Radio România Internațional

Tag: health

October 20, 2021 UPDATE

COVID-19 The Strategic Communication Group Wednesday announced 17,158
new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours. Also, 423 related deaths were
reported, of which 9 from before the reference timeframe. The Romanian President
Klaus Iohannis has convened a meeting with all those involved in managing the
pandemic to decide the introduction of more restrictive measures, as the only
way to curb the spread of the disease. On Tuesday, the head of state said that
the preparation for the fourth wave of the epidemic in Romania was flawed, and
the vaccination campaign against COVID-19 too slow. Vaccination is the only
solution to stop the pandemic, the head of state said, adding that it is also
necessary for parliament to adopt provisions on the digital certificate or
other measures to reduce mobility and human interaction in the short run.

GOVERNMENT President Klaus Iohannis invited parliamentary parties to
talks on Thursday morning, to designate a new PM. The talks come after on
Wednesday the cabinet put together by the head of Save Romania Union, PM
designate Dacian Cioloş, failed to get a confidence vote from Parliament. Only 88
MPs voted in favour of the executive team presented by Cioloş, as compared to
184 votes against. The nominees in Cioloş’s team included former ministers in
ex-PM Florin Cîţu’s coalition government, such as Stelian Ion as justice
minister, Ioana Mihăilă as health minister, and Cătălin Drulă as transport
minister. Save Romania Union decided to come up with a proposed one-party,
minority cabinet list after negotiations with their former partners in the
ruling coalition failed. The National Liberal Party and the Democratic Union of
Ethnic Hungarians say they are no longer willing to work with USR, which backed
a no-confidence motion against the Cîţu government. The Social Democrats and
the nationalist party AUR, in opposition, request early elections. In order for
this to happen, Parliament should reject a second prime minister designated by
president Klaus Iohannis.

VISIT President
Klaus Iohannis Wednesday received the US Secretary of Defence
Lloyd J. Austin III on an official visit to Romania. Iohannis appreciated the
remarkable bilateral cooperation between the two countries and reiterated the
importance given by Bucharest to strengthening the Strategic Partnership both
in terms of political dialogue, and in the defence, economic and energy
sectors. The Romanian president also emphasised that Romania will remain a
strategic partner and a reliable Ally, strongly committed to NATO’s political
and military consolidation, and to strengthening the Alliance’s defence and
deterrence posture in the Eastern Flank and at the Black Sea. In turn, the US
Secretary of Defence Lloyd J. Austin highlighted the US’ interest in further
developing and diversifying cooperation with Romania. The US official also had
a meeting on Wednesday with his Romanian counterpart, Nicolae Ciucă. Romania
hosts US military bases and elements of NATO’s missile defence system.

AWARD Kremlin
critic and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny was awarded the 2021 Sakharov
Prize for Freedom of Thought. The announcement was made in Strasbourg, where the head of the European
Parliament, David Sassoli, mentioned that Aleksei Navalny fought consistently against
the Putin regime’s corruption, helped unveil abuse and mobilised millions
across Russia. In
August 2020, Navalny was poisoned and spent several months recovering in Berlin.
Upon his return to Moscow in January 2021, he was imprisoned and he is still
behind bars at present. The Sakharov Prize for
Freedom of Thoughtis granted every year by the
European Parliament as a tribute to human rights defenders.

EU The European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned in
Strasbourg on Tuesday that the EU executive would act to defend the ‘common
values’ of the European Union, following the decision of the Polish
Constitutional Court challenging the primacy of European law. In reply, the Polish
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has stated that Poland rejects the European
Union’s blackmail’, and that to his country, the Constitution remains the ‘supreme
law’. Warsaw has been in open conflict with Brussels for several years now over
controversial judicial reforms implemented by the right-wing populist party Law
and Justice. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

20 October 2021
October 20, 2021 UPDATE

COVID-19 The Strategic Communication Group Wednesday announced 17,158
new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours. Also, 423 related deaths were
reported, of which 9 from before the reference timeframe. The Romanian President
Klaus Iohannis has convened a meeting with all those involved in managing the
pandemic to decide the introduction of more restrictive measures, as the only
way to curb the spread of the disease. On Tuesday, the head of state said that
the preparation for the fourth wave of the epidemic in Romania was flawed, and
the vaccination campaign against COVID-19 too slow. Vaccination is the only
solution to stop the pandemic, the head of state said, adding that it is also
necessary for parliament to adopt provisions on the digital certificate or
other measures to reduce mobility and human interaction in the short run.

GOVERNMENT President Klaus Iohannis invited parliamentary parties to
talks on Thursday morning, to designate a new PM. The talks come after on
Wednesday the cabinet put together by the head of Save Romania Union, PM
designate Dacian Cioloş, failed to get a confidence vote from Parliament. Only 88
MPs voted in favour of the executive team presented by Cioloş, as compared to
184 votes against. The nominees in Cioloş’s team included former ministers in
ex-PM Florin Cîţu’s coalition government, such as Stelian Ion as justice
minister, Ioana Mihăilă as health minister, and Cătălin Drulă as transport
minister. Save Romania Union decided to come up with a proposed one-party,
minority cabinet list after negotiations with their former partners in the
ruling coalition failed. The National Liberal Party and the Democratic Union of
Ethnic Hungarians say they are no longer willing to work with USR, which backed
a no-confidence motion against the Cîţu government. The Social Democrats and
the nationalist party AUR, in opposition, request early elections. In order for
this to happen, Parliament should reject a second prime minister designated by
president Klaus Iohannis.

VISIT President
Klaus Iohannis Wednesday received the US Secretary of Defence
Lloyd J. Austin III on an official visit to Romania. Iohannis appreciated the
remarkable bilateral cooperation between the two countries and reiterated the
importance given by Bucharest to strengthening the Strategic Partnership both
in terms of political dialogue, and in the defence, economic and energy
sectors. The Romanian president also emphasised that Romania will remain a
strategic partner and a reliable Ally, strongly committed to NATO’s political
and military consolidation, and to strengthening the Alliance’s defence and
deterrence posture in the Eastern Flank and at the Black Sea. In turn, the US
Secretary of Defence Lloyd J. Austin highlighted the US’ interest in further
developing and diversifying cooperation with Romania. The US official also had
a meeting on Wednesday with his Romanian counterpart, Nicolae Ciucă. Romania
hosts US military bases and elements of NATO’s missile defence system.

