Radio România Internațional

Tag: children

  • March 28, 2022 UPDATE

    March 28, 2022 UPDATE

    NATO The war that Russia started against
    Ukraine severely affects the security environment at the Black Sea and in the
    south-east of Europe, the Romanian PM Nicolae Ciuca said at the end of a meeting
    of NATO heads of government from south-east Europe, hosted by Sofia,
    Bulgaria. Europe is now experiencing the most complicated period since WW2, and
    we need stronger defence and more efficient deterrence, Mr. Ciucǎ added. On
    the sidelines of the meeting, the Romanian PM discussed with his Bulgarian
    counterpart Kiril
    Petkov, about the Bulgaria-Greece interconnector. Another topic was the road
    and railway infrastructure, in which context the Bulgarian side proposed the
    construction of 5 bridges over Danube river. In Sofia, the
    attending heads of government discussed cooperation in the field of security,
    taking into account NATO’s latest decisions. Another major topic was related to
    reducing reliance on Russian gas and identifying means to connect the region to
    natural gas pipelines from Western Europe, particularly via Greece.




    UKRAINE
    Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky says his country is ready to discuss
    neutrality as part of a peace agreement with Russia, as a new round of
    negotiations is due to begin in Istanbul, Turkey on Tuesday. A meeting between
    presidents Zelensky and Putin would be counterproductive at this point,
    Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said in his turn.
    Meanwhile, the losses reported by Ukraine because of the war are in excess of
    USD 564 billion, the country’s economy minister Yulia Svyrydenko said, according to Reuters. In the
    field, Russian forces are regrouping but have difficulty advancing into
    Ukrainian territory. Several Russian units were forced to return to Belarus
    after experiencing significant losses. The situation remains dramatic in
    Mariupol, the Sea of Azov port that sees the most violent
    fighting since the start of the war. The Red Cross announced it was unable to
    send aid to the city, and requested Russia and Ukraine to secure a humanitarian
    corridor. According to local authorities, nearly 160,000 civilians are stranded
    in the city without water, food, medicines and electricity. Russia continues to
    deny targeting civilians, and blames Ukraine for the repeated failure to secure
    safe corridors for the locals to leave the region.






    SCHOOLS
    The number of Ukrainian children enrolled in Romanian schools stands at 1,140,
    out of a total of nearly 34,000 minors who arrived in Romania fleeing the
    Russian invasion, the education minister Sorin Cîmpeanu has announced. The
    Romanian Minister said the majority of Ukrainian school children wish to
    continue their studies observing the standard curricula taught in Ukrainian
    schools.






    VISIT There are currently no risks to food safety in Europe. What we do have
    is inflation, said EU Commissioner for Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, at the end of
    his meeting in Bucharest with Finance Minister Adrian Câciu. According to the
    EU official, the war in Ukraine will impact Romania’s estimated 4% economic
    growth rate this year. Talks between Gentiloni and Câciu also tackled economic
    measures to address the shocks reported in the supply chain. At the same time,
    the two officials also discussed the fallout of the war in Ukraine and response
    measures required to deal with the wave of refugees. Also
    on Monday    , Paolo Gentiloni was received by president Klaus Iohannis. The talks focused
    primarily on the situation generated by Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, including the economic impact on the EU and its
    member states, the
    challenges in handling the refugee waves and the situation in the Republic of Moldova.EU Commissioner for Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, is
    in Bucharest on Tuesday as well, when he is scheduled to meet other Romanian
    officials. (AMP)

  • Children, a Covid-19 transmission vector

    Children, a Covid-19 transmission vector

    Romania saw record-high numbers of COVID-19
    infections last week, with over 34,000 cases on Wednesday and more than 168,000
    for the entire week. The number of related deaths remains lower than during the
    autumn wave.




    However, there are concerns related to the
    transmission of the virus among children, as classes are held on-site across
    the country until 75% of the hospital beds set aside for COVID patients are
    occupied in any given county.




    On Sunday, 3,800 children tested positive for
    the coronavirus, and the total number for last week reached nearly 36,000. Kids
    have become a COVID transmission vector, and the number of cases rises
    exponentially from one day to the next, says the president of the Family
    Doctors Association in Ialomiţa, Andreea Radu:




    Andreea Radu: Children are known to spread the virus
    very easily, because they learn and play in large groups. Although the Omicron variant
    seems to cause milder forms of the disease, especially compared to the Delta, you
    never know in what category you fall, whether you will indeed have a mild form
    or not.




    Some hospitals in the country open paediatric COVID
    units to handle the severe cases among children. The manager of the Slobozia County
    Emergency Hospital Liviu Patrichi warns that the number of such cases is
    growing:


    Liviu Patrichi: The problem we are facing now
    compared to the other waves of the pandemic is the large number of mild and
    medium cases among children. We have opened a COVID paediatric unit, which is
    running at the capacity specified in the resilience plan. We have 9 dedicated
    beds for paediatric cases.




    The health minister Alexandru Rafila said his professional
    advice for the parents who want to have their children vaccinated against COVID
    is to get properly informed in advance. He added the immunisation of kids aged 5
    to 11 runs smoothly and the good organisation gives confidence to parents.




    The upward trend in the number of COVID-19 cases
    will last for another few days, Alexandru Rafila also said. In hospitals, the
    number of COVID patients is on the rise, and the complications and severe cases
    that reach ICUs are mainly caused by the Delta variant, which still accounts
    for around 20% of the new infections.




    Mr. Rafila also estimates that in about 2 weeks’
    time, the already prevailing Omicron variant will have completely replaced
    Delta in Romania as well, which will slow down the inflow of patients in hospitals.
    According to him, this will be the last wave likely to have a serious impact on
    public health, and starting this spring we might resume public and private
    events with large numbers of participants, which have been subject to the most
    severe restrictions over the past 2 years. (A.M.P.)

  • Coronavirus vaccine for children

    Coronavirus vaccine for children

    In spite of a very good
    start 13 months ago, the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out in Romania gradually went on
    a strong downward trend, influenced by information without a scientific foundation
    circulating in the public space, and unfortunately supported at times by
    healthcare staff as well.


    The authorities’ efforts
    to encourage immunisation failed to get Romania above the last but one place in
    the EU in terms of the vaccination rate. After the initial enthusiasm faded, there
    were rare increases in the number of people going to vaccination centres,
    either scared of the large number of infections or of the prospect of being
    requested a vaccination certificate at the workplace.


    The ambitious targets
    announced by the authorities got increasingly hard to reach, and according to
    current figures few over 8 million Romanians have at least one vaccine dose.


