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Romania PM to Submit New Cabinet Next Week

Romanian Prime minister Victor Ponta said Wednesday he expects to submit his new cabinet to parliament next week following the breakup of his center-left coalition

"I intend to seek parliament's green light next Tuesday," Ponta told private TV channel B1.

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British Diplomat Falls to Death in Apparent Romania Suicide

A British diplomat has fallen to his death from the top floor of a Romanian hotel, in what media said Friday was an apparent suicide.

Britain's Foreign Office confirmed the man was a member of the diplomatic staff at its embassy in Romania but did not provide further details citing privacy.

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Romanians Victims of Rising European Nationalism

Romanians are victims of rising nationalism in some European countries, especially after the opening of the labor market in Britain and Germany, President Traian Basescu warned Wednesday.

"Romania wishes to contribute to the development of the European Union but Romanian citizens have become victims of nationalist movements in some Member States," Basescu told the diplomatic corps.

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German Official Wants Debate on Romania, Bulgaria Immigration

German vice-chancellor Sigmar Gabriel on Saturday called for a debate on the touchy issue of immigration from poorer EU states Romania and Bulgaria.

"I think it's not necessary to exaggerate this issue. But it shouldn't be minimized either," he said in an interview with Bild newspaper.

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Israel in Settlements Row with Romania

A diplomatic spat has erupted between Israel and Romania after Bucharest reportedly refused to allow Romanian construction workers to be employed in West Bank settlements, Israel's military radio said Tuesday.

The row comes in the wake of tensions between Israel and the European Union over new guidelines that bar EU funding for any Israeli entity operating in the occupied Palestinian territories.

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Romania Begins Work on NATO Missile Shield Base

Romania on Monday began constructing a facility that will host missile interceptors as part of a planned NATO missile shield, a project that has irked Russia.

"This is an historic occasion", NATO deputy secretary-general Alexander Vershbow said during the groundbreaking ceremony at the Deveselu military base in southern Romania.

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Thousands of Ethnic Hungarians Rally for Autonomy in Romania

Thousands of ethnic Hungarians staged rallies in Romania on Sunday to call for autonomy for the Szeklers' Land, home to most of their minority.

Romanian police said some 15,000 people had taken part in peaceful demonstrations across the country's central Transylvania region, while organizers put the turnout at around 100,000.

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U.S. May Use Romanian Airbase for Afghan Pullout

The United States is close to a deal with Romania that would see American troops return home from Afghanistan via an air base on the Black Sea, officials said Thursday.

The proposed agreement would solve a major logistical hurdle facing the U.S. as it pulls out the bulk of its combat forces and gear from Afghanistan over the next year.

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Amnesty Urges Romania to End Forced Evictions of Roma

Amnesty International on Wednesday urged the Romanian government to stop forced evictions of Roma, after thousands of them were driven away from their homes over the past years.

"We want to send Prime Minister Victor Ponta a clear message: forced evictions are illegal and must be stopped without delay," Catrinel Motoc, an Amnesty campaigner, told a press conference.

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Hollande Urged to Act as France's Roma Row Splits Govt

President Francois Hollande came under mounting pressure to rein in his squabbling ministers on Monday as a row over the treatment of France's Roma population rumbled on.

Against a background of opposition claims that the Socialist-Green coalition is in disarray, Hollande side-stepped the controversy triggered by Interior Minister Manuel Valls's claim that most Roma in France will never integrate and should be sent back to their countries of origin.

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