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September 20, 2021 UPDATE

COVID-19 The COVID certificate has become mandatory
in Romania as of Monday for participants in various indoor events in all areas with
an infection rate between 3 and 6 per thousand. The green pass proves the
holder has been fully vaccinated, recovered from the disease or tested
negative, and grants access to indoor events like theatre and cinema shows,
sporting competitions, weddings or baptism ceremonies. Children under 6 are
exempt. Authorities in Bucharest Monday announced 3,342 new infections out of
over 21,000 tests conducted. 78 new Covid-related fatalities were also reported,
while 952 patients are presently in ICUs. Over 100 towns and villages in
Romania have infection rates of over 3 per thousand. Only 19 beds are currently
available nation-wide for COVID patients, except for those set aside for people
with certain medical conditions and testing positive for SARS-CoV-2. According
to the Strategic Communication Group, the capital city Bucharest has no more
beds available at the moment.

DRILL As of Monday, almost
400 troops from Romania, Portugal and Poland with over 65 pieces of military
equipment are participating in a drill called Green Scorpions 21.3 hosted by
the National Training Centre ‘Getica’ close to Brasov, in central Romania.
According to sources with the Defence Ministry, the drill’s main goal is the
joint training of troops, raising the level of interoperability between NATO
members as well as the setting up of some joint battle techniques, tactics and
procedures for the successful accomplishment of missions. The command is
provided by infantry battalion 22 jointly with Portuguese and Polish detachments.

ELECTION The Foreign
Ministry in Bucharest has announced it does not recognize the legitimacy of the
election for the Russian Parliament held in the annexed region of Crimea. The
Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reiterated its support for the
sovereignty and territorial integrity of neighboring Ukraine, recalling that
Romania does not recognize the illegal annexation of the Autonomous Republic of
Crimea and the city of Sevastopol by Moscow. Bucharest also notes with regret
that Russia has opened polling stations in Transdniester against the will of
the constitutional authorities in Chisinau, a fact that runs against the
sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova. According to
the Central Electoral Commission, president Putin’s party, United Russia, is
preserving its majority in the State Duma following the parliamentary election
held for three days. United Russia got around 50% of the votes, but this
accounts for over 300 of the 450 seats in Russia’s parliament, allowing the
party to pass laws and implement reforms with no support from other political
forces. Second came the Communist Party with some 19% of the votes. The
nationalist LDPR party and the Fair Russia party also got into parliament,
alongside a new party called New People, seen by some as a Kremlin project
designed to divide Putin’s opponents.

MEETING The
Romanian president, Klaus Iohannis, and the country’s Foreign Minister, Bogdan
Aurescu Monday attended the 76th session of the UN General Assembly
in New York. For the first time since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the
event has been attended in person by heads of state and governments of UN
countries. Romania’s participation at the highest level in the UN sessions
reconfirms Bucharest’s support for pragmatic and effective multilateral
diplomacy as a landmark of Romania’s foreign policy, as well as the Romanian
contribution to international and UN activities. On the sidelines of the event
in New York, the country’s Foreign Minister, Bogdan Aurescu will be attending a
number of multilateral meetings. According to the Foreign Ministry in
Bucharest, special attention will be paid to bilateral meetings with
counterparts from countries in the Caucasus, Central, East and South Asia, the
Middle East, Africa and the Pacific area. (tr. A.M. Popescu, D. Bilt)

20 September 2021
September 1, 2021

Parliament. Bucharest’s two-chamber
Parliament today resumes after the summer recess. The senators and deputies
will elect their new leaders, including deputy speakers and secretaries, with
the exception of the speakers, who are elected for the whole term of the
current Parliament. The priorities of the new parliamentary session include a
bill on vulnerable consumers, dismantling the special department set up to
investigate crimes in the judiciary and a bill seeking to ban persons with
criminal convictions from holding public office. The Social Democratic
opposition are threatening to file a no-confidence motion against the
government formed by the National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union and
PLUS Alliance and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania.

Diplomacy. The
challenges on the international arena are a driving force for the adaptation
and reinvention of diplomacy to serve more efficiently the best interest of the
state and its citizens, said Romanian foreign minister Bogdan
Aurescu on Romanian Diplomacy Day today. Rooted in sustainable values and
objectives, Romanian diplomacy has in the last year built and developed
important landmarks in the construction of a more resilient Romania, the
minister also said. He added that the process of reflection and strategic
planning for the coming period will continue at the Annual Meeting of Romanian
Diplomacy to be held online between the 7th and the 9th of
September and discussing the role of the diplomatic service in consolidating
Romania’s resilience.

Covid-19. The number of new
coronavirus cases is on the rise in Romania, with more than 1,440 new
infections recorded on Wednesday and 21 deaths. The authorities have again
called on the vaccine reticent population to get the vaccine. In another
development, the EU said on Tuesday that it reached its goal of vaccinating 70%
of adults, a goal established at the beginning of the year. Romania is bottom
of the ranking, with only 26.4% of its population being fully vaccinated.

Schools. Romanian health minister Ioana Mihaila and education minister Sorin Campeanu signed a common
order about the new school year which gets under way on 13th
September. Wearing facemasks will be mandatory in school and children will also
be able to use textile masks if they comply with certain criteria. Depending on
the infection rate in each locality published every Friday on the website of
the public health directorate, the authorities will decide whether learning
moves online in the following week. Classes will be held in person in all
nursery schools, kindergartens and schools below an infection rate of 6 per
1,000 inhabitants. Above this rate, only nursery schools and kindergartens will
remain open, with school children moving to online teaching, with the exception
of special learning.

Tennis. Romania’s Simona Halep, who
is no. 13 in the WTA ranking, is today playing Slovakia’s Kristina Kucova,
world no. 111, in the second round at the US Open, the final Grand Slam tennis
tournament of the year. Another Romanian player, world no. 39 Sorana Cîrstea
reached the second round after defeating Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova, world
no. 31, in three sets. Cîrstea will next face world no. 43 Shelby Rogers of the
US.

