Radio România Internațional

Tag: parliament

July 6, 2020

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

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

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

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

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

6 July 2020
July 1, 2020

COVID-19 So far 27,296 coronavirus infection cases have been reported in Romania, with 326 new cases confirmed over the past 24 hours Over 20,749 of them have recovered, and 1,667 people died. The healthcare minister Nelu Tătaru announced 2 days ago that the increase in the number of new COVID-19 cases prompted the authorities to postpone the lifting of further restrictions as of July 1. Three relaxation stages have been introduced since mid-May, when Romania switched from a state of emergency to a state of alert. Among the Romanians living abroad, 4,795 have so far tested positive for the novel coronavirus, and 115 of them died.

ECONOMY In Bucharest, in the presence of president Klaus Iohannis and Cabinet members, PM Ludovic Orban is presenting tonight a national economic recovery plan following the coronavirus crisis. The PM has recently stated that the regulations required for the implementation of this plan will be adopted shortly. According to the prime minister, infrastructure investments are a fundamental pillar in upgrading and restarting the economy, because Romanias priority is modernisation through investments in transport, energy, healthcare, communications, education and agriculture.

NATURAL GAS The Romanian natural gas market is fully liberalised as of July 1. Tariffs are no longer regulated by the government, but by demand and supply mechanisms. The liberalisation comes at a time when the energy market is highly concentrated, with 2 companies accounting for 90% of the household consumers. These companies have sent their clients offers with the same prices as before, and unless they receive an answer, the new contracts will take effect by default. A week ago, the Energy Minister, Virgil Popescu, told AGERPRES news agency that households should pay 10-15% less for natural gas after deregulation. He explained that unless major suppliers cut down prices, the Competition Law enables the government to intervene in the market for a 6-month period.

PARLIAMENT The Parliament of Romania convenes until mid-July for a special session. The Chamber of Deputies is set to discuss a number of bills, including the one setting the date of local elections and an initiative banning people with criminal records from running for public office. On Monday the Deputies will hear PM Ludovic Orban on the procurement contracts signed during the pandemic. In turn, Senate is also to vote on the local elections bill, after the Government decided the election should take place on September 27.

EU Germany will hold the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union for the next 6 months, taking over from Croatia. The coronavirus crisis and its aftermath is the main challenge for Berlin during this term in office, according to a plan approved by the German government on June 24, and entitled “Together for Europes Recovery. Germanys priorities also include the completion of the Brexit negotiations and topics like environment protection, digitisation and Europes relations with China and the US. With the EU facing the deepest economic recession since World War 2, member states must agree in the following months on a multi-annual budget for 2021-2027 and on the operation of the 750-billion euro European Recovery Fund designed by the European Commission to support the economies of the countries that were hit the worst by the pandemic, particularly Italy and Spain.

PANDEMIC The total number of COVID-19 cases worldwide passes 10.5 million, with the death toll standing at 514,000, and 5.8 million patients recovered, according to Worldometers.info. In the US, the last 24 hours brought over 47,000 new cases, the highest daily rate since the start of the pandemic, Reuters reports. More than 126,000 Americans died and millions have lost their jobs. The economy collapsed in the first quarter, and is expected to further drop in the second one. Meanwhile, the EU has approved today a list of safe countries for non-essential travel. The list, which includes 14 countries (Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, and Uruguay) will be updated every 2 weeks, depending on local COVID-19 developments.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

1 July 2020
June 29, 2020 UPDATE

Pandemic — The Romanian health minister Nelu Tataru said that in the context of the rise in the new COVID-19 cases, the Group of technical and scientific support decided to postpone the relaxation measures scheduled for July 1. Doctor Tataru has explained that in the past 2 weeks the number of new coronavirus cases has risen just as the number of patients in intensive care and the number of deaths. He has called on the citizens to be cautious, and to observe hygiene and social distancing. Previously he had announced that the authorities were considering restricting traffic in certain localities if new coronavirus hotbeds emerged.

Covid-19 RO – In Romania, latest data published by the Strategic Communication Group show more than 26,500 cases of Covid-19. Most infections have been reported so far in the county of Suceava, in the north-east, and in the capital Bucharest. Of the people confirmed positive, more than 18,900 have recovered and have been discharged from hospital. So far, 1,634 people have died of Covid-19 in Romania. The Liberal Prime Minister Ludovic Orban said Monday that the evolution of the pandemic in the past few days requires much caution in relation to subsequent relaxation measures and announced that Wednesday he would ask a meeting with the ministers and leaders of the institutions with control prerogatives to analyze together a plan of measures aimed at ensuring the observance of rules. In another development, Romanian researchers say that people who have been contaminated and recovered from COVID-19 infection are quite unlikely to get infected again. They have reached this conclusion after having analyzed the SARS-CoV-2 virus identified in Romania and which was proved to originate in Wuhan, China. Most probably the spread of the virus in Romania occurred at community level, across the country’s regions.

