The prime minister of Romania, Victor Ponta,
\nwas heard on Monday by the Judicial Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, which voted against a request by the National Anti-corruption Directorate to
\napprove the start of criminal investigations against the prime minister over a
\npossible conflict of interest during his term in office. The Directorate has
\nalready initiated criminal proceedings into three other offences related to
\nPonta’s activity as a lawyer, before taking office. The prime minister is facing
\ncharges of forged documents under private signature, accessory to tax evasion
\nand money laundering, as part of a case involving the former transport minister
\nand Social Democratic senator Dan Sova. President Klaus Iohannis and the
\nopposition called on Ponta to step down, but the latter refused. He told a
\nmeeting with the leaders of the Social Democratic Party that he was willing to
\nfight to the bitter end if he had their support.<\/p>\n
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A no-confidence motion initiated by the National
\nLiberal Party against the government was read on Monday in Parliament ahead of
\nFriday’s debates and vote. The Liberals want Victor Ponta to resign, accusing
\nhim of deliberately sabotaging the voting process abroad during last year’s
\npresidential elections and blocking by-elections and local and parliamentary
\nelections this year. This is the third no-confidence motion against the Ponta
\ncabinet, with both previous motions being rejected last year by Parliament. <\/p>\n
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Romania’s Supreme
\nDefence Council meets on Tuesday. Chaired by president Klaus Iohannis, the
\nmeeting will focus on the country’s national defence strategy, the impact of
\nand the measures to prevent illegal deforestation and the purchase of a
\nmultirole aircraft for the Romanian army. On Monday, the president invited all
\nparliamentary parties to attend the talks on the country’s new defence
\nstrategy. The latter highlights the importance of Romania’s defence sector by
\nproviding it with a higher budget. The strategy also entails Romania’s position
\nwith regard to NATO and the European Union. <\/p>\n
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The Romanian businessmen Ovidiu Tender and Marian Iancu were sentenced
\non Monday to 12 years and 7 months and 14 years respectively for charges of
\nfraud and money laundering. This ruling by the Bucharest Court of Appeal is
\nfinal. Ovidiu Tender and Marian Iancu have been on trial since 2006. After one
\nof the longest trials in Romania, the two were found guilty of the illegal
\ntake-over of a company in the east of the country, causing it to lose almost 44
\nmillion euros by means of a complex financial network.<\/p>\n
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\n
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The G7
\ncountries are ready, if necessary, to strengthen sanctions against Russia,
\nGerman chancellor Angela Merkel told the final press conference of the G7
\nsummit in Germany. According to Merkel, lifting sanctions depends on compliance
\nwith the Minsk agreements concerning the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine. In a
\njoint declaration, the G7 countries, namely Germany, Canada, the US, France,
\nItaly, Britain and Japan, called on Russia to cease all cross-border support
\nfor the pro-Russian separatist forces in Ukraine and use its influence to put
\nan end to hostilities. <\/p>\n
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\n
\n
\n
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The prime minister
\nof the Republic of Moldova Chiril Gaburici was heard on Monday by the National
\nAnticorruption Centre in Chisinau in a case concerning the forgery of his
\ngraduation papers. Gaburici said he hailed the prosecutors’ insistence on
\nshedding light in this case, adding he was willing to cooperate with the
\nrelevant institutions to put an end to all speculations. The scandal
\nsurrounding the Moldovan prime minister stated at the end of March, when a
\njournalist investigation revealed that his graduation papers were forged. If
\nthe allegations are true, Gaburici faces charges of forgery. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
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Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday called on all political
\nparties to act responsibly to maintain the country’s stability. Taking note of
\nthe outcome of Sunday’s legislative elections, he said he was in favour of a
\ncoalition government, as no single party can form a majority on its own. The
\nIslamic-conservative Justice and Development Party, which has been in power for
\nthe last 13 years, won the latest elections with almost 41% of the votes, but
\nfell short of absolute majority in Parliament. The social democratic Republican
\nPeople’s Party came in second with 25% of the votes followed by the right-wing
\nNational Action Party with over 16% and the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic
\nParty with 13%. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
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The
\nRomanian tennis player Simona Halep retains her no. 3 world ranking, despite
\nbeing eliminated from the French Open in the second round. Serena Williams, who
\nwon the tournament, tops the WTA ranking, followed by the Czech player Petra
\nKvitova, while Russia’s Maria Sharapova fell to no. 4. Other Romanian players
\nin the Top 100 include Andreea Mitu, who went up from 100 to 68 after reaching
\nthe fourth round in Paris; Irina Begu, at no. 29, her highest-ranking so far;
\nAlexandra Dulgheru, at no. 60; and Monica Niculescu at 61.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A roundup of local and international news<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":100208,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[28877],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-100269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-newsflash"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n