Radio drama. Between the 1st and the 30th of
September, Radio Romania is hosting the 9th edition of the Grand
Prix Nova Radio Drama International Festival, held exclusively online this
year. This edition, which is dedicated to innovation in radio drama, is
available at www.grandprixnova.ro and www.eteatru.ro. The festival is divided into
three sections, radio drama, short forms and binaural, bringing together 40
productions from around the world. (CM)

1 September 2021
August 6, 2021

COVID-19 In Romania, the number of new SARS-CoV-2 infection cases remains high, over 200 per day. On Friday 230 new cases and 5 deaths were reported. Over 500 patients are hospitalized, 68 of them in intensive care. As regards the vaccine rollout, the number of fully vaccinated people went over 4.9 million on Thursday. According to a report by the National Public Health Institute, over 80% of the people diagnosed with the disease last week were not vaccinated. Data also indicates that over 85% of the COVID-related deaths were reported among unvaccinated or partly vaccinated patients. On Thursday, the government extended the state of alert by another 30 days.

WILDFIRES Several European countries are responding to Greeces call for help under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. One of them is Romania, which is sending today over 100 fire-fighters and scores of fire engines. The hundreds of fires in Greece and Turkey have affected the air quality in the east of the Mediterranean, as smoke carrying fine particles has spread as far as to northern Africa. Adding to this is the high concentration of African dust over Greece, which also reduces air quality. The Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis said his country was experiencing an unprecedented environmental crisis. He added that if anyone still has the slightest doubt that climate change is real, they should come to Greece to see its severity first hand. Over 150 wildfires have been reported in Greece so far, and one of them is threatening Olympia, the site of the ancient Olympic Games, where the Olympic flame is lit in modern times.

MOLDOVA In the R. of Moldovas capital city Chişinău, Parliament convenes today in a special session to vote on the new pro-European government. The prime minister designate, Natalia Gavriliţă, and the 13 members of her cabinet, presented a governing programme focused on the reform of the judiciary and the fight against corruption, as well as on improving citizens living standards. The new government also aims to strengthen the strategic partnership with Romania, so as to ensure Moldovas EU accession. The vote is expected to be unproblematic, as the Action and Solidarity Party, which backs the new government, has 64 seats in Parliament, and only 51 votes are required for the cabinet to be endorsed. Natalia Gavrilița was designated for the PM post by president Maia Sandu, under a presidential order issued on July 30, after consultations with the parliamentary parties.

NUCLEAR Romania and Canada Thursday signed a Memorandum of Agreement on strengthening cooperation in the civilian nuclear power field. The document was signed by Romanias minister for energy Virgil Popescu and Canada’s ambassador to Romania Annick Goulet. Attending the event, PM Florin Cîţu said the memorandum would consolidate bilateral cooperation in the field, as the Canadian partners would be involved in the Cernavoda nuclear power plant projects and in other civilian nuclear power ventures in Romania. The Canadian industry has exceptional experience in CANDU projects and has already completed CANDU upgrade and construction projects, the PM added, and voiced his satisfaction that Canadian partners are joining the US ones in developing the nuclear sector in Romania. In turn, Ambassador Annick Goulet emphasised that cooperation in the nuclear power field has been a vital element of the 55-year long relations between the 2 countries.

FESTIVAL One of the most eagerly awaited summer festivals in Romania, Electric Castle, begins today and is scheduled to end on August 15. The opening gigs are taking place at Banffy Castle in Bonţida, and others will follow in the city of Cluj Napoca in the coming days. After a difficult period for festival goers, things are returning to normal. According to the organisers, hundreds of volunteers are helping in this years edition, as they did in previous years as well. Taking part in the 10-day event held in over 20 locations in Bonţida and Cluj are 250 artists from 23 countries.

OLYMPICS The Romanian Cătălin Chirilă has today qualified into the semifinals of the 1,000m canoeing race in the Tokyo Olympics, after winning the first of the 5 qualifying series held at the Sea Forest Waterway base. The semi-finals are scheduled for Saturday. Over the years, kayak and canoeing have brought Romania 34 Olympic medals. The last gold medal was won by Florin Popescu, currently the coach of Romanias Olympic canoeing team, and Mitică Pricop, 21 years ago in Sydney. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

6 August 2021
June 23, 2021

Covid-19. 66 new Covid cases from 32,000
tests were reported in Romania on Wednesday, as well as 16 deaths recorded in
last 24 hours and a further 150 dating from earlier this year and which are
only now being recorded by public health directorates around the country at the
request of the health ministry. The Senate passed two decisions approving the
regulations proposed by the European Parliament with respect to the framework
for the issuance, verification and acceptance of the digital green
certificates. These documents will become valid in the European Union from 1st
July. The regulations will cease to apply when the pandemic is over and can be
used again in the event of another pandemic.

No-confidence motion. The Social
Democratic Party in opposition today filed a no-confidence motion against the
centre-right coalition government led by the Liberal Florin Cîţu, which will be
voted on next week. The Social Democrats’ leader Marcel Ciolacu says the
motion, the first of its kind in the current Parliament, has every chance to
pass. His party accuses the Cîţu government, which came to power six months
ago, of inefficiency and leading the country’s economy to disaster and says the
people’s living standards have dropped. It also says the government has failed
with respect to the vaccine roll-out and Romania’s recovery and resilience
plan. Prime minister Florin Cîţu says he is confident the motion will not pass,
while the Liberals’ leader Ludovic Orban says Liberal MPs will attend the
debate of the motion but will abstain from voting.

Ombudsman. The Venice Commission
sent a letter to the speakers of the two chambers of the Romanian Parliament
requesting additional information about Renate Weber’s dismissal as Ombudsman. The Parliament in Bucharest today begun
procedures to appoint a new Ombudsman. The only candidate for the post, Fabian
Gyula from the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania and backed by
the ruling coalition, was interviewed by
the legal committees of the two chambers and received their positive opinion.
The official appointment will most likely be made by Parliament next Monday. We
recall that last week, in a joint session the two chambers of the Romanian
Parliament dismissed Renate Weber from the position of Ombudsman. She was
accused of breaking the law to serve the interests of the Social Democratic
Party, now in opposition, which appointed her. In response, the Social
Democrats accused the government of wanting an Ombudsman who doesn’t challenge its
decisions and contested Renate Weber’s dismissal in the Constitutional Court,
which will discuss the case on 29th June. The Social Democrats
believe the parliamentary majority should await the Court’s decision before
voting in a new Ombudsman, given the criticism of the Venice Commission.

