Thursday, January 12th

Romania under heavy snow

Romanian authorities dug out stranded residents as heavy snow blanketed Romania since Wednesday with people struggling with travel delays, power outages and subzero temperatures. Homeless people were among those most at risk. In Romania, blizzards closed more than 130 roads and caused huge delays and cancellations on the railways.
Thousands of commuters rode the capital Bucharest subway, while others walked on the streets as snow piled high on the sidewalks. „Autoroute A2 Bucharest – Constanţa, Autoroute A4 Ovidiu – Agigea, and the national DN3 between Cobadin and Ostrov remain closed”, Paul Ulieru, spokesman of Romanian Police’s Infotrafic Centre told Radio Romania on Thursday. Schools in most south-eastern parts of the country remain closed until next Monday, and 99 trains were cancelled.

Opposition complaint rejected by Romania’s Constitutional Court

Romania’s Constitutional Court rejected a complaint put forward by opposition parties in parliament. Opposition parties including the National Liberal Party (PNL), the Save Romania Union (USR) and the Popular Movement Party (PMP) called on the court to reject as unconstitutional a decision of the governing coalition allowing the Cabinet to issue emergency ordinances as long as Romanian MPs were on holidays.The court’s verdict on Thursday is final.

Meeting in Washington D.C.

Romania’s ambassador to the US met senior Republican politicians in the US Congress on Wednesday. Romanian Ambassador George Maior met former House speaker John Boehner who praised Romania’s for its outstanding performace as member of the North-Atlantic Alliance (NATO). Participants pointed out that co-operation between the two countres was reflected in projects such the missile defence system and the fight against terror. Mr. Boehner was accompanied by Trent Lott, former leader of the Republican majority in the Senate, and Jack Kingston, a former congressan currently member of the committee expected to ensure the transition of President-Elect Donald J. Trump.

Alexandru Danga