Tag: nightclub

  • Colectiv trial continues

    Colectiv trial continues

    More than 6 years after the fire that killed 65 people
    and injured severely another 150, the penalties in the Colectiv case may be
    reduced.


    Three judges from the Bucharest Court of Appeals have
    changed in part the legal qualification of the offences, more specifically they
    removed the aggravating circumstances from consideration with respect to the
    offence of abuse in office for some of the defendants, including the former
    mayor of Bucharest’s sector where the nightclub was located, Cristian
    Popescu-Piedone. Removing the word aggravated from the definition of the
    offence leads to milder sentences.


    This is an important decision, and is the last step
    ahead of a final ruling in the trial. In December 2019, the Bucharest Court of
    Justice had issued the first rulings on the case. At that time, Piedone was
    sentenced to 8 years and 6 months in prison, for abuse of office related to the
    issuing of the operation licenses for the Colectiv nightclub.


    Prison sentences were also ordered for the three
    owners of the club, two City Hall employees in charge with supervising fire
    protection, the owners of the company that provided fireworks and the
    pyrotechnicians.


    The defendants were also ordered to pay, jointly with
    the City Hall and the Bucharest-Ilfov Inspectorate for Emergency Situations a
    combined 50 million euros to the victims of the fire.


    Both the defendants, and the prosecutors appealed the
    ruling, and the case was referred to the Bucharest Court of Appeals.


    The survivors and the victims’ families have released
    an open letter challenging the decision to change the legal qualification of
    the offences, arguing that it leads to milder penalties, which would thus
    become small and insignificant, out of proportion compared to the gravity
    of the offences and their consequences, a fact that would cast shadow on the
    entire judicial process in Romania.


    On 30th October, 6 years after the tragedy for
    which no one has been held liable so far, the survivors and victims’ families
    protested in silence against the postponement of a final ruling on the case. They
    lit candles and placed photos of the victims, as well as photos of some
    politicians deemed responsible for the tragedy, in front of the Court of Appeals
    building. Some of the participants lied down next to the photos of the
    deceased, covering themselves in white sheets.


    Moreover, the survivors who needed specialised care
    and who are still under treatment warn that even today in-hospital infections
    are not properly reported and monitored. Romania still lacks centres for the
    treatment and recovery of patients with severe burns. The families and friends
    of those who died 6 years ago, as well as civil society representatives,
    complain that little has changed in the Romanian healthcare system, and the
    investigation and trial are going round in circles. The next court date is set
    for 17th November, when the membership of the panel of judges for
    the next stages of the trial is to be discussed. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • New international recognition for “colectiv”

    New international recognition for “colectiv”

    In Rolling Stone magazines top 20 films of this year, the Romanian Alexander Nanaus documentary “colectiv is ranking first. It looks at the tragedy of October 30, 2015, when a fire broke out during a concert held in a rock club operating in a decommissioned plant in Bucharest. 64 people died, 27 of them on the spot, and around 200 were injured, one of whom committed suicide later on. Some of the injured were flown abroad for medical care, others, who stayed in the country, died because of the burns and of in-hospital infections.



    Following journalists, victims and governmental officials, Alexander Nanaus documentary talks about the awakening of civic engagement and the need for non-partisan journalism in a democratic world.



    The British The Economist, and the American Vanity Fair are some of the publications that do not conceal their admiration for this documentary: The Economist calls it a “remarkable film, Vanity Fair describes it as “shattering.



    After the awards won at international film festivals in Brazil, the US, Belgium, Israel, Switzerland and Luxembourg, last weekend the documentary won the European Film Academys award for best documentary.



    “colectiv is the first Romanian documentary to win this competition of the European Film Academy, an institution founded in 1988 and bringing together over 3,800 European filmmakers. This prompted director Alexander Nanau to say that this is particularly a sign of recognition of the importance of journalism in society, of courage on the part of whistle-blowers and of citizens rights to be respected and protected by their politicians.



    “colectiv is also nominated, alongside 2 other films (‘Another Round’ and ‘Corpus Cristi’), for the Lux European Audience Award. The winner will be announced on April 28, 2021 in a European Parliament session, and will be based on the votes of the audience and of the MEPs, each weighing 50% in the decision.



    We should also mention that “colectiv by Alexander Nanau is Romanias contribution to next years Oscars for best international feature, previously known as the best foreign film. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • The week in review, 27 October – 2 November 2019

    The week in review, 27 October – 2 November 2019

    Romanias nominee for EU commissioner, still uncertain


    There are “serious doubts that Romanias new nomination for European Commissioner has been made by Bucharest “in a legitimate manner, given that the Government failed to coordinate with President Klaus Iohannis, the European Commission spokesperson Mina Andreeva said. She added that this does not mean a rejection from the Commission, but that the issue must be clarified in Romania. Given the forthcoming challenges and opportunities, it is to everybodys best interest for Europe to move on without delay and, whoever the Romanian candidate may be, they must be acceptable for the President-elect of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and get the required support in the European Parliament, Mrs. Andreeva emphasized. The outgoing PM Viorica Dancila had nominated the former minister delegate for European Affairs Victor Negrescu for the post, but President Iohannis said that after being dismissed on October 10 in a no-confidence vote in Parliament, Dancila no longer has the legitimacy to nominate a new candidate. Previously, 2 other nominations made by the Social Democratic Party had fallen through: the former minister Rovana Plumb, rejected by the European Parliaments committee on legal affairs over integrity questions, and Dan Nica, for whom official procedures did not even get to start.