EU. Romanian president Klaus
Iohannis is attending a meeting of the European Council in Brussels on Thursday
and Friday. According to a statement from the president’s office, the agenda of
the talks will again feature issues such as European coordination in the
context of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Union’s economic recovery process, the
management of migration and the EU’s relations with Russia. Iohannis will also
attend the Euro Summit in extended format which will tackle the economic
challenges of the euro zone during the pandemic and the progress made with
respect to the banking and capital market union. EU leaders will also have
talks with UN secretary general António Guterres, whose mandate has been
extended for a further five years.

Weather. An amber code alert for heat and
thermal discomfort is in place today in the eastern half of Romania, where the
highs range from 37 to 39 degrees Celsius. A yellow code alert is also in place
in the rest of the country until this evening, with the highs of the day ranging
from 33 to 37 degrees Celsius. On Thursday and Friday, the west of Romania is
under a red code alert for heat and thermal discomfort, with temperatures
forecast to hit 39 to 41 degrees Celsius and the temperature-to-humidity ratio to
pass the critical level as the dew point is expected to hit 80. Two people died
following heavy rains in recent days. The eastern half of the country is at
risk of more flooding and the authorities are advising the population not to
travel to flood-risk areas and to places where a hydrological alert is in place
and to avoid activities on river banks or near waterways. (CM)

23 June 2021
June 1, 2021

NATO The head of the Romanian diplomacy
Bogdan Aurescu is today participating in the online special meeting of the
foreign ministers in the NATO member countries. High on the meeting’s agenda
are the preparations for the upcoming NATO summit on June 14th. According
to a communiqué issued by the Foreign Ministry in Bucharest, the ministers are
going to also have talks over the NATO 2030 decisions package, which are to be
endorsed in the upcoming summit. Also high on the agenda are the latest
developments in the security environment, the threats posed by Russia and the
future of NATO-Afghanistan relation. Minister Aurescu is expected to highlight
Romania’s objectives related to the upcoming summit, reiterating Bucharest’s
pledges for the outcome of the NATO 2030 reflection process as well as for the
adoption of a new strategic concept for the alliance. The Romanian minister
will also be pleading for strengthening the alliance’s deterrence and defence
posture on the entire eastern flank, given the latest developments in the
region. Aurescu will also brief participants on the inauguration in Bucharest
on Monday of the Euroatlantic Resilience Center, Romania’s concrete strategic
contribution to consolidating the resilience of NATO, its allies as well as of
the EU, its members and partners.

DAY Theatre performances, concerts,
creative workshops and guided tours are being staged on the International
Children’s Day Romania celebrates today. Several public institutions in
Bucharest are hosting a series of events for the little ones. At the Cotroceni
Palace in Bucharest, Romanian president Klaus Iohannis has inaugurated an
exhibition entitled ‘Fantastic Childhood’, created by several artists around
the country to celebrate the purity and sincerity of childhood and art.
Children are today able to visit the palace, the halls where Parliament stages
its sessions, the presidential office, the press room and the hall of fame. The
Romanian gendarmerie has planned several demonstrative events involving its dog
units and mounted patrols. The Bucharest police are also staging a series of
educational events on detective activities. Theatre performances, concerts and
various shops are also being staged for the children of asylum seekers in
Romania, most of them coming from countries like Afghanistan, Somalia, Syria
and Iraq.

RELAXATION New relaxation measures against
the background of a contained Covid-19 pandemic are to come into effect today
in Romania. Outdoor cultural and entertaining activities can be attended by 1,000
people depending on the infection rate in their region. Participants must be
fully vaccinated at least 10 days before the event or produce a negative rapid
or PCR test. Private events, like weddings and other festive activities can be
attended by 70 people at the most. Indoor activities are limited to 50 people
while various facilities staging sporting events are allowed to function at 25%
of their capacity. Gyms and swimming pools can now function at 70% of their
capacity but the number of participants is not limited if all of them are
vaccinated. Accommodation facilities in seaside resorts are allowed to function
at 85% of their capacity. Indoor mask mandates have been lifted for those
vaccinated in offices with five workers at the most.

EPPO The EU Public Prosecutor’s Office EPPO
headed by Laura Codruta Kovesi the former chief of Romania’s Anticorruption
Directorate, is starting activity today. The new body is to deal with community
fund frauds and recover money from fraudsters. EPPO prosecutors are expected to
investigate roughly three thousand files a year. According to estimates by the
European Chief Prosecutor, corruption, embezzlement and various types of fraud
are causing annual losses to the EU budget of 500 million euros. The new
European institution has an annual budget of 45 million euros. Five EU members
aren’t participating in the EPPO.

(bill)

1 June 2021
The Republic of Moldova is bracing up for snap election

Maia Sandu, president of the Republic
of Moldova on Wednesday dissolved Parliament in Chisinau and called for early
election on July 11th. This became possible after the country’s Constitutional
Court had ruled the state of emergency as unconstitutional, paving the way for
the dissolution of Parliament, which couldn’t have been dissolved otherwise.

Maia Sandu: Through this decision we have opened the way for citizens to be able to
elect a new Parliament to serve their interest and the country’s. The power is
now in the hands of the people. I trust our citizens and their readiness to
choose the right way towards a developed democratic state in which people are
living in peace and prosperity.

The Parliamentary election
is the way out of the political deadlock currently affecting the small
Romanian-speaking state in the east. With an ambitious reform agenda including
several goals as curbing corruption, streamlining institutions and embracing
European values, Maia Sandu from the very beginning of her mandate has attracted
opposition from the Parliament majority made up of the Socialists of the former
pro-Russia president Igor Dodon. In a bid to block the early election, Dodon
and his allies made an abortive attempt at changing the members of the
Constitutional Court. The European institutions and the US Department of State
have voiced concern over the latest moves by the pro-Russia majority in
Moldova, describing them as a blatant attack on the country’s democratic norms
and its Constitutional order.

