July 28, 2019 UPDATE
Suspect confesses murdering teenager from Caracal, Romania attracted European funds worth 4.65 billion Euros
Newsroom, 28.07.2019, 19:33
Murder — Gheorghe Dincă on Sunday admitted that he murdered two teenagers reported missing in April and several days ago respectively, from Caracal, a small town in southern Romania, says Alexandru Bogan, the aggressor’s publicly appointed lawyer. The suspect, a 65 year old man, had been taken into temporary custody for 30 days, being accused of child trafficking and rape, as there had been no evidence for murder accusations. One of the most important pieces of evidence in this case, before the murderer recognized his guilt, was that the emergency 112 calls of one of the victims were made from the aggressor’s phone. The girl had announced that she had been abducted by a man, but the authorities only managed to reach the place where the girl was kept after 19 hours. The head of the Romanian Police and another two local officials were dismissed on Friday evening. On Sunday the head of the Department for Emergency Situations Raed Arafat presented several short-term measures meant to boost response time efficiency in critical situations, following the Caracal case. Thousands of people participated in a protest organized in Bucharest in front of the Interior Ministry against the way in which the authorities have managed the case. Previously, the Romanian president Klaus Iohannis said he expected a first assessment of the situation on Tuesday at the meeting of the country’s Supreme Defense Council. The PM Viorica Dancila said she was considering the organization of a referendum on introducing tougher sentences for rapists, pedophiles and murderers.
European funds — Romania has attracted European funds worth 4.65 billion Euros through the National Rural Development Program 2014-2020, which accounts for a 52.3% absorption rate from the available funds, said the director general of the Agency for Rural Investment Financing, Adrian Chesnoiu. There are many projects waiting to be filed, there is will to invest in the Romanian agriculture as well as a need to finance this sector, Adrian Chesnoiu added. He also said that the Romanian agriculture is in a major development stage. According to data provided by the Agency, the total amount of European funds asked through the National Rural Development Program 2020 stands at 9.3 billion euros, while total available funds for investment projects amount to almost 5.8 billion Euros.
Anthem — On Monday military ceremonies will be organized in Bucharest and other cities of Romania to mark the National Anthem Day. Other events include religious services and music shows. Celebrated on July 29, the National Anthem Day was proclaimed in 1998. Romania’s current anthem is “Deşteaptă-te, române!”, – “Awaken Thee Romanian!” and it is considered a national symbol after the fall of the communist regime in December 1989. The anthem is inspired by a patriotic poem by Andrei Muresanu published in 1848 with the music collected by Anton Pann. (news update by L. SImion)
