President Klaus Iohannis claimed victory as his challenger, Viorica Dancila, conceded. BUCHAREST, Romania — In late 2016, a populist political party swept to power in Romania promising generous social spending, tax cuts and a continuation of the country’s alignment with the European Union, nine years after it had joined the bloc. What followed …
The country is in the grip of a deadly opioid epidemic ESTONIA HAS a lot going for it. The tiny Baltic state of 1.3m people has been touted as the most advanced digital society in the world; it boasts an adult literacy rate of 99.8%; it is sporty too, with …
Protests have been taking place in Tbilisi over the premiere of Georgia’s first LGBTQ film, And Then We Danced. Directed by Levan Akin, the film tells the story of how Merab, a traditional Georgian dancer, discovers his sexuality while training in the National Georgian Ensemble. In an interview with Variety magazine, the …
Politicians and church leaders are stirring homophobia to rally bases and provoke fear among voters In a recent survey, Poles were asked to identify what they felt to be the biggest threats facing them in the 21st century, choosing from options such as the climate crisis, renewed aggression from Russia …
Start with an Olympic gymnast turned mayor and his business associate, cruising off the coast of Croatia on a luxury yacht. Surround them with countless bottles of alcohol and several scantily clad young women. Add in rumors of corruption, cocaine, money laundering and prostitution. And to top it off, film …
Corruption and the war in the east are tough nuts to crack “We wanted to drain the swamp here in our country,” said Ukraine’s new president, Volodymyr Zelensky, in his now notorious phone call with Donald Trump in July. “We brought in many new people. Not…the typical politicians, because we want …
SARAJEVO (Reuters) – Several thousand people marched in Bosnia’s first Gay Pride on Sunday, protected by a major security operation including anti-sniper units after some conservative Muslim groups organized counter-rallies. Participants are seen during the first gay pride parade in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina September 8, 2019. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic The …
Newspapers say texts suggest Jan Kuciak’s killer had high connections The brutal murders of Jan Kuciak, an investigative journalist, and his fiancée in February 2018 quickly turned Slovakia’s politics upside-down. Tens of thousands of Slovaks took to the streets, suspecting the killings were linked to political corruption. “We just thought our …
Environmentalists in Romania are bringing back the European bison Curt the bison is not sure he wants to return to the wild. After 20 hours in a lorry from Germany to Romania, he takes a few hesitant steps down the ramp, chews at some leaves, then heads back inside. Two hours …
BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Tamas Irsai was a teenager when he last sang in the choir in Budapest’s Rumbach synagogue during World War Two, before most Hungarian Jews were deported to death camps. A general view shows the renovated Rumbach street synagogue in Budapest, Hungary, August 15, 2019. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo Irsai …
BUCHAREST (Reuters) – Romania’s police chief and two county officials were fired late on Friday after authorities took 19 hours to respond to emergency calls from a kidnapped 15-year-old girl who died at the hands of her captor in the interim. Interior Minister Nicolae Moga said he fired Police Chief …
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Tens of thousands of Estonians joined in singing folk songs Sunday on the 150th anniversary of a music festival that inspired resistance to Soviet control and later received recognition from the U.N. cultural agency. The Estonian Song and Dance Celebration attracted 35,000 singers, more than 1,000 …