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  • December 12, 2021 UPDATE

    December 12, 2021 UPDATE

    COVID-19 — On Sunday Romania reported 716 cases of COVID- infection, a lower number as against the previous day, and 60 deaths, of which 15 registered in the previous day. The number of hospitalized Covid patients has dropped to around 4,000, of whom 722 are in ICUs. The COVID incidence rate calculated for a period of 14 days for Bucharest has dropped below one case per thousand inhabitants, according to the Public Health Directorate. The highest infection rate in Bucharest, over 16.5, was recorded on October 22. At national level, the incidence rate has also fallen below the threshold of one case per thousand inhabitants. In another development, four athletes returning from South Africa were confirmed, on Saturday, with the new variant of the coronavirus, so that Romania now has a total of 7 cases of Omicron infection. On the other hand, Hungary, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, France, the United Kingdom and Bulgaria remain on the red list of countries with a high epidemiological risk. The National Committee for Emergency Situations has published a new list which includes Spain, Italy, the Maldives and the Dominican Republic in the yellow zone.



    Brussels — The Romanian foreign minister, Bogdan Aurescu, will attend, on Monday, the meeting of the foreign ministers of the EU member states, meeting within the Foreign Affairs Council (EAC), which will take place in Brussels. They will exchange opinions on a number of current issues such as the developments in Ukraine, the situation in Belarus, the Cypriot case (Varosha) and Ethiopia. The European foreign ministers will address the situation regarding Ukraine from the perspective of the developments on Ukraine’s eastern border with Russia, which raises a high degree of concern at European and Euro-Atlantic levels. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry, Bogdan Aurescu will reiterate his concern about the security situation in the vicinity of Ukraine and the Black Sea and will emphasize the need to prepare an appropriate response from the EU, which must remain united and firm. The discussion on Belarus is taking place in the context of the continued deterioration of the internal situation there and the instrumentalisation of migration by the Minsk regime on the EUs eastern border. High on the agenda of the meeting are also the relations EU-Africa, EU-Central Asia and EU-Venezuela.



    Film – The co-production Quo Vadis, Aida? with Romanian participation won the 2021 best European film award at the European Film Academy (EFA) Awards Gala, held on Saturday evening in Berlin. The film, which had seven nominations, won another two major European awards for Best Director – Jasmila Zbanic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and for Best Actress – Jasna Duricic. Quo Vadis, Aida? is a co-production of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Austria, the Netherlands, France, Poland, Norway, Germany, Romania and Turkey which tells the story of a UN translator in Srebrenica (Bosnia) when the Serbian army took control of the city in 1995. Another co-production, Nanu Tudor, directed by Belgian-based Moldovan filmmaker Olga Lucovnicova, was nominated Best European Short Film. In the film, the director travels, after 20 years of silence, back to the house of her ancestors, where she experienced unfortunate events that marked her memory forever. Anthony Hopkins received the Best Actor Award for his portrayal of a dementia patient in The Father. This film also brought the Best Screenplay Award to its authors, the Frenchman Florian Zeller and the Portuguese Christopher Hampton.



    G7 – Russia will face major consequences in case of invading Ukraine, warned on Sunday, the British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss at the end of the G7 meeting, the group of the most industrialized countries of the world, held in Liverpool, a city in northern England. This meeting showed, according to Truss, “the very united voice of the G7 countries, which account for 50% of the world GDP, and which are very clear (on the fact) that there will be major consequences for Russia in the event of an incursion into Ukraine.” At the same time, Truss said the United Kingdom was considering all options for how to respond if Russia invaded Ukraine, reminding that London had in the past resorted to economic sanctions to send diplomatic messages to Moscow. In the meantime, the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs with the US Department of State, Karen Donfried, will travel to Ukraine and Russia next week, where she will have talks about the strengthening of Moscows military presence on the border with Ukraine. The US Department of State has stressed that, in Russia, Ms. Donfried will reiterate Washingtons commitment to defending Ukraines sovereignty.



    Agriculture – The Romanian Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Adrian Chesnoiu, participates, in Brussels, in the Agriculture and Fisheries Council. His agenda includes meetings with Janusz Wojciechowski, the line European Commissioner, and various meetings with his counterparts from France and Belgium. Among the issues on the Councils agenda are: fishing opportunities for 2022, unfair trade practices in the food supply chain and the emergency plan for food security in times of crisis.

  • The Week in Review (6-12.12.2021)

    The Week in Review (6-12.12.2021)

    The state of alert has been extended in Romania, but sanitary measures have been eased for the winter holidays period



    The state of alert instated in Romania in the context of the coronavirus pandemic has been extended for another 30 days as of December 9th, but the government has eliminated several restrictions against the backdrop of a lower number of contaminations. Therefore, protective masks are no longer mandatory in open, uncrowded spaces, and access to enclosed premises will be also allowed to unvaccinated people who present a negative Covid test result. Also the ban on people’s movement at night after 11 p.m. has been lifted. On Christmas and New Year’s Eve, restaurants will be open at half of their capacity but only for the vaccinated people, those who have had the disease or who have a negative test result. In another development, the vaccination rate remains low. Since the onset of the vaccination campaign on December 27, 2020, more than 7.8 million people have been vaccinated, of whom 7.6 million are fully vaccinated.



    New rules on entering Romania to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus variant, Omicron



    The Romanian authorities have adopted stricter measures for those who enter Romania, to prevent the spread of the new virus strain, Omicron. As of December 10, people coming to Romania from outside the EU will have to provide a negative PCR test result not older than 48 hours. The unvaccinated people and those who have not had the disease but do provide a negative test result will be quarantined for 10 days. If they fail to provide the test, the quarantine period will be 14 days. Rules are different for people coming from EU countries. Just as before, they need to present the green certificate attesting that they are vaccinated, have had the disease in the past 180 days or have a negative PCR test result obtained 72 hours before the trip at the most. These rules apply to both Romanian and foreign citizens. The measures will be applied until January 8, at midnight.



    Authorities are drafting Romania’s 2022 budget



    Romania’s state budget for 2022 will be drafted without introducing new taxes and any changes to the taxation system will be made in a predictable way following dialogue with the private business environment, said the finance minister Adrian Cârciu. In turn, the labor minister Marius Budăi announced that he signed and sent for approval two emergency decrees which are to be approved soon by the governing coalition made up of the PNL-PSD-UDMR. The first decree provides for an increase in child allowances and the second for an increase in the pension point and the minimum pension, which will thus go up from 800 lei to 1,000 lei (about 200 Euros). The governing coalition intends to forward the 2022 draft budget to Parliament by December 24.



    NATO and the eastern flank



    NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has called on the Allies, at the Aspen forum in Bucharest, to invest in critical infrastructure and diminish dependance on the resources coming from states that are potential adversaries. Jens Stoltenberg has labelled Russia and China the main global actors that undermine the world order which is based on rules, and that are both acting in areas that have become essential for the security of the democratic space. The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has spoken in favor of boosting the NATO military presence on the eastern flank and of fully equipping the Alliance to be able to face challenges coming from Russia. Klaus Iohannis and the other European leaders that are part of the B9 format have had consultations with the American President Joe Biden who has shared the results of his recent talks with the Russian President Vladimir Putin. Klaus Iohannis considers it necessary to boost the NATO and US military presence in Romania and the Black Sea region. In turn, the White House leader promised additional military capabilities to the NATO members in Central Europe and clearly highlighted his commitment to Article 5 in the Alliance Treaty, which stipulates that an attack against an ally is considered an attack against everybody.



