February 3, 2024 UPDATE

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Newsroom, 03.02.2024, 20:00

AGREEMENT The PM
of Romania Marcel Ciolacu and the representatives of farmers and carriers
Friday reached an agreement ending the recent protests. On Monday, the PM’s
office will set up an inter-ministry committee tasked with identifying the best
solutions for the protesters’ demands. Farmers and carriers in Romania
protested for 3 weeks against high business costs, low prices for produce, the
import of cheap foodstuffs from Ukraine and the constraints introduced by the
EU as part of its climate change action.

COMMEMORATION A
ceremony commemorating the prominent politician Iuliu Maniu, a former prime
minister of Romania and leader of the National Christian-Democratic Party, was
held on Saturday at the Memorial for the victims of communism in Sighetu
Marmaţiei (north-west). Maniu died on the night of February 4 1953, in the political
prison in Sighet, where he was serving a life sentence for high treason
pronounced by the communist regime. His name was cleared under a Supreme Court
ruling in 1998, and a monument was erected in his honour in the Revolution
Square in Bucharest.

MOLDOVA Chişinău
extended an entry ban against the leader of the Romanian nationalist party AUR,
George Simion, by another 5 years. Under Moldova’s legislation, foreigners may
be declared undesirables if they have or if there are strong reasons to believe
they intend to conduct activities likely to endanger the country’s national
security or public order. According to the R. of Moldova, the Romanian
authorities have been notified in this respect, and George Simion challenged
the decision in court. The AUR leader was expelled from Moldova in 2018, with
an entry ban in place for a period of 5 years.

HEALTHCARE Trade
unions in the healthcare sector have new talks scheduled next week with the
Romanian authorities in the context of the recent protests. The vice-president
of the Ambulanţa Trade Union Federation, Magyary Arpad, had a meeting on
Friday with the healthcare minister, Alexandru Rafila, but failed to reach an
agreement on salaries, equipment and the personnel shortage in the system.
Arpad voiced optimism with respect to a 20% pay raise deal, but said he was not
sure the measure would cover all healthcare personnel and whether it would be
implemented in full or in several instalments. He said the talks also concerned
the procurement of ambulance vehicles, office revamping and changes in the
legislation. Trade unions in healthcare initiated nation-wide protests in
November 2022, but suspended them until after next week’s meeting with PM
Marcel Ciolacu. Talks will also be held in the coming days with the Sanitas trade
union federation, which has its own salary demands for several categories of
healthcare personnel.

ALERT
Healthcare units in Romania are implementing additional measures after a state
of epidemiological alert was declared due to the growing number of respiratory
infections and flu cases. Special attention is given to the health of hospital
personnel and to the protection equipment, and visiting hours have been reduced.
Visitor access is denied in ICUs, neonatology and pediatrics departments,
coronary care units, oncology and hematology units, and in infectious disease
units. In other hospital departments, no more than 2 visitors will be allowed
at the same time in a room, and individual protection equipment will be
compulsory.

MIDDLE EAST The
US conducted scores of air raids against targets operated by Iran-controlled
groups in Iraq and Syria. The Pentagon said the raids were a response to the
recent drone attack by Iran-supported fighters, which killed 3 US troops at a
military base in Jordan, the BBC reports. Taking part in Friday’s raids were B1
long-range bombers, flying out of the US. Iran condemned the strikes, claiming
they violated the sovereignty of Syria and Iraq, AFP reports. In Bagdad, a
government spokesman announced the US strikes in western Iraq killed at least
16 people, including civilians. Meanwhile, the US state secretary Antony
Blinken will travel to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Israel and the West Bank
between February 4 and 8, primarily to reach a deal securing the freeing of all
the Israeli hostages kept in Gaza following the Hamas terror attack of October
7. (AMP)