Radio România Internațional

Tag: University Square

  • Rallies Carry on in Romania

    Rallies Carry on in Romania

    The fatal fire at Colectiv nightclub in downtown Bucharest on October 30 and the public outrage that followed it have caused an earthquake in central and local public administration, but the resignation of PM Victor Ponta did not appease the people, who continue to protest in many Romanian cities.



    As he had promised, the President of Romania Klaus Iohannis came down on Sunday night in Bucharests University Square, the meeting place of those who want a corruption-free country and politicians who focus on the national interest instead of their own gains. The demands expressed openly for the sixth consecutive night included the replacement of the political elite, early parliamentary elections, the appointment of a technocratic cabinet, or even the resignation of the countrys president.



    The presence of Klaus Iohannis in University Square animated the various groups of protesters, who crowded around to talk to the President. Some of them received answers, but most only managed to cry out their disappointment and demands, some of them applauded the President, others booed.



    “I want peace and quiet as soon as possible, and I want things to work, as you promised!


    “For 26 years a lot of laws were passed in Romania but against Romania and its people. We should cancel all of them and replace them with laws that protect our rights.


    “The voices in University Square must be heard, whether they come from the left or the right of the political spectrum. A political solution is needed, and you, as the President, are in a position to make this happen.



    After the President left the Square, some protesters gathered in an unplanned debate group:



    “Fellows, the greatest evil for the Romanian people is, in my opinion, parliamentary immunity. Moreover, I think a technocratic government for one year would give us a chance to elect good people.


    “We must keep in mind that politics works through political parties.



    Meanwhile, back to the Presidency headquarters, the head of state posted a message on his Facebook account, stating that what he saw in University Square was a sense of rebellion, but also hope that things can change. The political consultation process initiated by the President last week is yet to generate solutions, as the main parliamentary parties still hesitate to take responsibility for a new government. For the first time in Romania, civil society members were also invited to take part in the talks. Their message was that the current political class has lost its legitimacy and that the new cabinet must be formed of people having no problems with the judiciary.



    New talks are scheduled for early this week, in view of solving the political crisis, but the President is also expected to come up with suggestions for a solution.

  • November 8, UPDATE

    November 8, UPDATE

    The death toll following the fire in Bucharest’s Colectiv club is rising. Four more people died on Sunday from the injuries they sustained in the fire bringing the death toll to 45. Authorities and doctors have warned that the number of deaths might increase. Around 30 people continue to be in critical condition in Bucharest hospitals, due to severe burns. Tens of patients have been transferred to hospitals abroad, some of them with a NATO aircraft requested by Bucharest. The blaze at Bucharests Colectiv club on October 30 was started by fireworks. The firm contracted to ensure the pyrotechnics show at the club on the night of the tragedy is being investigated, its owners having been arrested. They are also suspected of having tried to destroy evidence. The three club owners are also under arrest, on suspicion of aggravated manslaughter and involuntary bodily harm, as the venue was overcrowded, lacked the required number of emergency exits, and may not have been authorised to hold such a concert. Cristian Popescu-Piedone, the former mayor of Bucharest District 4 where the tragedy occurred is also under arrest, for having issued permits for the club’s functioning in spite of the fact that the club did not qualify. Concerns that safety at the club was compromised because of corruption – a long-standing issue in Romania – have further fuelled public anger against the political elite and triggered the resignation of the left-of-centre government led by Victor Ponta. President Klaus Iohannis, who has recently held talks with parliamentary parties and civil society representatives with a view to appointing a new prime minister, joined protesters at Bucharest’s University Square on Sunday evening.




    The state institutions’ well-functioning is the condition for a state’s freedom and stability, which cannot exist without laws, competence and ethics, King Michael said in a message on Sunday, on the occasion of the Day of St. Michael and St. Gabriel. The former monarch, who was forced to abdicate by Soviet-backed communists more than six decades ago, has mentioned in his message the young people, who have been protesting in Bucharest and several other cities these days, against corruption and for sweeping reforms of state institutions and the political class. In his opinion, having the best possible laws and the most active civil society are not enough to secure a solid institutional life. “I am sure that the young generation will be able to find, in their Romania, the right balance between civic attitude and state institutions,” the King Michael said. “I have lived almost 100 years out of the 150 of the Crown, which entitles me to say to our young people: The time of your Romania has come!” the former monarch also said.




