Social Democrat Party

Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder hit back at those criticising him for taking a job at a Russian energy company, saying some of his critics wanted to push Germany into a "new Cold War."

The critics include his successor as chancellor, Angela Merkel, who is campaigning to win her fourth term in elections to be held Sept. 24.

Romanian Prime Minister Mihai Tudose has angered environmental activists after announcing on Tuesday that the government will ask UNESCO to set aside a request made by the previous government in January to declare the 2,000-year-old Rosia Montana gold mine a protected area.

Turkey's European Union Minister Ömer Çelik accused German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel on Aug. 23 of "copying the far-right and racists" through his statements in the ongoing diplomatic row between Ankara and Berlin.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Aug. 19 slammed German Foreign Minister Sigmar Garbiel over his remarks suggesting that Ankara was intervening in German elections, urging him to know his limits.

Romania's third force, a year-old anti-corruption party called the Save Romania Union, is facing a leadership vacuum after an internal referendum over whether it should take a clear stance and vote against changing the constitution to include the conservative definition of family, as a union between a man and a woman.

Romanian activists have called for fresh public protests on Thursday after the government issued a draft law that might allow politicians found guilty of crimes to hold public office once they have been rehabilitated.

Romania's ruling Social Democrats readied on Monday for consultations with President Klaus Iohannis on naming a new Prime Minister, having impeached their own cabinet last week.

Iohannis stressed that his main concern was the new Prime Minister's integrity, adding that he would not appoint a candidate who had been sentenced for any type of crime, including corruption.

Romania's ruling Social Democrat Party, the PSD, is due to name a new Prime Minister by Monday after it voted the former Prime Minister out of office on Wednesday.

Romania's ruling Social Democrat Party, PSD, and its junior ally, the Alliance of the Liberals and Democrats, ALDE, passed a no-confidence vote against their own government on Wednesday, after a week of turmoil triggered by the refusal of Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu to resign.  

Germany's parliamentary budget committee will discuss paying the next tranche of aid to Greece next week, a senior lawmaker from the Social Democrat Party (SDP) said on Tuesday, prolonging uncertainty over whether the deal needs parliamentary approval.