Prior to Sandu’s statement, Dodon had
again lashed out at the Constitutional Court, which he described as a political
instrument in the hands of some politicians trying to undermine the state
authority.

Dodon has also described his
political opponents as puppets of the West. His political supporter, Moscow,
has denounced what it calls a direct intrusion of the US and EU in the domestic
affairs of the Republic of Moldova urging both entities to refrain from such
moves.

The anti-Constitutional coup in
Chisinau has also been firmly condemned by Bucharest. According to Romania’s
Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu, the latest moves involving Parliament in
Chisinau are proof of the importance that must be attached to the continuous
observation of the rule of law in the Republic of Moldova as well as the
importance of avoiding any decisions that might cast a question mark over the
rule of law in this country.

In turn, Romania’s Constitutional
Court (CCR) has expressed disagreement towards the concerted attacks against
the Constitutional Court in the Republic of Moldova and the constitutional
crisis in this country. ‘To incite to disregarding the Constitutional Court’s
rulings is tantamount to incite to breaking the law, the rule of law, to
cancelling the very essence of democracy’, the CCR says.

29 April 2021
April 25, 2021 UPDATE

COVID-19 The daily number of new COVID-19 infections and of hospitalised patients continues to drop in Romania. In the last 24 hours, 1,500 new cases and 127 deaths were reported. Some 1,360 patients are in intensive care. In Timişoara (western Romania) weekend restrictions have been lifted today, as the infection rate dropped below 3 per thousand. Meanwhile, the local authorities announced that the Timisoara Vaccination Marathon, launched on Friday, was a success, with more than 4,500 people immunised at the end of the second day. In fact, a similar marathon will be organised in Bucharest as well, between May 7 and 9, the coordinator of the national vaccination campaign Valeriu Gheorghiţă announced. In Deva, in the south-west, the drive-through vaccine centre opened on Saturday in the parking lot of the biggest shopping mall in the city, is also a success, with 600 people getting the vaccine so far. Nationwide, in the last 24 hours, nearly 90,000 vaccine doses were given. So far over 3 million people have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and 1.8 million of them have also received the booster dose.

MEETING The president of Romania Klaus Iohannis announced a meeting will be held on Monday with the government officials in charge with drafting the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. Bucharest is trying to improve the Plan so that it can be approved by Brussels and so that Romania may receive nearly 30 billion euro. The minister for European funding, Cristian Ghinea, said on Saturday that Romania will postpone the submission of the Plan to the EC for several weeks. He said the original deadline was April 30, but that further talks with EU officials are still necessary. The EC sent a number of objections to the plan previously submitted by Romania. The Social-Democrats in opposition want the plan discussed in Parliament, otherwise they threaten to go on parliamentary strike.

PALM SUNDAY Orthodox and Greek-Catholic Christians around the world, including Romania, marked Palm Sunday, commemorating the arrival of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem before the Crucifixion. Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Passion Week, in which Christians are preparing for the Easter holiday, held on May 2nd. This year, because of the restrictions triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, religious services have been held within churches where physical distancing was possible, or outdoors. Palm Sunday was also the name day of close to 1.4 million Romanians.

BUY-BACK This years Rabla Clasic and Rabla Plus used vehicle buy-back programmes begin on Monday. Rabla Clasic will have a budget of around 88 million euro, which is 35 million lei more than in 2020, allowing for the purchase of over 55,000 new, less polluting vehicles. Rabla Plus programme, which targets the purchase of electric cars, has a budget of nearly 80 million euro, will grant vouchers of 10,000 euro for the purchase of ‘full electric’ cars and some 4,500 euro for hybrid plug-in vehicles, accounting for up to 50% of the price of the new vehicle. Within the budget earmarked for this year, Rabla Plus will allow the purchase of up to 6,600 electric cars and around 5,000 hybrid cars.

MOLDOVA The European Union supports the reforming agenda of the president of Moldova, Maia Sandu, and warns that the Moldovan MPs vote on Friday against the Constitutional Court rulings is an attack on the rule of law. The EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, and the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, called on Moldovan MPs to observe the Court rulings, after the latter voted no confidence in three Constitutional Court judges, over their support for Maia Sandus move to call early elections. The Socialists headed by the ex-president Igor Dodon view the Constitutional Court ruling to dissolve Parliament as dictatorial and unconstitutional.

MEETING Russias president Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Joe Biden could have a meeting in June, Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov said on Sunday, adding that a firm decision on the meeting has not been taken yet. In a phone conversation with Putin in April, Biden suggested a summit in a third country in order to tackle the relations between the 2 countries. The tensions between Russia and the US, recently deepened by sanctions and counter-sanctions, mainly concern the Ukraine, the fate of Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny and US allegations of espionage, election meddling and cyber-attacks. In June the US president is to make his first foreign visit, to the UK and then Belgium, for a G7 and NATO summit and a meeting with EU leaders.

TROPHY The trophy of the European Football Championship reached Bucharest on Sunday, and was handed to former international player Dorinel Munteanu, the ambassador of Bucharest as a Euro 2020 host city. The National Arena in Bucharest will host this summer 3 matches in Group C and an eighth-final. The Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan announced that over 13,000 people will attend the matches. Originally scheduled for last year, EURO 2020 was postponed over the coronavirus pandemic. This special edition, celebrating 60 years since the first European Championship, will be held between 11 June and 11 July in 11 European cities: Bucharest (Romania), Baku (Azerbaijan), Copenhagen (Denmark), London (UK), Munich (Germany), Budapest (Hungary), Rome (Italy), Amsterdam (the Netherlands), Sankt Petersburg (Russia), Glasgow (Scotland), and Seville (Spain).

25 April 2021
Top court rules in favour of Moldova’s president

The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Moldova decided that Parliaments failure to appoint a government is sufficient grounds for the countrys president to dissolve the legislative body, upholding the view of the pro-European president Maia Sandu.

