January 9, 2023 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 09.01.2023, 19:53
School. Schools and kindergartens reopened in Romania on Monday after the winter break, among seasonal flu and viral respiratory infection alerts. The authorities call on parents not to send their kids to school if they have symptoms. The education and health ministries have taken measures and issued guidelines to prevent the transmission of respiratory viruses. In another move, after a meeting with medicine manufacturers, the Minister of Health, Alexandru Rafila, gave assurances on Monday that antiviral drugs, which have been missing from the market for several weeks, will soon be available in pharmacies.
Government. The government of Romania is considering a number of projects for the forthcoming period, which have already been agreed on within the ruling coalition, the PM Nicolae Ciucă announced. Healthcare, education and investments, including the targets and benchmarks undertaken under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, are the main areas to receive special attention. The government posted for public debate a draft resolution on masters, Ph. D, post-doctoral and research grants abroad. In terms of healthcare system improvements, the proposed measures include hospital revamping using EU funds.
Funding. Three new funding contracts have been signed between the European Investment Bank and the Romanian Ministry of Finance, with a total value of over 260 million euros. Most of this amount will be used for the rehabilitation, refurbishing and expansion, in the next three years, of 26 sanitary units across the country. They will be prepared to deal with possible future pandemics, but also to support the overburdened public hospital sector. The rest of the money will be redirected to works to improve the safety of national roads in Romania and reduce the number of accidents, within a larger project that includes roundabouts, passages and direction-signaling systems.
Unemployment. The unemployment rate in Romania dropped slightly, from 5.5% in October to 5.4% in November, according to data made public on Monday by the National Statistics Institute. The number of unemployed people aged between 15 and 74 estimated for November 2022 was 447,700, down from the 453,200 reported for the previous month and from the 450,000 reported for November 2021. The unemployment rate is 0.9% higher among men (5.8% for men and 4.9% for women). Unemployment among youth under 24 remains at a worrying 22.9%, the INS warns. The number of unemployed people aged 25 to 74 accounted for 74.3% of the total number estimated for November 2022.
Culture. This year, the city of Timisoara (western Romania) is one of the three European cultural capitals, along with Elefsina in Greece and Veszprém in Hungary. The official opening of the event will take place between February 17 and 19, and throughout the year no less than 50 shows, concerts, premiere films, exhibitions and other forms of cultural manifestation are already included in the calendar of events, with more than 2,500 artists from the country and abroad participating. On the other hand, the city of Timisoara appears in a list of the best places to visit, compiled by the British daily “The Independent”. The publication urges tourists to admire the baroque buildings and historical squares of Timisoara, while also promoting art exhibitions, classical music concerts and jazz festivals. The mayor of the city, Dominic Fritz, stated that the stake this year is to attract tourists and investors.
Ukraine. Wars like the one in Ukraine, where civilian areas are subjected to indiscriminate destruction, are “a crime against God and humanity”, Pope Francis said on Monday. In his annual speech to diplomats accredited to the Vatican, the Pope spoke about “the war in Ukraine, with its wake of death and destruction, with its attacks on civil infrastructures that cause lives to be lost not only from gunfire and acts of violence, but also from hunger and freezing cold”. Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces are withstanding constant Russian attacks on Bakhmut and other towns in the east of Donbas, the Ukrainian authorities announced today. “Bakhmut is holding out against all odds”, president Volodymyr Zelensky said in his Sunday address. The nearby town of Soledar is also holding out, “although there is even more destruction there and it is extremely hard”, he added.(MI)
