Radio România Internațional

Tag: authorities

Decisions for reaching targets of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan

Under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) approved this fall in Brussels, Romania should receive from the EU, until 2026, a little over 29 billion euros. The money, under the shape of grants and loans, will go into investment and reforms structured around six pillars, namely, green transition, digital transformation, smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, social and territorial cohesion, health and economic, social and institutional resilience and policies for the new generation.

The European Union has so far disbursed 1.8 billion euros for Romania as pre-funding, the equivalent of 13% of the total amount. However, the further accessing of funds is conditioned by Romania reaching certain targets. For this purpose, the Bucharest Government adopted a number of projects on Thursday. One of them is aimed at reducing school dropout. With 543 million euro non-repayable funds, the Bucharest Government plans to decrease the school dropout rate, which currently stands at 15.6% in the urban area and at 26% in the rural area, to 9% by 2030.

Under the National Programme for reducing school dropout, passed by the Government, at least 2,500 schools at risk will be selected early next year and funded with 200,000 euros, for high performing education and extra school activities for children. Education Minister Sorin Cimpeanu explains: ”Children in these schools can go on school camps and take part in all kind of events that are eligible under this project. The purchase of sports equipment, IT equipment and even outfits for school activities are also eligible. School mediation activities and activities of additional psycho-pedagogical assistance needed after this difficult period, especially in areas with underprivileged communities where there are pupils with special needs, are also financed. ”

The Government also approved a decision regarding the development of rail infrastructure, with a view to increasing rail traffic by 25% and improving travel conditions for passengers by 2026. (EE)

31 December 2021
JUNE 29, 2021

MESSAGE Romanian Parliament is to convene in a solemn session on Tuesday to
commemorate the victims of the pogrom on June 28th-30th
1941, in Iasi, north-eastern Romania where over 13 thousand Romanian Jews were tortured
and killed by the pro-Nazi regime of that time. In a message conveyed on this
occasion, Romanian president Klaus Iohannis said that sheer hatred, violence
and contempt for human dignity were some of the instruments used by the
pro-Nazis authorities of that time to implement their diabolical plan, namely
to clean the city of Jews. According to Iohannis, the pogrom in Iasi is not
only a tragedy of the Jewish population killed by the far-right nationalists
but also a drama and a responsibility for the Romanian nation. On this occasion,
the head of the Romanian state has said that recollecting the suffering of
those days represents the main moral restitution the present generation and the
next ones must pay to the victims of those events. According to the Romanian
president, against the rising denialism, hate speech, the attempts to distort
the historical records, populism and anti-Semitism, the democratic principles and
values as well as the rule of law must be defended.

VOTE The Chamber of Deputies and Senate in Bucharest are
today debating upon and voting on the first censure motion against the
centre-to-right coalition government led by Florin Citu tabled by the main
opposition party PSD. The Social-Democrats have been criticizing the measures
taken by the Executive in key-areas and the way in which the ruling coalition
has drawn up the National Plan of Recovery and Resilience. The ruling parties
are to attend the debates but refrain from voting, Liberal Prime Minister
Florin Citu has announced. If the censure motion has been endorsed by 234 MPs, the
government can be sacked. The opposition PSD and AUR together with the
independent MPs can currently rely on 205 votes.

CERTIFICATE Authorities in Romania are making the last preparations for the
introduction on July 1st of the Green COVID-19 Certificate, which is
to facilitate travel among the EU countries. Technical details have been
finalized but interior laws are still to be put in line with the EU
legislation. Those willing to travel to the EU countries can download this
document in the first day of the next month, while authorities are looking for
new ways to step up the vaccine rollout. A possible solution would be a mobile
team to bring the vaccine to Romania’s rural areas. Since the vaccine rollout
kicked off in late December 4.7 million people have been vaccinated in Romania.
73 new infections were announced on Tuesday. 500 infected patients are being
treated in hospitals around Romania, out of which 80 in intensive care.

FOOTBALL The football sides of Spain and Switzerland will be meeting in the
quarter finals of the EURO 2020. Spain secured a dramatic 5-3 win against
Croatia in Copenhagen, while in Bucharest, Switzerland clinched a 5-4 victory against
the world champions France. Also in the quarters Belgium will be up against
Italy and the Czech side will be playing Denmark. England will be taking on
Germany in London tonight in an attempt to secure a place in the quarterfinals,
while Sweden will be up against Ukraine in Glasgow. Romania hosted four games
in the group C of the prestigious European competition: Austria versus North
Macedonia on June 13, Ukraine versus North Macedonia on June 17th,
Ukraine versus Austria on June 21st as well as the eight finals game
pitching France to Switzerland.

