Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe

Romania's Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu participated on Friday in the presentation of the preliminary oral report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on the human rights situation in Belarus and, reiterating in his remarks Romania's concern by the continuous violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms by the authorities in Belarus.

The breakaway region of Transnistria in Moldova on Sunday staged parliamentary elections for the seventh Supreme Council (local parliament) since 1992, in which only a minority of voters cast ballots.

Deputies of the Self-Determination movement Vetvendosje and deputies of the Democratic Alliance of Kosovo did not vote today for the Draft Law on Protection of KLA War Values, Kosovo online reports.
Only 35 deputies voted in favor of the law, while one was against.

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has signalled new threats to the mass media sector in Romania and sent the Romanian authorities a protest letter against the mechanism that will place the public employees on furlough for a temporary period, namely during the state of emergency generated by the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Centre for Independent Journalism, CJI, an NGO that promotes media freedom and good practices in journalism, has raised concern that provisions enacted as part of the state of emergency to combat the spread of the coronavirus in Romania could hamper journalists' ability to inform the public.

It was a snowy day in December 1998 and Besnik Rustemi's family was waiting for their village of Slivove/Slivovo to come under fire.

Rustemi, then six years old, was playing in his neighbours' yard with a friend. Meanwhile, his new rubber boots were waiting for him in his bedroom, ready to be worn whenever his family decided it was time to flee.

The bombing is not over either, because Serbia does not want to impose sanctions on Russia and does not want to become a NATO member, and the West does not want to accept this kind of resistance, which is why Serbia is in this position, Alexander Noy, a left-wing MP in German Bundestag, tells Sputnik.

Romania supports the efforts of the European Union - which needs to get more involved, of its strategic partners and of the international community to de-escalate the situation in the Middle East, favor dialogue and seek sustainable solutions in the region, President Klaus Iohannis said on Thursday at the meeting with the diplomatic mission heads accredited in Bucharest.

Commemorations are being held on Wednesday to mark the 21st anniversary of the massacre by Serbian forces in the Kosovo village of Recak/Racak, when 44 people were killed.

The massacre was publicised by the chief of the OSCE ceasefire verification mission to Kosovo, William Walker, who visited the scene the following day and declared it a "crime against humanity".

Representatives of the opposition Petrit Vasili (left) and Oerd Bylykbashi announcing the agreement on Tuesday. Photo: Gent Shkullaku/LSA.

The move has been applauded by the country's US and European partners, and offers a potential boost to the country's chances to open membership negotiations with European Union.