Radio România Internațional

Tag: rollout

May 26, 2021

CERTIFICATE During the special European Council meeting last
night the leaders of the 27 EU members endorsed the green certificate, which
should allow for the opening of borders and ease travel inside the bloc.
According to the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the
infrastructure for the implementation of the green certificate is to be ready
by June 1st and the member states can connect into the system in mid-June. Also
attending the meeting, the Romanian president Klaus Iohannis stood for the
rapid and unitary implementation of this certificate, which must not infringe
upon the citizens’ right to free movement.

COVID-19 As of today the anti-Covid vaccination centers in the
medical units of Romania’s Interior Ministry are open for all people above 18
within the limit of the vaccine supplies. Those willing to get the jab can
visit one of these 11 centers in Bucharest and other big cities around Romania without
an appointment. According to data released by the RO Vaccination platform,
since the vaccine rollout kicked off in Romania in late December last year,
roughly 26% of Romania’s eligible population, (more than 4 million people), has
got at least the first dose of the anti-Covid vaccine. According to the same
sources, over 3.3 million people have got the booster. Romania’s Prime Minister
Florin Citu has announced that the government is going to launch a
pro-vaccination media campaign but those who aren’t vaccinated are not going to
be discriminated against. In another development, the number of new infections
has maintained its downward trend with 381 infections reported on Tuesday and
63 fatalities. The death toll has exceeded 30 thousand. 545 patients are being
treated in IC units across the country.

PLAN Prime Minister Florin Citu is today presenting before
Parliament in Bucharest the National Plan of Recovery and Resilience (PNRR). Parliament
groups are subsequently going to have their say over the document, which is to
be submitted to the EU officials by the end of the month. The briefing has been
requested by the opposition PSD, which conditioned it on their endorsement of a
European treaty calling for higher contributions from the member states to the
EU budget and which needs the approval of two thirds of the Legislature. The
Social Democrats have lashed out at the PNRR, which comprises measures to
freeze pensions, salaries and other benefits as well as higher taxes and duties
to be levied on various enterprises. The PNRR will allegedly allow Romania to
access 30 billion euros worth of EU funds for development.

TENNIS Romania’s tennis player Sorana Cirstea (61st
WTA) is today taking on 41st WTA Shuai Zhang of China in a match
counting towards the round of 16 of the tennis tournament in Strasbourg. The only
match the two played was in 2008 in Cuneo, Italy, which the Romanian won.
Cirstea has qualified for the round of 16 after a victory against US challenger
Venus Williams, 6-1, 2-6, 6-1, the first obtained by Cirstea against Venus.

PROTEST The ‘Farmers’ Force’ association is staging a
protest in Bucharest today in an attempt to denounce Romania’s underfunded agriculture.
The farmers are expected to drive their tractors to Parliament, the world’s
second largest administrative building, in a move, which will seriously disrupt
road traffic in Romania’s capital city Bucharest. One of the farmers’ claims is
that Romania’s agriculture must be included among the strategic priorities this
year. The farmers have suggestively entitled their protest ‘Political leaders,
how did the farmers wrong you this time?’ We recall that in February this year,
Romanian farmers picketed the Ministry of Agriculture to protest a government’s
decision not to include drought compensations in the state budget law.

(bill)

26 May 2021
May 12, 2021 UPDATE

COVID-19 Romania stays in the so-called green scenario as Bucharest and all counties report COVID-19 infection rates below 1.5 per thousand. In the past 24 hours 930 new cases were reported, out of over 24,300 tests conducted acros the country. The Strategic Communication Group announced another 98 COVID-related deaths, which brings the total death toll to 29,233, and 874 patients in intensive care. The coordinator of the vaccine rollout Valeriu Gheorghiţă said the fall in infection numbers is the result of the immunisation campaign. Over 3.7 million people have received at least one dose of vaccine, and 2.5 million have also got the booster dose. People may get jabs without prior appointment in all vaccination centres in the country. After Timişoara (west) and the capital Bucharest, another major city, Craiova (south), is organising a vaccination marathon, with similar events scheduled this weekend in other cities in Romania.

RECOVERY The PM of Romania Florin Cîţu reconfirmed, during his
meeting with the European Commission vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis in
Brussels on Wednesday, the Romanian government’s goal to ensure economic
recovery and sustainable post-pandemic economic growth, with a focus on reform
and investments.Florin Cîţu also voiced gratitude to the European
Commission for its support, guidance and cooperation, after the talks on
Romania’s priorities as part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan held
on Wednesday with Margrethe Vestager, EC executive vice-president. Previously,
the Romanian PM had also had talks with Adina Vălean, European Commissioner for
Transport.

PUBLIC MEDIA As of Tuesday night, Romania’s public radio and TV corporations have new interim directors. Parliament has appointed journalist Liviu Popescu as head of the Romanian public radio, while Ramona Saseanu has become interim director of the national TV. The two are to hold these positions for 6 months, until the appointment of new boards of directors for the two institutions. On Tuesday, Parliament rejected the annual reports submitted by the two institutions for the years 2017, 2018, 2019, which entailed the dismissal of the 2 boards of directors.

