Radio România Internațional

Tag: wave

July 26, 2023 UPDATE

HEAT Wednesday was a new day with extreme heat in Romania. The capital
city Bucharest and several counties in the south and south-east were subject to
a code red alert for temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius and a
temperature-humidity index above the critical 80 units. Code orange and yellow
alerts were also in place elsewhere in the country. On Tuesday the extreme
temperatures disrupted railway traffic and caused road traffic restrictions. On
the other hand, violent storms were reported in the west, north and centre of
the country, where substantial damages were reported. On
Thursday, the temperature is expected to drop significantly, to highs between
19 and 28 degrees Celsius.

PROTEST Romanian construction workers Wednesday picketed the government
headquarters to protest the Cabinet’s decision to scrap the tax facilities
granted to the employees in this sector. The head of the National Trade Union
Bloc (BNS), Dumitru Costin, said the proposed amendments to the Fiscal Code
affect not only the construction sector, but other categories of employees as
well. The BNS and the Familia General Federation of Trade Unions came up with a
set of measures to avoid the scrapping of tax facilities as of September 1,
including a new collective bargaining agreement for the sector and a gradual
elimination of the fiscal facility, in keeping with the roadmap agreed on under
the National Recovery and Resilience Plan as of 2025. They also suggest adjustments
to budget appropriations for the investment projects funded by the government
or from EU funds, as well as a salary policy for this sector for the
forthcoming years able to ensure balanced salaries, especially in the private
sector.

MEETING The Romanian
foreign minister Luminiţa Odobescu Wednesday had talks with her French
counterpart, Catherine Colonna, about the security situation at the Black Sea.
In a Twitter post, Odobescu described the dialogue as very good. Bilateral
cooperation was reconfirmed on this occasion. We have emphasised our joint
support for Ukraine and the R. of Moldova, as well as our determination to
consolidate security and resilience at the Black Sea, the Romanian diplomacy
chief said in her post.

DIPLOMACY The foreign
minister of the Republic of Moldova, Nicu Popescu, Wednesday requested a
limitation on the number of Russian diplomats accredited to Chişinău. He said
the country has been for several years the target of hostile policies on
Russia’s part, and that some of them were completed via the Russian Embassy
there. Ambassador Oleg Vasnetsov was summoned to the Moldovan Foreign Ministry
for explanations, after a media report revealed that the Russian diplomatic
mission had installed high-performance espionage and interception equipment on
its rooftop. The media in Chişinău mentioned 28 satellite dishes and telecoms
devices, while individuals tied to Russian intelligence services were seen on
the buildings. The authorities in Chisinau decided that the two countries’
embassies would have equal numbers of diplomatic personnel, specifically 10 diplomatic
positions and 15 administrative, technical and support posts, Moldpres reports.
Consequently, the staff of Russia’s embassy in Chişinău will be reduced from 84
to 25.

NATO The NATO
secretary general Jens Stoltenberg convened a first NATO – Ukraine Council
meeting at ambassador level on Wednesday, at the request of Kyiv. The meeting
focused on consultations on recent developments, with participants discussing
the transport of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea, the NATO spokesperson Oana
Lungescu said. Ukraine’s request came after Russia terminated the so-called
grains deal and started attacking the Ukrainian port infrastructure. Also on
Wednesday, the head of the press office for the southern Ukrainian defence
command, Natalia Humeniuk, said Russia was already using Shahed-type drones
assembled in Russia.

SWIMMING The Romanian swimmer David Popovici Wednesday qualified into
the final of the 100m freestyle race at the World Championships in Fukuoka (Japan). Popovici, the defending world champion in
this event, also holds the world record, set last year at the European
Championships in Rome. The 100m freestyle final is scheduled for Thursday. On
Tuesday, Popovici, also a former world champion in the 200m freestyle event,
finished the competition’s final on the 4th place. (AMP)

26 July 2023
Europe in the grip of heat wave

The northern hemisphere struggled with yet another week of scorching heat. Temperatures were significantly over 40° Celsius in Italy and Spain, for instance, while devastating wildfires ravaged Greece, Canada and California. In the Canary Islands, a fire has destroyed 5,000 ha of land this month, forcing the evacuation of 4,000 people.

On the Greek island of Rhodes, over 250 fire-fighters, including 52 from Romania, are working to put out a large-scale wildfire caused by the extreme heat and fed by strong winds. Thousands of hectares of forests, small and big hotels, homes, churches, and farms have been destroyed, and 30,000 tourists and locals were evacuated. The authorities have arranged for tourist repatriation flights and say this is the largest evacuation in the history of Greece, where a code red alert for extreme heat is still in force until 27 July.

Several other parts of Europe are also under code red alerts, as temperature records are being reported around the world. Italy holds the heat record for continental Europe with 48.8 degrees Celsius measured in Sicily on 11 August 2021. On Tuesday, the highest temperature reported in that region was 44 degrees Celsius. On the same day, Spains meteorology agency announced 45.3 degrees Celsius in Catalonia, and 43.7 degrees Celsius in the Balearic Islands.

In the south of France, record high temperatures were reported especially in the Alps, Pyrenees and on the island of Corsica, with 11.9 degrees Celsius above the average for this season. Red code heat alerts were also introduced in Serbia, Slovenia and northern Croatia, while Switzerland also reported wildfires.

The UN called on the world to prepare for more intense heat waves, advising people to prepare their own personal emergency plans to handle these temperatures. The extreme heat that holds the northern hemisphere in its grip puts “an increasing strain” on healthcare systems, the World Health Organisation warned, as hospitals in the most affected regions have already announced increases in the number of emergencies related to the high temperatures.

In turn, the World Meteorological Organisation has recently warned of an increased risk of deaths linked to excessively high temperatures.

