People gather for third consecutive day of protests in Romania’s big cities

Over 10,000 people gathered in Bucharest’s Victoriei Square on Thursday evening (by 19:30) to continue the protests against the Government’s emergency ordinance that changes the Criminal Code and partially decriminalizes some corruption offences. Thousands went to the streets in other big cities. Update: By 20:30, the number of protesters in Victoriei Square went up to some 40,000, according to local Hotnews.ro. Update: The crowd in front of the Government's building continued to grow, reaching some 80,000 people, after 21:30, according to local Digi24.ro. Some 200,000 people were protesting around Romania, with 25,000 in Cluj-Napoca, 15,000 in Timisoara, and 12,000 in Sibiu. The protesters have been asking the Government to revoke the emergency ordinance. Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu said on Thursday that his cabinet will not do that. This is the third consecutive day of protests, after more than 120,000 people rallied in front of the Government’s building on Wednesday, and some 300,000 went to the streets all over Romania, inthe biggest protests the country has seen in the last 25 years. The peaceful protest in Bucharest ended with violent incidents after a handful of hooligans attacked the gendarmes. Romania’s president asks Interior Ministry for clarifications on outcome of last night’s protests editor@romania-insider.com