Radio România Internațional

Tag: Orban

October 2, 2020 UPDATE

COVID-19 2,343 new Covid-19 infections and 53 fatalities
have been reported in Romania in the past 24 hours. 571 patients are in
intensive care units. 132 thousand infections have been confirmed in Romania
since the beginning of the pandemic and a death toll of 4,915. The high number
of infections has prompted the country’s Prime Minister Ludovic Orban to call
for daily checking on the observance of safety regulations. Orban has recalled
that in the places where the infection rate exceeds 1.5 cases per thousand in the past 14 days, any activity in bars,
restaurants and other indoor institutions will cease until the situation
improves. 338 education units in Romania are offering online courses as over
770 children have been confirmed infected in the past week, according to data
announced by the country’s Health Minister Nelu Tataru.

MEETING Romania’s
president Klaus Iohannis on Thursday and Friday attended the European Council
proceedings in Brussels. High on the agenda were talks over the Single Market,
the industrial policy and the latest developments in the digital field as well
as foreign policy issues such as the situation in Eastern Mediterranean, the
relations with China and Belarus, the attempted murder on Alexei Navalny and
the latest developments in Nagorno-Karabakh. The EU leaders briefly tackled the
EU-UK talks. Also high on the agenda was the need for an effective coordination
at European level in terms of safety measures against the present pandemic, the
access to medicine and efforts to come up with a vaccine a.s.a.p, the
preservation of the interior market and the national economies. According to
Iohannis, a consolidated interior market is aimed at increasing the EU’s
strategic autonomy and reducing its dependence on third parties. He highlighted
the need for a through development of the physical and digital infrastructure,
essential aspects for raising the level of convergence and cohesion among the member
countries. Iohannis also highlighted the social dimension of the single market
against the present pandemic background. He also reiterated solidarity with
Cyprus and Greece and hailed the beginning of talks between Greece and Turkey
pleading for solutions through dialogue to the present situation. President
Iohannis has highlighted the need for a balanced and constructive approach of
the EU-Turkey talks.

PANDEMIC The global number of Covid-19 infections
has reached 34.5 million cases, while some 1.02 million people have died. Over
25.6 million people have recovered, the worldometers.info website reads. In
Brazil there are nearly 145,000 deaths and over 4.8 million confirmed
infections, making it the second-most affected country in the world after the
United States. The US President Donald Trump announced on Twitter that both
himself and his wife, the First Lady, Melania Trump, have tested positive for
COVID-19. In Israel, the infection rate stands at 13% of the total number of
people tested. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the current mobility
restrictions introduced at national level aren’t paying out, so the authorities
are planning on introducing new measures to prevent the disease from spreading.
In Europe major cities in Spain but also the capital city of France will
further tighten health safety measures as of Monday. Even a viable vaccine
against the coronavirus won’t be able to get life back to its normal track next
spring, British scientists have warned. Over 200 vaccines against COVID-19 are
being developed by scientists around the world at unprecedented speed, the BBC
reports.

TENNIS Romanian tennis player Simona Halep on Friday outperformed US
challenger Amanda Anisimova in the third round of the Grand Slam tournament in
Roland Garros. Halep, champion in Paris in 2018 will be up against Iga Swiatek
of Poland in the competition’s next round. Also on Friday, Romanians Patricia
Tig and Andreea Mitu outperformed the Russian-Italian pair Varvara
Gracheva/Jasmine Paolini. The Romanian-Japanese pair Monica Niculescu/Misaki
Doi lost to Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia.

(bill)

2 October 2020
Tougher sanctions for violating restrictions

The number of people infected with the new coronavirus is growing daily in Romania. Health Minister Nelu Tătaru says this growth was not caused by the beginning of school on September 14 or the local elections held on September 27, as strict rules were observed on the voting day and are being observed when children are at school. The problems emerge, in his opinion, when children are away from school, in the means of transport or in their free time.

Over the past week, almost 270 children up to the age of 9 and around 500 children aged 10 to 19 have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the health minister said. The big number of COVID-19 cases reported in the past days prompted the PM Ludovic Orban to ask for daily checks on the observance of health protection measures by the line authorities. According to the PM, in the context of resuming almost all activities in normal conditions, social interaction has intensified, and people no longer observe rules strictly, which risks taking the number of contaminations to sky-high levels.

The PM has asked the interior, transport, labor and healthcare ministers to prepare a plan with clear-cut actions aimed at implementing the heath protection rules. Ludovic Orban reminded that the government’s objective is to reduce the number of COVID-19 cases and this can only be done through daily checks.

PM Orban has called on the county committees for emergency situations to get more involved in implementing the legal measures adopted by the authorities in the context of the new coronavirus pandemic. He had added that reintroducing some restrictions or imposing quarantine measures have to be dealt with depending on the situation at local level and not at county level.

Ludovic Orban has also underlined that in those places where the infection rate goes beyond 1.5 cases per one thousand inhabitants in the past 14 days, activity in restaurants, bars and other enclosed spaces will be suspended until the situation improves. Those who violate restrictions will receive tougher punishments. A court in Buzau (southeast) decided to convict a man, allegedly contaminated with COVID-19, who fled from hospital in April. This is the first such case in Romania. The man left the hospital without the consent of the medical staff, although he showed symptoms specific to the disease. He was tried for thwarting the fight against diseases and received a 6-month suspended prison sentence in September. (tr. L. Simion)

2 October 2020
Tougher sanctions for violating restrictions

The number of people infected with the new coronavirus is growing daily in Romania. Health Minister Nelu Tătaru says this growth was not caused by the beginning of school on September 14 or the local elections held on September 27, as strict rules were observed on the voting day and are being observed when children are at school. The problems emerge, in his opinion, when children are away from school, in the means of transport or in their free time.