(bill)

29 June 2021
Fresh anti-Covid regulations for those entering Romania

The worlds countries are in an incessant race in an attempt to contain the spread of the novel Coronavirus, particularly its new more contagious strain. Immunization, the main pillar in the prevention strategies, seems to be only partly effective due to the delays and interruptions in the vaccine production and deliveries. The other measure states resort to consists of increasingly tougher entry restrictions. The latter method was tested last year and since it proved functional wasnt totally scrapped not even after the virus had given deceitful signs of remission. Although the EU zone has always promoted and implemented the free circulation, countries in the bloc cannot avoid the global measures aimed at containing the spread of the dreadful virus.

Romania has a daily number of infections relatively small, the situation is stable and infections with the mutating virus are just a few. However, a scenario under which the country is spared by the more aggressive strain of the virus is not plausible. For this reason, authorities in Bucharest decided to enlarge the list of high-risk countries in the so-called yellow zone and toughen entry conditions for those travelling to Romania.

Starting February 12th, people coming to Romania from the yellow zone must produce a Covid-19 negative test taken 72 hours before their entry. Furthermore, they will be subjected to a 14-day quarantine with the possibility to break it in the 10th day, if they are willing take another RT-PCR test on the 8th day and that proves negative. There are a few categories exempted from the rules though, such as children under three, those who can prove they have taken an anti-SARS-Cov-2 vaccine and that ten days have passed since they took the booster dose as well as those who got infected 90 days before their entry into Romania.

Also exempted are truck drivers with the authorized carrying capacity over 2.4 tons, drivers of transport vehicles with more than 9 passengers as well as drivers whose job implies travelling from their country of residence to another EU member irrespective of their travel means. The list also includes flight crews, members of various diplomatic missions, consular offices and other diplomatic representations accredited to Bucharest as well as crew members of Romanian ships who are repatriating and foreign workers coming to Romania from the neighboring countries like Hungary, Bulgaria, Serbia, Ukraine or the Republic of Moldova.

(bill)

5 February 2021
COVID: vaccine and volunteering

Against the background of new negative records in terms of daily infections with the novel coronavirus, Romanian authorities are looking for solutions to slow down the pandemic, hoping that a vaccine will be developed soon. After a meeting with a number of health experts, President Klaus Iohannis said that the first doses may be received by Romania in the first months of 2021. Health workers and people at highest risk of the disease will be the first immunized.

Klaus Iohannis: ”Romania is part of the accords signed by the European Commission for the supply of vaccines against Covid-19, when available. The country will be allocated over 10 million doses. Given the high demand worldwide and the rather low production capacity, the vaccine will be allocated to the European countries in several stages. Best case scenario, Romania will receive the first transport in the first quarter of 2021. The vaccination of the whole population will start next spring at the soonest.”

President Klaus Iohannis also said that there is no reason to declare a state of emergency yet, but that it is hard to predict what happens next. He went on to say that restrictions in place, aimed at limiting the spread of the virus, are effective and that, in their absence, the healthcare systems in Romania and Europe could have not coped with the disease. The head of state also said that postponing the parliamentary elections due on December 6 is not an option, and he gave the example of the US, a country even more affected by the pandemic than Romania, that has just held presidential elections.

Meanwhile, the medical system and the authorities are being supported by the civil society, by means of volunteers. In Bucharest, for instance, 250 students, of whom 150 medical students, will be present every day in two centers coordinated by the Bucharest Prefect’s Office, to conduct epidemiological investigations over the phone. In his turn, Prime Minister Ludovic Orban thanked the volunteers, saying they do an extraordinary thing. 2nd and 3rd year students with the Medical-Military Institute will also do volunteer work at the call-centers of the Public Health Departments, while 4th, 5th and 6th year students will work in military hospitals across the country, in Covid hospitals or in support hospitals. In the city of Cluj, in northwestern Romania, 100 medical students volunteered to carry out epidemiological investigations. On Tuesday, around 100 employees with the medical system protested in Bucharest against the Government’s lack of reaction to the appeals for financial and logistic support and for additional staff, required by the SANITAS trade union federation. (Translated by Elena Enache)

4 November 2020
More ICU beds for coronavirus patients

An increasing number of counties and cities in Romania, where the critical treshold of 3 infections per thousand inhabitants was exceeded, are now in the red scenario. President Klaus Iohannis has warned that the epidemiological situation worsenes and a difficult period follows. In their fight against the disease, Iohannis explained, the authorities came up with a plan to increase the capacity of emergency care units in a number of cities.