Parliament — Romania’s two-chamber Parliament ends its ordinary session this week, but the Chamber of Deputies announced they would work in an extraordinary session until July 15. High on the agenda are several draft laws among which that on the organization of local elections as well as on the appointment of members to important public institutions. The Chamber of Deputies will have to give a final vote also on a bill regarding the empowerment of the government to issue decrees during the Parliament’s summer break. The document was rejected by the Senate, the majority Social Democratic Party explaining that the executive cannot be allowed to issue decrees since it took no measures following the sanctioning of certain ministers through simple motions of no confidence. In another development, the opposition Social Democrats are expecting the government to pass a bill regulating the conditions of quarantine, isolation and hospitalization. Other draft laws are related to the childcare leave and allowance and to the modification of the electric energy and natural gas law. (update by L. Simion)

29 June 2020
June 29, 2020

RESTRICTIONS The Romanian Health Minister Nelu Tataru has announced that authorities are considering restricting circulation in certain places, if new coronavirus hotbeds are discovered. He has stated that an analysis is being conducted into the situation on Prahova Valley and on the Black Sea Coast, because these are the areas where the rules are less observed. He has also stated, though, that quarantine in holiday destinations is not going to be imposed.

COVID-19 RO In Romania, the latest data reported by the Strategic Communication Group indicate over 26,500 cases of Covid-19. Most infections have been reported so far in the county of Suceava, in the north-east, and in Bucharest. Of the people confirmed positive, more than 18,900 have been declared cured and discharged from hospital. So far, 1,634 people have died of Covid-19 in Romania. The Liberal Prime Minister Ludovic Orban has drawn attention to the fact that the current public information campaign should convince citizens to observe the rules of protection against the pandemic. He has called on state institutions to check on the ground whether these rules are being observed. Romanian researchers say it is very unlikely that people who have been cured can be infected again. They came to this conclusion after analysing the SARS-CoV-2 virus circulating in the country and which they have proved to have originated in Wuhan, China. Most likely, the spread in Romania was done locally, through intra-community transmission at the level of the countrys regions.

PANDEMIC The global toll of the coronavirus pandemic stands at more than 10.2 million cases confirmed and 500,000 deaths, according to worldometers.info. The epicenter of the pandemic is now on the two American continents, where Brazil has exceeded the threshold of 1.3 million infections. 57,000 Brazilians have been killed by Covid-19, and the situation is getting worse, as the virus is spreading to small towns, where patients are transported to urban centers with better medical infrastructure, which creates the so-called boomerang effect. However, the worst situation remains in the United States, where more than 128,000 dead and 2.6 million infected have been reported so far. European officials are unable to agree on a list of countries whose citizens will be allowed to enter the EU spaces as of July 1st. The EU closed its borders in mid-March, and now tourism-dependent countries like Greece want a quick reopening.

PARLIAMENT The Romanian two-chamber parliament ends its ordinary session this week. The agenda is focused on several bills, including the ones on local elections and the appointment of members in major public institutions. The leadership of the Chamber of Deputies must give a decisive vote on the bill on empowering the government to issue ordinances during the parliamentary vacation. The document was rejected by the Senate, the majority Social Democrats explaining that the Executive could not be credited in this respect, as it did not take measures following the sanctioning of several ministers by means of simple motions. The bill proposing the organization of local elections on September 27th might also be on the agenda. On the other hand, the opposition Social Democratic Party expects from the government a bill regulating the quarantine, isolation and hospitalization conditions.

EU COUNCIL On July 1, Germany takes over the rotating presidency of the EU Council, which will focus, among other things, on overcoming the crisis caused by the new coronavirus. Berlins priority agenda also includes concluding negotiations on Britains withdrawal from the EU, as well as issues such as climate protection, digitalization and the positioning of Europe between the two great powers – China and the United States. The most important chapter with regard to managing the coronavirus crisis will be addressed next month, when a post-pandemic program for EU economic reconstruction will be discussed at a summit in mid-July in which European leaders will take part in person. In the coming weeks, the Recovery Fund will be the subject of intense fighting between European capitals, with an economic and investment plan financed by debts worth 750 billion euros. The reconstruction program is to be negotiated and agreed along with the EU budget for 2021-2027, worth more than 1,000 billion euros. Negotiations with the United Kingdom, which left the EU in January, must be concluded by the end of autumn, otherwise a difficult economic rupture could occur, with customs duties and other trade barriers in early 2021 – German officials warn.

FLOODS Until midnight, River Prut in northern Romania is under code orange for floods on the Botosani, Vaslui and Iasi sectors. Also, a code yellow alert is in place in Vaslui and Galati. River Timis too, in the west, is under code yellow alert for flood. Romanian Waters Authority continues to monitor all the rivers in the country whose levels have increased in recent days. Even if in some place the waters have receded, the intervention teams still have to remove the mud and branches that covered land and roads. (M. Ignatescu)

29 June 2020
MEPs have called for reinstating the free movement principles

Reopening borders even if the pandemic is
not over yet is necessary, the MEPs believe, who on Friday endorsed with a
landslide majority a resolution clearly expressing their position. A swift and
coordinated return to a fully functional Schengen area is of utmost importance
to safeguard freedom of movement, one of the main achievements of European
integration, and to ensure the EU’s economic recovery after the pandemic the
European document reads.