Over the past week, almost 270 children up to the age of 9 and around 500 children aged 10 to 19 have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the health minister said. The big number of COVID-19 cases reported in the past days prompted the PM Ludovic Orban to ask for daily checks on the observance of health protection measures by the line authorities. According to the PM, in the context of resuming almost all activities in normal conditions, social interaction has intensified, and people no longer observe rules strictly, which risks taking the number of contaminations to sky-high levels.

The PM has asked the interior, transport, labor and healthcare ministers to prepare a plan with clear-cut actions aimed at implementing the heath protection rules. Ludovic Orban reminded that the government’s objective is to reduce the number of COVID-19 cases and this can only be done through daily checks.

PM Orban has called on the county committees for emergency situations to get more involved in implementing the legal measures adopted by the authorities in the context of the new coronavirus pandemic. He had added that reintroducing some restrictions or imposing quarantine measures have to be dealt with depending on the situation at local level and not at county level.

Ludovic Orban has also underlined that in those places where the infection rate goes beyond 1.5 cases per one thousand inhabitants in the past 14 days, activity in restaurants, bars and other enclosed spaces will be suspended until the situation improves. Those who violate restrictions will receive tougher punishments. A court in Buzau (southeast) decided to convict a man, allegedly contaminated with COVID-19, who fled from hospital in April. This is the first such case in Romania. The man left the hospital without the consent of the medical staff, although he showed symptoms specific to the disease. He was tried for thwarting the fight against diseases and received a 6-month suspended prison sentence in September. (tr. L. Simion)

2 October 2020
A Parliament vote on rising pensions in Romania has sparked off political disputes

The local election on Sunday has predictably rattled the political
environment in Romania. The country’s Parliament, numerically dominated by the
left, has endorsed a series of budget adjustments completely different from the
scheme proposed by the Liberal Executive. The Social-Democrats and their
traditional or occasional allies ALDE and UDMR respectively, have imposed a 40%
raise in the pension point against the 12% increase proposed by the government.

The MPs have also voted in favour of raising the teachers’ wages
and for earmarking additional sums to local authorities. Relying on a
Parliament support of only 22%, the Liberal government has shortly announced that
it will use all the mechanisms available to prevent the law from coming into
effect.

The Liberals believe that for the time being the economy cannot
support such a measure, which would throw Romania into payment default.

Here is Romania’s Prime Minister Ludovic Orban.

Ludovic Orban: The government we are leading
is going to challenge the law at the Constitutional Court. We are also not
going to accept under any circumstances these ungrounded raises as we cannot
accept that the country’s future is put between brackets by some irresponsible
people who are only making fun of Romania. We are going to use all the
Constitutional and legal leverages to prevent this economic aberration from coming
into effect.

The Social-Democrats, who have always relied on the pensioners’
votes, say there is enough money to implement the aforementioned measures.
Alfred Simonis, the PSD leader in the Chamber of Deputies, has accused the
Liberals and their political patron, Romanian president Klaus Iohannis of
having initially supported the pensions rise. He has also blamed the government
for having used the crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic as an excuse to
waste public money.

Alfred Simonis: Before coming to power,
you, your government and the president of Romania said that you supported and were
going to implement this law. Once in power, you have changed your mind. The
people you are calling socially-assisted are probably going to live a couple of
months, or years more. Think of that when you are going to cut the welfare of
these people. Put an end to the illegal money-making schemes, cut the
unjustified expenses, and you are going to have enough money.

Leaving aside the various maneuvers on the political stage in
Romania, the country’s Central Bank has cautioned that a 40% rise in pensions would
lead to an increase in the budget deficit of 11% of the GDP. Instead of a coordinated correction spanning
several years, we would be forced to a disordered correction, which could take
a heavy economic and social toll, officials with the bank have explained.
Employers’ associations and business people alike believe that unsustainable
budget expenses, out of pure election reasons, can put Romania’s economy at
high risk.

(tr. bill)

23 September 2020
September 14,2020 UPDATE

ALERT The government in Bucharest has for the fourth time extended the
state of alert against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic, upon a proposal
by the National Committee for Emergency Situations. The Romanian government has
also been considering fresh measures to safely hold the local election on
September 27th. Prime Minister Ludovic Orban has said that he has
been considering the use of larger rooms and outdoor spaces allowing people to
keep a physical distance. Voters will have to wear facemasks and demonstrations
of up to 100 people are allowed with the observance of the rules also valid in
case of election meetings. The first state of alert was instated on May 15th
after Romania had been on the state of emergency for two months. The total
number of infections with the novel coronavirus, almost seven months since the
first case was reported in Romania has exceeded 104 thousand and the death toll
stands at 4185.

TENNIS Romanian tennis player Patricia Tig reaped her first WTA title in
Istanbul on Sunday after a 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 win against Eugenie Bouchard of
Canada. This has been the third WTA finals for Tig after those in Baku (2015)
and Bucharest (2019). Her prize closet also includes a WTA 125 K title, which
she won in Karlsruhe. In Italy, another Romanian, Irina Begu, has qualified for
the main draw after a 6-1, 6-1 win against Ana Lena Friedsam of Germany in the
qualifiers. The Romanian will be taking on Elisabetta Cocciaretto of Italy who
benefitted from a wild card. Top-seed Romanian challenger Simona Halep will be
playing in the competition’s second round against Italian Jasmine Paolini.