    Orban cabinet seeks Parliaments approval


    Thirteen of the 16 candidates for minister seats in PM designate Ludovic Orbans new Liberal government were green-lighted in the hearings held by the relevant parliamentary committees. The exceptions were Ion Stefan, the candidate for the Ministry for Public Works, Development and Administration, Violeta Alexandru, for the Labour Ministry, and Florin Citu, for the Public Finances Ministry. At the end of the interviews, the PM designate said the negative opinions had been political in nature, and appreciated the performance of all candidates. He added he would keep the same candidates for Mondays vote in Parliament. The specialized committees only have consultative power on the matter. In response, the Chamber of Deputies Speaker, Marcel Ciolacu (Social Democrat) said the practice so far has been for the candidates rejected by the committees to be replaced by the PM designate. Orban needs 233 votes to become PM, and to this end he has signed political agreements with Save Romania Union, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians, the Peoples Movement Party, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats and MPs representing ethnic minorities.



    14 presidential candidates


    By no means spirited or in any way exciting, the campaign for the presidential election continues, with 14 candidates in the race. All parliamentary parties have representatives in the campaign: the incumbent President Klaus Iohannis backed by the National Liberal Party, the incumbent PM Viorica Dancila backed by the Social Democrats, Dan Barna (USR-PLUS), Theodor Paleologu (Peoples Movement Party), Mircea Diaconu backed by the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats and by Pro Romania, and Kelemen Hunor (Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians). The candidates Catalin Ivan, Ninel Peia, Sebastian-Constantin Popescu, John-Ion Banu, Ramona-Ioana Bruynseels and Viorel Catarama are supported by parties from outside Parliament. Bogdan Stanoevici and Alexandru Cumpanasu are independent candidates. The first round of the presidential election is scheduled for November 10, and the second for November 24. Under a Government resolution, the Romanians living abroad will be able to vote between November 8 and 10 for the first round of the election, and between November 22 and 24 for the second. The countries hosting the largest numbers of polling stations will be Spain (148), Italy (142), Germany (84), Britain (73), France (48), the USA (38) and the Republic of Moldova (36). The voters registered on a dedicated online platform may already vote by mail.




    Colectiv fire, commemorated


    On Wednesday in Bucharest religious ceremonies and a protest rally marked 4 years since Romanias largest civilian disaster since the fall of communism. On October 30, 2015, during a concert held in the Colectiv nightclub in Bucharest, fireworks candles ignited the insulating material covering the walls of the overcrowded hall. Sixty-four people died on the spot because of the smoke or burns, and around 200 others were injured. Two years after the fire, a survivor committed suicide, bringing the toll to 65. The trial against the nightclub owners is still lingering. The then Health Minister Nicolae Banicioiu has failed to appear before the prosecutors, who had subpoenaed him as a witness in a criminal investigation into the response of the authorities after the fire. Meanwhile, a civic group based in Iasi (north-east) filed a criminal complaint against the chiefs of the Department for Emergency Response, headed by state secretary Raed Arafat. They are accused of having concealed evidence, more specifically video recordings, after the media released previously unseen footage of the emergency unit intervention the night of the tragedy. “Now we know how chaotically they acted. We had always suspected the ‘rescuers of unprofessionalism and lack of empathy, but the footage confirms our suspicions, the militants said. In turn, Arafat says he has known nothing about the recording and that he will not resign, but will leave if asked by the Prime Minister.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • January 22, 2017 UPDATE

    January 22, 2017 UPDATE

    FIRE INVESTIGATION – The Romanian authorities have initiated criminal investigations, involving charges of wanton destruction of property, in relation to the fire that Friday night destroyed one of the best known nightclubs in Bucharest, Bamboo. According to the Healthcare Ministry, 44 people received assistance for smoke inhalation injuries, hypothermia, and fractures, but none of the patients reported burns. Only one person is currently in a serious condition. The victims include foreign citizens, most of them from Israel. The causes of the fire that destroyed the building are yet unknown. The owners of the nightclub had not yet obtained the premises license and the fire safety permit for the nightclub. Several witnesses have been heard and fresh inspections have been initiated in all buildings that host activities involving large attendance. We remind you that in October 2015, a fire taking place during a rock concert at the Colectiv nightclub in Bucharest killed 64 people. The tragedy sparked large-scale protests to denounce corruption in the public administration.



    IMF – An International Monetary Fund delegation headed by the chief of the mission for Romania, Reza Baqir, is in Bucharest these days for a first meeting with the members of the new Cabinet. The delegation has discussed this years public budgets with the Finance Minister Viorel Ştefan. The mission carries on with technical talks at expert level, including at the National Bank of Romania, where a meeting is scheduled to take place on Monday. Romania does not have a loan agreement with the IMF at present.



    MOURNING – Hungary has announced a day of national mourning on Monday, to commemorate the victims of the crash that took place in Italy on Friday night and which killed 16 people and injured another 26. The coach was taking students and teachers from a Budapest high school back home from a ski holiday in France, and near Verona it crashed into a bridge pillar and burst into flames. The causes of the accident are still to be determined.



    TRUMP ADMINISTRATION – The US President, Donald Trump, is to receive the British Prime Minister Theresa May at the White House on Friday, the press secretary Sean Spicer confirmed on Sunday. The previous day Sean Spicer had announced May was the first foreign leader to visit Trump. Sean Spicer also announced that the President of Mexico, Enrique Pena Nieto, will be received by the new President of the USA on January 31. Meanwhile, millions took part on Saturday in anti-Trump protests organised by women organisations around the world. Trump is criticised, among other things, for his anti-immigration rhetoric and sexist statements. In Los Angeles, organisers estimate 750,000 people took part, including dozens of Hollywood stars. 400,000 people took to the streets in New York, 200,000 in Boston, 150,000 in Chicago, and rallies were also held in New Zealand, Japan, Australia and major European cities. The largest protest took place in Washington, where nearly a million people attended the anti-Trump rally, including, among others, the former Secretary of State John Kerry.