At the same time the MEPs have rejected
any uncoordinated bilateral action of the EU members underlining the principle
of non-discrimination in the process of reopening borders. They have called for
a new round of debates over a recovery plan for the Schengen zone including a
series of measures for emergency situations such a second wave of the pandemic.
The move comes after the EU countries have started to lift border control and
travel restrictions they introduced to limit the spread of the novel
coronavirus.

According to the MEPs, it’s good news that
all these restrictions are being lifted, but the way this has been done so far is
unsatisfactory. They believe that a fully functional Schengen zone is a
cornerstone of the way towards recovery recalling that mutual trust and
solidarity are key values of the European Union.

For Bucharest, Sofia and Zagreb, the
resolution has a bigger stake, as through this the MEPs are calling on the EU
Council and the member states to take all the necessary measures for the
Schengen accession of Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia.

The MEPs’ latest appeal comes after a
similar one by the Committee on Civil Liberties Justice and Home Affairs with
the European Parliament also being in line with the statement by EU Home
Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson who recently proposed the three countries
to join Schengen as the EU needs to update and strengthen this free-movement
area.

Long-time
applicants Romania and Bulgaria should have joined Schengen in March 2011. They
got the greenlight from the European Parliament a long time ago and this
position has been constantly reaffirmed by higher EU bodies. However, their
effective accession has been hindered by countries like the Netherlands, which
conditioned their accession on the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism although
the community acquis criteria had been checked.

Croatia,
the Union’s youngest state, got the greenlight from the European Commission in
October last year but the final decision regarding their accession needs a
unanimous vote in the Justice and Home Affairs Council.

(translated by bill)

22 June 2020
Tax on special pensions, disputed

On Wednesday, the Chamber of Deputies passed a bill that introduced taxes on pension benefits. The bill had already been endorsed by the Senate in 2019, and it was backed by all parliamentary parties. It is meant to restore social justice, the MPs argued, given that disparities between the regular pensions and the pension benefits laid out in special laws are, in certain cases, outrageous.

Perhaps the most insistently covered case is the 15,000-euro pension—the biggest in Romania—paid to a former communist prosecutor who was the commander of a prison. At the opposite pole, the average pension in Romania is little over 250 euros.

From now on, according to an amendment introduced by the Social Democrat Party and Save Romania Union in opposition and by the Liberals in power, “pension benefits of up to roughly 410 euros are tax-free, those of up to 1,450 euros are subject to a 10% tax, while for pensions of over 1,450 euros, there will be an 85% tax charged for the amounts that exceed this threshold.

Beneficiaries of these so-called special pensions in Romania include, among other categories, judges and prosecutors, MPs and mayors. Military pensions also have a special status.

The bill passed on Wednesday did not include Senators and Deputies however, because this required a change in the statutes of MPs. And on Thursday, Parliament reviewed a bill modifying the Fiscal Code and approved the progressive taxation of MP pensions.

Opposing the parliamentary majority, the Save Romania floor group tried in vain to introduce a bill discarding special pensions for MPs, and explained that progressive taxation of these pensions does not need to be voted by the joint chambers of Parliament. This will lead to the Constitutional Court dismissing the law, on grounds that the same bill was actually voted on twice—once by the Chamber of Deputies as a decision-making body, and once again by the joint Chambers as a Fiscal Code amendment, Save Romania Union president Dan Barna argued.

He explained that “this is just like a movie where you shove a pack of dynamite at the constitutional foundation of this law, making sure that the Constitutional Court will reject it.

Conversely, the Social Democrats and the Liberals argued that there are Constitutional Court rulings that require joint Chambers votes on amendments to the statutes of MPs. Both parties emphasised that the law ensures social justice, and voiced surprise at the opposition of Save Romania Union.

Quite predictably, the Constitutional Court has been notified, by the High Court of Cassation and Justice and the Ombudsman. The supreme court says the bill overlooks successive relevant Court rulings, that the Higher Council of Magistrates has not been consulted and that a number of principles are breached, including the fair taxation principle and the independence of judges.

Last month, the Constitutional Court dismissed another bill abrogating special pensions, following notifications filed by the supreme court and the Ombudsman.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

19 June 2020
Extended terms in office for local elected officials

Had it not been for the pandemic and other obstacles, local elections would have already been held in Romania by this time, because the terms of those elected 4 years ago were scheduled to end on June 21st. But the circumstances required an extension, as a means to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, so the Social Democrats and the Liberal Democrats, in opposition, jointly with the Liberals, in power, initiated a bill to avoid a situation where local communities would be left without mayors.

In an emergency procedure, the bill was endorsed by Senate on Friday, so on Monday the Chamber of Deputies, the decision-making body in this respect, voted to extend the terms in office for local elected officials until November 1.

Along with halving down the minimum number of signatures required for entering the election race, the Deputies also decided that the date of the forthcoming elections would be set at least 60 days before the vote, by means of an organic law. This latter element, that the election date cannot be set under a government order, is a bone of contention between the power and opposition.