    In the capital Bucharest nearly
    67% of the people have got at least one dose of vaccine, while 7 other counties have vaccination rates between 50% and 60%, 24 counties
    between 40% and 50%, and 10 counties have rates between 30% and 40%, the
    coordinator of the vaccination campaign in Romania Valeriu Gheorghiță announced
    last week. That was the week when Romania saw over 19,000 infection cases in 24
    hours, which is more than on any other day since the start of the pandemic.


    The situation is
    not yet stable, with estimates pointing to a possible 25-28,000 cases per day
    this week. The largest numbers of confirmed cases are in Bucharest and Ilfov County, where the demand for
    testing is also high. In order meet this demand as soon as possible, the Health
    Ministry, which estimates the current wave will peak in around 3 weeks’ time,
    decided to open 28 testing centres in as many hospitals.


    A feature of this
    pandemic wave is the large number of infected children-some 8-9% of the
    patients in hospitals are kids. A reason for that may be the change in the
    rules governing online teaching, which is now only permitted if 75% of the places
    for COVID patients in hospitals are filled.


    On the other hand, on January
    26 Romania is set to begin vaccination for children aged 5 to 11. The dedicated
    online platform allowed for children vaccination appointments to be made as of January
    13, and several thousand requests have already been registered. (A.M.P.)

  • On violence and other demons

    On violence and other demons




    Whether it is physical, sexual, cultural, spiritual or
    cybernetic, violence is always about power and control. Violence is a
    repetitive process, which can escalate to crime and even murder. This sick
    power-control game is causing deep trauma into the victims. But what is
    domestic violence from a psychological point of view and what are the stages of
    this process? Psychotherapist Cristina Nastase explains.




    Cristina Năstase: From a psychological point of view violence in the family, also
    known as domestic violence involves intentional premeditated actions based on
    physical or emotional constraint against another family member in order to
    control them. So, this is abuse. Domestic violence is a repetitive process, a
    succession of abusive actions, which can become predictable. This violence loop
    so to say has four stages, that can be noticed either in the behaviour of the
    victim or the aggressor. The first stage consists of tension. The victim is
    tensioned and they are walking on eggshells trying to calm down the spirits. In
    the second stage, that of aggression, the victim is being humiliated, sad and
    has the feeling of unfairness and that the other always gets what they want. In
    the third stage, of rationalizing, the victim tries to understand and help the
    aggressor to change. The victim doubts their own feelings and feels somehow
    responsible for the situation. In the fourth stage, the reconciliation, or the
    honeymoon as was dubbed, the victim gives another chance to the aggressor. The
    victim offers their full support hoping the aggressive behaviour will change. Unfortunately,
    Romania ranks among the first countries in the EU in terms of domestic
    violence. Every 30 seconds, a woman gets beaten and 3 out of 10 have suffered
    physical and psychological aggression since they were 15. Another EU statistics
    shows that every hour, two children in Romania are victims of domestic violence
    and 86% of these abuses are taking place inside the family. Only one out of 9
    parents says they would never hit their children while 50% say they are doing
    it for the benefit of the children. 63% of the children have confessed they
    have been hit by their parents at least once.


    Paradoxically, although repeatedly abused the victim does
    not leave the aggressor. Fooled by the aggressor’s behaviour right after the
    abuse, the victim feels like giving the aggressor another chance. Then another
    one. Here is Cristina Năstase again at the microphone:




    Cristina Năstase: There is a certain stage in the abuse process, called the honeymoon,
    during which the abuser changes their behaviour towards the victim in order to
    prevent her from leaving. They may appear as showing genuine remorse, pledge to
    seek professional help and even behave in order to regain the victim’s trust.
    We should not forget the victim is in a state of confusion and the aggressor’s
    pledges and changed behaviour can make the victim to believe the relationship
    can be saved. It is very important for the victims to understand they aren’t
    the cause of the abuse and they should avoid any feeling of guilt, which is
    actually keeping them trapped in this relationship with the abuser.




    The abuse can take various forms as Cristina Năstase further
    explains:




    Cristina Năstase: There are several known
    forms of domestic violence. The most evident of them is physical violence,
    which refers to bodily harm. Sexual violence includes non-consensual sex,
    involving family members and even children. Psychological violence can take the
    form of threats, coercion, harassment, emotional blackmail, humiliation,
    gaslighting, using children as a means to put pressure, and so on. Social
    violence involves the forced isolation of the victim, by forbidding or
    restricting contacts with friends or family. Economic violence is the
    prohibition to work, restricting the victim’s access to money, personal
    belongings, food, telephone, everything that would make the victim autonomous. Spiritual
    violence may include preventing the victim from speaking their mother tongue or
    forcing unacceptable religious practices. There is also a new form of domestic
    violence, cyber-violence, which consists in online harassment, monitoring and
    intercepting the victim’s devices without their consent. All these forms of
    violence are used to gain a position of control and power.




    Emotional blackmail,
    manipulation, coercion, frequent mentioning of the victim’s past mistakes, are
    all elements of guilt tripping. Cristina Năstase:




    Cristina Năstase: Guilt tripping is a form
    of domestic violence called emotional violence. Unlike physical violence, it is
    a long-term process that the victim fails to perceive and ends up by seeing as
    normal. It is basically a form of verbal or non-verbal communication through
    which the abuser seeks to induce a feeling of guilt or responsibility so as to
    control the victim’s behaviour. This is a clear form of psychological
    manipulation and coercion, and it may be identified in various situations: when
    the abuser suggests the victim has not worked as much or as well as they have, when the abuser discusses the victim’s past mistakes, when they remind the
    victim of the favours they have received, when they behave as if they were
    angry but then they deny having a problem, when they resort to the silent
    treatment while their body language makes it clear that they disapprove of the
    victim. Guilt tripping may work when trying to make the partner do something,
    but the cost is that the other person feels manipulated.




    Children are the most
    vulnerable and the easiest to hurt. Perfect victims, lacking any defence, abused
    children actually take this to be normal. Psychologist Cristina Năstase tells
    us about the consequences of physical, psychological and other forms of
    violence on children:




    Cristina Năstase: Children often remain
    loyal to the abusing parent or caregiver, because they are afraid of what might
    happen if they speak about the abuse. An emotionally abused child may also come
    to believe that name-calling or emotional neglect are normal facts of life. Children
    may be unwilling to talk about the abuse because they mistake it for normal
    behaviour. Children often think they are responsible for the abuse, for being
    unwanted or unloved. It is only by contrasting their own experience with the
    ones of other children, by discussions in school, that they can eventually
    understand that what they experience is toxic. The consequences of domestic
    abuse in children may be severe, and they may last until adulthood. These
    children will experience attachment disorders, intimacy problems, conflict
    resolution difficulties, destructive behaviour, addiction, aggression,
    emotional unresponsiveness, and without adequate intervention those who have
    been abused as children are more likely to abuse their own children later in
    life. (tr. D. Bilt, A.M. Popescu)

  • Literature for children in Romania in the digital era

    Literature for children in Romania in the digital era


    The Fairy Tale Association has organised this autumn’s
    leading event focusing on children’s and youth literature. Running as LittleLIT
    Days, the event brought together more than 650 children who enjoyed workshops,
    public reading sessions and book launches, staged as part of the aforementioned
    project.