    AUSTRALIAN OPEN – The Romanian tennis player Sorana Cîrstea (78 WTA) was outperformed on Sunday by Spains Garbine Muguruza Blanco (7 WTA), in two sets, in the eighth-finals of the Australian Open. Also on Sunday, the Romanians Horia Tecău and Florin Mergea, playing with separate partners, were eliminated from the eighth-finals of the mens doubles competition in Melbourne. Tecău and the Dutch Jean-Julien Rojer, seeded 11, were defeated in 2 sets by the Australians Marc Polmans/Andrew Whittington. In turn, Florin Mergea and Britains Dominic Inglot, seeded 16, lost in 3 sets to the top seeds of the doubles event, the French Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • January 22, 2017

    January 22, 2017

    FIRE INVESTIGATION – The Romanian authorities have initiated criminal investigations, involving charges of wanton destruction of property, in relation to the fire that Friday night destroyed one of the best known nightclubs in Bucharest, Bamboo. According to the Healthcare Ministry, 44 people received assistance for smoke inhalation injuries, hypothermia, and fractures, but none of the patients reported burns. Only one person is currently in a serious condition. The victims include foreign citizens, most of them from Israel. The causes of the fire that destroyed the building are yet unknown. The owners of the nightclub had not yet obtained the premises license and the fire safety permit for the nightclub. Several witnesses have been heard and fresh inspections have been initiated in all buildings that host activities involving large attendance. We remind you that in October 2015, a fire taking place during a rock concert at the Colectiv nightclub in Bucharest killed 64 people. The tragedy sparked large-scale protests to denounce corruption in the public administration.



    PROTESTS – Fresh protests against the Romanian Governments plans to table a pardons and amnesty law are announced for later today in the capital city Bucharest and other cities in Romania. Rallies are also planned abroad, such as in front of the Romanian Embassy in Paris, the Romanian Embassy in Copenhagen and in Haugesund Square in Norway. On Wednesday night, thousands took to the streets in Bucharest and other Romanian cities, to protest the Governments intention to pass an emergency order granting collective pardon and amending the provisions of the Criminal Code. The protesters fear that the amendments are designed to help influential politicians or public administration officers get away with corruption. Similar accusations were made by the Opposition parties, civil society organisations and magistrate associations. In turn, the Government claims the changes are necessary in order to solve the problem of penitentiary overcrowding and to bring the relevant legislation in line with rulings passed by the Constitutional Court.



    MOURNING – Hungary has announced a day of national mourning on Monday, to commemorate the victims of the crash that took place in Italy on Friday night and which killed 16 people and injured another 26. The coach was taking students and teachers from a Budapest high school back home from a ski holiday in France, and near Verona it crashed into a bridge pillar and burst into flames. The causes of the accident are still to be determined.



    TRUMP ADMINISTRATION – The US President, Donald Trump, is to receive the British Prime Minister Theresa May at the White House on Friday, the presidential spokesman Sean Spicer announced on Saturday. This is the first foreign leader to visit Trump after he has taken office. Sean Spicer also announced that the President of Mexico, Enrique Pena Nieto, will be received by the new President of the USA on January 31. Meanwhile, millions took part on Saturday in anti-Trump protests organised by women organisations around the world. Trump is criticised, among other things, for his anti-immigration rhetoric and sexist statements. In Los Angeles, organisers estimate 750,000 people took part, including dozens of Hollywood stars. 400,000 people took to the streets in New York, 200,000 in Boston, 150,000 in Chicago, and rallies were also held in New Zealand, Japan, Australia and major European cities. The largest protest took place in Washington, where nearly a million people attended the anti-Trump rally, including, among others, the former Secretary of State John Kerry.



    AUSTRALIAN OPEN – The Romanian tennis player Sorana Cîrstea (78 WTA) has been outperformed today by Spains Garbine Muguruza Blanco (7 WTA), in two sets, in the eighth-finals of the Australian Open. Also today, the Romanians Horia Tecău and Florin Mergea, playing with separate partners, were eliminated from the eighth-finals of the mens doubles competition in Melbourne. Tecău and the Dutch Jean-Julien Rojer, seeded 11, were defeated in 2 sets by the Australians Marc Polmans/Andrew Whittington. In turn, Florin Mergea and Britains Dominic Inglot, seeded 16, lost in 3 sets to the top seeds of the doubles event, the French Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • October 29, 2016 UPDATE

    October 29, 2016 UPDATE

    COMMEMORATION – A rally will be held in Bucharest on Sunday to commemorate the victims of the tragedy that took place on October 30 last year in “Colectiv night club in the capital city. Sixty-four people died and more than 100 were injured on that occasion. The Government has approved a 2-year extension of the funding for those who undergo treatment abroad. The club owners were sent to court under charges of manslaughter, bodily harm and of failing to ensure workplace safety and health standards, and the owners of the company that supplied the fireworks were also indicted. Abuse of office charges were also brought against some employees of the Inspectorate for Emergency Situations, who failed to take any measures although the club did not have a fire safety license. The General Prosecutors Office has also been investigating whether the Colectiv victims were treated appropriately in the hospitals in the country, following criminal complaints from the families of the patients who died from hospital acquired infections rather than burns. The Colectiv tragedy was followed by large scale street protests that triggered the resignation of the Social Democrat Victor Pontas Cabinet.