SCHOOLS An atypical school year began in
Romania on Monday with special coronavirus protection measures in place.
Education is a vital prerequisite for a civilised society, and children are
returning to schools with one more lesson to learn-how to take care of one’s
health and of the health of others, said PM Ludovic Orban in a message on this
occasion. He warned that the danger posed by the disease is not over and that
the new school year is a challenge for children, their families, teachers and
authorities.

DIPLOMACY The Romanian foreign minister Bogdan
Aurescu had telephone talks with his Israeli counterpart, Gabi Ashkenazi,
following the political consultations held during his visit to Israel this
month. According to the Foreign Ministry, the 2 officials reviewed the
preparations for a new joint government meeting due next year. They also looked
at the arrangements for the set up of a new expert group preparing the meeting,
which will focus on mutually relevant topics like agriculture, water
management, IT, cyber security and AI. The talk also occasioned an exchange of
opinions on the Middle East peace process. Romania supports the resolution of
this problem based on international law and on the 2-state solution, Israel and
Palestine, living next to each other in peace and prosperity, the Romanian
foreign minister said. On September 2-3, minister Aurescu discussed with
high-level political officials both in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, and in Ramallah.

PANDEMIC Many countries are reintroducing
lockdowns in the context of a so-called second wave of the COVID 19 pandemic.
The World Health Organisation Sunday reported nearly 308,000 new infections for
the last 24 hours, a new global record, Reuters reports. The most significant
increases were in India, the USA and Brazil. The total number of cases
worldwide is nearing 29.2 million, and the number of COVID-related deaths is
928,000. Israel reintroduced a 3-week lockdown in a move to contain the new
wave. Strict restrictions regarding groups larger than 6 people have come into
force in the UK today. And also as of Monday, face masks, already compulsory in
supermarkets and public transportation, must be worn in all public buildings
and shops in Austria.

(tr bill)

14 September 2020
September 7, 2020

COVID-19 Since the beginning of the
pandemic, Romania has confirmed over 95 thousand of infections with a death
toll standing around 3,893. Over 40,300 patients have been cured while 474 are
still in intensive care units. 6,599 Romanian nationals have been confirmed
infected abroad most of them in Germany, Italy and Spain. 126 of them have died.
People coming from Romania and Bulgaria to Italy must still stay in quarantine
for 14 days. At world level the total number of infected has exceeded 27
million and the death toll is around 887 thousand. The most affected countries
are the USA with 6.4 million cases, India and Brazil, both with over 4 million.
The most affected countries in Europe are Russia with over 1 million and Spain
with over 517 cases.

DIPLOMACY ‘Increasing Romania’s role inside the EU and NATO and also
consolidating and expanding the Strategic Partnership with the United States
remain the key lines in Romania’s foreign policy’, is the message conveyed by
the country’s president, Klaus Iohannis at the Romanian Diplomacy Annual
Meeting. According to the president, in the wake of the pandemic crisis, the
Romanian diplomacy is going to embrace some new facets and that involves
additional ingenuity and flexibility. The present Annual Meeting of Romanian
Diplomacy has been held online for the first time as videoconference and is
going to last three days under the title, ‘The impact of the pandemic over the
international tendencies and the Romanian diplomacy response’. High on the
agenda are the impact of the medical crisis over the international relations
and global tendencies as well as the adjustment of the Romanian diplomacy
instruments in this context. Among the invitees this year is the head of the European
diplomacy Josep Borrell and NATO’s deputy secretary general, Romanian Mircea
Geoana.

SCHOOL Romania’s Prime Minister Ludovic
Orban has said the school year begins on September 14th in this
country, at the same time underlining that people’s right to education is
fundamental. The Romanian official has explained the local authorities are
allowed to establish their own scenarios depending on the epidemiological
situation in their region. In Bucharest the infection rate in the past two
weeks has stood at 1.19 per thousand, which places the capital city in the yellow
zone and that allows for the students’ return to schools. 43 localities have
been placed in the red zone, where students are taking only online courses,
while over 27 hundred localities are in the green zone, allowing school
attendance. The Health Ministry will this week provide direction lines for the
organization of activity in education institutions to prevent the spread of the
coronavirus.

FOOTBALL Romania’s national football side will tonight take on Austria in a
new game of the Nation’s League Group 1B. On Friday in Bucharest, the Romanians
obtained only a one-all draw against Northern Ireland in their first game with
Mirel Radoi as the selector. We recall that Radoi last summer managed to qualify
Romania Under 21 for the semifinals of the European Championship in Italy and
San Marino. The group also includes Norway the Romanians are going to play next
month. Romania will be up against Iceland in Reykjavik on October 8th
in the semis of the European Championships play-offs. If they qualify, the
Romanians will be up against the winner of the game pitching Hungary against
Bulgaria.

UNICEF According to a UNICEF report
Romania has a large number of students with low competences in reading and
mathematics, placing the country among those at the bottom of a European
ranking. 40% of the children in the member countries of the EU’s Organization
for Economic Co-operation and Development on an average, lacks basic
competences in reading and maths by the age of 15. The countries ranking first in
the standings are Estonia, Ireland and Finland. According to the same survey, in
most countries less than four-fifths of children report being satisfied with
their lives. Turkey has the lowest rate of life satisfaction.