    For
    a whole week, more than 25 online events were held, dedicated to pupils. Among
    them, reading workshops offered by Romanian authors of children’s and youth literature,
    staged in schools around Bucharest, Timișoara and Cluj. The activities were
    dedicated to professionals in the field on children’s literature, such as
    authors, illustrators, translators, editors, PR specialists, book sellers. Part
    of the events also targeted the lay public. Together was this year’s theme,
    purposefully thought out as a feasible alternative to the social environment we
    live in, marred by fear, loneliness and isolation.

    Writer Victoria Pătrașcu, one of the founders of the Fairy Tale Association:

    When we thought out this project, that is a year ago, we never imagined things
    would be just the same, that we will still be confined indoors. We would have really
    liked to enjoy all that, together with the children, to be able to join them,
    to take their questions. Things were not the same just as we would have liked
    to, which doesn’t mean we cannot be together even in these difficult conditions,
    so that the LittleLIT story may continue, beautifully. LittleLIT stemmed from a
    collaboration between the Fairy Tale Association and EUNIC. What we had there,
    from the very outset, was an idea in a nutshell, it was a project by means of
    which we thought of taking writers of contemporary Romanian literature for
    children to their readers, so that the latter may have the chance to know those
    who craft the stories. The little ball that we had in the beginning had grown
    into a maiden edition, in 2019, themed LittleLIT Mirrorings, where we had partnerships
    with five foreign cultural institutions. Back then we had five foreign guest writers
    who gave workshops for Romanian writers as we very much want the Romanian
    writers to have examples of good practice, so they may know how to make themselves
    better known, how to become better writers, how to refine their writing. And it
    was also then that we staged meetings with potential readers, we took those writers
    to the meet the children, in schools or in rather underprivileged milieus,
    where children do not have access to culture.


    The
    LittleLIT Days, Together schedule has been thought out to highlight the importance
    of the book and reading for the development of children and in a bid to give
    them the opportunity to get acquainted with books what were written for them,
    and with those who wrote them. Equally, the project seeks to create a space of
    dialogue between children’s literature professionals (writers, editors,
    professors, reading promoters) from Romania and from other European countries. So
    The Fairy Tale Association continues to strengthen the dialogue with schools
    and the teaching staff, offering teachers specific methods for using literature
    as a method for teach the content-based items in the curricula.


    Victoria Patrascu:


    We somehow felt lonely and lost in the great Romanian literature and we
    thought it was unfair for the children’s literature to be viewed as a
    Cinderella of literature. There weren’t back then, and there still aren’t
    either, as we speak, any awards for Romanian children’s literature or if they exist,
    they’re not being awarded. Notwithstanding, there is an increasing number of
    writers of children’s literature, writers whose success has been growing. Some
    of us have got round to participating in international fairs, in the meantime,
    even at the International Children’s Book Fair in Bologna, which is something
    extraordinary, we have become increasingly aware of the importance of children’s
    literature in the world. This literature shapes up readers, it a literature
    that has been developing one year after the next. Although book sales are on
    the wane, children’s literature is on the rise, literature for children brings
    money and that’s what editors should be interested in. Many of them realized, and
    that is precisely why they created special collections, they realized children’s
    literature does have its perks, apart from those we know already: those of bringing
    up the new readers, of developing children’s emotional balance, of helping them
    develop. Now,
    returning to the 2018 moment, when we founded the Fairy Tale Association, things
    fared worse than they fare today, so we thought of turning pro. We had some
    examples as well, many of them from the Nordic countries, telling us that when
    we were together, we were able to do a lot of things. And that’s what happened,
    we were a nucleus made of four writers, Adina Rosetti, Laura Grünberg, Iulia
    Iordan and myself, who started up this Fairly Tale Association. But here we are,
    three years on, we are 20 writers already, we have three caravans who reached dozens
    of communes, as well as hundreds of workshops on the record. Also, we organize
    this event as well, the LittleLIT Days, under the form of a children’s
    literature festival. As of late, we also have a YouTube channel we want to
    develop.


    There were three keynote online launches of LittleLIT
    Days’ special guests this year. Swedish writer Åsa Lind, Swiss author Dana
    Grigorcea and Romanian writer Lavinia Braniște gathered more than 2, 000 young
    readers. Equally successful were the two big events dedicated to specialists and
    those interested to find out more about contemporary Romanian children’s
    literature – the webinar Incubator themed The domestic book market for
    children: a magical, otherworldly world facing worldly problems and the Masterclass
    given by the special guests.

    (Translation by Eugen Nasta)



  • Back to school!

    Back to school!

    Nearly two-thirds out of the over 3 million students
    and pre-schoolers in Romania are returning to schools on Monday, after a 2-week
    break triggered by the COVID 19 pandemic.


    Face-to-face teaching is resumed in schools where at
    least 60% of the employees are vaccinated against the virus, while the other
    schools carry on classes online. The Students’ Council says schools are not
    ready to resume on-site classes, and call on the authorities to also take into
    account the local infection rates, the healthcare infrastructure, the testing
    capacity and the means to ensure physical distancing.


    The coordinator of Romania’s vaccination campaign, Valeriu
    Gheorghiţă, admits that the measure would prompt a rise in infection risks, but
    argues that children need face-to-face classes and adults should make an effort
    to ensure that children are safe in schools.


    Valeriu Gheorghiţă: I believe it is a duty for us, for the adults, to
    make sure our kids are safe in schools. How can we do that? By complying with
    health and hygiene rules, by explaining these rules to the kids, by getting the
    vaccine. I believe this is the way for us to gradually become able to control
    and contain the effects and consequences of this pandemic. Yes, resuming
    on-site classes definitely entails additional risks in terms of the number of
    infection cases, but what we must keep in mind is a balance between the
    epidemiological status and the benefits and losses for our children during this
    period.


    In turn, the interim education minister Sorin Cîmpeanu
    says that although controversial, the new conditions for reopening schools have
    been effective and encouraged teaching staff to get the vaccine:


    Sorin Cîmpeanu: The reports for Friday, 29th October, indicated
    that 54% of public and private schools had a vaccination rate of over 60% and
    may resume face-to-face classes. By Friday, 5th November when we
    updated all data for all the schools in Romania, there was an increase from 54%
    to 68%, so the measure worked. Several inspection teams from the Education
    Ministry will conduct on-site checks to see the extent to which protection
    rules are implemented, and also to check the accuracy of the reported
    vaccination rates. This is a compromise solution, it has its flaws, but at the
    end of the day this criterion ensures a safer environment for students and
    teachers, it protects teachers the most, because according to physicians vaccinated
    people don’t get infected and don’t pass on the virus as easily as the non-vaccinated.


