December 12, 2016

Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 12.12.2016, 12:00

ELECTION The Social Democratic Party in
Romania has obtained a landslide victory in the parliamentary election on
Sunday with 45% of the votes, the Central Election Bureau has announced after
over 99% of the votes were counted. Second came with only 20% the National
Liberal Party followed by the Save Romania Union, which only a couple of months
since its foundation has become the third main political group in Parliament
with over 9% of the votes. Other parties that made it to Parliament are the
right wing Alliance of Liberals and Democrats founded by incumbent Senate
Speaker Calin Popescu Tariceanu with 6%, the Democratic Union of Ethnic
Hungarians in Romania also with 6% and the People’s Movement Party of former
president Traian Basescu. The 464 future deputies and senators have been
elected by roughly 40% of the eligible Romanians, the lowest turnout in
Legislative elections since 1989.

HANDBALL Romania’s
national handball side will be taking on the Czech representative at the
European Championship in Sweden on Tuesday. On Sunday in their first game of
the second group the Romanians secured a 29-21 win against Hungary. Norway
comes first in the group standings with six points followed by Romania and
Denmark, each with four points. Next come the Czech Republic and Russia, each
with two points, whereas Hungary has no point. Romania is led by Spanish
selector Ambros Martin who replaced Swedish Tomas Ryde, under whose guidance
the Romanians came third in the World Championships in Denmark in 2015.

COUNCIL Romanian Foreign
Minister Lazar Comanescu is in Brussels to participate in the monthly session
of the Foreign Affairs Council. According to a communiqué by the Foreign
Affairs Ministry high on the agenda are several issues, such as the EU-Africa
relation, the Democratic Republic of Congo and migration with emphasis on
assessing the implementation of the Valletta commitments. The latest developments
in Syria are also to be tackled.

TRIAL The IMF director general Christine
Lagarde will be facing legal proceedings over negligence charges in France for
the time when she was Minister of the economy part of France’s right-wing
government between 2007 and 2011. She has been accused of having awarded 404
million euros in state payout to businessman Bernard Tapie. If guilty Lagarde
could get a one-year prison sentence and 15 thousand euros in fines. We recall
that the French justice has recently indicted former budget minister Jerome
Cahuzac under the mandate of incumbent socialist president Francois Hollande
for tax fraud and money laundering.

REFUGEES Six refugees from Syria, Iraq and
Iran who tried to illegally cross Romania’s border with Hungary hidden in an
adjusted pickup truck have been captured by the Romanian border police. The
pickup was driven by a Bulgarian national. The refugees, five men and a woman
with ages between 15 and 30 years said they were trying to make it to a Shenghen
state but lacked the documents needed to legally cross the border. Hundreds of
refugees, mostly Syrians have tried to illegally cross into Romania on their
way to the West this year.

ISIS The Islamic State has regained
control over the ancient city of Palmyra in central Syria and over its
archaeological site, part of the UNESCO’s world heritage within hours of the
apparently successful air strikes by Russian planes. ISIS’ reoccupation of
Palmyra comes nine months after they were driven out by the Syrian and Russian
troops in an onslaught that enjoyed wide media coverage. After having conquered
Palmyra in May 2015 the ISIS fighters destroyed several ancient monuments and
executed the director of the archaeological sites in the city.