May 28, 2019 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 28.05.2019, 20:43
EP ELECTION – Six Romanian political parties have won seats in the European Parliament, following Sundays election, according to the results made public on Tuesday by the Central Election Authority. The National Liberal Party, the main right-wing opposition party, got the highest percentage, 26.91%, followed by the ruling Social Democratic Party with 23.66% and the USR-PLUS Alliance with 21.74%. The other parties that have won seats in the European Parliament are PRO Romania, with 6.64%, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians, with 5.77% and the Peoples Movement Party with 5.62%. The other seven parties that ran in the election, including the junior partner in the ruling coalition, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, did not manage to reach the 5% threshold. The voter turnout stood at a record 49%. On the same day, Romanians also voted in the referendum on justice called by president Klaus Iohannis, and 80% of those who voted answered Yes. The turnout at the referendum was 41%, above the 30% threshold required to validate the vote.
PSD – The leadership of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the senior party in the ruling coalition in Romania, convened several times on Tuesday to analyse the results obtained in Sundays European Parliament elections and decide on the strategy to be followed after its leader, Liviu Dragnea, was sent to prison. Prime Minister Viorica Dancila, who is the executive president of the party, took over the leadership on Monday. She has announced that, early next week, she will pay a visit to Brussels, to meet with several European leaders, including the First Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans. Also, she has stated she will have phone conversations with her counterparts from Portugal and Spain, in order to resume ties with the European socialists. Also on Monday, the leadership of the Chamber of Deputies decided that the current vice-president, the Social Democrat Carmen Mihalcescu, should take over as interim speaker of the Chamber.
PROTEST – The Ombudsman in Bucharest was notified ex officio with regard to the way in which Sundays voting was organized for the Romanian Diaspora. He has stated that if there is evidence that the law was broken, a special report will be drawn up, which will be submitted to Parliament, Government and the president of the country. The report will include concrete measures to guarantee the right to vote of all the Romanian citizens living abroad. On Monday, dozens of people protested in front of the Foreign Ministry building in Bucharest, calling on minister Teodor Melescanu to resign, for the poor way in which Sundays elections were organised abroad. Thousands of people could not exercise their constitutional right to vote in the European Parliament election and the referendum, after standing in line for hours in front of polling stations.
CRIMINAL CODE – The Constitutional Court of Romania has postponed until June 4th the notifications filed by the opposition National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union and president Klaus Iohannis regarding the changes brought to the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code, adopted in Parliament by the majority formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats. They claim that several hundreds of changes are in violation of the rule of law, the Constitution and the recommendations made by the European institutions in the field.
POPE FRANCIS – Online registrations for the visit to Romania of Pope Francis continue until Friday. Hundreds of thousands of people have already registered, including Christians from Hungary, Serbia, Ukraine, Pakistan, Rwanda, South Africa, Nigeria, Madagascar, Australia, Israel, Canada, Namibia and Reunion. Held under the motto “Lets Walk Together!”, the visit will have its first leg in the capital city Bucharest. Next, the Pope will travel to Iasi, the largest city in the east of the country, and then to Blaj, the spiritual capital of Romanian Roman-Catholics, where he will beatify 7 bishops killed in communist prisons. Pope Francis will also pay a visit to the Marian shrine in Şumuleu Ciuc. In 1999, Romania was the first country with a majority Orthodox population to have been visited by a Pope, i.e. John Paul II.
NAFSA – 24 Romanian universities are presenting their educational offer in Washington, at the annual NAFSA education fair, the most prestigious international event of its kind, Romanias National Council of Rectors has announced. The conference has brought together more than 10,000 participants and 3,500 universities from 100 countries. According to a release of the National Council of Rectors, Romania offers a high-quality education environment as well as a series of top-level facilities in its campuses, at better prices than in other European countries.
TENNIS – The Romanian tennis player Irina Begu (118 WTA) has qualified for the second round of the Roland Garros tournament, after she defeated on Tuesday the Chinese Lin Zhu (108 WTA) 6-1, 6-1. In the mens competition, the Romanian Marius Copil was eliminated by Benoit Paire of France. Still, Copil will continue in the doubles, where, together with Rohan Bopanna of India, defeated in the first round the pair made up of Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Michael Venus of New Zealand. Also in the doubles, the Romanian Horia Tecau and the Dutch Jean-Julien Rojer have qualified for the second round, as they have defeated Cristian Garin and Juan Ignacio Londero (Chile/Argentina) 6-3, 7-6.
(translated by Mihaela Ignatescu)
