Radio România Internațional

Tag: vaccines

November 29, 2023

PENSIONS Romania’s former MPs may keep their special
pensions, and Parliament is only allowed to eliminate these benefits in the
future, the Constitutional Court ruled unanimously on Tuesday. On June 26,
Parliament voted in favour of scrapping special pensions for Senators and Deputies,
an obligation undertaken by Romania under its National Recovery and Resilience
Plan. Close to 850 former MPs benefited from special pensions in May this year.

INVESTIGATION The Senate of
Romania is to decide on Wednesday whether to approve the request of the
National Anti-Corruption Directorate to commence prosecution against the former
PM Florin Cîţu for complicity to abuse of office in an investigation
concerning the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines. Florin Cîţu said he would
request his fellow Liberal Party members to lift his parliamentary immunity. Previously,
president Klaus Iohannis forwarded to the Justice Ministry the prosecution
requests concerning 2 former health ministers from Save Romania Union, Vlad
Voiculescu and Ioana Mihăilă, and notified the General Prosecutor’s Office in
this respect. The 2 are probed into for abuse of office in relation to the
procurement of vaccines.

CORRUPTION The mayor of the city of Baia Mare (north-west),
Cătălin Cherecheş, who fled the country after being sentenced to 5
years in prison in a corruption case, was apprehended in Germany, the Romanian
Police announced. He was identified and taken into custody by the police in Bavaria based on the information provided by the Romanian
authorities. Sources close to the investigation say the former mayor was aided
by an aunt and was attempting to leave Germany when he was caught. Cherecheş
had left the country on Friday, using the ID of a family member, and the procedures
for returning him to the country are under way.

NATURAL GAS Europe
has taken major steps in terms of preparations for winter. Following the energy
crisis in the post-pandemic period and the start of the Russian invasion in
Ukraine, EU member states have replaced Russian natural gas with liquefied gas
from the US and natural gas from Norway, and have unprecedented stocks. Reuters
reports that in mid-November oil stocks were 12 million barrels above the season
average of the past 10 years. Natural gas stocks are also at record-high
levels, after consumption in the industrial sector dropped by around 13%. Average
prices, adjusted to inflation, were around EUR 48 per megawatt hour, down from
EUR 223 in August 2022, and analysts expect the downward trend will continue
next year. Bucharest says Romania will not have problems with the supply of
natural gas if temperatures remain normal this winter. The Romanian energy
minister Sebastin Burduja said all gas storage facilities are full and the
government has emergency supply plans in place if necessary.

NATO The Romanian
diplomacy chief Luminita Odobescu takes part in a 2-day meeting of NATO foreign
ministers, held in Brussels. The meeting takes place in a complicated security
context, with
an impact on multiple geographic areas of interest, including the continuing
Russian aggression against Ukraine, the military conflict between Israel and
Hamas and tensions in the Western Balkans. The meeting also has special
political importance in terms of the preparations for the 2024 Summit in
Washington. Luminita Odobescu will highlight the strategic importance of the
Black Sea for the Euro-Atlantic security and will plead for a more structured
approach to the region, in line with the decisions taken by NATO in Madrid and
Vilnius. The NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg hailed Germany’s boosting
its support for Ukraine by EUR 8 bln and the additional EUR 2 bln provided by
the Netherlands. He also mentioned the set-up of a training centre for Ukrainian
F-16 aircraft pilots. (AMP)

29 November 2023
November 27, 2023 UPDATE

WEATHER Severe weather caused
fresh problems in Romania, where heavy snowfalls and snowstorms affected 177 localities in 22 counties, according to the National Inspectorate for Emergencies. More than 660 vehicles were snowed under and over 540 trees were
brought down by the wind. The most affected region was the east of the country,
where roads were closed, railway traffic was disrupted and electricity and
water supply discontinued. The Mihail Kogălniceanu International Airport
(south-east) was closed, and so were the Black Sea ports on the Romanian coast.
Schools were also closed down in 5 counties in the south-east.

BUDGET The government will continue this week to work
on the state budget for 2024. The main challenges are related to pension
increases and large-scale investments. PM Marcel Ciolacu says the new pension
law is sustainable and that next year’s budget will be able to increase
pensions twice, on January 1st by 13.8 percent and then until September 1st.
Carrying on large investment projects is the priority of the government for 2024
as well, the finance minister Marcel Boloş said. According to him, the budget
of the education ministry will be increased significantly next year, especially
in order to fund the investment projects included in the National Recovery and Resilience
Plan. This budget must also cover the salary increase that the government
promised in order to end an all-out strike in June.

RECYCLING The first regional sorting centre for packaging was opened
in Bonţida, north-western Romania, as part of the Packaging Guarantee and
Return System to become operational as of November 30. A total of 17 such
centres will be opened across the country in the forthcoming period. The
environment minister Mircea Fechet explained that around 7 bln glass and
plastic bottles as well as aluminium cans will reach recycling facilities, and
promised that Romania will switch from storing to recycling.

INVESTIGATION President Klaus Iohannis submitted prosecution
requests concerning 2 former health ministers, Vlad Voiculescu and Ioana
Mihăilă (USR party), to the justice ministry. The two are probed into for abuse
of office with respect to the procurement of vaccines during the COVID-19
pandemic, in a case in which the former PM Florin Cîţu is also facing charges
of complicity to abuse of office. The latter, accompanied by his lawyers, appeared
before the Senate’s judicial committee to review the case file against him. Cîţu,
currently a senator with the National Liberal Party, said he would request
Senate to suspend his parliamentary immunity. A decision in this respect will
be made on Wednesday.

GAUDEAMUS In Bucharest, almost 100,000 people visited the 30th
edition of the Gaudeamus Radio Romania Book Fair, which ended on Sunday evening
with the awarding of trophies. The most coveted book of the Gaudeamus Fair was
designated More than the past, by Ana Blandiana, from the Humanitas
Publishing House. Also by public vote, Humanitas, Litera and Polirom were
designated the best publishing houses of this year’s fair. The prize for
translation from Romanian into a foreign language was won by Şerban Foarţă for
the volume of bilingual Romanian-German poems Schlimmericks, and
the prize for translation from a foreign language into Romanian was awarded to
Alexandra Coliban for the translation from English of the novel
Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen. The Book Fair hosted over 500
publishing events over five days. The honorary president of the edition was the
writer and literary critic Ion Bogdan Lefter.