    The Moldovan PM Natalia Gavriliţa visits Romania



    The PM of Moldova, an ex-Soviet country with a majority Romanian-speaking population) Natalia Gavriliţă on Thursday paid a visit to Bucharest where she was received by President Klaus Iohannis. He reiterated Bucharest’s commitment to granting its full support to the Republic of Moldova in the processes of transformation, modernization and implementation of reforms in such domains as energy, transports, information society, green transition, justice and education, in the spirit of the Strategic Partnership for European integration. Previously, the Moldovan PM had met her Romanian counterpart, Nicolae Ciucă, who announced that the two parties wanted to conclude, as soon as possible, a new agreement on granting non-reimbursable financial assistance to Moldova, after the expiry of the former agreement this year. Natalia Gavriliţă believes that a better economic, commercial and infrastructure integration of Romania and Moldova is the guarantee to an accelerated integration of Moldova into the EU.



    Ana-Maria Popescu, the Romanian fencer with the biggest number of titles announced her retirement



    The Romanian fencer Ana-Maria Popescu, Olympic vice-champion in Tokyo, has announced her retirement after a career of 20 years. Aged 37, Ana-Maria Popescu was chosen by the International Fencing Federation, at the end of November, the best woman fencer of the world for the fifth time, which is a record. She received this title in the seasons 2007-2008, 2008-2009, 2012-2013, 2019-2020 and 2020-2021. Ana-Maria Popescu has three Olympic medals (one gold and two silver), seven world medals (2-2-3) and 13 European medals (7-4-2), alongside numerous World Cups, being the Romanian fencer with the biggest number of titles. (LS)

  • December 9, 2021

    December 9, 2021

    Covid — In Romania, the state of alert established in the context of the coronavirus epidemic has been extended, today, by another 30 days but, amid the drop in the infection rate, the government has removed a number of restrictions. Therefore, people will no longer have to wear masks in uncrowded, open spaces, and access into enclosed premises will also be allowed to unvaccinated people who provide a negative Covid test result. Also, the ban on people’s movement at night after 11 p.m. has been eliminated. At Christmas and New Years Eve, restaurants will be open at half capacity, but only for the vaccinated people, those who had the disease or who provide a negative test result. For the citizens coming to Romania from outside the EU, it has been established that they must present a negative PCR test, not older than 48 hours. Unvaccinated people or people who have had the disease will be quarantined for 10 days, and if they do not have a PCR test, they will be quarantined for 14 days. Over 1,000 new cases of COVID infection were reported by Romanian authorities on Thursday. 74 deaths were also reported, of which 2 from previous days.



    Visit — The Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova (ex-Soviet, with a majority Romanian-speaking population) Natalia Gavriliţa, had a meeting in Bucharest with her Romanian counterpart, Nicolae Ciucă. He said that he supported the consolidation of Romanian investments in the Republic of Moldova, consequently the business environment in this country needs to be improved for that purpose. Nicolae Ciuca also said that the parties wanted to conclude as soon as possible a new agreement on granting non-reimbursable financial assistance for the benefit of the Republic of Moldova, after the old agreement expired this year. According to the Romanian PM, the priority bilateral issues are energy interconnection and the implementation of infrastructure projects with a central role in connecting the Republic of Moldova to the European space through Romania. The Moldovan PM said the two states had a historic chance to turn the language community into one of the big projects for the benefit of the people on both sides of the Prut River. A better economic, commercial and infrastructure integration of Romania and the Republic of Moldova is the guarantee for an accelerated integration of the latter in the EU, Natalia Gavrilita underlined. She will also be received by President Klaus Iohannis.



    Anti-corruption – The pandemic context fuels corruption and there is a major risk that money might not go where it should go, namely for hospitals, protective equipment, specialized equipment, products and medicines, the National Anti-Corruption Directorate DNA said on the occasion of the International Anticorruption Day, marked on Thursday. The embezzlement of public money slows down the development of society, encourages clientelism and promotes nepotism, perpetuates poverty and, therefore, fighting corruption must remain a major goal not only of criminal justice, but also of society as a whole, through its representatives. In a message sent on this occasion, President Klaus Iohannis stated that, despite the health, economic or political challenges it has faced, Romania remained a landmark in Eastern Europe due to the progress made in the field of the rule of law. ‘I remain firmly committed to developing the countrys democratic path and I am convinced that we can build a better future as long as we build on the solid foundation of European values, integrity, justice and zero tolerance for corruption’, Klaus Iohannis added.



    Handball – Today, Romania’s national womens handball team meets the Dutch team in the Main Group II of the World Championship in Spain (Castello). The group also includes Norway, Kazakhstan, Sweden and Puerto Rico. The teams ranked on the first two places in the 4 Main Groups will qualify to the quarterfinals, which will take place on December 14-15. Romania is the only team present in all 25 editions of the World Championship (including this one). Romania has won four medals at the World Championship: one gold (1962), two silver (1973 and 2005) and one bronze (2015).



    Journalists – The number of journalists around the world who are behind bars has reached an all-time record in 2021, according to a report by the non-profit organization Committee to Protect Journalists. 293 reporters have been put behind bars until December 1 this year. At least 24 journalists have been killed because of their reports, and another 18 have died in circumstances that make it too difficult to determine whether they were targeted because of their work, the annual document on press freedom and attacks on the press also shows. While the reasons for the imprisonment of reporters vary from country to country, the record number of imprisoned journalists reflects the political unrest around the world and a growing intolerance towards independent reporting, shows the US-based nonprofit organization. (LS)

  • Less restrictions during the holidays

    Less restrictions during the holidays

    With a vaccination rate below the EU average and with more permissive restrictions than in other EU countries, Romania will ease sanitary measures during the winter holidays. The National Committee for Emergency Situations has approved the relaxation of restrictions, and the extension of the state of alert by another 30 days, from December 9th. The decision comes, according to the authorities, following the decrease in the national infection rate below 1.2 per thousand inhabitants, and the further reduction of the number of COVID patients in ICUs. The approved measures include wearing a protective mask outdoors only in crowded areas, such as markets, fairs or bus stops, and indoors. Access to restaurants and shops will be allowed until 10.00 p.m. instead of 9.00 p.m. Sports competitions and cultural activities can unfold until 10.00 p.m.



    The level of attendance of up to 30% valid for certain activities has been upped to up to 50%, as in cinemas, theaters and gyms. Nevertheless, access will be allowed only to the vaccinated people, those who have had the disease or who have been tested. Night traffic bans on unvaccinated people will be lifted, and their access to shopping malls will be allowed based on a negative test result. Until now, only those vaccinated or who had the disease had been allowed to enter malls. The new rules also state that accommodation units, which so far could only receive vaccinated people or people who had the disease, will be allowed to also receive people presenting a negative test result.



