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July 5, 2020 UPDATE

JUSTICE The year
2021 is inevitably going to mark the beginning of major transformations in
justice, which are going to unfold for a couple of years and these inevitable
developments are to be imposed as a result of the great changes at society,
economic, technological and psychological levels, Romania’s Justice Minister
Catalin Predoiu said in a message conveyed on Justice Day the Romanians
celebrated on Sunday. Also in a message conveyed on this occasion, the
president of the Higher Council of Magistrates, Nicoleta Ţînţ, said that the
process of justice must be maintained at the highest standards in order to
protect citizens from any arbitrary rulings. For president Klaus Iohannis, the
fight against corruption remains a priority, as this scourge prevents economic
and social development bearing on the process of strengthening democracy and
for this reason, this scourge must be firmly repressed. In turn Prime Minister
Orban has announced that the government is working on a legislative initiative
aimed at mending what he describes as mistakes made by the previous governments
regarding the justice laws.

PANDEMIC 11.4
million people have been infected with the novel coronavirus all over the
world, while 534 thousand people have died so far. The United States remains
the most affected country with 2.93 million infections and 133 thousand
fatalities. The number of 40 thousand infections in 24 hours has again been
exceeded as three weeks ago the average daily number stood at 20 thousand.
Brazil comes close to 1.6 million cases and 65 thousand deaths whereas Mexico,
with over 30 thousand deaths has overcome France and Spain. Mexico has also
confirmed 252 thousand infections, while Chile and Peru each have roughly 300
thousand. South Africa has reported 10 thousand cases in the past 24 hours totaling
187 thousand, the largest number in Africa. India comes close to 650 thousand
infections whereas Saudi Arabia has exceeded 205 thousand. Iran is nearing 240
thousand and the third most affected country world-wise seems to be Russia with
over 674 thousand infections and 10 thousand fatalities.

STATUE Protesters in the US city of Baltimore have
toppled a statue of Christopher Columbus, thus adding to the other monuments of
this kind destroyed by protesters after the death of George Floyd, an African
American killed in police custody. Christopher Columbus has been criticised for
having violently repressed native Americans. In his 4th of July address US
president Donald Trump has railed against the
cancel culture of those who toppled monuments during recent anti-racism
protests. Trump has condemned those who targeted statues, describing them as
angry mobs trying to deface quote: our most sacred memorials.

COVID-19 The
government in Bucharest is to endorse next week a bill on maintaining home
isolation and quarantine in the case of people who have come into contact with
a Covid-infected person. The statement has been made by Prime Minister Ludovic
Orban after the Constitutional Court ruled that patients cannot be kept in
hospital, quarantine and isolation against their will. The Prime Minister has
criticised the Court’s decision and recommended the citizens to comply with the
health and safety regulations in order to prevent contamination. According to
the Constitutional Court president, Valer Dorneanu, measures on restricting
rights, such as mandatory hospitalisation, must be imposed through legislation
and not through an order issued by the Health Minister. Nearly four months and
a half since the first Covid-infection was confirmed on its territory, Romania
has reported roughly 29 thousand infections and a death toll of 1750. 122
Romanian nationals died abroad due to complications produced by the novel
coronavirus.

TENNIS Romanian Elena Gabriela Ruse (WTA 177th) on Sunday won
the Winners Open tennis tournament held in Cluj, north-western Romania after a
two-set win, 6-4, 6-3 against her compatriot Irina Begu. The tournament, with
30 thousand dollars in prize money has been the first in Romania since the
authorities lifted the restrictions imposed by the need to contain the Covid
pandemic. During the aforementioned demo tournament, which brought together six
tennis players from Romania Simona Halep and Horia Tecau have outperformed
Marius Copil and Gabriela Ruse 6-3, 6-4. Tecau and Halep will be representing
Romania at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

(translated by bill)

5 July 2020
July 5, 2020

COVID-19 The
government in Bucharest is to endorse next week a bill on maintaining home
isolation and quarantine in the case of a contact with a Covid-infected person.
The statement has been made by Prime Minister Ludovic Orban after the
Constitutional Court ruled that patients cannot be kept in hospital, quarantine
and isolation against their will. The Prime Minister has criticised the Court’s
decision and recommended the citizens to comply with the health and safety
regulations in order to prevent contamination. According to the Constitutional
Court president, Valer Dorneanu, measures on restricting rights, such as
mandatory hospitalisation, must be imposed through legislation and not through
an order by the Health Minister. Nearly four months and a half since the first
Covid-infection was confirmed on its territory, Romania has reported roughly 29
thousand infections and a death toll of 1750. 122 Romanian nationals died
abroad due to complications produced by the novel coronavirus. A Romanian woman
on holiday in Crete has been confirmed infected and has self-isolated. The
Romanian Foreign Ministry recalls that Greece can alter without warning the
conditions on entering its territory depending of the number of Covid
infections registered.

JUSTICE Romania
today marks Justice Day, an event celebrated every year on the first Sunday in
July. In the message conveyed on this occasion, the president of the Higher
Council of Magistrates, Nicoleta Ţînţ, says that the process of justice must be
maintained at the highest standards in order to protect citizens from any
arbitrary rulings. For president Klaus Iohannis, the fight against corruption
remains a priority, as this scourge prevents economic and social development
bearing on the consolidation of democracy and for this reason, it must be
firmly repressed. In turn Prime Minister Orban has announced that the
government is working on a legislative initiative aimed at mending what he
describes as mistakes made by the previous governments concerning the justice
laws.