27 November 2023
The purchase of anti-Covid vaccines, investigated in Romania

The National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA) in Bucharest opened an ‘in rem’ investigation into the way in which Romania has purchased anti-Covid vaccines. Prosecutors say there is suspicion of abuse of office, implying personal benefits and there are no suspects or people indicted. Romania has so far received 18.5 million anti-Covid vaccines, of the four types approved, and has a stock of 3.7 million, Valeriu Gheorghita, the head of the mass vaccination campaign said. He also said that the procedures followed for the procurement of vaccines in all European Union countries were the same, and they were developed by the European Commission. In his turn, Finance Minister Dan Vilceanu said he had no information about any purchase of vaccine except those bought through the mechanism put in place by the European Commission, at prices negotiated at community level.

On the other hand, former health minister, Vlad Voiculescu, believes the investigation opened by anti-corruption prosecutors is a good thing. He said that the decision to order the vaccines was taken by his chief, PM Florin Citu and then communicated to the Commission, without considering the opinion of the Health Ministry. Voiculescu said Romania ordered too many vaccines, in an irrational manner, and then had to sell or donate several millions, more than any country in Europe, not for humanitarian reasons but for fear they may expire. “The Romanians, if they hadn’t constantly been taken for fools and lied to, they would have more trust in the people who ask them, on an imperative tone, to get immunized,” Voiculescu wrote on Facebook.

The anti-Covid vaccines are purchased based on contracts forged by the European Commission with pharmaceutical companies, and the quantity is allocated based on the individual requests of member states. The number of vaccines can be adjusted depending on the needs. The Hotnews online publication writes that in mid-July, PM Florin Citu said publicly that Romania had ordered 120 million vaccine doses, for several years. Given that only about 5.4 million people have been vaccinated so far in Romania, out of the 18.5 million vaccines received by the country almost 2.1 million have been donated and over 2.2 million have been sold. The recipients were the Republic Moldova, Serbia, Ukraine, Tunisia, Egypt, Vietnam, South Korea and Denmark. At the same time, almost 750 thousand doses have expired and 178 thousand will expire on October 31st. (EE)

22 September 2021
August 10, 2021 UPDATE

Immunity — Herd immunity against COVID-19 in Romania is around 50%, through vaccination or the development of antibodies following the disease – the president of the National Committee for Coordination of Vaccination Activities, doctor Valeriu Gheorghiţă said on Tuesday. He added that although the number of infections is on the rise, the situation is stable as compared to other European states. In another development, Valeriu Gheorghiţă specified that the authorities’ aim is to increase the number of vaccinated people, especially among the most vulnerable category, but that, at the moment, anti-Covid vaccination should not be mandatory, because the Romanian society is not prepared for this type of approach. Approximately 5 million Romanians, i.e. a quarter of the total population, have been fully vaccinated. More than 300 new cases of Covid 19 were reported on Tuesday in Romania, after processing more than 34,000 tests, this being the largest daily number reported since the end of May. Four deaths have also been announced. The number of hospitalized patients is also increasing, over 660, of whom about 80 are in intensive care.

Humanitarian action — A Romanian Air Force aircraft transports, on Tuesday, to Egypt, 525,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine, produced by AstraZeneca, for the management of the pandemic in that country. Romania has received a request for international assistance from the Cairo government through the European Civil Protection Mechanism, thus joining European and international efforts to support Egypt. Similar humanitarian aid would be sent to Albania and Vietnam. Already on Monday, the Romanian Air Force transported to Tunisia approximately 180,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine, antigen tests and medical supplies, as well as a 13-strong medical staff team who will provide support to the Tunisian health personnel. In a statement, the Tunisian Embassy in Romania thanked the Romanian state for its action.

Attack – Romania reiterated its strong condemnation of any acts of aggression that represent violations of the principles and norms of international law and voiced its concern over the negative effects of these actions on regional and international security. This view was shared on Monday at an open debate of the UN Security Council held in video-conference format discussing maritime security as an expression of international cooperation. The Romanian foreign ministry said the attack on the Mercer Street oil tanker is a threat to peace and a blatant violation of international law. The European Union also condemned the attack and called for compliance with the principles and norms of international law. The Romanian foreign ministry recalled that Romanias and Britains permanent representatives at the UN together with Liberias permanent representative (under whose flag the ship was sailing) signed a joint letter to the president of the UN Security Council and the UN Secretary General on the subject of the attack on the Mercer Street tanker, in which a Romanian was also killed. The US presented information that the drone that hit the vessel was an Iranian-made kamikaze drone.

Climate — The Romanian president Klaus Iohannis promised to get actively involved in the processes aimed at solving the climate crisis following the stark warning issued by a major UN report on the accelerated pace of climate change caused by human action. The report notes that global warming may exceed by 1.5 degrees Celsius the levels recorded at the end of the 19th century by around 2030, ten years earlier than previously estimated. UN experts speak of a genuine red code for humanity and unprecedented disasters, including more heat waves and floods. In response to the UN report, the European Commission said it is not too late to stop this trend provided the countries of the world act immediately and do so together. The US said the world cannot delay ambitious climate action, and the UK said the transition to renewable energy must be made fast, an idea supported by France. Greenpeace insists that it is now up to the worlds governments to take measures and commit to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

Police — The Romanian Police on Tuesday launched a road safety campaign entitled “View from the hospital”, in order to reduce the accidents caused as a result of drivers’ failure to observe speed limits on national highways and roads. The policemen presented what is meant by aggressive driving and explained that the dangerous maneuvers for drivers will be defined in the new proposals for the modification of the Traffic Code. The Interior Ministry has proposed, among other things, to double the sanctions for wrong-way driving on highways, i.e. withholding driving licenses for 120 days, as compared to 60 days at present, and license suspension for 60 days for driving in the emergency lane on highways instead of fines, as the rule goes at present. In Romania, excessive speed is the main cause of traffic accidents in the summer season. Statistics show that in summer, many drivers go on holiday with their families and try to reach their destination as soon as possible.