    As for the Christmas and New Years Eve parties, restaurants will be able to stay open, according to Secretary of State with the Interior Ministry, Raed Arafat: “For the Christmas and New Years Eve nights, there will be no time restrictions for restaurants. Restaurants can stay open all night long, but the occupancy rate will be of only 50% and the people will have to present the required documents.”



    At the same time, the New Years Eve outdoor events will not be restricted in terms of the number of participants, but organizers are required to allow access only to those who are vaccinated, had the disease, or have a negative test result.



    We remind you that to slow down the spread of the new African variant of the coronavirus, Omicron, the National Committee for Emergency Situations has established new measures for people arriving in Romania during the winter holidays. Those coming from European Union countries will present the green certificate attesting that they were vaccinated, had the disease in the last 180 days or have a negative PCR test result. Those coming from outside the EU, including those who have been vaccinated, must provide a negative PCR test result, and those who were not vaccinated or did not have the disease in the last six months will be quarantined. (LS)

  • Talks on the modification of the Constitution

    Talks on the modification of the Constitution

    The Senate and the Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest on Monday, marked, in a solemn session, 30 years since the adoption of the Constitution, the act that established the reinstatement of a constitutional democracy in Romania and consolidated the pluralist political regime. The governing coalition made up of PNL-PSD-UDMR (the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania) has asked for a constitutional reform that should reflect changes that have occurred in the Romanian society.



    According to the coalition leaders, a new constitution should clarify the prerogatives of the president, among other things, and should ensure a balance of power in the state. The Speaker of the Senate, Florin Cîţu, the leader of the PNL, said that the liberals have on their agenda measures to revise the fundamental law, which take into account the options expressed by the citizens. He referred to the implementation of the results of the 2019 referendum on justice or the reduction of the voting age to 16.



    Florin Cîțu: “In time, with professionalism, without political passion and hidden interests, we will have to modernize the state structures, the way they work and how they serve the citizen. The constitutional norms will have to be adjusted to the reality we live in.”



    In his turn, the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Marcel Ciolacu, the PSD leader, said that the constitutional reform should clarify the prerogatives of the countrys president and ensure mutual control between the state powers. At the same time, he considers it necessary to limit the use of emergency ordinances, but also to redefine the role of the motion of no confidence.



    Marcel Ciolacu: “The motion of no confidence must automatically lead to the appointment of another prime minister. We would not have been in this situation of having no government for two months if we had had this instrument in the Constitution.”



    UDMR, a partner in the governing coalition, wants the relationship of trust between the Romanian state and the national minorities to be strengthened and pleads for the transition to a parliamentary republic. This idea has been criticized by the USR representatives, while the Alliance for the Union of Romanians – AUR parliamentarians do not agree with the modification of the current Constitution. Attending the solemn session, the Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said that it was necessary to continue reforming the state and the public administration in order to focus on the citizens and to increase the responsibility of those who hold public office.



    In turn, the President of the Constitutional Court, Valer Dorneanu, said that the revision of the fundamental law must be done wisely, not for electoral interests. The Romanian Constitution, the first after 1989, when the communist dictatorship was removed from power, was adopted by the Constituent Assembly (the then Parliament) on November 21, 1991, after a year and a half of debates. On December 8 of the same year, the Fundamental Law was approved through National Referendum. (LS)

  • November 28, 2021

    November 28, 2021

    BUCHAREST – The Romanian government met on Sunday in an extraordinary session in the context of international concerns about the spread of the new coronavirus strain from South Africa – Omicron – which is believed to be much more dangerous. The government modified the decision regarding the extension of the state of alert and analyzed the necessary measures for the increase of the capacity for faster identification of the new coronavirus variant in order to prevent its spread in Romania. The government has also established that a Tarom plane will be sent to Pretoria to bring to Romania the 36 Romanian citizens who remained stranded in South Africa, after the cancellation of flights to the EU, following the identification of the new variant of coronavirus in that country. The head of the Department for Emergency Situations, Raed Arafat, said that there would be another 50 – 55 free seats in the aircraft, and Romania offers the possibility to other European countries to extract their citizens from South Africa. Also, the list of South African countries for which the new restrictions are valid was updated on Sunday, on the recommendation of the European Commission. Malawi has been included on this list, along with South Africa and six other states in the region in the red zone of countries with high epidemiological risk, so those who arrive in Romania from this area must be quarantined for 14 days. They may be released from quarantine on the 10th day if the result of their COVID-test is negative. In another development, the number of new Covid 19 cases in Romania continues to decrease. The authorities reported, on Sunday, 1,377 cases in the last 24 hours and 106 deaths, 19 of which were registered prior to the reference interval. Only four counties are still in the red scenario. The COVID-19 incidence rate calculated for a period of 14 days for Bucharest dropped to 2.04 cases per thousand inhabitants. In relation to the vaccination campaign, since its onset last December, about 7.35 million people have been fully vaccinated.



    UfM — The Romanian Foreign Minister, Bogdan Aurescu, participates, as of Sunday, for two days, in Barcelona, ​​in the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) Regional Forum and in the EU – Southern Neighborhood Ministerial Meeting. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry – MAE, in his speech at the forum, Bogdan Aurescu will emphasize the strategic relevance of the European Neighborhood and will highlight the need to develop synergies between the two dimensions, Eastern and Southern, of the Neighborhood Policy. At the same time, FM Bogdan Aurescu will refer to the need for a close cooperation between the member states of the Union for the Mediterranean in areas such as climate change, digital transition and civil protection and will underline the importance of joint reconstruction of the link between security and development in the region. At the EU- Southern Neighborhood Ministerial Meeting, Bogdan Aurescu will address, in his speech, the major regional challenges, such as illegal migration, the impact of climate change and terrorism. The Foreign Ministers of the Union for the Mediterranean states meet once a year at the Regional Forum to define priorities and areas of strategic cooperation. The EU-Southern Neighborhood Ministerial Meeting is a dialogue format attended by representatives of the European institutions, of EU states and of the Unions 10 partners in the Southern Neighborhood (Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania, Palestine and Tunisia).



    Fencing — The Romanian athlete Ana-Maria Popescu, silver medalist at the Tokyo Olympics this summer, was designated the worlds best epee fencer, on Saturday, by the International Fencing Federation, according to the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committees Facebook page. Ana-Maria Popescu received the World Cup Trophy, on Saturday, in Lausanne, during the International Fencing Federation Congress. Ana-Maria Popescu (36 years old) was chosen the best epee fencer in the world for the 5th time, in the seasons 2007-2008, 2008-2009, 2012-2013, 2019-2020, 2020-2021, which is a world record. Ana-Maria Popescu has also won 3 Olympic medals (one gold and two silver), 7 world medals (2-2-3) and 13 European (7-4-2), as well as numerous World Cups, being the fencer with the biggest number of titles from Romania. (LS)

  • November 27, 2021 UPDATE

    November 27, 2021 UPDATE

    Covid-19 Ro – In Bucharest, the National Committee for Emergency Situations decided that the Romanian citizens or citizens from the EU and Switzerland, who come from southern African countries, where the new, more contagious strain of the noel coronavirus emerged, will be quarantined, regardless of whether they are vaccinated or not. They can be released from quarantine after 10 days if the Covid-test-result is negative. The authorities have also updated the list of countries/territories with a high epidemiological risk which now also includes Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. The access on the Romanian territory of the non-EU foreigners arriving from the mentioned countries has been forbidden. On the other hand, 1,727 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in the last 24 hours in Romania, and 180 deaths, of which 19 were registered prior to the reference period. Only four counties are still in the red scenario. The COVID-19 incidence rate calculated for a period of 14 days for Bucharest dropped to 2.26 cases per thousand inhabitants. As for the vaccination campaign, since its start in December, about 7.35 million people have been fully vaccinated.



