Romania

MEPs reject Romanian and Hungarian nominees for European Commission

Members of the European Parliament on Thursday rejected the Romanian and Hungarian nominees for the next European Commission over concerns about potential conflicts of interest. The decisions by the Parliament's…

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Agreement so Romanian Laura Codruta Kovesi becomes first head of the new EU Public Prosecutor’s Office

The European Parliament and EU Council negotiators agreed on appointing Romanian Laura Codruta Kovesi as the first head of the new EU Public Prosecutor’s Office, the European Parliament announced on…

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EU Council vote backs Romania’s Kovesi for European prosecutor job

COREPER, the executive body of the Council of the European Union, voted on September 19 in favour of Romanian Laura Codruta Kovesi’s candidacy for the position of chief prosecutor of…

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Romania’s former ruling party leader and his family banned from entering the US

The former president of Romania’s Social Democratic Party (PSD) and former Chamber of Deputies speaker Liviu Dragnea has been banned from entering the United States, after a decision of the…

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Romania’s President refuses new ministers’ appointments

Romania's president Klaus Iohannis on August 28 rejected all three minister candidates prime minister Viorica Dancila sent to him before the Government crisis emerged this week: Dana Gârbovan for the…

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German teenagers held as slaves in Romania

German teenagers between 12 and 18, brought to Romania to participate in a reeducation program in Maramures (Projekt Maramures), financed by the German state, ended up being held as slaves,…

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Romania’s government faces uncertainty as junior partner party exits coalition

The future of Romania's Social Democrat-led government is in limbo after its junior partner decided to exit the coalition on Monday, POLITICO reports. Romania Insider reports that "the political crisis that has…

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Photo Story: The Bucharest International Air Show

Romanian pilots in MiG 21 LANCER and the Latvia's Baltic Bees aerobatic team in L-39C Albatros perform during the Bucharest International Air Show 2019 (BIAS), that was held over the…

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Romanian ruling party PSD nominate the Premier Viorica Dancila as candidate for 2019 presidential race

Romania's ruling Social Democrats (PSD) on Saturday confirmed Prime Minister Viorica Dancila as the party's candidate in a Nov. 10 presidential election that polls show the incumbent centrist Klaus Iohannis…

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Metallica Donates 250,000 Euros for Romanian Pediatric Cancer Clinic

American heavy metal band Metallica has donated 250,000 euros to a Romanian association building the country's first pediatric oncology hospital. The donation to Daruieste Viata (Bestow Life), founded in 2012,…

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Thousands rally in Bucharest on anniversary of violent protest

Tens of thousands of protesters rallied peacefully against Romania's Social Democrat government in the capital, Bucharest, on Saturday on the one-year anniversary of a violent protest where riot police launched…

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Romanian to make 112 emergency system more efficient after recent killing of a teenager

The Romanian is to take action to improve the efficiency of the 112 emergency help line after the recent uproar following the kidnapping and killing of a teenage Romania girl.…

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130,000 pigs slaughtered in Bulgaria, in an attempt to limit swine fever

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said the Balkan state’s government will compensate owners who voluntarily cull their domestic pigs, as the country works to stamp out an outbreak of the…

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Photo Story: Protest in Bucharest

Romanian activists stand still after placing hundreds of children shoes on the pavement during a protest against the way Romanian authorities handled the kidnapping and killing of a 15-years…

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Second Romanian Minister loses job over teenager’s kidnapping and murder

Romania's prime minister has fired her education minister over her comments about a kidnapping case. Prime Minister Viorica Dancila said Ecaterina Andronescu's remarks about a teenager's abduction show a "lack…

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Romania’s interior minister resigns over murdered teenagers’ scandal

Nicolae Moga , Romania’s interior minister has quit as the fallout from the murder of two teenage girls intensifies. There is public outrage over the killings of Alexandra Macesanu, 15,…

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Romanian murder suspect admits killing two teenage girls

A murder suspect in the southern Romanian town of Caracal has admitted to killing two teenage girls, his lawyer said, in a case that sparked nationwide outrage. Gheorghe Dinca, 65,…

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UPDATED: Thousands protest in Romania over kidnapped 15-year-old girl

Thousands of Romanians protested against the government on Saturday evening, outraged by authorities’ slow response to emergency calls from a kidnapped 15-year-old girl now presumed dead. Alexandra Macesanu called the…

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Anxiety in Romania as Dinamo Bucarest manager suffers heart attack

There were moments of anxiety during the weekend’s football game between Dinamo Bucarest and Universitatea Craiova after Eugen Neagoe, Dinamo Bucarest’s manager suffered a heart attack mid-way during the game.…

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EU Ombudsman asked to investigate Coca-Cola’s sponsorship of Romanian EU Council Presidency

The European Ombudsman launched an inquiry into the private company sponsorship of the rotating presidencies of the Council of the EU, according to an announcement today. That follows a complaint by international NGO…

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Changes in Juncker’s commission

Romania and Estonia wrote to Finnish Prime Minister Antti Rinne expressing their desire to continue to be represented in Brussels, and thus change their Commissioners. Estonia’s Vice-President Andrus Ansip and Romania’s European…

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13 arrested for sexual exploitation of young women in French-Romanian operation

A large-scale joint investigation, led by the French Gendarmerie Nationale in cooperation with the Romanian DIICOT (Directorate for the Investigation of Organised Crime and Terrorism), and supported by Europol and…

