June 7, 2016 UPDATE
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 07.06.2016, 12:30
ELECTION The leftist Social Democratic Party won over 37% of the vote for city halls, local and county councils, according to the figures released with 99% of the vote count completed. Next come the National Liberal Party (PNL), with over 32%, followed at distance by the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE), the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) and the People’s Movement Party (PMP). The Social-Democrats have also won 36% of the votes as the local councils are concerned, followed by the National Liberals with more than 30% and by ALDE, UDMR and PMP. Bucharest has for the first time in history a woman as mayor general, the Social-Democratic Senator Gabriela Vranceanu-Firea. The Social Democrats jointly with the National Union for the Progress of Romania (UNPR) have also won the 6 Bucharest district mayor seats, and over 40% of the votes for the Bucharest General Council. Second-ranking in the vote for the General Council was the Save Bucharest Union, an NGO recently turned into a party, followed by PNL, PMP and ALDE. Social-Democratic leader Liviu Dragnea said his party had won majority in 14 county councils and jointly with UNPR and ALDE would make majority in 27 out of the total 41 counties. The Liberals claim that in spite of the failure in Bucharest, at national level they had the best score since 1990. The local elections were a major test ahead of the parliamentary election due this autumn.
ARRESTS Turkish police have arrested four suspects in connection with the car bomb attack that killed 11 wounding another 36 in downtown Istanbul on Tuesday. A car bomb targeting a police bus was detonated in a central district close to the city’s historic heart, which is a major tourist attraction. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Turkish president Recep Erdogan has blamed the Kurdish militants for the attack. According to Reuters, wars in neighbouring Syria and Iraq have fostered a home-grown Islamic State network blamed for a series of suicide bombings, while militants from the largely Kurdish southeast have increasingly struck in cities further afield.
TALKS Romanian president Klaus Iohannis has held talks in Luxembourg with Prime Minister Xavier Bettel on ways of strengthening bilateral relations and coordinating the positions of the two countries mainly in terms of the European agenda. He said he wanted that economic cooperation be expanded in fields less explored such as tourism, including business tourism, green technologies, public-funded research, logistic activities including goods transportation. In turn, Prime Minister Xavier Bettel has said that Romania and Luxembourg are cooperating well inside NATO and has mentioned the Alliance’s summit in Warsaw next month.
COOPERATION 20 Romanian police troops are taking part in a new international mission in France. Until August 26, they will provide support and assistance to the French police in investigating cases that involve Romanian citizens. This is the third mission of this kind for the Romanian police. In France, during the same period, nine gendarmes will help maintain public order for the Romanian supporters attending the European Football Championship held between June 10th and July 10th. The tournament starts on Friday in Paris with a match pitting France against Romania. In 2010, the Romanian and French Interior Ministries signed a partnership that allows for the deployment of Romanian officers to French police and gendarme units in order to efficiently fight crime in that country.