    COVID world — The World Health Organization has labeled the new coronavirus variant from Africa, called Omicron, a ‘variant of concern’. The variant has a large number of mutations and could be even more contagious than the Delta variant. More and more states have decided to close their borders to people in southern Africa. Restrictions have been announced by the US, Canada, Turkey, as well as by some EU member states. The President of the EC, Ursula von der Leyen, said that all Member States, through coordination, should activate the so-called Safety Mechanism to suspend flights to countries in southern Africa. The new variant has already been detected in Europe.



    Resilience plan — The loan agreement through the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism between the European Commission and Romania for the disbursement of a first tranche, worth approximately 15 billion Euros, was initialed on Friday by the new Finance Minister, Adrian Câciu, the finance ministry announced on Saturday. The loan will be used to finance the state budget deficit and to refinance the government public debt, based on budget expenditures made for the reforms provided for in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR). The amounts will be made available in ten installments, based on the fulfillment by the Romanian side of the targets provided in the reforms and investments associated with the loan. At the same time, the European Commission will make available a pre-financing of 13% of the loan (about 1.94 billion Euros), after the Agreement comes into force. Under the PNRR Romania benefits from approximately 29 billion Euros, almost half of the amount being a grant and the rest a loan.



    Tennis — Romania’s team leads the team of the state of Peru 2-0 in the qualification playoffs for the Davis Cup final phase after the tennis player Marius Copil defeated Conner Huertas del Pino 7-5, 6-2 on Saturday in Cluj (northwest), in the second singles match of the competition. In the first singles match, Nicolae Frunză defeated Nicolas Alvarez, in 2 sets, 6-2, 6-4. The doubles match between Marius Copil / Horia Tecău and Sergio Galdos / Arklon Huertas del Pino will take place on Sunday. Sunday will also see the singles matches between Marius Copil – Nicolas Alvarez and Nicolae Frunză – Conner Huertas del Pino. Romania and Peru meet for the first time in the Davis Cup.

  • November 27, 2021

    November 27, 2021

    Resilience plan — The loan agreement through the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism between the European Commission and Romania for the disbursement of a first tranche, worth approximately 15 billion Euros, was initialed on Friday by the new Finance Minister, Adrian Câciu, the finance ministry announced on Saturday. The loan will be used to finance the state budget deficit and to refinance the government public debt, based on budget expenditures made for the reforms provided for in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR). The amounts will be made available in ten installments, based on the fulfillment by the Romanian side of the targets provided in the reforms and investments associated with the loan. At the same time, the European Commission will make available a pre-financing of 13% of the loan (about 1.94 billion Euros), after the Agreement comes into force. Under the PNRR Romania benefits from approximately 29 billion Euros, almost half of the amount being a grant and the rest a loan.



    COVID Ro – 1,727 new cases of COVID-19 were registered in the last 24 hours in Romania, and 180 deaths, of which 19 deaths were registered prior to the reference interval, the authorities announced on Saturday. The COVID-19 incidence rate calculated for a period of 14 days for Bucharest dropped to 2.26 cases per thousand inhabitants. The highest SARS-CoV-2 infection rate in Bucharest was reached on October 22, namely 16.54 cases per thousand inhabitants. As for the vaccination campaign, since its beginning, in December last year, about 7.35 million people have been fully vaccinated.



    COVID world — The World Health Organization has labeled the new coronavirus variant from Africa, called Omicron, a ‘variant of concern’. The variant has a large number of mutations and could be even more contagious than the Delta variant. More and more states have decided to close their borders to people in southern Africa. Restrictions have been announced by the US, Canada, Turkey, as well as by some EU member states. Ursula von der Leyen said that all Member States, through coordination, should activate the so-called Safety Mechanism to suspend flights to countries in southern Africa. The new variant has already been detected in Europe, in Belgium. Tens of passengers on two flights from South Africa were tested positive for COVID-19 on arrival in Amsterdam, the Dutch health authority said on Saturday. They are analyzing the results to see whether it is the new variant of the virus, France Press and Reuters report. First suspected case of infection with the new variant was also identified in Germany in a person who has recently returned from South Africa.



    Tennis — The Romanian tennis player Nicolae Frunză on Saturday defeated Nicolas Alvarez, in 2 sets, in Cluj (northwest), in the first singles match of the competition pitting the team of Romanian against that of the state of Peru, in the qualification playoffs for the Davis Cup final phase. The second singles match of the day will pit Marius Copil against Conner Huertas del Pino. The doubles match between Marius Copil / Horia Tecău and Sergio Galdos / Arklon Huertas del Pino will take place on Sunday. Sunday will also see the matches between Marius Copil – Nicolas Alvarez and Nicolae Frunză – Conner Huertas del Pino. With the exception of Horia Tecau, ranked 17th in the world doubles classification, none of the players is in the top 100 of the professional ranking. The two teams meet for the first time in the Davis Cup. (LS)

  • Hăbări ditu bana românească şi internaţională

    Hăbări ditu bana românească şi internaţională

    Covid-19 Ro – București, Comitetlu Național tră Situații di Urgență apufusi că cetățeñilli români ică cetățenii ditu UE și Elveția, cari yinu ditu văsiliili sud-africane, iu alănci naua, nica ma contagioasă lumaki a năului coronavirus, va s’hibă tru carantină , acă suntu ică nu suntu vaccinaț. Elli pot s’hibă silighiţ ditu carantină după 10 dzăli cara rezultatlu a testului Covid easti negativ. Autoritățli actualizară, tutunăoară, lista a văsiliiloru/teritoriilor cu risc epidimiologic mari, cari acaţă tu isapi tora și Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambic, Namibia, Africa di Sud și Zimbabwe. Intrarea pi teritoriul ali Românie a xeñloru extracomunitari ţi agiungu ditu statili adusi aminti fu curmată. Di altă parte, 1.727 di cazuri năi di COVID-19 fură raportate tru 24 săhăţ ditu soni tru România și 180 di decese, ditu cari 19 fură nregistrate ninntie di perioada di referință. Maş patru giudeți sunt nica tru scenariul aroșu. Rata di incidituță a COVID-19 faptă isapi ti unu kiro di 14 di dzăli tră București scădzu la 2,26 cazuri la ñillea di bănători. Tru aţea ţi mutreaşti campania di vaccinare, ditu ahurhita a aliştei, tru andreu, aproapea 7,35 miliuñi di oamiñi fură vaccinaţ integral.



