June 21, 2014
A roundup of domestic and international news
România Internațional, 21.06.2014, 12:01
Mircea Basescu, the brother of Romania’s president Traian Basescu, has been arrested for 30 days, being investigated by the National Anti-Corruption Directorate for influence peddling. The decision made by the Bucharest Court is not definitive. According to prosecutors, Mircea Basescu is supposed to have take 250 thousand euros worth of bribe to intervene for his godson, Sandu Anghel, known as Bercea Mondial, to get a smaller sentence in the trial in which he was being judged for attempted murder. Mircea Basescu rejected the accusations. The court also issued a 30-day arrest warrant for Marian Capatana, the intermediary of the transaction.
The Romanian PM Victor Ponta is today participating in Paris in an informal meeting of the Social Democratic prime ministers from several EU states, at the invitation of the French president, Francois Hollande. The meeting is meant to harmonize the Social Democratic stands ahead of the Brussels summit to be held next week. On the occasion a new president of the European Commission might be nominated. According to Radio Romania’ correspondent in Paris, the Social Democratic leaders are ready to support the candidacy of Conservative Jean-Claude Juncker for the presidency of the European Commission.
Further matches will take place today as part of the Brazil Football World Cup, Argentina will meet Iran in Group F, Germany will play against Ghana in Group G while Nigeria will take on Bosnia Herzegovina also in Group F. On Friday in Group E France defeated Switzerland 5-2, while Ecuador defeated Honduras 2-1. In Group D Italy was defeated by Costa Rica 0-1.
The Ukrainian border guards have today said the pro-Russian separatists have ignored the unilateral ceasefire announced by Kiev and continue to attack the government forces in the East of the country, France Press reports. According to the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine 3 soldiers were wounded in an attack that hit, on Friday night, one of the checkpoints in the Donetsk region, 4 hours after the enforcement of the ceasefire decreed by President Petro Poroshenko to allow the pro-Russian separatists to surrender weapons. The Ukrainian authorities intend to disarm the rebels and to pardon those who have already surrendered their weapons and have not committed serious crimes, to create a corridor for the mercenaries to leave the country and set up a 10-km buffer area at the border between Russia and Ukraine. The Ukrainian president’s plan also includes decentralization measures, to be passed following the amendment of the Constitution, as well as measures to protect the Russian language.