(translated by bill)

7 September 2020
School begins next week

In spring, the exceptional situation caused by the pandemic made the Romanian authorities switch to online classes both for schools and high schools, and universities. It was an emergency measure, with its inherent flaws, but which allowed the continuation of classes though. Conditioned by the changing epidemiological situation, the Romanian authorities have, for months on end, looked into possible scenarios for the resumption of classes in September and have eventually come up with three color-coded scenarios: red, yellow and green.

The green scenario is the most optimistic version in which less than one person per one thousand inhabitants is identified with Covid-19 in the past 14 days and thus children can go to school. The yellow scenario, involving a medium risk, means that one up to three persons per one thousand inhabitants are confirmed with the new coronavirus. In this scenario, priority is given to pre-school children, to primary school kids as well as to 8th and 12th graders who will go to school. The remaining classes will be held on line, but pupils will also go to school by rotation. The red scenario is an emergency one, with more than three people contaminated per one thousand inhabitants in a 14-day period.

In the red scenario, schools will be closed and classes will be held online. Education minister Monica Anisie explains: “On September 7, the public health directorates will analyze the epidemiological situation, will submit their conclusions to the education institutions and, depending on the epidemiological situation, and also on the specific situation of each school, the schools’ managing boards will forward their proposals to the School Inspectorate.”

The PM Ludovic Orban has given assurances that school will start on September 14, underlining that the right to education is a fundamental right and that the authorities are taking all possible measures to reduce the epidemiological risk. The PM also mentioned the possibility of holding classes online by the end of September.

PM Ludovic Orban also replied to the leader of the main opposition party, PSD, Marcel Ciolacu: “Nobody has ever stated that they want to postpone the beginning of school. Therefore, school begins on September 14 and local elections are held on September 27. The Social Democrats’ idea is ridiculous…How could one postpone the elections? The mandate of local authorities has already been extended and the elections have been postponed once. September 27 has been agreed upon by all political leaders and the date of the elections was not set by government order but established by law, in Parliament.”

The statement follows an idea recently mentioned by PSD leader Marcel Ciolacu according to which the Social Democrats will initiate discussions in Parliament on postponing the local elections if school does not begin on September 14. (tr. L. Simion)

7 September 2020
August 27, 2020 UPDATE

COVID-19 1,504 new cases of Covid infections have
been registered in Romania since the previous reports, the Group of Strategic
Communication announced on Thursday. This has been the largest number of
infections reported in a single day. 38 new fatalities have also been reported
raising the death toll to 3,459. 83,150 infections have been confirmed in
Romania since the beginning of the pandemic. 36,677 patients have been cured
and left hospitals. 11,351 have been confined at home, and 5,654 are currently in
isolation. 30,770 have been quarantined at home and 492 patients are in
intensive care units. According to Romania’s Health Minister Nelu Tataru, the
number of infections is likely to decrease; however, this decrease isn’t going
to be fast but gradual. 6,585 of the Romanian citizens abroad have been
confirmed infected and 126 of them died.

INDEPENDENCE The neighboring Republic of Moldova on Thursday marked
29 years since the proclamation of its independence. On August 27, 1991 after
the failed coup d’etat in Moscow, the Parliament in Chisinau, picketed by
hundreds of thousands of people, voted for breaking away from the Soviet Union.
The Republic of Moldova is set up on part of the Romanian eastern territories
annexed by Moscow in 1940, following an ultimatum. Romania was the first
country in the world to recognize the independence of the neighboring
republic on the same day.

MOTION The permanent bureaus of the Romanian Parliament’s
two chambers decided on Thursday that the no confidence motion tabled by the
opposition Social Democratic Party PSD against the Liberal government should be
debated and voted on the last day of the extraordinary session, on August 31.
The Social Democrats criticize the Liberal government for the way in which it
managed the crisis caused by the pandemic. In turn, the government has notified
the Constitutional Court over the tabling of a no confidence motion during the
parliamentary break. The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has accused PSD of
trying to create political instability out of electoral reasons.

DECISION According to Romania’s Prime Minister
Ludovic Orban, the government is going to amend the decision through which it
imposed the state of alert allowing the reopening of restaurants, under certain
prevention rules. He reminded that the HoReCa sector benefited from support during
the pandemic with a series of taxes and duties either cancelled or reduced. The
sector has also benefited from postponed installments and technical
unemployment measures. Representatives of this industry in Romania on Wednesday
pledged to observe the European regulations imposed by the present
epidemiological situation.

(translated by bill)

27 August 2020
August 21, 2020 UPDATE

VOTE The Social Democrats (PSD), the party with the largest
number of seats in the Romanian Parliament didn’t set a timetable, as was expected
on Friday, for the voting session over a censure motion the PSD tabled against
the Liberal cabinet led by Ludovic Orban. According to the PSD spokesman Lucian
Romascanu, talks are being held with all the Parliament groups and a date for
voting the document is to be set most likely on Tuesday. The PSD official said
a decision in this respect would be made next week by the new Executive
Committee endorsed during the PSD congress on Saturday. ‘We’d like the voting
to start as soon as possible Romascanu went on to say. The motion was read
before the Legislature on Thursday and it blames the executive for the way it
handled the medical crisis caused by the novel coronavirus. In another
development, the National Liberal Party PNL on Friday notified the
Constitutional Court over an alleged legal conflict of a constitutional nature
between the government and Parliament, as the PSD tabled their motion during
the summer recess.

