Radio România Internațional

Tag: monkeypox

September 29, 2022 UPDATE

ENERGY Romania will not be facing glitches in natural gas and
electricity supplies, the state secretary with the Energy Ministry Dan Drăgan promised
on Thursday. At the time, Romania has 80% of its natural gas storage facilities
full, and hopefully the figure will be close to 90% in early November, he added.
The official also called for solidarity between the authorities, producers and
consumers, in line with the efforts made at EU level.

PRICE CAPS Diesel and petrol prices will
continue to be subsidised by roughly 10 eurocents until the end of the year, PM
Nicolae Ciucă announced on Thursday. He said the measure has already produced
visible results over the past 3 months, and fuel prices have been stabilised
and even decreased. Moreover, the measure has yielded results throughout the
supply chain, from providers to consumers. The PM added that on Saturday he
would take part, alongside several other senior officials, including the
president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, in the opening of
the natural gas interconnector between Greece and Bulgaria, in Sofia.

MONKEYPOX Romania is requesting support in managing a monkeypox
outbreak. The National Committee for Emergency Situations Thursday decided to
resort to the European civil protection mechanism for the medicines needed for
approximately 150 patients. Romania has so far confirmed 40 cases, and in
mid-September the country received from the European Commission 5,000 monkeypox
vaccine doses, to be administered to those who get into contact with infected
people.

NATO NATO’s importance in countries’ national security has greatly
increased in the eyes of the public from 14 European and North-American
countries, according to a survey conducted by the German Marshall Fund made
public on Thursday. The EU is also regarded as very important for the national
security of countries in Europe. 78% of respondents said NATO is very important
for their country’s security, as against only 67% last year. Respondents in
countries near Russia and Ukraine place a particularly high value on NATO: 91%
of Poles, 88% of Romanians and 87% of Lithuanians, the report says. Also, 81%
of the European respondents said the EU is important for national security.

UKRAINE Russia’s president Vladimir Putin is to sign on Friday the
treaties on the annexation of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk,
Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, the Kremlin announced. The leaders of the 4 breakaway
regions travelled to Moscow on Wednesday night for the ceremony, after the
illegal referendums organised by Russia and described by both Kyiv and Western
capitals as a sham. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is
to hold an emergency meeting of top security and defence officials on Friday. The
US announced plans, jointly with its allies and partners, to impose higher
economic costs on Russia, while the European Commission proposed new sanctions. On the other hand, clashes continue to be reported in all the regions
where the referendums were held, and several Ukrainian localities are being
shelled. According to the Ukrainian defence ministry, the army focuses on
regaining control over the entire Donetsk region. (AMP)

29 September 2022
June 13, 2022 UPDATE

COMMEMORATION On Monday, when Romania commemorated 32
years since the miners’ raid on Bucharest, over June 13th and 15th,
the country’s Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca conveyed a message saying that the
civil society’s marathon-demonstration against neo-communism was stifled by
instigating Romanians against Romanians. The Romanian society must never become
victim to diversions and false propaganda, the head of the Romanian government
says. 32 years ago responding to a call from the then authorities, miners from
the Jiu Valley in central-western Romania brutally intervened against the
peaceful anti-government protesters in downtown Bucharest. Four people were
shot dead and over 1,000 wounded along with a series of abusive arrests. The
file on the miners’ raid, under which the country’s then President Ion Iliescu,
former Prime Minister Petre Roman and Virgil Magureanu, the former head of the
country’s intelligence service, had been sent to court must be resumed from
scratch after the indictment was considered null and void.

MEETING Romanian president Klaus Iohannis will be attending a
low-scale meeting aimed at preparing the upcoming NATO summit. The meeting is
being staged by the Dutch and Danish Prime Ministers and will be attended by
the Prime Ministers of Belgium, Latvia, Poland and Portugal as well as by NATO
Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Participants will be focusing on
coordinating the positions and joint messages of the allied countries ahead of
the NATO summit in Madrid late this month. Talks are expected to focus on the
situation in Ukraine, the consolidation of the deterrence & defence posture
on NATO’s eastern flank, the alliance’s new strategic concept and the accession
prospects of Sweden and Finland.

MONKEYPOX Romania announced its first case of monkeypox on Monday, a
26 year old man in Bucharest. Monkeypox cannot be spread easily among humans and
needs close body contact. The rash, bodily fluids (such as fluid, pus or
blood from skin lesions) and scabs are particularly infectious. The main way in
which one can get the disease is through long physical contact with an infected
person.

WAR Amnesty
International has accused Russia of war crimes in Ukraine, claiming that
hundreds of civilians have been killed in merciless frag bomb attacks against
the city of Kharkiv, AFP reports. After thorough investigations, this human
rights NGO claims it found evidence that the Russian forces had used widely-banned cluster ammunition. People
have been killed in their homes and in the streets, in playgrounds and in
cemeteries, while queueing for humanitarian aid, or shopping for food and
medicine, says an Amnesty International’s Senior Crisis Response Advisor.
While Russia is not a party to either the Convention on Cluster Munitions or the Convention
on Anti-Personnel Mines, international
humanitarian law prohibits indiscriminate attacks, and the use of weapons that
are indiscriminate by nature.

