October 31, 2015 UPDATE

Romania observes three days of national mourning in memory of the victims of a powerful fire which devastated a nightclub in Bucharest

Newsroom, 31.10.2015, 19:24

NATIONAL MOURNING -
The Prosecutor’s Office with the High Court of Cassation and Justice on
Saturday carried out the first part of the investigation into Friday night’s
fire, which broke out in a club in downtown Bucharest. The death toll stands at
27 people dead and some 150 injured. The Romanian government has decreed three
days of national mourning, to be observed on October 31st, November
the 1st and 2nd, in -what is being considered- the second worst tragedy to strike Romania since 1989. The death toll could go up,
because some of the injured are in a critical condition. Four foreign nationals
are among them: two Spaniards, a German and an Italian. Between 300 and 500
young people were attending a rock concert when the fire broke out. Romania’s
President, Klaus Iohannis, has expressed grief but also revolt that such a
tragedy could occur in downtown Bucharest, most likely 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 that occurred on
Friday night. 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. The Embassies of the United States of America and of the Russian
Federation in Bucharest, respectively, have also sent messages of condolences.

PLANE CRASH – All 224 people on board the Airbus321-200 passenger jet belonging to the Russian airline “Metrojet, which crashed on Saturday morning in Egypts Sinai Peninsula, lost their lives, the Egyptian government and the Russian Embassy in Cairo have confirmed. According to France Presse, the Egyptian wing of the Islamic State Jihadist group claimed responsibility for the crash on Tweeter, in retaliation for Rusias intervention in Syria. However, the Egyptian authorities say there is no clear evidence confirming an attack scenario. The Russian chartered plane was en route from the Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheikh to the Russian city of Saint Petersburg. President Vladimir Putin decreed a day of national mourning on November 1.

SUMMIT- Representatives of nine Central and East European countries, alongside NATO Deputy Secretary General, Alexander Vershbow, will attend a summit in Bucharest, on November the 4th. 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 of the summit, has said the participants will launch a common message on NATOs adjustment to the current security conditions.

CHISINAU – 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.

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 governments 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.

SINGAPORE – Czech tennis player Petra Kvitova has qualified for the finals of the WTA Tournament of Champions, in Singapore, with 7 million US dollars total prize money up for grabs. She managed to defeat Russian Maria Sharapova in a two set match played on Saturday. World number five Petra Kvitova will face, in the finals, Polish Agnieszka Radwanska, WTA no.6 ranked player, who defeated in the semi-finals second-seeded Spanish Garbine Muguruza.