COVID-19 Romania — In Romania the national anti-COVID-19 vaccination campaign will be resumed on Monday, with the vaccination of the medical staff working directly with COVID-19 patients. Since the start of the vaccination campaign, on December 27, over 10 thousand people have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in Romania, with common, minor side effects having been reported in 26 cases and general reactions in 22 cases. Almost 4 thousand new cases of contamination have been reported in the past 24 hours following the processing of 15,900 tests nationwide, the Strategic Communication Group announced on Friday. Until January 1, 2021, over 636,000 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Romania, with 566,365 patients having recovered. 74 deaths have been registered in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 15,800. 1,111 patients are currently in ICUs. The number of Romanian citizens from abroad contaminated with the new coronavirus reached 7,063 and 130 have died from the disease.
Brexit – As of January 1, 2021 the UK is no longer part of the EU. The UK’s new status brings about major changes in the relation between the UK and the EU. The most important changes concern the European citizens who want to work and study in the UK. 4 million EU citizens are living in the UK of whom almost 600,000 are Romanians. The great majority of EU citizens have asked for and received the right to stay in the UK after Brexit, which means that their rights are protected. The situation is different for those European citizens who intend to move to the UK in the future. Those who want to work in the UK will need a visa. Visas will be paid for and will be granted according to certain criteria. The Romanian and European students who want to study in the UK starting with the next academic year will also need visas and tuition fees will be considerably higher. The EU citizens who want to visit the UK as tourists do not need a visa if their stay is not longer than 6 months. The people who received criminal sentences higher than one year in prison may be denied entry into the UK as of January 1.
EU presidency – Portugal took over the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union from Germany on January 1. Its main objectives are to prepare for the post-Covid-19 recovery and to complete the procedures aimed at implementing the Resilience and Recovery Facility. Lisbon will focus on five major domains: social Europe, green Europe, digital Europe, global Europe and resilient Europe. The social agenda will be at the top of the list of priorities, as a main pillar of the European response to COVID-19. Other issues on the agenda of the Portuguese presidency are the EUs relationship with the UK after Brexit, gender equality, the fight against discrimination, poverty and social exclusion and the protection of vulnerable groups.
New Year celebrations — The whole world celebrated the New Year in the context of the new coronavirus pandemic. Open air parties were cancelled and people stayed at home, observing the quarantine or restrictive measures imposed by the authorities in a move to stop the spread of the disease. Many traditional events on the New Year such as fireworks shows and concerts were broadcast online. The first to welcome the new year 2021 with fireworks shows were the inhabitants of the island countries of Kiribati and Samoa in the Pacific Ocean followed by New Zealand and Australia where the traditional fireworks shows took place without spectators. In Europe, most people stayed at home and watched TV while in the US 2020 the year of the pandemic ended in the spirit of the past 10 months, with restrictions, social distancing and bans on any kind of meeting or gathering. Romanians also missed the traditional New Year open air concerts. Most Romanians welcomed the New Year at home while others chose to travel. In the country, the top destinations for the New Year parties were the resorts on the Prahova Valley (south) and in Maramures county (north), Bukovina (northeast), the Black Sea Coast and the Danube Delta. As regards foreign destinations, Romanians chose the Maldives and Zanzibar.
Energy – As of January 1, 2021 Romanias electricity market has been liberalized, which means that prices are no longer set by the state, but on the stock exchange. As compared to the gas market liberalization as of July 1, 2020, when consumers benefited from better prices, the energy market liberalization will bring about higher bills which might increase by up to 26% for certain consumers. Analysts accuse the authorities of having mismanaged the situation, by failing to inform the population properly. Before liberalization there were approximately six million household consumers on the regulated market in Romania that benefited from the lowest prices on the market, but after January 1, unless they sign a new contract with a supplier, they risk being automatically transferred by the current supplier on a universal service contract, which is the most expensive on the market. According to an analysis made by the Smart Energy Association, active consumers, namely those who got informed and signed a contract with a supplier, will have their energy bills increased by an average 5%. On the other hand, passive consumers that did sign a new contract will pay energy bills higher by 26%.
Messages — The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis thanked the Romanian citizens in the traditional New Years message for the effort they made in 2020, a year marked by the COVID-19 pandemic. Klaus Iohannis underlined that the entire country is looking with hope and confidence to the New Year 2021. The Prime Minister Florin Cîţu has promised Romanians that the government will do its best to re-launch the economy this year, after 2020, a difficult year for the country. The Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Liberal Ludovic Orban, has said in his New Years message that 2020 was perhaps the hardest year in Romanias recent history, but that he hopes that by mid-2021 vaccination will end the pandemic. The Speaker of the Senate, Anca Dragu, has stated, in her New Years message posted on her social media page, that she wants 2021 to be a year of recovery, when they are going to start to rebuild a better Romania ‘for us and the future generations’. Praying together, being kind and cooperating in doing good deeds can work wonders, turning fear into courage and hope, said the Patriarch of the majority Romanian Orthodox Church, Daniel, at the religious service held to mark the New Year. (tr. and update by L. Simion)