    To make up for the lost time during this school break,
    the Education Ministry amended the structure of this school year and shortened
    the winter holiday for middle schools and high schools. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • The start of the new schoolyear in Romania

    The start of the new schoolyear in Romania




    The
    new schoolyear has officially started on September 13 for the entire secondary
    education system. This time around, it has been decided that the physical attendance
    in classrooms should prevail over online tuition. Consequently, one of the
    official scenarios jointly elaborated by the Healthcare and Education
    Ministries stipulated those classes will begin with physical attendance when,
    according to the COVID-19 infection ratio, six and less than is six people in
    1,000 inhabitants are reportedly infected with the COVID-19 virus. There is,
    however, a second scenario, whereby online tuition will be resumed when more
    than six people in 1,000 inhabitants get COVID-19 infected. The rationale
    behind the physical attendance scenario says that pupils’ results the previous
    school year were worryingly below par, since for their greater part, children
    went online for their classes. However, irrespective of the scenario, sanitary
    measures are a top priority. The authorities have assured us they would provide
    detailed explanations for the measures in place, to the best of their
    abilities.

    National Education Minister, Sorin Câmpeanu:


    There will be one person in each school whose job is to facilitate the
    meeting between the medical staff and the parents, so that they can answer
    vaccination-related questions and, obviously, bring arguments in favor of complying with the
    sanitary measures. We begin with the ear-loop mask, which is mandatory on the
    premises, then there is the physical distancing, to be observed wherever
    possible, then classes need to be aired properly and hygiene measures will
    definitely have to be observed. Concurrently, we will also enact those
    information activities whereby we present the importance and the necessity of
    the vaccination, since vaccination is the only act by means of which we can
    stem the crisis.


    However,
    speaking about the pace of the vaccination process as of late, the Minister
    admitted the progress was very slow. Three days before the classes kick-start,
    a little bit over 15% of the pupils aged 12 were vaccinated, whereas 61% of the
    total number of national education system employees were vaccinated with both
    shots.

    Minister Sorin Campeanu tells us how
    the issue will henceforth be broached:


    In our scenarios, there is no difference between the vaccinated pupils
    and those who are not vaccinated. If an official minister’s executive order
    outlining the scenarios in their broader scope had made that difference with no
    basic legal grounding, we would have broken the discrimination law. We
    understood that quite all right. Which doesn’t mean no legal grounding will be
    possible to encourage discrimination from that perspective as well. In a
    separate move, if infection cases are reported in a classroom, that definitely
    is in the scope of medical protocols. A differentiation is being made, between
    various infection cases, which applies to pupils who are older than 12 and who
    can be vaccinated and who, should they get the shot and express their wish to have
    physical attendance, they are being given that opportunity. There is yet
    another scenario we have created, that of limiting the online teaching period
    to a half, should an infection case be reported. After a week, in the eighth
    day, if the previously infected pupil turns up for the test and if he tests negative,
    physical attendance in that particular school can be resumed beginning that
    eight particular day and not in the 15th day, as it had been
    previously stipulated. So the quarantine period has been reduced. The
    opportunity has been created in order to reduce the online teaching period.


    The
    present reluctance regarding the vaccination of pupils also depends on the
    parents’ attitude, which changed during the pandemic, according to a recent
    online survey.

    Paediatrician Mihai Craiu:


    This year, we noticed it in this prospective survey tackling parental
    perception and which was carried following a questionnaire that was given out
    for three days and to which more than 1,290 Romanian parents responded, most of
    whom were mothers from urban areas, higher education graduates. We noticed a
    significant drop in the percentage fear of the adults who responded to the
    survey, to get COVID-19 infected. As regards the fear of children in a family,
    occurring in the event of an infection, the percentage has seen significant
    drop, from 76% to almost 50%. The fear percentage has dropped to a greater
    extent as regards children, and that, most likely, is the outcome of the fact
    that a great many adults have already been vaccinated.


    .


    That
    is why, in the COVID-19 vaccination info campaigns, it is important that
    parents are told what the effects of vaccination are, as detailed as possible.


    Medical doctor Mihai Craiu:


    It is safety we need to speak to parents about. Nearly 5 billion shots
    have been administered worldwide. The figure is indeed stout, since there is no
    other modern vaccine to have been given, in less than a year since its
    administration began, in such a tremendous percentage and with no gross signs
    of adverse effects. There are obviously paediatric-related safety issues. A
    myocarditis-related warning is in place, especially with boys, but, quite
    unlike the affection caused by the SARS-COV virus itself and, subsequently, by
    the paediatric multisystemic inflammatory system, such a warning symptom is extremely rare
    and much less severe. In effect, with Caucasian children, so with such children
    as those from Romania, who were in good health prior to vaccination, no such death
    case has so far been reported.


    Being
    fully aware of everybody’s right to made their own decision for themselves and
    for their families, the Parents’ Association Federation has so far refrained
    from making a downright recommendation, for or against the vaccination.

    The president of the Association, Iulian
    Cristache:


    That is a much too intimate, a much too private thing for us to make a
    recommendation, as a federation, for people to get vaccinated. What we can do,
    though, is to support parents through these information campaigns we have
    already initiated, both with the Education Ministry and the Romanian
    Government. We carried campaigns with the educational units, we had meetings
    with general school inspectors at county level where we had video conferences
    with school principals participating, as well as with the parents who had
    enough spare time for that. I just want my attitude to be extremely balanced,
    when it comes to the vaccine, since it is in no way an easy decision to be
    taken. Such a decision must be taken at family level alone. What we can do is
    ask the two ministries to send in their specialists at the level of educational
    units and inform the parents, so that each parent can decide for their own
    child.


    To
    that end, Iulian Cristache has spoken about how they did it in his own family:


    My and my wife got vaccinated as we were aware that, at least judging by
    the info we get, it is the only way by means of which we can still protect
    ourselves from the virus. Anyway, we got infected and we had a 14-day home
    quarantine that is why we know it is not easy to go through that unpleasant
    experience. But my daughter, who will be 16, did not want to be vaccinated. We
    had a talk, and she decided to hold on for a while, to wait, without, however,
    saying she did not want to get vaccinated. As we speak, for a short period of
    time, at least, she doesn’t want that, and the moment she decides she will let
    us know and will take the vaccine.