Klaus Iohannis: ”The strategic plan for the next period includes clear stages of implementation and the opening of new intensive care units across the country, such as the ones in Oradea, Constanta and Craiova, in new locations or in facilities that will be turned into ICUs. I asked for data regarding the situation in Bucharest, and seven hospitas in the capital city will extend their intensive care capacity. I can tell you that in ten days at the most we will have an additional 123 beds in intensive care units.”

According to the President, there are over 3 thousand beds in intensive care units across the country. There are also five mobile ICUs and one intensive care module with a capacity of 169 beds. Health Minister Nelu Tataru reminded that eight mnths ago, when the first coronavirus case was confirmed in Romania, the country only had 740 intensive care beds. There are currently 1,200 ICU beds and there will be 1,400 in the upcoming period, the minister explained.

However, the Social Democrats, in the opposition, say that President Iohannis and the Liberal government have failed in managing the health crisis. Romania’s representative with the World Health Organisation, Alexandru Rafila, who has recently become a member of the Social Deocratic Party, says the situation is worrying and that a more proffessional approach is needed.

Alexandru Rafila: ”It is important to be able to increase the ability of the public healthcare system to identify the people infected, ensure easy access to testing and inform people on the procedure they must follow. It is also important for the medical system to treat all category of patients, not only coronavirus patients and, even more important, to ensure a proffessional communication and convince people that they are partners of the healtcare system and of the public system in general.”

State Secretary Raed Arafat, who has no political affiliation and who heads the Department for Emergencies, says that the problem of insufficient medical staff is pressing. (Translated by Elena Enache)

28 October 2020
October 8, 2020

PANDEMIC According to worldometers.info,
36 million people have so far tested positive for the novel Covid-19 virus
while one million people died worldwide. The United States seems to be the most
affected country with 7.7 million infections and over 216 thousand deaths.
India has reported over 6.8 million cases and over 105 thousand fatalities. In
Italy, authorities have also called on the military to get involved in checking
the observance of safety rules; the state of emergency in this country has been
extended to another three months and people must wear masks everywhere. Italy
is seeing a rising number of Covid infections, which has reached 37 hundred new
cases with 31 fatalities reported. France has also reported roughly 19 thousand
infections in the past 24 hours.

FOOTBALL Romania’s national football side tonight plays Iceland in an away game counting
towards the semis of the qualification playoffs for the European Championship
next year. If they qualify, on November 12th, the Romanians will be
up against the winner of the match pitching Hungary against Bulgaria. Romania
tops the 1B group of the Nations League after a one-all draw against Northern
Ireland and a 3-2 win against Austria. The group also includes Norway, which
the Romanians will be playing on Sunday in an away game. On Friday, Romania’s
under 21 side plays Ukraine in a match counting towards the Euro Under 21
preliminaries. Denmark tops the table with 19 points followed by Romania with
16.

COVID – 19 In the past 24 hours Romania has reported a record
number in Covid infections, 3130 cases with a death toll of 44, in a single
day. Intensive care units have reported 607 patients. Since the beginning of
the pandemic in late February over 145 thousand Romanians have been infected
with the novel coronavirus out of which over 113 thousand have been cured and
over 52 hundred died. At present roughly 83 hundred confirmed Covid patients
are being treated in hospitals and over 20 thousand are in home isolation. Authorities
have made fresh appeals for the observance of prevention and safety measures.
In Bucharest and in other areas where the infection rate has exceeded 1.5 cases
per thousand certain activities have been suspended. Restaurants have been
closed down and some indoor activities have ceased. People must wear mask close
to schools and other education facilities.

TALKS Two Romanian ministers are in the USA for talks with
the local authorities. Romania’s defence minister Nicolae Ciuca will be having
talks with the US secretary of Defence Mark Esper about the latest developments
in the Black Sea region as well as the need for coherent and consistent defence
and deterrence measures in the NATO eastern flank. The Romanian Minister of the
Economy, Energy and Business Environment, Virgil Popescu will be meeting the US
Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette for talks on the development of the energy
dimension of the strategic partnership between Bucharest and Washington and a
higher US involvement in Romania’s energy sector.

(bill)

8 October 2020