Senate — The Romanian Senate’s Permanent Bureau on Tuesday summoned a plenary extraordinary session to inform about the adoption by the government, on August 5, during the parliamentary break, of the Emergency Ordinance repealing provisions regarding the disconnection of customers that do not pay their natural gas and thermal energy bills. So far, during the state of alert, conveyance and distribution operators have ensured the continuity of service provision for all subscribers who have not paid their bills. According to the authorities, the number of final customers – domestic and non-domestic – who had not paid their electricity and natural gas bills recorded in the period for which disconnections were postponed, was, at the end of May, over 200 thousand, the amount of outstanding debts standing at almost 250 million lei (about 50 million Euros). (LS)

10 August 2021
July 3, 2021

Covid – The entire territory of Romania remains in the so-called green scenario related to the spread of the new coronavirus. 401 infected people are still in hospital, of whom 66 in intensive care. The authorities on Saturday announced 58 new cases of COVID-19, out of more than 23,000 tests performed in 24 hours. 4 deaths were reported in the same interval, besides another 27 from the past months.

Vaccines — Ireland has agreed in principle to buy one million doses of COVID-19 vaccine from Romania – a spokesman for the Irish government said, days after Romania sold another million doses of the vaccine to Denmark. The doses available in Romania exceed the demand for vaccination from the Romanian population, where vaccination reticence is spreading due to rooted distrust in state institutions, misinformation campaigns and lack of public awareness – international media report. Ireland currently has one of the highest COVID-19 vaccination rates in Europe. About 45% of its adult population of 3.8 million people was fully vaccinated and 65% with at least the first dose. The Irish government hopes that its decision to speed up youth vaccination will slow the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus and will allow for the reopening of the lagging economy.

National register – Romanian police have launched a national register with the names of those who have committed sexual crimes or exploited people. The information in the register can reach courts, authorities, schools, health or social protection institutions, as well as organizations whose activity involves direct contact with children, the elderly or people with disabilities. Such a register had been requested for several years by NGOs involved in victim protection. On the other hand, criminal liability for crimes of trafficking and exploitation, sexual assault, and torture of children is no longer prescribed in Romania — according to a law promulgated on Thursday by President Klaus Iohannis. The law amends articles of the Criminal Code and also stipulates that the punishment for failing to report such crimes is increased and criminalizes the failure to report such crimes as trafficking and exploitation of vulnerable persons or crimes against the freedom and sexual integrity of a child or resulting in the death of a child.

Rugby –Romania’s national rugby team is meeting, tonight, on home ground, in a test match, Argentina’s prestigious national team. The match that will officially inaugurate the Arch of Triumph National Rugby Stadium in Bucharest is an opportunity for Romanian players to play against a top team – said the Romanian teams English coach, Andrew Robinson. Argentina ranks 9th in the world rankings, while Romania is ranked 18th. Romania was to play another test match, against Scotland, on July 10, also in Bucharest, but the match was canceled due to several contaminations with COVID-19 in the British team.

Tennis – Romanian Sorana Cîrstea (45 WTA) is taking on, today, the British player Emma Răducanu (338 WTA) whose father is Romanian, in the third round of the Wimbledon tennis tournament, the year’s 3rd Grand Slam tournament. Cîrstea is the last Romanian woman left in the womens singles. In the doubles, the Romanian-Ukrainian pair Raluca Olaru / Nadia Kichenok, on Friday reached the eighth finals, where they could meet the Romanian pair Andreea Mitu / Monica Niculescu, if they also qualify to that stage. (LS)

3 July 2021
February 14, 2021

Vaccines — The simple motion entitled “Incompetence and lack of commitment kill. Vlad Voiculescu, a danger to the health and life of Romanians”, submitted to the Chamber of Deputies by the main opposition party, the Social Democratic Party-PSD, against the health minister will be debated on Monday in Bucharest and voted two days later. The National Liberal Party will not vote on the motion filed against Vlad Voiculescu (a member of USR-PLUS Alliance, in the governing coalition), announced the Liberal leader Ludovic Orban. Meanwhile, the anti-COVID vaccination campaign continues in Romania. More than one million doses of vaccine have been given to date, most of them from Pfizer / BioNTech company, as well as from Moderna and AstraZeneca. Latest data from the Strategic Communication Group show that over 1,900 new cases SARS-CoV-2 infection have been reported in the past 24 hours. The death toll exceeded 19,400, and about 960 people are in ICUs. As of Saturday, people coming to Romania from countries in the yellow zone, i.e. where the infection rate is higher than in Romania, must comply with new rules.

Budget — In Romania, the budget bill, currently under public debate, is to be adopted in the coming days. The Prime Minister Florin Cîţu, who made a series of clarifications on the topic, recalled that the government has proposed 4 reforms related to salaries, pensions, education and fiscal administration. According to the PM, the salary expenses for 2021 have been capped at the level of those from 2020, and salaries in the public sector will be established, this year, when the law on unitary salary is modified. Florin Cîţu also said that he wanted performance from the government ministers and announced that he would make a mid-year assessment of the budget execution and this check the ministers’ activity. The draft budget is based on a deficit of 7.16% of the GDP and an economic growth rate of 4.3%. The calculations are based on investments of 5.5% of the GDP, on 13% higher revenues than last year and also rising expenses by only 5%.

Acquittal — In the US, the Senate has acquitted the former US President Donald Trump in second impeachment trial on charge of inciting Jan. 6 Capitol riot. 5 people died in the riots. Trump is the first president in the history of the United States to go through two impeachment trials. The big stake in the second trial was the former presidents political future – if he had been convicted, he would have been barred from holding federal office ever again. Now he might try to get a new term in office in 2024. 57 senators voted against Trump – all the 50 Democrats and 7 Republicans — but the vote fell short of the two-thirds majority needed. After his acquittal, Donald Trump issued a statement saying the trial was “yet another phase of the greatest witch hunt in the history of our country” and added that “his patriotic movement” was just beginning. President Joe Biden said that Donald Trumps acquittal shows that democracy is fragile.