All these warnings come after last summer heat waves caused over 60,000 deaths in Europe alone, according to a recent survey. Currently temperatures are dropping slightly, but the weather remains hot in the south of Europe, where temperatures stay above 40 degrees Celsius in Sicily, Cyprus and Greece. But according to the World Meteorological Organisation, heat waves will continue to affect many parts of the world in August as well. (AMP)

24 July 2023
July 13, 2023 UPDATE

STRIKE Disgruntled with
their salaries, trade unionists from Romania’s public finances on Thursday
picketed the headquarters of the Finance Ministry in Bucharest. Their main
claim is that the pay of the employees of ANAF and the Finance Ministry be
adjusted in keeping with the inflation rate. Protesters have also asked for
decent working conditions, for legislating the professional status and covering
the staff deficit. Also on Thursday, representatives of cancer patients in
Romania protested in front of the headquarters of the Ministry of Health,
disgruntled by the fact that the provisions in the National Plan for Combating
and Controlling Cancer are not applied from the beginning of this month under a
law endorsed with a landslide majority in Parliament, promulgated by president
Klaus Iohannis and which has been in force since the beginning of the year.

WEATHER Meteorologists on Thursday issued a code yellow alert for extremely hot
weather valid until Sunday in several counties in Romania’s western, eastern
and central regions. The heat-humidity comfort index is expected to exceed the
critical threshold of 80 units with highs between 35 and 37 degrees centigrade.
The weather is significantly cooling in the rest of the regions with highs ranging
between 25 and 33 degrees Celsius.

HEAT A heat wave struck southern Europe
on Thursday, and according to Reuters, authorities have cautioned against
record highs next week. A weather warning has been issued for the Canary
Islands, an archipelago belonging to Spain, Italy, Cyprus and Greece. Authorities
in Greece have announced that temperatures can reach 43 or 44 degrees Celsius on
Friday or Saturday. Europe’s hottest temperature, 48.8 degrees centigrade, was
recorded in Sicily in August 2021, but, according to the European Space Agency,
it could be exceeded next week.

RESIGNATION
The Romanian Labor Minister Marius Budai stepped down on Thursday amid a
scandal regarding the care centers for the elderly. The Romanian authorities are
carrying on investigations at residential social centers throughout the
country. More than 1,500 centers have been checked so far, and 15 nursing homes
for the elderly, the disabled and children have been closed down. The activity
of another 26 has been suspended. The authorities have issued 60 fines worth
almost 800,000 lei (the equivalent of about 160 thousand Euros). A nursing home
that was operating illegally was identified and a criminal case was also opened
for abuse of office, fraud, false declarations, unlawful practicing of a
profession and tax evasion in the case of a commercial company that owns three
nursing homes. On the other hand, the Bucharest Court of Appeal will judge on
July 20 the appeals made by the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime
and Terrorism (DIICOT) regarding the placement under house arrest, under
judicial control or the failure to take any measures in the case of the 20
defendants detained last week in the investigation regarding the nursing homes
for the elderly and the people with disabilities from Ilfov county (south, near
Bucharest), where the so-called beneficiaries were beaten, insulted, starved,
subjected to forced labor and deprived of minimum hygiene conditions.

(bill)

13 July 2023
July 22, 2022

RESOURCES
PM Nicolae Ciucă promised that Romania will have the necessary natural gas to
cover demand for the coming winter. The PM said more than 1.6 billion cubic
meters of gas is already stored, and the energy plan stipulates 80% of the
total capacity will be reached by November 1. Meanwhile, he said that in spite
of the drought, there is enough wheat to cover the domestic demand and export
commitments and that there are no reasons to worry about the maize and sunflower
crops.

HEAT WAVE The prime minister of Romania
Nicolae Ciucă has today asked prefects to conduct information and prevention
campaigns so that people are aware of the risks entailed by the high
temperatures and that activities to mitigate the effects of the heat wave may
be coordinated. He added that it was important for all localities to have cooling
shelters and medical teams providing assistance and free water. PM Ciucă also requested the
authorities to take steps to ensure navigability on the River Danube. The low
water flow has made it nearly impossible to navigate the Danube, with several
vessels stranded in sand and scores of cruise ships cancelling their stopovers
in the port of Giurgiu over the past month.

COVID-19 Nearly 7,400 new COVID cases
were reported over the past 24 hours, out of around 24,400 tests, the
authorities announced on Friday. Over 2,600 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised,
171 of them in intensive care. Seven COVID-related deaths have also been reported.
Hospitals are beginning to take measures, including increasing the number of
beds set aside for COVID patients, regular staff and patient testing, and
cancelling visiting hours in order to reduce the risk of infection.

REFUGEES The Romanian
Border Police announced today that 11,511 Ukrainian nationals entered Romania
on Thursday, 4.5% fewer than the
previous day.
According to a news release, border checks are conducted efficiently and in
line with the national and EU legislation, and border police units are working
at full capacity.

UKRAINE Turkey announced an agreement was reached,
which would enable Ukraine to export grains via Black Sea routes. The deal is
to be signed in Istanbul today by officials from Ukraine, Turkey, Russia and
the UN. Three main provisions in the agreement are already known. First, Russia
must guarantee ceasefire during the shipments. Secondly, Ukraine must guide grain
ships in and out through mined port waters. Finally, Turkey, supported by the
United Nations, is to inspect ships in order to dispel Russian fears of weapons
smuggling. This is the first major agreement reached by Russia and Ukraine
since the start of the invasion.

FOOTBALL Romanian football champions CFR Cluj won 3-0 against
Inter Club d’Escaldes, of Andorra, played on Thursday night on home turf in the
first leg of the second round of Europa Conference League’s qualifiers. In the
same competition, the winners of
Romania’s Cup, Sepsi OSK Sfântu Gheorghe defeated 3-1 at home the Slovenian
side Olimpija Ljubljana. Romania’s 2 other representatives in Europa
Conference League played away from home. Universitatea Craiova drew against the
Albanian side Vllaznia Shkoder, 1-1, and vice-champions FCSB were defeated by FC
Saburtalo Tbilisi, of Georgia. (AMP)

22 July 2022
July 20, 2022

WEATHER Romanian authorities have issued an amber heat alert valid today
in 12 counties in the west of the country, and amber and orange alerts covering
more than three-quarters of the country for the period July 22 – 24. As of
Thursday, the extreme heat wave will cover most of the country, with the
temperature-humidity index (THI) exceeding 80. Highs will generally range from
35 to 37 degrees Celsius, with temperatures of up to 40 degrees Celsius
expected on Friday and Saturday in the west, north-west and south-west.

