May 29, 2014 UPDATE
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news
Corina Cristea, 29.05.2014, 20:17
Several Danube riparian counties in Romania have been placed under code yellow and orange alerts until the end of this month. The river has burst its banks in the southeastern counties of Braila and Galati, but according to the latest weather reports water levels aren’t going to increase very much this time. Hydrologists have issued a code orange alert for eastern and southeastern Romania this weekend. The National Meteorology Agency on Thursday issued a code yellow alert for atmospheric instability and heavy rainfalls in 37 counties and capital Bucharest. Heavy downpours, wind and thunderstorms are expected in the south, east and central Romania. In the following 24 hours the highs of the day will be ranging between 18 and 24 degrees Celsius.
Currently on a visit to Bucharest, the Council of Europe’s Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland held talks with the head of Romanian state Traian Basescu, Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean and with the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Valeriu Zgonea. The talks mainly focused on Romania’s relations with the Council of Europe and the situation in Ukraine. The EU official also participated in a summit that brought together Justice and Interior Ministers from the 12 countries of the South East European Cooperation Process; high on the agenda were regional cooperation in fighting illigal migration and human trafficking, police cooperation, the fight against corruption and ways to step up cooperation in the judiciary.
Heavy fighting between government troops and separatists in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk has made new victims. 12 people, including an army general, have been killed after a helicopter of the Ukrainian armed forces was shot down by the separatists close to Slovyansk. Also on Thursday, the secessionists admitted to having detained four OSCE monitors since the beginning of this week. Didier Burhalter, the OSCE chairperson-in–office, said ‘the monitors’ detention is sabotaging international efforts to overcome the crisis.’
The Central Electoral Bureau on Thursday made public the final results of the Euro-parliamentarian elections held in Romania on May 25th. Winner of the ballot is the governing leftist alliance made up of the Social Democrats, the National Union for the Progress of Romania and the Conservative Party with 16 seats. The right-of-center opposition parties, the National Liberal and the Liberal Democratic Party have won 6 and 5 seats, respectively. Governing partner Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania has won 2 seats, the opposition pro-presidential People’s Movement Party also 2, while independent candidate Mircea Diaconu won 1 seat. The National Liberal and Democrat Liberal representatives have decided to merge into a large right-of center party and nominate a single candidate for the presidential elections in November.