ECONOMY Romanias economy is expected to grow by 5.1% in 2021 and 4.9% next year, according to the spring economic forecast made public by the European Commission. The institution has upgraded its February estimates, when it forecast a 3.8% growth this year and 4% in 2022. Brussels also expects the unemployment rate in Romania to go up from 5% last year to 5.2% in 2021, but to drop to 4.8% in 2022. Inflation is also set to reach 2.9% this year, with a slight decrease to 2.7% predicted for next year. According to the same forecast, the budget deficit will drop from 9.2% of GDP last year to 8% of GDP this year and to 7.1% of GDP next year.

CONFERENCE Strengthening Romanias Strategic Partnership with Poland underscores the special relationship and the firm commitment to contributing to regional security, the president of Romania Klaus Iohannis said in a message on Wednesday at an international conference devoted to the centennial of the Romania-Poland Defensive Alliance. The event was hosted by the Romanian Embassy in Poland. The head of the Romanian state mentioned that the Romanian-Polish Defensive Alliance signed in 1921 was the first regional collective security project and the first strategic partnership with Poland.

DIPLOMACY The Romanian foreign ministry confirmed that the Russian Federation declared the deputy military attaché with the Romanian Embassy in Moscow, Alin Iliescu, a persona non grata, in retaliation to a similar measure taken by Romania on April 26 with respect to the Russian Embassys deputy military attaché Aleksey Grishaev. Romanian authorities argued that the decision was prompted by Grishaevs activity, which came against the 1961 Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations. Many central and east-European ex-communist countries made similar decisions to expel Russian diplomats in the past few weeks. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

12 May 2021
May 12, 2021

PLAN Romania’s Prime Minister Florin Citu is in
Brussels for talks with the EU officials over the projects the Romanian government
has included in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. The Prime Minister
is today expected to have talks with the European Commissioner for Transport
and the European Commission vice-presidents Margrethe Vestager and Valdis
Dombrovskis. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Citu held talks with the president of
the Community Executive Ursula von der Leyen, which the two officials have
described as constructive.

COVID-19 The entire Romanian territory is presently
in the so-called green zone, as the infection rate has dropped below 1.5 per
thousand. However, the number of daily fatalities remains high, around 100, but
the number of patients in intensive care is also going down. The significant
drop in the infection rate has been influenced by the stepped-up vaccine
rollout, says its chief coordinator army physician Valeriu Gheorghita. Over
3,700,000 people have received at least one dose of the vaccine whereas about
2.5 million got the second jab. Romanians are now able to get the vaccine
without having to register beforehand. After Bucharest and Cluj, Craiova, in
the south-west, has become the third city to stage a vaccination marathon.
Other Romanian cities are expected to follow suit and host vaccination
marathons and drive throughs later this week.

DIRECTORS As of Tuesday night, Romania’s public radio
and TV stations have new interim directors. Parliament in Bucharest has
appointed journalist Liviu Popescu as head of the Romanian public radio while
Ramona Saseanu has become director of the national TV station. The two are to
occupy these positions for 6 months until the appointment of new boards of
directors for the two institutions. We recall that on Tuesday, the Legislature
rejected the activity reports submitted by the two institutions for the years
2017, 2018, 2019, which entailed the sacking of the present board of directors.

TENNIS The world’s third tennis player, Romanian
Simona Halep, is today taking on Angelique Kerber of Germany in the second
round of the WTA 1000 tournament in Rome with 1.6 million dollars in prize
money. Halep is leading 6-5 the head-to-head matches. The entitre champion in
Rome, Halep is Romania’s only representative in the Italian tournament at Foro
Italico.

MISSION Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis has
briefed Parliament on the conclusion of Romanian army’s participation in NATO
Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan and the repatriation of the Romanian
troops according to the schedule agreed upon with its strategic allies and
partners. The Resolute Support mission kicked off on January 1st as a sequel of
the international mission Security Force Assistance ISAF. Its main objective
was the training and counseling of the Afghan security forces.

RIOT The Israeli government has
declared a state of emergency in the central city of Lod after rioting by
Israeli Arabs, as the conflict opposing Israeli forces to Palestinian militants
intensifies, the BBC reports. The city mayor has compared the situation to a
civil war. The fighting
came after weeks of rising tensions that were stoked by violent confrontations
between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters at a place in Jerusalem that
is holy to both Muslims and Jews. According to the Israeli press it has been
for the first time after many decades when the authorities need to resort to
the state of emergency to reinstate order. The international community has
urged the two sides to put an end to the escalation. At least 35 Palestinians,
including 10 children, and five Israelis have reportedly been killed in the
violence so far.

(bill)

12 May 2021
May 11, 2021 UPDATE

ATTACK At least 9 people have been killed and over 20 wounded by a man
who opened fire in a school in the Russian city of Kazan, 820 kilometers east
of Moscow. The city is the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan, which has a
Muslim majority. The 19 year old assailant is a former student of the aforementioned
school and he is the legal owner of the weapon used in the massacre. On Tuesday
President Putin ordered the laws regulating gun possession in Russia be
revised. Such attacks are rare in the Russian Federation though. A similar
attack took place in annexed Crimea in 2018, when a student killed 18
colleagues before turning the gun on himself. In September 2004, about 325
people, mostly children were killed after the special forces stormed a school
in Beslan, the North Osettia, which had been occupied by pro-Chechen
mercenaries, who took over 1000 hostages.