NATO The Senate, as the decision-making chamber in the
Parliament of Romania, convenes today in a special meeting to ratify the NATO
Accession Protocols of Finland and Sweden. Previously,
the Chamber of Deputies had endorsed the
bill ratifying the protocols. The documents were signed on July 5 in Brussels. Finland’s and Sweden’s decision to
join the North-Atlantic Alliance comes amid security concerns related to
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

HOLIDAY Every year on July 20 Romania
celebrates Aviation and Air Forces Day, which overlaps the religious holiday of St.
Elijah, regarded as the patron saint of pilots. In Bucharest, a military ceremony is held
today, which brings together over 20 military aircraft of the Romanian, British
and Italian Air Forces, Interior Ministry and Intelligence Service helicopters,
a Tarom plane and 4 planes from the Romanian Air Club. Military aircraft will
be flying over other cities across the country. The Romanian military aviation
was established in 1910,
when Aurel Vlaicu designed the first military aircraft.

COVID In Romania, the National Public
Health Institute announced that in the previous week 171 Omicron infections
were confirmed in the country. All of these are SARS-CoV-2
variants that cause concern. According to the institution, by July 17, as many
as 6,611 Omicron infections had been reported. The number of COVID-19 cases
continues to rise, and experts say the current wave is caused by an Omicron
sub-variant of the coronavirus, which spreads a lot more quickly and is able to
infiltrate the protection given by
the current vaccines and previous infections.

GOVERNMENT The government of Romania is
scheduled to pass a bill today concerning the procurement of some of the
most advanced electric trains, powered by hydrogen fuel cells. Only 3 countries
in the EU are currently using or testing such trains. The Transport Ministry
plans to purchase a total of 12 hydrogen electric trains. Also in the transport
sector, the government intends to start expropriation procedures in order to
widen the Bucharest South ring road. The Cabinet will also discuss the
2022-2027 National Strategy on Research, Innovation and Smart Specialisation,
which will create the framework for an efficient and effective spending of national
funds. Two other documents are due to be reviewed today, a memorandum concerning
talks with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development on non-reimbursable
EU funding, and another memorandum endorsing the 2022-2024 strategy for
governmental debt management.

ANTI-SEMITISM The
pandemic context, vaccination campaigns, public campaigns raising awareness on
the rise in cases of anti-Semitism and the information on the history of the Holocaust
are the main factors contributing to a strengthening of online and offline hate
speech, reads the latest monitoring report issued by the ‘Elie Wiesel’ National
Institute for Holocaust Research in Romania. According to the institution, vandalism
cases, the praising of inter-war far-right figures and people convicted for war
crimes or known for their extremist attitude, anti-Semitic messages in
Parliament and minimising the memory of Holocaust victims remain common
occurrences in Romania. Central authorities have reconfirmed their commitment
to fight extremist actions by endorsing a National Strategy for preventing and
fighting anti-Semitism, xenophobia, radicalisation and hate speech and by
introducing Jewish and Holocaust history as a school subject, the report also
says. However, the lack of awareness and responsibility among local authorities
hinders the implementation of the principles upheld by the central authorities. (AMP)

20 July 2022
July 19, 2022

TALKS The president of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas is on an official
visit to Romania today, at the invitation of president Klaus Iohannis. The 2
leaders will discuss ways to encourage and strengthen bilateral cooperation in
areas of mutual interest, particularly political dialogue, home affairs,
education, economy and trade. The agenda of talks also includes regional
developments in the Middle East, the progress and prospects of the Peace
Process, the security situation and the consequences of Russia’s illegal
aggression against Ukraine, the Romanian Presidency says. Also today, president
Iohannis is scheduled to receive Ireland’s minister for foreign affairs and
minister for defence, Simon Coveney.

DIPLOMACY The Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu had a meeting on
Monday with his Greek counterpart, Nikos Dendias, on the sidelines of the
Foreign Affairs Council held in Brussels. According to the Romanian Foreign
Ministry, the Greek party thanked Romania for the assistance given by Romanian
fire-fighters in containing the recent wildfires in Greece. The 2 officials
also discussed the situation in Ukraine, with a focus on the consequences and impact
at regional and EU level of Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked military campaign
in that country. They highlighted the importance of ensuring energy security, a
sector in which Romania and Greece have converging interests and approaches.
Bogdan Aurescu welcomed the consolidation of bilateral dialogue and cooperation
in this field, mentioning the recent opening of the Greece-Bulgaria natural gas
interconnecting pipeline, a major step in consolidating the energy security of
the countries in the region.

EDUCATION Romanian students won 3rd place in the world, after
Singapore and Lithuania, at the International Geography Olympiad. As many as
209 students from 54 countries took part in this year’s competition. This
success comes after the outstanding performances of Romanian students in other
international competitions. They won 2nd place at the International
Physics Olympiad organised online by Switzerland, while Romania’s team won 1st
place in Europe and 5th in the world at the International Maths
Olympiad in Oslo, out of 105 competing countries.

LOAN The World Bank
and Romania Tuesday signed a EUR 600 mln development policy loan, with a focus
on inclusive green economic growth, the WB announced. This is the first of 2
such financing operations, and is accompanied by USD 24.2 mln non-reimbursable
financial assistance. The WB is currently running 10 investment projects in
Romania, totalling USD 1.78 bln, in addition to 31 technical and analytical
assistance projects worth USD 104 mln.

