August 8, 2020 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 08.08.2020, 20:00
ASSISTANCE Romania has joined the international efforts to grant assistance to
Lebanon in the wake of the devastating explosion at an ammonium nitrate
storehouse on Tuesday. The government in Bucharest, civil society and
representatives of the Lebanese Diaspora have quickly responded to the
assistance appeal from the Lebanese government and through joint efforts
roughly 8 tons of medical equipment and medicine have been donated and are
being flown to Lebanon on board of two Romanian Air Force planes. ‘Lebanon is a
country close to the Romanian society, a country, which is also home to many Romanians
and our thoughts and our entire compassion go out to the people of Beirut
affected by this tragedy,’ Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu said before
the aforementioned planes had taken off. Police in Lebanon have fired tear gas
at the protesters who took to the streets to protest the country’s politicians
whom they blame for the devastating explosion on Tuesday, which killed at least
150 and wounded more than 5 thousand people. Hundreds have been made
temporarily homeless while the collective loss is expected to reach billions of
dollars. France has announced a video-conference of donors on Sunday aimed at
raising humanitarian aid for Lebanon.
ECONOMY Romania is
going to avoid technical recession and see a contraction lower than the
estimates of the rating agencies, the European Commission, the IMF and banks
due to the prompt and effective response of the economic policy, Romanian Finance
Minister Florin Citu says. In a Facebook post, the minister explains that
Romania is going to see an economic recovery in the third trimester and this will
translate into economic growth in 2021. According to the minister, although the
country entered the crisis with a 3.7% budget deficit, at the first adjustment
the government has risen the deficit by three percentage points and will continue
to inject money into the economy during the second adjustment stage.
MAE According
to the Romanian Foreign Ministry, authorities in Germany have revised the
conditions required for entering this country after 7 Romanian counties, Arges,
Bihor, Buzau, Neamt, Ialomita, Mehedinti and Timis have been included on a list
of risky regions. So all people coming from these regions, irrespective of
their citizenship, must produce a negative Covid test carried out 48 hours
before their arrival or take a free test 72 hours since their arrival on German
soil. Those who refuse to comply can be denied entry or can be imposed
self-isolation. If the test is carried out while on German soil, self-isolation
is imposed until the result of the test is known.
TOURISM Almost 150 thousand tourists are expected to arrive in the seaside
resorts on the Romanian Black Sea coast this weekend, which are running to full
capacity thanks to the hot weather. Tourists are requested to pay attention to
several aspects such as the extreme hot weather, the rough sea or the issues
caused by the novel coronavirus. As the seaside resorts are the most crowded tourist
areas in Romania, tourists are facing an increased risk of infection. Teams
made up of police troops, gendarmes, firefighters as well as representatives of
the public healthcare institutions and consumers’ protection have been deployed
to assess the observance of safety regulations. 150 fines totaling 11 thousand
Euros have been applied in the past 24 hours.
(translated by bill)