    MOLDOVA – In the Republic of Moldova the first round of the presidential election is scheduled on Sunday. Citizens are electing their president through direct voting, after 16 years in which the head of state was designated by Parliament. According to analysts, the vote is crucial for the future geopolitical course of Moldova. The pro-Russian Socialist leader Igor Dodon is seen as the most likely to win in all opinion polls. His main challenger is the former reformist Education Minister Maia Sandu, who pleads for a reform of the state and European integration, and who has the support of other pro-Western candidates having pulled out of the race.



    ROSIA MONTANA – The Romanian Culture Minister, Corina Şuteu, has announced that Roşia Montană in the centre of the country has been included in a UNESCO tentative list, which is the first step towards inclusion in the much shorter UNESCO Heritage List. Roşia Montană was the most active mining centre in the Western Carpathians, starting with the Bronze Age, to ancient times, the Middle Ages and down to modern times. Traditional mining, based on family initiatives and small miner associations, was ended by the nationalisation of 1948, and was followed by a form of large-scale industrial mining which came to an end in 2006. Several NGOs have requested international protection for this town in the Western Carpathians, hoping this will prevent the implementation of a controversial gold mining project in the area. Other Romanian sites included in the UNESCO World Heritage List are the Danube Delta, the Sighisoara citadel, the Horezu Monastery, the painted churches in northern Moldavia, the wooden churches in Maramures, the Saxon settlements with fortified churches in Transylvania and the Dacian fortresses in Orastie Mountains.




    CETA – The European Union and Canada will hold a summit meeting on Sunday to sign the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), the president of the European Council Donald Tusk announced last night. The signing ceremony will take place in Brussels. The deal became possible after it was approved by the Parliament of Wallonia, which had initially opposed it. On Saturday the Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders signed the agreement on behalf of his country. Bucharest, too, had opposed the free trade agreement with Canada until the latter accepted the gradual lifting in 2017 of travel visa requirements for Romanians. At present Romanians and Bulgarians are the only EU citizens who need visas in order to enter Canada.




    DIPLOMACY – The Ukrainian minority in Romania and the Romanian minority in Ukraine contribute to the sustainable development of the relations between the two countries, said the Romanian Foreign Minister, Lazăr Comănescu. He attended on Saturday, together with his Ukrainian counterpart, the Taras Shevchenko bust unveiling ceremony in Sighetul Marmaţiei, on the Romanian-Ukrainian border. Shevchenko is the national poet of Ukraine. The 2 officials reiterated the need to strengthen bilateral relations, as well as the support given by Romania to Ukraines EU accession efforts. Also on Saturday, Lazăr Comănescu visited the new consular office of Romania in Slatina, across the river Tisza, which will open on Monday, and had meetings with representatives of the Romanian community in Transcarpathia.

  • October 29, 2016

    October 29, 2016

    COMMEMORATION – A rally will be held in Bucharest on Sunday to commemorate the victims of the tragedy that took place on October 30 last year in “Colectiv night club in the capital city. Sixty-four people died and more than 100 were injured on that occasion. The Government has approved a 2-year extension of the funding for those who undergo treatment abroad. The club owners were sent to court under charges of manslaughter, bodily harm and of failing to ensure workplace safety and health standards, and the owners of the company that supplied the fireworks. Abuse of office charges were also brought against some employees of the Inspectorate for Emergency Situations, who failed to take any measures although the club did not have a fire security license. The General Prosecutors Office has also been investigating whether the Colectiv victims were treated appropriately in the hospitals in the country, following criminal complaints from the families of the patients who died from hospital acquired infections rather than burns. The Colectiv tragedy was followed by large scale street protests that triggered the resignation of the Social Democrat Victor Pontas Cabinet.




    DST – Romania falls back from Daylight Saving Time to standard time tonight, with 4 AM local time becoming 3 AM local time (GMT+2). Sunday will thus be the longest day of the year – 25 hours. The measure reverses the switch to DST operated in March, when clocks were advanced by one hour so as to ensure maximum use of sunlight and reduce electricity consumption. Romania will switch back to DST on the last Sunday in March.




    MOLDOVA – In the Republic of Moldova the election campaign ended and the first round of the presidential election is scheduled on Sunday. Citizens are electing their president through direct voting, after 16 years in which the head of state was designated by Parliament. According to analysts, the vote is crucial for the future geopolitical course of Moldova. The pro-Russian Socialist leader Igor Dodon is seen as the most likely to win in all opinion polls. His main challenger is the former reformist Education Minister Maia Sandu, who pleads for a reform of the state and European integration, and who has the support of other pro-Western candidates having pulled out of the race.




    ROSIA MONTANA – The Romanian Culture Minister, Corina Şuteu, has announced that Roşia Montană in the centre of the country has been included in a UNESCO tentative list, which is the first step towards inclusion in the much shorter UNESCO Heritage List. Roşia Montană was the most active mining centre in the Western Carpathians, starting with the Bronze Age, to ancient times, the Middle Ages and down to modern times. Traditional mining, based on family initiatives and small miner associations, was ended by the nationalisation of 1948, and was followed by a form of large-scale industrial mining which came to an end in 2006. The defining features of the site are the galleries, the over ground landscape and the mining fair. Several NGOs have requested international protection for this town in the Western Carpathians, hoping this will prevent the implementation of a controversial gold mining project in the area.




