August 12, 2020
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 12.08.2020, 14:00
Budget — The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis is today holding a meeting on the budget adjustment with the PM Ludovic Orban and the finance minister Florin Citu, the presidential administration informs. The budget adjustment will be adopted this week, the PM had previously announced. He said that budget constraints are very high at the moment and each request for increasing the budget will be seriously considered.
Crisis — The PM Ludovic Orban is presenting today in parliament a report on the management of the new coronavirus epidemic as well as on the measures the government prepared for the start of the new school year and the organization of local elections. Senators and deputies will also discuss a report of the Court of Accounts related to the public purchases the government made during the pandemic. The Court estimated additional revenues as compared to what was declared, identified financial and accounting irregularities and torts. The PM Ludovic Orban said the state of alert would most probably be extended but the decision depended on the evolution of the pandemic. The Strategic Communication Group has announced another 1,415 new cases of Covid-19, which takes the total number of infections to 65,177.
Corona world — More than 20.5 million cases of coronavirus infection have been confirmed around the world, with 745 thousand deaths reported. The US continues to be the most affected country, with more than 5.3 million cases, being followed by Brazil and India. The Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the authorization of the first vaccine against the new coronavirus, saying that the vaccine is efficient and has passed all necessary tests. Russia claims that more than 20 countries have ordered almost one billion vials. The vaccine will be called Sputnik V on the external markets. The WHO has received Russia’s announcement with caution and showed that the vaccine needs to go through the pre-acknowledgement stages. The German health minister in turn expressed doubt as to the quality, efficiency and safety of the Russian vaccine and an expert with the College University in London labeled the Russian initiative as irresponsible and imprudent.
Election — Sunday’s presidential election in Belarus was neither free nor fair, said the 27 EU countries in a declaration adopted on Tuesday. The EU has announced sanctions against those responsible for the violence against the protesters in the wake of the election. The US called for the cessation of repression and the immediate and unconditional release of the people arrested. The presidential challenger Svetlana Tihanovskaia contested the victory of the acting president Aleksandr Lukaşenko and took refuge in Lithuania. The situation in Belarus is on the agenda of the informal meeting of the EU foreign ministers to be held in Berlin on August 27 and 28.
Anonimul – A new edition of the Anonimul International Independent Film Festival starts this evening in the Danube Delta, in the village of Sfantu Gheorghe. The opening ceremony will be followed by the screening of the film ‘The Father’ featuring Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman. The fiction film is the debut of Florian Zeller who confessed that the film is personal, being inspired by his grandma’s story who was diagnosed with dementia when he was 15. The 17th edition of the Anonimul Festival wil come to an end on August 16 and will unfold in the open air. Less than 400 people will be allowed for each screening, as a preventive measure against the spread of the new coronavius. (L. Simion)