AWARD Kremlin
critic and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny was awarded the 2021 Sakharov
Prize for Freedom of Thought. The announcement was made in Strasbourg, where the head of the European
Parliament, David Sassoli, mentioned that Aleksei Navalny fought consistently against
the Putin regime’s corruption, helped unveil abuse and mobilised millions
across Russia. In
August 2020, Navalny was poisoned and spent several months recovering in Berlin.
Upon his return to Moscow in January 2021, he was imprisoned and he is still
behind bars at present. The Sakharov Prize for
Freedom of Thoughtis granted every year by the
European Parliament as a tribute to human rights defenders.

EU The European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned in
Strasbourg on Tuesday that the EU executive would act to defend the ‘common
values’ of the European Union, following the decision of the Polish
Constitutional Court challenging the primacy of European law. In reply, the Polish
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has stated that Poland rejects the European
Union’s blackmail’, and that to his country, the Constitution remains the ‘supreme
law’. Warsaw has been in open conflict with Brussels for several years now over
controversial judicial reforms implemented by the right-wing populist party Law
and Justice. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

20 October 2021
October 20, 2021 UPDATE

COVID-19 The Strategic Communication Group Wednesday announced 17,158
new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours. Also, 423 related deaths were
reported, of which 9 from before the reference timeframe. The Romanian President
Klaus Iohannis has convened a meeting with all those involved in managing the
pandemic to decide the introduction of more restrictive measures, as the only
way to curb the spread of the disease. On Tuesday, the head of state said that
the preparation for the fourth wave of the epidemic in Romania was flawed, and
the vaccination campaign against COVID-19 too slow. Vaccination is the only
solution to stop the pandemic, the head of state said, adding that it is also
necessary for parliament to adopt provisions on the digital certificate or
other measures to reduce mobility and human interaction in the short run.

GOVERNMENT President Klaus Iohannis invited parliamentary parties to
talks on Thursday morning, to designate a new PM. The talks come after on
Wednesday the cabinet put together by the head of Save Romania Union, PM
designate Dacian Cioloş, failed to get a confidence vote from Parliament. Only 88
MPs voted in favour of the executive team presented by Cioloş, as compared to
184 votes against. The nominees in Cioloş’s team included former ministers in
ex-PM Florin Cîţu’s coalition government, such as Stelian Ion as justice
minister, Ioana Mihăilă as health minister, and Cătălin Drulă as transport
minister. Save Romania Union decided to come up with a proposed one-party,
minority cabinet list after negotiations with their former partners in the
ruling coalition failed. The National Liberal Party and the Democratic Union of
Ethnic Hungarians say they are no longer willing to work with USR, which backed
a no-confidence motion against the Cîţu government. The Social Democrats and
the nationalist party AUR, in opposition, request early elections. In order for
this to happen, Parliament should reject a second prime minister designated by
president Klaus Iohannis.

VISIT President
Klaus Iohannis Wednesday received the US Secretary of Defence
Lloyd J. Austin III on an official visit to Romania. Iohannis appreciated the
remarkable bilateral cooperation between the two countries and reiterated the
importance given by Bucharest to strengthening the Strategic Partnership both
in terms of political dialogue, and in the defence, economic and energy
sectors. The Romanian president also emphasised that Romania will remain a
strategic partner and a reliable Ally, strongly committed to NATO’s political
and military consolidation, and to strengthening the Alliance’s defence and
deterrence posture in the Eastern Flank and at the Black Sea. In turn, the US
Secretary of Defence Lloyd J. Austin highlighted the US’ interest in further
developing and diversifying cooperation with Romania. The US official also had
a meeting on Wednesday with his Romanian counterpart, Nicolae Ciucă. Romania
hosts US military bases and elements of NATO’s missile defence system.

AWARD Kremlin
critic and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny was awarded the 2021 Sakharov
Prize for Freedom of Thought. The announcement was made in Strasbourg, where the head of the European
Parliament, David Sassoli, mentioned that Aleksei Navalny fought consistently against
the Putin regime’s corruption, helped unveil abuse and mobilised millions
across Russia. In
August 2020, Navalny was poisoned and spent several months recovering in Berlin.
Upon his return to Moscow in January 2021, he was imprisoned and he is still
behind bars at present. The Sakharov Prize for
Freedom of Thoughtis granted every year by the
European Parliament as a tribute to human rights defenders.

EU The European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned in
Strasbourg on Tuesday that the EU executive would act to defend the ‘common
values’ of the European Union, following the decision of the Polish
Constitutional Court challenging the primacy of European law. In reply, the Polish
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has stated that Poland rejects the European
Union’s blackmail’, and that to his country, the Constitution remains the ‘supreme
law’. Warsaw has been in open conflict with Brussels for several years now over
controversial judicial reforms implemented by the right-wing populist party Law
and Justice. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

20 October 2021
October 20, 2021 UPDATE

COVID-19 The Strategic Communication Group Wednesday announced 17,158
new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours. Also, 423 related deaths were
reported, of which 9 from before the reference timeframe. The Romanian President
Klaus Iohannis has convened a meeting with all those involved in managing the
pandemic to decide the introduction of more restrictive measures, as the only
way to curb the spread of the disease. On Tuesday, the head of state said that
the preparation for the fourth wave of the epidemic in Romania was flawed, and
the vaccination campaign against COVID-19 too slow. Vaccination is the only
solution to stop the pandemic, the head of state said, adding that it is also
necessary for parliament to adopt provisions on the digital certificate or
other measures to reduce mobility and human interaction in the short run.

GOVERNMENT President Klaus Iohannis invited parliamentary parties to
talks on Thursday morning, to designate a new PM. The talks come after on
Wednesday the cabinet put together by the head of Save Romania Union, PM
designate Dacian Cioloş, failed to get a confidence vote from Parliament. Only 88
MPs voted in favour of the executive team presented by Cioloş, as compared to
184 votes against. The nominees in Cioloş’s team included former ministers in
ex-PM Florin Cîţu’s coalition government, such as Stelian Ion as justice
minister, Ioana Mihăilă as health minister, and Cătălin Drulă as transport
minister. Save Romania Union decided to come up with a proposed one-party,
minority cabinet list after negotiations with their former partners in the
ruling coalition failed. The National Liberal Party and the Democratic Union of
Ethnic Hungarians say they are no longer willing to work with USR, which backed
a no-confidence motion against the Cîţu government. The Social Democrats and
the nationalist party AUR, in opposition, request early elections. In order for
this to happen, Parliament should reject a second prime minister designated by
president Klaus Iohannis.

