Cameron in Romania to discuss EU reforms, migrant benefits

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) - British Prime Minister David Cameron arrived in Romania Wednesday at the start of a two-day visit to the region during which he will discuss EU reforms, including the contentious issue of limiting welfare benefits to hundreds of thousands of Eastern Europeans living in Britain.

Cameron's first stop was the office of the new Romanian prime minister, Dacian Ciolos, before a scheduled visit to the Colectiv nightclub to pay his respects to 60 people who died following a fire there on Oct. 30. He will then have talks with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis about the EU reforms he is seeking as part of his attempt to renegotiate the UK's relationship with the EU, before heading for Poland.

Pyrotechnics used during a show at the Colectiv club ignited foam decor, sending panicked revelers stampeding for a single exit. Iohannis lit a candle Wednesday outside the club, and vowed to use the tragedy to push for tougher public safety regulations.

Tens of thousands protested after the fire which led to the collapse of the center-left government and the appointment of a government of specialists, headed by Ciolos, a former EU Commissioner for Agriculture.

Some 175,000 Romanians live in Britain, but the limiting of welfare benefits for foreign workers that Cameron is pushing for is not an issue in Romania.

In Warsaw, though, it is likely to be the focus of talks when Cameron meets Poland's new leaders later Wednesday and early Thursday.

Poland's Prime Minister Beata Szydlo told a news conference she believes the proposed cuts to benefits are "not acceptable" but said she is open to discussing the options. Her talks will also focus on steps that would make Britain stay in the EU, Szydlo said.

Earlier, Poland's Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski called Cameron's plans to limit welfare benefits to migrant workers, which include hundreds of thousands of Poles, "a point of contention."

Cameron, however, will find much in common with the new conservative leadership in Poland, which is Euroskeptic and does not want to adopt the euro currency any time soon.