REPORTS Parliament in Bucharest on Tuesday rejected
the activity reports submitted by the public radio and television for the years
2017, 2018 and 2019. According to Anca Dragu, president of the Senate, the
rejection of the aforementioned reports entails the sacking of the two institutions’
board of directors. Parliament is to nominate interim directors for the two
aforementioned institutions with 6-month tenures.

VIRUS 1156 new SARS-CoV-2 infections have been
reported in Romania in the past 24 hours out of 36 thousand tests carried out,
the Strategic Communication Group (GCS) announced on Tuesday. According to the
same sources, 101 of those infected died bringing the death toll to 29,135.
Since the onset of the pandemic, 190 Romanian citizens who live abroad have
been killed by the virus. 6181 patients are being treated in hospitals around
the country, out of which 919 in intensive care. Since the onset of the
pandemic, over one million Romanians have been infected with the novel coronavirus
and over 90% have been cured. Also on Tuesday, GCS announced that Bucharest and
Cluj in the country’s northwest are presently out of the so-called yellow zone
in terms of the number of infections like all the other counties with a rate of
1.5 cases per thousand. The vaccine rollout carries on at a higher pace with
more than 100 thousand people vaccinated per day. Authorities have stepped up the
rollout through a series of measures, such as vaccination marathons and drive
throughs. Family physicians have actively got involved in the vaccination campaign.
Coordinator Valeriu Gheorghita said
on the other hand that there is not enough scientific data to confirm the need
for a third vaccine dose to cover possible viral mutations.

ALERT The state of alert was extended by another
month as of Thursday, the government of Romania decided. Certain restrictions
have been lifted, such as the ones concerning participation in religious processions
or pilgrimages, while others, including in the hospitality sector, remain in
place. Pilot cultural and sports events will be organised, attended by people
who have got the vaccine or recovered from COVID in the past 3 months, as well
as those who test negative for the disease.

DRILL The president of Romania Klaus Iohannis and his
Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda on Tuesday attended a multinational military
exercise in Galaţi County in the east. The exercise takes place at the Smârdan
base, and Poland takes part with the military forces it has deployed to Romania
as part of the Allied matched forward presence in the eastern flank through the
NATO multinational brigade stationed in Craiova. Justice Sword 21
is a tactical exercise aimed at testing the capacity of participating structures
to implement planned actions and measures, as well as Romania’s ability to
provide support to the military forces and equipment that transit its
territory. Such exercises are extremely important to check and increase the
interoperability degree. We are training for defence in the Eastern Flank,
Romanian president Klaus Iohannis said on this occasion. In turn, his Polish
counterpart Andrzej Duda has underlined the importance of cooperation between
the Romanian and Polish troops. In another development, the Romanian president
sent a letter to Parliament in Bucharest briefing it on the Romanian forces
participation in the NATO extended mission in Iraq starting with the second
half of 2021.

(bill)

11 May 2021
May 11, 2021

COVID-19 According to the latest updates, 620 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Romania in 24 hours, out of 11,000 tests conducted. Most cases occurred in Bucharest. The authorities also announced another 68 COVID-19 related deaths and 962 patients in intensive care. Meanwhile, the vaccine rollout continues, at a record high rate of over 100,000 jabs per day. Measures such as vaccination marathons and drive-through vaccination centres helped increase the number of people immunised every day, and so did the involvement of family physicians. Coordinator Valeriu Gheorghita said on the other hand that there is not enough scientific data to confirm the need for a third vaccine dose to cover possible viral mutations.

ALERT The state of alert will be extended by another month as of Thursday, the government of Romania decided. Certain restrictions have been lifted, such as the ones concerning participation in religious processions or pilgrimages, while others, including in the hospitality sector, remain in place. Pilot cultural and sports events will be organised, attended by people who have got the vaccine or recovered from COVID in the past 3 months, as well as those who test negative for the disease.

TRAVEL The National Committee on Emergency Situations updated the list of countries with high epidemiological risk for which quarantine is required upon entering Romanian territory. The number of countries in the list went up from 57 to 75. Countries like India, Nepal, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Monaco and the United Arab Emirates are new on the list, joining the Netherlands, France, Germany and Hungary or summer tourist destinations like Greece, Croatia or the Maldives.

EXERCISE The president of Romania Klaus Iohannis and his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda are attending today a multinational military exercise in Galaţi County in the east. The exercise takes place at the Smârdan base, and Poland takes part with the military forces it has deployed to Romania as part of the Allied matched forward presence in the eastern flank through the NATO multinational brigade stationed in Craiova. Justice Sword 21 is a tactical exercise aimed at testing the capacity of participating structures to implement planned actions and measures, as well as Romanias ability to provide support to the military forces and equipment that transit its territory.

ATTACK At least 11 people, mostly children, were killed, and many others wounded by an unknown number of attackers in a school shooting in the Russian town of Kazan, some 725 km east of Moscow. The town is the capital of Tatarstan, an autonomous republic with mostly Muslim population. Russian media quoted by international news agencies speak about one or two teenage shooters. School shootings are uncommon in Russia. A similar incident was reported in 2018, in Crimea, annexed by Russia 4 years before, where a student killed 19 people and killed himself. In September 2004, some 325 people, mostly kids, were also killed after Russian special forces stormed a school in Belsan, North Ossetia, where pro-Chechen mercenaries were keeping over 1,000 hostages.

