Military and religious ceremonies at Bucharest’s Otopeni International Airport
Military and religious ceremonies are underway at the Henri Coandă International Airport of Otopeni in the Romanian capital Bucharest on Wednesday. Ceremonies are expected to mark the 26th anniversary of the Romanian Revolution in 1989 when the country’s Communist dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu was overthrown. The interpretation – that many of the deaths of the second phase of the revolution were tragic mistakes – appears to be borne out by the circumstances surrounding the greatest loss of life in a single incident in this time. This occured at Otopeni during the morning of December 23, and it was still surrounded by controversy and conflicting claims. Unable to make radio contacts, the military positions lining the route opened fire. The shooting continued for some time and, when it ceased, 40 occupants of the trucks lay dead. At the same time, a bus carrying workers also came under fire leaving nine dead. A legal action opened against two officers held responsible for the defences with dmages paid to families of the victims.
INSCOP survey
Romanians remain confident in the country’s Presidency while Church is losing public trust, according to an INSCOP survey issued on Tuesday. The firefighters, and Romania’s military and geandarmery remain most trusted institutions while NATO, UN and EU top the list of trust in international institutions. Romania’s city halls top second followed by the country’s Constitutional Court while Romanian government is ranked third followed by county councils. The survey was ordered by „Adevărul” newspaper with a margin of error of +/- 3%.
Banca Transilvania – Volksbank merger
A merger was announced between Romania’s Banca Transilvania (Transylvania Bank) and Volksbank, an Austrian lender. The merger between Romania’s third largest lender Banca Transilvania (BT) and Volksbank Romania will come into force on December 31, 2015. A statement on the matter will go public on January 4 while talks were still going on with „very good” results so far, according to Banca Transilvania’s estimates. The merger could push Banca Transilvania closer to the second place in the local banks’ ranking now held by BRD Groupe Société Générale. The deal was actually finalised in April this year when Banca Transilvania paid more than EUR 700 ml to Volksbank Austria.
Romanian women’s national handball team awarded
At the Victoria Palace on Wednesday, Romania’s government hosted an award ceremony for the country’s national women’s handball team, winner of the Bronze Medal at the World Championships in Denmark. Each player is expected to get RON 60,000 (about EUR 13,000) for the victory, according to reports. Prime Minister Dacian Cioloş expressed his full support while pointing out he was confident the team would go forward in its attempt to attend the Rio de Janeiro Olympics next year. Judoka Andreea Chiţu, European champion and World vice-champion at the 52-kg category, and handball player Cristina Neagu, who earned the Bronze with the team, also declared as best player at the World Championship in Denmark, share the 2015 National Sports Award following a joint decision of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee (COSR) and the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MTS).
Alexandru Danga