    CETA – The European Union and Canada will hold a summit meeting on Sunday to sign the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), the president of the European Council Donald Tusk announced last night. The signing ceremony will take place in Brussels. The deal became possible after it was approved by the Parliament of Wallonia, which had initially opposed it. Bucharest, too, had opposed the free trade agreement with Canada until the latter accepted the gradual lifting in 2017 of travel visa requirements for Romanians. At present Romanians and Bulgarians are the only EU citizens who need visas in order to enter Canada.




    DIPLOMACY – The Romanian Foreign Minister, Lazar Comănescu, and his Ukrainian counterpart, Pavlo Klimkin, are attending today the Taras Sevcenko bust unveiling ceremony, in Sighetu Marmaţiei, near the Romanian-Ukrainian border. Taras Sevcenko is the national poet of Ukraine. The event is organised by the Ukrainian Union in Romania. Lazăr Comănescu has visited today the new consular office of Romania in Slatina, across the river Tisza, which will open on Monday, and had meetings with representatives of the Romanian community in Transcarpathia.

    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • April 24, 2016 UPDATE

    April 24, 2016 UPDATE

    NATO – The deputy Secretary General of NATO, Alexander Vershbow, will be received on Monday by President Klaus Iohannis, and will also have a meeting with the Romanian Defence Minister, Mihnea Motoc. According to the Defence Ministry, the NATO official is in Romania between April 24 and 26 to take part in a meeting of of political leaders in the defence ministries of NATO member states. Meanwhile, the US President, Barack Obama, who is to have a meeting on Monday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, will call on Germany to get more involved in the defence of eastern NATO member countries. German governmental sources quoted by Der Spiegel magazine said additional NATO troops might be deployed to Romania, Poland and the Baltic States. An official decision on increasing the NATO military presence in the east is to be made at the Alliance Summit due in Warsaw. The Pentagon has already announced in late March that the US will send more troops to Eastern Europe, Romania included, as of 2017, as part of the measures to guarantee security against the backdrop of Russias recent actions.



    LEGISLATION – The Romanian Labour Ministry will initiate on Monday talks with its social partners on a new emergency order aimed at doing away with inequities in public sector salaries. The new legislation is scheduled to be finalised within three weeks. In an interview to Radio Romania, the Finance Minister Anca Dragu said the Government intended to increase the lower salaries in the public administration, because the budget resources were limited. She also explained that according to data available to the Finance Ministry, in the first months of the year revenues to the state budget were higher than estimated.



    COLECTIV – The Office of the Prosecutor General has finalised its investigation into the Colectiv nightclub fire which killed 64 people and injured over 150. Several people, including the nightclub owners, will be sent to Court. The three owners are accused, among other things, of manslaughter and breach of relevant safety and security regulations. The tragedy took place last autumn, during a rock concert in which several hundreds of people took part. The fire was caused by fireworks, but overcrowding and the lack of multiple access ways contributed to the increased death toll. The Colectiv fire had a huge impact and was followed by large-scale street protests, further to which PM Victor Ponta resigned.



    PALM SUNDAY – Romanian Orthodox and Greek-Catholic Christians celebrated Palm Sunday, which is a commemoration of Jesus Christs entry in Jerusalem before his crucifixion. The previous day, thousands of believers and hundreds of priests took part in processions, in the country and abroad, in a symbolic reconstruction of Christs journey to Jerusalem. Palm Sunday opened the last week of Lent, also known as Passion Week, which commemorates the most dramatic days in the life of Jesus Christ. On Palm Sunday, nearly 1.4 million Romanians named after flower names celebrated their name day.




    PROTESTS – Thousands of people took part on Sunday in Chisinau, the capital city of the Rep. of Moldova, in an anti-government protest organised by the Dignity and Truth Platform. The protesters demanded the resignation of the Filip Cabinet and early parliamentary elections, and announced that they resumed around-the-clock protests against the current government. According to them, the Cabinet failed to meet the demands they had made previously, and only goes through the motions of implementing reforms. Several pro-European parties in opposition, including the Liberal Democratic Party and the Liberal Reformist Party, have joined the protest organised by the Dignity and Truth Platform.

  • December 15, 2015

    December 15, 2015

    COLECTIV — The death toll of the tragedy which struck the “Colectiv” nightclub in Bucharest on October 30, has risen to 62, after another person who sustained burn injuries died in a hospital in Bucharest. Some 40 people are still undergoing treatment in hospitals in Bucharest and abroad. The Romanian Health Ministry is now looking into the possibility of building a new burns hospital in Bucharest. In the same line, three burns centres will be built in Iasi (north-east), Targu Mures (centre) and Timisoara (west), under a program with the World Bank.



    COMMEMORATION — Ceremonies are being held today to mark 26 years since the flame of the Anti-Communist Revolution of December 1989 was kindled in the Western Romanian city of Timisoara. A symposium devoted to controversial aspects of the events that occurred in 1989 is scheduled for today. Attending the debates will be both historians and revolutionaries. Started on December 16, 1989, by the Timisoara inhabitants’ opposition to an abusive measure taken by the local authorities, the Revolution spread to the whole country at a fast pace. It culminated on December 22, when dictator Nicolae Ceausescu fled Bucharest, leaving power. Over 1,000 people died and some 3,400 others got injured between December 16 and 25, 1989. Romania was the only country in the former Eastern Bloc that violently overthrew the communist regime and executed its communist leaders.