TENSIONS The EU called for an immediate end to the clashes between Israeli and Palestinians. According to the EU, rocket strikes from Gaza strip against civilians in Israel are unacceptable and fuel escalation. The US also condemned “in the strongest terms the Hamas rocket attacks, calling them “an unacceptable escalation. The UK foreign secretary Dominic Raab also condemned the attacks and called for immediate de-escalation on both sides. Tensions have been reported in the region since the start of the Ramadan, the Muslim fasting and prayer month, with many Palestinians angry over the Israeli police restricting access to some sectors in Jerusalem. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

11 May 2021
THE WEEK IN REVIEW 25 April – May 1

Vaccination, “the only way out of the pandemic

The president of Romania Klaus Iohannis Tuesday once again called on citizens to get the COVID-19 vaccine, stating that this is the only way to end the pandemic. As many Romanians vaccinated means getting rid of restrictions and returning to normal, the head of state pointed out. In turn, PM Florin Cîţu reiterated that the government targets 5 million Romanians vaccinated by 1 June, and that as of that moment we will be able to talk in different terms about returning to normal.

Florin Cîţu: “For us there is no other way. The only solution, if we want to go to concerts again, to have family gatherings, to go on holiday abroad or in Romania, to go to restaurants, to the cinema, to the theatre, to do everything we used to do, is for us to get the vaccine. This vaccination campaign is a campaign for life, for ourselves, for returning to normal.

In turn, an inter-ministry committee working for Romanias return to normal as of 1 June, 2021, had a new meeting highlighting the need to gradually adjust the lifting of containment measures to each sector of the economy. The group also discussed the progressive reopening of the hospitality sector, as the vaccine rollout continues.

Meanwhile, several drive-through vaccination centres have been opened in the country, where people can get the vaccine without previous appointments. Moreover, between 7 and 9 May an anti-COVID vaccination marathon will be organised in Bucharest, after the operation proved a success elsewhere in the country. At present around 1,000 vaccination centres are active, with a combined capacity of over 120,000 people immunised daily.

The number of daily new COVID-19 cases has dropped across the country, and this week a number of containment measures are being lifted. The number of patients in intensive care is also dropping, and so is the number of COVID-related deaths. Of the total number of Romanians infected since the start of the pandemic, over 90% have recovered.

Talks on the National Recovery and Resilience Plan

The ruling coalition in Bucharest agreed on a National Recovery and Resilience Plan with projects worth 29 billion euro. The Plan will be submitted to Brussels as of 10 May, when final negotiations with the European Commission will be held. PM Florin Cîţu announced that no project will be dropped, but that the funding for some investment lines will be reduced, after Romania received comments from the EC especially concerning projects related to irrigation systems, natural gas networks and motorways.

The prime minister said there are no problems in the negotiations with the Commission, but that Brussels asked for more details regarding Romanias plan. In turn, the minister for investments and European funding Cristian Ghinea said, discussions continue on all the components, and the European Commission has this kind of dialogue with all member countries.

Cristian Ghinea: “We are trying to adjust to as many of the Commissions comments as possible, and we have even brough allocations in line with these comments. As for the projects that are our priorities, even if the Commission has a different opinion at this time, we will move forward with them.

According to the Romanian official, several countries are to submit their National Plans after the end of April, the original deadline set by the Commission. Meanwhile, the vice-president of the EC Margrethe Vestager announced that she had a “constructive meeting with the Romanian minister concerning the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, and said progress has been made.

Protection for Romanian workers abroad

At the suggestion of the labour ministry, the government passed an emergency order providing better protection for the Romanians working abroad. The order includes new obligations for recruitment agencies and for providers of relevant services, which grant additional protection to Romanian citizens.

One provision is that mediation services for Romanians getting employment abroad should be free of charge, and that employment contracts should be provided in Romanian as well. Romanian workers are also to receive their written employment contracts before leaving the country. The labour minister Raluca Turcan also mentioned that transport companies must comply with certain requirements:

Raluca Turcan: “When transport companies take over Romanian workers who got jobs abroad, they must be grouped together depending on the chosen job. Also, when they take over workers for a particular country, a company must drop them at the employers site.

The order passed by the government also provides for tougher penalties for breaching the law.

Supreme Defence Council discusses Black Sea, Afghanistan situations

Romania will pull out its troops from Afghanistan in coordination with the other NATO members, beginning 1 May. All the 615 troops and over 80 tonnes of materials and equipment will be brought back on Romanian and NATO military aircraft, the Presidency announced at the end of Tuesdays meeting of the Supreme Defence Council. The withdrawal will be phased and spread across the forthcoming months. In the anti-terrorist mission in Afghanistan launched shortly after the 9/11attacks in the US, 27 Romanian troops lost their lives.

In the same meeting the Supreme Defence Council also decided that Romania would continue to promote efforts to strengthen the Allied posture in the country and in the region, in a responsible manner and in line with international law. Moreover, concerned with the recent build-up of Russian troops at Ukraines eastern border, Romania is interested in solving the protracted conflicts in the Black Sea region, and the foreign ministry has presented the EU with some initiatives in this respect, the presidency also said in a news release. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

1 May 2021
Vaccine rollout update: 5 million doses so far

Romania has already administered over 5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, in a national campaign that started on December 27. Over 3.1 million people have got the jab, some of them having received the booster dose as well.