COVID The Romanian
health ministry Tuesday announced 7,658 new SARS-CoV-2 infections in the last
24 hours, over 4,000 more than on Monday. The number of patients in intensive
care has also increased to 136, and 9 people died from the disease in 24 hours.

EU ACCESSION The European Union Tuesday opened the accession
negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia, the president of the European
Commission, Ursula von der Leyen announced. The 27 EU member states Monday
night agreed to open accession talks, after Skopje and Sofia signed a protocol
that eliminates the last remaining obstacles. North Macedonia has been a
candidate country since 2005, and Albania since 2014.

UKRAINE The president of Russia Vladimir Putin and the president of
Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, are attending a summit in Tehran today, together
with their Iranian counterpart Ibrahim Raisi. According to the BBC, following
the sanctions introduced by the West, Putin will use this opportunity to prove
that Moscow still has strong allies. Putin will also have separate meetings
with the leaders of the two states. Turkey negotiated with Russia and Ukraine
to unblock Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea, while Iran and Russia are
looking for new trade routes to bypass sanctions, the BBC also says. Meanwhile,
in Ukraine, Russian forces carried on the shelling of Nikopol, with scores of
attacks launched during the night. Several people, including a child, were also
wounded after Russian missiles hit Odessa.

DROUGHT Nearly half of the EU territory is facing drought risks, the
European Commission warns, as a new heat wave has hit the continent. France,
Romania, Spain, Portugal and Italy will likely have to handle a drop in
agricultural yield, especially grains, the Commission explains. Germany,
Poland, Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia will also be affected. In turn, the
European Commissioner for crisis management Janez Lenarčič said that the worst
is yet to come. Europe is struggling with an extreme heat wave these days, with
temperatures of over 40 degrees Celsius reported in France and the UK, and even
43 degrees in some areas in the north of Spain. Wildfires
also destroyed thousands of hectares of land in
France, Greece, Portugal and Spain, forcing thousands of residents and tourists
out of those regions. (AMP)

19 July 2022
Is Romania bracing up for a new Covid-19 wave?

The
number of new SARS-CoV-2 infections in Romania has doubled from one week to
another and so has the number of people admitted to hospitals and the fatalities
related. Almost 15 thousand new cases were reported last week and experts with
the National Public Health Institute believe the number of infections will
maintain its upward trend for another four-five weeks.

According
to Romania’s Health Minister Alexandru Rafila, the infection rate has now reached
12%, prompting authorities to report cases on a daily basis after a month when
the number of infections was presented only weekly. Experts believe the new subvariant, which
caused the present wave of infections at international level and has been
identified in Romania as well, diminishes the protection offered by the vaccine
and the immunity given by the disease but by and large doesn’t seem to cause
severe cases. The Health Minister recommends that people go back to the
prevention measures like face-covering and avoiding crowded places. He also has
recommendations for those showing Covid symptoms.

Alexandru Rafila: They can get tested by family physicians or
may call the ambulance depending on the case. If they test positive, they must
go into self-isolation at home or go to the doctor or the outpatient centers if
the symptoms are more visible. Patients with comorbidities and more severe
symptoms must be admitted to hospitals.

Although many test
centers have been closed down at the end of the latest wave of the pandemic,
Romanians still rely on more than 43 hundred locations where they can get
tested, including at their family physicians, some chemists, clinics and hospitals.

In
the meantime, health authorities in Romania are looking for sponsors for the
centers specialized in providing Covid-19 tests and treatment so that they may
offer services also at weekends in an attempt to keep the new wave of
infections at bay. 169 suchlike centers are being functional all over Romania.
Although these medical units aren’t very busy at present but as the number of
infections is expected to rise, they must be ready to test and treat their
patients.

Minister
Rafila recommends that anti-Covid vaccination begin in autumn, when a new
vaccine is expected to become available. In an interview to a private TV
channel the minister says that the present vaccine is no longer effective
against the new Omicron strains.

Alexandru Rafila: We are now facing the second Omicron wave
and the vaccine aimed at stopping the spreading is limited. We must be honest
so that we may increase people’s confidence in vaccination. Because if we are
telling them the truth now we can also tell them the truth every time, even when
the situation isn’t favourable like it is now or when it becomes favourable
again as we hope to be in autumn.

According
to doctor Rafila, the new vaccine is to arrive in Romania in September.

(bill)

13 July 2022
Extreme heat and storms in Romania

The
week begins with scorching temperatures in Romania, where the heat wave and
storms have been making the headlines in recent days. Meteorologists announced
weather will remain erratic for the next few days as well, and issued code
orange and yellow alerts for extreme heat for the west of the country and some counties
in the south and centre.

In the
west of Romania, temperatures of 38-39 degrees
Celsius are expected, while in the
rest of the country highs are likely to reach 34-37 degrees. Afternoons will
see summer storms with electrical discharges, especially in the mountains, with
such phenomena also likely to be reported in the rest of the country.

For the past few days, weather experts have been issuing tens of alerts for
storms and heavy rainfalls, and the effects of some of them are still visible. In
Dolj County, in the south, where several localities were under a code red alert
on Saturday, the storms wreaked havoc. The most dramatic situation was reported
in the county capital Craiova, where it rained heavily, the wind blew roofs
away and brought hundreds of trees down, some of which fell on streets and on
vehicles.

Local
authorities are still working to address the damages caused by Saturday’s
storm, when in less than one hour extreme weather led to cars being taken away
by water and on some streets the water infiltrating under the asphalt caused it
to swallow and break. In some parts of the city, the water reached above
vehicle wheels. It rained more than 60 litres per square meter, and we have to
keep mind that all the sewage networks in Europe, not only in Romania, are
designed to carry 25 litres per square metre, the Mayor of Craiova said.

More
than 100 calls to the emergency number 112 were received, and authorities
suspended tram traffic in the city. Emergency teams worked at full capacity.