Tennis — The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep (2 WTA), qualified today in Melbourne, to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, the year’s first Grand Slam tournament, where she will take on Serena Williams (11 WTA). In the eighth finals, Simona Halep defeated the Polish player Iga Swiatek (17 WTA), in three sets, 6-3, 1-6, 4-6, while Serena Williams won, also in three sets, 6-4, 2 -6, 6-4, against the Belarusian player Arina Sabalenka (7 WTA). In the eighth finals of the mens doubles tournament, the Romanian-Brazilian pair Horia Tecău / Marcelo Melo will play against the pair Ivan Dodig (Croatia) / Filip Polasek (Slovakia).

Brussels — The European Union, accused of slow management of the coronavirus pandemic, will speed up the procedure for authorizing improved versions of the vaccines against new strains of the virus, the European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety announced today. Stella Kyriakides told the German daily Augsburger Allgemeine that the procedure had been discussed with the European Medicines Agency and it was decided that, from now on, a vaccine, which is improved by a manufacturer to fight new strains based on an existing and certified vaccine, no longer needs to go through all the authorization stages. The health commissioner also said the EU had managed to secure a supply of 700 million doses of vaccine by the end of the third quarter of this year. (tr. L. Simion)

14 February 2021
Vaccination campaign, affected by delays

Romania has so far received around 785 thousand doses of anti-Covid vaccine. Of them, around 1,300 have been wasted due to exposure to temperatures outside the recommended range, deteriorated vials and incorrect reconstitution. The coordinator of the immunization campaign, military doctor Valeriu Gheorghita, has announced that Romania is short of 117 thousand doses at present. For this reason, authorities have decided to delay, by ten days, the vaccination of essential workers with the first dose, so as to have enough doses for the voulnerable categories such as chronic diseases patients and people aged over 65. This is the solution found by the authorities, after last week Romania received only half of the doses expected. However, the authorities have given assurances that the vaccination schedule for the other categories will not be affected and that, starting February 9, things will get back to normal.

The period until February 5 is a little bit more difficult, Valeriu Gheorghita explained, adding that solidarity is what we need to overcome it. ”At present, the vaccination capacity depends on the number of vials delivered,” he also said, adding that there are also other countries facing the same problem due to delays in vaccine delivery, by pharmaceutical companies.

According to the official, the authorities have prepared several scenarios in case there are more delays in the vaccine delivery, scenarios that involve delaying immunization for certain categories of people. Almost 68% of the people vaccinated in the second stage of the campaign have chronic diseases and are aged over 65, while all others are workers that unfold essential activities. The first stage of the campaign has reached its goal, with over 90% of the medical staff already vaccinated, he said.

On the other hand, authorities have announced that by end-March, Romania should receive the remaining batches of vaccine, up to 3 million doses in total. According to Gheorghita, there is not a vaccine delivery schedule in place for the third quarter yet, but the number of vials will be significantly bigger, allowing for an increase in the immunization pace, so that over 10 million people will be vaccinated by September. Following the contract signed with the European Union, Romania should receive 12.5 million doses of vaccine. Moreover, Romania has also agreed with the European Commission on the delivery of 18 million doses of two vaccines that have not been approved yet, but which have high potential. (Translated by EE)

27 January 2021
December 16, 2020

Negotiations — President Klaus Iohannis on Wednesday signed the decree summoning the new Parliament on Monday, December 21. According to the Constitution, the newly elected Parliament meets upon the President’s request 20 days at the most after the elections. The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate are considered legally set up after the validation of two thirds of the MP mandates and after the MPs being sworn in. In another development, the negotiations between the PNL, USR-PLUS, UDMR for the formation of a center-right government coalition were again suspended on Tuesday after a failed attempt to re-launch talks. The 3 parties continue to argue over the distribution of the positions of PM and speakers of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies. The Liberals support the former PM Ludovic Orban as Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies while the co-president of the USR-PLUS alliance Dan Barna proposed Catalin Drula for this position. Barna also suggested three positions of deputy prime minister for each party, suggestion that was criticized though by the PNL and UDMR. Against the backdrop of tensions, PSD threatens to boycott Monday’s meeting for the validation of the new Parliament, as they are discontented with the way in which the three aforementioned parties are trying to distribute the key positions in Parliament and the future government. The Social Democrats are convinced that the correct solution in the context of the pandemic would be a national union government which should include all political forces that entered Parliament. Professor Alexandru Rafila is the Social Democrats’ proposal for the position of PM while PNL support the current finance minister Florin Citu for that position. The representatives of AUR – the Alliance for Romanians Union say they will attend the meeting and that a possible boycott will be a gesture of political irresponsibility.

Consultations — The Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu is today having political consultations with his counterpart from Northern Macedonia, Bujar Osmani, who is paying an official visit to Bucharest. The talks focus on the stage of and the perspectives for consolidating bilateral cooperation in all domains of common interest including in the economic field. During the talks the two officials will also tackle Romania’s support for Northern Macedonia’s European agenda and for the EU’s enlargement policy, the security issue, the relations within NATO, cooperation at regional level as well as within international organizations. Minister Bogdan Aurescu will reiterate Romania’s availability to provide assistance to the Republic of Northern Macedonia in the context of preparations for opening accession negotiations with the EU, the Romanian Foreign Ministry shows.

