July 30, 2016

Romanian Central Bank deputy governor placed under 30-day house arrest.

Newsroom, 30.07.2016, 14:03

NATO – A large-scale military exercise is under way, until August 7th in Cincu, central Romania. As many as 2700 soldiers from 10 countries are taking part in it. Participating are NATO members, namely Romania, the USA, Canada, Poland and Bulgaria, joined by five members of the Partnership for Peace: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.

CORRUPTION — The deputy governor of the National Bank of Romania, Bogdan Olteanu, was placed under 30-day house arrest on Friday. Olteanu had been taken into custody on Thursday night for influence peddling. According to prosecutors, between July and November 2008, while serving as Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Olteanu requested and received 1 million euro and election support from a business man, in exchange for appointing someone as governor of the Danube Delta. The same source mentions that the individual in question was appointed Danube Delta governor in September 2008. Olteanu’s lawyer has announced that on Monday his client will submit his resignation from the position of deputy governor of the National Bank of Romania. A Liberal since 1991, Bogdan Olteanu has been a deputy governor of Romania’s central bank since 2009. The National Bank explained in a news release that the investigation targets Bogdan Olteanu’s activity before he was appointed deputy governor.

CONFLICT – As many as eight Turkish soldiers have been killed on Saturday morning by armed fighters from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The attack, that took place close to the border with Iraq, is one of the bloodiest ones since the attempted coup of July 15th. The battle between Kurdish fighters and the Turkish army have continued even after the coup. In fact, the number of Kurdish attacks has increased in the past year. The Ankara Government’s conflict with the PKK, an organisation seen as terrorist by the US and the EU, which has made over 40 thousand victims since 1984 up to present.

BREXIT – Most Scots still back remaining in the United Kingdom despite Britons voting to leave the European Union, a move that was opposed by the majority in Scotland, according to an opinion poll published on Saturday, Reuters reports. Scotlands nationalist First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said the vote for Brexit had put Scottish independence back on the agenda just two years after it was rejected in a referendum. While Britons backed leaving the EU by 52percent, Scots voted by 62percent to remain in the bloc. However according to Saturdays YouGov survey, 53 percent of Scots wanted to stay part of the United Kingdom with 47 percent backing independence, Reuters reports.

TERRORISM – Two brothers suspected of involvement in terrorist activities were detained on Friday evening in Belgium. The two allegedly planned attacks on the country’s territory. In this stage of the investigation, there is no connection between suspects and the investigation into the attacks committed on March 22nd in Belgium’s capital that claimed the life of 32 people.

TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, no. 5 in the world, is today playing against WTA’s 2nd seed, Angelique Kerber in the semi-finals of the Montreal tournament, worth 2.5 million dollars. In the quarterfinals, Halep defeated Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova (WTA’s 11th seed) in three sets. Halep also qualified to the semi-finals in women’s doubles alongside Romanian Monica Niculescu, and will next meet the team Andreja Klepca / Katarina Strebotnik of Slovenia.

(Translated by Elena Enache)