VISIT President
Klaus Iohannis Wednesday received the US Secretary of Defence
Lloyd J. Austin III on an official visit to Romania. Iohannis appreciated the
remarkable bilateral cooperation between the two countries and reiterated the
importance given by Bucharest to strengthening the Strategic Partnership both
in terms of political dialogue, and in the defence, economic and energy
sectors. The Romanian president also emphasised that Romania will remain a
strategic partner and a reliable Ally, strongly committed to NATO’s political
and military consolidation, and to strengthening the Alliance’s defence and
deterrence posture in the Eastern Flank and at the Black Sea. In turn, the US
Secretary of Defence Lloyd J. Austin highlighted the US’ interest in further
developing and diversifying cooperation with Romania. The US official also had
a meeting on Wednesday with his Romanian counterpart, Nicolae Ciucă. Romania
hosts US military bases and elements of NATO’s missile defence system.

AWARD Kremlin
critic and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny was awarded the 2021 Sakharov
Prize for Freedom of Thought. The announcement was made in Strasbourg, where the head of the European
Parliament, David Sassoli, mentioned that Aleksei Navalny fought consistently against
the Putin regime’s corruption, helped unveil abuse and mobilised millions
across Russia. In
August 2020, Navalny was poisoned and spent several months recovering in Berlin.
Upon his return to Moscow in January 2021, he was imprisoned and he is still
behind bars at present. The Sakharov Prize for
Freedom of Thoughtis granted every year by the
European Parliament as a tribute to human rights defenders.

EU The European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned in
Strasbourg on Tuesday that the EU executive would act to defend the ‘common
values’ of the European Union, following the decision of the Polish
Constitutional Court challenging the primacy of European law. In reply, the Polish
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has stated that Poland rejects the European
Union’s blackmail’, and that to his country, the Constitution remains the ‘supreme
law’. Warsaw has been in open conflict with Brussels for several years now over
controversial judicial reforms implemented by the right-wing populist party Law
and Justice. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

20 October 2021
October 20, 2021 UPDATE

COVID-19 The Strategic Communication Group Wednesday announced 17,158
new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours. Also, 423 related deaths were
reported, of which 9 from before the reference timeframe. The Romanian President
Klaus Iohannis has convened a meeting with all those involved in managing the
pandemic to decide the introduction of more restrictive measures, as the only
way to curb the spread of the disease. On Tuesday, the head of state said that
the preparation for the fourth wave of the epidemic in Romania was flawed, and
the vaccination campaign against COVID-19 too slow. Vaccination is the only
solution to stop the pandemic, the head of state said, adding that it is also
necessary for parliament to adopt provisions on the digital certificate or
other measures to reduce mobility and human interaction in the short run.

GOVERNMENT President Klaus Iohannis invited parliamentary parties to
talks on Thursday morning, to designate a new PM. The talks come after on
Wednesday the cabinet put together by the head of Save Romania Union, PM
designate Dacian Cioloş, failed to get a confidence vote from Parliament. Only 88
MPs voted in favour of the executive team presented by Cioloş, as compared to
184 votes against. The nominees in Cioloş’s team included former ministers in
ex-PM Florin Cîţu’s coalition government, such as Stelian Ion as justice
minister, Ioana Mihăilă as health minister, and Cătălin Drulă as transport
minister. Save Romania Union decided to come up with a proposed one-party,
minority cabinet list after negotiations with their former partners in the
ruling coalition failed. The National Liberal Party and the Democratic Union of
Ethnic Hungarians say they are no longer willing to work with USR, which backed
a no-confidence motion against the Cîţu government. The Social Democrats and
the nationalist party AUR, in opposition, request early elections. In order for
this to happen, Parliament should reject a second prime minister designated by
president Klaus Iohannis.

VISIT President
Klaus Iohannis Wednesday received the US Secretary of Defence
Lloyd J. Austin III on an official visit to Romania. Iohannis appreciated the
remarkable bilateral cooperation between the two countries and reiterated the
importance given by Bucharest to strengthening the Strategic Partnership both
in terms of political dialogue, and in the defence, economic and energy
sectors. The Romanian president also emphasised that Romania will remain a
strategic partner and a reliable Ally, strongly committed to NATO’s political
and military consolidation, and to strengthening the Alliance’s defence and
deterrence posture in the Eastern Flank and at the Black Sea. In turn, the US
Secretary of Defence Lloyd J. Austin highlighted the US’ interest in further
developing and diversifying cooperation with Romania. The US official also had
a meeting on Wednesday with his Romanian counterpart, Nicolae Ciucă. Romania
hosts US military bases and elements of NATO’s missile defence system.

AWARD Kremlin
critic and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny was awarded the 2021 Sakharov
Prize for Freedom of Thought. The announcement was made in Strasbourg, where the head of the European
Parliament, David Sassoli, mentioned that Aleksei Navalny fought consistently against
the Putin regime’s corruption, helped unveil abuse and mobilised millions
across Russia. In
August 2020, Navalny was poisoned and spent several months recovering in Berlin.
Upon his return to Moscow in January 2021, he was imprisoned and he is still
behind bars at present. The Sakharov Prize for
Freedom of Thoughtis granted every year by the
European Parliament as a tribute to human rights defenders.

EU The European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned in
Strasbourg on Tuesday that the EU executive would act to defend the ‘common
values’ of the European Union, following the decision of the Polish
Constitutional Court challenging the primacy of European law. In reply, the Polish
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has stated that Poland rejects the European
Union’s blackmail’, and that to his country, the Constitution remains the ‘supreme
law’. Warsaw has been in open conflict with Brussels for several years now over
controversial judicial reforms implemented by the right-wing populist party Law
and Justice. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

20 October 2021
June 25, 2021

Covid-19. The Romanian government has further eased
coronavirus restrictions from 1st July. More people will be allowed
to attend private events, clubs, restaurants and cafes will be able to stay
open until later, sports competitions can be held at a maximum 50% capacity and
hotels and guesthouses can have 100% occupancy. 65 new Covid cases, from over
30,000 tests, were reported in Romania on Friday, as well as 7 fatalities
recorded in the last 24 hours. 121 Covid patients are in intensive care. So
far, over 4.6 Romanians have received at least one dose of the Covid vaccine,
accounting for 25% of the country’s eligible population.

Summit. The European Union dismissed
the possibility of a summit with Russian president Vladimir Putin as long as
there are no changes in Moscow’s behaviour. EU leaders called on Russia to show
more constructive engagement and stop actions against the community bloc and
neighbouring countries. German chancellor Angela Merkel, who, together with
French president Emmanuel Macron, supported
the idea of a top level meeting, said she would have liked a more courageous
step from the Union and that dialogue with Russia must be maintained. Eastern
European leaders said, however, that a summit with Putin without preconditions
would send a very bad signal. Today, the EU heads of state and government are
discussing the EU’s post-pandemic economic recovery plan and the Covid green
certificate, which is coming into force on 1st July and is meant to facilitate
the freedom of movement for fully vaccinated persons and those who have
recovered from the infection. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent,
president Klaus Iohannis said Romania is doing fairly well with respect to its
recovery and resilience plan and that the talks with the European Commission
are very beneficial. He explained that a quick approval of the plan would not
help and all its aspects must be clarified first to ensure its fast and good
implementation.