In Miercurea
Ciuc, in central Romania, trees fell on electricity cables, leaving 2,000
households in the dark. Here as well, emergency teams had to work to drain the
water from the streets and squares flooded by the heavy rainfall.

The
weather caused problems in Mehedinţi County in the south-west as well, where
the wind tore trees down, and blew away the roof of an apartment building in
the town of Drobeta Turnu Severin.

In Vâlcea
County, also in the south, the roof of a church steeple fell over electricity
cables, while in the city of Râmnicu Vâlcea the wind brought down a utility
pole. (AMP)

4 July 2022
June 30, 2022

HEAT WAVE
The National Meteorology Agency issued a code-red alert for extreme heat for
Thursday and Friday in 6 counties in the west and north-west of the country.
According to weather experts, highs of 38-39 degrees Celsius will be reported
in these counties, an absolute record for this time of the year. The rest of
the country is mostly under orange-code alerts, for temperatures of up to 36-38
degrees Celsius, and code-yellow alerts, for highs of 33 to 36 degrees Celsius.
On the other hand, 18 counties in the east and centre of the country are today
under a code-yellow alert for atmospheric instability.

NATO NATO leaders are focusing today, the second day of the
summit in Madrid, on the challenges and threats in the southern neighbourhood,
including the food crisis deepened by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The
participants will discuss the progress in the fight against terrorism, means to
ensure food security, and Allied support options for the organisation’s
southern partners. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent in Madrid,
president Klaus Iohannis will highlight Romania’s contribution in providing
humanitarian aid to Ukraine and in reducing risks related to food security. He
will also underline Romania’s support for vulnerable partners, particularly the
neighbouring R. of Moldova and Georgia. On Wednesday, the first day of the
summit, NATO adopted a new strategic concept, which defines Russia as the most
significant and direct threat to Allied security and stability.

EXAMS After the appeals stage, the share of 8th-graders
who passed the national evaluation this year is 82.4%, the Education Minister Sorin Cîmpeanu announced. The number of children who
got straight As has also increased to 237. Minister Cîmpeanu said last week that the
number of pass grades among students sitting the national evaluation exam
reached an absolute record this year compared to the last 10 years, namely 82.3%,
which means 122,166 children had passed the exam prior to appeals. Last year
the figure was 5.5% smaller. The grades obtained in the national evaluation are
the main criterion for high school admission.

UKRAINE On Thursday the Russian Army announced pulling out of the Serpent
Island, a strategic location in the Black Sea controlled by Moscow ever since
the beginning of its invasion in Ukraine. Russia’s defence ministry described
this as a proof of good will, which should facilitiate Ukraine’s grains exports.
This decision will not enable Kyiv to take advantage of the imminent food
crisis by claiming that it is unable to export grains because of Russia’s
complete control over the north-western part of the Black Sea, the Russian
defence ministry added, and said mine sweeping is expected on the Black Sea
coast, including ports. In turn,
Kyiv had announced that Russian troops had been forced out of
the remains of their unit on Serpent Island, following a successful Ukrainian
operation.

TENNIS The Romanian tennis player Irina Begu (43 WTA) moved
up into the 3rd round of the Wimbledon tournament, after defeating Italy’s
Elisabetta Cocciaretto, 6-4, 6-4. Next, Begu is to take on Jelena Ostapenko of
Latvia (17 WTA), seed no. 12. Another Romanian player, Sorana Cîrstea, lost the
second round to Tatjana Maria of Germany. Four other Romanians are scheduled to
play in the second round today: Simona Halep against Kirsten Flipkens (Belgium),
Mihaela Buzarnescu against Coco Gauff (USA), Irina Bara against Paula Badosa
(Spain) and Ana Bogdan against Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic).

30 June 2022
February 8, 2022

COVID-19 36,269 new SARS-CoV-2 infections were
reported for the past 24 hours in Romania, along with 193 related fatalities,
the Strategic Communication Group announced on Tuesday. Since the start of the
pandemic 2 years ago, more than 2 million Romanians have had the disease and
over 60,000 died. Meanwhile, since the start of the vaccine roll-out in
December 2020, over 8 million people have received a full vaccination cycle,
and 2.4 million have also got the booster dose.

MOLDOVA
The number of supporters of
the R. of Moldova’s union with Romania is growing, according to an opinion poll
quoted by Radio Chişinău on Tuesday. Over 34%
of the respondents in Moldova would vote in favour of the union, says the poll
commissioned by IDIS Viitorul in Chișinău and the Institute of Political
Sciences and International Relations with the Romanian Academy. This is a
record-high number of union supporters, over 10 times higher than in 2010. According
to the same poll, which focused on citizens’ perception of the relations
between Moldova and Romania, over 62% of the people with dual citizenship would
vote for the union. However, in the case of new tensions similar to the one in
Ukraine, more people would back a military alliance with Russia (22.5%) than
with Romania (12.5%).

POLITICS The Prosecutor General’s Office announced on Tuesday that a criminal
investigation was initiated with respect to an incident in Parliament, where
the Romanian energy minister Virgil Popescu was assaulted by the co-president
of the nationalist opposition party AUR, George Simion. Popescu had previously filed
a criminal complaint against Simion. While attending a Chamber of Deputies
meeting on Monday, the Liberal minister Virgil Popescu was insulted and
assaulted by Simion. The meeting was suspended, and subsequently resumed with only
the opposition MPs from AUR and USR in attendance.

POLLUTION Romanian authorities have today launched 2 programmes, RABLA Clasic and
RABLA Plus 2022, with a combined budget of around 240 million euros. Under the
2 programmes, the Government provides subsidies for scrapping old and heavily
polluting motor vehicles. The same rules apply as in previous years, but
novelties have also been introduced. One of them is the option of using 2
vouchers obtained through scrapping used vehicles for the purchase of a hybrid
or electric vehicle.

