2012 month by month in Romania - June: Plagiarism scandals, former PM attempts suicide and an incredible high speed heist
June saw the row between PM and President grow. The Constitutional Court was dragged into the disagreement and later ignored, setting a pattern for the summer. The plagiarism scandal, which had already cost some politicians their jobs,…
Liam Lever · Journalist
· Updated · 4 min read
June saw the row between PM and President grow. The Constitutional Court was dragged into the disagreement and later ignored, setting a pattern for the summer. The plagiarism scandal, which had already cost some politicians their jobs, reached the Prime Minister. Elsewhere, a former PM on his way to jail for corruption attempted suicide.

After taking office, PM Victor Ponta had said that there would no witch hunt of officials appointed by the previous administration. However, a spate of sackings appeared to contradict the PM's statement. PM continues firing spree with ANRE chief over insensitive comments Norman Manea became the first Romanian to receive honorary membership of the Royal Society of Literature in London. Past members of the 200 year old institution include Past fellows include Samuel Taylor Coleridge, WB Yeats, Rudyard Kipling, Thomas Hardy and George Bernard Shaw. At present many well known authors are members, including Salman Rushdie, Ian McEwan, Alice Munro, John Banville, Umberto Eco, Kazuo Ishiguro and JK Rowling. New members can choose to sign the roll with either Lord Byron's pen or Charles Dickens' quill. Romanian writer Norman Manea becomes honorary fellow of Royal Society of Literature Romania set a few odd ball world records over 2012, but one of the most spectacular must have been the record for Chinese lanterns launched simultaneously. People in Iasi entered the Guinness Book of Records by setting off nearly 13,000 lanterns over the city, taking the record away from India. New world record for Romania- over 12,700 sky lanterns launched in Iasi Around the world, sales of newspapers are declining as more and more people read news online. Romanian print media appears to be suffering particularly large falls in readership and each new set of circulation figures shows significant drops. Among the publications, 20, 30 or even 40 percent quarter on quarter reductions in circulation were seen. Romanian print media continues downward spiral on circulation and readership It was a funny old year for the Romanian economy, estimates for annual GDP growth dropped over the course of the year but published economic indicators were mixed. Romania did briefly enter recession, after two consecutive quarters of GDP contraction.
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