The ruling comes after MPs failed twice in 3 months to endorse a new government following the resignation of Ion Chicus cabinet, and paves the way for early elections.

Sandu, elected president late last year, pleaded her case herself before the Court, and argued, according to Reuters, that most Moldovan citizens are in favour of early general elections.

The political situation remains unstable in Chișinău, with an interim cabinet and tensions between parliament and the president. Ex-president Igor Dodons Socialists and their allies in parliament have declared a state of emergency until the end of May, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, although they have introduced no clear measures to contain the spread of the disease.

Under Moldovas constitution, parliament cannot be dissolved during a state of emergency, and experts say Dodons true goal was to prevent early elections. The Socialists are trying to avoid a new vote, because according to polls they risk losing half of their current seats in parliament, and they will do everything in their power to prevent it, analysts say.

The decision to declare the state of emergency was itself challenged before the Constitutional Court, on grounds that it was not within the powers of a resigning cabinet.

Meanwhile, the members of the interim cabinet are invited on a weekly basis by the parliament speaker, the Socialist Zinaida Greceanîi, to discuss administrative matters. Teodor Cârnaţ, a constitutional law expert in Chișinău, defines this as an abuse and a violation of the separation of powers. According to him, the parliament is a collegial body and the cabinet should not hold separate meetings with its president.

Such meetings are obviously political in nature, with the Socialists seeking to keep their control over the government, while also sending electoral messages to citizens, believes another Moldovan analyst, Veceslav Berbeca.

Russian-backed ex-president Igor Dodon said the Constitutional Court ruling should not be observed, and labelled it an attempt at a “constitutional coup. But the ruling is final, it cannot be appealed, and takes effect immediately. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

16 April 2021
The week in Review March 15-20, 2021

COVID-19 in Romania: latest developments

Romania is struggling with the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, with growing numbers of cases reported every day. According to official data, in the little over 1 year since the first SARS–CoV-2 patient was identified in the country, Romania has seen over 880,000 infections, and some 22,000 people have died. For the first time this year, the number of new cases reported in 24 hours has recently gone over 6,000. Another worrying figure is the number of people in ICUs.

The authorities promise that the situation is under control but call for responsibility. President Klaus Iohannis said this new wave may be the last, given that the number of immunised people is growing by the day.

This week, the third and last stage of the vaccination programme kicked off in Romania, giving access to vaccines to the general public over 16 years of age. This month, Romania should receive a total of over 2.6 million doses of 3 approved vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca).

In the meantime, however, the state of alert has been extended this week. Previous measures remain in place, and some new ones have been introduced, such as a ceiling on occupancy rates in mountain resorts of 70% of the total accommodation capacity.

National Recovery and Resilience Plan

President Klaus Iohannis had talks with the Liberal PM Florin Cîțu and other Cabinet members, to discuss the breakdown of the funds under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. After the meeting, Iohannis said the healthcare system will be one of the main beneficiaries. According to the head of state, the over 30 billion euro earmarked for Romania under this EU-wide plan is a chance for Romania to develop and implement the reforms postponed for years.

The investments stipulated in the plan will help create new jobs, especially for those affected by the pandemic, will create new business opportunities, will help strengthen entrepreneurship and boost competitiveness. The Plan will also allow for the funding of the motorway network, while at the same time promoting green transportation. Another programme, entitled “Educated Romania, will also benefit from substantial funding.

The Plan is to be approved by the Government next week and submitted to the European Commission.

Public sector pensions and salaries

The Government has taken the first concrete step to scrap the cumulated payment of public pension benefits and salary to the same individual. The Cabinet approved a draft law that forces public sector employees who reach retirement age to choose between receiving a salary if they continue to work, and receiving public pension if they retire. According to the labour minister Raluca Turcan, staying on the job past retirement age is an option, a right, and not an obligation. Nearly 35,000 people currently receive both salaries and pensions from the state budget, and in the near future they will have to opt for one or another.

Simple motion against the economy minister

The Senate of Romania Tuesday dismissed a simple motion tabled by the Social Democratic Party in opposition against the economy minister Claudiu Năsui, a member of Save Romania Union. Among other things, the Social Democrats blame Năsui for the absence of a strategy to support Romanian industry, for delays in implementing an aid scheme for the hospitality sector, for scrapping holiday vouchers and suspending payments under the Start-Up Nation programme.

Claudiu Năsui denied all the accusations, and claimed the motion was tied to his ministry making public a list with the institutions contracts. Năsui promised his efforts to bring transparency in the work of the ministry will not stop here. We have turned off many conduits for draining public money and will continue to do so, we will encourage exports and will promote companies efforts to connect to the global market, the economy minister said during the debates on the motion against him.

Cooperation and Verification Mechanism

Romania may conclude the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism in the judiciary this year, provided that it implements all the recommendations of the European Commission, and as of next year its justice system might be assessed for the first time only in the context of the report on the rule of law, like all other EU member countries. This statement was made exclusively for Radio Romania by the European Commission vice-president Věra Jourová, who added that the Commission still believes the special unit investigating magistrates is an intrusive institution which affects the independence of judges.

Věra Jourová had online consultations with Romanian officials, magistrates, MPs and civil society representatives. In a Facebook post after the talks with the European official, PM Florin Cîțu said that his Cabinet intends to address the ill-advised changes in the laws regulating the judiciary operated in 2017-2019, and that he shares the Commissions hopes that Romania will meet its rule of law commitments in the first half of this year.

On Thursday the government passed a bill dismantling the special unit investigating magistrates. The justice minister Stelian Ion said the goal is to return cases involving magistrates to the competent prosecutors offices.

“collective – the first Romanian film nominated for the Oscars

The documentary “colectiv, by Alexander Nanau, is as of this week the first Romanian film nominated for the Oscars, competing in 2 categories (best documentary and “best international feature). The Romania-Luxembourg co-production depicts the joint efforts of doctors, government officials and investigative journalists that uncover a large-scale fraud in the Romanian healthcare system, in the wake of the fire in Bucharests Colectiv nightclub, which killed scores of people in October 2015.

