November 4, 2015

Florentin Căpitănescu, 04.11.2015, 14:08

Romania’s
Prime Minister, Social-Democrat Victor Ponta has announced he is stepping down
together with his cabinet. The decision comes after last night’s demonstration
in the memory of the victims of a nightclub fire, turned into a large-scale
protest. Over 25 thousand people took to the streets of Bucharest last night
denouncing the corruption of central and local administrations at the same time
calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Ponta, Deputy Prime Minister
Gabriel Oprea and the mayor of Bucharest’s district four where 32 club-goers
were killed in a deadly fire on Friday night. The mayor of district four,
Cristian Popescu-Piedone, has also stepped down. The Prime Minister has said he
cannot ignore the legitimate anger society is feeling at the moment adding that
he hopes the government’s resignation will meet people’s expectations. He made
an appeal to reason saying that street unrest could affect the country’s
economic stability. Ponta has also said that those politically speculating
people’s suffering will pay dearly. We recall that 32 people lost their lives
and 130 have been admitted to hospitals, mostly in a critical condition -
following the deadly fire during a rock concert in Colectiv nightclub in
Bucharest. Doctors say the death toll could go higher because of the atypical
injuries.

European Council president Donald Tusk has announced he
will summon a new emergency meeting of EU leaders on migration in Malta on
November 12th. In a letter addressed to EU heads of state and
government, Tusk explains that due to the speed the events in the refugee
crisis are unfolding at present, the measures implemented so far must be
assessed. In another development the Hungarian Parliament has issued a decision
turning down the EU’s distribution quotas.
Among other things, the decision says that the EU lacks a legal
framework for the introduction of the quota system and that a centralized
procedure will automatically come into effect sidestepping further consultations
with member states.

At least 25 people have today lost their
lives in Southern Sudan Capital city Juba, as a cargo aircraft crashed shortly
after taking off. According to the authorities, the Antonov aircraft had around
20 passengers and crew on board, among whom many Russian citizens, and it is
highly likely that people on the ground are among the victims as well.
International news agencies quoted local media as saying that the death toll
accounts for as many as 40 people. We recall that last week 224 people lost
their lives, as an aircraft owned by a Russian company crashed in the Egyptian
peninsula of Sinai. The flight provided the connection between the Egyptian
resort of Sharm el-Skeikh and Sankt Petersburg.

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis chairs together with
his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda, the summit of CEE countries. Attending
are heads of state from Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia and
the speaker of the lower chamber of the Czech Parliament, alongside NATO Deputy
Secretary General, Alexander Vershbow. The meeting will issue a common
statement to consolidate NATO presence in the region. The previous day, the two
presidents talked bilateral relations and energy resources.