EXTREME WEATHER – 15,000 firefighters, police officers and
\ngendarmes are deployed nationwide to deal with the effects of the extreme
\nweather, the Interior Ministry reports. A code yellow alert against heavy rain
\nand extreme weather phenomena is in place until Wednesday morning. Hydrologists
\nhave also issued a code orange alert against floods for the west and a code yellow
\nflood alert for the northwest and the east. Hundreds of households as well as
\nnational and county roads were flooded. Several villages were cut off from the
\npower grid. <\/p>\n
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DEBATE – European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and
\nRomanian President Klaus Iohannis on Wednesday are attending a debate on the
\nfuture of Europe hosted by Sibiu. The debate comes ahead the EU Summit
\nscheduled for Thursday and Friday on the sidelines of the Romanian Presidency
\nof the Council of the European Union. European Council President Donald Tusk
\nhas called on EU heads of state and government to adopt the Declaration of
\nSibiu, whereby the EU will convey a message of unity and trust. <\/p>\n
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ELECTION CAMPAIGN – The campaign for the European Parliament
\nelection continues in Romania. 13 political factions are enrolled in the race:
\nthe Social-Democratic Party, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, the
\nDemocratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians, the National Liberal Party, the Save
\nRomania Union-Plus alliance, the People’s Movement Party, the Pro Romania
\nParty, the National Union for the Progress of Romania, the National Unity Bloc,
\nthe United Romania Party, the PRODEMO Party, the Romanian Socialist Party and
\nthe Independent Social-Democratic Party. 3 independent members are also
\nenrolled in the race. Romania will have 33 seats in the European Parliament.
\nThe 33rd mandate will be announced only after Great Britain
\nwithdraws from the community bloc. 441 voting polls have been set up for
\nRomanians abroad, most of which in Italy, Spain and the Republic of Moldova. A
\njustice referendum will also be held on May 26. <\/p>\n
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POPE FRANCIS – Pope Francis on Tuesday continued his tour of the
\nBalkans by visiting North Macedonia. The Pope prayed at the monument devoted to
\nMother Theresa, built over the ruins of the church where Mother Theresa was
\nbaptized in 1910. Hundreds of thousands of people have enrolled online to take
\npart in the masses celebrated by the Pope in Romania. The list includes
\nChristians from Hungary, Serbia, Ukraine, Pakistan, Rwanda, South Africa,
\nNigeria, Madagascar, Australia, Israel, Canada, Namibia and Reunion. Over May
\n31 – June 2 the Pope is paying an apostolic visit to Romania under the motto
\nLet’s go together. Pope Francis will visit Bucharest, Iasi, currently hosting
\nthe biggest Roman-Catholic community in Romania, Blaj, where he will beatify
\nseven Greek-Catholic bishops who died in communist prisons, as well as the
\nMarian Shrine in Sumuleu Ciuc. We recall Pope John Paul II visited Romania in 1999,
\nthe first visit ever paid to a country with an Orthodox majority population. <\/p>\n
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INVESTIGATION – Three teenagers are the main
\nsuspects of the investigation into the ransacking of the Jewish Cemetery in
\nHusi. The young men admitted their accusations, claiming they were inspired by
\nmartial arts films and wanted to practice karate. Aged 15 and 16, the three were
\nnot detained, but risk prison time for aggravated criminal damage. The
\nPresident at the time condemned their actions, calling on the relevant authorities
\nto firmly sanction any anti-Semitic actions. The Government in turn reiterated
\nits commitment to combat anti-Semitism and any form of racism, intolerance and
\nxenophobia. <\/p>\n
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SENTENCE – The Bucharest Court of Appeal on
\nTuesday sentenced the former head of the National Fiscal Administration, Sorin
\nBlejnar, to five years in prison for influence peddling. The decision is final.
\nIn the court of first instance, Blejnar had received six years from the
\nBucharest Tribunal. Court judges maintained the decision to seize some 3
\nmillion euros from Blejnar and impose a distraint on his assets pending the
\nrecovery of the sum. Anticorruption prosecutors say Blejnar received the money
\nfrom a businessman as payment to help him win several contracts with the
\nNational Fiscal Administration. <\/p>\n
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TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Simona Halep,
\nworld no. 3, has advanced to the round of 16 at the Mutua Madrid Open in Spain,
\ntotaling some 7 million dollars in prize money. On Tuesday Halep eased past
\nGreat Britain’s Johanna Konta, 7-5, 6-1. In the next round Halep will take on
\nViktoria Kuzmova (46 WTA). Aged 27, Halep won the Madrid Open in 2016 and 2017.
\nHalep also qualified to the round of 16 in the women’s doubles together with
\nIrina Begu, where they will play Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova of
\nthe Czech Republic on Wednesday. Also on Wednesday, another Romanian, Horia
\nTecau together with Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands will play Kyle Edmund
\nand Neal Skupski of Great Britain. Tecau and Rojer were winners in 2016 in
\nMadrid. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
(Translated by V. Palcu)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A roundup of domestic and international news<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":75903,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[34722,34695,29807,28952,34723,34724,29663,30458],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-103503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-debate-in-sibiu","tag-european-parliament-election-campaign","tag-extreme-weather","tag-investigation","tag-jewish-cemetery-in-husi","tag-mutua-madrid-open","tag-pope-francis","tag-sorin-blejnar"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n