The film premiered at the 2019 Venice International Film Festival and earned the best documentary awards of the European Film Academy and of the London Film Critics Circle. “It tells the story of how incompetent authorities use lies and manipulation to trample over peoples lives, the director says. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

20 March 2021
1-7 March, 2021

Parliament endorses state budget for 2021

After fiery debates, with allegations and retorts flung back and forth between Power and Opposition, the state budget and social security budget bills for this year were endorsed by Parliament as drafted by the government. The MPs dismissed the thousands of amendments tabled by the Social Democrats and AUR party in opposition, which in turn accused the Government of discriminating in favour of the agencies run by their own people and of failing to implement previous legislation increasing pensions and child allowances.

This is a novelty, PM Florin Cîţu said in turn, arguing that the dismissal of all of the Oppositions amendments was among other things a test of the unity of the ruling coalition. According to the PM, the budget focuses on investments, economic recovery, and the restructuring of public institutions.

High-profile cases on trial

The former Minister for Development, Elena Udrea, and the daughter of Romanias ex-president Traian Băsescu, Ioana Băsescu, were sentenced this week to 8 and 5 years behind bars, respectively, for money laundering and inciting bribe-taking. They had been indicted in a case that looked into the funding of the election campaign of the former president back in 2009. The ruling is not final.

Another case tried this week concerned the anti-governmental protests of August 10, 2018. Under a final ruling, the Bucharest Court dismissed prosecutors request to reopen the criminal case against the heads of gendarme forces, accused of a disproportionately brutal response to the rally. Shortly after the court decision was made public, the closing of the “August 10 case turned into a dispute between magistrates and some politicians, discontent with the ruling. President Klaus Iohannis himself urged the Justice Minister Stelian Ion to provide explanations for this course of events. “Things cannot end here, the head of state argued.

The Higher Council of Magistrates declined taking a public stand on the issue, as the justice minister had requested, but instructed the Judicial Inspection Corps to check all public statements concerning the investigation, in order to safeguard the independence, impartiality and professional reputation of judges and prosecutors.

In a first stage, last June, the Directorate Investing Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) had closed the case on the August 10 protest, including the investigation against the gendarme chiefs, and the allegations of attempted coup. Later on, the former head of DIICOT ordered the reopening of criminal investigations into the gendarme chiefs.

Romanian Police in action

Over the past few days, the work of Romanian Police officers has once again come under scrutiny, after previous inefficient interventions and less-than-honourable conduct. Two workers redecorating a flat in the town of Onești, Bacău County (east), were murdered on Monday by the former owner of the apartment, angry for being evicted a few years before. The police opened fire in order to get into the flat where the man was keeping the 2 hostages, after negotiations between the perpetrator and the officers failed. The Interior Ministry promised a comprehensive report on the case, amid suspicions of police breach of duty. The chiefs of the county and local police forces were replaced, and the Prosecutors Office was requested to probe into suspected negligence.

Also this week, workers from a police unit in Bucharest were detained under the charge of having tortured 2 young men last year who had reprimanded them for not wearing face masks and for issuing illegal fines.

Not least, investigations are under way with respect to a search conducted by Transport Police on Wednesday near Bucharest at a different address than the one stipulated in the warrant. The police went to the wrong address and threatened to kill the innocent landlady and her daughter.

Covid-19

The third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic is gaining strength in Romania, where the number of infections in 24 hours is on the rise. The vaccine rollout pace on the other hand is also increasing. The number of people having received at least one dose of the vaccine has gone over 1 million this week.

Romanian film wins Golden Bear

Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn, the most recent film of Romanian director Radu Jude, has won the Golden Bear at the 71st edition of Berlin International Film Festival – Berlinale, held in an online format. The film looks into the relations between the individual and society when the leaked sex video of a school teacher goes viral on the Internet, turning her life upside down. It is an elaborated film as well as a wild one, clever and childish, geometrical and vibrant, imprecise in the best way. It attacks the spectator, evokes disagreement, but leaves no one with a safety distance, the jury said about Jude’s film. The win comes six years after the director won the Silver Bear for his film Aferim!.(tr. A.M. Popescu)

6 March 2021
Budget and protests

After intense negotiations over the distribution of funds in the center-right governing coalition, the drafts of the two laws that will regulate Romanias public finances and economy this year — namely the state budget and the social security budget bills – have reached Parliament. The deadline for the plenary vote is the beginning of next week, with a tight schedule of debates in the specialized committees. At coalition level, it was decided that the MPs of the three political parties making up the coalition, the National Liberal Party-PNL, Save Romania Union-PLUS Alliance -USR PLUS and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania – UDMR, would not table amendments and would vote on the bills in the form adopted by the executive.

Here is the Liberal leader Ludovic Orban: “Further subsequent improvements can be made after the first six months, there is still the possibility of adjusting the budget, but from my point of view the budget is built in such a way as to put in motion the engines of economic development. It is based on investments, increased absorption of European funds, and supporting the private environment through various programs. “

From the opposition, the Social Democratic Party – PSD and the ultranationalist Alliance for the Union of Romanians – AUR, criticize this years budget, which they label as an austerity budget. The Social Democrats have tabled amendments required by everyday reality, as the partys first vice-president, Gabriela Firea, says: “All our colleagues across Romania have come up with several amendments, which represent the reality of the country. It’s not something against the government. We have tried to give up some that were not so pressing, just to give priority to those that are much needed in communities right now. “

In the meantime, the financial constraints for the two budgets have been nailed down in Parliament, through the ‘cap’ law, adopted on Wednesday also by the Chamber of Deputies, as a decision-making body, after passing the Senate: this year, the deficit cannot exceed 7.16% of the GDP, and personnel expenses cannot go over 9.8%. The opposition argues that these percentages will not allow the countrys development, while the ruling coalition claims that this is all Romania can afford in a pandemic year, in which investments and the economic recovery should be given a chance. Meanwhile, trade unions continue to protest budget austerity measures.