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Romania’s coalition government survive no confidence vote

Romania’s coalition government led by PM Viorica Dancila survived a no confidence vote in the Parliament on Tuesday as the opposition only managed to gather 200 votes out of the…

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EU-wide operation against counterfeit products, Law enforcement agencies in Malta involved in the operation

More than 4.7 million counterfeit products seized, over 16 400 social media accounts suspended and 3 300 websites closed in the EU-wide operation Aphrodite II against trafficking of counterfeit goods.…

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Romania’s former anti-corruption chief adamant about winning the bid to become first EU prosecutor, despite Brussels politicking

As a prosecutor, Laura Codruța Kövesi has gone after top politicians, powerful businessmen and corrupt judges. She's not going to be fazed by a bit of Brussels politicking. POLITICO reports that Kövesi,…

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Pope pays tribute to Christians in Romania killed or persecuted under Communism

Pope Francis paid tribute to Christians in Romania killed or persecuted under Communism as he warned against any new ideological attempt to sow fear or division in society. On…

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Pope Francis urges Hungarians and Romanians to put their troubled past behind

Pope Francis braved a rain-soaked, twisting drive through the mountains of Transylvania on Saturday to visit Romania’s most famous shrine, urging Romanian and ethnic Hungarian faithful to work together for…

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Pope Francis starts visit in Romania

Pope Francis arrived in Bucharest on Friday at the start of a three-day pilgrimage to majority-Orthodox Romania. On his first day, Francis was expected to meet Prime Minister Viorica Dancila,…

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Romania’s most powerful politician, sentenced to jail for corruption

Liviu Dragnea, Romania’s de facto leader was sent to prison for three-and-a-half years for corruption. The guilty verdict against ruling-party leader Dragnea for abuse of office was upheld Monday by…

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Europe Votes: Romania, the projections

This is a summary of Politico’s projections for the voting today in Romania: Romania – The Projections If turnout of 33.67% is maintained in this vote, Politico predicts PNL will…

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Corporate Dispatch Morning Briefing

Good morning, These are the main stories from Malta, Europe and around the world, in our daily morning briefing. Leading Stories Voters in Malta will be voting to elect their…

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Romania’s Social Democrats hire prominent Brussels lobbyists to clean up image

The ruling Social Democrat party (PSD) in Romania has hired Brussels lobbyists to clean up its battered image in the EU press. Poltico reports that the PSD in April…

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Operation coordinated by Europol against crime gang committing robberies across Europe with stolen vehicles

The Italian Carabinieri (Arma dei Carabinieri), supported by the Munich Police Department, the Criminal Investigation Directorate of the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police (Inspectoratul General al Poliţiei Române) and…

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European Parliament Elections preparations in Bucharest

Dozens of young Romanians gather in the University Square, putting their sport shoes down and waving blue shoe laces (blue is the color of the EU flag), to urge the…

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On this day in 1955, the Warsaw Pact was formed

The Soviet Union and seven of its European satellites sign a treaty establishing the Warsaw Pact, a mutual defense organization that put the Soviets in command of the armed forces…

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EU warns Romania it will act ‘without delay’ over ‘major’ rule of law concerns

Politico reports that the European Commission will “trigger the rule of law framework without delay” over “major concerns” about the state of rule of law in Romania, according to a…

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EU heads meet in Romania to chart bloc’s next steps

European Union leaders meet in Romania today to try chart a way forward after the historic setback of Brexit and to have their first go at picking people to…

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Strength in unity: Commission makes recommendations for the EU’s next strategic agenda 2019-2024

Ahead of the meeting of EU27 leaders in Sibiu, Romania, tomorrow, the European Commission is setting out a number of policy recommendations for how Europe can shape its future in…

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Romania’s Justice Minister offers his resignation

Romania's justice minister offered his resignation Thursday after failing to put forward a controversial measure pushed by the ruling party — but which Brussels warned would violate EU rule of…

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Romania laments brain drain

Eugen Teodorovici, Romanian Finance Minister, said the country's brain drain is undermining Romania's ability to compete on a European level and called on the European Union to do more to…

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Romania’s President calls for ban on the use of an amnesty for corruption offences

The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has proposed two main themes for the referendum on national justice reform that the country will hold on May 26. Iohannis proposed a ban on…

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One tonne of cocaine seized in major drug haul in Romania – Drug was 90 percent pure

Romanian special police agents carry bags with seized cocaine at the Directorate for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) headquarters, in Bucharest, Romania, 26 March 2019. DIICOT agents…

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Romania’s households struggling to secure energy

Almost a quarter of Romanian households have problems in securing energy, either because they can't afford it or because they aren't connected to electricity or gas grids, according to a recent…

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Facebook removes hundreds of accounts in UK, Romania

Facebook for the first time Facebook has taken down accounts linked to domestic groups in their country. Politico reported that it had removed hundreds of false accounts that promoted…

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Romania’s former anti-corruption chief bid for EU public prosecutor dented

Laura Codruta Kovesi, Romania’s former chief anti-corruption prosecutor, could see her bid to win the role of European Union public prosecutor damaged by a widely-criticised agency tasked with investigating magistrates,…

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Romania’s Prime Minister accuses Western European leaders of double standards in criticising her country over corruption, cites France as an example

Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dăncilă accused Western European leaders of double standards in criticizing her country over corruption and a crackdown on anti-government protests. Dăncilă, whose government holds the EU's…

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