Romanian PM jokes about expected eurozone decision in October: Oktoberfest

After being booed at the German Chamber of Commerce last week due to comments about Angela Merkel, Romania's Prime Minister Victor Ponta made yet another borderline comment in relation to Germany. When talking to Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite about the austerity measures agreed by Germany and about the expected decision on these austerity measures at the EU council meeting in October, Ponta replied smiling: “Oktoberfest”, referring to the traditional German holiday synonymous with beer drinking that is held in October. The Lithuanian president explained that it was no beer party, and went on to say she was interested in avoiding applying populist measures in her country. Victor Ponta's remark came after hearing the name of the month October.

Germany's Federal Constitutional Court agreed on Wednesday (September 12 ) on Germany's participation in the European Stability Mechanism, whereas the treaty to save the eurozone will go to the Parliament for approval, within certain conditions. The German state cannot exceed an exposure of EUR 190 billion, as a participation in the planned EUR 500 billion emergency fund for the eurozone countries. Oktoberfest is one of the largest popular celebrations in the world. The German celebration starts mid September and ends in October, and is traditionally organized in Munich, but the tradition has been taken by Germans elsewhere in the world, where they also celebrate Oktoberfest. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: gov.ro)