UKRAINE The president of France Emmanuel Macron discussed with the Russian
leader Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday about the need for dialogue in the
context of the Ukraine standoff. At the end of the meeting, Emmanuel Macron said
all parties should behave responsibly in this crisis. He pleaded for
maintaining the current system of agreements concerning European security, and
suggested that a system of concrete security guarantees be put together for all
stakeholders. In turn, Putin said a number of ideas and proposals put forth by
the French president may pave the way for the de-escalation of the current
crisis over Ukraine. Vladimir Putin also added that Russia and France have
shared concerns regarding security in Europe. Today the French president meets
his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, in the first official
visit of a French president to that country in 24 years. Macron has repeatedly
discussed the need to deescalate tensions and to find diplomatic solutions to
the situation in the east of Europe, and emphasised that finding a political
way out of the standoff was his priority. Meanwhile in Washington, following
talks at the White House with the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, US president
Joe Biden said diplomacy remains the best way to settle the Ukraine crisis. He warned
however that the US and NATO will be prepared in case Russia attacks Ukraine. (tr. A.M.P.)

8 February 2022
January 22, 2022 UPDATE

COVID-19 19,371 new Covid cases and 48 related deaths were reported in Romania on Saturday. The number of fatalities is over 10 times smaller than at the peak of the previous wave of the pandemic, but the infection rate continues to grow, reaching 8.77 per thousand in Bucharest. The highest SARS-CoV-2 infection rate in the capital city (16.54 per thousand) was reached on 22nd October last year. The worst-case scenario considered by the authorities predicts up to 70,000 new cases per day in the first half of February. The health minister Alexandru Rafila says that 173 outpatient Covid-19 evaluation centres are already operational across the country, out of a planned 230.

CELEBRATION The government of Romania celebrated on Saturday 160 years since the first government of Romania was formed, after the union of the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia was officially recognised. On this occasion, on the walls of Victoria Palace in the capital city Bucharest, which hosts the head offices of the government of Romania, images were projected during the evening, which are relevant for this milestone in Romanian history, such as the Romanian flag, the date when the first government of Romania was formed, namely 22nd of January, 1862 and the name of the countrys first prime minister, Barbu Catargiu. On Monday, which is a national holiday in Romania, 163 years since the union of the Romanian Principalities will be marked. On 24th January 1859, Alexandru Ioan Cuza, elected ruler of Moldavia the previous week, was unanimously elected sovereign of Wallachia as well, and proclaimed ruler of the United Principalities. During his rule, the institutional foundations were laid for modern Romania.

STRIKE Romanias capital city Bucharest found itself without above-ground public transportation means on Saturday as well. It was 3rd consecutive day of strike for the Bucharest Transport Corporation, although a court ruled the protest illegal. Unions stand by their demands, which include pay raises and the resignation of the corporations CEO. The drivers who refuse to work risk having their employment contracts terminated, said the Bucharest mayor general Nicusor Dan. He also said the City Hall made available a toll-free number for drivers to report whether they are prevented by their colleagues from going to work, and added that a criminal case has been opened in this respect. Meanwhile, the government is facing demands from trade unions in public education and healthcare as well.

NATO On Friday NATO rejected Russias request for the pull-out of the Alliances troops in Bulgaria and Romania, and denounced the concept of spheres of influence, NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu said. Russia requested guarantees from the US and NATO that the Alliance would not enlarge further eastwards, and demanded the withdrawal of the troops and equipment deployed to the countries that have joined the organisation since 1997. Also on Friday, the Pentagon announced a large-scale NATO naval exercise in the Mediterranean, amid tensions with Russia, which also announced major naval manoeuvres, AFP reports. Polands PM Mateusz Morawiecki called on European leaders to take a firm and united stand against Russia, in the context of fears that Moscow might plan an invasion of Ukraine. NATO members Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will provide Ukraine with US-made anti-armour and anti-aircraft missiles, the defence ministers of the 3 countries announced in a joint statement. In Romania, president Klaus Iohannis has called a meeting of the Supreme Defence Council on Wednesday. The meeting will focus on the security situation at the Black Sea and on NATOs eastern flank, and measures to develop resilience and response capabilities related to the new security challenges.

TENNIS The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep qualified in the round of 16 of the Australian Open, after defeating Danka Kovinic of Montenegro, 6-2, 6-1, in the 3rd round of the tournament in Melbourne on Saturday. Halep (15 WTA and 14th seed), won the match in 64 minutes. It was the 8th consecutive win for the Romanian player this season. In the next round Simona Halep takes on Alizé Cornet of France (61 WTA). Also on Saturday, another Romanian, Sorana Cîrstea, won in the 3rd round against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia, seed no 10. In the next round, Sorana Cîrstea will take on Iga Swiatek of Poland (9 WTA). (tr. A.M. Popescu)

22 January 2022
January 22, 2022

COVID-19 19,371
new Covid cases and 48 related deaths have been reported in Romania today. The
number of fatalities is over 10 times smaller than at the peak of the previous
wave of the pandemic, but the infection rate continues to grow, reaching 8.77
per thousand in Bucharest. The highest SARS-CoV-2 infection rate in the capital
city (16.54 per thousand) was reached on 22nd October last year. The
worst-case scenario considered by the authorities predicts up to 70,000 new
cases per day in the first half of February. The health minister Alexandru
Rafila says that 173 outpatient Covid-19 evaluation centres are already
operational across the country, out of a planned 230.

NATO On Friday
NATO rejected Russia’s request for the pull-out of the Alliance’s troops in
Bulgaria and Romania, and denounced the concept of spheres of influence, NATO
spokesperson Oana Lungescu said. Russia requested guarantees from the US and
NATO that the Alliance would not enlarge further eastwards, and demanded the
withdrawal of the troops and equipment deployed to the countries that have
joined the organisation since 1997. Also on Friday, the Pentagon announced a
large-scale NATO naval exercise in the Mediterranean, amid tensions with
Russia, which also announced major naval manoeuvres, AFP reports. Poland’s PM
Mateusz Morawiecki called on European leaders to take a firm and united stand
against Russia, in the context of fears that Moscow might plan an invasion of
Ukraine. NATO members Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will provide Ukraine with
US-made anti-armour and anti-aircraft missiles, the defence ministers of the 3
countries announced in a joint statement. In Romania, president Klaus Iohannis
has called a meeting of the Supreme Defence Council on Wednesday. The meeting
will focus on the security situation at the Black Sea and on NATO’s eastern
flank, and measures to develop resilience and response capabilities related to
the new security challenges.