Commemoration — The western Romanian city of Timisoara and the revolutionary associations there have today started manifestations to commemorate the 1989 anti-Communist revolution. Manifestations will take place until December 22 and will be restricted in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic. The festive meeting of the Local Council, to which the US Ambassador Adrian Zuckerman has been invited an an honorary guest, opens the series of manifestations devoted to the revolution heroes from Timisoara. Thursday will be a day of mourning in Timisoara, which back in 1989 became the first city free of Communism in Romania, after 45 years of Communist dictatorship. On Tuesday, the Hungarian Parliament started its session by paying homage to the 1989 people’s uprising in Timisoara which led to the fall of the Ceausescu regime. János Latorcai, the vice-president of the Hungarian Parliament, recalled that hundreds of Hungarians and Romanians tried to prevent the evacuation of the reformed pastor László Tőkés, and when their attempt failed, the extended people’s protest turned into a mass demonstration that led to the fall of the Communist regime. The revolt against Ceausescu broke out in Timisoara on December 16, 1989 and extended as of December 21 to Bucharest and other cities of Romania. More than 1,000 people died and around 3,000 were injured in the fighting that took place at the time in Romania, the only country in the Eastern Bloc where the change of regime occurred violently and the dictators were killed.

Covid-19 — More than 6,000 new COVID-19 cases and over 200 related deaths were reported on Tuesday in Romania, according to data provided by the Strategic Communication Group. There are more than 565 thousand cases of contamination and the death toll is nearing 13,700. 1,255 people are in ICUs. The National Defense Ministry will make available to the Public Health Directorates across Romania almost 600 military to support the general efforts to fight the Covid-19 pandemic in the coming period. They will work as call-center operators, PC operators to fill in data bases that are being made as part of the actions to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and also will undertake contact tracing activities. The authorities have recommended Romanians to limit their travels during the winter holidays in order to contain the spread of the virus. The first vaccines against COVID-19 will arrive in Romania most probably between Christmas and the New Year. (tr. L. Simion)

16 December 2020
December 10, 2020 UPDATE

COVID-19 IN ROMANIA – Over 7,000 new Covid infections were
reported in Romania on Thursday, most of them in capital Bucharest, followed by
Constanta, in the south-east, which also registered the highest infection rate
of 7 cases per thousand. 1,288 people are being treated in IC units. 80% out of
the total 540 thousand cases reported since the beginning of the pandemic, have
been cured, while roughly 13 thousand people have died. Romania so far boasts
roughly 1,000 vaccination centers and this number could be increased to ease
the access of all those interested. Most likely Romania will get the Pfizer
vaccine and 13 million people could get immunized in the first six months of
the year. In another development, interim Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă said the
Government will extend the state of alert after December 14, without
introducing additional restrictions. The state of alert was introduced in
mid-May to limit the spread of the coronavirus. Previously a state of emergency
had been declared in Romania for two months.

COVID-19 IN THE WORLD – The total number of Covid-19
infections has exceeded 69 million worldwide. 1.5 million people died and 48
million have recovered, worldometers.info says. The USA remains the world’s
most affected country with 15.8 million infections and some 300 thousand
fatalities. The USA has constantly exceeded the daily threshold of 2,000
fatalities for two weeks now and Americans are waiting for a nationwide vaccine
distribution. A vaccine produced by Pfizer/BioNTech could be authorized in the
following days while the Moderna vaccine next week. Severe side effects in
allergic persons have been reported in the case of the Pfizer vaccine. Britain
is the first country in the world to have distributed a completely
clinically-tested vaccine.

TALKS – President Klaus Iohannis on Monday invited political
parties to consultations with a view to designating the new Prime Minister.
Leaders of the National Liberal Party, Save Romania Union – PLUS Alliance and
the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians on Thursday had an informal round of
talks with the president. The Liberals have nominated Florin Cîţu, the current
Finance Minister, for the position of Prime Minister. The Liberals announced
they would hold official talks with a view to forming a majority in Parliament
starting Saturday. The Social-Democratic Party on the other hand wants
President Iohannis to designate a Social-Democrat Prime Minister, considering
the party grabbed the largest number of votes in the December 6 parliamentary
election. The Social-Democrats have nominated Prof. Alexandru Rafila, Romania’s
representative at the WHO, whom they claim is the best suited to manage the
current health crisis.

EUROPEAN COUNCIL – Romania is part of the European and global
effort of combating climate change. We have an increasing capacity of
influencing European policies in this sector, President Klaus Iohannis said on
Thursday ahead of the European Council meeting. In the upcoming Council
meeting, Romania is expected to advocate the reduction of greenhouse gases by
at least 55% by 2030. President Iohannis will be pleading for the creation of a
flexible framework to allow all member states, irrespective of their
development, to effectively meet the objectives in the field of climate change.
EU leaders have convened in Brussels for two days to discuss the Covid-19
pandemic and the coordinated efforts to fight it. Also high on the agenda are
climate change, security and foreign relations. The heads of state and
government of the EU countries are expected to assess the situation and hold
talks about the measures to fight the disease, including vaccines and tests but
also the gradual lifting of restrictions.

ECONOMY – Romania’s trade balance deficit rose by €827
million in the first ten months of the year as compared to the same period last
year, up to €15 billion, according to data the National Institute for
statistics released on Thursday. Over January 1 and October 31, exports stood
at €51 billion while imports accounted for €66 billion. According to the same
sources, exports went down by 12% and imports by 8.7% compared to the same
period last year.

CENTER – The Foreign Ministry has hailed the decision of EU
Member States to pick Bucharest as the future host of the European
Cybersecurity Competence Center, following Wednesday’s vote in Brussels. For
Romania, the decision is unprecedented, considering the Center will be the
first EU structure it will host since it became an EU Member State. According
to the Foreign Ministry, the decision recognizes Romania’s firm commitment to
the consolidation of the European project and its expertise in the digital and
cybersecurity fields. The Center will serve as a hub to distribute EU and
national funding for cyber security research projects across the community
bloc. Bucharest was selected from a list of other cities vying to host the
center, including Munich, Warsaw, Vilnius or Luxembourg. In other news the
European Medicines Agency on Thursday was the target of a cyber-attack. Hackers
wanted to access the files related to the authorization of the anti-COVD-19
vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, but they were unsuccessful. A
decision on the vaccine, which has already been approved in the UK, Bahrain and
Canada, is expected by December 29. (D. Bilt & V. Palcu)

10 December 2020
European coordination against Covid-19

Ever since this spring, EU member states, each struggling to handle its own coronavirus crisis at home, answered the Commissions call for solidarity. Consequently, protection equipment was donated, medical teams were sent to countries in need, patients were treated in neighbouring countries and European citizens blocked abroad were repatriated. As for Romania, it sent medical teams to Italy in early April, to support their colleagues overwhelmed by the big number of patients. At the same time, the EU set up rescEU, a joint European reserve of medical equipment for emergency situations, financed exclusively by the Commission, to help member countries deal with the pandemic. Germany and Romania were the first countries to host this reserve and purchase the necessary equipment. The EU also extended its support to include countries in the Eastern Partnership and critical regions in Africa, Asia and Latin America. There have been constant meetings in Brussels and conference calls held by leaders of the EU countries.