PANDEMIC 11.4
million people have been infected with the novel coronavirus all over the
world, while 533 thousand people have died so far. The United States remains
the most affected country with 2.93 million infections and 133 thousand
fatalities. The number of 40 thousand infections in 24 hours has again been
exceeded as three weeks ago the average daily number stood at 20 thousand.
Brazil comes close to 1.6 million cases and 65 thousand deaths whereas Mexico,
with over 30 thousand deaths has overcome France and Spain. Mexico has also confirmed
252 thousand infections, while Chile and Peru each have roughly 300 thousand.
South Africa has reported 10 thousand cases in the past 24 hours totaling 187
thousand, the largest number in Africa. India comes close to 650 thousand
infections whereas Saudi Arabia has exceeded 205 thousand. Iran is nearing 240
thousand and the third most affected country in the world seems to be Russia with
over 674 thousand infections and 10 thousand fatalities.

STATUE Protesters in the US city of Baltimore have
toppled a statue of Christopher Columbus, thus adding to the other monuments of
this kind destroyed by protesters after the death of George Floyd, an African
American killed in police custody. Christopher Columbus has been criticised for
having violently repressed native Americans. In his 4th of July address US
president Donald Trump has railed against the
cancel culture of those who toppled monuments during recent anti-racism
protests. Trump has condemned those who targeted statues, describing them as
angry mobs trying to deface quote: our most sacred memorials.

(translated by bill)

5 July 2020
A government plan for Romania’s economic recovery

Romania’s
government and president on Wednesday launched an ambitious economic recovery
plan under the name ‘Rebuilding Romania’. The plan, which unfolds on a period
of 10 years and has a budget of 100 billion euros, is aimed at raising the
standard of living of every citizen through massive investment and changing the
country’s model of development.

The
plan is focusing on the country’s transport and energy infrastructure, its
healthcare, investment in education, local development, agriculture,
environment and sporting activities. The objective promoted by the Executive is
to achieve convergence with the European economies so that the GDP at
purchasing power per capita may reach 87% of the EU average in 2025. According
to the initiators, the major difference would be the investment-based economic
growth, which is supposed to replace the previous model based on consumption.
Here is Prime Minister Ludovic Orban with more on the plan.

Ludovic Orban: We
want to invest in modernizing the transport infrastructure to raise the
competitiveness of companies, in order to increase Romania’s investment
attraction, which fosters the creation of fresh jobs, development and
eventually revenues of the state budget. Romania is a rich country with
resources and capitalizing on these resources must be done smartly through
earmarking money to those activities and domains, which could make the most of
all the resources Romania has

Under
the aforementioned plan, investment in infrastructure accounts for 60% out of
the total 100 billion euros. The government has presented big infrastructure
projects including 3000 kilometers of highway and the same number of railway by
2030. The document includes rapid measures to provide assistance to big and
small companies with 3 billion Euros worth of grants.

The
government pledges to shell out money from the state budget to provide
assistance to companies, which resorted to technical unemployment, part-time
and house working. Investment in hospitals and schools is also ambitious as the
plan provides for the construction of three regional emergency hospitals,
thousands of schools as well as kindergartens built or modernized. Here is the
country’s president Klaus Iohannis.

Klaus Iohannis: The Romanians deserve to have a highway
network at European levels, a strong and reliable energy system at national and
regional level, competitive industries and services. And we can have all these
only by stepping up major investment projects in an effective, professional and
transparent manner. However, any ambitious investment plan requires good
funding and for this reason, European funds must become an essential pillar of
our development.

According
to the Social-Democratic opposition, the government’s plan is only meant to
attract votes in the upcoming election though, being ungrounded and based on EU
funds without saying anything about how these funds are going to be attracted.

(translated
by bill)

2 July 2020
The latest epidemiological developments cast a question mark over the next relaxation measures

The
Technical-Scientific Group consulted by the government in Bucharest has
proposed the postponement of the fourth stage of relaxation measures, which was
supposed to be implemented as of July 1st.

The
proposal came against the background of an alarming rise in the Covid
infections in the past days as many Romanians fail to observe the prevention
rules. The number of daily infections continue to be higher than the number of patients
cured, which means that hospitals in Romania are overcrowded.

The number
of patients needing intensive care is also on the rise and so is the death
toll. In an interview to a TV channel, Romania’s Health Minister Nelu Tataru
has referred to an unfavourable evolution in the past two weeks and for this
reason the introduction of the new relaxation measures has been postponed at
least at the level of the Technical-Scientific Group.

Nelu Tătaru: We
have seen an increase in the number of infections in the past two weeks. In
these two weeks we have seen a higher number of patients needing intensive care
and also an increase in the number of deaths. So the Technical Group experts
have recommended that the new relaxation measures planned for July 1st
be postponed. We are presently handling an increased number of infections and
at the level of this group it has been decided to postpone this fourth
relaxation stage. We are monitoring the situation daily, every week and every
other week and if it improves we will start considering another series of
relaxation measures. And in case of an intense community contagion, we are
considering imposing restrictions in certain locations to isolate outbreaks and
impose quarantine measures.

A
final decision on the issue is expected from the Executive in Bucharest on
Wednesday. The government is also expected to convene on Wednesday for a new
plan of measures against the spreading of the Covid pandemic. Prime Minister
Ludovic Orban, who said the latest developments impose caution, has summoned
the ministers and other high officials from the Interior, Health Ministers as
well as from the police and other state institutions with control attributions.

In
another development, the National Committee for Emergency Situations has
already decided that event organisers who do not comply with prevention regulations
have their license suspended. In their turn epidemiologists have pointed out that
unless prevention measures are observed the number of cases can continue to
rise. Romania has so far confirmed over 26,500 Covid infections. Suceava in
north-eastern Romania ranks first in terms of the number of cases followed by
Bucharest and Brasov, in the center of the country. Roughly 19 thousand people
have been declared cured and allowed to leave hospitals whereas over 16 hundred
people have died.