Health. Romania’s health insurance
system will change from 1st July. Under an emergency order
clarifying the application of individual contributions to the medical system, the
so-called co-payment, patients will be able to seek treatment in private
hospitals, with some of the costs being covered by the state. Each person
insured will receive a cost estimate from the clinic where they seek treatment
which will be valid for five working days and during which patients will be
able to look for other treatment offers. The new provisions will apply to
continuous hospitalisation, in particular as a result of surgery, and from next
year, also to outpatient care and medical tests.

Education. The number of pupils and students in
the national education system in Romania in the 2020-2021 school year dropped
by 31,600 compared with the previous period, now standing at almost 3.5
million. Romania has one teacher for every 15 pupils and students, according to
data published on Friday by the National Institute for Statistics. Over the analysed
period, 45.5% of the country’s school-age children were in primary and
secondary education, 17.8% in high school and 15% in nursery and pre-school education.
73% of Romania’s pupils and students studied in the urban area.

Weather. Romanians
are struggling with a heat wave. The highest temperatures are expected in the
west of the country, with forecasts of up to 41 degrees Celsius. Eight counties
in the west and north-west are under a red code alert, while the rest of the
counties in the western part of Romania are under an amber code alert. A yellow
code alert is in place for the rest of the country for heat and thermal
discomfort. An amber code alert for heavy rain, strong winds and hail storms is
also in place for today in 32 counties. A yellow code alert has also been
issued today for strong atmospheric instability around the country, from Friday
at noon until Saturday evening. (CM)

25 June 2021
April 22, 2021 UPDATE

COVID-19 Three counties in Romania, Bucharest, Ilfov (south-east) and Cluj (centre-west) are still in the red zone, with little over 4 COVID infections per thousand inhabitants. The other counties have reported infections rates below 3 per thousand. On Thursday the authorities announced nearly 3,000 new infections and 150 COVID-related deaths in 24 hours, while 1,405 patients are in intensive care. At the end of the first meeting of an inter-ministry committee working for Romanias returning to normal as of June 1 this year, PM Florin Cîțu said reaching this goal depends on vaccination. It is a prerequisite, this will not happen without vaccination. It is the only solution, the PM said. Vaccination remains the only way to stop the spread of coronavirus, Romanian president Klaus Iohannis said in his turn, urging all who haven’t got the vaccine yet to get immunised because only this way we can have a summer without so many restrictions. The total number of people who got at least one vaccine dose is over than 2.8 million people. According to the authorities, Romania has now the capacity to immunize 120,000 people a day.

HEALTH Romania’s new Health Minister, Ioana Mihaila, begins her term in office with three key priorities, which she says are going to guide her work, alongside the strategy to curb the pandemic. The new minister’s priorities are, attracting funds for reforms and investment, increasing people’s access to basic medical services as well as raising the competitiveness of the managing boards of hospitals and county health insurance agencies. According to Minister Mihaila, over 2.6 billion Euros worth of EU funds are to be invested in streamlining the country’s healthcare system and in the next government meeting a draft emergency order will be discussed, regulating the involvement of family physicians in the vaccine rollout. Nominated by the USR-PLUS Alliance, Ioana Mihaila has replaced Vlad Voiculescu, recently sacked by the Liberal Prime Minister Florin Citu.

MEETING Bucharest is hosting for two days the Trilateral Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Romania, Poland and Turkey. The event was preceded by an online conference on current security challenges. Taking the floor during the event, Romanian Foreign Minister, Bogdan Aurescu has highlighted the value of the trilateral meeting in handling these crises, mainly in consolidating the NATO deterrence and defence posture in the eastern flank. The Romanian official also touched on the complex regional background fraught with concerning developments, affecting the area from the Black Sea to the Baltic Sea and which is mainly visible at Ukraine’s western border and in the illegally occupied Crimea. The situation in the Black Sea region is high on the agenda of the Romania-Poland-Turkey trilateral meeting.

UKRAINE The president of Romania Klaus Iohannis announced the Supreme Defence Council would convene on 27 April to discuss the situation at the Black Sea. The head of state said tensions emerged in that area, especially in Ukraines eastern border region, and described the situation as “worrying. “I have had several discussions with the defence minister and the heads of other specialised services, we are well aware of the situation there and the tensions emerging in the region are a concern for us, Klaus Iohannis added. On Thursday, Russia announced pulling out the troops it had deployed near the Ukraine-Crimea border, stating the military exercises conducted in the area were completed. “The troops have demonstrated their ability to ensure a reliable defence of the country. So I decided to complete the inspection activities in the southern and western military districts, said Russia’s defence minister Sergei Shoigu in a press release.

NATO NATO leaders will convene in a summit in Brussels on June 14, the Alliances secretary general Jens Stoltenberg announced on Thursday. “Russias aggressive actions, the threat of terrorism, cyber-attacks, emerging and disruptive technologies, the security impact of climate change, and the rise of China will be on the agenda of the meeting. According to Stoltenberg, “This is a unique opportunity to reinforce NATO as the enduring embodiment of the bond between Europe and North America. Also, he added, decisions will be made on the organisations 2030 agenda to deal with the challenges of today and tomorrow.

TENNIS
Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, no. 3 in the world, Thursday defeated Marketa
Vondrousova of the Czech Republic, 6-1, 6-3 in the round of 16 of the tennis
tournament in Stuttgart. Halep, a former Roland Garros champion, has won all
the major clay tournaments in Europe, except for the one in Stuttgart, where
she only made it to the semifinals in 2017. In 2020, the Romanian clinched two
titles in Prague and Rome. Also in Stuttgart, the pair made up of Raluca Olaru
of Romania and Nadia Kicenok of Germany has qualified for the doubles quarter
finals after a 7-6, 6-4 win against Hayley Carter of the USA and Luisa Stefani
of Brazil.(tr. A.M. Popescu)

22 April 2021
April 21, 2021

COALITION Ioana Mihăilă, state secretary with the Health Ministry, has been nominated by USR-PLUS to be the new health minister, after the Liberal PM Florin Cîțu dismissed Vlad Voiculescu last week. Previously, the leaders of the right-of-centre ruling coalition in Romania had reached an agreement ending the tensions that followed the unexpected dismissal of Vlad Voiculescu. They signed an addendum to the governing protocol, stipulating among other things that the prime minister is to inform the relevant political party of his intention to exercise his constitutional power to dismiss a cabinet member. The COVID-19 vaccine rollout remains a priority for the government and the coalition, reads the document signed on Tuesday night.