The authorities seem satisfied with the vaccination rate, but say the rollout must be stepped up and that this will be done shortly. But whereas in the past people were unhappy that they could not get an appointment soon enough, now the situation has changed, and existing capacities are not fully used. The special online appointment platform now shows more spots available than the number of people interested in getting the vaccine, with the demand for the AstraZeneca serum falling dramatically.

Romania mostly uses Pfizer vaccines, followed by Moderna and, quite soon, Johnson&Johnson—all of which are approved by the EU.

The head of the National Vaccination Committee Valeriu Gheorghiţă announced for instance that in Pfizer centres the number of people immunised by each team will go up from 84 to 96, and that this week Romania has received the largest batch of Pfizer vaccines to date: around 725,000 doses. If we keep this pace, by June 1 we will have immunised more than 5 million people, Gheorghiţă added.

To reach this goal, Romania is adjusting its immunisation strategy on the go: alongside the online appointment platform, drive-through vaccination centres have been opened and vaccination marathons are being organised, as well as mobile teams traveling to more isolated communities. President Klaus Iohannis once again urged Romanians to get the vaccine:

Klaus Iohannis: “The return to normal depends on the extent to which people get vaccinated. We are receiving more and more doses and very soon we will have enough for absolutely all those who wish to get the vaccine. But since vaccination in Romania is not mandatory, we must do it of our own free will. I advise all Romanians to get the vaccine. It is the only way out of this pandemic. Unless enough of us do it, we will have to cover our faces and endure restrictions for a long time.

Klaus Iohannis added that the government is working on a large-scale awareness raising campaign involving artists, athletes and politicians. The vaccination centres will be increasingly easy to access, appointments will no longer be necessary, people will be able to get a vaccine any time and only make an appointment for the booster dose, the head of state explained. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

28 April 2021
3 million Romanians vaccinated

The number of Romanians having received COVID-19 vaccines has passed 3 million since the start of the rollout late in December. Of them, around 1.8 million have got the booster dose as well.

Contributing to this was also the vaccination marathon in Timișoara (west), where thousands of people got anti-SARS-CoV-2 jabs this past weekend. Over 600 physicians, nurses and volunteering students were involved.

The marathon will reach Bucharest on May 7-9, according to the coordinator of the national vaccination campaign, Valeriu Gheorghiţă. The event will be similar to the one organised in Timişoara, and will be hosted by the Palace Hall and the National Library in the capital city. Any citizen, irrespective of where they live, will be able to get a vaccine dose without previous appointment, and all they will need is their ID.

“We intend to have around 50 vaccination teams, which means that over these 2 and a half days of work, over 15,000 people could get a dose. We are yet to decide on the type of vaccine, very likely we will have Pfizer ones, Valeriu Gheorghiţă explained.

The culture minister Bogdan Gheorghiu welcomed the success of his ministrys proposal to have a vaccination centre set up in the National Library car park. “Public Health and Culture are pooling resources for the greater good of Romanians! If we want to go to the movies, to the theatre or to concerts, then we must get vaccinated, Gheorghiu says in a Facebook post.

To step up the vaccine rollout, this past weekend the first drive-through vaccination centre was opened in Deva, in the south-west of the country. All people coming by car regardless of their home address can be immunised there without prior appointment on the online national platform. The drive-through centre comprises 4 units, with a combined targeted flow of 500 people a day.

President Klaus Iohannis has recently warned that the pandemic is not over, and urged people to get the vaccine. He reiterated that vaccination is the way out of this pandemic, and voiced his satisfaction with the national rate of around 100,000 jabs a day. Klaus Iohannis added that as the number of new infections goes down, the authorities will consider ending the state of alert. Extended every month, the state of alert was first introduced in Romania in mid-May last year, after a 2-month state of emergency to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

26 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
April 23, 2021

COVID-19 The way out of the COVID-19 pandemic is mass vaccination, the president of Romania Klaus Iohannis said today. He added that containment measures will be eased out as the number of SARS-CoV-2 infections, of patients in ICUs and of COVID-related deaths decreases. Yesterday, at the end of the first meeting of an inter-ministry committee working to ensure Romanias return to normal as of June 1, PM Florin Cîțu said in his turn that the return to normal life is conditional on vaccination. The number of people who have received at least one vaccine dose in Romania is now over 2.8 million. Meanwhile, the authorities announced on Friday over 2,500 new infections in 24 hours, and 170 COVID-related deaths. Another 1,391 patients are in intensive care. Three counties in Romania, Bucharest, Ilfov in the south-east and Cluj in the centre, are still in the red zone, with little over 4 COVID cases per thousand inhabitants, while the other counties report rates below 3 per thousand.

MEETING The Romania-Poland-Turkey trilateral meeting works very well, and its relevance and effectiveness have grown significantly, contributing in its 9 years of existence, to strengthening the North-Atlantic Alliance and to ensuring security in the eastern flank, including the Black Sea region, the Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu said. The Romanian official took part on Friday in the plenary session of the meeting, alongside his counterparts from Poland, Zbigniew Rau and Turkey, Mevlut Cavuşoglu. At the end of the meeting, the 3 foreign ministers signed a joint declaration, for the first time since the trilateral meeting has been held. Today the participants tackled security-related topics, with a focus on the regional situation, on the outcomes of the latest NATO minister-level meetings and on the prospects for this years summit of the Alliance. The 3 countries officials emphasised on Friday that they would like NATO to be a stronger political and military actor, with global reach. The participants also discussed the progress in implementing the projects selected in the 2020 trilateral meeting and the ways to strengthen trilateral dialogue, including by developing new projects.