30 June 2020
June 18, 2020 UPDATE

CONFERENCE Romanian
president Klaus Iohannis on Thursday attended a high-level videoconference on
the Eastern Partnership. The Romanian official reiterated Romania’s commitment
to supporting the European prospects of the most committed eastern partners in
accordance with their own progress. He also voiced Bucharest’s support for a
more ambitious EU approach to security cooperation in order to respond to the
legitimate interests of the EU and the partner states in the region. Also high
on the agenda was the management of the common challenges caused by
misinformation and the stepped up hybrid actions. Iohannis highlighted the
consistent support Romania offered to the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine in
their efforts to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. The event was attended by heads of state and government from the EU27
in addition to the six partner states in the region: Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. On Friday the Romanian
president is expected to attend the European Council meeting, also held in
videoconference format. The agenda will include the Economic Recovery Plan and
the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework recently proposed by the European
Commission, the negotiation process for the future relations between the
European Union and Great Britain, as well as foreign policy topics.

DRAFT Parliament in Bucharest on Thursday approved a draft law on taxing
the so-called special pensions, endorsed by the Chamber of Deputies on
Wednesday. A vote from the Legislature was needed as the law is also referring
to the pensions of the MPs and senators. Romanian deputies decided to
levy a tax on the difference between the special pension and the regular
contribution-based pension. Therefore a 10% tax will be levied on pensions ranging
between €400 and €1.450, while any pension above this mark will be subject to an
85% tax. The Ombudsman has already challenged the law at the Constitutional
Court and the High Court of Cassation and Justice is expected to follow suit.

TROOPS 2669 servicemen from Romania
will be involved this year in various peacekeeping missions and operations
outside its territory. These troops are getting ready and deployable upon NATO
and EU orders. 791 officers and NCs are also ready for missions and operations outside
Romania and over one thousand more could be made available, Romanian president
Klaus Iohannis has told Parliament in a briefing. According to the document presented
by the president, Romanian troops are carrying out missions assumed as part of the
country’s obligations as a security provider. Troops from Romania are involved
in peace-keeping and peace-enforcement operations under NATO, the EU, the UN
and the OSCE approval.

COVID-19 – The
number of confirmed Covid-19 infections continues to rise in Romania. Another
320 cases have been reported since the last update, taking the total number of
infected to 23.080. Over 16.300 people have recovered and 1.473 have died. 178
patients are now in intensive care. According to Health Minister Nelu Tataru,
the rise in the number of cases is the result of several measures aimed at
easing lockdown restrictions. On the other hand, Prime Minister Ludovic Orban
said theatres and restaurants in Romania will be reopened whenever the
epidemiological context allows it. Prime Minister Ludovic Orban said that, for
the time being, the authorities don’t know how the situation will evolve, and
has called on everyone to remain vigilant and strictly observe the regulations.

(translated by bill)

18 June 2020
June 16, 2020

ALERT The
government in Bucharest is expected to endorse a decision on extending the
state of alert with 30 more days. Liberal Prime Minister Ludovic Orban has
explained that most of the experts believe the state of alert is necessary
given the present epidemiological background. The government’s decision must be
approved by Parliament and the largest opposition force, PSD, have announced
their intention not to endorse an extension longer than 15 days. The
Social-Democrats also believe the relaxation measures proposed by the
government are not enough. Romania has so far reported 22,415 infections
and a number of fatalities that has gone up to 1,437. Over 16 thousand patients
have been cured. 34 hundred Romanians have been confirmed infected abroad and
114 of them died. A new stage of relaxation measures started being imposed in
Romania as of Monday. Malls have opened, but playgrounds, cinemas, restaurants
and cafeterias remain closed.

ATTENDANCE The first weekend of the International Theatre
Festival in Sibiu, central Romania, which has this year been staged exclusively
online due to the Covid pandemic has registered an impressive audience. The
festival’s shows and other events posted on its facebook or webpage at
sibfest.ro have registered roughly 181 thousand visitors. The event continues
until June 21st with prestigious performances, shows of dance,
music, opera, street performances, circus and special conferences, all broadcast
online. The festival’s present edition unfolds under the motto ‘The Power to
Believe’. The International Theatre Festival in Sibiu is the first big
performing arts festival in Central and Eastern Europe.

WEATHER Romania is still facing bad weather phenomena in most
of its territory, where meteorologists have forecast heavy downpours and
lightning storms for the entire week. Scores of towns and villages have been
affected by the bad weather in 20 Romanian counties. Firefighters have been
deployed to pump water out of hundreds of households and public institutions or
to remove the broken trees from the streets. Traffic has been temporarily
disrupted on national and county roads.

NATO Romanian navy has handed over the command of Standing NATO
Mine Countermeasures Group Two, a communique issued by the Navy Chief of Staff
on Tuesday announced. By assuming the command of the aforementioned military
force, Romania proved its capabilities as a security provider for the defence
of the allies as this navy force has made a major contribution to maintaining
the alliance’s battle and immediate response capabilities in crisis situations
as well as to the promotion of NATO’s images and values. In the past six
months, the group has carried out missions in the Black Sea, the Aegean and the
Mediterranean Sea involving the participation of military vessels from
Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Romania and Turkey.

BORDER According to the Romanian authorities, 65 200, Romanian
and foreign nationals transited Romania’s border checkpoints on Monday. The
traffic has increased by 60% as compared to the month of May. Romania’s border
with Hungary proved to be the busiest, as it has been crossed by roughly 43,800
people. According to the same sources, the number of people who entered Romania
has doubled as compared to the previous state-of-alert period.

