#alison mutler

BUCHAREST, Romania | Romania detains Turkish journalist on Turkey’s request

BUCHAREST, Romania— A Turkish journalist suspected of links to Fethullah Gulen, the U.S.-based cleric blamed by Turkey for orchestrating a failed coup in 2016, was temporarily detained Wednesday in Romania, authorities said.

Bucharest prosecutor Viviana Ciuca told The Associated Press that Kamil Demirkaya was detained based on an extradition request from Turkey for “being a member of criminal,…

BUCHAREST, Romania | Scuffles in Romania at blessing of Orthodox cathedral

BUCHAREST, Romania — Tens of thousands of Romanians braved hours of cold weather Sunday for the blessing of a grandiose Orthodox cathedral consecrated to mark 100 years since modern-day Romania was created in the aftermath of World War I. The event was marred after three people were hospitalized when scuffles broke out between riot police and Orthodox believers.

Believers from all over the…

BUCHAREST, Romania | Romanian leader says country not ready for EU presidency

BUCHAREST, Romania — Romania’s president said Monday his country isn’t ready to take over the European Union’s rotating presidency on Jan. 1 and called for the government to step down.

President Klaus Iohannis said “things have gone off the rails,” and that there was “a political necessity to replace the government,” which he called “an accident of Romanian democracy.”

Viorica Dancila, a…

BUCHAREST, Romania | Romanian ex-prison chief who tortured inmates dies in jail

BUCHAREST, Romania  — Alexandru Visinescu, a Romanian communist-era prison guard serving a 20-year sentence for crimes against humanity, died Monday in prison at 93, Romanian authorities said.

Visinescu was the first prison guard from the early years of communism to go on trial in Romania. He became a national symbol of the Communist era’s brutality against its own people, most of whom who had…

BUCHAREST, Romania | Romania: Weak voter turnout voids gay marriage referendum

BUCHAREST, Romania — A referendum aimed at putting same-sex marriage further out of reach in Romania was invalidated Sunday after a quick tally showed too few voters cast ballots, election officials said.

The weekend vote on a constitutional amendment that would have changed the definition of family to make marriage a union between a man and a woman instead of between “spouses” required voter…