October 31, 2015

Romania observes 3 days of national mourning after 27 people died in nightclub fire in Bucharest on Friday night

Newsroom, 31.10.2015, 14:15

NATIONAL MOURNING – The Romanian government, meeting in an emergency session today, has decreed three days of national mourning, after 27 people died following a powerful fire, which broke out on Friday night during a rock concert in a nightclub in Bucharest. The authorities warn the death toll could go up because some of the 146 people who are being treated in hospitals are in a critical state. When the fire broke out, between 300 and 500 people were attending a rock concert. Hundreds of people answered the appeal launched by the authorities to donate blood at the transfusion centres in Bucharest. The investigation into the case has been taken over by the Prosecutors Office with the High Court of Cassation and Justice. Romanias President, Klaus Iohannis, went to one of the hospitals treating the victims and then to the site of the tragedy. He has expressed grief but also revolt that such a tragedy could occur in downtown Bucharest. According to the Romanian President, there is information leading to the conclusion the event might have occurred against the backdrop of laws and norms in the field being ignored. The President of the European Commission, Jean Claude Juncker, has sent a message of condolences to the families and friends of the victims of the tragic accident which occurred on Friday night. He expressed sadness at the loss of so many young lives, who had such a tragic end. In turn, the European Commissioner for Regional Policies, Corina Cretu, has expressed her deep sorrow and shock at the news of the tragedy in Bucharest. She called on her Romanian co-nationals to stay united in such difficult times.

PLANE CRASH – Egyptian search and rescue teams which arrived at the site of the crashed Airbus-321 passenger jet belonging to the Russian airline “Kogalymavia managed to extract at least 100 bodies from the wreckage of the plane, Reuters and Tass quote a representative of the Egyptian security services as saying. According to the local media, no survivors of the 224 people on board have been found so far. Russian President Vladimir Putin decreed a day of national mourning on November 1, 2015. The administration of the airport in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheikh said all crew-members and passengers on board the plane were Russian nationals. The plane, en route to the Russian city of Saint Petersburg, crashed north of the Sinai Peninsula on Saturday morning.

SUMMIT- Representatives of nine Central and East European countries, alongside NATO Deputy Secretary General, Alexander Vershbow, will attend a summit in Bucharest, on November, 4. The NATO official has recently said a series of risks might appear when Russia gets involved in operations unfolding very close to NATO territory. Romanias President, Klaus Iohannis, the host the summit, has said the participants will launch a common message on NATOs adjustment to the current security conditions.

TRADE UNIONS – Romanian
trade unions affiliated to the SED LEX Federation will make a decision early
next week on having a reaction at national level on the government’s decision
to increase the salaries of some of the state sector employees. SED LEX says
the 50% increase in the basic salaries of people working in the financial
system, as of November the 1st, is applied only to those working in
central structures. Consequently, only 3,000 employees of the Finance Ministry
and of the National Agency for Fiscal Administration, ANAF, will benefit from
pay-rises, and not the 23,000 people working in the territorial structures of
the public finance system. The Finance Ministry announced on Friday that
approximately 5,700 employees of ANAF and the line ministry will benefit from an
average 22% increase in their basic salaries. The ministry claims the measure
is justified by the complex activities carried out in the aforementioned
institutions and the urgent need to ensure the stability of the specialised
staff.

CHISHINAU – The Democratic Party, the Liberal Party and
the non-affiliated MPs in the Republic of Moldova, a former Soviet country,
with a predominantly Romanian speaking population, on Friday had a first
meeting for the formation of a new ruling coalition, Radio Chishinau has
announced. The meeting was not attended by the Liberal Democratic Party, which has
announced a decision will be made in the following days on whether or not it
participates in the formation of a new alliance. The politicians have said a
new pro-European majority is needed and invited the Liberal-Democrats to join
the talks. We recall that the pro-European cabinet led by Liberal Democrat
Valeriu Strelet was dissolved by Parliament on Thursday, following a censure
motion initiated by the Socialists and the Communists, and backed by the
Democratic Party, one of the members of the ruling coalition. Liberal Deputy
Prime Minister Gheorghe Brega has been
designated interim prime minister by Moldovan President Nicolae Timofti.