FUNDING In a first for Romania, the
European Commission has approved the total EU funding of investments in the
country’s transport infrastructure and not only 85% as before. According to the
Transport Ministry in Bucharest, the move, which is temporary, was justified by
the impact the Covid-19 pandemic had over the state budget. The most important
investments with European funds to benefit from this temporary exemption are
two motorway sections and a railway. In another development, the European
Commission has approved a five billion euro loan for supporting the business
environment and jobs in Romania. The announcement has been made by the
country’s Prime Minister Ludovic Orban who’s said the money is used to fund
active measures such as flexible timetables, technical unemployment and cover other
expenses aimed at supporting the employees and companies. Orban said the loan
must be reimbursed in 15 years and has a very advantageous interest.

MOSCOW A medically equipped plane landed in
the Siberian city of Omsk to take the leading opposition figure Alexei Navalny,
who supporters believe was poisoned, to a hospital in Berlin. According to the
Russian doctors, Navalny is too ill to be moved to Germany for treatment. A
prominent critic of president Putin, Navalny has consistently exposed official
corruption in Russia and has served many prison terms. According to his
spokeswoman, Navalny faced another poisoning attempt while in police custody
last year. Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitri Peskov says that if the poisoning is
confirmed the authorities are to start an investigation.

TENNIS A pair made up of the Romanian Horia
Tecau and the Dutch Jean-Julien Rojer are playing against the French pair
Jeremy Chardy/Fabrice Martin in the first round of the ATP Masters 1000 doubles
tournament in Cincinnati which offers total prizes worth more than 4.2 million
dollars. The tournament is hosted this year by Flushing Meadows Corona-Park in
New York. Tecau and Rojer last year lost in the first round of the Cincinnati tournament
to the pair Feliciano Lopez (Spain)/Andy Murray (Great Britain). The Romanian -
Dutch pair won a final in Cincinnati in 2016 when they defeated the pair Ivan
Dodig (Croatia)/Marcelo Melo (Brazil) 7-6 (5), 6-7 (5), 10-6. Tecau got a title
in Cincinnati in 2012 alongside the Swedish player Robert Lindstedt.

(translated by bill)

21 August 2020
August 19, 2020

PROTEST Restaurants and beer gardens all over Romania will today close for one
hour to protest the authorities’ lack of support for the Horeca industry in
Romania. Restaurant and pub owners are disgruntled with the authorities’
decision to keep them closed, a measure, which could cause the loss of 400
thousand jobs in the cold season as this industry has been incurring
significant losses. Prime Minister Ludovic Orban says that as soon as the
epidemiological situation has improved in Romania, the government will allow
restaurants to open. According to the Romanian official, the measure was aimed
at protecting citizens and not at dealing a heavy blow to the industry, which
accounts for 5% of the country’s GDP.

COVID-19 Romania has confirmed over 72 thousand infections since the beginning
of the pandemic and a Covid-related death toll over 3,074. According to a
report by the National Public Health Institute, the number of infections and
fatalities last week slightly decreased as compared to the previous week.
Almost a third of the new cases have been reported in the counties of Prahova,
Arges, Bihor and Timis. Bucharest, Suceava in the north-east, and Arges in the
country’s south have reported the highest number of infections since the
beginning of the pandemic. Almost 95% of the deceased had at least one comorbidity
while almost 80% of the victims were over 60 years old.

SUMMIT EU
leaders, including Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis are today attending a
high-level video-conference on the latest developments in Belarus. The opposition
candidate in the latest presidential election in this country, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya,
who fled to Lithuania, has made an appeal to the European Council not to recognize
the rigged election in Belarus on august 9th. Yesterday almost 200
people protested in front of the detention centre in Minsk calling for the
release of Tikhanovskaya’s husband Sergei Tikhanovsky currently detained for
offences against public order. A well-known blogger, Sergei Tikhanovsky had
announced his candidacy for the presidential seat and was campaigning against
incumbent president Alexandr Lukashenko. Protests were sparked off 10 days ago
after the Central Election Commission announced that Lukashenko had won 80.1 %
of the votes in the election. At least two people have been killed and over 67
hundred wounded in the latest anti-presidential protests in Belarus.

FOOTBALL There are no odds-on favourites in the match pitching CFR Cluj against
Floriana FC, Romanian headcoach Dan Petrescu says, adding that each side stands
equal chances to win and qualify for the competition’s next stage. Romanian
football side CFR Cluj will tonight be up against Floriana FC of Malta in the
Champions League’s first preliminary round. The two sides are to play only one round
and the winner will be facing the Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb, in the
competition’s second preliminary round.

US ELECTION Barack Obama’s
vice-president Joe Biden has become the Democratic Party nominee to challenge incumbent
president Donald Trump in the US presidential election on November 3rd.
Most of the Democrats endorsed the former vice-president to run for the
presidential seat during the party’s virtual convention in Milwaukee on Monday
in keeping with the measures against the Covid-19 pandemic. Joe Biden, 77, is
expected to deliver his acceptance speech on Thursday. In turn, president Trump
has visited the states of Iowa, Arizona, Minnesota and Wisconsin and has
renewed his attacks against the one he called ‘Sleepy Joe’ whom he described as
‘a helpless puppet of the radical left’.

