Weekly overview in pictures: Eurovision voting scandal | Portuguese PM travels to RO | New Park & Ride in Bucharest

This weekly overview brings you the main topics from Romania, in pictures. The voting scandal at the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest hit the headlines last week in both local and international media. And the story is still unfolding. The May 16-22 week collection also includes photos from the Portuguese prime minister's visit to Romania, the new Park & Ride terminal in Bucharest, and a major defense event in the capital city. (Opening photo: Romania's representative, WRS, at Eurovision; photo source: Facebook/Eurovision Romania, credit: EBU/Sarah Louise Bennett)

The hottest topic this past week was the voting scandal at the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest. In short, Romania and other countries saw their jury votes substituted in the final, and the Romanian public broadcaster TVR accused the organiser, EBU, of having "changed the rules during the game." EBU explained its decision in a press release issued on May 19, suggesting that Romania and five other countries had rigged their jury votes in the second semifinal. In a response issued one day later, TVR said it "is investigating the allegations brought by the EBU, but disapproves of the way it handled the situation generated by the votes expressed by the national juries during the semifinals and the final of the Eurovision 2022 competition." TVR also said it is considering Romania's withdrawal from future Eurovision editions and legal action against EBU.

Portuguese prime minister António Costa travelled to Romania last week, on May 19. He met with Romania's president Klaus Iohannis in Bucharest, at the Cotroceni Palace. The two officials' agenda focused on the state and prospects of bilateral cooperation, the security situation at the EU border, ways to support Ukraine, the upcoming European Council meetings in May and June, and the strengthening of the Eastern Flank and the preparation of the NATO Summit in Madrid in June.

Also on May 19, president Klaus Iohannis and prime minister Nicolae Ciuca, together with Portuguese prime minister António Costa, visited a military base in Caracal. "I am honoured to have had the opportunity […] to meet the Portuguese soldiers deployed to the Caracal Military Unit and personally thank them for their work here with the Romanian military," the Romanian PM said after the visit.