June 7, 2015 UPDATE
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Corina Cristea, 07.06.2015, 12:30
Romanian president Klaus Iohannis will be meeting Parliament party leaders on Monday for talks over the National Defence Strategy. Also high on the agenda will be the case of the country’s Social-Democratic Prime Minister Victor Ponta after anti-corruption prosecutors had launched an investigation in his name. Upon having reitereated his innocence on Sunday, the Prime Minister added that the allegations might be linked to a future cabinet reshuffle. Ponta said he trusted the judiciary and he would be contesting the decision made by the Anti-corruption Directorate. The Liberals, the main opposition party in Romania, have criticised the Prime Minister’s decision to remain in office. According to Alina Gorghiu, co-chair of the aforementioned party, Prime Minister Ponta has just blown up Romania’s credibility. In turn the Social Democrats believe their leader is heading a legitimate government and there is no legal and constitutional reason to justify his resignation. The Chamber of Deputies’ Legal Committee is expected to announce a schedule of a new round of talks over the anti-corruption prosecutors’ request to launch criminal investigation against Ponta for a possible conflict of interests during his mandate as a Prime Minister. Among the charges the incumbent Prime Minister is facing is forgery, accessory to aggravated tax evasion and money laundering. These accusations are part of a file involving another Social Democrat, senator Dan Sova, Romania’s former transport minister, currently facing corruption charges in a case involving the power plants of Rovinari and Turceni, in southern Romania. President Iohannis has already called on the Prime Minister to step down but the latter refused arguing that it is only Parliament that has the right to ask for his resignation.
The bloody conflict in eastern Ukraine as well as Greece’s foreign debt crisis is high on the G7 summit agenda, which started in Germany on Sunday bringing together heads of state and government from the world’s most industrialized nations. According to US president Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the sanctions against Russia must be extended and Moscow must respect Ukraine’s sovereignty. The European sanctions against Russia are to expire in July, but the EU leaders have announced they will be extended due to Moscow’s involvement in the Ukraine conflict, which has so far caused the death of more than 64 hundred.
Romanian tennis player Monica Niculescu on Sunday won the ITF tournament in Marseille with 100 thousand dollars in prize money. In the competition’s finals the 67th-seeded Romanian player has outperformed French Pauline Parmentier in two sets 6-2, 7-5. Monica will be taking part in the lawn tournament in Nottingham with prizes of 226 thousand dollars, due to begin on Monday. The Romanian will be up against Varvara Lepchenko from the US in the first round.
Romanian fencer Simona Pop has reaped the bronze medal in the saber contest of the European Fencing Tournament in Montreaux (Switzerland). The Romanian conceded defeat in the semis to Russian Violetta Kolobova. Another Romanian, Ana-Maria Branza has been eliminated in the quarterfinals by Hungarian Emese Szasz. Another five athletes from Romania are attending the women’s sabre event and the male’s epee contest.
