March 29, 2015
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România Internațional, 29.03.2015, 12:00
The new American ambassador to Romania, Hans Klemm, will come to Bucharest soon, the Republican congressman Mac Thornberry told Radio Romania. Thornberry is the vice chair of the Committee on Armed forces of the House of Representatives. The official pointed out that the appointment of an ambassador was delayed due to misunderstandings on the American political scene. He added that the delay had nothing to do with Romania which is one of the US’s best allies. On Monday President Barack Obama appointed Hans Klemm as ambassador to Romania. Klemm is a career diplomat and a Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary for Management of the US Department of State. He still needs the approval of the Congress. The previous American ambassador to Bucharest was Mark Gittenstein, who ended his mandate in December 2012. After that date the US diplomatic mission was headed by interim officials.
The Romanian foreign minister, Bogdan Aurescu, is participating on Sunday in a rally against terrorism in Tunis. Also participating in the rally are the French president, Francois Hollande and the Italian PM Matteo Renzi. The Tunisian authorities decided to hold this rally after the March 18th terrorist attack on the Bardo museum in Tunis that left behind 22 people dead. The attack was claimed by the terrorist group the Islamic State.
The Roman- Catholic believers the world over, Romania included, are celebrating Palm Sunday today, commemorating Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, which precedes Easter by one week. In Bucharest a procession led by Archbishop Ioan Robu will be held. At the Vatican Palm Sunday was marked by a religious service held by Pope Francis in San Pietro Square. This year Catholics mark Easter one week before the Orthodox believers.
An earthquake measuring 4.9 on the Richter scale took place last night in Romania, in Vrancea area, in the east. This has been the strongest quake of 2015 being felt in 5 cities of Romania, including the capital Bucharest. In the past 6 months several small-scale earthquakes have been reported in Romania. The strongest quake, measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale, was registered in November 2014 also in the Vrancea area.
Protests against the Romanian politicians who are facing legal problems are taking place today before the Romanian embassies in the Italian cities of Rome, Milan and Turin. On Saturday protests were held in Bucharest and other big cities of Romania in which people contested the way in which the Romanian MPs use their immunity granted by law to escape prosecution. Some of the protesters asked for the lifting of the MPs’ immunity. The protests come after the recent vote in the Romanian Senate in the case of the former Social Democrat minister of transport Dan Sova who is accused of being accessory to abuse of office. Most of the senators voted in favour of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate’s request regarding the temporary arrest of Dan Sova, but the request was rejected on account of lack of quorum.