    DIPLOMACY — US Secretary of State, John Kerry, is holding talks in Moscow today with Russian President Vladimir Putin on ways to put an end to the civil war that has been ravaging Syria for almost four years now. The US has announced that, on December 18, New York will be the venue for the future meeting of the International Syria Support Group, adding that it counts on Russia to bring Syrian president Bashar al-Assad at the negotiation table with the Syrian opposition. Over 250,000 people died and million others have fled civil war, which has been ravaging Syria since as early as 2011. News agencies underline that the US Secretary of State paid his latest visit to Moscow in May, for talks with president Vladimir Putin and foreign minister Sergei Lavrov on the Ukraine crisis.



    REFUGEES — Multiculturalism continues to be an “illusion”, being conducive to the emergence of “parallel societies”, German chancellor, Angela Merkel told a meeting of her Christian Democratic Union party, yesterday. Merkel presented the guidelines of her policy on refugees, evoking “humanitarian imperatives” , but she accepted a compromise with the critical voices, by promising to reduce the number of asylum-seekers in Germany, Reuters and France Presse news agencies report. She also stood for the complete integration of non-EU citizens by their embracing of the German language and values. Thus, the German chancellor believes multiculturalism risks to generate political isolation, and the emergence of suburbs just like those on the outskirts of Paris, with alienated individuals and where the crime rate is very high. Some one million non-EU citizens arrived in Germany in 2015, against the backdrop of the flexible policies pursued by the government led by Angela Merkel.



    ECONOMY– Foreign direct investments in Romania increased by 270 million Euros in October, exceeding 2.8 billion Euros in the first ten months of the year. The figure has exceeded by almost 1.2 billion Euros the amount registered in the same period of 2014. According to the National Bank of Romania, capital participations, including the estimated reinvested net profit, stood at 2.7 billion Euros.



    TOURISM INDUSTRY–Some 1.75 million foreign tourists visited Romania in the first nine months of the year, spending here approximately one billion Euros. According to the National Institute for Statistics, most non-resident tourists came to Romania on business, they were followed by those who participated in congresses, conferences, fairs and exhibitions or attended courses and by holiday makers. Approximately half of the tourists who arrived in Romania in the first nine months of the year had their stays organised by a travel agency, and over 28% made their travel plans by themselves. The main means of transportation was the plane.



    SPORTS — The Romanian national women’s handball team on Wednesday will be taking on the host country’s national squad, in a fixture counting towards the quarter-finals of the World Handball Championship, underway in Denmark. In the three other fixtures at this stage of the competition, France is pitted against the Netherlands, Poland will be taking on Russia, while Norway will go against Montenegro. Whereas Poland grabbed a surprising win over Hungary in the eighth finals, Romania will have to earn at least the 7th position in the final rankings in order to make headway into next year’s pre-Olympic tournaments in Rio. Romania is the only country to have participated in all final tournaments of the World Championships, since 1957, boasting three medals: gold in 1962 and silver in 1973 and 2005, respectively.


    (Translated by: Diana Vijeu)

  • Lessons from a Tragedy

    Lessons from a Tragedy

    October 30, 2015 is one of those days that Romania will never forget. What should have been for many young people a nice weekend night out at a rock gig, turned into the bleakest day of their lives. The last one, for tens of them. For other tens of young people it was the first day of a completely different life, marked by complex and unpredictable medical interventions, physical pain and grief caused by the nightmarish moments in Bucharest’s Colectiv nightclub, where a fire changed the destinies of hundreds of people in a matter of seconds. The tragedy brought to light many and serious administrative and legislative flaws. It sparked emotion, solidarity with the victims and outrage at the perceived culprits.



    The authorities launched inspections in all clubs and bars in Romania. A mere 10% of them comply with the relevant legislation, experts say, and warn that in case of an earthquake, for instance, thousands of people would die in Bucharest’s Old City. The Romanian Society of Architects warns that the fire at Colectiv has revealed severe irregularities and errors in the fire safety authorisation and inspection process. The president of the Romanian Society of Architects, Serban Tiganas, explains in an interview with Radio Romania that the situation of big city architecture in Romania is rather poor:



    “One of the reasons has to do with the legislative framework regulating the constructions sector. Romania is still governed by an obsolete outlook, which does not focus on the soft elements, so to say, the elements that are harder to assess or measure, such as the overall quality of architecture, and in which the essential thing is for the building not to come crumbling down during an earthquake, not to kill you while using it and to have enough polystyrene insulation to preserve heat. That’s just about it. So we have a rudimentary, imbalanced system of laws governing this sector. The second major problem is related to the enforcement of these laws, such as they are, with obviously good and reasonable parts, although difficult to implement. Romania is in a position where the inspection, fines and everything else entailed by enforcing these regulations face a lot of obstacles. And this is something everyone has learned well: you can build pretty much anything or stray from what the permit allows you to build, and nothing happens. And that is a disaster. The third problem is a matter of education, and here we have two aspects. On the one hand, there’s the education of the professionals in this sector. Our profession is subject to the pressure of degradation or of a loss of efficiency and coherence. On the other hand, there’s the education of the general public, in other words, you cannot have great architecture or be a good architect unless you have good clients. A good client is someone who understands the need for high-quality space, therefore the need for good architecture, instead of just focusing on cutting costs, as is usually the case in Romania.”



    The money was also the reason why the owners of Colectiv nightclub chose cheap and unsuitable material for sound insulation, a type of sponge that lighted instantly from the fireworks that were part of the show. The fire spread quickly and a thick smoke, heavy with toxic gases, caused severe internal burns to the victims. Meanwhile, the law regulating the authorisation of nightclub running, which was already under revision, was tightened, with fines substantially increased, the owners who breach regulations subject to criminal charges and the clubs closed down.



