April 9, 2021
A roundup of domestic and international news.
Newsroom, 09.04.2021, 14:32
CORRUPTION — The National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA) has requested the Senate to green light the prosecution of the Social Democratic senator Florian Bodog. The request is now at the Senate’s Legal Commitee, which has until Monday to make a preliminary assessment of the document. According to anti-corruption prosecutors, Bodog made arrangements, while a minister, for a person employed as a personal advisor to receive her salary rights for a period of 12 months without actually going to work and without performing the activities required by the job.
UPDATE – The National Committee for Emergencies has updated the list of states and territories with high epidemiological risk. Travelers arriving from these countries are required to enter a 14-day quarantine. 44 states are on the list, including France, the Netherlands, Hungary, Moldova, Ukraine, Bulgaria and Turkey. Italy, Greece, the UK and Germany are not on the list. The decision takes effect starting April 13.
DEFICIT — Romania recorded a trade deficit of 3 billion euros in the first two months of the year, up 455.9 million euros as against the same period of 2020, according to the National Statistics Institute (NSI). Between January 1 and February 28, 2021, exports accounted for almost 11.2 billion euros while imports stood at 14.2 billion euros. Exports went down by 3.7% while imports went up by 0.2% as compared with the same period of the previous year.
CORONAVIRUS – Romania is on a downward trend in terms of number of infections with the novel coronavirus, with less than 5 thousand confirmed cases on Thursday, out of 40,000 tests taken within 24 hours. The number of patients in intensive care is still high – 1,495. Authorities announced 172 new deaths on Thursday. Also on Thursday the government extended the state of alert in Romania by 30 days but announced restrictions will be eased for the upcoming Orthodox Easter so that believers can attend the religious service. Almost 2.2 million people have been given at least one shot of the Covid vaccine in Romania.
AID – Romania is today sending 310,000 protective masks to Serbia, to help authorities in the neighboring country cope with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The masks are part of a strategic medical equipment reserve set up at EU level in the context of the sanitary crisis. This reserve is hosted by a number of European countries, Romania included. The medical equipment was purchased by Romania based on a 10-million euro loan signed with the European Commission. A convoy of the Arad Inspectorate for Emergencies is ensuring the transport, whose cost will be entirely covered by the Commission through the EU’s Civil Protection Mechanism.
EDUCATION – A number of Romanian student associations have announced protests for today, against the current state of the Romanian education. They call on authorities to allow the start of the school year on September 1, and to guarantee a minimum number of school days. After the spring holiday, school is set to begin in keeping with the three scenarios that are based on the epidemiological situation. Thus, an infection rate smaller than 1 in one thousand residents will allow students to go to school while an infection rate of 3 per one thousand residents means that only primary school students and 8th and 12th graders will be present in class. An infection rate higher than 3 per one thousand residents means online classes for all, except pre-school and primary school students. (EE)
