June 6, 2016

The Social Democratic Party wins most votes in Sundays local elections in Romania and gives Bucharest its first woman mayor.

Newsroom, 06.06.2016, 12:00

The Social Democratic Party has won Sundays local elections in Romania. According to preliminary results, the Social Democrats won 42.9% of all mayor seats across the country, followed by the National Liberal Party with 34.3%, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats with 5.46%, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania with 4.57% and the Peoples Movement Party with 3.26%. The Social Democratic Party also won most county council seats, with 38.71%, followed by the National Liberal Party with 32.6%, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats with 5.88%, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians with 5.05% and the Peoples Movement Party with 4.14%.

In the race for Bucharest mayor, the Social Democratic Party won 42.79% of the votes, followed by the Save Bucharest Union with 29.7%, the National Liberal Party with 11.2%, the Peoples Movement Party with 6.6% and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats with 3%. The alliance of Social Democrats and the National Union for the Progress of Romania won 39.8% of Bucharest general council seats, followed by the Save Bucharest Union with 24.9% and the National Liberal Party with 13.2%. Bucharest will have a woman mayor for the first time: the Social Democrat MP Gabriela Vranceanu-Firea. The Social Democrats and their allies, the National Union for the Progress of Romania, also won the mayor race in all of the citys 6 sectors. The one-round system was used in the local elections on Sunday, which are seen as an important test ahead of the parliamentary elections in autumn.

Romanias president Klaus Iohannis today starts a two-day trip to Luxembourg at the invitation of Henri, the Grand Duke of Luxembourg. Talks will focus on ways to boost political and sectoral ties between Romania and Luxembourg with emphasis on expanding economic cooperation and the cooperation in areas such as reseach, development and industrial innovation. An exchange programme for the 2016-2021 period in the fields of science and technology, education, culture and sports between Romanias and Luxembourgs governments will also be signed during the presidents trip. The preparation of the NATO summit held in Warsaw in July and the challenges facing the European Union are also on the agenda of Iohannis talks in Luxembourg.

Romanian prime minister Dacian Ciolos travels to France on the 9th and 10th of June. According to a government press release, on the first day of his trip Ciolos will address a meeting of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. On Friday, he is due to meet his French counterpart Manuel Vals for the signing of an updated road map to the Romanian-French strategic partnership, and have talks with French president Francois Hollande. On Friday evening, Ciolos and Hollande will attend the France-Romania match that opens the European Football Championship.

Romanian, American and British military are taking part in the SARMIS-16 multinational exercise that got under way today in Cincu, in central Romania. 1,200 Romanian ground troops and Romanian Air Force planes, as well as 150 British and 200 American troops are taking part in this exercise, which comes to an end on the 18th of June. A large-scale military exercise will also begin on Tuesday in Poland, the largest to be held in this country in the last 25 years. Taking part are military from 19 NATO and four partner countries, including a detachment from Romania. Called Anaconda 16, this exercise takes place one month ahead of the NATO summit in Warsaw.

The current absorption rate of European funds went up in May to a little over 69% for the 2007-2013 programming period, according to the Ministry for European Funds in Bucharest. The value of expense declarations stood at 13.1 billion lei. As far as the actual absorption rate in concerned, in terms of reimbursements from the European Commission, it went up to a little over 65% accounting for 12.3 billion euros.

Romanias Simona Halep went up one place in the tennis world ranking to the 5th position. The American player Serena Williams is still no. 1 in the world, despite losing the French Open final to Spains Garbine Muguruza, who is in the 4th place in the WTA ranking. Three other Romanian players are in the top 100: Irina Begu, in the 28th place, Monica Niculescu, who fell two places, to reach no. 37, and Sorana Carstea, who remains in the 97th position. (Translated by: C. Mateescu)