For a roundup of domestic and international news, click here
INVESTIGATION - Hearings will be as of Monday at the Prosecutor General's Office in connection with the anti-government meeting organised by the Romanians living abroad, on August 10. We recall the military prosecutors have opened a criminal case for such crimes as abusive conduct, abuse of office and professional misconduct, regarding the way in which the gendarmes intervened during the protest. The Interior Minister Carmen Dan has apologized to all those who suffered because of violence. The opposition considers however that minister Dan should have resigned. Also on Monday the Bucharest Police announced the gun stolen from a gendarme on August 10 has been recovered.
FIGHTER JETS - Two F-22 Raptor US fighter jets and a KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft landed on Monday at the airbase in Campia Turzii, to join a joint military exercise with F-16 fighter jets of the Romanian Air Force as well as with F-15 aircraft temporarily stationed as part of the 2018 Dacian Eagle military exercise. Visiting the airbase in Campia Turzii, Defense Minister Mihai Fifor said Bucharest has proved it is a reliable and trusted ally. In turn, US Ambassador Hans Klemm said Romania is the only NATO state in the region to host such aircraft. The American official went on to say that the United States is proud of the progress Romania has made in terms of military advancement and interoperability.
DNA - The Romanian justice minister, Tudorel Toader, has announced that no prosecutor has applied for the position of chief prosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate. Candidacies can be submitted by August 24, and the new procedure should be finalized by September 6. This is a new selection organised by the Justice Ministry, after Tudorel Toader rejected all the four candidacies that had been submitted. The minister is optimistic that there will be a candidate for this position until the deadline expires. The position of chief prosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate has become vacant after Laura Codruţa Kövesi was revoked by a decree issued on July 9 by President Klaus Iohannis, who implemented a decision by the Constitutional Court.
50 YEARS OF DACIA - The car-manufacturing plant in Mioveni, southern Romania, on Monday celebrated 50 years since the first Dacia car was made, during which time production has exceeded 6 million units. The first car was produced on August 20, 1968 and was a Dacia 1100 make, manufactured under the Renault R8 brand. A year later, the Dacia 1300 entered production, which made history for the next 30 years. In 1999, Dacia and the plant in Mioveni were taken over by Renault. At present, Dacia is the biggest company in Romania with a turnover of 5 billion euros in 2017. Dacia cars are exported to 44 countries on four continents. The top markets in the first half of 2018 were France, Germany and Italy.
PEASANT CIVILIZATION - Săpânţa, in the northern Romanian county of Maramureş, which has been designated the Peasant Cultural Capital of the Romanians around the world, has been the venue for a cultural project titled "The United Villages of Romania". The project has been carried out jointly with Radio Romania. This annual meeting of villages, this year devoted to the Great Union Centennial, has been attended by 800 artists, singers and folk groups from 30 county capitals, as well as from the Romanian communities around the world. The initiator of the project is an Irishman who has been living in Romania for 24 years, Peter Hurley. He says he has been impressed by the fact that the old Romanian civilization is surviving wherever there are Romanians.
OLYMPIAD - Romania's computer science team won four medals, of which two gold, at the 25th edition of the Computer Science Olympiad in Central Europe, hosted over August 12-18 by Warsaw, Poland. According to the Education Ministry, Romania ranked first in the unofficial medal standings, the same number of medals as Poland. This year's edition brought together 55 contestants from 13 countries. The first edition of the Olympiad was held in Cluj-Napoca, north-western Romania, in 1994. In another development, Romania's Olympic delegation at the International Earth Science Olympiad in Thailand won four medals, one silver and three bronze. The 12th edition of the Olympiad was held over August 8-17 and it brought together 154 contestants from 38 countries.
(Translated by D. Vijeu and V. Palcu)
Useful Links
Copyright © . All rights reserved