May 23, 2019

Elections for the new European Parliament have kicked off in the Netherlands and Great Britain, with voting slated for Sunday in Romania; British PM Theresa May is under pressure to resign

Daniela Budu, 23.05.2019, 14:00

ELECTIONS
– Elections for the new European Parliament have kicked off in the
Netherlands and Great Britain, with voting slated for Sunday in
Romania. Ireland and the Czech Republic are voting on Friday, with
Saturday set aside for voting in Slovakia, Latvia, and Malta. All
other states are voting on Sunday. Romania votes for 33 of the 751
seats in the European Parliament.

LONDON
– British PM Theresa May is under pressure to resign, after MPs
across the spectrum have expressed major opposition to her Brexit
plans. Several members of her cabinet have told the BBC that she
cannot continue holding the premier seat. In addition, the British
minister in charge of relations with Parliament, Andrea Leadsom,
submitted her decision to resign on Wednesday, saying she no longer
believes that the government can go through with the Brexit, which
was voted for in June 2016 in a landmark referendum. The Times today
reported that the head of the British government is expected to
announce her resignation on Friday. Theresa May will still hold her
PM position during the two stage process to designate her successor
for the leadership of the Conservative Party, according to the London
daily.

WEATHER
– In Romania, the weather is generally unstable in the west, north,
and center of the country, as well as in the mountains, with showers
and brief thunderstorms. In the rest of the country, skies are
variable. Winds are mild to moderate. Maximum temperatures are
between 16 and 27 degrees Celsius. The noon reading in Bucharest was
23 degrees. A severe weather instability warning is in effect until
Friday night, with heavy rains expected across the territory. Several
counties in the north and northwest are under code yellow and orange
alert for flooding.

TENNIS
– Romanian tennis player Sorana Carstea, 93rd seeded,
plays today against Serbian player Nina Stojanovic (247th
seeded) in the quarter finals of the WTA tournament in Nurenberg,
Germany, with 250,000 dollars in prize money at stake. The Romanian
got here by defeating her compatriot Laura Ioana Paar, 301st
seeded, and Belgian Kirsten Flipkens, ranked 59th.

RIDE
SHARING – In Romania, over 200,000 people have signed a petition for
the emergency regulation of ride sharing services, as announced by
the Digital Economy Coalition Association, an independent
organization that represents ride sharing companies. According to
them, the lack of regulation resulted in loss of income for thousands
of drivers, with 2.5 million riders unable to find transportation, or
having to pay prices three times higher. Ride sharing companies and
government officials have had a meeting on Wednesday during which
Transportation Minister Razvan Cuc said that the draft government
order to regulate these services could be issued next week. Regular
taxi companies, under constant criticism for a lack of quality
services, continue to claim that ride sharing companies function
illegally.

BUCHAREST
– Organized crime prosecutors have put under investigation Darius
Valcov, an adviser to PM Viorica Dancila, for divulging information
that endangers national security. In August 2018, Valcov posted on
Facebook a collaboration protocol between the Romanian Intelligence
Service and prosecutors, a classified document. In December 2016, the
intelligence services signed two protocols for cooperation with the
prosecutors with the High Court of Cassation and Justice for
prosecuting national security threats, terrorism, and crimes
committed by military members of the Romanian Intelligence Service.