About 100 trade unionists from the Publisind Federation – affiliated to the National Trade Union Bloc, which represents 35,000 employees in many fields — protested in front of the Presidency, demanding the elimination of wage inequities in the public system, the application of the framework-law on public sector salaries and a minimum wage correlated with rising consumer prices. The unionists also protested in front of the Transport Ministry: the rail company employees demanded, among other things, investments for the modernization of the railway infrastructure and the application of the railway staff status – a law that would allow for a 30% -40% increase in salaries and better working conditions. (L.Simion)

25 February 2021
Priorities of the parliamentary session

The Bucharest Parliament has started a new session. The agenda of the Romanian MPs includes, in the upcoming weeks, projects regarding the revision of the justice laws, the reform of the healthcare and education systems, the reform of the pension and salary systems and the adoption of a modern electoral code. A number of draft laws, aimed at solving social problems, will also be discussed. However, the top priority is the national budget for 2021 and the law on the caps the budget is built around.

Among the priorities announced by the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Ludovic Orban and the National Liberal Party (PNL), the main party of the ruling coalition, are the correction of a number of laws that have generated problems in time and bringing some laws in line with the Constitutional Court’s rulings. Ludovic Orban: ”Together with the Government we plan to make some important modifications and corrections to the justice laws and initiate the debate and adoption procedure of some laws aimed at reforming the pension and salary systems as well as the education and healthcare systems.”

In her turn, the Speaker of the Senate, Anca Dragu, with the USR-PLUS Alliance, told Radio Romania that she plans to focus on economic and social projects during the current parliament session: ”As regards the economy, I want to focus mainly on the access of companies and entrepreneurs to financing, because this is the solution to resume economic growth. Then, there are the social aspects: classes from 8 am to 5 pm, that include a warm meal and also optional and sports activities in schools.”

The 2021 draft budget will be a priority for parliament in the upcoming period. The document is not completed yet, although the leaders of the ruling coalition have had a number of meetings on this topic. The Social Democrats, in the opposition, have come up with their own draft budget proposal, which party leader Marcel Ciolacu presents as an alternative to what he sees as an austerity budget proposed by the government. The PSD vice president, Gabriela Firea, says that unlike the government’s draft budget, her party proposes a budget focused on development and not on freezing salaries. Also in the opposition, the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), an ultra-nationalist party, wants the money it receives from the state budget to be used for building a hospital. (Translated by EE)

1 February 2021
Romania has a new Parliament

The mandates of Romanias newly elected senators and deputies have been validated, with one exception, and the two Parliament chambers have thus been lawfully established. The new centre-right majority, that also wants to form the government, has passed its first test, by managing to impose its candidates at the helm of Parliament. The former PM, Ludovic Orban, supported by the National Liberal Party (PNL), the USR-PLUS Alliance and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania (UDMR), got more votes than the Social Democrat Alfred Simonis and is the new speaker of the Chamber of Deputies. Also, former minister Anca Dragu, nominated by URS-PLUS and supported by PNL and UDMR, became the first woman ever elected as speaker the Senate, after getting more votes than the Social Democrat senator Lucian Romascanu.

There is little room for suspense in terms of distribution of the leading positions. PNL and UDMR, both affiliated with the European Peoples Party and USR-PLUS, affiliated with the Renew Europe Group, have more MPs than PSD, affiliated with the Party of European Socialists and the Alliance for Romanians Unity (AUR), a party that has entered Parliament for the first time and is unaffiliated with any European political family.

On December 6 a total of 466 MPs were elected, of whom 330 deputies and 136 senators, according to the Central Election Bureau. Thus, in the new Parliament, PSD has 47 senators and 110 deputies, PNL has 41 senators and 93 deputies, USR PLUS has 25 senators and 55 deputies, AUR has 14 senators and 33 deputies while UDMR has 9 senators and 21 deputies. Also, 18 MP mandates have been granted to the representatives of the national minorities, who have traditionlly been voting with the parliamentary majority.

In the next four years, the new Parliament will improve and adjust laws in the context of unprecedented challenges generated by the Covid-19 pandemic and the predictible economic and social crisis. Moreover, according to commentators, the newly elected senators and deputies should also improve the image of their own position. A recent survey shows that, in a classification of institutions that Romanians trust the most, the Church comes first, followed by the Army and the Academy, while the Government, Parliament and political parties are on the last three positions.

Party switching, nepotism, incompetence and absenteeism are often associated by the public opinion with Parliament members, making the latters big salaries and special pensions even harder to accept. Rightists or leftists, in power or in opposition, with long or short political careers, dozens of deputies and senators were involved in criminal cases. Former Chamber of Deputies speakers, Social Democrats Adrian Nastase and Liviu Dragnea, as well as Liberal Bogdan Olteanu are such examples, all three of them being imprisoned for corruption. (Translated by Elena Enache)

22 December 2020
December 21, 2020 UPDATE

Vaccine. The
European Medicines Agency on Monday approved the Covid vaccine developed by
Pfizer and BioNTech. The vaccine is already being rolled out in the UK, the
Unites States, Canada and Israel. Agency representatives said there is no proof
that the vaccine is not efficient against the new strain of the virus. A first
small batch of 10,000 doses is expected to arrive in Romania on 26th
December, with the vaccination campaign kicking off officially the next day.
The authorities are saying that these first doses will be enough to vaccinate
the medical staff in Romania’s ten infectious disease hospitals on the front
line of the fight against the pandemic. Some 2,500 new Covid cases and 87 new
deaths were recorded on Monday in Romania. Total infections near 600,000 and
the death toll 14,500. The number of Covid patients in intensive care is still
high, at 1,255.