(translated by bill)

19 August 2020
August 18, 2020

TALKS Romania’s president, Klaus Iohannis, is today participating
in a working meeting with the country’s Prime Minister and other government
members, the Presidential Administration has announced. The country’s Deputy
Prime Minister Raluca Turcan, Finance Minister Florin Citu, Economy Minister
Virgil Popescu, Transport Minister Lucian Bode and the Minister of Agriculture
and Rural Development, Adrian Oros, are also attending.

COVID-19 Authorities in Romania
have so far confirmed over 71 thousand Covid-19 infections while roughly 33
thousand patients have been cured and left hospitals. According to the
Strategic Communication Group almost 500 patients are in intensive care units
and the death toll stays around 3029. Authorities are concerned about the rising
number of patients in need of intensive care. The country’s Liberal Prime
Minister Ludovic Orban has announced the government’s intention to increase the
capacity of the Intensive Care Units at the country’s main Infectious Diseases
Institute Matei Bals in Bucharest as well as in other cities across the country
like Brasov, Cluj-Napoca and Iasi. According to the Prime Minister, Romania
presently can treat one thousand patients in its IC units.

PROTESTS Belarus has seen
another night of protests against the country’s president Aleksandr Lukashenko.
Protesters have denounced Lukashenko’s landslide victory in last Sunday’s
election, which has been condemned amid widespread allegations of vote-rigging.
Lukashenko seems to enjoy loyal support from security agencies around the
country thanks to the people placed in high positions in the past 26 years. The
country has seen a wave of protests after the Central Election Commission two
days ago said that Lukashenko had won 80.1% of the votes. Hundreds of
protesters have been wounded and two have died in clashes with police over the
past week. Some 67 hundred have been arrested and many have reported torture at
the hands of the security forces. Russian president Vladimir Putin says that
Russia is ready to offer support if needed. This has been the strongest wave of
protests against Lukashenko’s authoritarian rule since he took power 26 years
ago.

ELECTION Today is the last day to announce candidates
running in the upcoming local elections in Romania on September 27th.
The election campaign is due to commence on August 28th and end on
September 26th. Bucharest’s incumbent mayor Gabriela Firea from the
opposition PSD is running for a second term in office. The other candidates vying
for the Bucharest mayor seat are Nicusor Dan, backed by the right-wing National
Liberals and the USR-PLUS Alliance, the country’s former Prime Minister and
ALDE leader Calin Popescu Tariceanu and the country’s former president and
former mayor of Bucharest Traian Basescu.

MOTION A censure motion the opposition Social Democrats
(PSD) has tabled against the Liberal government led by Ludovic Orban is going
to be read before Parliament in plenary session on Thursday. Debates and voting
upon the aforementioned motion are yet to be set but the initiators of this
motion suggestively titled ‘The PNL government -from pandemic to generalized
bribe-taking’ have lashed out at the way in which the minority executive has
managed the coronavirus pandemic and the measures aimed at economic recovery.
Prime Minister Orban believes the PSD move is irresponsible adding the PNL is
considering ways of challenging it at the Constitutional Court as a censure
motion cannot be initiated during a Parliament recess.

18 August 2020
August 8, 2020

COVID-19 Authorities in Bucharest have announced 1,350 new Covid infections, bringing
the total number of cases to over 60 thousand since the beginning of the
pandemic five months ago. 43 fatalities have also been announced adding to a
death toll of 2,659. 448 patients have been reported to be in intensive care
units. The most affected regions in Romania are the capital Bucharest and the
counties of Prahova, Arges and Dambovita all in the country’s south. A state
secretary, who is also an army physician, has been appointed in charge of the
Public Health Direction in Bucharest (DSP) in an attempt to deal with the
shortcomings of this institution. DSP has attracted a lot of heat lately for
failed or even non-existent epidemiological investigations. In another move the
Ombudsman has challenged at the Constitutional Court several provisions of the
newly-passed law on quarantine and isolation. The compulsory hospitalization of
those infected and the provisions regulating the deployment of the medical
personnel have been challenged. The Ombudsman believes that mandatory
hospitalization is tantamount to an abuse and this measure should be imposed
only after all the other less severe measures have failed. According to the
Ombudsman, under the current provisions, the deployment of personnel looks more
like mandatory deployment and is unconstitutional. Prime Minister Ludovic Orban
has criticized the Ombudsman’s latest moves saying it is challenging
fundamental laws.

MAE According
to the Romanian Foreign Ministry, authorities in Germany have revised the
conditions required for entering this country after 7 Romanian counties, Arges,
Bihor, Buzau, Neamt, Ialomita, Mehedinti and Timis have been included on a list
of risky regions. So all people coming from these regions, irrespective of
their citizenship, must produce a negative Covid test carried out 48 hours
before their arrival or take a free test 72 hours since their arrival on German
soil. Those who refuse to comply can be denied entry or can be imposed self-isolation.
If the test is carried out while on German soil, self-isolation is imposed
until the result of the test is known.

TOURISM Almost 150 thousand tourists are expected to arrive in the seaside
resorts on the Romanian Black Sea coast this weekend, which are running to full
capacity thanks to the hot weather. Tourists are requested to pay attention to
several aspects such as the extreme hot weather, the rough sea or the issues
caused by the novel coronavirus. As the seaside resorts are the most crowded
tourist areas in Romania, tourists are facing an increased risk of infection. Teams
made up of police troops, gendarmes, firefighters as well as representatives of
the public healthcare institutions and consumers’ protection have been deployed
to assess the observance of safety regulations. 150 fines totaling 11 thousand Euros
have been applied in the past 24 hours.