    Concurrently,
    both parents’ association representatives and other educational experts have
    emphasized the fact that one of the reasons of families’ reluctance to
    vaccinate their children has to do with the wide range of antagonistic opinions
    expressed in the mas-media and on the social networks, considering how safe
    the vaccine is, for people’s health.


    (Translation by Eugen Nasta)

  • Romania steps up fight against human traffickers and other serious offences

    Romania steps up fight against human traffickers and other serious offences

    Several
    severe offences, such as human trafficking, slavery, child pornography, proxenetism
    will no longer be subject to any statute of limitation in Romania. This means
    that no matter how much time has passed, legal proceedings can still be
    initiated against the perpetrators of these offenses.




    The decision-making
    Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest has unanimously endorsed several amendments to
    the country’s Criminal Code, initiated by a group of MPs belonging to the
    ruling coalition made up of the National Liberal Party (PNL) and USR PLUS
    alliance.




    The
    new amendments also include severer punishment for the accomplices of this type
    of offenders as well as for repeat offender involved in child pornography. The
    aforementioned amendments were also endorsed by the Senate in April.




    It is
    a very important law, which does not allow those who commit severe offences,
    such as human trafficking, aggression against minors and other severe offences
    to get away with their crimes thanks to the statute of limitations. This type
    of offenders are to be held responsible for their entire life, says Ludovic
    Orban, president of the Chamber of Deputies.




    One of
    the initiators of the aforementioned law, USR-PLUS senator Simona Spataru said
    that Romania needed such amendments because in some cases offenders got away
    with their crimes due to dragging investigations and statutory limitations.




    Romania
    ranks first in Europe in terms of victims of human trafficking and a major
    cause for delayed investigations is the fact that these networks of traffickers
    are very sophisticated. We are also speaking here about the trafficking with
    minors and unfortunately Romania is a source for this kind of trafficking as
    well. So, it is very important for us to intervene now says Simona Spataru.




    According
    to experts of GRETA, a Council of Europe institution specialized in fighting
    human trafficking, Romania arguably remains a country of origin for victims of human
    trafficking, while Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK used to be the main
    destination countries.




    GRETA
    has urged Romania to make sure it implements effective punishment in the case
    of human traffickers and that victims benefit from compensations. In a report
    published on Thursday, GRETA says that Romania continues to develop its
    legislative framework to take action against human trafficking.




    The
    group hails the fact that the Justice Minister has called on the general
    prosecutor to prioritize actions against human trafficking but notes that many
    culprits benefitted from suspended and reduced sentences after they have
    admitted guilt.




    According
    to the report, 2,613 victims of human trafficking were identified between 2016
    and 2019 by the Romanian authorities. Three out of four were women and half of
    them children as sexual exploitation remains the main purpose of human
    trafficking.


    (bill)

  • About children, on 1st June

    About children, on 1st June

    On World Children’s Day, Romania, alongside over 100
    states around the globe, celebrated its children on 1st June. Since
    2017, when this day became a national holiday in this country, 1st
    June has been an even better opportunity to organise family activities and for parents
    to spend quality time with their children. So, taking advantage of the
    relaxation of pandemic restrictions, both children and adults were able to
    enjoy this day more, with some parents even being able to also take the Monday
    off and create a mini-holiday.




    The activities on offer catered for all tastes and
    ages, from outdoor games to theatre performances, exhibitions, concerts, art
    workshops, guided tours, sports activities and trips. Children’s Day was also
    an opportunity to go to a museum or visit an adventure park or the zoo, despite
    the capricious weather. It’s also common in Romania to give children sweets, toys
    or colourful balloons on this day as a gift.




    But our thoughts should also go to the less privileged
    children, with statistics in this respect being truly chilling. According to
    the Save the Children organisation, one in two Romanian children suffers from
    functional illiteracy or is subjected to some form of physical, emotional or
    sexual violence; one in three children is at risk of poverty and social
    exclusion; six in 1,000 children die before turning one; 750 girls under the
    age of 15 become mums every year; at least 100,000 children live without both
    parents or one of them; and Romania’s 78,000 children with disabilities are not
    ensured the conditions for socio-educational inclusion, Save the Children warns
    in its report.




    The organisation calls on Parliament and government to
    take urgent concrete measures to address ten major identified problems, including
    tackling the poverty of families and communities where some children live,
    ensuring fair and quality education to all, combating violence against children
    and providing post-pandemic psychological counselling. The report also calls
    for special attention to be given to teenage mums and the protection of children
    whose parents live and work abroad, to reducing infant mortality, protecting
    institutionalised children, integrating children with disabilities or special
    needs into the education system and involving children in making decisions that
    affect them directly. (CM)

  • June 1, 2021

    June 1, 2021

    NATO The head of the Romanian diplomacy
    Bogdan Aurescu is today participating in the online special meeting of the
    foreign ministers in the NATO member countries. High on the meeting’s agenda
    are the preparations for the upcoming NATO summit on June 14th. According
    to a communiqué issued by the Foreign Ministry in Bucharest, the ministers are
    going to also have talks over the NATO 2030 decisions package, which are to be
    endorsed in the upcoming summit. Also high on the agenda are the latest
    developments in the security environment, the threats posed by Russia and the
    future of NATO-Afghanistan relation. Minister Aurescu is expected to highlight
    Romania’s objectives related to the upcoming summit, reiterating Bucharest’s
    pledges for the outcome of the NATO 2030 reflection process as well as for the
    adoption of a new strategic concept for the alliance. The Romanian minister
    will also be pleading for strengthening the alliance’s deterrence and defence
    posture on the entire eastern flank, given the latest developments in the
    region. Aurescu will also brief participants on the inauguration in Bucharest
    on Monday of the Euroatlantic Resilience Center, Romania’s concrete strategic
    contribution to consolidating the resilience of NATO, its allies as well as of
    the EU, its members and partners.






    DAY Theatre performances, concerts,
    creative workshops and guided tours are being staged on the International
    Children’s Day Romania celebrates today. Several public institutions in
    Bucharest are hosting a series of events for the little ones. At the Cotroceni
    Palace in Bucharest, Romanian president Klaus Iohannis has inaugurated an
    exhibition entitled ‘Fantastic Childhood’, created by several artists around
    the country to celebrate the purity and sincerity of childhood and art.
    Children are today able to visit the palace, the halls where Parliament stages
    its sessions, the presidential office, the press room and the hall of fame. The
    Romanian gendarmerie has planned several demonstrative events involving its dog
    units and mounted patrols. The Bucharest police are also staging a series of
    educational events on detective activities. Theatre performances, concerts and
    various shops are also being staged for the children of asylum seekers in
    Romania, most of them coming from countries like Afghanistan, Somalia, Syria
    and Iraq.






