May 27, 2019 UPDATE

Former Social Democratic Party leader, Liviu Dragnea, imprisoned for corruption

Newsroom, 27.05.2019, 20:07

SENTENCE The former head of the ruling coalition in Bucharest, Liviu Dragnea, was imprisoned on Monday night, after having been sentenced by the supreme court to prison for corruption offences. Dragnea will be quarantined for 21 days, during which he will undergo physical and psychological check-ups, and his prison activities will be decided. The head of the Social Democratic Party in power and Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Dragnea was sentenced on Monday to 3 and a half years behind bars for inciting abuse of office. The prosecution proved that while he was the president of the Teleorman County Council, Dragnea had 2 social assistance workers illegally employed with the Teleorman Child Protection Service, although in fact they were working for the local branch of the Social Democratic Party. Liviu Dragnea had also received a suspended sentence for election fraud, involving the 2012 referendum for the impeachment of ex president Traian Basescu. The Social Democrats executive president, PM Viorica Dancila, announced she will be the interim party president until a special congress is held. The Chamber of Deputies will also elect a new speaker.

ELECTION Sundays election in Romania sends to the European Parliament representatives from 6 political parties, according to the results announced by the Central Electoral Bureau after most votes have been counted. The National Liberal Party, the largest in the right-of-centre opposition, got the most votes, 26.35%, followed by the Social Democrats in power with 23.16%, and the Alliance 2020 USR – PLUS with 21.24%. Three other Romanian parties will be represented in the EP: PRO România – 6.7%, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania and the Peoples Movement Party with around 5.5% each. Seven other parties that took part in the election were below the 5% threshold. In the diaspora, many Romanians queued for hours to be able to cast their ballots. According to Radio Romanias correspondents in Rome, Madrid and London, people complained about the poor organisation of the vote. The Foreign Minister Teodor Meleşcanu issued a news release apologizing for the problems and saying he ordered an investigation in the countries in question. He also ordered the Foreign Ministry to run an immediate analysis to identify solutions and legislative measures for the development of a voting system adapted to the needs of the Romanian communities abroad. The turnout at the EP election was a record-breaking 49%. On the same day as the EP election, Romanians also voted in a referendum on the judiciary, initiated by President Klaus Iohannis. Over 80% of those who voted in the referendum answered “yes. The referendum turnover was over 41%, above the 30% minimum threashold for the vote to be validated. President Klaus Iohannis said on Monday that Romanians had cast a pro-Europe vote, in a country where thieves and criminals belong in prison, and once again criticised the organisation of the ballot in the diaspora.

COUNCIL President of Romania Klaus Iohannis takes part on Tuesday in an informal meeting of the European Council in Brussels. The main topic will be an analysis of the results of the elections for the European Parliament, held between May 23rd and 26th. The EU leaders will also have a preliminary discussion on the candidates for the top posts in EU institutions.

UNIVERSITIES Until May 31st, 24 Romanian universities are presenting their educational offer in Washington, at the annual NAFSA conference and exhibition, the most prestigious in the world in this field, the Romanian Council of Rectors has announced. The conference brings together more than 10,000 participants and 3,500 universities from over 100 countries. “Romania offers a high-quality, adequate and safe learning environment as well as European-standard campus facilities, for more competitive costs than other European countries, reads a news release issued by the Romanian Council of Rectors.

POPE Online registration for attendance of the religious services held by Pope Francis in Romania continue until Friday. Hundreds of thousands of people have already registered. Besides Romanians, Christians from neighboring countries such as Hungary, Serbia and Ukraine but also from far away countries like Pakistan, Rwanda, South Africa, Australia and Israel will come to Romania for the Popes visit. Pope Francis makes a three-day apostolic visit to Romania from the 31st of May to the 2nd of June following an invitation from President Klaus Iohannis and the Catholic Church in Romania. The motto of the visit is “Lets walk together. The pontiff will travel to the capital Bucharest, to Iasi, the biggest city in the east of the country and home to a sizeable Roman-Catholic community, to Blaj, in the centre, the spiritual capital of the Romanian Greek-Catholics and to the Marian shrine in Sumuleu Ciuc, in the centre, in an area with a majority ethnic Hungarian population.

EU The Council of the European Union Monday adopted a negotiating mandate allowing the Commission to take part in multilateral negotiations on electronic commerce. “The digitalisation of our economy has fundamentally changed the way businesses and consumers do trade. It was high time for international rules to reflect this transformation. The EU is committed to working with its WTO partners to put in place an ambitious and pragmatic framework that will guarantee a safe and predictable environment for online trade, said the Romanian Minister for Business Environment, Trade and Entrepreneurship Ştefan-Radu Oprea, who chaired the formal meeting of the Foreign Affairs (Trade) Council, as part of Romanias presidency of the Council of the EU.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)