ASSISTANCE Romania has joined the international assistance efforts to Lebanon in
the wake of the devastating explosion at an ammonium nitrate storehouse on
Tuesday. Approximately 8 tons of medical equipment and medicine are today being
transported to Lebanon by two planes belonging to the Romanian Air Force. The
government in Bucharest, civil society and representatives of the Lebanese diaspora
have responded to the assistance appeal received from the Lebanese government. Two
experts with the Romanian General Emergency Inspectorate are accompanying the
transport. The explosion has killed at least 150 people while 5,000 others have
been wounded. Hundreds of Beirut residents have been made temporarily homeless
while the collective loss might reach billions of dollars.

(translated by bill)

8 August 2020
July 13, 2020

BILL A bill
regulating the quarantine and self-isolation in situations of epidemiological
risk is now being debated upon by the decision-making Senate in Bucharest. The
aforementioned bill has been endorsed by the government after the
Constitutional Court in Bucharest ruled that self-isolation, quarantine and
hospitalisation could not be imposed under a ministerial decision but under a
law clearly regulating the issue. On Thursday night the Chamber of Deputies
endorsed the document, which contained a lot of amendments than the Executive’s
version. However, debates upon the aforementioned law in the legal committee were
stopped in their tracks a couple of days ago by a request from the Senate’s
interim president, Social-Democrat Robert Cazanciuc, who called for a viewpoint
from the Liberal government and the Ministry of Justice concerning the
mandatory hospitalisation of the infected persons and the physicians’
deployment. The country’s Prime Minister Ludovic Orban has described the
document as indispensable adding that postponing the Senate debates on the
aforementioned bill is tantamount to a dramatic increase in the number of
infections. According to Orban, the government’s objective is no further
restrictions, but he has also cautioned against the worrying number of
infections. On Sunday night scores of people protested in front of the
government’s building in Bucharest against the bill on quarantine and
self-isolation.

COVID – 19 Authorities in Romania have reported another 413 new Covid infections
bringing the total number close to 33, 000 since the beginning of the
pandemic. 21,692 out of
those who confirmed positive have been cured and left hospitals. 235 patients are in intensive care units while the death
toll stands at 1,901. The number of Romanians abroad confirmed infected
stands at 5,105,and the number of fatalities at 122.

FENCING The International Fencing Federation has designated Romanian Ana
Maria Popescu winner of the Women’s Epee Cup this year as many competitions
could not be staged because of the Covid pandemic. The Romanian has been
followed by Brazilian Nathalie Moellhausen and Sun Yiwen of China. Ana Maria
has won the competition three times in the seasons of 2007-2008, 2008-2009 and
2012-2013.

TALKS Brussels is today seeing the seventh round of talks for a
post-Brexit trade agreement. Chief negotiators David Frost of Britain and
Michel Barnier of the EU have agreed to step up negotiations but have also agreed
that the two sides are facing major issues such as competition. According to
Radio Romania correspondent in London, the EU negotiator has said that his team
will be carrying on talks with their British counterparts with patience,
respect and determination but has cautioned against the inevitable changes in
the relations between the two sides as of January 1st.

RESTRICTIONS Authorities in Lithuania have banned the Romanians’
access to this country due to the raising number of Covid-19 infections
reported in Romania. Authorities in Vilnius are assessing the decision on a
weekly basis though. Lithuania isn’t the only European country imposing
restrictions to Romanian citizens. Greece is also asking tourists to produce a
negative Covid test taken in the past 72 hours at the border whereas Austria requires
Covid tests not older than 4 days. Other European countries like Finland, Malta,
Slovakia, Estonia, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Hungary have resorted
to other measures such as quarantine or self-isolation. Romanians have so far been
imposed travel restrictions in 20 European countries

(translated by bill)

13 July 2020
July 6, 2020

Covid-19 Ro — Another 250 cases of corona infection were reported in Romania on Monday, taking the total number of Covid-19 contaminations to 29.233. 21,413 of them have been discharged from hospital and 227 are in intensive care. 1,768 deaths from coronavirus infection have been reported. The health minister Nelu Tataru has announced that the draft law aimed at harmonizing the requirements of the Constitutional Court – CC on the quarantining and isolation of contaminated people is ready and will be on the agenda of today’s government meeting. According to him, the new bill observes the Court recommendations and explains some medical terminology. The judges of the CC have said that compulsory isolation, quarantining and hospitalization cannot be regulated through a government order. The health minister has called on the population to observe the rules and on the medical staff to better explain to patients how the new virus affects them. He added that postponing the new relaxation measures was caused by the high number of corona cases reported in the past 3 weeks.

Covid-19 world — The coronavirus pandemic has killed at least 536 thousand people around the world since its outbreak in China, in December, according to worldometers.info. At least 11.5 million cases of contamination have been registered, with 6.5 million patients having recovered. The US is the most affected country with 132 thousand deaths and almost 3 million cases of contamination. The number of contaminations continues to grow across Latin America, especially in Brazil. In Europe, the most affected countries are the UK, Italy, France and Spain. Greece has announced today that it will close the border with Serbia due to the increasing number of cases on the Serbian territory.