Just like in the Senate, the Liberals criticised this amendment and abstained from voting. The leader of the Liberal Deputies, Florin Roman, argued that setting the date through an organic law is unconstitutional and comes against provisions in the Administrative Code:

Florin Roman: “This opens another Pandoras box, where a parliamentary majority at some point, which may be dictated by circumstances, takes away from the powers of the president, the powers of the government. So this is an issue that breaks the principle of the separation of powers.

Conversely, the Social Democrats, which have a majority in Parliament, are of a different opinion. The Social-Democrat Marcel Ciolacu, speaker of the Chamber:

Marcel Ciolacu: “As far as I can understand, after reading the grounds of the Constitutional Court ruling as well, it seems that both the Government and Parliament may set the date of the local elections.

The MPs of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania also voted in favour. “This year political parties need to try and secure a much broader majority that the support the current government has in parliament, and we believe this broader majority is taking shape, the partys representatives said.

In turn, the Save Romania Union argued that at the moment this bill is the only way to keep the local administration from collapsing.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

16 June 2020
June 9, 2020 UPDATE

MEASURES President Klaus Iohannis announced on Tuesday that extending the state of alert beyond June 15 is necessary, given the absence of a significant drop in the number of new COVID-19 cases. The head of state also announced further easing of containment measures starting mid-June, including a possible reopening of shopping malls, kindergartens, private schools, gyms and outdoor pools. However, hygiene and physical distancing measures will have to be strictly complied with. The extension of the state of alert must be approved by Parliament, which is why the president called on MPs to be responsible, and said this is the only way the authorities can contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

COVID-19 In Romania, 9 more people infected with the novel coronavirus died, taking the death toll to 1,354, the Strategic Communication Group announced on Tuesday. According to the latest data, the total number of COVID-19 cases in Romania is over 20,700. Of these, more than 14,900 have recovered, while 152 patients are in intensive care units. Around 3,300 Romanian nationals living abroad have so far tested positive for the virus, mostly in Italy, Germany and Spain, and 114 of them died. The head of the Emergency Department, Raed Arafat, emphasised that full relaxation is, for the time being, out of the question.

PARLIAMENT The simple motion tabled
by the Social Democratic Party in opposition against labour minister Violeta
Alexandru was discussed and passed by the Senate on Tuesday. The Social
Democrats requested the Labour Minister to step down over the emergency order
on furlough and other measures concerning vulnerable categories, which was
poorly written and required several successive changes. The minister was also
criticised for how she handled the situation of the Romanian nationals who left
the country to work abroad. Violeta Alexandru dismissed the accusations. The
Chamber of Deputies decided on Tuesday to discuss and vote on the motion
against the development minister Ion Stefan at a later date. The finance
minister Florin Cîţu is also invited on Wednesday to present explanations to
the Senate’s economic and budget-finances committees concerning Standard&Poor’s decision with
respect to including Romania in their investment-grade category.

ECONOMY The year-on-year economic growth rate in the first quarter of this year, 2.4%, is primarily owing to consumption, which went up 3.8%. According to preliminary data made public on Tuesday by the National Statistics Institute, the GDP was 0.3% higher in the first quarter, in real terms, than in the 4th quarter of 2019. Romanias trade balance deficit also deepened by roughly 201 million euros in Q1 compared to the previous quarter.

EU PM Ludovic Orban took part on Tuesday in a conference call organized by the Croatian presidency of the Council of the EU, with the ambassadors of EU countries in Bucharest. The PM emphasised that the Government now focuses on economic recovery, and mentioned measures to support the companies and the employees affected by the pandemic. Ludovic Orban also said the Cabinet is considering measures to ensure cashflows, to support investments in vital sectors and to improve the efficiency of EU fund absorption. In turn, the ambassador of Croatia to Romania and the Republic of Moldova, Marija Kapitanovic, commended the Government of Romania for its handling of the health crisis and the repatriation of Romanian citizens from the countries affected by the pandemic.

FESTIVAL This year, the Sibiu International Theatre Festival (FITS) will hold a special, online edition, scheduled between June 12th and 21st, the organisers have announced. FITS #online Empowered will be fully accessible online, on the Festivals homepage and Facebook and YouTube channels. According to the organisers, for 10 days the public will be able to watch some of the best ever theatre, dance, music, and opera performances online. Between June the 15th and 17th, over 100 performing artists and companies will take part online in the Sibiu Performance Exchange, the only event in Romania that brings together performing arts professionals, cultural managers and agents.

REPATRIATION Romanias Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday that 166 Romanian nationals were repatriated from the UK, including students, airline personnel as well as people who could no longer extend their stay for various reasons. A special flight by the Romanian airline Tarom was used for this operation, and 3 British citizens were taken to the UK on the same occasion.

