June 5, 2024
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 05.06.2024, 13:55
Elections. 19 million Romanian voters are casting their ballots on Sunday in the local and European parliamentary elections. Almost 19,000 polling stations will be open in Romania, and 915 abroad, which is almost double compared with five years ago. Most of the latter are in Italy, Spain and Great Britain, which are home to large Romanian communities. All Romanian citizens who have the right to vote and who reside or are temporarily abroad on election day can vote at any polling station abroad provided they can produce a valid Romanian ID card. The first polling station to open will be in New Zealand, at 10 pm Romania time on Saturday evening, with voting to end on Monday morning when the last voting stations will close on the west coast of the United States and Canada, in Vancouver. According to the Permanent Electoral Authority, almost 208,000 persons are running in the local and European parliamentary elections. This year, Romania will also see presidential elections in September and legislative elections in December.
Organised crime. Dozens of searches were conducted on Tuesday in Romania at company headquarters and persons suspected of forming an organised crime group specialising in trafficking in migrants. The suspects include former or current employees of the interior ministry, who prosecutors say brought foreign nationals into the country on work visas and then helped them cross the border into Schengen countries. The General Inspectorate for Immigration issued a statement saying it distances itself from any actions that are not in keeping with the law and which run counter to its values, while interior minister Catalin Predoiu has promised zero tolerance for corruption.
Children. More than 17,700 cases of abuse against children were recorded last year in Romania, the Save the Children Organisation said in a statement. Most of them were cases of neglect, but there were also many cases of physical abuse, exploitation, emotional and sexual abuse. The number of girls who are victims of abuse is higher than that of boys, even ten times higher in the case of sexual abuse. Save the Children warns that minors who are victims of or witnesses to domestic violence are at higher risk that their psychological and emotional development is affected.
Teachers. Pupils, teachers and other staff working in the Romanian education system have a day off today on Teacher’s Day. The celebration is held on the same day as the birth date of Gheorghe Lazăr, the founder of modern education in this country. It’s the first time that education workers have a day off on this celebration, according to Marius Nistor, the president of the trade union federation in education. The summer holiday begins on the 21st June, at the end of classes.
Football. Romania drew nil-all against Bulgaria on Tuesday evening in a friendly match ahead of the European Football Championship hosted by Germany. Romania will play another training match on Friday against Liechtenstein, also in Bucharest. The Championship will kick off on 14th June, and Romania are in Group E. Romania will play Ukraine on 17th June in Munich, Belgium on the 22nd June in Cologne, and Slovakia on 26th June in Frankfurt. Romania last took part in a European championship in 2016 in France.