    RELAXATION New relaxation measures against
    the background of a contained Covid-19 pandemic are to come into effect today
    in Romania. Outdoor cultural and entertaining activities can be attended by 1,000
    people depending on the infection rate in their region. Participants must be
    fully vaccinated at least 10 days before the event or produce a negative rapid
    or PCR test. Private events, like weddings and other festive activities can be
    attended by 70 people at the most. Indoor activities are limited to 50 people
    while various facilities staging sporting events are allowed to function at 25%
    of their capacity. Gyms and swimming pools can now function at 70% of their
    capacity but the number of participants is not limited if all of them are
    vaccinated. Accommodation facilities in seaside resorts are allowed to function
    at 85% of their capacity. Indoor mask mandates have been lifted for those
    vaccinated in offices with five workers at the most.






    EPPO The EU Public Prosecutor’s Office EPPO
    headed by Laura Codruta Kovesi the former chief of Romania’s Anticorruption
    Directorate, is starting activity today. The new body is to deal with community
    fund frauds and recover money from fraudsters. EPPO prosecutors are expected to
    investigate roughly three thousand files a year. According to estimates by the
    European Chief Prosecutor, corruption, embezzlement and various types of fraud
    are causing annual losses to the EU budget of 500 million euros. The new
    European institution has an annual budget of 45 million euros. Five EU members
    aren’t participating in the EPPO.




    (bill)

  • Contemporary art at the time of the pandemic

    Contemporary art at the time of the pandemic


    The National Museum of
    Contemporary Art in Bucharest has never ceased to be close to people in many
    ways, and we’ve grown accustomed to that. This time, one of the museum’s new
    projects drew our attention. It is themed Art through correspondence.
    The project seeks to create a genuine bond between seniors, children and
    contemporary art. Initially, the project has been implemented through a string
    of pilot activities that took off in January this year but which are
    nonetheless part of a long-term undertaking. The eventual aim of the project is
    bringing together, through correspondence, the children and the elderly, also
    creating emotional ties between people of those age brackets as well as a bond
    of a different order, between those people and contemporary art, at a time when
    the feeling of loneliness takes its toll on people’s psyche, especially in the
    isolated communities. Mălina Ionescu is the head of the National Museum of
    Contemporary Art’s education section.

    Malina Ionescu:

    It is
    a model of working together that in recent years has been used on a large
    scale, abroad. And because we, at the museum, through our ‘Community Art’ program, have been trying to
    relate to school communities in a broader sense and we have also been trying to
    reach out to the school communities that do not have the possibility to come to
    us, be they underprivileged communities or communities lying outside Bucharest,
    and then we thought that, because we know the children with Teach for Romania or
    the elderly people with the Seneca Anticafe, the museum would be a proper bond
    when it comes to having the two relate to one another. We have been doing that
    through correspondence, sadly, because this is the context that we’ve got and
    because the direct contact with the museum, but also between the two groups of
    beneficiaries, is, as we speak, impossible.


    For a six-month timespan,
    the project seeks to form senior-junior teams that on a monthly basis will
    convey their thoughts through letters turned works of contemporary art.
    Children have learned notions of contemporary art, based on which they created
    thematic letters as part of a workshop Malina Ionescu gave on Zoom.

    Malina Ionescu:


    For the time being, I’ve only had one
    workshop with the children, and I also
    had one presentation of the whole project for the seniors. The suggestion has
    been made, that of the correspondence, to the children as well as to the
    seniors, it was presented to them as an opportunity to befriend correspondents
    belonging to age brackets that could be very familiar to them, nephews, for the
    elderly, and grandparents, for the children. They placed themselves in such positions,
    of grandparents and nephews and of course, that of distance friends. The
    project began with the children, we’ve had the initial workshop where we span
    the yarn of what having a correspondence meant, in general, since the concept
    is quite unfamiliar, given that, almost all correspondence and communication
    are digital, we also spoke about how a letter can in fact become a work of art,
    in its own right, but also through the process of posting it as the letters are
    to be received by the senior. The project is still in its early days.


    The project’s pilot stage brings
    together 30 lonely grandparents in Giurgiu county, currently on a program
    labelled Our grandparents, there are 30 schoolchildren aged 12 and 13, from the
    Herasti and Izvoarele villages, Giurgiu county, who are registered with two
    schools that have been included in the Teach for Romania project.


    The parties involved have
    got enthused in the beginning. However, nobody knows what turn the
    correspondence project is going to take.

    Malina Ionescu:


    The
    first suggestion was to view correspondence as a form of art, rather than view it
    as a form of communication. Of course, the challenge we’ve had was twofold,
    since for the children, communication itself was something unusual, under that
    form, the written one, a physical one, that is, while for the elderly, it was
    not, whereas the fact that we have come
    up with an approach that was slightly off-the-beaten-track as regards what a
    letter and an envelope meant and the idea of posting it, that was a primary contact
    with what mail-art meant, the letter which itself can turn into a form of
    artistic expression, when we relate to the graphic and the visual sign as if
    they were an image and not just an ordinary form of the written text, capable of
    conveying the content alone and when the text and the form to go with it become
    just as important as the message itself, through drawings, through
    interventions. What they in fact did was to view the page and the envelope as
    pages on which they could draw and paint. We presented children with various
    means of playing, with the envelope and with the letter, with the message, and
    we made available for them all sorts of colors and pencils and ink, enabling
    them to go beyond the letter where all that matters is what you convey through
    words alone.


    Malina Ionescu tells us what is expected from the next step to be taken
    as part of the project.


    We hope the
    elderly will be quite responsive as well and, when it comes to the next
    letters, they will answer too and will be encouraged to go beyond the
    correspondence proper with a child and what they would like to convey to that
    child and
    use that medium as a form of
    personal expression, since that’s what it’s all about after all. And what we
    most want is that, in the next stage of the project, when it is possible, we should
    bring the children and the elderly together at the museum, for a couple of
    workshops and visiting sessions so that certain bonds may become stronger, between
    them, but also between them and the museum.


    Each of the coming months
    will see a workshop for children being held on Zoom. Children will create all
    sorts of materials and will write letters that will be sent to the seniors
    together with the usual food parcel Seneca sends them every month. The exchange
    of letters will be made possible through the Seneca volunteers and through
    Teach for Romania.






  • July 28, 2020

    July 28, 2020

    PARLIAMENT The speakers of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies, Robert Cazanciuc and Marcel Ciolacu, respectively, have sent a letter to PM Ludovic Orban asking him to present Parliament with a report on the measures considered by the Government in order to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus until the local elections due on September 27 and the start of the new school year on September 14. Government officials said it is still too early to discuss the postponement of the local elections. As for the new school year, the authorities are looking at several scenarios, including the rotation of students between face-to-face and online classes.



