March 26, 2016 UPDATE
Romanians to celebrate 98 years since Bessarabia joined the Kingdom of Romania
Newsroom, 26.03.2016, 12:05
Brussels attacks – The Belgian Interior Minister, Jan Jambon, urged people not to take part in a “march against fear scheduled to take place on Sunday in response to the terrorist attacks in Brussels, which killed 31 and wounded around 300 others. He said all police resources were needed for the completion of the investigation into Tuesdays attacks. Previously, the authorities announced that Brussels international airport, Zaventem, would not be reopened before Tuesday. Meanwhile, the freelance journalist Fayçal Cheffou, arrested on Friday by the Belgian federal police, was identified as the third member of the crew that perpetrated the terrorist attacks at the airport.
Politics – Deputy Valeriu Steriu was elected on Saturday president of the National Union for the Progress of Romania, the third-largest party in the Parliament of Romania. Steriu, 50, is an engineer currently at his second term in office in the Chamber of Deputies, and between 2001 and 2004 he was a state secretary for European integration in the Agriculture Ministry, as part of a Social Democratic Cabinet. His election came after the founding president of UNPR, the ex-deputy PM and interior minister Gabriel Oprea, resigned. The National Anti-Corruption Directorate accused Oprea of abuse of office in two corruption investigations. In the meantime, the interim leader of the party, the Bucharest District 2 mayor Neculai Onţanu, was arrested for bribe-taking.
Anniversary – Street events will mark, on Sunday night in downtown Bucharest, the 98th anniversary of the union of Bessarabia with the Kingdom of Romania. On March 27, 1918, as the Russian Empire fell apart, the legislative body of Bessarabia voted in favour of the mostly Romanian speaking province joining the Kingdom of Romania. The establishment of the Romanian nation state was to be completed late that same year with the union of Bukovina, in the north-east and Transylvania, Banat, Crisana and Maramures, which had that far been part of the Habsburg Empire. In 1940, further to an ultimatum, Moscow annexed both Bessarabia and northern Bukovina, which are currently part of the national territories of the ex-Soviet republics of Moldova and Ukraine.
Sports – Romanias national football team is playing Sunday night against the defending European champions Spain, in a friendly game on home turf, in preparation for the European Championship scheduled to take place this summer in France. On Wednesday, Romania won a match against Lithuania, 1-nill, in the southern Romanian town of Giurgiu. In Euro 2016, the Romanians will play the opening game, on June 10, against France, in a group that also includes Switzerland and Albania. Romanias last participation in a continental final tournament was in 2008, when they left the competition in the group stage.