(translated by bill)

16 June 2020
13.06.2020

Coronavirus en Roumanie – En Roumanie, l’état d’alerte institué par les autorités ce 15 mai, sur toile de fond de pandémie doit expirer la semaine prochaine, mais l’exécutif a annoncé qu’il souhaite le prolonger. Une décision en ce sens sera adoptée au cours de la prochaine réunion du gouvernement. Le premier ministre Ludovic Orban a réaffirmé que cette mesure n’était pas politique, mais qu’elle reposait sur les conseils des spécialistes, vu que le risque d’une nouvelle vague de l’épidémie était toujours élevé. Le prolongement de l’état d’alerte devrait être adopté par le Parlement, mais l’opposition politique de Bucarest a annoncé qu’elle voterait contre cette mesure. Aux dires du président par intérim du principal parti d’opposition, le PSD, Marcel Ciolacu, un état intermédiaire devrait être institué, pour au moins 15 jours. Selon le rapport le plus récent du Groupe de Communication stratégique, 222 nouveaux cas d’infection au nouveau coronavirus ont été enregistrés, ces 24 dernières heures, alors que 171 malades sont actuellement en soins intensifs. Sur les 21.400 personnes infectées, 1380 sont décédées. A l’extérieur de la Roumanie, quelque 3300 Roumains ont été dépistés positifs au nouveau coronavirus et 114 sont décédés.

BNR – La fermeture à grande échelle de l’activité dans de nombreux secteurs économiques, dans l’effort de limiter la propagation de l’infection au nouveau coronavirus et la compression accentuée de la demande de consommation, et la baisse de la consommation extérieure, produiront un recul sévère de l’économie roumaine durant le deuxième trimestre, met en garde la Banque centrale de Roumanie. Cet avertissement est lié au déclin souffert par l’économie roumaine par la fermeture brusque d’entreprises et d’activités, surtout dans le transport, le tourisme, l’hôtellerie, les activités récréatives, l’industrie et le commerce. La croissance économique a augmenté considérablement dans le 1er trimestre de l’année 2020, alors que le marché de l’emploi a connu une détérioration subite au mois de mars, adoucie par l’utilisation du chômage partiel, stimulé par les autorités par des leviers budgétaires, selon un document rendu public par le Conseil d’administration de la Banque nationale de Roumanie. Le nombre de contrats de travail a pourtant augmenté et cette évolution pourrait s’accentuer à partir du 1er juin, lorsque le chômage partiel par temps de pandémie sera suspendu. Selon les spécialistes de la Banque centrale roumaine, le taux annuel d’inflation sera supérieur à 3% cette année même après une baisse évidente au 2e trimestre.

Descente des mineurs – Le premier ministre roumain, Ludovic Orban a appelé samedi les magistrats à établir la vérité dans le dossier de la descente des mineurs de la Valée du Jiu à Bucarest du 13 au 15 juin 1990, dossier qui n’a pas été résolu jusqu’à présent. Le 13 juin, le régime « communiste » selon Ludovic Orban, du président roumain Ion Iliescu, qui venait de remporter les élections présidentielles a utilisé les forces de l’ordre et ensuite les mineurs pour mettre fin à un mouvement de contestation contre le pouvoir de gauche installé après la chute du communisme en décembre 1989. Des affrontements violents entre les forces de l’ordre et les protestataires de la Place de l’Université de Bucarest ont eu lieu le 13 juin. Les gueules noires sont arrivées dans la Capitale le 14 juin, pour intervenir brutalement contre les protestataires et d’autres bucarestois, dévastant les sièges de partis politiques historiques et de certaines facultés. Six personnes sont décédées et un millier ont été blessés, tandis que plusieurs centaines ont été arrêtés illégalement. Dans le dossier de la descente des mineurs, l’ex président Ion Iliescu, les anciens premier ministre Petre Roman et vice-premier ministre Gelu Voican Voiculescu ainsi que l’ancien patron des renseignements roumains, Virgil Măgureanu, sont accusés de crimes contre l’Humanité. En 2014, la Cour européenne des Droits de l’Homme a émis une décision qui oblige la Roumanie à poursuivre les investigations dans ce dossier.

Météo – L’Administration nationale de météorologie a émis une alerte Code Orange aux pluies torrentielles et aux orages dans 31 départements, valable jusqu’à dimanche matin. A l’exception de 3 départements de l’ouest et de plusieurs du sud du territoire, toutes les autres régions seront frappées par des averses torrentielles, de la grêle et par des rafales de vent de plus de 80 km à l’heure. Les météorologues ont actualisé un code jaune au temps mauvais, émis vendredi prolongeant cette alerte jusqu’à mardi matin. Dans 15 départements du sud-est et de l’ouest du pays des périodes d’instabilité accentuée se succéderont. L’instabilité caractérisera aussi la météo le long de la semaine prochaine. Les températures iront de 21 à 30 degrés.

13 June 2020
Assistance for the Romanian companies

The government in Bucharest has
endorsed a law guaranteeing loans for the big companies after the IMM
Invest model. The country’s Prime Minister Ludovic Orban on
Wednesday said that this assistance scheme would become operational
after getting the green light from the European Commission, most
likely in two weeks’ time. The Prime Minister has recalled the
principles of this programme.

Ludovic Orban:
This
is a scheme through which we guarantee credits up to 90% subsidizing
interests up to 50%. The initial ceiling of this state assistance
programme is of 1.6 billion euros, which of course we are ready to
increase in case there are more applications.

We are waiting for the European
Commission’s approval because any assistance scheme needs their
approval. We have discussed the issue in principle and we are
optimistic about the results. The scheme is going to become fully
operational shortly after we get the approval we need.

Last week, Finance Minister Florin
Citu announced the ceiling of this assistance programme, which can
benefit the big companies with over 250 employees, including their
branches or partners, could be raised up to 5.8 billion euros.

According to
Florin Cîțu, this programme together with the one destined for
small and medium-sized businesses allow all the Romanian companies to
get access to such financing credits.

As for the IMM
Invest programme, which is addressing companies with over 4.1 million
euros in turnover, the government announced that this programme was
streamlined and declared ready to supplement the allotted budget so
that the number of the enterprises attracting these funds may triple
in a couple of weeks.

The Finance Minister has added the
programme can offer assistance to 40 thousand companies at the most
and if need be the Executive can earmark more money at the next
budget adjustment.

On Wednesday, the country’s
president Klaus Iohannis promulgated a law on approving an emergency
ordinance over the programme of assisting the small and medium-sized
enterprises, which this year provides for a total ceiling of 6.2
billion euros in state guarantees, which can benefit the companies
interested in getting these loans.