Parliament.
The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate resulting from the latest parliamentary
elections in Romania on Monday met for the first time after the parliamentary
parties negotiated the distribution of leadership positions and the membership
of specialist committees. 459 were validated of the 460 MPs representing the
Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party, the USR-PLUS Alliance,
the Alliance for the
Union of Romanians and the Democratic Party of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania.
Also on Monday, the centre-right coalition formed by the Liberals, the USR-PLUS
Alliance and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians agreed on a governing
programme for 2020-2024. They spoke about stability, responsibility and
competence in the future government, with the aim of modernising Romania. The three parties decided to support the current
Liberal finance minister Florin Citu for prime minister. In the future
government, the National Liberal Party is expected to control nine ministries, the
USR-PLUS Alliance six and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians three. As
regards the leadership of the two chambers of Parliament, the Save Romania
Union and PLUS Alliance will designate the new Senate Speaker while the
Liberals will be appointing the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies. Marcel
Ciolacu, the leader of the Social Democratic Party, which won the largest
number of seats, told his fellow MPs they need to prepare for a strong
opposition.

Anniversary.
31 years ago, the communist uprising started in Timisoara, western Romania, and
then spread to Bucharest and other big cities, sparking a nation-wide movement
that led to the demise of the communist regime led by dictator Nicolae
Ceausescu. A day before, Timisoara had become the first city free of communism.
On December 21, Ceausescu called a large rally, meant to condemn the events in
Timisoara and muster popular support for the party and the state leadership,
but the reaction of the people was not what he had expected. Targu Mures. in
the centre, became the third city in Romania to rise against the communist
regime. Dozens of people were killed on this day all over the country, hundreds
injured and over one thousand arrested.

Organised crime. The justice ministry in Romania
has finalised and submitted for public consultation the draft of the national
strategy against organised crime for 2021-2024, which justice minister Catalin
Predoiu says will guide efficiently the response of the state in this regard.
The strategy is pursuing five different lines of action: increasing
institutional capacity to prevent organised crime and boosting resilience to
this phenomenon; developing institutional capacity to fight organised crime;
consolidating intervention against the manifestation of organised crime;
limiting the access of organised crime groups to financial resources; and
consolidating national and international cooperation. The document also benefitted
from the input of FBI specialists, with the help of the US Embassy in Bucharest
and the US Department of Justice. (CM)

21 December 2020
December 20, 2020

Meeting — The two chambers of the new Parliament of Romania elected on December 6 were summoned by President Klaus Iohannis to meet on Monday in separate sessions in the opening of the 2020-2024 legislature. The new MPs will have their mandates validated and then will be sworn in. The two chambers are declared legally set up after the validation of two thirds of the MP mandates and after their being sworn in. 466 MPs were elected following the December 6 legislative elections, 330 deputies and 136 senators. In parallel, the representatives of the future majority center-right coalition in Parliament continue negotiations regarding the common governing program. PNL, USR-PLUS and UDMR have announced the program will be finalized on Sunday or Monday at the latest. On Saturday the 3 parties reached an agreement over the distribution of the key positions in the state. The presidency of the Chamber of Deputies will be held by a Liberal and that of the Senate by a representative of the USR-PLUS alliance. The proposal for the PM post will be the current Liberal finance minister Florin Citu. In the future cabinet, PNL will hold 9 portfolios, USR-PLUS 6 and UDMR 3. There will also be 2 deputy prime ministers from USR-PLUS and UDMR. On the other hand, PSD, ranked first after the legislative elections, insists that the correct solution, in the context of the pandemic, would be a national union government, headed by Professor Alexandru Rafila, Romania’s representative at the WHO. The Social Democrat leader Marcel Ciolacu said that his party would never vote for a government made up of PNL- USR-PLUS and UDMR, which keeps Romania in a crisis, according to him.

Covid-19 Ro — 3,350 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the past 24 hours in Romania, after a little over 12,200 tests were performed. The total number of cases exceeded 591,000, according to data provided on Sunday by the Strategic Communication Group. At the same time, another 98 Romanians have died due to Covid-19, the total death toll reaching almost 14,400. 1,267 patients are in ICUs. In another development, preparations are being made in Romania before the arrival of the first COVID 19 vaccines. The Cantacuzino National Institute for Medical-Military Research and Development in Bucharest is expected to be approved as a national vaccine storage center. The Institute has already completed all stages of arranging the storage spaces, including the installation of the storage freezers providing a temperature of -80 degrees Celsius. The unit will have a storage capacity of approximately 1.5 million doses, while around 200,000 doses will be stored in each of the six regional centers. During this period, the training of the personnel who will perform the vaccination will also take place. The first 10,000 doses of anti-COVID-19 vaccine are expected in Romania on December 26. They are intended for the medical staff from 10 infectious diseases hospitals across Romania.

1989 revolution — Manifestations for the commemoration of the heroes who lost their lives in the anti-communist December 1989 Revolution continue, in the context of the pandemic. Today, the sound of sirens was heard in Timişoara for three minutes, to mark Victory Day, the day when Timisoara was declared the first city of Romania free of communism. The uprising against the communist regime broke out in Timisoara, 31 years ago, on December 16. On December 17, dictator Nicolae Ceausescu ordered the use of lethal weapons against people who protested against the communist regime in the street. On December 19, in order to do away with any trace of the massacre, the communist authorities applied the so-called “Rose” operation, under which corpses were stolen from the morgue in Timisoara and transported to Bucharest to be cremated. The protests extended, on the 21st to the capital Bucharest and to other big cities of Romania to culminate, the next day, with the fleeing of the dictator, in a helicopter, from the headquarters of the central committee of the communist party, that was being besieged by hundreds of thousands of protesters. We recall that the protests in Timisoara, where almost 100 people died and about 350 were wounded, represented the spark that led, a few days later, to the fall of the dictator, following the bloodiest Revolution in southeastern Europe.

Gymnastics – Romania’s representatives in the European Women’s’ Artistic Gymnastics Championships hosted by Mersin, Turkey have qualified to all apparatus finals. In today’s finals Larisa Iordache will perform in the vault, uneven bars, beam and floor events. Ioana Stănciulescu qualified for the vault final. Silviana Sfiringu will perform in the beam final, and Irina Antonia Duţă in the floor final. On Saturday, the Romanian team won the silver medals after having dominated Thursday’s qualifiers. Romania was outclassed by Ukraine, which won gold. Hungary came in third. (tr. L. Simion)

20 December 2020