    Lumea COVID — Organizația Mondială a Sănătatillei spusi ti naua variantă di coronavirus ditu Africa, număsită Omicron, că easti ună variantă di găilipseari”. Varianta ari un numiru mari di mutații/alăxeri poati nia s’hibă cama contagioasă andicra di varianta Delta. Tut ma multi stati apufusiră tra ş’ncllidă sinurli tră oamiñilli ditu Africa di Sud. Restricțiile fură dimăndati di SUA, Canada, Turcia, cum și di născănti state membre ale UE. Prezidentulu CE, Ursula von der Leyen, spusi că tuti statili membre, pritu coordonari, ti bunu va s’hibă tra s’ufilisească ași-num$sitlu Mecanismu di sigurlăki tra s’curmă azboiurli cătră văsiliili ditu Africa di Sud. Naua variantă fu detectată tru Europa.




    Plan di reziliență — Acordul di împărmut pritu Mecanismul di Recuperari și Reziliență anamisa di Comisia Europeană și România tră silighearea a unei protă tranșe, tru valoari di aproapea 15 di miliardi di euro, fu parafat viniri di năulu ministru di Finanțe, Adrian Câciu, dimăndă Ministerlu a Finanților, sâmbătă. Împrumutlu va s’hibă ufilisitu tră finanțarea a deficitlui a bugetlui di stat și tră refinanțarea a borgillei publiţi guvernamentale, pi thimellilu a hărgiloru bugetar fapti tră reformele pruvidzute tru Planlu Național di Recupearare și Reziliență (PNRR). Păradzlli va s’hibă daţ tru dzaţi tranșe, pi thimellilu a tiñisearillei di cătră partea română a țintilor pruvidzuti tru reformili și investițiile asociate împărmutului. Tutunăoară, Comisia Europeană va s’bagă la dispoziție ună prefinanțare di 13% ditu împărmut (circa 1,94 miliardi di euro), după intrarea tru lucru a Acordului. Tru cadrul a PNRR România s’hărseaşti di aproapea 29 di miliardi di euro, aproapea giumitati ditu păradz hiinda un grantu, alanţă syntu parti ditu un împrumut.



    Tenis — Echipa a Româniillei conduţi cu 2-0 echipa statlui Peru tru playoff-ul di calificari tră faza finală a Cupăllei Davis după ţi tenismenlu Marius Copil l-azvimsi sâmbătă la Cluj (nord-vest) pi Conner Huertas dil Pino cu 7-5, 6-2. , tru doilu meci di simplu al competițiillei. Tru primlu meci di simplu, Nicolae Frunză l-u azvimsi Nicolas Alvarez, tru 2 seturi, scor 6-2, 6-4. Meciul di dublu anamisa di Marius Copil / Horia Tecău și Sergio Galdos / Arklon Huertas dil Pino va s’ţănă dumănică. Dumănică va s’ţăñă și meciurli di simplu anamisa di Marius Copil – Nicolas Alvarez și Nicolae Frunză – Conner Huertas dil Pino. România și Peru s’andămusescu tră prima oară tru Cupa Davis.



    Autoru: Udălu a hăbărloru


    Armânipsearea: Taşcu Lala




  • November 26, 2021 UPDATE

    November 26, 2021 UPDATE

    Government — The coalition government in Bucharest, led by the Liberal Nicolae Ciuca and instated on Thursday, approved a budget rectification on Friday, the second of this year. The decision was considered an emergency, so as not to delay the payment of pensions and salaries next month. The Ministries of Finance, Health and Labor received money while the Agriculture and Transport Ministries lost funds. According to official data, the budget deficit remains at 7.13% of Gross Domestic Product. The autumn forecast shows an economic growth rate in Romania of 7% for the current year. On Thursday, in the inaugural meeting, an emergency ordinance on the reorganization of the government was adopted, because the new cabinet has two more ministries as compared to the previous one. The law also stipulates that the prerogatives of the two deputy prime ministers, from the parties allied with PNL, Sorin Grindeanu (PSD) and Kelemen Hunor (UDMR), are established by the decision of the prime minister. The ordinance also allows for occupying the vacancies in public institutions.



    Covid — Romanian schools are beginning to receive noninvasive tests for rapid detection of the novel coronavirus. The first tranche, of about 6.5 million saliva tests, was distributed on Thursday, the Education Minister, Sorin Cîmpeanu announced. The rapid testing of preschoolers and students is set to begin next week and will be done twice a week for children attending classes. 1,958 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the last 24 hours and 160 deaths, of which 45 were registered before the reference period, the Strategic Communication Group announced on Friday. The National Public Health Institute announced that over 70% of the cases registered in the last week were in unvaccinated people. Since the start of the vaccination campaign, a little over 7.7 million people have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.



    AWARD — The Romanian swimmer David Popovici won the 2021 Summer Piotr Nurowski “Best European Young Athlete” Prize (PNP) in Europe, awarded by the General Assembly of the European Olympic Committees during an event hosted by Samorin, Slovakia. Aged 17, Popovici won gold in 2021 at the European Short Course Swimming Championships, and another three gold medals in European Youth Championships. He broke two world junior records in the 100m and 200m freestyle events, and ranked 4th at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the 100m freestyle event. Enrolled at Dinamo sports club in Bucharest, Popovici fought for the prize against four other athletes, Sky Brown from Great Britain (skateboarding), Adriana Cerezo Iglesias from Spain (taekwondo), Viktoria Listunova from Russia (artistic gymnastics) and Adriana Vilagos from Serbia (athletics). The Piotr Nurowski award was created in memory of Piotr Nurowski, former President of the Polish Olympic Committee who died in a plane crash in 2010. In 2012, the Romanian gymnast Larisa Iordache was voted 2012 Summer Piotr Nurowski “Second Best European Young Athlete”.



    B9 – On November 25 and 26, Romania co-chaired with Poland the 3rd meeting of the defense ministers of the Bucharest 9 or Bucharest Format, representing Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. The meeting in Bucharest was a continuation of the discussions held this spring, on the occasion of the B9 Summit held in Romania, with the extraordinary participation, in a videoconference, of the US President, Joe Biden. The agenda was structured in two main sessions: the first was dedicated to the results of the NATO summit in Brussels, of June, to the process of developing the new Strategic Concept of the Alliance and implementing the NATO 2030 agenda. The second session focused on cooperation between NATO and the European Union, the Strategic Compass, resilience and military mobility. The meeting in Bucharest takes place in an important context for the security and stability of the allied eastern flank and the Euro-Atlantic area, being an opportunity to send a clear message on the unity and solidarity of the states in this region, show a Defense Ministry communiqué. (LS)