ECONOMY All EU member countries ended the year 2020 with budget deficit. According to Eurostat, Romania was among the states with the highest deficit figures, 9.2% of GDP, double the level reported the previous year. Eurostat preliminary data point to a skyrocketing budget deficit EU-wide, from 0.5% of GDP in 2019 to 6.9% last year. The highest levels, ranging between 11% and 9.5%, were reported in Spain, Malta, Greece, Italy, Belgium and France. Denmark is the only country that reported budget deficit below 3%.

PANDEMIC Greece, one of Romanians summer holiday destinations of choice, was included by the Romanian authorities in the list of countries with high epidemic risk, due to the large number of coronavirus infections. The list now comprises 60 countries and regions. Alongside Greece, it also includes Turkey, Bulgaria, the Maldives, France, Italy, Austria, Germany and the US. Travellers returning from these countries must produce a negative COVID test before boarding the plane or coach. People having tested negative will still isolate for 10 days upon arrival. The measure does not apply for travellers having received both vaccine doses, or having recovered from the disease in the past 90 days. The total number of coronavirus infections is now over 145 million worldwide, with more than 123 million patients recovered and some 3 million deaths reported by worldometers.info. In Germany, a controversial law takes effect today, which grants more powers to the federal government. Italy has in turn extended the state of emergency until the end of July. France is lifting part of the restrictions as of 3 May, with children returning to schools, but with night curfews still in place.

TENNIS Romanian player Simona Halep, seed no 2 in the WTA tournament in Stuttgart (Germany), plays today against Russias Ekaterina Alexandrova in the quarter-finals of the competition. On Thursday in the round of 16, Alexandrova defeated the Swiss Belinda Bencic 6-1, 7-5, whereas Halep beat the Czech Marketa Vondrousova 6-1, 6-3. Simona Halep and Ekaterina Alexandrova have played against each other 3 times so far, with the Russian winning 2 of the matches. Two other Romanian players, Sorana Cirstea and Ana Bogdan, take on Russias Veronika Kudermetova and Belgiums Fiona Ferro, respectively, in the quarter-finals of the Istanbul tournament. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

23 April 2021
April 21, 2021

COALITION Ioana Mihăilă, state secretary with the Health Ministry, has been nominated by USR-PLUS to be the new health minister, after the Liberal PM Florin Cîțu dismissed Vlad Voiculescu last week. Previously, the leaders of the right-of-centre ruling coalition in Romania had reached an agreement ending the tensions that followed the unexpected dismissal of Vlad Voiculescu. They signed an addendum to the governing protocol, stipulating among other things that the prime minister is to inform the relevant political party of his intention to exercise his constitutional power to dismiss a cabinet member. The COVID-19 vaccine rollout remains a priority for the government and the coalition, reads the document signed on Tuesday night.

VACCINE President Klaus Iohannis said on Wednesday that he was quite satisfied with the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in Romania. ‘We are very close to our targeted capacity of 100,000 people vaccinated per day. I am very happy with how the campaign has unfolded so far, and the preparations for this stage have been completed in record time,’ the president said. Mobile vaccination centres are operational in Romania as of Wednesday. So far the vaccination capacity is over 80,000 doses per day, and a total of over 2.7 million people have received at least one dose. In this context, the head of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccination Coordination Committee, Valeriu Gheorghiţă, announced that authorities are considering the option of giving vaccines in non-COVID hospitals for patients with chronic diseases. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, 3,006 new COVID-19 infections were reported, and the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic is now over 1 million. More than 26,600 COVID-related deaths have also been reported so far, 175 of them in the last 24 hours, and 1,436 patients are in intensive care.

CORRUPTION The Senate of Romania Wednesday greenlighted criminal proceedings against the former health minister Florian Bodog, at the request of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate. Anti-corruption prosecutors claim that while a minister, the Social Democratic Florian Bodog took steps to ensure that one of his personal advisers was paid for one year without showing up for work or actually fulfilling his obligations as an employee. Meanwhile the Liberal PM Florin Cîţu approved the resignation of Gelu Puiu (PNL) as a state secretary with the Environment Ministry, after an independent publication, ʹRecorderʹ, made public recordings pointing to a blackmailing campaign coordinated by Puiu and aimed at replacing county forestry managers with members of the Liberal Party that had no qualifications for the job.

TRIAL Former Minneapolis police Derek Chauvin was found guilty on Tuesday on all 3 charges brought against him after African-American George Floyd was killed last year. According to AFP, the sentence may be out in 8 weeks. The defendant may be sentenced to 12.5 years behind bars, although the judge may decide to increase it if there is evidence of aggravating circumstances. Tuesdays ruling is seen as a landmark in the US racial history and as a criticism of the treatment given by the police to African Americans, the international media note. According to Radio Românias correspondent in Washington, after the ruling the US president Joe Biden addressed the nation, describing systemic racism as “a stain on the nation’s soul and mentioning that the killing of George Floyd entailed protests unseen in the country since the 1960s. Derek Chauvin, 45, was filmed kneeling on Floyd, 46, for over nine minutes during his arrest last May.