VACCINE President Klaus Iohannis said on Wednesday that he was quite satisfied with the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in Romania. ‘We are very close to our targeted capacity of 100,000 people vaccinated per day. I am very happy with how the campaign has unfolded so far, and the preparations for this stage have been completed in record time,’ the president said. Mobile vaccination centres are operational in Romania as of Wednesday. So far the vaccination capacity is over 80,000 doses per day, and a total of over 2.7 million people have received at least one dose. In this context, the head of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccination Coordination Committee, Valeriu Gheorghiţă, announced that authorities are considering the option of giving vaccines in non-COVID hospitals for patients with chronic diseases. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, 3,006 new COVID-19 infections were reported, and the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic is now over 1 million. More than 26,600 COVID-related deaths have also been reported so far, 175 of them in the last 24 hours, and 1,436 patients are in intensive care.

CORRUPTION The Senate of Romania Wednesday greenlighted criminal proceedings against the former health minister Florian Bodog, at the request of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate. Anti-corruption prosecutors claim that while a minister, the Social Democratic Florian Bodog took steps to ensure that one of his personal advisers was paid for one year without showing up for work or actually fulfilling his obligations as an employee. Meanwhile the Liberal PM Florin Cîţu approved the resignation of Gelu Puiu (PNL) as a state secretary with the Environment Ministry, after an independent publication, ʹRecorderʹ, made public recordings pointing to a blackmailing campaign coordinated by Puiu and aimed at replacing county forestry managers with members of the Liberal Party that had no qualifications for the job.

TRIAL Former Minneapolis police Derek Chauvin was found guilty on Tuesday on all 3 charges brought against him after African-American George Floyd was killed last year. According to AFP, the sentence may be out in 8 weeks. The defendant may be sentenced to 12.5 years behind bars, although the judge may decide to increase it if there is evidence of aggravating circumstances. Tuesdays ruling is seen as a landmark in the US racial history and as a criticism of the treatment given by the police to African Americans, the international media note. According to Radio Românias correspondent in Washington, after the ruling the US president Joe Biden addressed the nation, describing systemic racism as “a stain on the nation’s soul and mentioning that the killing of George Floyd entailed protests unseen in the country since the 1960s. Derek Chauvin, 45, was filmed kneeling on Floyd, 46, for over nine minutes during his arrest last May.

HANDBALL Romanias womens handball team plays tonight away from home, in Skopje, the return leg against North Macedonia in the playoffs for the 2021 World Championship. On Saturday in the first leg the Romanians beat their opponents 33-22. Romania has taken part in all the 24 editions of the womens World Championship so far, and has won 4 medals (gold in 1962, silver in 1973 and 2005, and bronze in 2015). In the latest season of the World Championship in 2019, in Japan, Romania came out 12th.

FOOTBALL Romanias football team will play in Group B of the Tokyo Olympics, alongside New Zealand, South Korea, and Honduras, according to the draw that took place in Zurich on Wednesday. The group matches are scheduled between July 22 and 28. The Olympics football tournament in Tokyo ends on August 7. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

21 April 2021
April 14, 2021

Dismissal. For a year Romania has been going
through a difficult time in the fight against the pandemic and to prevail in
this fight we need to trust state institutions, said Liberal prime minister Florin Cîțu shortly after sacking health minister Vlad
Voiculescu, from the Save Romania Union. I strongly believe in the ruling
coalition, which is based around values and ideas and not individual persons,
the prime minister also said. Dan Barna, the co-president of the USR PLUS Alliance, which is part of the ruling coalition alongside the Liberal Party and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, said the prime minister no longer has the Alliance’s political support. Dacian Cioloş, the other co-president of the USR PLUS Alliance, described as unacceptable that the prime minister did not consult the USR PLUS leadership before sacking the health minister. Deputy prime minister Kelemen Hunor, the leader of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians, said his party accepted the prime minister’s decision and that the coalition must go ahead. From the opposition, Marcel Ciolacu, the leader of the Social Democratic Party, said Vlad Voiculescuţs dismissal came too late for many Romanians who lost their lives and ruined their health.

Covid-19 world. As many countries in Eastern Europe are faced
with the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, Bulgarian hotels and travel agencies
are worried that more and more Romanians are cancelling their Easter bookings
in the absence of clear rules for entering the country, while Israel’s tourism
and health ministries are considering opening borders for groups of foreign
tourists at the end of May, on certain conditions. In France, the government
has decided to postpone the local elections because of the pandemic and in
Austria, health minister Rudolf Anschober resigned due to exhaustion caused by
the management of the Covid crisis.

Protests. Trade unions are today staging
anti-government protests outside the government headquarters in Bucharest. They
demand a rise in the minimum wage to a decent level, fair pensions, quality
public services, unblocking collective bargaining, fair taxation and a fair
application of the law. Trade unions say they are unhappy with the measures
taken by the government and its refusal to engage in social dialogue and demand
its resignation. The gendarmerie recalls that a maximum of 100 persons are
allowed to take part in public demonstrations under the current coronavirus
restrictions and have recommended protesters to respect the hygiene and
physical distancing rules in place and wear facemasks. The demonstration, which
is organised by several trade unions, is split into different groups so as to
comply with the restrictions.

Gymnastics. Six Romanian gymnasts, three female
and three male, are taking part in the European Artistic Gymnastics
Championships hosted by Basel between 21st and 25th April,
the Romanian Gymnastics Federation has announced. Romania is pursuing two goals
at these championships: to have two more gymnasts qualified for the Olympic Games, one in the
men’s and one in the women’s events, and win medals in the individual and team
competitions. Only two Romanian gymnasts have so far booked their tickets for
the Tokyo Olympics: Marian Drăgulescu, in the men’s vault competition, and
Maria Holbură in the women’s all-around event. (CM)

14 April 2021
Education for health in Romania

The National Statistics Institute has as of late made
public a series of worrying data. Accordingly, of the reported 200,000 births
in 2019, more than 700 have placed girls younger than 15 center-stage. Almost
18,000 of those births have been by mothers aged 15 to 19. Under
the circumstances, at the level of the European Union, nearly a quarter, 23 per
cent, of the underage mothers are from Romania. Such statistics should not come
as a surprise, though. They confirm the occurrence of a plight the Romanian
society has had to face for quite some time now. One of the causes of that
plight is the lack of sexual education, even though it has been included in an
optional course labeled Education for health. The course has been taught for
many years now, as early as the 1st grade. Optional courses are
taught by teachers, but in certain cases such courses are taught by specialists
working for several non-governmental organizations, NGOs. Youngsters for
youngsters is one such organization. For almost 30 years now, Youngsters for Youngsters
has been involved in promoting education for health among the pupils of
Romania. Adina Manea is the president of Youngsters for Youngsters.

