CARACAL INVESTIGATION
\n– The Prosecutors’ Office attached to the Superior Council of Magistracy on
\nThursday decided to suspend Prosecutor Cristian Ovidiu Popescu in Caracal,
\nsouthern Romania, who did not allow the police to enter the house of Gheorghe
\nDinca, suspected of kidnapping two teenagers, before 6 a.m. on Friday. The Judicial
\nInspection has started a disciplinary investigation and proposed the suspension
\nof the said prosecutor, until the procedure has been completed. The Caracal
\ncase has revealed serious flaws in the activity of some employees in the public
\nsector. One of the girls, kidnapped on Wednesday, on Thursday managed to call
\n112, the public emergency number managed by the Special Telecommunications
\nService (STS). The Service could not establish the girl’s exact location, and
\nthe chief operator, and then the police officer that talked to the girl, were
\nnot able to manage the situation with professionalism. Moreover, the Service
\nindicated three wrong addresses, and the police needed 19 hours to get into the
\nsuspect’s house. This string of mistakes led to dismissals and resignations.
\nThe Interior Minister Nicolae Moga and the head of the Special
\nTelecommunications Service Ionel Vasilca resigned, and the head of the Romanian
\nPolice was sacked, alongside other local chiefs and the prefect of Olt County.
\nIn the meantime, investigations into this case, which has shocked Romania,
\ncontinue and, given its complexity, is to be taken over by the prosecutors of
\nthe Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism. So, far the
\ninvestigation has been headed by the anti-mob prosecutors in Craiova. No
\nevidence attesting the death of the two girls has been found yet. Despite the
\nsuspect claiming that he killed the girls, they might still be alive. The Chief
\nProsecutor of the Directorate, Felix Banila, has stated that investigators
\ncannot fully rely on the suspect’s statement, as he became rather confused
\nduring interrogation. Gheorghe Dinca is to undergo a psychiatric evaluation and
\nhe will also be tested with a lie detector. In parallel, the interim Interior
\nMinister Mihai Fifor has stated that the management of the emergency number 112
\nwill be transferred from the Special Telecommunications Service to the Interior
\nMinistry, in order to avoid wasting time transferring the calls to the police,
\nambulance or the fire department. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
ADJUSTMENT – The
\nbudget adjustment will not result in salary slashes, Prime Minister Viorica
\nDancila posted on a social network. The Romanian official said the impact of
\nevery measure was estimated while taking into account Romanian citizens.
\nPreviously, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, the Social-Democrats junior
\nruling coalition partners, said it opposed the adjustment. Vice-President
\nVarujan Vosganian said the budget cuts for major ministries and budget
\nincreases for intelligence services are unacceptable. The Government will
\npublish the adjustment bill that will be adopted on August 5. The adjustment is
\nnegative, with a deficit of 4.2 billion euros, accounting for 1.94% of the GDP.
\nThe Transport, Education and Healthcare Ministries will see budget slashes,
\nwhile the Presidency, the Romanian Intelligence Service, the Foreign
\nIntelligence Service, and the Guard and Protection Service will get additional
\nfunds. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
UNEMPLOYMENT -
\nRomania is below the European average with regard to unemployment, with a 4%
\nrate, 0.2% lower than last year. According to Eurostat, the rate of
\nunemployment in the EU dropped to 6.3% in June, the lowest level recorded in
\nthe past 19 years. Among the member states, the highest rates were reported in
\nJune in Greece, Spain and Italy. The Check Republic and Germany stand at the
\nopposite pole. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
UNTOLD – More
\nthan 200 artists will perform on 10 stages at UNTOLD, the biggest electronic
\nmusic festival in Romania, hosted by the city of Cluj between the 1st
\nand the 4th of August. One of the biggest stages in Europe was
\nplaced inside the Cluj Arena stadium. It is 90 m wide and 30 m tall, with LED
\nscreens over an area of 1,500 square meters and 1,000 light spots. One of the
\nmost expected guests is Robbie Williams, who will perform on Sunday. Special
\nperformances will also be given by Armin van Buuren, David Guetta and 3 Are
\nlegend. The organizers are expecting some 350,000 people from 100 countries.
\nMore on this after the news. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
GAUDEAMUS – The
\nBlack Sea Resort of Mamaia is hosting the 11th Gaudeamus Black Seacoast
\nBook Fair, organized by Radio Romania. For five days, visitors have the
\nopportunity to buy discount books, to attend special events, book launches and
\npresentations, as well as various performances, recitals and dance shows. The
\nfair is open every day from 3 p.m. until 11 p.m. and entrance is free of
\ncharge. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
TENNIS – The
\nRomanian tennis player Simona Halep will participate in the first edition of
\nthe Zhengzhou Open, introduced this year in the WTA calendar. Also
\nparticipating will be Karolina Pliskova, of the Czeck Republic ( 3 WTA), Kiki
\nBertens of the Netherlands ( 5 WTA), Elina Svitolina of Ukraine ( 7
\nWTA)and Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus ( 10
\nWTA). The competition will be held over September 9 – 15. Simona Halep, who is
\nnow no.4 in the WTA rankings, was number one two times between 2017 and 2019,
\nfor 64 weeks. Besides the Wimbledon trophy she’s won this year, she also won
\nanother Grand Slam trophy last year, at Roland Garros. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
(Translated by M. Ignatescu & 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":[29402,34941,31199,28900,29595,30690],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-103678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-budget-adjustment","tag-caracal-murders","tag-gaudeamus-book-fair","tag-simona-halep","tag-unemployment-rate","tag-untold"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n