HANDBALL Romanias womens handball team plays tonight away from home, in Skopje, the return leg against North Macedonia in the playoffs for the 2021 World Championship. On Saturday in the first leg the Romanians beat their opponents 33-22. Romania has taken part in all the 24 editions of the womens World Championship so far, and has won 4 medals (gold in 1962, silver in 1973 and 2005, and bronze in 2015). In the latest season of the World Championship in 2019, in Japan, Romania came out 12th.

FOOTBALL Romanias football team will play in Group B of the Tokyo Olympics, alongside New Zealand, South Korea, and Honduras, according to the draw that took place in Zurich on Wednesday. The group matches are scheduled between July 22 and 28. The Olympics football tournament in Tokyo ends on August 7. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

21 April 2021
The latest on vaccination

Citizens willingness to get vaccinated remains at a steady 50% in Romania, according to sociological surveys, the head of the national SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination Coordination Committee Valeriu Gheorghiţă announced on Tuesday. According to him, at present over 1.2 million people have appointments both for the first dose and for the booster, most of them for the Pfizer vaccine. So far in Romania nearly 2.4 million people have received the vaccine, and over half of them have got both doses.

Valeriu Gheorghiţă also mentioned that at present over 1,000 vaccination centres are operational, with a total maximum capacity of 115,000 doses per day. Most of them, i.e. over two-thirds, are Pfizer centres, and the remaining give AstraZeneca and Moderna shots.

The Romanian official also announced that as of the next few days people who wish to get the vaccine without a previous appointment will be able to come directly to the AstraZeneca centres with available spots.

With the number of patients in intensive care and the number of COVID-19-related deaths on the rise across the country, authorities once again call on people to get the vaccine and to observe protection measures.

According to the National Public Health Institute (INSP), over 18,000 people, accounting for less than 1% of the total number of people that have received the vaccine, have had a positive SARS-CoV-2 test between December 2020 and April 2021, after receiving the first dose. Some two-thirds of them had got the Pfizer jab, one-quarter the AstraZeneca, and the others the Moderna vaccine.

During the same period, nearly 3,000 people, accounting for 0.21% of the total number of people having also received the booster dose, tested positive after immunization. Most of them had been given the Pfizer serum, and the others the Moderna one. The booster dose for the British-Swedish vaccine AstraZeneca only started being given this week.

Meanwhile, the first 60,000 doses of Johnson&Johnson vaccine reached Romania on Wednesday, but they will not be given out until the European Medicines Agency issues guidelines on its safety.

Federal healthcare authorities in the US Tuesday recommended suspending the vaccine after a number of people that had received it reported blood clots. According to Romanian authorities, this month another 100,000 Johnson&Johnson doses are scheduled to arrive in the country, followed by half a million doses in May and another 1.6 million in June. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

14 April 2021
New measures to step up vaccination

According
to experts, anti-COVID vaccination is an effective and rapid measure to protect
against the virus. The immunization campaign, which kicked off in Romania in
late December is in full swing and authorities have announced fresh measures to
step it up. According to physician Valeriu Gheorghiţă, in charge of vaccine
rollout in Romania, starting April 20th mobile centers are to become
part of this immunization campaign.

20
such mobile units are to be made available all over Romania in a first stage of
this programme. These centers are to be coordinated by the County Committee in
charge of Military Hospitals as they are operated by personnel provided by the
National Defence Ministry. These centers are to become operational in rural areas
where people do not have access to immunization centers or family physicians.

And in
order to streamline the process, the aforementioned centers will mainly use the
single-jab Johnson&Johnson vaccine. Authorities in Romania have decided to
also include the family physicians in the immunization campaign. Gheorghita has
announced that over 3 thousand family physicians have applied for being part of
the campaign with the medical facilities they own.

They
account for 30% of the total 10,940 doctors under contract with the National
Health Insurance House. It is less than we expected, Valeriu Gheorghita said
adding that the project is to kick off nationwide on May 4th. Until
that time, we will have provided all the training for the physicians involved
in the project and have assured all the infrastructure needed in the
distribution of medical supplies so that we may commence this project in very
good conditions. People’s interest in getting the vaccine is high, Gheorghita says
adding that a decision has been made to notify only once a person on the
vaccination list, who has 24 hours to confirm.

Roughly
780 thousand people have enlisted for vaccination, most of them in Bucharest
and Cluj in the north west. About 60% of these belong to the general
population, included in the third stage of the vaccination campaign, 32% are
people belonging to the vulnerable groups, people with chronic conditions,
people over 65, with physical disabilities and 7.5% people working in key
domains of activity. Over 2,100,000 people in Romania have so far got at least
one vaccine dose.

(bill)

7 April 2021
April 2, 2021 UPDATE

VACCINE Romania’s vaccine rollout is in full swing at a rate of over 50,000 doses per day. So far over 2 million people have been vaccinated, and half of them have also got the booster dose. President Klaus Iohannis has announced that in the following period Romania will receive a significant amount of vaccine and the rollout can be stepped up. The head of the Romanian state has urged citizens to trust the benefits of immunization. In turn, the National Defence Minister Nicolae Ciuca announced that 15 new vaccination centers are to become available as of April 5th. On Friday Romania registered a new all-time high in the number of patients in intensive care (1,454). Over 5,800 new infections have been reported at national level and 146 related fatalities. Roughly one million Romanians have been infected since the onset of the pandemic and the death toll stands at 24,000. A curfew between 8 pm and 5 am is in force over the weekend in the regions with an infection rate above 4 per thousand, with shops to be closed at 6 pm. At a rate above 7.5 cases per thousand, these measures are applied throughout the week, not only at weekends.

