Political parties

Chairman of the Save Romania Union (USR) Dan Barna has announced in Ploiesti on Monday that he invites the National Liberal Party (PNL) and the Social Democratic Party (PSD) candidates, namely Klaus Iohannis and Viorica Dancila, to a public debate on Romania's future, which would take place prior to the first round of elections.

This is a study made by the Sova Harris poll agency.

The winner of the mayoral elections in Sofia will be determined by a runoff between Yordanka Fandakova and Maya Manolova, according to a study by the sociological agency Sova Harris, commissioned by Trud newspaper.

Prime Minister-designate Ludovic Orban stated on Monday that he is to carry out the second round of consultations with the formations that endorsed the censure motion, adding he sees "absolutely no reason" for any of these parties not to also endorse the investiture of the Government. "We will have a second round of discussions, as of tomorrow.

Social Democratic Party (PSD) Chair, outgoing Prime Minister Viorica Dancila, denied on Friday the claims of Save Romania Union (USR) leader and presidential contestant Dan Barna that the current investigation conducted against him by the Anti-Fraud Department (DLAF) is politically motivated. "I cannot even respond to such a claim.

Prime Minister-designate Ludovic Orban stated on Friday that his answers were positive to 90 percent of the requests of the parties that supported the censure motion and with which he had this week a first round of negotiations for the investiture of a new government. "I am as confident as before starting these discussions.

The chairman of the Save Romania Union (USR), Dan Barna, stated on Friday that he requested the Antifraud Department (DLAF) send to the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) all the documents that regard him and he accuses the use of the information in a journalistic investigation for political purposes, in order not to be "checked by Viorica Dancila through an institution that is in her di

Fidesz campaign manager Lajos Kosa explained his party's disappointing results with the telling words: "Democracy still exists in Hungary."

Gellert Rajcsanyi, editor of conservative weekly Mandiner — which belongs to the government-funded Central European Press and Media Foundation — went further.

Prime Minister designate, Ludovic Orban, said on Thursday, after the meeting with the leaders of the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR), that they had a discussion in which they agreed on many points, both in what regards elements of fiscal policy, as well as in what regards the position towards some articles of Ordinance 114.

The government believes it will secure the backing of 200 MPs for its initiative to grant full voting rights to diaspora Greeks, sources indicated after the first session on Wednesday of a cross-party committee discussing the proposal.

"Greece remains a pillar of stability in an incredibly destabilized region," Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Thursday as he headed into a meeting of the European People's Party in Brussels.

"We are here to reiterate our commitment to regional stability," the center-right leader, who is also in the Belgian capital for a two-day European Union summit, said.