Adina Manea:

If we speak about the programs run by ‘Youngsters for Youngsters’ , we work with high school pupils for the clear
reason that we need to cover such a shortage in our national education system.
In high school, at the age of 15, 16, 17 or thereabouts, statistics at national
level has revealed that for many years now that is the age when adolescents
begin their sex life, so it is important for them to know all these things
before they start having sex. But we also speak to them about self-knowledge
and communication, we speak about values, about decisions, about responsible
patterns of behavior, about how we communicate…Then we broach the issue of
contraception and obviously, the HIV prevention and what happens with the
AIDS-related issues.

The law has taken effect since 2014, yet the number of
those who took that Educ Health, Education for Health, course is still very
limited. For instance, in 2019, a mere 140,000 pupils, that is 4.6% of the
number of pupils all told, registered for the course. And also in 2019, an
initiative to change Law 272 of 2004 on the protection and promotion of child’s
rights was presented before Parliament. By and large, changes pertain to
replacing the notion of sexual education with that of sanitary education..
The prospective changes to the law also stipulate that the parents’ and the
children’s legal representative’s consent be mandatory, so that schools can run
sanitary education programs. Both these changes are in no way auspicious, or at
least that’s what some of the civil society representatives believe.

Adina Manea:

Introducing such a phrase, ‘the
parents’ mandatory consent’ in a child law is an issue of overregulation. The
Education Ministry, for everything happening in school, has specific
methodologies regulating everything. Both the curriculum pertaining to the core
stuff, that is the mandatory disciplines, and the optional ones, such as the
Educ Health. This optional Education-for-health course is taught by members of
the teaching staff, it is not being taught by people from outside the system.
Yet at the same time, school are entitled to carry their own protocols with
non-governmental organizations they check, they know and which they trust. All
that entails the parents’ consent since nobody from outside the school can
teach there without the parents’ consent.

Adina Manea, alongside other representatives of the
civil society, also shares the opinion that the label sanitary education has no longer been in use
in Romanian for quite a long time now. Yet there’s more to it than that. The
courses and activities Youngsters for youngsters run in schools are not
limited to the basics of reproduction alone, they tackle such topics as
pregnancy and infection prevention, these are pieces of information that could
also be useful for the parents.

Adina Manea:

According to statistics, we can see
that in Romania, the adults, that is children’s or pupils’ parents, could
benefit from such courses as they do not know enough information they can dispatch
to their children. A possible hindrance of that is the fact that such kind of
education is basically run the family. Which is fine! It should be done in the
family quite all right! But there where the family doesn’t know how to do that,
is unable to do it or simply doesn’t exist, what are we supposed to do?

But there where the family does exist and gets involved
in the pupil’s life, what is the parents’ take on this issue, that of replacing
sexual education with another phrase, sanitary education ?Iulian Cristache is the
president of the Parents’ Association Federation.

Iulian Cristache:

It is true that such a label has
prompted parents to be reluctant, which includes us, the Parents’ Association
Federation, sharing the belief that it would better to speak about education
for health which should indeed included a sexual education module. No doubt
about it, sexual education must be there, yet it should be taught, of course,
according to the pupil’s age. Teaching sexual education in primary school is
one thing, doing that for the middle school is something different, while
teaching it in high-school is a totally different thing. But all things
considered, we definitely need sexual education because we have a lot of girl
children with children. Sadly we are at the top of the table in Europe as
regards this chapter as well and we really need that kind of education.

As for the legislative change initiative, the Parents’ Association Federation has not been invited to take part in consultations.

Iulian Cristache:

We haven’t been co-opted. I
purposefully turned up for the parliamentary commission, so we were there. Our
take on that is known, we sent a written version of it and we had press
releases of that. They didn’t want us there but we did go there, still. You
know what they say; If you don’t want us, we want you.. We only did our duty,
from this point of view. All thigs considered, it’s true there is some sort of
reluctance to that, since there are a great many parents who deem sexual
education a taboo topic, which is in no way normal.

According to the Parents’ Association Federation, the
current Education-for-health optional course ought to be encouraged to a much
greater extent.

Iulian Cristache:

Unfortunately, if parents are not
informed about that and if the principal continues to view the optional courses
simply as a means to add up to the teaching load for part of the staff, then
there’s nothing we can do about it. The key prerequisite is to consider, when
it comes to education for health, taking that sexual education module. We have
examined the curriculum, and saw it was very well adapted to suit the current
needs. So I don’t think changes that still need to be made are substantial any
more. And speaking about the new project, yes, the teaching staff should indeed
include professionals capable of teaching these things. There are the Biology
teachers, but there should also be trained nurses, there should also be
physicians from the family planning offices. We do need professionals, so much
so that information should be correctly dispatched without however being
distorted.

At present, the initiative to change Law 272 of 2004
has been again sent to Parliament. We recall the President has refused to
promulgate it.

24 March 2021
Protests and the reform of the healthcare system

Neglected for too many years, the Romanian medical system needs to be reformed. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed even more glaringly the systems shortcomings: underfunding, insufficient beds for patients, inadequate conditions, under-staffing. That is why, on Monday, almost 100 representatives of the Sanitas trade union federation gathered in front of the government building to protest and cry out their discontentment.

The trade unionists accuse the authorities of indifference to the systems problems and are asking for pay rises and leveling inequities and also for unblocking the hiring process. They are also asking for a national strategy of investments in the healthcare system.

Aurelia Constantin, the vice-president of the Sfanta Maria Hospital Organization was among the protesters: “Fortunately, I am working in a well-equipped hospital, but there are hospitals in Romania where no investments whatsoever have been made in 30 years”.

In turn, Viorel Huşanu from Sanitas Bucharest pointed out that: “We are understaffed, we need more personnel to take care of the COVID-19 patients at least, because everyone knows that you need special equipment for the COVID-19 patients and you spend 4 hours at the most in that hazmat suit.”

Viorel Huşanu criticizes the authorities for doing nothing all these years for the healthcare system, and so people are dying. He referred to the recent tragedies that have occurred in several hospitals from Romania. A fire broke out last November at the intensive care unit of the Emergency Hospital in Piatra Neamt (in the northeast) that was followed by last weeks fire at the most modern infectious diseases hospital in Romania, Matei Bals from Bucharest.

In both incidents patients burned to death! The tragedy at Matei Bals hospital made the opposition parties PSD — the Social Democratic Party and AUR – the Alliance for the Union of Romanians to ask for the resignation of the current health minister, Vlad Voiculescu who has announced several measures.