The most recent online meeting was held on Thursday evening, to decide the allocation of 220 million euros to finance the transfer of patients across borders within the bloc, to prevent hospitals from getting overwhelmed, as Covid-19 infections and hospitalisations spike. EU Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen said that, in order to facilitate these transfers, member states must supply accurate, real time data. Moreover, she sent five key messages to the member states: exchange information, exchange expertise, increase testing capacity, tracing and follow-up, and also vaccination. The Commission is also intensifying its efforts to get potential vaccines against the novel coronavirus, which will be made available to all countries at the same time. There will be a fair distribution of vaccines once available. That would be done in proportion to population, the European official explained.

President Klaus Iohannis asked, on behalf of Romania, for more money for the diversification of the sources of these vaccines: ”As regards the vaccine against Covid-19, once available, hopefully as soon as possible, it will be distributed to all member states. However, increasing the financing available under the emergency aid instrument is also needed, in order to have more vaccine supply sources.”

Another message sent after Thursday’s conference call was that, while fighting the pandemic, economies must be kept functional, borders must be kept open and the single European market must be protected. (Translated by Elena Enache)

30 October 2020
Child immunization in Romania, mandatory or not?

In Romania measles affected over 10 thousand people and killed 36 last year alone, according to official statistics made public recently. The measles epidemic continues into 2018 as well. Heated debates took place in Romania in previous years on whether the immunization of children should be mandatory or not. A bill instating the obligation to vaccinate children was passed by the Government last year, and scheduled for endorsement in Parliament. The fact that 9,688 measles cases of the over 10,000 were reported in people who had not been vaccinated against measles, did nothing but fuel polemics. Most medical doctors and representatives of the medical system are in favor of the anti-measles vaccine becoming mandatory, unlike a part of the civil society and parents.

Doctor Sandra Alexiu, vice president of the National Society of Family Medicine explains: “In Romania, unlike other types of vaccines that we were short of, the one against measles, wich is included into the MMR vaccine, to also cover mumps, and rubella, has always been available. The conclusion is, at least from our data, that it is natural to link the epidemic to vaccine refusal. Moreover, we can also explain the re-emergence of measles through the lack of trust in the Romanian medical system from parents and patients in general. The system has failed big time a number of times, it is now going through a crisis and one of the elements that caused the people’s lack of trust is precisely the lack of vaccines, which have not been supplied on time. And I’m talking about vaccines against other types of diseases, which resulted in little trust in the effectiveness of vaccination in general, which has also been fuelled by anti-vaccination campaigns that are international, not only local.”

On the other hand, people who support the right to refuse vaccination, insist on their right to choose freely. It is the case of Lion Mentor Association, whose president, Irina Thiery, explains her stand and the stand of the people she represents: “Lion Mentor is not against immunization. We live in country governed by the rule of law, where, in our opinion, vaccination is a choice. Therefore, we respect the citizens who choose to assume the risks of vaccination, but we are firmly and irrevocably against it being mandatory. Vaccination is a preventive medical act, not a therapeutic one, and must be done following medical tests, either routine or more advanced ones. To minimize risks, check-ups must include genetic, allergy, neurological and immune system testing. It is only this type of testing that could prevent, to a certain degree, some adverse effects such as allergies, paralysis, sudden death and epilepsy.”

All these adverse effects are included in the instructions on label of each vaccine and their emergence depends on he patient. Sandra Alexiu: “The most common adverse reactions are mild, and are local reactions found in many adults and children, such as redness or stiffness where the shot was given, or mild fever. These reactions are included in the vaccine’s instructions. But there are also more serious adverse effects. These effects must be compared to the importance of vaccination and the fact that it is a means to prevent other diseases that cannot be treated, but only prevented through vaccination. For instance, out of 100 unvaccinated children, 1 can have measles-induced encephalitis, and risks dying because of the seriousness of this condition. On the other hand, if we refer to post-vaccination reactions, 1 in 1 million immunised children can develop post-vaccination encephalitis, but there are no cases of death after the anti-measles vaccine.“

It is precisely these types of statistics that anti-vaccination campaigners are questioning: “These adverse reactions can occur in 1 patient out of 10, or, if we refer to the less frequent ones, in 1 patient out of 100,000. The one in a million situation, as vaccine advertisements say, is not true. In Romania, medical doctors are not instructed to report adverse reaction cases. For instance, three counties have not reported any case of adverse reactions in the past three years, which we believe is not true.”

In this context, official statistics on measles epidemic are also regarded with scepticism. Irina Thiery: “There are not single-diagnosis protocols in Romania. It means that a registered and reported measles case is not necessarily a real measles case. Similar symptoms can lead to different diagnoses. So the Health Ministry cannot support the number of cases reported officially with concrete and undeniable medical documents. An analysis into a number of deaths reported by the National Medicines Agency as having been caused by measles is intriguing, as measles is reported as the cause of death in only 10 of the 36 deaths. In the other cases, measles is only an additional factor, alongside other conditions and pre-existent diseases.”

Given that in the case of contagious diseases prevention and outbreak is not only an individual matter, but also a social one, we asked several parents to tell us their opinion on vaccination: “I am in favor of vaccination. If other parents believe vaccines are harmful, they have the right to raise their children according to their own philosophy. If I weren’t convinced of the advantages of immunization, I would not care if the whole country believed the opposite.”

Another parent has said: “I’m the mother of a 8-year old girl and she got all vaccines recommended to children. I respect the opinion of parents who choose not to immunize their children, but I cannot agree with it as long as all doctors recommend vaccination.”

