May 27, 2019
The main opposition party in Romania, the National Liberals, got the most votes in the European Parliament elections this weekend, followed by ruling Social Democrats; Highest court of appeal slated to rule on Social Democrat chairman Dragnea's sentence
Corina Cristea, 27.05.2019, 14:30
ELECTION — On Sunday, Romanians voted in the European Parliament elections, sending to the EU legislative body representatives from six political parties and coalitions. The National Liberal Party, got the most votes, 26.23%, followed by the main party in the ruling coalition,the Social Democratic party, with 23.68%, and the 2020 Saving Romania Union and Freedom, Union and Solidarity Party Alliance, with 20.51%. The other parties represented in the European Parliament will be the PRO Romania party, with 7.01%, the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania, with 6.1%, and the Peoples Movement Party with 5.6%. In the diaspora, Romanians had trouble voting, standing in lines for hours. According to Radio Romania correspondents, in Rome, Madrid, and London voters complained of poor organization. Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu said that he has nothing to be blamed for in this situation. This round of European elections had a record turnout of 49%. A referendum was held in conjunction with these elections, called by President Klaus Iohannis, focused on controversial attempted changes in the justice system by the ruling coalition, which over 80% of voters turned down. The turnout for the referendum was 41% across the country. President Iohannis said on Monday that Romanians voted in favor of Europe, in a country that quote thieves and criminals are jailed, and once again aimed criticism at the way in which the vote in the diaspora was organized.
JUSTICE — In Bucharest, the High Court of Cassation and Justice issues today the definitive sentence in the case against Social Democratic leader Liviu Dragnea, who already has been condemned to 3 years and 6 months mandatory incarceration for abuse of office. His case involved fictitious employment in state institutions. The prosecution was delayed several times due to controversies on the size of the panel of judges at the High Court of Cassation and Justice, which was repeatedly challenged by the defense.
IMF- A delegation of the International Monetary Fund headed by the IMF chief for Romania, Jaewoo Lee, will be in Bucharest over May 27th and June 7th for the annual assessment of the Romanian economy, also known as ‘article IV consultation’. The team will be having talks with the Romanian authorities on the latest economic developments and policies. The IMF delegation will be meting Romanian officials from the Public Finance Ministry, the country’s central bank, from various government agencies as well as with representatives of the private sector and several NGOs. Romania isn’t running a loan agreement with the IMF at present but this financial institution is annually assessing the development of the Romanian economy. These consultations are a surveillance exercise, which is mandatory for all member states.
XXX — The most recent estimate on the configuration of the European Parliament, based on the most recent centralized data after the European elections indicates that the European Popular Party is in the majority, with 179 seats, followed by the Socialists and Democrats, with 152 seats, and in the third position come the Liberals, with 105 seats. Extreme right wing and extreme left groups have gained ground in this round. The turnout in the EU overall is between 50 and 51%, the highest in the last 20 years.
TENNIS- Romanian tennis player Sorana Cirstea (WTA 93rd) will today take on Kaja Juvan of Slovenia in the first round of the tennis tournament in Roland Garros, the year’s second Grand Slam tournament. We recall that WTA 6th, Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic has withdrawn from the competition. Another Romanian, Mihaela Buzarnescu will be playing Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia. Also today, the only Romanian left in the singles contest, Marius Copil is up against Benoit Paire of France. Simona Halep, title holder and the world’s third tennis player, will be taking on Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia on Tuesday, when another Romanian, Irina Begu, will be up against Lin Zhu of China.
BRUSSELS — The Romanian minister in charge of business and trade, Stefan-Radu Oprea, chairs today in Brussels the formal meeting of the foreign affairs and trade council, as part of Romanias holding the presidency of the Council of the European Union. Trade ministers of EU member states are discussing relevant current events, among them reform and negotiations at the WTO, including discussions on e-commerce, EU-US trade relations, as well as preparations for a free trade agreement with Vietnam. The foreign affairs and trade council of the EU is the highest decision making body in the Council of the European Union in terms of implementing common trade policy.
