December 22, 2021 UPDATE

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Newsroom, 22.12.2021, 20:00

REVOLUTION The heroes who died in the December 1989 anti-communist
uprising were commemorated on Wednesday in Bucharest. Religious services and
military ceremonies were held at the cemeteries and monuments across the
country devoted to those who sacrificed their lives for freedom. Thirty-two years ago, Bucharest became the heart of the
protests that culminated with the ousting of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. The
president of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, sent a message on the Day of
the Victory of the Romanian Revolution and of Freedom. December 1989 opened
Romania’s path to democracy, allowed for our NATO and EU accession, for signing
the Strategic Partnership with the USA and turned Romania into a regional
security provider. None of this would have been possible without our
anti-communist revolution, Iohannis pointed out. He said it is a shame that no one has paid for the victims of the terrible
crackdown and called on the judiciary to bring the ones responsible to justice.

BUDGET The draft state budget and
social security budget laws for 2022 are being discussed by the Parliament of
Romania. At the start of the session, PM Nicolae Ciucă said the proposed state
budget is balanced, responsible and realistic, and able to consolidate the
economy in the long run. He also said it is the budget that earmarked the
largest amounts for investments in the last 32 years. Cuica promised that taxes
will not go up and there will be no pressure on the business community.
Previously, Parliament’s specialised committees had green-lighted the bills. The budget is based on an
estimated economic growth rate of 4.6% and a GDP of some 260 billion euro, a
predicted inflation rate of 6.5% and gross average salaries of 1,200 euros per
month. USR party in opposition is considering
taking the draft budget law to the Constitutional Court, claiming that mayors
from that party have not received budget appropriations, which is an instance
of discrimination.

PROTESTS The
Romanian police arrested 2 people and fined around 200 organisers and
participants in Wednesday’s protest of the supporters of AUR party, an ultra-nationalist
and anti-vaccine party in Romania’s parliament. The protest was sparked by the
authorities’ plan to make the digital COVID certificate a requirement at the
workplace. The rally spiralled into vandalism, with one of the arrested
participants pushing through the Parliament’s gates and the other suspected of
having vandalised 4 vehicles. The investigation continues.

COVID-19 Nearly 200,000 people have generated digital
forms to enter Romanian territory since the launch of the application, most of
them at the ‘Henri Coandă’ International Airport in Bucharest. As of December
20, all passengers arriving in Romania are to fill in the Passenger Locator
Form (PLF), a document used by 18 EU member countries. Meanwhile, 851 new Covid-19
infections were reported for the past 24 hours in Romania, along with 62 related fatalities, 18 of them from a
previous date. As many as 2,830 SARS-CoV-2 patients are hospitalised, including
62 children. More than 7.7 million people in Romania are fully vaccinated. (tr. A.M. Popescu)