As for the way in which society is affected by the proliferation of contagious diseases possibly triggered by the refusal of immunization and given the prospect of vaccines becoming mandatory, another parent has said: “Children also have rights and when parents are wrong somebody has to step in. That is why I believe this law is necessary.”

At present, the bill providing for the compulsory vaccination of children is in the Chamber of Deputies, pending debate.

25 January 2018
The rebirth of a symbol?

Set up in 1921, the “Cantacuzino” National Institute of Research and Development for Microbiology and Immunology is operating in the field of public healthcare, which it promotes through activities of research and development, as well as through its offer of products and services. Before 1990, the Cantacuzino Institute had a consistent portfolio of vaccines. Later on, because of a lack of funds, improper management and for failing to observe the norms established by the World Health Organisation, the institute had to gradually stop production for each vaccine at a time.

Consequently, from one of the best research institutes in Europe, Cantacuzino started following a downward trend. If they produced millions of vaccine doses annually before 2010, the institute experts were able to produce only several hundred thousands doses of anti-flu vaccine per year from that year onward. The situation became critical in 2014, the institute being rocked by an unprecedented scandal, after the National Medicines Agency forbade the distribution on the market of the anti-flu vaccine produced by the Cantacuzino Institute. The measure was taken after test results showed the vaccine had a high concentration of endotoxins, which might have produced such side effects as high fever and anaphylactic shock.

“Practically, the institute is unfolding its activity in three fields: the production of vaccines and other biological product materials, the production of bacterial culture media and reagents. Currently, the institute is only carrying out research activities and its functioning is possible thanks to grants. Relative to production, the institute is further producing culture media and a vegetal food supplement called SOD”, says the President of the Romanian Microbiology Society, Alexandru Rafila.

In the effort to render the institute properly functional once again, the government decided at the end of 2014, to pass the institute into the subordination of the Education Ministry, from the subordination to the Health Ministry. A month later, a memorandum was signed on the restructuring of the institute. The document provided for clearing the institute’s debts to the National Fiscal Administration Authority. Later on, through a budget rectification, the institute received money to cover its debts to the state and other spending with salaries, as well as to ensure proper functioning until the end of 2015. In 2016, another government came to power, bringing along another vision. The institute was again passed into the subordination of the Health Ministry.

Now, the incumbent PM Mihai Tudose has made public the decision to turn the institute into a military institution, subordinated to the Defence Ministry. The Prime Minister explains his decision by saying the institute plays a strategic role in ensuring Romania’s independence in the field of vaccine production, the Cantacuzino Institute being a Romanian brand with a century old history and boasting great achievements along the years.

(Translated by D. Vijeu)

29 August 2017
Governmental Initiative on Vaccination

Child immunisation will be mandatory in Romania, under a bill passed by the Government and scheduled for endorsement in Parliament, so as to take effect on January 1st, 2018. The parents or legal guardians are responsible for taking the children for vaccination. The vaccine consent is the default option, therefore parents will have to notify in writing if they opt out.

The bill also provides for the setup of a technical vaccination coordination group within the Healthcare Ministry, which is also to draw up a national strategy in this respect. Also, vaccination commissions will be established in each county and in Bucharest, to monitor the process. A reserve stock of vaccine shots will also be available for emergency situations, the bill also reads.

The Health Minister, Florian Bodog, presented fresh data on child immunisation:

Florian Bodog: “This past month 67,000 children have been vaccinated, and around 43,000 could not be found at home, on the one hand because it is holiday season, and on the other hand because a lot of children live abroad. But we will try again to reach them. We have a 12% vaccine refusal rate.

Under the law, when children are enrolled to kindergarten or school, the institution has to request a medical certificate issued by the family doctor and confirming whether a particular child has been given the compulsory vaccines or not. The mandatory vaccines include the ones against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, measles, hepatitis B, mumps, and rubella.

A lot of parents refuse vaccination at present, due to fears concerning possible side-effects on their children, induced by some mass media. Acting as a public service institution, Radio Romania has joined in the efforts to inform parents on the benefits of vaccination and has conducted a campaign warning against the dangers facing the children whose parents refuse vaccines, keeping in mind that some 180,000 kids are not vaccinated against measles at present.

Romania is facing the worst measles epidemic of the past few years. More than 30 people died since September, when the epidemic broke out, and several thousand cases have been reported so far.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

10 August 2017
The Week in Review, April 24th – 30th

The vaccine crisis in Romania, about to be solved

Romania will notify the European Commission about its plans to block the export of vaccines, against the backdrop of a measles epidemic, currently affecting 5,000 people, Health Minister Florian Bodog announced on Thursday. He said the authorities are planning to block exports for other medicines as well, including those stipulated in the national healthcare programs, and in the oncology and leukaemia treatment programs. Minister Bodog says he wants Romanian patients to receive the same treatment as those in other countries where these drugs are considerably more expensive. Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu expressed his support for the Health Minister in his efforts to deal with the vaccine shortages. He went on to say that Romania will have a multi-annual procurement plan as well as an integrated management institution so that vaccination becomes a national priority.

ECHR sanctions Romania for improper detention conditions

According to the European Court of Human Rights, detention conditions in Romania breach the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights, reflecting a structural instability that needs to be addressed by Bucharest authorities by means of a set of overall measures. Under a pilot ruling issued on Tuesday, the Court gave Romania a fine of 17,850 Euro and six months to find solutions to prison overcrowding. According to official data, there is currently a shortage of 11,000 seats in Romanias 44 prisons. In 8 of them, the normal occupation capacity has been exceeded by 200%. The solutions envisaged by the authorities include the building of new prisons or expanding already existing detention facilities, pardoning inmates with shorter sentences or reducing sentences under special conditions or placing some inmates on house arrest. Collective pardon or house arrest will only solve prison overcrowding in the short run, the National Penitentiary Administration director Marius Vulpe claims, arguing instead in favour of building new prisons. Experts say that irrespective of their costs, these measures will turn out to be profitable investment. In recent years, the Romanian state has paid 2 million euros worth of damages to detainees who won cases they referred to the ECHR, deploring improper detention conditions.