PARTNERSHIP A Romanian defence ministry team will return to the country on Wednesday after a mission to support the Alabama state authorities in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a Defence Ministry news release, the 15 military and civilians in the team work in emergency military hospitals in the country and in the field of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defence. The cooperation between Romania and the state of Alabama is part of a State Partnership Program initiated in 1993 and coordinated by the US European Command. So far more than 200 bilateral operations have been conducted, with an emphasis on interoperability between military structures, at NATO standards, support for civilian authorities, aid provision and support in the deployment of Romanian units to theatres of operations.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

9 June 2020
Solutions for local elections

A draft law on
extending the mandate of the local authorities is expected in Romania
this week, after the Constitutional Court has ruled out a government
ordinance in this respect. In the meantime the opposition Social
Democrats held talks with all the party leaders to issue a draft,
which besides the extension of the present mandates also stipulates
the new election date. Here is The PSD interim president Marcel
Ciolacu

Marcel Ciolacu: If we don’t
intervene quickly, local authorities can no longer continue their
activity. I would like to also include a date for the future
election, come up with an amendment so that if experts say that the
population is still at risk, we may extend the date for these
elections.

Liberal President Ludovic Orban,
believes the Court’s ruling over who is going to set the election
date remains unclear.

Ludovic Orban: We
believe that a good date would be late September or early October.
Now we are waiting as we haven’t clearly understood from the
Court’s ruling who is going to set the next election date – the
government, through a decision or Parliament. Until we see the
court’s motivation, we cannot precisely say tell that.

Local election should be staged in
autumn and the ones for Parliament on the set date – was a message
conveyed last week by politicians during a round of debates over the
political parties’ scenarios concerning the upcoming elections.

The Social Democrats have made an
appeal for consensus among all the political forces, based on
dialogue including with civil society. USR president Dan Barna
pointed out that these local and Parliamentary elections might have
the lowest turnout in the past 30 years at the same time pleading for
the implementation of the postal voting. The measure was supported by
the Liberals as well. Other proposals include a lower number of
signatures and the possibility of forwarding online applications.

In turn, the PRO
Romania leader Victor Ponta believes the period of time between the
two election rounds must be as short as possible.

One week, two
weeks between them is the most logical option, also from the point of
expenses, organisation, the risk of spreading the disease etc. And it
also make sense from a political viewpoint, says Victor Ponta
adding that PRO Romania will be supporting any modern voting measure
provided all the security guarantees are respected. In another
development, Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu, president of ALDE last week
announced that his group together with PSD and Pro Romania were
holding talks on forging a center-to-left coalition in order to run
in the future local and Parliamentary elections.

(translated by
bill)

9 June 2020
Parliament Endorses State of Alert

After two months of state of emergency, decreed by
the head of state Klaus Iohannis against the background of the Covid-19 pandemic,
the Romanian Parliament, gathered in joint session on Wednesday, voted on
Government’s decision to declare a state of alert for 30 days, all across the
country. The measures provided for the new stage include the mandatory wearing
of protective masks at work, in public enclosed areas, shops and public means
of transport. Meetings and concerts are still not allowed, as well as gatherings
larger than three. Traveling outside localities is permitted on the basis of a
self-declaration.

Parliament has amended the draft Government
Decision. One of the amendments stipulates that the Executive must provide
public authorities with protective masks to be distributed to underprivileged
families and individuals. At the same time, under another amendment, local
public administrations are in charge of appointing, suspending and dismissing
people holding leadership positions in the health-care units subordinated to the
said authorities.

The leader of the Social Democratic deputies, Alfred
Simonis, has stated that Parliament does not trust the Government, and that is
why the Social Democratic Party amended the document on the state of alert in
Romania. He has warned that Romania is currently undergoing an economic crisis,
and the Liberal Government headed by Ludodvic Orban has taken no measure to
protect people and companies.

Alfred Simonis: Economic recovery cannot be achieved on the
basis of endless restrictions and fines, just for you to secure enough money to
the budget, in order to fill in the gaps. We will not allow any form of abuse;
we will not permit unreasonable restrictions and we will not allow this state
to continue forever. That is why, one good thing is that every time you intend
to declare such a state of alert, you will have to come before Parliament.

In turn, the Liberals criticized the amendments
imposed by the Social – Democrats and accused them of blocking Government’s
activity. Here is the leader of the Liberal deputies, Florin Roman:

Instead of instilling confidence and
telling Romanians: ‘it’s hard, but we will get over it together’, you systematically
destroy what the Government does, trying, every step of the way, to block its
activity. We trust the specialists, the epidemiologists. We believe that they
are those who should do the talking, not us.

The Save Romania Union, the People’s Movement
Party and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians have stressed the fact that
Romania needs concrete measures to overcome the crisis.

The only ones that did not endorse the document
on the state of alert were the members of the PRO Romania party and of the
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats. (M.Ignatescu)

21 May 2020
May 13, 2020

COVID-19 ThThe COVID-19 death toll in Romania has reached 1016,
the Strategic Communication Group announced today. According to the latest
official data, the total number of cases is over 16,000, of which almost 8,000 patients
have recovered. The largest number of cases is reported in Suceava (north-east)
and in the capital Bucharest. Among the Romanians living abroad, more than 2,850
have so far tested positive for the virus, mostly in Italy, Spain and Germany,
and 102 have died since the start of the pandemic.

