June 29, 2019 UPDATE
PSD elected its leadership on Saturday, Donald Tusk conveys Twitter message to Klaus Iohannis
Newsroom, 29.06.2019, 19:51
PSD Congress — The Social Democratic Party in Romania, in the ruling coalition, on Saturday elected its leadership at an extraordinary congress. The PM Viorica Dancila was elected president of the party thus replacing the former party strongman Liviu Dragnea who was sentenced and imprisoned for corruption. The finance minister Eugen Teodorovici was confirmed as executive president and Mihai Fifor, a former defense minister was elected secretary general.
Brussels — The president of the European Council Donald Tusk on Saturday conveyed a message, on Twitter, to the Romanian president Klaus Iohannis at the end of the Romanian presidency of the Council of the EU. “You managed to have 90 pieces of legislation agreed in less than 100 days, that is impressive” Donald Tusk also wrote on Twitter. Romania’s presidency of the Council of the EU comes to an end on June 30. Romania’s presidency was marked by key moments such as the Sibiu summit held on Europe Day on May 9 and the EP elections of May 23 to 26.
Festival — Sibiu (in central Romania) is the venue for the European Film Festival which brings 7 new films as well as a 1990s classic. Until Sunday when the festival ends, film lovers have the opportunity to watch a romantic drama “Memoir of Pain” a French-Belgian coproduction directed by Emmnauel Finkiel, a political thriller “Power Games” by Rodrigo Sorogoyen, the comedy “Woman at war” by Benedikt Erlingsson, Bálint Kenyeres’ film “Yesterday”, “Son of Sophia” by Elina Psykou, “Julia” by Elena Martín and the classic “My Left foot” a 1989 production by Irish director Jim Sheridan. This year the European Film Festival has also been venued in Bucharest, Râmnicu Vâlcea (south), Târgu Mureș (center) and in Chisinau, the Republic of Moldova.
Medal — The German minority in Romania represents a bridge between Romania and countries such as Germany and Austria, the Romanian president Klaus Iohannis stated on Saturday, at a ceremony during which he was awarded the Medal of Honor by the Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania, which is the highest distinction of this body. Klaus Iohannis added that the Forum members, the members of the German community have always got actively involved for ensuring good understanding within the communities in Romania. The award ceremony was held in Sibiu, where Klaus Iohannis was a mayor for almost 14 years. Klaus Iohannis was also a leader of the Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania.
Weather — The World Meteorological Organization announced that 2019 is going to become one of the yeas with the highest temperatures ever reported, and the past 5 years were the hottest in the history of temperature measurements. Several European countries have been facing very high temperatures for this time of the year these days, caused by a wave of hot air from northern Africa. Fires have destroyed several houses and hundreds of hectares of land in southern France which is being faced with a record heat wave. Hundreds of vegetation fires have also been reported in Greece and the scorcher has made victims in Spain and Italy. In 3 quarters of Spain’s 50 provinces, fire alerts have been issued. Experts believe that such extreme weather phenomena will become frequent due to climate change. (translation by L. Simion)