REFUGEES Roughly
7,000 Ukrainian citizens entered Romania through its border checkpoints on
Sunday, June 12th, 26% less than in the previous day, the Border Police General
Inspectorate has announced. Since the onset of the conflict in Ukraine, roughly
1.2 million Ukrainian citizens have entered Romania.

COVID-19 Romania is no longer providing COVID-19 infection reports
on a daily basis, but weekly. According to Health Minister Alexandru Rafila,
the reports will be just like in the case of season flu, as the spreading
degree of the virus is very low at present and on a downward trend. The number
of people in need of hospital treatment is also going down. The health minister
said that authorities won’t go back to daily monitoring unless the situation
worsens. Last week, Romania reported 2,112 new infections with 51 patients in
ICUs. 21 related fatalities have also been reported for the period between June
6 and 12.

TENNIS Romanian tennis player Simona
Halep on Monday secured a 6-1, 6-4 win against Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine in the
first round of the WTA 250 Birmingham tournament. Another Romanian in the
competition, sixth-seeded Sorana Cirstea will be playing US challenger Shelby
Rogers on Tuesday.

(bill)

13 June 2022
May 26, 2022 UPDATE

EUROPEAN
COUNCIL – Romania’s president, Klaus Iohannis, on Thursday talked to
European Council president, Charles Michel, about the main points on the agenda
of the extraordinary European Council summit to be held on Monday and Tuesday.
Ahead of the European Council meeting on May 30-31, I exchanged views with
European Council president, Charles Michel, regarding the main points on the
summit’s agenda: humanitarian and financial assistance to Ukraine, food
security, energy, security and defense, the Romanian president tweeted.

AFRICA DAY
– The Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs hailed the celebration of Africa Day
on May 25, a symbol of African unity and the importance of this continent
globally. This year, the African Union has set as theme for the day
‘Strengthening resilience in nutrition and food security on the African
continent’. The issue is all the more important in the context of Russia’s
illegal, unjustified and unprovoked aggression against Ukraine, which has
complex consequences, including from the perspective of food security, for many
states in various regions of the world, many close partners of Romania and the
European Union, the Romanian Foreign Ministry has said. In this context, the
diplomacy in Bucharest reiterates the call for solidarity, cooperation and
coordination, which must be assumed by the entire international community and
by all UN member states, in order to ensure global food security and thus
respect universal human rights. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recalls that,
in the last weeks, as a result of the war in Ukraine, the Romanian port of
Constanta, on the Black Sea, has become one of the main gateways for the
transport of Ukrainian cereals to third markets. To date, more than 240,000 tons
of grain have been exported from Ukraine via Constanta.

MONKEYPOX
– The number of confirmed cases of monkeypox worldwide rose to 219 on Wednesday
outside the West and Central African countries where the disease is endemic,
according to a report published by the European Center for Disease Prevention
and Control (ECDC). 19 countries where the disease is uncommon, mostly in
Europe, have reported at least one confirmed case. Ranking first in terms of
confirmed cases are the United Kingdom, Spain and Portugal. Most of the
cases were detected in young men, self-identifying as men who have sex with
men. There’s been no death, said the Stockholm-based European agency.
Monekypox is a less dangerous variant of smallpox, which was eradicated some
forty years ago. There are no specific treatments or vaccines for monkeypox,
but the multiplication of cases can be stopped by vaccination against smallpox.

PNRR -
Next week, Romania is expected to submit to the European Commission the first
funding request under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) worth 3
billion EUR. In Thursday’s meeting, the Government adopted the last piece of
legislation needed in this process, namely a mechanism that will be implemented
to prevent the mismanagement of these funds. Minister for European Funds,
Marcel Boloș, said any offenses will be punished under the law. Also on
Thursday, the Government decided to extend BA programmes for arts academic
programmes to four years, and has earmarked the necessary funds allowing
universities to hold classes online as well. Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă
presented a report of his Cabinet’s first six months in office, arguing that it
is gradually achieving its objectives. The Prime Minister said Romania has the
biggest economic growth rate at EU level, and over 90 billion EUR available
for development and modernization. He pointed out investments are the top
concern, and that the government has increased its EU fund absorption rate by
7%. USR in opposition has criticized the government, warning against urgent
measures that need to be taken to ensure economic recovery.

DODON -
Former pro-Russian president, Igor Dodon, on Thursday was put on a 30-day
pre-trial arrest, after being detained for 72 hours on Tuesday in the wake of
searches conducted at his home address. The former leader of the Party of
Socialists is suspected of passive corruption, facilitating party funding by a
criminal organization, treason and unjust enrichment.