BILL The bill introduced by the Government with respect to the state of alert set to replace the state of emergency on May 15, is debated and voted on today in the Chamber of Deputies, the decision-making parliamentary body in this case. The Senate passed the bill on Tuesday, but the text was substantially amended, mostly by the Social Democrats in opposition. Under the bill, the state of alert can only be in place for 30 days at most, and its introduction must be approved by Parliament. A number of articles were also scrapped, regulating among others the work of public administration institutions, criticised by most parties on grounds of introducing excessive political control on the administration. The bill concerns the introduction of temporary and gradual measures to prevent and contain the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, so as to safeguard citizens right to life, health and physical integrity at the cost of restricting other fundamental rights and freedoms.

MOTION Romanian Deputies are today voting on a simple motion tabled by the Social Democratic Party in Opposition against the Liberal finance minister Florin Cîţu. “The countrys resources must no longer be pawned, Romania must be saved from the ‘Florin Cîţu virus,’ and the finance minister must go, reads the text of the motion. The Social Democrats claim Cîţu proved unable to come up with efficient measures to support the economy. On Monday, when the motion was debated, minister Cîţu accused the Social Democrats of using the virus to promote their political agenda. He said that during the 2 months of the governments implementing measures to restart the economy, the Social Democrats tried to amend them in Parliament in a populist manner. Had their amendments been passed, Romania would have been in economic chaos, Florin Citu added.

CONSTITUTIONAL COURT The Constitutional Court of Romania Wednesday ruled that the government emergency order regulating the state of alert is constitutional, but it cannot restrict citizen rights. The Court was notified by the Ombudsman, who claims that fundamental rights and freedoms can only be restricted by law, and not by emergency or government orders. Delegating legislative powers that affects citizens rights comes against the principle of the separation of powers, under which Parliament is the countrys only legislative authority, the Ombudsman argued. The Constitutional Court had previously ruled that the fines issued during the state of emergency were unconstitutional.

ECONOMY Romanias economy is expected to shrink 4% this year, as against a 3.2% growth rate predicted in November 2019, reads a report made public on Wednesday by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The EBRD lowered its estimates concerning the Romanian economy in 2020, as a result of the corona crisis. For 2021, the institution expects a 4% growth of Romanias GDP. The EBRD is the main institutional investor in Romania, with investments totalling over 8.6 billion euros. The European Commission has also adjusted its estimates for the Romanian economy this year and expects a substantial, 6% fall after years of robust growth, while the government deficit is forecast to reach 9.2% of the GDP this year. In turn, the IMF expects Romanias economy to drop 5% in 2020, and to recover in 2021, when a 3.9% growth rate is predicted.

PANDEMIC There are over 4.3 million cases of coronavirus infections worldwide, with the death toll standing at nearly 293,000. 1.6 million patients have recovered so far. In the US, the worst hit country in the world, the number of deaths is over 82,000. Russia, with more than 232,000 cases, comes second. China announced plans to test all the 11 million locals in Wuhan, the region where the outbreak started, after several new infections were reported early this week.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

13 May 2020
May 10, 2020

Relaxation of measures – In Romania restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic will be relaxed as of May 15, however, certain rules will have to be strictly observed. Therefore, people have to wear face masks in enclosed public spaces, in shops, public transportation means and at the work place. Companies and institutions will have to re-schedule employees’ working hours to avoid overcrowding of transportation means and to allow employees to work from home, if possible. Still forbidden are the open-air events and meetings as well as indoor cultural, artistic, sport and religious events. Nevertheless beauty salons, dental clinics and parks will be re-opened and people will be allowed to travel to another city while strictly observing the rules of prevention. The relaxation measures are being publicly debated on the websites of the Interior Ministry and of the National Public Health Institute. The Strategic Communication Group announced that the number of deaths reported in Romania has reached 952, the total tally of coronavirus infections exceeding 15,300. Of the people testing positive for COVID-19, over 7 thousand have recovered. More than 2,75o Romanians from abroad have been infected with the new coronavirus, mostly in Italy, Spain and Great Britain. Since the start of the pandemic 100 Romanians from abroad have died.

Coronavirus world — The EC has called on member countries and the Schengen associated countries to extent the temporary restriction of non-essential trips within the EU by June 15. Although some member states are already easing restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic, the situation is still fragile in Europe and the world, the EC officials underlined. Almost 4 million cases of COVID-19 infection have been reported around the world and over 274 thousand deaths, but countries have started to gradually relax restrictions. In Europe the number of new infections is on a downward trend in such states as Italy and Spain. In Europe, the biggest number of deaths has been reported in the UK — over 31 thousand while the number of confirmed infections is way over 211 thousand. In the US the number of deaths has risen to more than 77 thousand and the number of contaminations exceeded 1.2 million against the backdrop of people’s discontent with record unemployment figures.

Parliament — The Romanian health minister Nelu Tataru, the labor minister Violeta Alexandru and the foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu are called on Monday in Parliament to brief MPs on the way in which they managed the situation during the state of emergency. A sensitive issue on the agenda of discussions is the situation of the Romanian seasonal workers who left to work abroad in full COVID-19 crisis. Minister Bogdan Aurescu needs to explain how the Romanian workers went abroad and why they worked in insecure conditions. The labor minister also has to answer the MPs questions related to the Romanian employees’ furlough and to the promised pension increase and the measures the government is going to take in this respect. The health minister is expected to provide answers related to how many individuals have been tested for COVID-19 so far and how many tests were made across Romania and also to what is going to happen after the easing of restrictions following May 15.