CELEBRATION
The government of Romania celebrates today 160 years since the first government
of Romania was formed, after the union of the principalities of Moldavia and
Wallachia was officially recognised. On this occasion, on the walls of Victoria
Palace in the capital city Bucharest, which hosts the head offices of the
government of Romania, images will be projected during the evening, which are
relevant for this milestone in Romanian history, such as the Romanian flag, the
date when the first government of Romania was formed, namely 22nd of
January, 1862 and the name of the country’s first prime minister, Barbu
Catargiu. On Monday, which is a national holiday in Romania, 163 years since
the union of the Romanian Principalities will be marked. On 24th
January 1859, Alexandru Ioan Cuza, elected ruler of Moldavia the previous week,
was unanimously elected sovereign of Wallachia as well, and proclaimed ruler of
the United Principalities. During his rule, the institutional foundations were
laid for modern Romania.

SOCIAL Romania’s capital city Bucharest finds itself without above-ground public
transportation means on Saturday as well. It is for 3rd consecutive
day of strike for the Bucharest Transport Corporation, although a court ruled
the protest illegal. Unions stand by their demands, which include pay raises
and the resignation of the corporation’s CEO. Meanwhile, the government and
trade unions in public education are working to reach an agreement by 4th
February, following a first round of negotiations after teachers went on strike
on Wednesday. Unionists want pay raises, additional staff to be employed, and
6% of GDP to be earmarked for public education. Public healthcare unions are
also to discuss their demands next week with officials from the healthcare,
finances and labour ministries.

TENNIS The
Romanian tennis player Simona Halep qualified in the round of 16 of the
Australian Open, after defeating Danka Kovinic of Montenegro, 6-2, 6-1, in the
3rd round of the tournament in Melbourne today. Halep (15 WTA and 14th
seed), won the match in 64 minutes. It was the 8th consecutive win
for the Romanian player this season. In the next round Simona Halep takes on Alizé Cornet of France (61 WTA). Also
today, another Romanian, Sorana Cîrstea, is playing in the 3rd round
against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia, seed no 10. In the women’s doubles,
Jaqueline Cristian (Romania) / Andrea Petkovic (Germany) qualified in the 8th-finals,
having defeated the Slovenians Kaja Juvan / Tamara Zidansek, 6-4, 6-0, and are
next to play agaist Kirsten Flipkens (Belgium) / Sara Sorribes Tormo (Spain). (tr. A.M. Popescu)

22 January 2022
Face masks will be compulsory outdoors again

Romanian authorities are getting ready for the 5th wave of the coronavirus pandemic, which according to some estimates may cause up to one million active infection cases.

The first measure is to reintroduce compulsory face covering both outdoors and indoors, as the head of the Department for Emergency Situations Raed Arafat announced. The measure concerns surgical masks or FFP2 masks, which provide better protection, and eliminates cloth masks, which are inefficient with the Omicron variant.

Raed Arafat also announced that other restrictions will be reintroduced, depending on the case frequency. A decision made by the National Committee on Emergency Situations on Wednesday introduces a 30% of capacity ceiling for concerts and cinema halls in places with more than one case per thousand people, and a similar ceiling for restaurants in places with frequency rates above 3 per thousand.

Arafat added that access will remain conditional on the digital COVID certificate. He warned businesses that they risk having to suspend operations as a large number of their employees will get infected unless protection rules are observed.

The face covering rule will allow for exceptions, such as for sports activities. Critical infrastructure units may introduce compulsory testing for employees or the obligation to wear FFP2 masks, the same official added, and mentioned the example of the Cernavodă nuclear power plant.

Healthcare authorities also announced that people with moderate forms of the disease will be able to choose from 160 outpatient centres. The health minister Alexandru Rafila said the goal was to reduce the number of severe forms and of fatalities, and the healthcare system is being organised so as to streamline case referral.

In turn, the coordinator of the vaccine rollout, Valeriu Gheorghiţă, explained that the Omicrons airborne transmission and shorter incubation times compared to previous variants make immunisation the best form of protection from severe forms. “Vaccination and the administration of the booster dose to eligible citizens remains a priority, because this is the way to reduce the number of patients who will need anti-viral treatment, hospitalisation, intensive care, and the number of fatalities,” Valeriu Gheorghiță said.

Romania is last but one in the EU in terms of vaccination, with only 41 of the population having received the serum so far, and little over 2 million people having also received the booster. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

6 January 2022
November 21, 2021

GOVERNMENT The president of Romania
Klaus Iohannis invited parliamentary parties to consultations on Monday to
appoint a new PM designate. The Social
Democrats and the Liberals, which have the largest number of seats in
Parliament, carry on negotiations today to form a new cabinet jointly with the
Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania. The 3 parties have a
political agreement and a governing programme in place. According to the
National Liberal Party, no tax raises are planned, but the special department
investigating offences in the judiciary will be dismantled by March 31. Public
pensions, salaries and child allowances will be increased. One decision yet to
be made is which party will appoint the prime minister in the new PM rotation
system. The Liberals nominated the interim defence minister Nicolae Ciucă for
the post, while the Social Democrats want the position to go to their president
Marcel Ciolacu. The 3 parties are still considering 2 scenarios for
distributing cabinet seats. The first option is with a Social Democratic PM and
the Liberals and Social Democrats heading an equal number of ministries, while
in the second scenario a Liberal will be PM and the Liberal Party will have
fewer cabinet members. The Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians says in both
scenarios they will keep the development, environment and sports ministries.

