October 30, 2018
Commemoration of victims of Colectiv fire, Simple motion against minister Toader
Newsroom, 30.10.2018, 13:12
Colectiv — Today it’s 3 years since the fire at the Bucharest-based club Colectiv following which 64 people lost their lives. Subsequently, after one year and a half, a young man injured in the fire committed suicide. To commemorate the dead two religious services, a commemoration rally and the screening of a thematic movie have been scheduled. The film is called ‘’We get off at the next stop’ and is directed by Tedy Necula, who tells the story of the passengers in a subway carriage, the next day after the fire. The Romanian president Klaus Iohannis has laid a flower wreath at the place of the tragedy, lit a candle and observed a short moment of silence.
Motion – The Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest is debating a simple motion initiated by the National Liberal Party and the Save Romania Union Party against the justice minister, in which they ask for his resignation. The opposition accuses minister Toader that through his attitude he abandoned the judiciary and left it in the hands of criminals, thus taking Romania way back in the past when criminal files used to be solved during party meetings. The motion will be submitted to the vote on Wednesday. Meanwhile minister Toader announced he would make public today the appointment procedure and grid as well as the candidacy file of Romania’s prosecutor general Augustin Lazar. Last week, the justice minister had asked for the dismissal of Augustin Lazar, one of the reasons being the alleged existence, in his candidacy file of 2016, of a classifying verdict in a case involving the country’s president Klaus Iohannis, at the time when he was a mayor. The Superior Council of Magistracy claims that the file does not include such a document.
Doors Open Day — Today is a Doors Open Day at the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation which, on November 1, marks 90 years of existence. Manifestations devoted to its 90th anniversary started on Monday. A first radio sitcom has been launched called “Somewhere in 1928”, a comedy with 11 episodes about the birth of radio drama. As of Monday, one of the broadcasting studios of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation will bear the name of the late radio journalist Paul Grigoriu, in sign of appreciation for his 40-year career within Radio Romania and the Romanian press. The events devoted to the 90th anniversary of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation will also include concerts by the Radio orchestras and choirs.
Visit — The European Commissioner for Budget and Human Resources, Gunther Oettinger, is today paying an official visit to Bucharest. He will be meeting with the Romanian PM Viorica Dancila, the finance minister Eugen Teodorovici and the minister delegate for European affairs Victor Negrescu. Also Commissioner Oettinger is participating in 3 conferences on European issues. Also present in Bucharest is the European Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Cretu who announced that the EC would propose a 10% increase in the funds to be allotted to Romania, Bulgaria and Greece in the period 2021-2027. Commissioner Cretu has drawn attention to the fact that the Romanian authorities are not accessing the money made available to it by Brussels, which should be used for infrastructure and healthcare projects.
Exercise — The American air forces announced that they transported an important amount of armament to Europe. This was the largest such operation after the war in Kosovo, when the US played a key role in NATO’s intervention in the former Yugoslavia. The American transport of armament coincides with the largest NATO military exercise after the Cold War. The exercise called Trident Juncture 18 is taking place in Norway. Participating are tens of thousands of military from 31 member and allied countries. Romania is represented in the military drill by military with the general staff and the Psychological Operations Centre. The Chief of the General Staff of the Romanian Armed Forces, General Nicolae Ciuca, is today attending, in Norway, the Distinguished Visitors’ Day. (news translated by Lacramioara Simion)