    On the other hand, Romania saw the exemplary mobilisation of civil society. Tens of thousands of people lit candles and laid flowers, organised silent marches and felt compelled to join in the support efforts. Thousands of people queued in hospitals to donate blood. Here is the director of the Bucharest Transfusion Centre, Doina Gosa:



    “This mobilisation is impressive, to be honest I have never seen anything like this in my life. People were extremely responsive to this tragedy… To the fact that most of the victims were so young, and died or suffered terrible burn injuries… As we all know now, the greatest possible physical pain is the one caused by burns. We’ve seen on all television channels that the doctors who gave first aid were also deeply affected and sympathised with the victims, although doctors are trained to do this and are accustomed to crises, to severe injuries and all sorts of traumas.”



    The tragedy prompted tens of thousands of people to take to the streets, in Bucharest and other cities in Romania and abroad. They demanded a reform of the entire political class, and following their protest, the Victor Ponta cabinet stepped down.

  • November 11, 2015

    November 11, 2015

    Alexandru Pascu, the bassist of Goodbye to Gravity, the heavy metal band that was holding a free concert in the Colectiv club when fire broke out on October 30, died in a French hospital on Wednesday evening, where he had been transferred on the same day, raising the death toll in the disaster to 51.



    Alexandru Pascu is the fourth member of Goodbye to Gravity who died of injuries sustained in the horrific fire. Guitarists Vlad Telea and Mihai Alexandru died in the club, while the band’s drummer, Bogdan Enache, died on November 8th, his condition having worsened while he was being transferred to a hospital in Switzerland.



    Andrei Galut, the band’s lead singer, is currently being treated in a hospital in the Netherlands, where he underwent surgery.



    Over 70 people who suffered severe burns are still in Bucharests hospitals, some of them in critical and serious condition. Around 30 patients have been transferred to hospitals in Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Britain, Norway, Israel and Switzerland. All expenses related to transport and treatment are covered by the Romanian state. A crisis group made up of specialist doctors has also been created to provide psychological counseling to the injured and the families of the victims.



    According to the tests run by the National Coroner’s Institute in Bucharest, toxic doses of carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide have been found in the blood of all the people who died on the very evening of the tragedy at the Colectiv nightclub.



    The victims with respiratory, cardiovascular and kidney failure had levels of hydrogen cyanide above lethal limits. Since the toxic effects of those substances can occur even later and not right away, the people who escaped safe and sound from the fire have been advised to have a medical check up.

  • November 11, 2015

    November 11, 2015

    Alexandru Pascu, the bassist of Goodbye to Gravity, the heavy metal band that was holding a free concert in the Colectiv club when fire broke out on October 30, died in a French hospital on Wednesday evening, where he had been transferred on the same day, raising the death toll in the disaster to 51.



    Alexandru Pascu is the fourth member of Goodbye to Gravity who died of injuries sustained in the horrific fire. Guitarists Vlad Telea and Mihai Alexandru died in the club, while the band’s drummer, Bogdan Enache, died on November 8th, his condition having worsened while he was being transferred to a hospital in Switzerland.



    Andrei Galut, the band’s lead singer, is currently being treated in a hospital in the Netherlands, where he underwent surgery.



    Over 70 people who suffered severe burns are still in Bucharests hospitals, some of them in critical and serious condition. Around 30 patients have been transferred to hospitals in Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Britain, Norway, Israel and Switzerland. All expenses related to transport and treatment are covered by the Romanian state. A crisis group made up of specialist doctors has also been created to provide psychological counseling to the injured and the families of the victims.



    According to the tests run by the National Coroner’s Institute in Bucharest, toxic doses of carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide have been found in the blood of all the people who died on the very evening of the tragedy at the Colectiv nightclub.



    The victims with respiratory, cardiovascular and kidney failure had levels of hydrogen cyanide above lethal limits. Since the toxic effects of those substances can occur even later and not right away, the people who escaped safe and sound from the fire have been advised to have a medical check up.

  • November 10, 2015 UPDATE

    November 10, 2015 UPDATE

    Romania’s President, Klaus Iohannis, on Tuesday appointed Dacian Ciolos, former EU Commissioner for Agriculture in the executive led by José Manuel Barroso, as the country’s new prime minister. Ciolos, aged 46, has vowed in a brief comment at the presidential palace in Bucharest, to focus his attention and energy on putting together a team of technocrats that will seek Parliament’s approval. In his turn, President Klaus Iohannis, who held two rounds of talks with parliamentary parties prior to nominating the new PM, has said Romania needs an independent premier of high moral and professional value and has called on political parties to eliminate corrupt members and promote to public positions only competent, non-corrupted people. Dacian Ciolos comes to replace leftist Victor Ponta who quit last week amid public anger over a deadly nightclub fire.




    The death toll from the horrific fire at the Colectiv club in Bucharest on October 30th reached 49 on Tuesday. Over 70 people who suffered severe burns are still in Bucharests hospitals, some of them in critical and serious condition. 35 patients have been transferred to hospitals in 7 other countries. Doctors from Germany and France are now assessing the possibility of further transferring patients to various hospitals in Europe.




    The United States Ambassador in Bucharest, Hans Klemm said on Tuesday that the American anti-missile system at the Deveselu military base in southern Romania would be operational in the spring of 2016 and that everything was going according to the approved schedule and budget. On the occasion of a visit to the military base, Hans Klemm said that the anti-missile system was an essential element of the bilateral strategic partnership.