(translated
by bill)

11 June 2020
June 4, 2020

COVID-19 Romania has so far confirmed roughly 20,000
Covid infections. Out of these around 14 thousand people have been cured and
left hospitals, while 1299 have lost their lives. 114 out of the 3100 Romanian
nationals who have been confirmed infected abroad died. Health Minister Nelu
Tataru on Wednesday said that the COVID-19 test aimed at confirming people’s immunization
to the new virus would be carried out on 29 thousand subjects during the months
of June, July and August. According to the Romanian official, because a vaccine
cannot be made earlier than the first half of the next year, compulsory
vaccination cannot be introduced without a test period of two, three seasons.

MEETING
The Romanian government has
again convened in Bucharest for a new round of talks over the measures aimed at
jump-starting the economy and preserving jobs. A programme on supporting the big
companies through guaranteed loans is high on the talks agenda. Prime Minister
Ludovic Orban has announced he will use all the instruments available to back
investments, including through the creation of an investment fund made up of
budget resources or European funds if permitted. Prime Minister Orban on Wednesday
held talks with representatives of the Coalition for Romania’s Development over
the latest developments in the IMM Invest programme, the plans aimed at
boosting the economy and attracting funds from the interior and from abroad.

US Protest rallies in the USA caused by the
death of a black man in police custody proved to be quieter on Wednesday after
several days, which saw acts of vandalism and rioting. The latest events had prompted
President Donald Trump to threaten to send in the military to quell the growing
civil unrest. In his latest statement however president Trump says he won’t
need to send in troops after the US Defence Secretary has opposed the
president’s threatened use of the Insurrection Act to allow active duty troops
to be deployed in American cities. The UN rights chief, Michelle Bachelet
insisted the grievances at the heart of the protests that have erupted in
hundreds of US cities needed to be heard and addressed if the country was to
move forward. Solidarity rallies with the anti-racist protests in the USA have
continued in Europe as well.

AMENDMENTS Children in Romania are going to be given access to sanitary
education and not to sex education and in order to be able to attend these classes
they need parental approval, the Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest has ruled
amending a previous law on child protection and their rights. The aforementioned
amendments have been made upon the proposal of some MPs from the left-wing
opposition PSD and from the ruling National Liberal Party. The third ruling
party USR has denounced the initiative, arguing that Romania has the largest
number of abortions among minors. According to a survey made by Save the
Children NGO, six out of ten teenage moms have never had any access to information about
sex education or healthy reproduction.

(translated by bill)

4 June 2020
June 3, 2020 UPDATE

TALKS Romanian Prime Minister Ludovic
Orban on Wednesday spoke on the phone with the Crown Prince of the Emirate of
Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan upon the latter’s initiative.
The two officials tackled the deepening and enlargement of bilateral economic
cooperation. According to a government communiqué, the Romanian Prime Minister
has underlined the very good dialogue the authorities in Bucharest have with
the Emirate companies operating in Romania and has mentioned the numerous
investment opportunities in various fields of the Romanian economy. The Prime
Minister has thanked the Sheikh for the generous support the United Arab
Emirates offered to Romania to help the latter fight the Covid pandemic.

COVID -19 Another 8 people infected with the new coronavirus
have died bringing the death toll to 1.296. The number of infections exceeds
19.600, but over 13.800 people have been cured. The authorities say the
country is on a downward trend as far as new cases are concerned, with
increasingly fewer serious cases and a low community transmission rate. Now is
the time to start testing the population to establish the scale of infection,
said the health minister Nelu Tataru. He signed an order to approve this
survey, which is to be coordinated by the National Institute for Public Health.
The testing will be carried out from June to September and will involve the
harvesting of 29,000 samples, with the first results expected in autumn. The
health minister says this survey is necessary to be able to establish future
public health protection measures.

MEETING Romania’s president Klaus
Iohannis and the country’s Prime Minister Ludovic Orban on Wednesday held talks
on European funds and the justice laws. According to Iohannis, Romania will be
trying to attract significant funds from the European Union, which are to be
used for reinvigorating the country’s economy and for investment in highways,
railways and green energy. The funds are also to be used for improving the
country’s education and healthcare systems. According to Iohannis, there is a
multi-annual draft budget drawn up by the European Commission, but this is not
definitive and to be negotiated. As for the justice laws, Iohannis announced
that the government would create a series of projects aimed at mending the laws
amended by the PSD and their Parliament allies. The Romanian official also announced
a new series of consultations with experts in the field due to take place in
the following weeks.

REPATRIATION The foreign ministry in Bucharest says that on 1st
June it facilitated the repatriation of 70 Romanian citizens from Turkey and
another 190 from the UK, as they were stranded abroad following travel
restrictions to curb the pandemic. The Romanian authorities also facilitated
the return of two Turkish citizens, two Greek citizens and an Iranian citizen
who had their residence in Romania. As part of the move, 124 foreign nationals
were able to travel to the UK and 58 Turkish nationals to Turkey.

MIDDLE EAST In a telephone
conversation with his Israeli counterpart Gabriel Ashkenazi, the Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu
conveyed Romania’s full readiness to deepen and expand bilateral cooperation in
all areas of mutual interest. The two officials agreed to hold, most likely in
the first part of next year, a third joint meeting of their respective
cabinets. They also hailed the excellent level of Romanian-Israeli relations,
which have been consolidated over seven decades of uninterrupted diplomatic
ties and expressed their appreciation for Israel’s community of Romanian
origin. The Romanian foreign minister reiterated his country’s constant support
for the consolidation of the EU-Israel dialogue, including with respect to the
peace process in the Middle East. In this context, minister Aurescu reaffirmed
Romania’s support for a sustainable solution founded on the co-existence, in
peace and security, of two states, Israel and Palestine.