  • November 25, 2021

    November 25, 2021

    Government – The Romanian Parliament on Thursday gave the vote of confidence to the Government made up of the PNL – PSD – UDMR proposed by the PM designate, the Liberal Nicolae Ciucă. There were 318 votes for and 126 votes against. In order to be invested, the Executive needed at least 234. Nicoale Ciucă thanked both those who vote for the government and those who didn’t. ‘We assumed a great responsibility, we also understood the recommendations of the opposition’, he said, adding that the executive will do everything possible to focus on the Romanian citizen and to overcome the problems caused by to the COVID crisis. Prior to the vote, Marcel Ciolacu, the leader of PSD, so far in opposition, said that his party decided to enter the government with the partys front line, to stand by Romanians’ side, to stop the collapse of living standards and to stabilize the country. Instead, MP Dan Barna representing USR, a former governing partner of the Liberals, pointed out that President Klaus Iohannis is allegedly the godfather of the collaboration between PSD and PNL, the one who handed over the government to his former Social Democrat opponents. All 20 ministers were heard in parliamentary committees on Wednesday and received a favorable opinion. In the new government, PNL, in power since 2019, keeps the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Internal Affairs, Education and Energy and has, in addition, four more ministries. Nine portfolios go to the Social Democrats, in opposition after the legislative elections of two years ago, including the ministries of Finance, Defense and Economy. PSD also receives the General Secretariat of the Government. UDMR, former governing partner of PNL, keeps the Ministries of Development, Environment and Sports. The governing program of the new Coalition Government is based on the principles of resilience, stability, transparency, equity and efficiency, according to the prime minister designate, who also gives assurances that pensions, the minimum social allowance, the minimum gross salary and allowances for Romanians will increase. After investiture, the new ministers need to be sworn in before the President.



    COVID — 2,104 new cases of Covid-19 — a sharp drop as against the previous day – were reported in Romania on Thursday. At the same time, 212 deaths were announced, of which 35 registered prior to the reference period. The National Public Health Institute announced that over 70% of the cases registered in the last week were in unvaccinated people. Since the onset of the vaccination campaign, nearly 7.7 million people have received at least one dose of the Covid vaccine.



    Visit – Princess Margareta, Custodian of the Crown of Romania, and her husband, Prince Radu, are paying a public visit to the UK as of Wednesday. The royal couple was received at Windsor Castle by Queen Elizabeth II. At the same time, they visited the Royal Defense College, where they talked with students on topics related to European and Euro-Atlantic current affairs. The Custodian of the Crown of Romania and Prince Radu also met with the Lord Mayor of London, Vincent Thomas Keaveny, at his residence. The first visit of the Royal Family of Romania to London took place in 1874, when the Sovereign Prince Carol I and Princess Elisabeth met with the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra). The first British royal visit to Romania took place at Peles Castle in Sinaia (central Romania), in 1888, when the future King Edward VII was the guest of King Carol I.



    EPP — The Group of the European Peoples Party (EPP) in the European Parliament has nominated Roberta Metsola as a candidate for the presidency of the European Parliament, after she obtained more than 64% of the votes of her party colleagues. Roberta Metsola (42 years old) is an MEP from Malta. She promised that one of her priorities would be to build alliances and bridges with pro-European constructive forces in the EP. The vote for the presidency of the European Parliament, held by the Italian Socialist David Sassoli since the summer of 2019 following an agreement of the three main groups in the European Parliament – EPP, S&D and Renew Europe, will be held in January next year in the middle of the EP legislature.



    Gazprom — The Russian consortium Gazprom will continue to deliver gas to the Republic of Moldova (ex-Soviet country with a majority Romanian-speaking population), after the Moldovan government on Friday committed to paying an outstanding debt. Gazprom had threatened to cut off gas supplies if it did not receive its money. Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kuprianov, quoted by Radio Romanias correspondent in Moscow, said that the deferment of payment was an exception and an expression of the Russian consortium goodwill. He underlined, however, that Gazprom strongly hoped that, in the future, the Republic of Moldova would fully comply with its contractual commitments and make payments in due time. Gazprom recalled that the signing, last month, of a new gas contract with the Republic of Moldova was conditioned by the full and timely payment of current bills. The contract provides for a price of about 450 dollars per one thousand cubic meters of gas, deferred payment, a five-year rescheduling of the 700 million dollar debt and its independent audit. (LS)

  • November 24, 2021 UPDATE

    November 24, 2021 UPDATE

    COVID Ro — The Romanian authorities on Wednesday announced that nearly 2,800 people had tested positive for SARS-COV-2 in the last 24 hours across Romania. Also, 231 deaths were reported, of which 36 registered prior to the reference interval. In Bucharest, the incidence rate calculated for a period of 14 days decreased to 2.87 cases per thousand inhabitants, after, on October 22, it had reached the highest value since the beginning of the pandemic – 16.54. The interim health minister, Attila Cseke, asked the public health directorates from all over the country to remain on alert, even if the number of SARS-CoV-2 infections is decreasing. At the same time, he called for plans to be drafted within a week to deal with a predictable 5th wave of the epidemic, says the coordinator of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign, Colonel Valeriu Gheorghiţă, given the increase the number of new cases in many European countries. On Wednesday, the Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, Daniel, confirmed that he was vaccinated against COVID-19. “The official stand of the Church remains the same: each believer should consult with the family doctor,” he told reporters. So far, in Romania, the number of fully vaccinated people has exceeded 7.2 million.



    COVID world — Mandatory vaccination against COVID-19 is an idea that enjoys widespread support among the German population, according to a poll released by YouGov on Wednesday, informs DPA. The prestigious market research and analysis company announced that 69% of the interviewees were in favor of compulsory vaccination and 23% against. Germany, which is experiencing a recrudescence of the number of infections, is introducing a number of new anti-epidemic measures. Thus, the green certificate becomes mandatory at work and for the use of means of transport. Besides the measures established at federal level, the German states also impose other anti-epidemic restrictions. For example, bars and clubs are closed in Bavaria, and the famous Christmas fairs will no longer take place this year. In Germany, the vaccination rate is 68%, one of the lowest in Western Europe. There are also problems in northern Italy, where traffic restrictions have been imposed at nighttime due to the alarming increase in new cases of coronavirus. To date, 84% of Italys population has received at least two doses of vaccine. The number of COVID cases is also rising in France, where the PM Jean Castex has tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. In France, 88% of the eligible population over 12 years is fully vaccinated. The health situation is also complicated in Greece, where the pressure on hospitals treating COVID patients is high. The Greek government says, however, that it does not envisage a general lockdown, as the measure will not be supported by the countrys economy. The vaccination rate in Greece has exceeded 63%.



    National Day – In Bucharest, the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies met in a solemn joint session, dedicated to Romania’s National Day to be marked on December 1. The Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Marcel Ciolacu, underlined that the entire political class had the duty to stabilize the country in the next period and that pride and political interests should be abandoned. “This holiday reminds us that we have a duty to work together. It is our duty towards the Romanian people and Romania”, Ciolacu said. The Vice President of the Senate, Alina Gorghiu, pointed out that December 1st means national unity, and equally devotion, responsibility, duty, and political courage. Among the guests of the meeting were members of the Government, the Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Bucharest, the Archbishop of the Greek Catholic Church, the First Rabbi of Romania, the presidents of the Constitutional Court, the High Court of Cassation and Justice, the Court of Accounts, the central bank governor as well as the heads of the diplomatic missions and of the international representations accredited to Bucharest. Romanias National Day has been marked on December 1 since 1990, after the anti-communist revolution. On December 1, 1918, the National Assembly of Alba Iulia (center) adopted the resolution of the union with Romania of the historical provinces inhabited by the Romanians.

