Costache and his colleagues with arrest, prompting media NGOs such as MMA and Reporters Without Borders to offer the journalists legal protection and judicial assistance. The station reportedly responded by initiating internal ethics investigations into the journalists' actions. ... [Read More]

Romania

A government decree permits students in state-funded primary and secondary schools to be taught in their own language, with the exception of secondary school courses on the history and geography of the country. In the Moldavia region, some in the Roman Catholic Csango community who speak an archaic form of Hungarian complained that there was no schooling available in their language. The Csango community, estimated by some to number several tens of thousands, was fractured, with a majority of Csangos considering themselves ethnic Romanian and a minority ethnic Hungarian.According to the preliminary results of the March census, the Romani population numbered approximately 535,000; however, some observers, including the European Commission, estimated that the Roma population was between 1.1 and 1.5 million. Romani groups complained that police brutality--including beatings, prejudice, and racial harassment at the local level--was routine (see Section ... [Read More]

1996 Country Commercial Guides

U.S. Department of State Romania Country Commercial Guide Office of the Coordinator for Business Affairs F I S C A L Y E A R 1 9 9 6 C O U N T R Y C O M M E R C I A L G U I D E F O R R O M A N I ATABLE OF CONTENTSI. Executive SummaryII. Economic Trends and Outlook Major Trends and Outlook Principal Growth Sectors Government Role in the Economy Balance of Payments Situation III. Political Environment Nature of Political Relationship with the United States Major Political Issues Affecting Business Climate Synopsis of Political SystemIV. Marketing U.S. Products and Services Distribution and Sales Channels Use of Agents/Distributors; Finding a Partner Franchising Direct Marketing Joint Ventures/Licensing Steps to Establishing an Office Selling Factors/Techniques Advertising and Trade Promotion Pricing Product S ... [Read More]

New York City After September 11, 2001

QUESTION: Thank you. I'm Gabe Plesea, writing for Romania Libera, Bucharest. Mayor Guiliani, you won great respect from New Yorkers and for your courage and leadership shown during 9/11/2001. And then, in your opening remarks, you referred to the current situation in New York, that the city is more vital and it's rebuilding and everything -- you know, it's more populous, and so on. ...

So when I saw the blue sky and virtually no clouds, I said to myself, "This cannot be an accident. It can't be that a plane got off course and hit the tower. It has to be a deliberate act." ... [Read More]

Update on the Future of the World Trade Center Site

QUESTION: Hi, Gabe Plesea, reporting for Romania Libera of Bucharest. ... [Read More]

Maximum Travel Per Diem Allowances for Foreign Areas

Effective June 15, 2003, Danger Pay was increased for Monrovia, Libera. ... [Read More]