3 November, 2015
News and Current Affairs
Mihai Pelin, 03.11.2015, 11:59
As of now, officially 32 people are dead and 130 in treatment, mostly in a critical state, after Fridays tragedy in a Bucharest club. Doctors, however, warn that the number of fatalities could increase significantly. According to the experts, the chemical composition of the smoke inhaled by the victims is the cause. The government will be issuing today emergency financial assistance for the families of the victims. Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici announced the state would bear the costs of treatment for the injured. Several high-ranking officials, including the president, Klaus Iohannis, alongside his Polish guest and counterpart, Andrzej Duda, in addition to many foreign ambassadors, visited the site of the tragic event. Many foreign embassies have lowered their flags at half-mast. Romanian embassies across the world have opened condolence books for signing.
The fire in the club in Bucharest, according to investigating prosecutors, was caused by pyrotechnics used under improper conditions and overcrowding. The three owners of the club were detained under charges of manslaughter and involuntary bodily harm. Following the tragic event, the rules on running and licensing clubs will become stricter as soon as possible, according to the government. Fines on lack of compliance may amount to the equivalent of 22,500 Euro. The government plans to issue emergency rules changing the legislation on licensing clubs, which so far have functioned based on a personal statement of safety compliance.
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis welcomed to Bucharest his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda, who is scheduled to also meet PM Victor Ponta. Tomorrow, the Polish president will chair jointly with his Romanian host the high level meeting of CEE countries. The event is scheduled to be attended by NATO deputy secretary general Alexander Vershbow, alongside the presidents of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Hungary, and the Czech speaker of the lower chamber of parliament.
Negotiations continue in the Republic of Moldova for achieving a coalition to govern. The pro-European executive, made up of Democrats, Liberals and Liberal-Democrats, led by Valeriu Strelet, fell last week as a result of a no confidence vote introduced by Socialists and Communists, with cooperation from the Democratic Party. President Nicolae Timofti designated Liberal deputy Prime Minister Gheorghe Brega as interim prime minister.
Romanian National Bank hard currency reserves went up in October by 8.61%, to over 31.5 billion Euro. The size of reserves is designed to balance the need to assure international markets that the country is solvent and that of a reasonable cost of maintaining them, according to National Bank experts. Todays press release from the central bank indicates that the gold reserve is still 103.7 tons, for an approximate value of 3.5 billion Euro.
A second aircraft with remains of victims from the Russian plane crash in Egypt has reached Sankt Petersburg. Saturdays Airbus crash in Egypt killed everyone on board, 224 people in all, mostly Russian tourists. The two black boxes were recovered and are being studied in Moscow. Experts believe the airplane broke up in mid-air, without ruling out terrorism. Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi said that claims by the so-called Islamic State that they downed the airplane are simply propaganda, according to the BBC.