    COVID-19 In Romania, the number of new COVID-19 cases has been steadily over 1,000 per day for a week. The total number of cases is over 47,000, with 1,151 new cases reported in the last 24 hours, some 26,000 patients recovered and a total death toll of 2,239. Out of around 5,500 Romanian nationals who have tested positive abroad, 123 died. Local lockdown has been introduced in the past few days in several localities in Romania, and authorities are considering additional measures to contain the disease. Meanwhile, a growing number of countries are introducing restrictions for Romanian citizens. The Republic of Moldova, Cyprus, Finland and Lithuania have closed their borders to Romanian tourists. Travellers arriving in Greece from Romania are required to produce a negative Covid-19 test conducted no more than 72 hours prior. The measure is in place until August 4. Other countries, including Italy, the UK, Ireland, Norway, Estonia and Latvia have introduced 14-day isolation requirements for travellers from Romania, the Netherlands recommends self-isolation, while Hungary, Belgium and France recommend testing.



    PANDEMIC In spite of national and global efforts, the novel coronavirus continues to spread at unprecedented rates around the world. Many states are closing their borders to citizens from high-risk areas, or are introducing quarantine and testing requirements, but a coordinated strategy is yet to be implemented. While recognising the difficulty of a global strategy, the World Health Organisation says nonetheless that travel restrictions will not be enough to contain the spread of the virus. The WHO director general says the coronavirus pandemic is by far the most severe global health emergency ever experienced. According to worldometers.info, over 16.5 million cases have been confirmed worldwide, and the death toll exceeds 650,000. The worst hit is the USA, which has reported so far over 4.4 million cases and some 150,000 deaths. Europe remains the most affected continent by number of deaths (over 200,000, of which 45,000 in the UK, 35,000 in Italy, 30,000 in France and 28,000 in Spain). Meanwhile, European tourism continues to suffer, with the absence of tourists triggering chain reactions that impact restaurants, cultural sites, retail and the leisure industry.



    UNIONS Romanias PM Ludovic Orban and health minister Nelu Tătaru have today met with representatives of Sanitas and Solidaritatea Sanitară trade union federations, to discuss the problems facing healthcare staff during the pandemic. Unionists want better working conditions, shorter working hours and longer paid leaves, especially in intensive care wards, which experience staff shortages. The PM explained that some of the problems can be solved by posting healthcare staff from other hospitals, and said one of the issues discussed with the unions was that of bonuses to be paid to certain categories of healthcare personnel.



    CHILDREN The finance minister Florin Cîțu announced an increase of child benefits by around 15%, with a further increase scheduled as of January 1. Florin Cîțu emphasised that the increases will be operated without financial assistance from institutions like the IMF. In other news, budget execution figures 6 months into the year may be released today. One month ago the finance minister said Romanias budget deficit this year would reach 6.7% of GDP, with a negative 2.2% economic growth rate at year end.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • June 1, 2020

    June 1, 2020

    COVID-19 As of today, a new stage in relaxing the coronavirus containment measures begins in Romania. Outdoor restaurants and bars, as well as beaches, reopen today, and some outdoor sports competitions are resumed, but without public. Also today travel restrictions are lifted, both for domestic and international road and railway traffic. Shopping centres, schools, kindergartens and playgrounds remain closed however, and flights to and from certain countries continue to be grounded. Self-isolation or quarantine for travellers coming into the country is still compulsory. Over 19,400 coronavirus infection cases have been reported in Romania since the start of the pandemic, 3 months ago. Around 13,400 of them have recovered, and 1,270 died. Among the Romanians living abroad, the number of cases passed 3,100, with the death toll standing at 106.




    EMPLOYMENT As of June 1, Romanian employers who decide to hire people over 50 years of age, under open-ended full time contracts, will be reimbursed by the government 50% of the employees salary, up to roughly 500 euros. The government decided to grant the same facility to companies that hire youth aged 16 to 29. Meanwhile, furlough will be plaid in those sectors where the COVID-19 containment measures are to remain in place. The government has also decided to pay the employees who have been on furlough and return to work 41.5% of the basic salary, via their employers.




    CHILDREN The president of Romania Klaus Iohannis said in a Childrens Day message on Monday that, in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, children have made extraordinary efforts and adapted to online schooling, proving quite aware of the importance of education. He thanked children for being understanding and for protecting their families, especially their grandparents, who are the most vulnerable to this disease. President Iohannis called on all children to comply with safety and hygiene rules and be his allies in the fight against the virus, and assured them that this period will be overcome. Other public officials have also posted messages on International Childrens Day.




    STATISTICS The number of youth has dropped steadily in Romania over the past few years, the National Statistics Institute reports. Early this year, Romania had little over 4 million children, and 2019 was the first year when the number of newborns dropped under 200,000. Experts expect that by 2060 the number of preschoolers and children will be over 50% smaller than in 2015 in around half of Romanias counties.




    PANDEMIC The number of novel coronavirus cases worldwide is nearly 6.3 million. Of these, 2.85 million patients have recovered, and some 375,000 died. The country with the largest number of cases is the US, followed by Brazil, with over 500,000 cases, accounting for over half of the total number of cases in Latin America. In Europe the situation is begining to settle, with Britain, the country with the largest number of deaths (over 38,000) starting to lift containment measures today. Groups of up to 6 people are allowed to meet as of today, with social distancing measures still in place. Italy, which at some point was the European country the worst hit by COVID-19, continues to ease restrictions, and authorities are focusing now on restarting tourism, which is a major sector of the Italian economy.




    PROTESTS Clashes between protesters and police were reported in cities across the US, sparked by the killing of an African American citizen upon arrest. According to the BBC, violence was reported in tens of cities, including New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. In Washington, near the White House, police used tear gas against the protesters who set fire and threw rocks at the police forces.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • Combating Child Pornography

    Combating Child Pornography


    Last year the organization launched a study, which revealed
    worrying aspects first related to the time children are spending online. George
    Roman, programme director with the aforementioned organization has more on this
    issue.








    George Roman: It was a surprise to us as well since we
    didn’t expect to find out that during weekdays, children are spending between 4
    and 6 hours online on an average. They spend more time at weekends when they
    also watch TV programmes. We’ve noticed that these children may develop mental
    issues, such as forms of depression, anxiety, and are also displeased to have
    social relations. The study reveals the fact that one out of two children have
    been victims of cyber-bullying and that 6 out of 10 have been exposed to
    inappropriate content. We don’t know how this situation is going to improve in
    the future but what we know is that we can raise the awareness of these
    children and make them realize they need assistance from adults.