Vlad Voiculescu: “We will try to render the personnel scheme more flexible and revise the personnel norms, especially in the sections where COVID-19 patients are being treated. This is an emergency. We will create the national fund for patients safety in hospitals. This means a fund dedicated for certain actions, for investments and also for separate funding of certain types of maintenance. These issues are still under debate.”

The health minister also says they will accelerate the projects for building regional hospitals in Iasi (northeast), Cluj (northwest) and Craiova (south). (tr. L. Simion)

2 February 2021
A European biodiversity strategy

The coronavirus pandemic will probably be followed by even more deadly and destructive epidemics, unless we put an end to their root cause—the endemic destruction of the natural world.

The warning comes from world-famed biodiversity experts, who argue that “the recent pandemics are a direct consequence of human activity, particularly of our global financial and economic systems, which seek economic growth at all costs. We have a small window of opportunity to overcome the challenges of this crisis, so as to avoid sawing the seeds of future ones”.

Professors Josef Settele, Sandra Diaz and Eduardo Brondizio coordinated the largest health assessment project ever conducted, whose findings were made public in 2019 by Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Their conclusion is that human society is in danger because of the accelerated decline of Terra’s natural life support systems.

In an article published recently together with Peter Daszak, Ph.D, who is working on the next health assessment, they warn that “Rampant deforestation, uncontrolled agricultural expansion, intensive farming, mining and the exploitation of wild species have created a ‘perfect storm’ for the spillover of diseases.”

Researchers say the economic recovery packages in the trillions of US dollars, made available by governments, must be used to strengthen and enforce environment protection and that a global, unified, ‘One Health’ approach is required. Because “Human health is inextricably linked to the health of wild animals, the health of domestic animals and the health of the environment. It is, in fact, one health”.

“The coronavirus crisis showed us how vulnerable we are and how important it is to recover the balance between human activity and nature, the executive vice-president for the European Green Deal Frans Timmermans says in his turn.

In May, the European Commission adopted 2 new strategies, one focusing on biodiversity and the other on the food system. The new biodiversity strategy stipulates, among other things, that by 2030, 30% of Europe’s land and sea will be turned into efficiently managed protected areas, and at least 10% of the utilised agriculture land will include diverse landscapes such as hedges, trees and ponds that enhance carbon sequestration, prevent soil erosion and water depletion.

Adopted amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the strategy is a central element of the EU’s recovery plan, essential to preventing future epidemics and strengthening resilience to possible epidemics, Frans Timmermans explains.

Another strategy adopted by the Commission, “Farm to Fork”, provides for a 50% cut in the use of pesticides, a minimum 20% reduction in the use of fertilisers, a 50% reduction of sales of antimicrobials used in animal farms and fisheries, as well as for 25% of the agriculture land to be farmed organically.

The strategy targets a new, better balance between nature, food systems and biodiversity, to protect the health and welfare of our citizens and at the same time to increase the Union’s competitiveness and resilience, Frans Timmermans also says.

The 2 strategies reinforce each other, bringing together nature, farmers, enterprises and consumers to create a sustainable and competitive future. According to Brussels, under the European Green Deal, the EU launches ambitious actions and commitments to fight the decline of biodiversity in Europe and worldwide and to turn our food systems into global benchmarks for competitive sustainability, the protection of human and planetary health, as well as for the subsistence means of all stakeholders in the food value chain.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

21 August 2020
The Romanian Healthcare System under Pressure

When the pandemic started, Romania was not ready to deal with
such a major health crisis like the one triggered by the new coronavirus and
state authorities have all admitted that. It took a great deal of conceptual
and logistical effort to keep the situation under control. An important role
was to be played by Unifarm, the state-owned company that manages the purchase
of most medical supplies for hospitals in Romania.

People found out on Tuesday
that the company’s director, Adrian Ionel, was placed under judicial control by
anti-corruption prosecutors, on charges of bribery to award a contract for the procurement of surgical masks and protective overalls during the pandemic. The
solicited amount allegedly stood at some 760,000 Euro. For this promised money,
Ionel allegedly signed a contract for the purchase of 250,000 overalls and 3
million surgical masks with a Turkish company. Prosecutors accuse him of
personally negotiating the terms of the contract with a person who was not the
official representative of the supplier company.

Moreover, the contract was allegedly awarded
in violation of all legal procedures in March, when the state of emergency had
not been declared yet. When the first tranche of one million masks arrived,
they were found to be non-compliant, and the Unifarm director unilaterally decided to terminate the contract. Anti-corruption prosecutors cannot say
whether he did so because the masks were non-compliant or because the Turkish
company did not pay a single euro of the promised bribe.

Adrian Ionel claims he has evidence to support his innocence.
As if that weren’t enough, the investigation revealed that, for almost four
years, he had illegally held the position of General Manager of Unifarm, thus
collecting salaries totaling almost half a million lei (over 100,000 thousand
euros). The control body of the Health Minister has been carrying out checks at
Unifarm, including with regard to the acquisitions made to fight the new virus.

The still large number of daily cases is a serious test of
the resilience of the medical system. The number of patients in intensive care
has also increased slightly, and many hospitals are announcing that they no
longer have spare beds and can no longer cope with hospital admissions. In order
to reduce the pressure on hospitals, the discharge criteria for the Covid-19 patients
have been changed. Thus, the asymptomatic will be able to leave the hospital
after ten days, under certain conditions.

Against this background, talks about a new stage of easing
restrictions are increasingly anemic. Instead, there have been rumors of potentially
reinstating quarantine in the counties where the number of cases of infection
has increased significantly. The Government says it is not considering such a
measure at the moment, but does not rule it out if there is a strong community
spread in a certain locality or neighborhood, said the Minister of Health,
Nelu Tataru. (M.Ignatescu)

24 June 2020
April 20, 2020

EASTER In Romania, Orthodox and Greek Catholic Christians are celebrating the second day of Easter, Bright Monday. On this day, the same religious service is performed in churches as the one on Easter night. Believers can only attend Mass online, as their presence in churches is restricted over the COVID-19 pandemic. On the other hand, hundreds of people have been fined by police over the past 2 days, for breaking the measures introduced by authorities to contain the virus. In some cases, violent clashes were reported, with police resorting to their weapons in order to end the scuffles.

COVID-19 The coronavirus pandemic has killed 451 people in Romania so far, out of a total of nearly 9,000 cases, 190 of them confirmed in the last 24 hours. Over 2,000 people have recovered. Over 1,000 healthcare personnel have so far tested positive for Covid-19, most of them in Suceava (north-east), the main outbreak in the country, and in Bucharest. According to the Healthcare Minister Nelu Tătaru, Romania is seeing an upward trend in terms of new infections, but the increase is slow. As many as 60 Romanian nationals living abroad died since the pandemic started, out of 730 that tested positive for the COVID-19, most of them in Italy and Spain.

