3 June, 2016
Two people died in flooding in eastern and central Romania. Today is the last day of the election campaign for Sundays local elections.
Newsroom, 03.06.2016, 00:00
Two people have died and almost 300 have been temporarily evacuated or rescued from emergency situations following flooding that has affected 90 localities in seven counties in eastern and central Romania. According to the interior ministry, more than 7,000 police, gendarmerie and fire fighter troops have been deployed to help the local population. Power cuts have also been reported and rail and road travel has been disrupted in some areas. A red code alert for flooding is in place until tonight in six counties, while the orange code alert for heavy rain and storms is in place in four counties. The amount of precipitation is expected to reach 50 litres per sq metre and even 100 litres in some areas.
Torrential rain falling in recent days has wrought havoc in Europe. Nine people died in southern Germany, where several towns have been flooded. In Paris, the river Seine will exceed its normal level by 6 metres. The museums of Louvre and Orsay, as well as a metro station, have been closed. Belgium and Poland have also been affected. More torrential rain is forecast for this week-end in several countries in central Europe, with flooding expected to become worse as a result.
Today is the last day of the election campaign for Sundays local elections in Romania. More than 350,000 candidates are running for the positions of mayor and local and county councillor across the country. For the first time this year, the winners will be decided in one round of voting. Another first is the use of a computer voter identification system to prevent multiple voting.
A day of national mourning has been declared in the majority Romanian-speaking Republic of Moldova in memory of the four Romanian nationals killed in a helicopter crash almost 20 km from the capital Chisinau. The helicopter belonged to a Romanian emergency rescue service and was on its way to Cahul to collect a patient. Investigators from Romania and the Republic of Moldova have started an inquiry into the cause of the crash.
Romanias president Klaus Iohannis, who today attended a regional security conference organised by the presidents office, emphasised the need for the consolidation of NATOs eastern flank. He underlined, however, that there should not be a competition between allied states in this process and that the strengthening of NATOs eastern borders should be fair and balanced. Otherwise, allied states would create additional vulnerabilities for themselves, Klaus Iohannis also said. In his opinion, it is essential at this moment to provide security and democracy in a balanced manner, given the new rise of populism, nationalism and political extremism across Europe.
Almost 600,000 foreign nationals visited Romania in the first four months of the year, 50,000 more than in the same period last year, the National Institute for Statistics has announced. The total number of Romanian and foreign visitors has grown by more than a quarter of a million this year compared with 2015. According to the National Institute for Statistics, the total number of visitors stood at 2.5 million people this year.
Romania face Georgia today in Bucharest in their last friendly ahead of the European Football Champions in France. Last week, during their training in Italy, Romania drew 1-all with the Democratic Republic of Congo and lost 3-4 to Ukraine. Romania meet host country France next Friday in the opening game at Euro 2016, in a group that also includes Switzerland and Albania. (Translated by: C. Mateescu)