  • Hăbări ditu bana românească şi internaţională

    Hăbări ditu bana românească şi internaţională

    COVID Ro — Autoritățli români dimăndară ñiercuri că aproapea 2.800 di persoani fură testati pozitiv tră SARS-COV-2 tru aesti ditu soni 24 di săhăţ tru tută România. Tutunăoară, era dimăndati 231 di decesi, ditu cari 36 nreghistrate ninte di intervalu di referință. București, rata di incidență cu isapea ti un kiro di 14 di dzăli scădzu la 2,87 cazuri la ñillea di bănători, după ţi, pi 22 di sumedru, avea agiumtă pi nai ma marea valoari di la ahurhita-a pandemiillei – 16,54. Ministrul interimar ali Sănătati, Attila Cseke, căftă a direcțiilor di sănătate publică ditu tută văsilia s’armână tru alertă, acă numirlu a infecțiilor cu SARS-CoV-2 easti tru scădeari. Tutunăoară, căftă ca ti unu kiro di ună stămână s’hibă adrati planuri tra s’ţănă keptu a unăllei previzibilă a 5-a dalgă a epidemiillei, spuni coordonatorlu a campaniillei di vaccinare COVID-19, colonelu Valeriu Gheorghiță, avânda tu videala criștearea a numirlui di cazuri năi tru multi văsilii europeani. Niercuri, Patriarhul a Băsearicăllei Ortodoxe Române, Daniel, confirmă că fu vaccinat contra a COVID-19. Poziția oficială a Băsearicăllii armâne idyea: cathi unu embistimenu lipseaşti să s’consultă cu yeaturlu di familie”, spusi el a reporterilor. Până tora, tru România, numirlu a persoanilor vaccinate complet năstricu 7,2 miliuñi.



    Lumea COVID — Vaccinarea obligatorie contra COVID-19 easti ună idhee cari s’hărseasti di unu andrupămintu larg tru arada a bănătorloru ghirmañi, să spuni tru unu sondaj publicat ñiercuri di YouGov, dimăndă DPA. Cunuscuta companie di cercetare și analiză di piață dimăndă că 69% ditu intervievaț suntu ti vaccinarea obligatorii și 23% contra. Ghirmania, cari s’ampuliseaşti cu ună recrudescență a numirlui di infecții, bagă unu şingiru di năi misuri anti-epidemie. Aşe, certificatlu veardi agiundzi s’hibă obligatoriu la loclu di lucru și tră ufilisearea a hălăţloru di transport. Pi ningă meatrili apufusiti la nivel federal, statili ghirmani bagă și alti restricții antiepidimiţi. Ti paradigmă, barurli și cluburli sunt ncllisi tru Bavaria, a deapoa cunuscutili pănăyiruri di Crăciun numata va s’ţănă anlu aestu. Tru Ghirmania, rata di vaccinari easti di 68%, una ditu nai ma scădzuti ditu Europa di Vestu. Problemi sunt și tru nordulu ali Italie, iu fură băgati restricții di urdinari tu kiro di noapti di itia că criscurăcabaia multu năili cazuri di coronavirus. Până tora, 84% ditu populația ali Italie feaţi nai maptănu dauă dozi di vaccin. Numirlu a cazurlor di COVID easti tru creaștire și tru Franța, iu premierlu Jean Castex fu testat pozitiv tră SARS-CoV-2. Tru Franța, 88% ditu populația eligibilă di 12 di ani ş-cama easti acutotalui vaccinată. Catandisea a sănătatillei easti ndilicată și tru Gărţie, iu presiunea tru spitalili cari yitripsscu paciențălli cu COVID easti mare. Guvernul elen spuni, ama, că nu are tru videală ună ambudyiuseari ghenerală, di itia că apofasea nu va s’hibă susțănută di economia a văsiliillei. Rata di vaccinare tru Gărţie năstricu 63%.



    Dzuua Națională – București, Senatlu și Camera a Deputațlor s-andămusi tru ună andamusi di lucru comună solemnă, ahărdzită ti Dzălii Naționali a Româniillei cari va s’hibă yiurtusită la 1 di andreu. Prezidentulu a Camerăllei Deputațloru, Marcel Ciolacu, cundille că tută clasă politică avu borgea tra să u stabilizeadză văsilia tru perioada yinitoari și că prifañea și sinferurli politiţi lipseaşti s’hibă alăsati nanăparti. “Aestă sărbătoare năpoi nă aduţi aminti că avem borgea s’lucrămu deadunu. Easti borgea-a noastră andicra di populu român și di România”, spusi Ciolacu. Viţeprezidentulu a Senatului, Alina Gorghiu, cundille că 1 di Andreu nsimneadză unitate națională și tru idyiulu kiro devotament, responsabilitate, borgi și curayiu politic. Anamisa di oaspiţlli ali andamusi eara călisiţ membri a Guvernului, Patriarhul a Băsericăllei Ortodoxe Române, Arhiepiscoplu Romano-Catolic a Bucureștiului, Arhiepiscoplu a Băsericăllei Greco-Catoliţi, Primlu Rabin ali Românie, prezidenţălli a Curtillei Constituționale, Analta Curte di Casație și Justiție, Curtea di Conturi, guvernatorlu a băncăllei centrală cum și șeflli a misiunilor diplomatiţi și a reprezentanților internaționali acreditati București. Dzuua Națională ali Românie easti yiurtusită tru 1 di Andreu ditu 1990, după revoluția anticomunistă. La 1 di Andreu 1918, Adunarea Naţională di Alba Iulia (centru) adoptă rezoluţia ti făţeari ună cu România a provinţiilor istoriţi bănati di români.



    Autoru: Udălu a hăbărloru


    Armânipsearea: Taşcu Lala




  • November 23, 2021

    COVID – In Romania, on Tuesday, the authorities announced over 2,700 new cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Also, 273 deaths were reported, of which 34 are from previous days. More than 11,100 COVID-19 patients are hospitalized, 1,539 being in ICUs. 150 of the ICU patients are vaccinated. A study by a Romanian medical company shows that the third vaccine dose increases by more than 10 times the number of antibodies as compared to the values recorded 6 months after the 2nd dose, having a very high efficiency against severe forms of COVID-19. The authors of the study say that the effectiveness of the third dose was noticed in all age groups without major differences between them.



    Government program – In Bucharest, the prime minister designate, Nicolae Ciucă, is to submit, today, in Parliament, the governing program and the makeup of the new Government. The decision comes following the consultations that President Klaus Iohannis had, on Monday, with the parliamentary parties, at the end of which the interim Defense Minister, Nicolae Ciucă, was appointed Prime Minister. He is supported by a political majority that includes the PNL, PSD, UDMR and the Group of National Minorities.



    PSD — The PSD leader, Marcel Ciolacu, was elected on Tuesday Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies in Romania’s Parliament. Cristina Prună representing USR also ran for this position. The ballot was secret. The position has been vacant since October 18, following the resignation of the former PNL leader Ludovic Orban after he lost the party leadership elections. According to the Rules of Procedure, the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies is elected for the entire duration of the legislature. Also on Tuesday, the plenum of the Senate revoked Anca Dragu, representing USR, from the position of Speaker of the Senate, following the change of the parliamentary majority. The vote was secret, by card.