    A NATO delegation is in Chisinau as of Tuesday to assess the reconstruction program of the Republic of Moldovas defense capability. The program, which involves major allies such as the US and Germany, contributing both money and expertise, is run in keeping with the decisions made at last years summit, when NATO included in its own security strategy the defense capabilities of the partner countries, including the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia. The NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said back than that the Republic of Moldova would thus be helped to consolidate security against potential threats coming from Russia. The NATO delegations visit is taking place against the background of political uncertainty in Chisinau, where consultations on the formation of a new parliamentary majority continue.




    A new program with the IMF and the European Commission is quite unlikely for Romania, as elections are drawing near, the World Bank Country Economist Catalin Pauna said on Tuesday at a conference on taxation. He has stated that the World Bank estimates a 3.6% economic growth rate this year and a 3.9% growth rate in 2016. As for 2017, the estimated rate is 4.1%. According to Pauna, the inflation dynamics, affected by fiscal measures and the VAT cut of June, will be influenced next year by the reduction of the VAT from 25% to 20% in January.





  • November 10, 2015 UPDATE

    November 10, 2015 UPDATE

    Romania’s President, Klaus Iohannis, on Tuesday appointed Dacian Ciolos, former EU Commissioner for Agriculture in the executive led by José Manuel Barroso, as the country’s new prime minister. Ciolos, aged 46, has vowed in a brief comment at the presidential palace in Bucharest, to focus his attention and energy on putting together a team of technocrats that will seek Parliament’s approval. In his turn, President Klaus Iohannis, who held two rounds of talks with parliamentary parties prior to nominating the new PM, has said Romania needs an independent premier of high moral and professional value and has called on political parties to eliminate corrupt members and promote to public positions only competent, non-corrupted people. Dacian Ciolos comes to replace leftist Victor Ponta who quit last week amid public anger over a deadly nightclub fire.




    The death toll from the horrific fire at the Colectiv club in Bucharest on October 30th reached 49 on Tuesday. Over 70 people who suffered severe burns are still in Bucharests hospitals, some of them in critical and serious condition. 35 patients have been transferred to hospitals in 7 other countries. Doctors from Germany and France are now assessing the possibility of further transferring patients to various hospitals in Europe.




    The United States Ambassador in Bucharest, Hans Klemm said on Tuesday that the American anti-missile system at the Deveselu military base in southern Romania would be operational in the spring of 2016 and that everything was going according to the approved schedule and budget. On the occasion of a visit to the military base, Hans Klemm said that the anti-missile system was an essential element of the bilateral strategic partnership.




    A NATO delegation is in Chisinau as of Tuesday to assess the reconstruction program of the Republic of Moldovas defense capability. The program, which involves major allies such as the US and Germany, contributing both money and expertise, is run in keeping with the decisions made at last years summit, when NATO included in its own security strategy the defense capabilities of the partner countries, including the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia. The NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said back than that the Republic of Moldova would thus be helped to consolidate security against potential threats coming from Russia. The NATO delegations visit is taking place against the background of political uncertainty in Chisinau, where consultations on the formation of a new parliamentary majority continue.




    A new program with the IMF and the European Commission is quite unlikely for Romania, as elections are drawing near, the World Bank Country Economist Catalin Pauna said on Tuesday at a conference on taxation. He has stated that the World Bank estimates a 3.6% economic growth rate this year and a 3.9% growth rate in 2016. As for 2017, the estimated rate is 4.1%. According to Pauna, the inflation dynamics, affected by fiscal measures and the VAT cut of June, will be influenced next year by the reduction of the VAT from 25% to 20% in January.





  • Protests against Romanian Political Class

    Protests against Romanian Political Class

    Tuesday night’s large-scale protest in downtown Bucharest, in which more than 20,000 people demanded the resignation of PM Victor Ponta, of Interior Minister Gabriel Oprea and of Cristian Popescu Piedone, the mayor of Bucharest’s fourth district, viewed as the representatives of a political elite blamed for the death of tens of young people, did not go unanswered.



    Explaining that it would have been a mistake to ignore the discontent of the people, the Prime Minister and his entire cabinet stepped down, followed by a similar decision from the mayor of Bucharest fourth district where the deadly nightclub fire took place. But the thousands of anti-system protesters in Bucharest and other large cities in the country went back to the streets and say they will continue to do so until the entire political class is reformed.



    “What we want is to tell the entire political class that they are corrupt and that we want a change. We want the next government not to make the same mistakes that the cabinets of the past 25 years have repeated so many times. We hope this is a wake-up call and a challenge for all politicians, we want them to pay attention to the voice of the people.”



    “I think this was the last straw, the one that broke the camel’s back. And it is not about guilt alone, about who’s to blame for all these deaths, it’s about responsibility, including political responsibility.”



    Demonstrators shouted against the system (“All parties, the same filth”), against the President, whom they told his only chance is to choose the right person as the next prime minister, and against Patriarch Daniel, whom they criticize for not having showed up on the night of the tragedy to comfort people.



    The rallies spread across the country, and some 35,000 people are estimated to have gathered in Timisoara, Cluj, Brasov, Targu Jiu, Iasi, Alba Iulia, Miercurea-Ciuc, Ploiesti, Braila and Constanta, as well as abroad, in Paris and London.



    Analysts see these demonstrations as a proof of mature and aware civic engagement, particularly among the young. This is not so much a political movement, they say, but rather a spontaneous reaction to the young people who died on Friday night to shake Romanians out of their indifference and inactivity.