Court upholds two-year suspended sentence for Social Democratic leader Liviu Dragnea

The leader of the Social Democratic Party and speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Liviu Dragnea said on Thursday he would appeal the latest ruling of the High Court of Cassation and Justice at the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union. Romanias supreme court on Monday rejected his appeal to annul a two-year suspended sentence for electoral fraud. The sentence is now final. Dragneas lawyers argued that the sentence should be annulled because two judges retired before the courts motivation was drafted and that other persons signed the motivation instead. They also claimed the 30-day legal deadline for drafting the motivation was exceeded. Liviu Dragnea received a two-year suspended sentence in 2016 for rigging a 2012 referendum on the impeachment of the then president Traian Basescu. Dragnea was accused of creating a system, before and during the ballot, meant to overturn the outcome of the vote and make sure the required turnout was achieved. This did not happen, however, and the referendum was not valid, so Traian Basescu remained in office.

Romania and 3 other EU countries report budget deficit of or above 3% of the GDP in 2016

Romanias budget deficit in 2016 was 3% of the GDP, according to the Statistical Office of the European Union, Eurostat. Bucharest had pledged not to go over this ceiling, which may trigger an excessive deficit procedure from the European Commission. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country was around 170 billion euros, and the deficit exceeded 5 billion euros. Three other EU member states saw a budget deficit equal to or higher than 3% of their GDP, namely the UK, France and Spain. On the other hand, the Eurostat announced, at the end of last year, that Romania was among the EU countries with the lowest government debt to GDP ratios, 37.6%, much under the 60% ceiling stipulated in the Maastricht Treaty as one of the criteria for joining the Eurozone. In its winter economic forecast, the European Commission warned that Romania might see in 2017 the most substantial deepening of the budget deficit in the Union, in spite of having had the highest economic growth rate last year. The Commission estimates that Romanias budget deficit might reach 3.6% of the GDP this year, exceeding the Governments target of 2.98%. The Commission also expects Romania to have a 4.4% economic growth rate, below the estimated 5.2% on which the Government has based its state budget allocations this year.

Romania subscribes to the EU stand on Brexit negotiations

The Romanian Minister Delegate for European Affairs Ana Birchall took part on Thursday in Luxembourg in the meeting of the General Affairs Council, the first meeting of 27 member states, without the UK. According to Birchall, the priority in the Brexit negotiations will be to ensure a balanced agreement, reflecting objectively and fairly all the 4 freedoms of the single market, including the free movement of people. The meeting in Luxembourg was held following the UK official notification of its intention to terminate its EU membership.

29 April 2017
April 28, 2017 UPDATE

ROMANIAN POLISH PARTNERSHIP – Romanian defence minister, Gabriel Les, met in Bucharest on Friday with his Polish counterpart, Antoni Macierewicz. On this occasion, minister Les has deemed the Strategic Partnership with Poland as strong and viable. He has also added that boosting bilateral relations should be based on co-operation within the EU and NATO. In turn, the Polish official has said Romania is a strong point of defence in southern Europe, just like Poland in the Baltic region. The Polish ministers agenda also included a visit to the NATO Centre of Excellence in Oradea, north-western Romania.

PLANE INCIDENT – An airliner operated by the Romanian company TAROM on Friday was intercepted by military aircraft in Hungarys airspace. The plane, en route from Munich to Sibiu (central Romania), observed its flight path, but it hadnt managed to establish contact with Hungarys air traffic control, ATC. The TAROM airliner was escorted to the Hungarian-Romanian border.

VACCINES – Romania is to notify the European Commission of its intention to put on hold its export of vaccines against the background of a measles epidemic currently affecting 5,000 people in this country, health minister Florian Bodog has announced. The Romanian official has added that the authorities intend to also ban exports in the case of other medicines including those stipulated in the national health programmes, medicines used in the treatment of various types of cancers. Minister Bodog has also said that he wants the Romanian patients not to be disadvantaged in comparison with patients from other countries where these medicines are selling at higher prices.

DIGITAL MARKET – The digital single market is an objective in the EU region and the yearly costs for its creation stay around 415 billion euros, the vice president of the European Commission, Andrus Ansip, said in Bucharest on Friday, during a conference entitled Eurosfat 2017. According to the EU official, one of the digital single markets benefits is the coming into effect as of June 15th 2017 of the new regulations concerning the service of roaming at EU level. On the other hand, the EU official has underlined that the European Commission is working on liberalizing the citizens access to digital content as well as the online purchase of goods and services.

PRESIDENCY – Romanian president Klaus Iohannis will represent Romania at the special meeting of the European Council due in Brussels on Saturday. According to the Presidential Administration, the Romanian head of state will stand for the unity of the 27 member states in the Brexit negotiation process. Maintaining the integrity of the single market and a gradual approach in the negotiation process are some of the elements the Romanian president will touch upon during the meeting with the European leaders. Protecting the rights and interests of the Romanian citizens in Great Britain will also be a priority for Romania during the negotiations, the Presidential Administration also says. The agenda of the high level meeting includes three major issues: the fate of the approximately three million EU citizens living in the UK and also the fate of some one billion Britons residing in the EU, the bill that great Britain should pay for exiting the EU, which is estimated at some 60 billion Euros, and the issue of the frontier between Ireland and Northern Ireland, which is British territory.

US-ROMANIA STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP – According to Romanias ambassador in Washington, George Maior, the 20 years of Romanian-US Strategic Partnership have confirmed the fact that the US doesnt have a better and closer partner in south-eastern Europe than Romania. The Romanian diplomat on Thursday hosted a special dinner, which brought together several Republican members of the US House of Representatives, devoted to celebrating 20 years of Romanian-US strategic partnership. The tight cooperation in the field of security and the latest positive developments in the fields of economy, trade and investment have been underscored on this occasion. The US officials have mentioned the US Congress and administration appreciate the evolution and progress registered in terms of bilateral cooperation, which have turned Romania into a staunch partner for the USA. (Translated by D. Bilt and D. Vijeu)

28 April 2017