    Survey – Romania climbed one position, to the 44th place out of 168 countries, in a world ranking made according to the quality of life and social welfare, but it is still on the last place among the EU member states, after Hungary and Bulgaria. Romania registered 78.41 points out of 100, a slightly higher score than in the previous year and is included in the ranking’s the third category, after Argentina, Hungary and Bulgaria, shows the study Social Progress Index (IPS) 2021 on the quality of life and social welfare, carried out by the non-profit organization Social Progress Imperative, with the support of Deloitte. Globally, Norway remains on top position with a score of 92.63 points. In 2021, the first places in the ranking, after Norway, are held by Finland and Denmark, and on the last placed Chad, the Central African Republic and South Sudan.



    Visit – The Republic of Moldova (ex-Soviet state with a majority Romanian-speaking population), enjoys overwhelming, lasting and cross-party support in Bucharest. ‘We are all dedicated to consolidating the bilateral Strategic Partnership for the Republic of Moldova’s European integration and advancing on the path of reforms’, said Klaus Iohannis fresh from his meeting, in Bucharest, with his Moldovan counterpart, pro-Western Maia Sandu. He added that Romania would remain the closest friend of the Republic of Moldova. In her turn, Maia Sandu stated that she wanted to boost the partnership between the two countries and welcomed the completion of the Iași-Ungheni gas pipeline, operational from October 1, in the midst of the energy crisis. ‘We are counting on Romanias voice in the EU because European integration is our main objective’, the official from Chisinau also said. The agenda of talks also included, among others, institution consolidation, attracting investments, infrastructure projects, education, justice, and energy security. It is the first official visit the President of the Rep. Moldova pays to Romania, after the early parliamentary elections on July 11, won by the presidential party Action and Solidarity (PAS) by a landslide. The visit takes place in the context of celebrating 30 years since the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations this year, after Chisinau proclaimed its independence from Moscow in 1991. (LS)

  • November 22, 2021 UPATE

    November 22, 2021 UPATE

    COVID – In Romania, the number of coronavirus infections continues to drop, 1,550 new cases of COVID-19 being reported in the last 24 hours. 154 deaths were also reported, of which 29 were registered prior to the reference period. More than 11,000 people infected with SARS-CoV-2 are hospitalized. There are 1,539 patients in ICUs, a smaller number compared to the previous day, and 150 of them have a certificate attesting to their vaccination, according to the authorities. The average infection rate is now below 3.5 cases per thousand inhabitants, and more than half of Romania’s counties are no longer in the red scenario. The head of the COVID vaccination campaign, Valeriu Gheorghiţă, warned that there is a risk that the scenario experienced by Germany, which quickly passed from the 4th to the 5th wave of the pandemic, will be repeated in Romania, where the vaccination rate is low. An even greater danger would be the emergence of a mutation of the coronavirus that bypasses the bodys immune response, said Gheorghiţă. The number of fully vaccinated people is close to 7.2 million.



    Government – Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis on Monday signed the decree on the appointment of the Liberal senator Nicolae Ciucă to the position of prime minister. He said, after consultations with the parliamentary parties and groups, that Ciucas nomination is supported by a solid majority in Parliament, which includes PSD, PNL, UDMR and the group of national minorities other than the Hungarian one. Klaus Iohannis received the representatives of PNL, PSD and UDMR simultaneously during the consultations. He also spoke with the leaders of the nationalist opposition party, AUR, while USR, a former junior partner of the Liberals in the government, boycotted the presidents invitation, accusing him of being the godfather of a monstrous coalition. According to the Constitution, the candidate to the position of prime minister has ten days since nomination to ask Parliament for a vote of confidence on the governing program and the entire list of ministers. PSD spokesman Radu Oprea said that, in the future Executive, the Social Democrats would have a ministerial position for the Secretary General of the Government, as well as the portfolios of Finance, National Defense, Economy, Transport, Agriculture, Health, Labor, Culture and Youth. UDMR keeps the three ministries it already manages – Local Development, Environment and Sports. And the Liberals are left with the Ministries of Justice, Interior, Foreign Affairs, Investment and European Projects, Energy, Education, Research and Tourism. According to the media, Liberal leaders across Romania and from Bucharest have virulently criticized the PNL president, the outgoing prime minister Florin Cîţu, because he ceded too many key portfolios to the Social Democrats. A retired general, Ciucă had been appointed last month by President Iohannis to form the government, but he relinquished his mandate after it became clear that the minority government made up of PNL-UDMR would not receive the investiture vote. Earlier, the USR government proposed by the partys leader, Dacian Cioloş, was rejected by senators and deputies. If he is invested, Ciucă will become the first career soldier to lead a government of post-communist Romania. His first nomination came shortly after an opinion poll confirmed that the Army and the Church are on the first places in a classification of institutions enjoying the highest degree of Romanians trust. According to the survey, conducted by the Laboratory for Information Warfare Analysis and Strategic Communication, 87% of Romanians say they trust the Army, 70% – the Church, and 67% – the Romanian Intelligence Service and the Romanian Academy. Over 40% of respondents consider corruption and the incompetence of the political class as the main threats to Romania.



    Visit — The President of the Republic of Moldova (ex-Soviet republic with a majority Romanian-speaking), pro-Western Maia Sandu, pays an official visit to neighboring Romania on Tuesday, at the invitation of her counterpart, Klaus Iohannis. It is the first visit to Romania since the early parliamentary elections of July 11, won by the presidential party Action and Solidarity (PAS) by a landslide. The visit takes place in the context of the celebration, in 2021, of 30 years since the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations, after in 1991, Chisinau proclaimed its independence from Moscow. The visit, states the Presidential Administration in Bucharest, is a very good opportunity to reconfirm the special, privileged relationship established under the Strategic Partnership for the Republic of Moldova’s European integration, based on a common language, culture and history. The political consultations of the two presidents will strengthen the excellent and substantial bilateral cooperation at the political, economic and sectoral levels and will stimulate the advancement of joint projects of strategic interest in the fields of energy, transport, health, education and IT. The focus will be on those projects aimed at connecting the Republic of Moldova to the European Union space, through Romania, and at bringing real and concrete benefits to all its citizens – the abovementioned source also shows.



    Tennis – Romania has five representatives in the WTA top 100, the world ranking of professional tennis players, published on Monday. The former world leader Simona Halep holds the best position, 20th, but this is her weakest ranking at the end of the season over the last nine years. If in 2013 she finished on 11th position, Halep was then in the Top 10 every time except this year, when she started in 2nd position. Sorana Cîrstea remains on 38th position, Irina Begu on 60th place, Jaqueline Cristian on 71st position, and Gabriela Ruse on 85th. In doubles, Romania has six players in the top 100: Raluca Olaru is still on 36th place, Monica Niculescu maintains the 39th place, Irina Begu dropped one place on 64th position, while Irina Bara managed a jump of 12 places and now being on 84th position, after the title she won this weekend in Montevideo. The other two Romanians in the doubles top 100 are Andreea Mitu (98) and Gabriela Ruse (99). (LS)