AID Romania will receive 800,000 USD in medical assistance from the US, in addition to the US-financed transport operation that brought protection equipment to the country, the US Embassy to Bucharest announced in a news release. Ambassador Adrian Zuckerman emphasised the close relations between the 2 countries and voiced confidence that, thanks to the cooperation between the 2 partner countries, the challenges of this period will be successfully overcome. The announcement comes shortly after an Easter message sent by the American Ambassador in Romanian on the occasion of the Orthodox Easter.

PANDEMIC There are over 2.4 million confirmed COVID-19 cases around the world, according to data centralised by the Johns Hopkins University in the US. More than 165,000 people died, and nearly 630,000 recovered. The US continues to report the highest numbers of cases and deaths, and in Europe the worst hit countries are Italy, Spain, France and the UK. Italy already sees the 6th week of lockdown. According to Radio Romanias correspondent in Rome, people will only be allowed to leave their homes in 14 days, if the daily number of new cases drops. At present Italy reports around 3,000 new cases and some 400 deaths every day. As of May 4, construction sites, shops, bars and restaurants will gradually open. Spain and France decided to postpone the lifting of containment measures for a few weeks, but in other EU countries measures are already being eased, the BBC reports. On Monday Poland reopens parks and forests and Norway opens kindergartens. The Czech Republic allows outdoor food markets to resume operation and in Albania the mining and oil industry are back to work. Also on Monday Germany reopens a number of small-sized shops, and the students due to take final exams this year go back to school. Last week Germany announced that the number of new cases is falling and that the epidemic is under control.

OIL US oil prices dropped by around 20% on Monday, to less than 15 USD, the lowest level since March 1999, as the Covid-19 pandemic deepened uncertainties in the global market and cut the demand for fuel, while onshore storage capacities in Europe are maxing out. In its report for April, the International Energy Agency estimated that the global oil demand might fall in 2020 by a record 9.3 million barrels a day, as the pandemic paralyses the worlds economy.

STATISTICS The EU reported a 22.4 billion euro surplus in trade, as against 16.4 billion euros in the corresponding period of 2019, according to preliminary data made public on Monday by the European Statistics Institute, Eurostat. As for Romania, data shows that in January – February 2020, exports rose by 2%, to 11.6 billion euro, while imports went up 3%, to 14.2 billion euro, resulting in a 2.6 billion euro deficit in the first 2 months of the year compared to 2.5 billion euro in the corresponding period of 2019.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

20 April 2020
February 29, 2020 UPDATE

COVID19 Romania has 3 confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection, with the patients current state reported as good. Another 52 people are quarantined across the country, and 8,796 are under home monitoring. The healthcare authorities in the counties Timiş in the west and Maramureş in the north-west are running investigations to establish the people who were in contact with the 2 persons who tested positive for the coronavirus on Friday. Both of them had travelled to Italy recently. The first patient in Romania, a 25 year old man from Gorj County, in the south, is feeling well, and Fridays tests came out negative, doctors say. If the next test is also negative, the patient will be discharged. In Europe, Italy remains the most affected country. As the epidemic spread, stock exchanges across the world reported total losses of over 5 trillion US dollars. The BBC says the US financial markets have not been hit so hard since the 2008 financial crisis. Investors fear that the growing number of coronavirus cases outside China may turn the disease into a pandemic.

AFGHANISTAN Romania welcomes Saturdays agreement signed by the USA and the Taliban for the normalisation of the situation in Afghanistan, as well as the joint declaration between Washington and Kabul for bringing peace to Afghanistan, the Romanian foreign ministry announced. Romania voices confidence that full implementation of these agreements will lead to stability in Afghanistan. According to the foreign ministry, Bucharest will continue to support the efforts to ensure peace and security in Afghanistan, coordinating with its NATO allies. The US and the Taliban Saturday signed in Doha, Qatar, a historic agreement that paves the way for the withdrawal of all American troops from Afghanistan in the next 14 months and for inter-Afghan peace negotiations after 18 years of war.

EUROVISION Buzau, in the south-east of the country, is hosting on Sunday the national final for the Eurovision Song Contest. The public and a specialised jury will choose the song to be performed in the 2020 Rotterdam international competition by Romanias representative, Roxen. Several pieces have been written for her, and the best 5 of them are in the national final. Roxen gained popularity last summer with her song You Dont Love Me, aired in France, Mexico, the USA, Russia, Spain, Greece, Switzerland, Turkey, Kazakhstan and Estonia. Roxen will compete in the Eurovision first semi-final on May 12, with the final scheduled for May 16.

MIGRANTS Greece prevented 4,000 migrants to enter its territory “illegally from Turkey, a spokesman for the Greek government announced on Saturday after an emergency meeting chaired by PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis, AFP and Reuters report. On Friday, the country faced a mass, organised and illegal border crossing attempt, but it managed to overcome it, the government spokesperson explained. He added that Greece protected its borders and the borders of the EU. Also on Saturday, in an address in Istanbul, Turkeys president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country will open its borders to enable migrants to leave, and criticised the EU for not helping Ankara enough. Turkey says it was forced to ease border controls for the refugees trying to reach the EU from Turkey, because of the pressure of the refugees coming from Syria amid clashes in the rebel stronghold of Idlib.

RUSSIA Thousands of Russian opposition supporters gathered in Moscow on Saturday to protest the constitutional reforms initiated by president Vladimir Putin and to pay tribute to opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, murdered 5 years ago near Kremlin, AFP reports. In Sankt-Petersburg, nearly 2,000 people rallied in the centre of the city. The authorised march is the first important public gathering since Putin announced a Constitution review set to strengthen the role of the president and of the State Council. The killing of Boris Nemtsov in February 2015 had huge echoes in Russia and abroad. Nemtsov was in the middle of an investigation into the involvement of the Russian Army in the east Ukraine war.

HANDBALL Romanias womens handball champions, CSM Ramnicu Valcea, Saturday defeated the Swedish side Savehof, 28-20 at home, in the Champions League Main Group 2. In Main Group 1 in the same competition, vice-champions CSM Bucharest play away from home on Sunday against the French team Metz. The Romanian teams are ranking 4th in their respective groups and CSM is the only one having secured a place in the quarter-finals. In mens handball, champions Dinamo Bucharest take on Sporting Lisbon, on Sunday night, after a 26-25 win away from home. If they go past the Portuguese team, Dinamo move into the Champions League round of 16.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

29 February 2020