(translated by bill)

3 June 2020
Further relaxation measures in Romania

With a number of deaths recently exceeding 1,200 and about 19 thousand cases of COVID-19 contamination confirmed over the past 3 months since the reporting of the first case of coronavirus infection on its territory, Romania will now enter a new phase of easing of restrictions. The measures, imposed as of March 15 across Romania in a move to contain the spread of the virus, have already been partially relaxed two weeks ago, when the state of emergency was replaced by a state of alert. So, as of May 15 Romanians no longer needed self-declarations to leave their homes and travel in their home localities or metropolitan areas. Parks and museums were re-opened, people thus returning gradually to normal socialization.

The authorities have analyzed the situation of the past two weeks of state of alert and have concluded that further relaxation measures may be taken in Romania as of June 1. Among the new relaxation measures: the opening of café and restaurant gardens, of beaches, and the organization of open-air performances with up to 500 spectators. Sports competitions, that do not require direct contact among athletes, will be resumed, as well as international road and rail transportation. People will also be allowed to travel without any restrictions outside their home towns or metropolitan area, the PM Ludovic Orban announced.

He also highlighted the conditions that need to be observed: “It is permitted to prepare, sell and consume foodstuffs, beverages and alcoholic drinks in special places located outside buildings, in the open air, while ensuring a distance of at least 2 meters among tables and with 4 people at the most sitting at one table, if these people are not from the same family. As of June 1, people can also go to the beach, with beach administrators having to ensure sun beds for each person. A minimum distance of 2 meters needs to be ensured among sun beds used by different families.”

Although some of the restrictions will be eliminated, President Klaus Iohannis calls for caution though: “We cannot say that the epidemic has significantly subsided. Consequently, please continue to be very careful! I repeat, dear Romanians, dear young people, dear students, dear children, we will succeed in overcoming this pandemic if we observe social distancing rules, if we wear masks inside enclosed spaces, and if we wash our hands as often as possible.” Said President Iohannis.

The evolution of the pandemic, with almost 200 new contaminations reported daily, shows that we need to continue to pay attention to hygiene and prevention rules, because there are still many cases of infection and people in ICUs, President Iohnnis also added. (tr. L. Simion)

29 May 2020
Active measures to support the economy

The economic downturn has not been as serious as the government had expected for the duration of the state of emergency in Romania, the Romanian PM Ludovic Orban told a press conference. Budget receipts were not as small as predicted by pessimists and this was due, according to the PM, to the good measures taken to support the economy, such as the VAT return with subsequent control actions and the continuation of activity in constructions.

PM Orban also talked about new measures to re-launch the economy. According to him, Romania could take advantage of an international economic context in which it could be a pole of attraction for substantial relocations of production facilities from certain countries. Romania is ready to provide very good conditions to attract those companies willing to relocate their production facilities, and received signals in this respect, the PM said, adding that relocations could be an engine for growth.

The PM Ludovic Orban also believes that investments are critical to economic recovery, and announced that a mechanism would bet set up in the coming period, to guarantee the working capital and investments of big companies, after the model of SMEs Invest program, which allows SMEs to take out loans to ensure their liquidities.

The prime minister also announced that the EBRD would support projects of economic recovery in the private and public sectors by a maximum amount of 4 billion Euros, and that a state-aid scheme would soon be made available by the Romanian government, for which it received the support of the European Commission. The measure targets mainly the big electricity consumers, and helps companies to access natural gas and electric energy, at least, at the average European price.

Another instrument the Romanian government is going to use to support investments is the ‘greenfield’ state aid for investments, which, according to PM Orban, are either made by new companies on the Romanian market, or are development projects of new industrial facilities of certain companies that are active on the Romanian market. The government is equally working on a state-aid scheme to guarantee and ensure commercial credits, a mechanism that is already operational in Germany and Italy.

The Romanian government is also trying to channel substantial European funds to support small and medium sized enterprises, especially their investment projects. The government’s target is to exceed the amount of 6% of the GDP allotted to public investments for a maximum period of 2 years. The PM also said that the government is considering massive growth for all types of infrastructure — transport, energy, health, communications and agriculture. (translation by L. Simion)

5 May 2020
April 27, 2020

Covid-19 Romania — The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on Monday called a new meeting to deal with measures aimed at managing the coronavirus pandemic. Attending are the PM Ludovic Orban, the health, interior and education ministers as well as other officials. The authorities are preparing to re-start the economy, mainly through investments. The PM said the government could grant incentives to private companies that make investments during this period of crisis. 60 days after the first case of Covid-19 was registered in Romania, latest reports show that 11,300 people have tested positive for Covid-19 and 631 have died. The latest data provided by Strategic Communication Group show that over 3 thousand people have recovered from the infection. In the Diaspora, more than 1,500 Romanian citizens have been infected mostly in Italy and Spain and 75 have died.

Covid-19 world — All over the world, almost 3 million people are infected with the new coronavirus, according to the US University Johns Hopkins. Most cases have been reported in the US, which is followed by countries from Europe: Spain, Italy, France, Germania and Great Britain. Equally affected by the pandemic are Turkey, Iran, China and Russia. The death toll has exceeded 206 thousand, with 54 thousand dead only in the US. Despite the situation, several states are getting ready to relax restrictions: in Italy economic activity is going to be partly resumed while preserving protection measures in public. People movement remains restricted, schools will open only in autumn and Italian churches will stay closed. France is preparing regional relaxation strategies starting with May 11. A system will be implemented by means of mobile phones, to warn people against getting in contact with an infected person.