TENNIS -
Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, former world no. 1, on Thursday was ousted
2-6, 6-2, 6-1 by China’s Qinwen Zheng in the second round at Roland Garros, a
tournament she won in 2018. Halep also played the French Open final in 2014 and
2017. Also on Thursday, Irina Begu advanced to the third round after knocking
out Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4. Another four Romanian
tennis players, Gabriela Ruse, Ana Bogdan, Irina Bara and Mihaela Buzărnescu,
were eliminated in the first round. (MI & VP)

26 May 2022
May 26, 2022

Africa Day. The Romanian Ministry of
Foreign Affairs hailed the celebration of Africa Day on May 25, a symbol of
African unity and the importance of this continent globally. This year, the
African Union has set as theme for the day ‘Strengthening resilience in nutrition
and food security on the African continent’. The issue is all the more
important in the context of Russia’s illegal, unjustified and unprovoked
aggression against Ukraine, which has complex consequences, including from the
perspective of food security, for many states in various regions of the world,
many close partners of Romania and the European Union, the Rumanian Foreign
Ministry has said. In this context, the
diplomacy in Bucharest reiterates the call for solidarity, cooperation and
coordination, which must be assumed by the entire international community and
by all UN member states, in order to ensure global food security and thus
respect universal human rights. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recalls that,
in the last weeks, as a result of the war in Ukraine, the Romanian port of Constanta,
on the Black Sea, has become one of the main gateways for the transport of
Ukrainian cereals to third markets. To date, more than 240,000 tons of grain
have been exported from Ukraine via Constanta.

Monkeypox. The number of confirmed cases
of monkeypox worldwide rose to 219 on Wednesday outside the West and Central
African countries where the disease is endemic, according to a report published
by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). 19 countries
where the disease is uncommon, mostly in Europe, have reported at least one
confirmed case. Ranking first in terms of confirmed cases are the United Kingdom, Spain and Portugal. Most
of the cases were detected in young men, self-identifying as men who have sex with
men. There’s been no death, said the
Stockholm-based European agency. Monekypox is a less dangerous variant of
smallpox , which was eradicated some forty years ago. There are no specific
treatments or vaccines for monkeypox, but the multiplication of cases can be
stopped by vaccination against smallpox.

Gas. Romania can officially start exploiting the Black
Sea gas, after the promulgation, on Wednesday, of the offshore law. According
to its provisions, the Romanian state will have priority in extracting the
deposit and will collect 60% of the profit, while investors will get 40
percent. The first extraction should start in June, through the project carried
out in Midia by the Black Sea Oil & Gas company. One of the directors of
Romgaz, a company with majority state capital, told Bloomberg that Romania
could accelerate its first drilling project in the deep waters of the Black
Sea, against the background of the natural gas crisis in Europe. Romgaz is a
partner involved in the Neptune Deep project.

PSD. The Social Democratic Party (PSD), a member of the
ruling coalition in Romania together with the National Liberal Party and the
Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, is to present today its
six-month report on Executive activity. The
Social Democrat leader, Marcel Ciolacu, has announced that PSD will present to
the Romanians an ‘honest and realistic’ image of this period. ‘We don’t want to
cosmeticize reality. We know what people’s difficulties are and what they
expect from us , Ciolacu wrote on Facebook.

Visit. On
Wednesday, Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, was received by
president Klaus Iohannis and met with Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca and the
Custodian of the Crown of Romania, Princess Margaret. He also visited a Ukrainian
refugee center. Prince Charles has been visiting Romanian for 20 years now and
he owns several properties here. He is a major promoter of Romania’s unique
heritage and biodiversity. This is his first visit in three years due to the pandemic.

Refugees. More than 9,000 Ukrainian
citizens have entered neighboring Romania in the last 24 hours, up 8.5% from
the previous day – the General Inspectorate of the Border Police has today
reported. According to an IGPF
communiqué, on Wednesday, within 24 hours, at national level, 75,907 people
entered Romania through its border crossing points, out of which 9,049
Ukrainian citizens. More than 6.6 million people have fled Ukraine since the
start of the Russian invasion three months ago.

Tennis. The best
Romanian player of the moment, Simona Halep, returns today to the arenas of the
Roland Garros Grand Slam tournament in Paris, for the second round match
against the Chinese Zheng Qinwen. The match was selected by specialized
journalists as one of the top 5 games not to be missed. Halep and Zheng have
met only once so far, in winter, at Melbourne Summer Set 1, a tournament that
the Romanian won. Also today, in the second round, Irina Begu will play against
the Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova. Romania had seven players on the main
singles table, three of whom reached the second round. Sorana Cîrstea was
already defeated, on Wednesday, by the American Sloane Stephens, 3-6, 6-2, 6-0. (MI)

26 May 2022