Simple motion against Romania’s agriculture minister rejected
Romanian Parliament’s lower house rejected a simple motion against the country’s agriculture minoister on Wednesday. The move was rejected with 83 votes against 174 and one abstention. The center-right Save Romania Union (USR) and the Right Force party have accused Agriculture Minister Petre Daea of being directly responsible for an increase of basic food prices as he failed to attract EU funds for Romanian farmers affected by grain imports from Ukraine. Minister Daea has rejected the accusation while claiming that an additional raise in the EU funds for farmers is expected. Slovakia joined Poland and Hungary in halting Ukraine grain imports while EU and Kyiv condemned unilateral bans that aim to protect local farmers.
Romania’s new ANRE chief expected
The Romanian Parliament is expected to appoint a new chief of the country’s National Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE) on Wednesday. In 2010, ANRE took over Romania’s Agency for Energy Conservation (ARCE) while assuming the task of monitoring and implementing efficiency measures and promoting the use of renewable energy sources. The election will also include a vote on members of the institution’s BoD after candidates were appoved at a session on Tuesday. George Niculescu is expected to become the newly elected ANRE president as parties of the country’s governing coalition already expressed their support. Mr. Niculescu is currently secretary of state on behalf of the center-right National Liberal Party (PNL) in Romania’s Energy Ministry. However, leaders of the governing Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians (UDMR) warned that they were not expected to attend the voting. “It’s their decision”, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă told reporters.
Romanian drug dealers charged in Hungary
Two Romanians were charged with illegal drug trafficking after being caught selling drugs in the capital Budapest by Hungarian police on Wednesday. The two were caught selling marijuana in front of a brewery in Budpaest’s Sector VII. Drug packages and some FT 300,000 in cash were seized by police at a house in the town of Szentendre, in Pest county, where they picked up another 12 kg. of marijuana. The use of illegal drugs is spreading in Hungary, according to reports.
Romanian theater director Sanda Manu dies at 89
Born as Alexandra – Ioana Manu, Sanda Manu, one of Romania’s greatest stage directors, has died at 89. She was the daughter of Ion Manu, a star of the Romanian stage, wife of Ștefan Tapalagă, a well-known film and stage actor, and sister-in-law of Rodica Tapalagă, sister of Ștefan Tapalagă, a celebrated actress of Bulandra Theatre in Bucharest. Sanda Manu was a graduate of the I.L Caragiale Theatre and Film Academy (IATC) in Bucharest. She directed more than 120 theatre hits such as Moliere’s The Imaginary Invalid (or The Hypochondriac) for which she received the Grand Prix at the Comedy Festival in Galatzi (eastern Romania). Sanda Manu was also a one-time vicepresindent of UNITER (an association of theatre artists), and a recipient of the Doctor Honoris Causa title of the IATC. She directed actress Oana Pellea in Jean Cocteau’s The Human Voice at the Bucharest Metropolis Theatre in 2011. Sanda Manu is survivied by a her daughter, Irina, also an artist, once married to Claudiu Bleonț, a well-known star of the Romanian stage and film.
Alexandru Danga
