2 August 2019, UPDATE

A roundup of some of the main stories in Romania today.

Newsroom, 02.08.2019, 19:48

Investigation. The suspect in the
case involving the two missing girls from Caracal, southern Romania, was questioned
for nearly 9 hours on Thursday night at the head office of the Directorate for Investigating
Organised Crime and Terrorism in Bucharest. He confirmed his initial statement
that he murdered the two teenagers. The suspect Gheorghe Dincă was present at
the searches conducted on Friday at his home in Caracal. Forensic tests on bone
fragments found at the suspect’s home indicate that the bones belong to a girl
aged between 15 and 17. Meanwhile, the prosecutor who originally handled the
Caracal case has been suspended. A week ago, he did not authorise the police to
search the suspect’s home before 6 am. He is now investigated for gross
negligence by the judicial inspectors, who said they would also look at how he
has conducted investigations over the past year. The Judicial Inspectorate will
also be looking at the way in which the prosecutors from Craiova have
investigated the disappearance of the two teenagers from Caracal. People’s
discontent with how the authorities have handled the case is growing. They
blame the Special Telecommunications Service, in charge of operating the
emergency hotline, as well as the police and the prosecutors. The unacceptable series
of mistakes in this regard has already led to dismissals and resignations. We
recall that Gheorghe Dincă, a car mechanic in his 60s, has confessed to killing
two girls, aged 15 and 18, after he abducted them for sexual exploitation
purposes, detained and raped them.

Dismissal. The Romanian education
minister Ecaterina Andronescu has been sacked by prime minister
Viorica Dăncilă over her statements concerning the Caracal case. The
announcement was made on Facebook by the prime minister on Friday, the latter
saying she has decided to sack Andronescu because of the profoundly erroneous
statements she has made recently in a television programme. The prime minister
says these statements show a lack of understanding of the Caracal case in
particular and, in general, the way in which children must be protected from
abduction, aggression, abuse and human trafficking. The education minister
Ecaterina Andronescu said on TV that she herself had learnt at home that she
shouldn’t get into a stranger’s car. On Friday, Andronescu said her intention
was not to accuse one of the two missing girls or her parents for the girl’s
hitchhiking, but to protect teenagers from wrongdoers. The culture minister Daniel
Breaz will act as education minister temporarily.

Romani Holocaust.The President
of Romania Klaus Iohannis sent a message on Friday, on Roma Genocide
Remembrance Day, emphasising the need for constant awareness of the importance
of fighting racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism. On this day we pay tribute to
the nearly half a million Roma children, women and men who were victims of
genocide during World War II, reads the President’s message. Romania faced some
of the most gruesome forms of hatred and intolerance, when 25,000 Roma people,
whose parents had fought in the Great War for the national unity of the
country, were forcibly sent to Transdniester as dangerous and undesirable. The
Government of Romania also honours the memory of the victims of the Romani
Holocaust.It is important for the generations of
today and tomorrow to know the truth about the Holocaust, as well as the progress
Romania has made in terms of preserving this truth and in terms of promoting
coherent legislation to fight discrimination, anti-Semitism and xenophobia
against the Roma people, the Government says in a news release.

INF. Russia and the USA Friday announced the termination of the
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF). Washington announced pulling
out of the INF as of February 2, and Moscow responded immediately with a
similar move. The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Russia of being in
material breach of the treaty, although Moscow has repeatedly denied the
accusations. The INF pact, signed by the US and the Soviet Union in 1987, banned
missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 km.

Book fair. The resort of Mamaia on
the Romanian Black Sea coast is hosting, as of Thursday, the 11th
edition of the Gaudeamus Book Fair, organized by Radio Romania. More than 30 publishers
are taking part. According to the president of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting
Corporation Georgică Severin, Gaudeamus is a large-scale event designed to
promote one of the most important Romanian mass media brands, Radio Romania. The
2019 Gaudeamus Seaside Book Fair is scheduled to end on August 5.