May 10 — The traditional events held by the Royal House of Romania to mark May 10 have been cancelled. Therefore, the military ceremony and wreath laying at the statue of King Carol I have been cancelled, as well as the open air party at the Elisabeth Palace, which used to be attended by thousands of guests from Romania and the neighboring Republic of Moldova each year. On May 10, 1866 Prince Carol of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen came to Bucharest to be crowned ruler of Romania. Thus, May 10 remained known as Royalty Day. May 10 is equally related to Carol I and a victory of Romania: in 1877 Romania announced its independence from the Ottoman Empire and with Carol I leading the Romanian army and the allied Russian army, Romania won its independence. On May 10, 1881, Prince Carol I was crowned King of Romania. His rule ended after 48 years, being the long rule of a king in history. He was succeeded to the throne by his nephew Ferdinand under whose rule Romania had the largest territorial expansion. The Hohenzollern dynasty ruled Romania until the abdication of King Mihai I in 1947, when the Communists took over power. (tr. L. Simion)

10 May 2020
March 12, 2020

COVID-19 Romania has reported 48 cases of infection with the new
coronavirus. Six of those infected have been cured so far but 1,450 people have
been quarantined while 13,500 are being monitored at home. In order to prevent
and contain the spreading, the Ministry of Defence is assessing and preparing
its own medical facilities to be able, if need be, to isolate or monitor any possible
cases. Authorities have suspended for six months the distribution outside
Romania of medicines and medical materials needed to fight the outbreak.
Cultural and entertaining events with more than 100 people attending have also
been suspended until March 31st. Under-graduate schools have been
closed down until March 22nd while universities are staging only online
courses for the following period. Road transportation of persons between
Romania and Italy has been suspended until the end of this month. The same
measure had been imposed for air and rail transports. Army medical personnel
will be deployed at the borders to strengthen epidemiological monitoring
capacities. Romanian nationals returning from Italy, China, Iran and South
Korea will be placed in quarantine or home isolation. The situation has
worsened in Spain where a major community or Romanians is living and the
Romanian ambassador to that country has called on the Romanians to avoid
travelling and has informed them on their being quarantined upon their arrival
in Romania.

ECONOMY Stocks in Asia dropped on Thursday after president Trump’s
announcement to suspend all flights from Europe to the USA, with the exception
of those coming from Britain for 30 days due to the coronavirus, AFP informs. European
stock exchanges, including that in Bucharest, have also dropped several
percentages. According to analysts travel restrictions also mean less economic
activity. Crude prices have dropped by 6% on Asian markets as the suspension of
flights to Europe and the USA has caused a sharp drop in fuel consumption. Pundits
expect the European Central Bank to announce new measures aimed at boosting the
Eurozone economies to enable them to face the shock triggered by the
coronavirus epidemic.

VOTE Parliament in Bucharest is today seeing the investiture
vote for the cabinet proposed by Florin Citu, the incumbent Finance Minister.
The coronavirus epidemic has raised the chances for the designated Prime
Minister to get the confidence vote in spite of the announcement of the Social
Democratic opposition to vote against. In order to get endorsement, Parliament
needs at least 233 votes. We recall the Liberal government led by Ludovic Orban
was sacked through a no-confidence vote last month. The president has again
designated Orban to form a new government, but the latter stepped down
following a Constitutional Court decision.

ELECTIONS The Constitutional Court has found that the emergency
order amending the laws on parliamentary elections and on the organisation of
early elections comes against the Constitution. According to the Court, the
article that scraps previous restrictions and allows voters to cast their
ballots in any polling station, regardless of the constituency in which they
live, violates the fundamental rights laid down in the Constitution. Thursday’s
decision of the Constitutional Court thus confirms the unconstitutionality
claim raised by the Ombudsman.

(translated by bill)

12 March 2020
Parliamentary hearings for the new cabinet, completed

The ministers nominated in Liberal PM designate Florin Cîţus cabinet have been interviewed by Parliaments specialist committees for the past 3 days. Nine of them got the green light, seven didnt. The nominations for the Defence Ministry, Environment Ministry, Agriculture Ministry, Transport Ministry, Youth and Sports, Foreign Ministry, European Funds, Economy and Interior Ministry have been endorsed by MPs. The parliamentary committees however opposed the nominations for new public finance minister, justice minister, public works minister, culture minister, public healthcare, public education and labour minister. The interim PM and president of the National Liberal Party Ludovic Orban was happy with how the nominees handled the situation:

Ludovic Orban: “These hearings involve facing rather demanding MPs, a lot of trick questions prepared for the interviewees which forced them to come up with answers… The thorough knowledge of their respective fields, gained in a rather short time, has ensured the high quality of their performance, and I can tell you that many of those who voted in favour did so because they were content with the answers given by the ministers designate.