COVID-19 Over 1,930 new COVID-19 cases
have been reported in Romania today, along with 121 related fatalities, 16 of
them from an earlier date. As many as 1,573 patients are in intensive care, but
the number of patients is on the decrease. The National Committee on Emergency
Situations agreed that in places with infection
rates below 3 per thousand schools may resume on-site teaching regardless of
the vaccination rate among teaching staff. Several
activities subject to restrictions in recent weeks may now be resumed, but a
final decision is to be made by the government. Such activities include sports
events, concerts, performances and outdoor festivals, conferences and training
sessions. Only holders of the digital Covid certificate will be permitted to
take part. Should the situation continue to improve, the winter holidays might
take place without many restrictions, the head of the Emergency Committee Raed
Arafat said. As for the vaccine rollout, over 7.1 million people are
fully vaccinated in Romania so far.

TRAVEL The
National Committee on Emergency Situations updated the list of countries and
territories by COVID-19 incidence rates. Germany, Greece, Hungary, Bulgaria and the UK
are now red-list countries, while France, Portugal, Monaco, Chile, Lebanon and
Guyana were included in the medium-risk category.

PANDEMIC Meanwhile in Europe the new pandemic wave has prompted states to
reintroduce restrictions, which in turn led to large-scale protests. In Austria
and Netherlands people took to the streets to protest the ‘corona dictatorship’.
In Austria, where a full lockdown takes effect on Monday, tensions deepen
between citizens and the authorities that try to step up the vaccine rollout so
as to help hospitals cope with the record-large number of cases. Some 40,000 people
rallied in Vienna on Saturday. The Netherlands saw the most violent clashes in
Europe, with 3 people hospitalised in Rotterdam and over 50 arrested during the
clashes with police. The country has a partial lockdown and further
restrictions are being considered, such as prohibiting access to restaurants
and events for the unvaccinated. Anti-Covid restriction protests also took
place in Belgium and Denmark. Infection rates are surging in Eastern Europe as
well, including in Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary.

MOLDOVA The president of the Republic of Moldova Maia Sandu
will be on an official visit to Romania on Tuesday, at the invitation of her
Romanian counterpart Klaus Iohannis. This is Sandu’s first visit to Romania
since July’s early election won by her party Action and Solidarity (PAS), and
it takes place in the context of the celebration of 30 years of diplomatic
relations, after in 1991, the ex-Soviet republic proclaimed its independence
from Moscow. According to the Romanian presidency, this is an opportunity to
reconfirm the special, privileged Strategic Partnership between the 2 countries,
based on common linguistic, cultural and historical elements. The talks between
Iohannis and Sandu will encourage the development of joint projects in the
fields of energy, transport, healthcare, education and information society, with
a focus on projects designed to help connect the Republic of Moldova with the
EU to the benefit of all its citizens. (tr.
A.M. Popescu)

21 November 2021
November 18, 2021

Government. The
Social Democrats and the Liberals may resume today negotiations on the
structure and governing programme of the new Cabinet they intend to form
jointly with the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians. While both parties agreed to the idea of a rotation government, Wednesday’s
talks were suspended as each party insisted on being the first to designate the
prime minister. The Social Democrats nominated their president, Marcel Ciolacu,
who promised his cabinet would be in office as early as next week. In turn, the
Liberals want their own leader and interim PM to stay in office, although he
was dismissed last month in a no-confidence vote. Two subsequent attempts
at forming a minority government failed, and President Klaus Iohannis has said he will only invite parties to consultations
after a parliamentary majority is agreed on.

COVID-19. Romania reported little over 3,000
new COVID-19 infections in the past 24 hours, as well as 332 related
fatalities, 76 of them from an earlier date. According to official data, 311 of
the total number of deaths were reported among unvaccinated patients. More than
1,600 patients are currently in intensive care. The infection rate across the
country is dropping, but scores of cities still have incidence rates above 6
per 1,000 inhabitants. As of Wednesday Romania has over
7 million fully vaccinated citizens.

Vaccination. The
digital COVID certificate and the vaccine are our main instruments in fighting
the pandemic, and we must use them, the European Commissioner for internal
market Thierry Breton said while on an official visit to Bucharest. He
emphasised Europeans are rather lucky to have an effective vaccine against the
virus available. The EU official also said the low vaccination rate jeopardises
Romanians’ health and is a barrier to the full recovery of Romania and of the
EU as a whole. During his meeting with the interim health minister Cseke
Attila, the 2 officials discussed the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, the vaccine
supply and the measures taken by member states with respect to the digital
certificate. Thierry Breton will also have a meeting with president Klaus Iohannis
later today.

Pandemic. A new COVID-19 wave hit
the centre and west of Europe, with nearly 53,000 new cases reported in 24
hours in Germany, 25,000 in Poland, 20,000 in France, 14,000 in Austria, 10,000
in Hungary. The Netherlands also announced a 44% increase this week compared to
the previous one. Restrictions are once again introduced, especially against
the unvaccinated, which prompts new interest in getting the vaccine. Sweden for
the first time introduces a green pass to be used as of 1 December for events
with more than 100 participants. France on the other hand does not plan new
restrictions.

Moldova. Chișinău continues to call for the pull-out of
Russian troops from the east of Moldova, the country’s foreign minister Nicu
Popescu said in Moscow, at a joint press conference with his Russian
counterpart Sergey Lavrov. This is a priority of our foreign
policy, Popescu said, referring to the troops deployed in the breakaway region
of Transnistria, which Russia’s ex-president Boris Yeltsin undertook to pull
out as far back as in the 1999 OSCE Summit in Istanbul. The Republic of Moldova
has had no control on the breakaway region of Transnistria since 1992, after an
armed conflict that killed hundreds of people was ended by the intervention of
Russian troops on the side of the separatists. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

18 November 2021