Barna: Minister Drula will not give in to pressure of organizers of illegal metro protest action

Deputy Prime Minister Dan Barna, co-chair of the Save Romania Union - Party of Liberty, Unity and Solidarity (USR PLUS) Alliance, said on Friday that the Romanian state will not give in to the "blackmail" pressure of "mafia groups," noting that there is a willingness to dialogue on condition of traffic resumption, and Transport Minister Catalin Drula will not give in to the pressure of the organizers of the "illegal" protest action. "The Romanian state will not give in to the blackmail pressure of some mafia groups. Since this morning I have been at the Ministry of Transport alongside Catalin Drula and I have been in constant contact with the prefect of the capital city and all the authorities responsible for resolving the Bucharest metro crisis. I can assure you that Minister Catalin Drula (...) will not give in to any pressure from the organizers of an illegal, dangerous and irresponsible action," Barna wrote on Facebook. He mentioned that there is willingness to dialogue, but the first condition is the resumption of metro traffic. "There is willingness to dialogue, even at this moment the director of Metrorex is discussing at the Prefecture with the representatives of those sent by Mr. Radoi to protest illegally, but the first condition for any discussion remains the resumption of the metro traffic," added Dan Barna. On Friday, the metro traffic is blocked by a spontaneous protest of some representatives of the metro employees' union in Unirii Square station, who descended on the tracks and prevented the departure of passenger trains. AGERPRES (RO - author: Alina Novaceanu, editor: Claudia Stanescu; EN - author: Bogdan Gabaroi; editor: Adina Panaitescu)