Parliament – The Romanian PM Ludovic Orban is going today before the Chamber of Deputies to answer accusations regarding the purchase of face masks made by the state-owned company UNIFARM during the state of emergency. He will have to explain the relationship between the Liberal government and the suspended manager of UNIFARM, Adrian Ionel, who has been accused by anti-corruption prosecutors of bribe taking. The opposition Social Democratic Party, which has the majority in Parliament, wants to find out if the extension of the state of alert was asked by the Government, so as to justify their measure of obliging people to wear masks and implicitly the sale of many such masks at very high prices. The PM denies holding information on the illegal procedures undertaken at UNIFARM. The PM will also be invited at the hearings in the parliamentary committee investigating purchases made during the state of emergency.

Baccalaureate — 141 high school graduates from Romania have registered for the special session of the Baccalaureate exam which started on Monday in Romania. Sitting for the Baccalaureate exam in this special session are pupils who could not attend the regular session due to medical problems. The last exam of the Baccalaureate session is scheduled for Thursday and the first results will be published on Friday. 64.5% of the pupils who took the Baccalaureate exam in the June-July session have passed.

Rome – The Italian composer Ennio Moricone has died at 91, news agencies reported on Monday. He wrote the soundtrack for hudnresa of films and TV productions and became famous in the 1960s following his partnership with director Sergio Leone known as the inventor of the ‘spaghetti western’ genre. The Italian political class has paid homage to the artist who won the Oscar Awards in 2007 and 2016. (tr. L. Simion)

6 July 2020
06.07.2020

Coronavirus en Roumanie – En Roumanie, les chiffres les plus récents rapportés par le Groupe de Communication stratégique font état de quelque 29.000 infections au nouveau coronavirus. La plupart des cas ont été enregistrés au département de Suceava, dans le nord-est et à Bucarest. Sur les personnes dépitées positives plus de 20 mille ont été déclarées guéries et ont quitté les hôpitaux. Jusqu’ici 1750 personnes sont décédées en Roumanie à cause du coronavirus. Le ministre de la Santé, Nelu Tataru a annoncé que le projet de loi qui remplit les demandes de la Cour Constitutionnelle pour ce qui est de l’institution de mesures de quarantaine et d’isolement des personnes infectées était prêt et serait mis à l’ordre du jour de la réunion du gouvernement d’aujourd’hui. A son avis, le nouveau projet respectera les recommandations de la Cour Constitutionnelle et présentera des définitions plus claires pour plusieurs expressions médicales. Les juges de la Cour ont décidé que les mesures telles l’isolement, la quarantaine et l’hospitalisation obligatoires ne pouvaient pas être décidées uniquement sur l’ordre du ministre. Nelu Tataru a appelé la population à respecter les règles sanitaires et le personnel médical à expliquer aux malades leur situation et les effets de l’infection au nouveau coronavirus. Il a également dit que le report des mesures de relâchement qui devaient entrer en vigueur à partir du 1er juillet a été déterminé par la hausse du nombre de cas d’infections ces trois dernières semaines.

Unifarm – Le premier ministre roumain, Ludovic Orban se rend aujourd’hui devant le plénum de la Chambre des députés pour s’exprimer au sujet de l’achat de masques de protection opéré par la compagnie d’Etat Unifarm durant l’état d’urgence. Il répondra aux accusations visant les liens entre l’exécutif libéral et le directeur suspendu d’Unifarm, Adrian Ionel accusé par les procureurs anticorruption de prise de pots de vin. La plus importante force politique de l’opposition, le PSD, demande si la prolongation de l’état d’urgence n’a été demandée par le gouvernement afin de justifier le port du masque et par conséquent d’encourager les ventes de masques en grande quantité et à des prix jugés exagérés. Le premier ministre déclare ne pas avoir des informations sur le déroulement chez Unifarm de procédures illégales, mais la tentative de relier le gouvernement à cette compagnie et à des actes présumés de corruption n’était qu’une manipulation. Le premier ministre sera invité aussi aux auditions au sein de la Commission parlementaires d’enquête sur les achats déroulés durant l’état d’urgence. Le mois dernier, le directeur d’Unifarm a été placé sous contrôle judiciaire. Selon les procureurs il aurait demandé un pot de vin de 750 mille euros pour attribuer un contrat de marché public visant l’achat de masques et de combinaisons de protection. La DNA a également dévoilé le fait que M Ionel occupait ces fonctions illégalement depuis 2016.

Examens – En Roumanie 141 lycéens en Terminale participent à une session spéciale de l’examen de Baccalauréat, qui commence aujourd’hui. Selon les chiffres transmis aux inspections scolaires, dans neuf départements, les épreuves écrites ne seront pas organisées. Cette session spéciale commence par l’épreuve écrite de roumain et s’achève jeudi par l’épreuve écrite de langue et littérature maternelle pour les lycées des minorités nationales, alors que les premiers résultats seront publiés vendredi. Le taux de réussite à la session juin-juillet de l’examen national de baccalauréat après la solution des contestations a été de 64,5%. De nombreux jeunes peuvent désormais s’inscrire aux universités qui organisent des sessions d’admission, dont certaines enligne Parmi les critères de sélection figurent les moyennes des quatre années de lycée et la note au baccalauréat.

Météo – Températures élevées en Roumanie avec un indicateur d’inconfort thermique accentué notamment dans le sud et le sud-est. Des épisodes d’instabilité accentuée sont possibles sur une grande partie du territoire, avec des orages, des pluies à verse, des chutes de grêle. Les quantités d’eau dépasseront par endroits les 40 litres/mètre carré. Les températures vont de 27 à 36 degrés sur le sud. 33 degrés et du soleil à Bucarest.

6 July 2020