After the ministers designate have been heard by the specialist committees and the latter announced their opinions and arguments, the Standing Bureaus of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate are to convene and set a date for a joint Parliament meeting devoted to the investiture vote. The governing program and the list of ministers must be discussed by the Senate and Chamber of Deputies in a joint meeting, and a vote will follow.

The date of the investiture vote will be decided next week. The joint meeting can be scheduled by Friday at the latest, but the Liberals would like it to take place as soon as possible. In order to be endorsed by Parliament, the new Cabinet needs 233 votes. The problem is that the vote is shadowed by the issue of early elections, a goal pursued relentlessly by President Klaus Iohannis and the Liberal Party. Unlike the Social Democrats in opposition, the Liberals rely on their good results in last years European and presidential elections, and feel confident they can put up a fine performance again.

The current situation is the consequence of Liberal Ludovic Orbans government being dismissed through a no-confidence vote in Parliament in early February. President Iohannis entrusted the same Ludovic Orban with forming a new cabinet, but the investiture vote could not be held for lack of quorum, and within days, Orban resigned as PM designate. If anything, this goes to show that the political reality in Bucharest is made, unmade and remade at the speed of light, so nothing is set in stone until Parliaments confidence vote on the Cîţu government.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

6 March 2020
March 3, 2020

HEARINGS The ministers nominated in PM designate Florin Cîţus cabinet are interviewed by the specialised parliamentary committees today, on Wednesday and Thursday, and the day of the investiture vote is to be chosen early next week. The only change compared to the Ludovic Orban Government is at the finance ministry, where former minister Cîţu has been replaced with Lucian Ovidiu Heiuş. The president of Save Romania Union, Dan Barna, says the Liberals have not asked explicitly for support for the new cabinet. The leader of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians, Kelemen Hunor, says that no decision has been made yet as to endorsing the new government or not. Pro Romania MPs will attend the parliamentary sitting, but will vote against the cabinet, party leader Victor Ponta announced. The Social Democrats and ALDE were the only parties with which the PM designate has not discussed. The Peoples Movement Party decided to vote in favour of the Cîţu Cabinet. The latters nomination by president Klaus Iohannis came after the Constitutional Court found it unconstitutional for the president to designate the interim PM Ludovic Orban to form a new cabinet after being dismissed by Parliament through a no-confidence vote.

COVID-19 In Romania, 42 people are in quarantine centres and over 9,400 are under home monitoring, the Strategic Communication Group announced on Tuesday. So far 3 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in Romania, one of whom has recovered and the other 2 are hospitalised and in a good state. Meanwhile, the National Emergency Committee has introduced strict quarantine rules for the people returning home from risk areas. The new coronavirus is now spreading a lot more quickly outside China than in the source country. Around 91,000 cases have been confirmed in over 70 countries worldwide. Of these, 48,000 patients recovered and over 3,100 died. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank announced they are ready to provide help, including emergency funds, for member states to tackle the difficulties caused by the quickly spreading epidemic.

VACCINATION The healthcare committee in the Chamber of Deputies unanimously voted the introduction of an amendment making immunisation mandatory. The Chamber of Deputies is to cast the decisive vote on the bill. Representatives of the Parents Alliance, of Pro Consumers Association and of the “Informed Decisions Association protested the current form of the bill, opposing the idea of compulsory vaccination. They believe each citizen must have the right to decide as concerns their own body. On the other hand, an association called Mothers for Mothers warns that vaccination saves lives and the body of scientific evidence in this respect goes back over a century.

INTERIOR MINISTRY The interim interior minister Marcel Vela has today presented the institutions annual report, and said in 2019 the work load of interior ministry staff was higher than in the previous year. Marcel Vela explained that 27 counties and the capital city Bucharest reported over 4% rises in street crime and crimes against persons and property. “The presidential election was well organised, with 30% fewer incidents in the first round and 54.18% fewer incidents in the second round than in 2014, Marcel Vela added. The National Police Union organised a protest concurrently with the meeting at the ministry headquarters. They demand the implementation of current regulations regarding salaries, and the payment of overdue benefits for the last 3 years.

UNEMPLOYMENT The January unemployment rate in Romania was 3.9%, down 0.1% since December, the National Statistics Institute announced in Tuesday. According to the institution, the estimated number of unemployed people in January was 350,000, which is lower than both the previous month and the corresponding month of 2019. Statistics also indicate that in the first month of the year the unemployment rate among men was 1% higher than among women.

ISRAEL The Israeli PM Beniamin Netanyahu claimed victory in the 3rd election within a year, held on Monday. With 90% of the votes counted, Netanyahus right-wing party Likud secured 35 out of the 120 seats in Parliament, as against 32 for Kahol Lavan, led by his challenger Benny Gantz. None of them however has the required majority to form a government. Netanyahu tried to secure his re-election while facing a corruption trial. In his address, Netanyahu promised to put an end to the Iranian nuclear threat, to build peace with moderate Arab countries, economic reforms, a defence pact with the USA, and also spoke about his proposal to annex settlements in the West Bank.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

3 March 2020