Romanian Academy – A study conducted by sociologists with the Life Quality Research Institute within the Romanian Academy shows that Romania is faced with two crises in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic: a medical and economic crisis respectively, and that the living standards will be affected mainly after the medical crisis ends. The report shows that people will have the same purchasing power that they had before the crisis only in 5 years’ time. Researchers recommend the authorities to abrogate or prorogate the pension law adopted in 2019, among others, to index-link the pension point with the inflation rate, to raise salaries only to compensate for the inflation rate and to reintroduce a unitary national salary grid for the local administration

Agriculture — All autumn crops, especially those in the north and south of Romania, have been affected by the drought, the agriculture minister Adrian Oros has announced. According to data provided by the line ministry, 3 million hectares of the crops sown in autumn have already been affected. At present, only 10% of the farming land can be irrigated. The agriculture minister Adrian Oros promised that farmers will receive damages to cover for the losses caused by the drought.

TAROM – The Romanian state-owned airline TAROM has announced it will resume flights as of May 2. The first destination will be Amsterdam and in the next days flights will be operated to such destinations as Athens, Paris and Frankfurt. The Romanian low-cost company Blue Air has also announced resuming flight operation. They reintroduced in the booking system flights from Romania to several cities in Romania and Europe that will be operated as of mid May. The Romanian government approved during Thursday’s meeting granting aid funds to help the two Romanian companies. They had previously asked for 130 million Euros worth of aid to be able to overcome the coronavirus crisis. (tr. L. Simion)

27 April 2020
25.04.2020 (mise à jour)

Coronavirus en Roumanie – Les autorités roumaines ont annoncé ce samedi 12 nouveaux décès à cause du coronavirus, portant le bilan de l’épidémie en Roumanie à 579 morts. Selon les statistiques officielles, les décès comptent pour 6% du total des personnes dépistées positives au Covid 19. Les chiffres les plus récents font état de 218 nouveaux cas, soit 100 de moins par rapport au précédent rapport publié vendredi. Le nombre de Romains infectés au coronavirus est arrivé à 10.635, dont 235 sont actuellement en soins intensifs. Jusqu’ici 2890 malades ont été déclarés guéris et on pu quitter les hôpitaux. A l’étranger, près de 1500 citoyens roumains ont été confirmés positifs au coronavirus alors que le nombre de décès est de 73.

Coronavirus dans le monde – « Il n’y a actuellement aucune preuve que les personnes qui se sont remises du Covid-19 et qui ont des anticorps soient prémunies contre une seconde infection », a averti à nouveau l’Organisation mondiale de la Santé. Certains gouvernements ont émis l’idée de délivrer des documents attestant l’immunité des personnes sur la base de tests sérologiques révélant la présence d’anticorps dans le sang, de façon a déconfiner et a permettre peu a peu leur retour au travail et la reprise de l’activité économique.Le bilan de la pandémie a dépassé les 2,7 millions d’infections et les 200 mille décès dans le Monde. L’Europe est le continent ayant enregistré le plus grand nombre de décès, les pays les plus touchés son l’Italie (avec plus de 25 mille décès), Espagne et France (avec 22.000 morts chacun) et le Royaume Uni avec 19 mille décès. Près de 59 mille personnes sont décédées aux Etats-Unis à cause de la pandémie. La situation commence à se stabiliser à travers de nombreux pays et de plus en plus de gouvernement évoquent un assouplissement progressif des restrictions imposées pour arrêter la propagation du coronavirus alors que certains ont déjà annoncé des mesures de reprise de l’activité.

Trump – Le président roumain, Klaus Iohannis s’est entretenu aujourd’hui par téléphone avec son homologue américain Donald Trump, à la demande du côté américain. Selon l’administration présidentielle de Bucarest, l’entretien a été ciblé sur la crise épidémiologique générée par le nouveau coronavirus et sur les moyens de consolider la relation transatlantique et le partenariat stratégique roumano-américain. Le président Iohannis a remercié aux Etats Unis pour l’appui accordé à la Roumanie, notamment pour les capacités de transport stratégique aérien, mises à la disposition des Etats membres de l’OTAN, qui ont servi à l’acheminement des équipements de protection essentiels au personnel sanitaire. Pour sa part, Donald Trump a exprimé sa disponibilité d’envoyer en Roumanie des ventilateurs nécessaires dans les hôpitaux roumains.

Médecins – Une équipe de 11 médecins et 6 aides soignants ayant participé du 7 au 24 avril à des missions d’appui du personnel médical italien dans la province de Lombardie, épicentre de l’épidémie de coronavirus en Italie, sont revenus aujourd’hui à Bucarest, à bord d’un avion de transport des forces aériennes roumaines. Sur son vol aller l’aéronef a transporté en Italie 90.000 masques de protection FFP 2. Sur son retour le même avion a transporté en Roumanie cinq ventilateurs pulmonaires t d’autres équipements de protection offerts par la Pape François à l’hôpital de Suceava, dans le nord-est, le plus touché de Roumanie par l’épidémie de coronavirus. Daniel, le primat de l’Eglise orthodoxe roumaine et les autorités de Bucarest ont remercié au Pape pour son don. Le ministère des Affaires Etrangères souligne que cette initiative prouve la solidarité de sa Sainteté avec la Roumanie, les excellentes relations et la coopération entre la Roumanie et le Saint Siège, sur la toile de fond des 100 ans écoulés depuis l’établissement des relations diplomatiques entre les deux Etats. La diplomatie de Bucarest rappelle aussi que le peuple roumain maintenait vive la mémoire de la visite apostolique du pape François en Roumanie l’été dernier, lorsque le Saint Père s’est rendu dans toutes les régions historiques de la Roumanie.

Notation – L’agence de notation Moody’s a reconfirmé la note relative à la dette gouvernementale de la Roumanie à BAA3/A-3 pour la dette à long et court terme en devises et en monnaie locale et a modifié les perspectives de la Roumanie de stables à négatives, a fait savoir aujourd’hui le ministère des finances. Selon cette source, la notation de la Roumanie repose sur le potentiel de croissance solide du pays, malgré le contexte de la pandémie de coronavirus, ainsi que la capacité institutionnelle modérée de l’Etat roumain. L’agence affirme que la Roumanie a une économie plus puissante et avec une croissance plus rapide que d’autres pays ayant obtenu la même notation Baa3. Le ministère des finances de Roumanie affirme que Moody’s précise que la modification de la perspective a tenu compte de la détérioration structurelle des finances publiques, situation empirée par la majoration des dettes à long terme suite à la réforme des pensions de retraite de 2019.