    As many as 140 Romanian tourists were repatriated from the Red Sea resorts of Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada, the Romanian Foreign Ministry announced. The operation was conducted by the Romanian Transport Ministry, with the support of the Romanian Foreign Ministry and the Romanian citizens received consular assistance during the repatriation process. Several countries have decided to repatriate their citizens and restrict flight to and from the Egyptian resorts following information that that it was possible a bomb on board had brought down the Russian plane which crashed last week, 23 minutes after takeoff from the Sinai resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. The crash on Saturday killed all 224 people on board. Russia, which had 78,000 tourists in Egypt and Britain, with around 20,000 tourists, have organised aerial bridges to evacuate holidaymakers as soon as possible. The Russian-Egyptian investigation teams have detected a explosion on board the plane but have said it is too early to say what caused it. A group of Egyptian jihadist have claimed the attack.




    In Moldova’s capital city Chisinau, several supporters of the country’s unification with Romania took part in a march staged on Sunday at the initiative of the National Unity Bloc and the Union Council. ”The tragedy at the Colectiv club in Bucharest clearly shows that Romania needs to change its political class. On the other hand, the social and economic disaster the Republic of Moldova finds itself in, proves without a doubt that a reorganisation of this state as a whole is needed. We have the chance to take a vital step in both Bucharest and Chisinau, so that we can all live in a better Romania: a single government for the two Romanian states,” said Constantin Codreanu, a representtaive of the National Unity Bloc, a coalition made up of 22 NGOs.




    Romanian and British military are carrying out, until November 11, joint training actions with a view to setting joint action procedures during drills to be conducted in Romania’s territorial waters and the Black Sea international waters in the upcoming period. For this purpose, the British destroyer HMS DUNCAN is currently in the Black Sea port of Constanta. The warship is equipped with state-of-the-art radars and anti-aircraft systems. Among the current missions of such warships in international waters are fighting piracy and drug trafficking and granting humanitarian aid to people affected by natural disasters in various parts of the world.

  • Miners’ raids file makes headlines again

    Miners’ raids file makes headlines again

    On May 20, 1990, five months after the fall of Nicolae Ceusescu’s repressive regime, his former minister in the 1970s, Ion Iliescu, generally seen as a leader of the 1989 Revolution, won the first free presidential elections in Romania with 85% of the votes. His party, a heterogeneous combination of genuine revolutionaries and second-hand communists also won two thirds of the seats in Parliament. In Bucharest, University Square that had been occupied, ever since April, by students and proclaimed ‘free of neo-communism’, was empty, as protesters had to comply with the result of the elections.



    Only several tens of hunger strikers that seemed unable to cope with the disastrous outcome of the elections were still in the square that had previously hosted tens of thousands of exuberant and peaceful people. On the night of June 13, the riot police cracked down on protesters with such disproportionate force that it evoked the violent repression during the Revolution. It is still unclear if those who reacted the next day by engaging in street fighting against the riot police and storming the offices of the Interior Ministry and the National Television had any real connection with the Square or not.



    Ion Iliescu called them ‘legionnaires’, an allusion to the interwar far right movement, and, in spite of the fact that the army had already reinstated order, he called on people to come and rescue democracy, which he said was endangered. The miners in the Jiu Valley, in South-Western Romania, answered the president’s call. For only two days, on June 14 and 15, they took control of the capital city and acted as supreme authority. Time enough for them to kill at least four people, injure several hundreds and throw over one thousand people behind bars. The miners devastated the Bucharest University building, the head offices of several parties and of several independent newspapers.



    To Laura Codruta Kovesi, the former general prosecutor and current head of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, the inquiry into the miners’ raid was one of the biggest failures in the history of the Public Ministry. Pundits say that the case would have probably been closed for good if it wasn’t for the European Court of Human Rights that ordered Romania to continue investigations in the case. Aged 85, Ion Iliescu is currently the honorary president of the Social Democratic Party, the main party in the government coalition.



    A former defense minister, general Victor Atanasie Stanculescu has already served time in prison for his involvement in the violent repression of protesters during the 1989 Revolution. In his turn, the ex-Intelligence Service chief, Virgil Magureanu, also gave testimony before prosecutors about his own role in the incident. All three of them are now answering for their involvement in this incident that marred the countrys transition from communism to democracy.