SNIPPETS Steps taken in wake of May 26 EP elections, referendum vote. Also – Romanians and their struggles sewage connectivity, Yango in Romania and new 5G moves

Moves were made by the President, the Constitutional Court and the Parliament on Thursday to fix things in the wake of troubled EP elections and voting in a referendum on Romanian Justice on May 26. Also today, news of low connectivity to sewage systems in many parts of Romania accompany news of new 5G and ridesharing initiatives.

• Romania’s Constitutional Court (CCR) has validated the results of the referendum on Justice called by President Iohannis and organised during the European elections. The court rejected all five challenges related to procedure compliance. The CCR decision was unanimous. More on this in Romanian

• Also on Thursday, President Iohannis urged the Parliament to apply the results of the referendum and warned the governing alliance to stop ignoring the option of a majority of Romanian voters in the May 26 vote. He said the parliament to be fast in delivering the legislation all provisions in a national political agreement he has initiated to apply the will of the people when it comes to the rule of law. Iohannis has called the referendum as a means to prevent further action by the governing coalition to subdue the Judiciary and put an end to the fight against corruption. More on this in Romanian here

• A parliamentary commission charged with changing electoral legislation has decided Romanians abroad would have 3 days available for voting during polls. The move comes after protests in the wake of the May 26 EP elections, when many members in the Romanian Diaspora across Europe spent hours in long queues and thousands were thus prevented from voting. More on this in Romanian here

ALSO TODAY:

• Half of the Romanian population (52.7%) have their houses connected to sewage systems, while less then 10% of Romanians living in the countryside do so, according to statistics announced today. The lowest degree of sewage connections is reported in the areas in the South, North-East and South-West (36 to 38%). More on this in Romanian here

• Major Romanian telco RCS&RDS launched its first 5G stations in Bucharest on Thursday, using equipment provided by Ericsson. Internet at speeds of 500 Mbps will be available for smartphones made by Chinese majors Xiaomi and Huawei. More on this in Romanian here

• Russian tech major Yandex joined the Bucharest ridesharing market on Thursday, aiming at competing with companies such as Uber, Clever and Bolt with its Yango app. The company promises zero commissions for drivers for a while and tariffs bellow those applied by competitors. Yango says it operates differently by that it only works with „transport companies”. More on this in Romanian here