Newsflash June 13

Torrential rain has hit hard Romania over the last few days, killing at least three people. According to the Ministry of the Interior, thousands of towns and villages were seriously affected by the downpour. The Government has decided that nearly 200 families and people left stranded be handed down financial aid. Meteorologists have maintained a code yellow alert for torrential rain, hail and gale for southern, eastern and central counties.

Florentin Căpitănescu, 14.06.2013, 17:09

Torrential rain has hit hard Romania over the last few days, killing at least three people. According to the Ministry of the Interior, thousands of towns and villages were seriously affected by the downpour. The Government has decided that nearly 200 families and people left stranded be handed down financial aid. Meteorologists have maintained a code yellow alert for torrential rain, hail and gale for southern, eastern and central counties.

Romanian president Traian Basescu on Thursday said that all projects under the Danube Strategy should be listed as top financing targets to be sent to the European Commission by EU Member States. The statement followed the meeting of the heads of Central European states held in Bratislava, Slovakia. The Romanian official expressed his unconditional support for the Danube Strategy ahead of the 2014-2020 EU budgetary framework. The Nabucco gas pipeline and EU enlargement also ranked high on the agenda of the meeting.

The European Parliament on Thursday criticized what has described “the excessive use of force” in Turkey, condemning Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s refusal to seek reconciliation. In a resolution adopted on Thursday Euro MPs expressed concern regarding the violent clashes between the riot police and protesters. Moreover, the European Parliament urged the Turkish Government to adopt severe measures against protesters in order to avoid the conflict from escalating. A recent toll of the protests in Istanbul that have been dragging on for two weeks has reached 4 killed and over 2,000 wounded. Protesters accuse Prime Minister Erdogan of trying to introduce an Islamist regime in Turkey.

Some 12,000 people took to the streets in Athens on Thursday in what has been described as a general protest against the government shutting down the public radio and television stations. The Cabinet headed by the Conservative Antonis Samaras said the measure was prompted by the need to save funds, and that the public radio and television would be reopened in a slimmed-down form. The two Socialist parties in the ruling coalition are disgruntled for not having been consulted, and threaten to support early elections. In exchange for an over 240-billion euro loan, Greece undertook to implement tough austerity measures. The European Commission emphasised that this decision was taken independently by the Greek government, and insisted on the indispensable role that public broadcasters play in a democratic society.