PANDEMIC The World Health Organisation has criticized the sluggish pace of Europe’s vaccine rollout, also mentioning the latest surge in coronavirus infections. The statement was made by the WHO European branch several days ahead of the Catholic Easter. Immunization and restrictions remain the main solutions to contain the spread of the more contagious variants, which have become dominant in countries like France, Spain or Germany. On Thursday, authorities in Berlin reported over 24 thousand new cases and over 200 Covid-related fatalities. In Spain, which has a major community of Romanians, the infection rate exceeded 150 cases per one hundred thousand people and in some regions indoor bars and restaurants have been closed. Travel restrictions have been imposed these days when Spain is celebrating the Holy Week without street events for the second year in a row. In Greece, where the number of active cases and infections isn’t going down, authorities have decided to open shops under very strict medical protocols after six weeks of lockdown. According to worldometers.info, over 130 million people have been infected with the novel coronavirus and 2.8 million have died since the beginning of the pandemic.

EASTER Roman-Catholic and protestant believers the world over, including from Romania, are celebrating the most important Christian holiday, the Lord’s Resurrection, on April 4th, a month before the Orthodox believers. This is for the second year when Pope Francis, leader of the Catholic believers from all over the world, will deliver a mass in front of a lower number of participants because of the pandemic. On Good Friday, Pope Francis commemorated Christ’s passions and crucifixion. In spite of the lockdown in Italy, churches are open and citizens can attend religious services close to their homes, however they have to fill in a form stating their reasons to travel. In Romania on Saturday night the curfew has been lifted between 10 pm and 2 am, so that believers may attend the Easter Mass.

FRIGATE ‘Regina Maria’ Frigate moored in the military port of Constanţa (south-eastern Romania) after completing its participation in the missions of SNMG-2 (Standing NATO Maritime Group 2), in the Black Sea. The vessel, equipped with a Puma Naval helicopter and having a unit of combat divers on board, took part in naval, air and anti-submarine surveillance and medical evacuation missions, jointly with 4 other combat ships from Bulgaria, Greece, Spain and Turkey. NATOs standing naval presence in the Black Sea contributes to enhancing the Allies collective defence capabilities in the region, reads a news release issued by the Romanian Naval Forces Command. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

2 April 2021
April 1, 2021

COVID-19 President Klaus Iohannis announced today that in the forthcoming period Romania will receive a substantial number of anti-Covid doses and the vaccine rollout can be stepped up. The head of state urged Romanians to have confidence in the benefits of immunisation. Romania is drawing close to 1 million infections since the start of the pandemic, with over 6,000 cases reported in the past 24 hours alone and a record-high number of patients in intensive care (1,434). The most cases were reported in Bucharest, but the highest infection rate is in Ilfov County, near the capital city. The death toll is now over 23,500. Meanwhile, over 3 million vaccine doses have been given since the end of December to more than 2 million people.

PROTESTS In Bucharest and several other cities in Romania protests continued on Wednesday, for the 4th night in a row, against the anti-COVID measures introduced by the authorities. Unlike previous nights, on Wednesday protests were more low-key. Participants chanted anti-government slogans, and demanded the lifting of restrictions such as mandatory outdoor face covering, online schooling and the closing of restaurants and gyms. The authorities argue however that the measures are necessary if the accelerated spread of the novel coronavirus is to be curbed.

REPORT The US State Departments 2020 Report on Human Rights Practices points out that Romania lacks efficient mechanisms to investigate and punish police abuse, and many corruption or abuse cases end in acquittals. According to the document, charges of brutality and cruel, degrading or inhuman treatment, brought against several police and gendarme members, have been dropped. Violence against women and children is also a serious and continuing problem in Romania, the report also reads.

INSTITUTE Bucharest celebrates today 100 years since the Cantacuzino Institute was founded under an order signed by King Ferdinand. Since 2017, the Institute has been subordinated to the National Defence Ministry. Over the years, the institution conducted research in microbiology and related fields, produced vaccines and serums and was involved in public healthcare. Cantacuzino Institute works with instituttes and universities around the world.

ENVIRONMENT The US president Joe Biden yesterday put forth a USD 2-billion investment plan targeting among others the creation of jobs and fighting climate change. The American Jobs Plan is an investment in America that will create millions of good jobs, rebuild our countrys infrastructure, and position the United States to out-compete China, Biden said. According to the RRA correspondent in Washington, Bidens advisers say the pandemic changed the US citizens attitude regarding the role of the government, and created expectations of unprecedented investments in the reconstruction of the country.

FOOTBALL Romanias football team lost to Armenia, 3-2, in Yerevan on Wednesday night. In the same group J of the World Cup qualifiers, North Macedonia defeated Germany away from home. The group also includes Iceland and Liechtenstein. With one win against North Macedonia and 2 losses to Germany and Armenia, Romania ranks 4th in the group standings, topped by Armenia and North Macedonia. Only the top team in each group moves up into the final tournament, and the second-ranking teams go into playoffs. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

1 April 2021