Polish president pays tribute to victims of Bucharest nightclub tragedy
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
03.11.2015 09:02
President of Poland Andrzej Duda, who arrived in Bucharest on Monday night, began his visit by laying flowers and a lantern in front of a nightclub which was the scene of a tragic fire last week that left 31 people dead.
President of Poland Andrzej Duda pays respect for the club blaze victims at the improvised memorial in front of the fire site, in Bucharest, Romania, 02 November 2015. EPA/ROBERT GHEMENT
Monday was the last day of a three-day period of national mourning in Romania, declared by the government in the wake of the tragedy.
The official part of Mr Duda’s visit begins on Tuesday and includes talks with his Romanian counterpart Klaus Iohannis, as well as Prime Minister Victor Ponta and Senate Speaker Calin Popescu-Tariceanu.
Secretary of State at the President's office Krzysztof Szczerski has told the Polish Press Agency that the aim of the visit is to highlight the significant role of Polish-Romanian relations for President Duda’s idea of cooperation among the countries of the Adriatic, the Black Sea and the Baltic regions.
He added that the Polish President wants to demonstrate that Central European policy can be much broader than the one within the Visegrad Group, which brings together Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary.
On Wednesday, the Polish President will take part in a high-level meeting of NATO’s eastern flank, together with NATO’s deputy secretary general Alexander Vershbow, the presidents of Romania, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria, as well as the speaker of the Czech Parliament.
The meeting is being held as a result of a joint invitation from the Polish and Romanian presidents. (mk/nh/rk)