    Save the Children organization also has a hotline where
    illegal online content can be reported at esc_ABUZ within a project entitled
    ‘Internet Hours’. Statistics show that illegal materials reported here are on
    the rise. Out of the 2713 cases reported last year, 1600 involved materials
    depicting sexually-abused children, most of the victims being girls under 10
    years old. Teodora Stoica, project manager with the Save the Children
    Organisation explains how these materials have proliferated in Romania in the
    past year.






    Teodora Stoica: According
    to the latest study conducted by our organization, 4 out of 10 children with
    ages between 12 and 17 years have been exposed to sexually explicit content.
    Moreover, 20% of them say they have been requested to send images or videos
    with their intimate body parts. Cyber-bullying, which is one of the way through
    which these pictures or videos are being obtained, has largely contributed to
    the proliferation of these materials online. And technological progress makes
    possible the appearance of new types of cyber-crimes, being easier than ever
    for an offender to get in touch with children nowadays. One of the most serious
    challenges facing the online environment is to prevent the sexploitation of
    children…According to INHOPE, Romania is ranking 7th on a EU list of
    countries where suchlike inappropriate content is posted and from the reports
    received, we’ve noticed that although most sex abusers are men, the number of
    materials in which women are abusing children is also on the rise.








    The esc-Abuz hotline has been functioning in cooperation
    with the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police being also part of INHOPE,
    an international network of organizations and institutions fighting this
    scourge.


    In this way, online materials, which are harmful for
    children, are being sent to the Romanian Police, where they are investigated
    and erased from the Internet, while offenders are identified and prosecuted.








    According to Elena Savu, head of the Bureau for the
    Investigation of Child Pornography Online, 398 criminal files related to child
    pornography were reported in Romania last year, and 277 of these were solved.
    168 sting operations were conducted and 261 home-search operations were carried
    out; 296 people were placed under investigation and over 20 million photo-video
    files were analyzed. Elena Savu says that live-streaming videos of child sexual
    abuse is the latest tendency in this phenomenon.










    Elena Savu: The most sensitive cases, which
    unfortunately are on the rise in Romania as well, are these cases of live
    streaming. They involve women who used to perform in video-chats. They decided to
    make their children participate in these shows for various sums of money and
    are currently use various apps to broadcast these videos live.








    Since 2010, Save the Children has been running a project
    entitled ‘Internet Hours, which is promoting a safer use of the Internet and
    new online technologies by children. The project has brought together a network
    of volunteers, teachers and experts who are working with children with a view
    to implementing a series of educational programmes nation wise. Here is Georgiana
    Rosculet, coordinator of educational programmes with the aforementioned
    organization.






    Georgiana Rosculet:
    The specific themes we are approaching
    this year are cyberbullying and Internet Addiction. This programme of
    volunteering is mainly addressing teachers who are willing to talk with
    children about these phenomena. They can apply for information materials and
    video packages, guidelines for a better understanding of these phenomena and
    then they can opt for various lesson plans that we have suggested. As part of
    the ‘Internet Hours’ we have a hotline for children, so they can call in
    whenever they are curious about various aspects of Internet surfing or may find
    themselves in delicate situations. Half million children have benefited from
    this project in the past 10 years. We have about 4,000 volunteers, teachers in
    800 cities and we have so far cooperated with 28 hundred education centers. We
    are going to carry out a certified programme for teachers, a training
    programme, which is going to be implemented in 41 counties.






    Experts with the Save the Children organization have
    cautioned that all over the world, authorities have become more relaxed
    regarding this phenomenon, and that relaxation makes the number of those
    involved in activities, like buying, storing or trading child pornography, to
    be on the rise.






    (translated by bill)

  • March 2, 2020 UPDATE

    March 2, 2020 UPDATE

    NEGOTIATIONS The Liberals Monday started negotiations with parliamentary parties with a view to forming a new majority that would support the investiture of Florin Citu’s Cabinet. The parliamentary hearings of the new ministers designate are scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The Social-Democrats in opposition accuse the Liberals of not giving up on the idea of early elections. Save Romania Unions president Dan Barna said on Monday that the Liberals did not expressly ask for support for the Ciţu government, and added that his party believes the goal is to attain stability. The president of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians Kelemen Hunor says his party is ready to ensure the majority required for the investiture of the new cabinet, but that a final decision depends on the order regarding early elections. The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats claims the Liberals try to make sure that the new Cabinet is rejected by Parliament, while the People’s Movement Party says a Liberal Government backed by a parliamentary minority is unlikely to be sworn in. Florin Cîţu’s nomination by president Klaus Iohannis came after the Constitutional Court ruled as unconstitutional the president’s first choice, the interim prime minister and leader of the National Liberal Party Ludovic Orban. The latter’s government had been dismissed through a vote of no-confidence at the beginning of February.



    COVID-19 The Strategic Communication Group Monday announced that in Romania 42 people are in quarantine centres and over 9,000 are under home monitoring. So far 3 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in Romania, one of whom has recovered and has been discharged, and the other 2 are reported to be in good state. Meanwhile, the Romanian Foreign Ministry announced that the 7 Romanian members of the crew of Diamond Princess vessel, who were transferred last week to a facility in Wako, Japan, are still quarantined. Two other Romanians were brought into the same facility on Sunday, and will remain there for an additional 14 days. The Foreign Ministry added that the state of the 2 Romanians infected with COVID-19 and hospitalised in Japan remains good. On the other hand, the death toll of the new coronavirus has exceeded 3,000, and over 80,000 cases have been confirmed so far, most of them in China, where the daily number of victims is decreasing steadily. South Korea and Italy are of particular concern now, reporting 500 new cases in one day and dozens of deaths so far. The coronavirus risk level in Europe has been raised from moderate to high, the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen announced on Monday. 2,100 cases of coronavirus infection have been confirmed in 18 EU member countries to date.



    LEGISLATION The Senate Monday endorsed unanimously a bill that increases punishments for the sexual abuse of children. The bill, tabled by an independent Deputy, raises the minimum penalties for sex crimes against children and introduces in the Romanian legislation a number of provisions from the EU laws designed to fight the sexual abuse and exploitation of children and child pornography. Under the new bill, rape will be punished by 5 to 10 years in prison, as against 3 to 10 years as it was so far, and offences that result in the death of the victim will be punished by 9 to 18 years behind bars. In order to take effect, the bill must be endorsed by the Chamber of Deputies as well.



    FLU The number of deaths from seasonal flu in Romania has reached 49. The last 2 people who died are men, aged 69 and 75 respectively, in Ilfov and Harghita counties. They were both suffering from other conditions and had not received a vaccine. The number of flu cases continued to grow, with around 2,000 new cases confirmed between February 17 and 23. The overall number of people affected by acute respiratory infections (156,500) is a lot higher than last year, but the number of cases is on a downward trend compared to the previous week.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)