marcel ciolacu

A priceless gold 2,500-year-on Thursday. "You have no idea what the impact of this is on the Romanian community," Romanian cultural journalist Claudia Marcu, who has lived in the Netherlands since 2003, told public broadcaster NOS. " for the Dutch this would be like (Rembrandt's) 'The Night Watch' being stolen.

In a surprising upset, Romania's Prime Minister marcel ciolacu trails in the presidential election's first round. Hard-right, NATO-skeptic Călin Georgescu leads, followed by center-right Elena Lasconi. The two will face a runoff, deciding who will control defense spending and Romania's role within NATO amidst the ongoing Ukraine war.

Romania's pro-EU Prime Minister marcel ciolacu on Monday announced his resignation, deepening political turmoil a day after a far-right candidate topped the first round of a tense presidential vote rerun. "I have proposed to my colleagues to leave the governing coalition, which implicitly leads to my resignation as prime minister," Ciolacu, 57, told reporters after a meeting of his Social Democrats party.

Romania has decided to include the Holocaust and Jewish history in its school curriculum. The curriculum change was approved in 2021 and is seen as the first step in taking responsibility for the killings of hundreds of thousands of Romanian and Ukrainian Jews and Roma during World War Two. Lawmaker Silviu Vexler who initiated the curriculum change, said the class was "the first real move to fully take responsibility for what happened".

Leftist Prime Minister marcel ciolacu stated that Romanian society is not ready to uphold the rights of same-sex couples, as ruled by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The ECHR ruling highlighted Romania's failure to recognize the relationships of same-sex couples, potentially necessitating expanded protections for the LGBT community. Ciolacu expressed that enforcing the ruling is not a priority and that Romania is not prepared for it. Despite decriminalizing homosexuality in 2001, Romania still prohibits marriage and civil partnerships for same-sex couples.

Ukraine and neighboring Romania signed an agreement Friday to work together to boost Kyiv's export of grain through Romania after Moscow broke off a key wartime shipping agreement that allowed safe passage through the Black Sea.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said Friday that Kyiv was seeking to ease passage for goods to Romania during a visit to Bucharest. Romania has emerged as a key transit point for grain exports from Ukraine since Moscow scrapped a deal last month allowing safe passage for vessels on the Black Sea.

Bulgaria and Romania have received permission to join Europe's passport- and visa-free Schengen Area starting in March. The move initially will apply only to travelers arriving by air and sea, while Austria has committed to continuing negotiations over the need for border checks when crossing from the two countries by land. Austrian Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov stated that negotiations with Austria will be combined with substantial support from the European Commission to protect the EU's external borders with Turkey and Serbia in order to reduce the flow of illegal migrants to Europe.

A cargo ship sailing across the Black Sea was damaged by an explosion, leading to the rescue and evacuation of the crew to a Romanian port. The cause of the explosion is unknown, but there are suspicions of a mine being involved. Both Russia and Ukraine have been involved in escalating conflicts in the Black Sea, which has raised concerns about potential military confrontations with NATO.

Following Prime Minister marcel ciolacu's resignation after a far-right leader's success in the presidential vote, Romania faces political uncertainty. Catalin Predoiu has assumed the role of interim premier. The upcoming presidential run-off between George Simion and Nicusor Dan is crucial, potentially shifting Romania's foreign policy amid economic challenges and concerns over external interference.

Romania's radar detected two drone breaches in its airspace, prompting fighter jet responses on consecutive nights. Despite radar detection, the jets failed to visually confirm the drones. The incidents raised concerns of cyber interference, given Romania's history of encountering Russian drone fragments due to nearby conflict. Residents in Constanta were advised to seek cover.

A two-day summit in Romania began on Wednesday bringing together 12 European Union member states situated between the Baltic, Black and Adriatic Seas, as the grouping of mostly formerly communist countries aims to boost ties amid Russia's war in Ukraine.

A car crashed into the gate of the Russian Embassy in the Romanian capital early Wednesday, bursting into flames and killing the driver, police said. The sedan rammed into the gate at about 6am Wednesday but did not enter the Bucharest embassy compound. According to police, firefighters who arrived at the scene were able to put the fire out but the driver died at the scene.

Fragments of a potential drone were discovered in NATO member Romania on Wednesday, according to the defense ministry, following a new Russian strike across the border on Ukraine's Danube ports. Ukraine said the incident occurred early Wednesday at the ports of Reni and Izmail, which are located over the Danube from Romania, causing damage to grain warehouses, oil storage tanks, and administrative buildings.

Romania's ruling coalition, comprising the centre-right Liberals and leftist Social Democrats, will form an electoral alliance in the European Parliament election on June 9 to counter the rise of the ultra-nationalist opposition party AUR. They plan to bring forward the parliamentary elections to December and discuss a common strategy for the presidential election in September.

Severe rainstorms in eastern Romania led to the deaths of five individuals and stranded many others. Rescue teams saved 95 people in Galati and Vaslui counties, with extensive damage reported across 19 localities. Prime Minister marcel ciolacu visited Galati to evaluate the damage and discuss urgent intervention measures with local authorities.