Elections – Les élections municipales pourraient se dérouler vers la fin septembre, sinon en octobre, a déclaré le premier ministre roumain Ludovic Orban. Le chef de l’exécutif a déclaré que tout dépendait de l’évolution de la pandémie en Roumanie. Ludovic Orban a rappelé que selon les prévisions des médecins, la campagne électorale pourrait se dérouler en sécurité cet automne. Les élections municipales étaient prévues pour la fin juin, mais elles ont été reportées à cause de l’épidémie. Le scrutin législatif est prévu également pour ce novembre.

Handball – La sélection nationale de handball féminin de Roumanie a été automatiquement qualifiée au championnat européen 2020, prévu pour décembre, en Norvège et au Danemark, après l’annulation du reste des matchs des préliminaires par le Comité exécutif de la Fédération européenne de Handball. L’organisation continentale a annoncé la qualification au tournoi final de plusieurs équipes : France, Russie, Pays-Bas, Suède, Hongrie, Monténégro, Allemagne, Serbie, Espagne, Slovénie, Pologne, République Tchèque, Croatie et les équipes des deux pays hôte. Sur l’actuelle campagne de qualification plusieurs étapes étaient prévues. La Roumanie a décroché deux victoires sur deux matchs joués dans un groupe contre la Pologne, l’Ukraine et les Iles Féroé. Les barrages européens pour le Championnat mondial messieurs de 2021 ont également été annulés. La Roumanie aurait du rencontrer la Bosnie. Annulation également pour les maths éliminatoires de la Ligue des Champions de handball messieurs. Dans les huitièmes de finale, Dinamo devait jouer dans les huitièmes de finale, une première pour les champions de Roumanie, contre le Paris Saint-Germain. Une décision relative aux quarts de finale de la ligue des Champions de Handball féminin sera également rendue publique prochainement. Le SCM Râmnicu-Vâlcea et le CSM Bucarest devraient rencontre Metz de France et respectivement Gyor de Hongrie.

Tremblements de terre – Deux tremblements de terre ont été enregistrés en Roumanie dans la nuit de vendredi à samedi : le premier d’une magnitude de 5 sur l’échelle ouverte de Richter a eu lieu dans l’est et le second d’une magnitude de 2,7 dans l’ouest du pays. Le 4 mars 1977, un séisme d’une magnitude de 7,2, le plus grave à frapper la Roumanie a fait 1570 morts, dont la plupart à Bucarest et d’importants dégâts. Le séisme a provoqué une crise économique et sociale que les autorités communistes de l’époque n’ont pas réussi à surmonter jusqu’à la chute du régime, affirment les historiens. Les spécialistes avertissent que dans le cas d’un séisme similaire à celui de 1977, des centaines d’immeubles pourraient s’écrouler à Bucarest.

Météo – Une baisse notable des températures est attendue sur la moitié nord de la Roumanie, mais sur le sud le temps sera beau avec des maximales supérieures à la moyenne pluriannuelle. Ciel couvert sur le nord-est et en montagne et dans la soirée sur le sud et le sud-est, mais les pluies seront isolées. Des précipitations mixtes sont possibles en haute montagne. Les températures iront de 11 à 24 degrés.

25 April 2020
Draft laws passed by the Chamber of Deputies

The
two chambers of the Romanian Parliament convened in a plenary session
on Thursday, a session which was attended by a lower number of Mps
though. There were also several phone interventions and the MPs
eventually
resorted
to electronic voting. The Chamber of Deputies, dominated by the
opposition Social-Democrats (PSD) passed as a decision-making forum
several draft laws to tackle the present crisis.

Among
this there was a PSD initiative to grant survivor’s benefits to the
families of doctors or other categories of medical personnel who lost
their lives while fighting the pandemic. So the surviving spouse and
children will be benefiting from survivor’s benefits amounting to
75% of the salary of the deceased member and in the absence of any
heir, parents of the deceased will get half of the survivor’s
benefit. The draft law was
passed
with landslide majority.

The
chamber passed amendments also proposed by the PSD to a government
ordinance under which bank installments can be postponed upon request
until December 31st.
The
amendments also provide for the elimination of the interest upon
interest for all types of credit. Even those with past-due accounts
can benefit from these provisions as well as the companies that
incurred 15% income loss due to the crisis. The ruling National
Liberal Party (PNL) has been accusing the Social-Democrats of
populism adding they will challenge these amendments at the
Constitutional Court.

The
Liberals say that under the new circumstances all debtors will be
applying for this
facility
and their credits will be considered risky. Now when bank resources
are more precious than ever, banks will have to block significant
amounts of money, which should have been pumped into the economy, a
Liberal MP has said. The PSD are defending their amendments arguing
that these are meant to help the population and the companies
affected by the crisis and that interest upon interest is applied
nowhere in the world.

The
chamber of Deputies has passed another law which provides for the
extension with another 6 months of the local authorities mandate from
the cessation of the state of emergency and also enables Parliament
to establish by means of an organic law the local election date.

Until
now that was established by the government, and the PNL have already
announced their intention to challenge the law at the Constitutional
Court. Prime Minister Ludovic Orban on Thursday said that local
election could be staged in September if the first peak of the
pandemic had passed by the end of July.

The
sooner the better says the Prime Minister adding that the
epidemiological situation
must
be taken into account. As for the Parliamentary election due in
December, Orban said that turnout can be increased by the
introduction of the postal voting in Romania as it is now in the
diaspora or the electronic voting. The Senate has also passed several
draft laws including that for granting more days off to those taking
care of children including during holidays, if schools and other
education units are closed down as a result of the state of
emergency.

(translated
by bill)

24 April 2020