March 26, 2021

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 26.03.2021, 13:55

Restrictions. Covid infections are rising in
Romania, where more than 6,500 new cases and 116 fatalities were recorded on
Friday, while ICU admissions rose to 1,364. 11 counties and Bucharest are in
the red zone, with an infection rate of more than 3 cases per 1,000 residents.
On Thursday evening, the government approved new measures to contain the
pandemic. Movement outside the home is banned from 8 pm at the weekend and from
10 pm during weekdays and shops will be closing at 6 pm in places where the
infection rate surpasses 4 cases per 1,000 residents. Where the infection rate
passes 7.5, the movement restrictions for the weekend will also apply during
weekdays. As an exception, movement will be permitted until 2 am on Passover
and Catholic and Orthodox Easter.

EU. Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis, who is
attending a two-day online EU summit, reiterated a call for unity and the
consolidation of the European Union. Solidarity is the only way to move forward
in these difficult times, he said. The Covid pandemic is the main topic on the
agenda of the European Council, with EU leaders stressing the need to step up
production, delivery and distribution of vaccines. They are also discussing the
preparations for the gradual relaxation of restrictions and the consolidation
of the Union’s global response to the pandemic. In the conclusions published
after the first day of the summit and adopted on Thursday night, EU leaders
called on Turkey to abstain from further provocation or unilateral actions that
run counter to international law and said they would analyse the progress made
in June. A summit on the European single currency was also held on the
sidelines of the European Council meeting focusing on the international role of
the euro.

Strike. The Bucharest underground service was
down this morning because of a spontaneous strike of metro workers. Transport
minister Cătălin Drulă said the protest was illegal and disruptive. In a
Facebook post, he said a handful of people are trying to retain their
privileges and plum jobs and that what’s in fact at stake are the dubious
businesses involving the leasing of commercial space in metro stations. The
protest came only one day after the administrator of these commercial spaces, a
firm owned by a trade union, was notified that these spaces must be freed and
handed over to the administrator of the underground transport network by 2nd
April. The Bucharest Underground Company Metrorex says some of the commercial
activities carried out in metro stations are blocking evacuation exits and may pose
a danger to people’s safety in case of emergency. The representatives of the
trade union that organised the strike replied that all shops inside metro
stations were set up in keeping with the law and with the approval of Metrorex,
and that 80% of them are owned by metro trade unions. Some 700,000 people use
the Bucharest metro every day.

Clock change. The European Parliament urges stepping
up efforts to respond to a call from EU citizens to give up plans to change
clocks in EU member states. In March 2019, MEPs voted to discontinue the
practice of changing clocks by one hour in spring and autumn from 2021.
According to the European Parliament, two years later, the EU Council is yet to
propose a common position. 84% of EU citizens are in favour of ending the clock
changes, which many studies say have negative effects on human health, emphasised
the rapporteur for the European Parliament Johan Danielsson shortly before EU
countries are due to switch to summer time. For the new rules to become EU law,
they must be adopted by both Parliament and the European ministers.

Visit. Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu
travels to Slovenia today for talks with president Borut Pahor, the speaker of
the National Assembly Igor Zorcic and political consultations with minister
Anze Logar. A foreign ministry statement says the visit is a good opportunity to
review concrete ways to expand bilateral cooperation on a political, economic
and sectoral level. Talks focus on the priorities of the European agenda with
emphasis on combating the effects of the Covid pandemic, enhancing the bloc’s
resilience, the upcoming debates as part of the Conference on the Future of
Europe, economic recovery, the enlargement policy and ways to revitalise the
Eastern Partnership. The Eastern Partnership summit will be held during Slovenia’s EU presidency,
which begins on 1st July.

Football. Romania defeated North Macedonia on Thursday
evening in Bucharest in their first World Cup qualifying match. Romania will
next be facing group favourites Germany, who defeated Iceland on Thursday,
3-nil. In another group match, Armenia defeated Liechtenstein 1-nil. Group
winners are ensured qualification for the World Cup, while the second-placed
sides will go into play-offs. In other football news, Romania’s Under-21 side
will be playing Hungary on Saturday as part of the European Under-21 Football
Championship hosted by Hungary jointly with Slovenia. In their opening
championship match, Romania drew 1-all against The Netherlands. Germany are
also in their group.

Tennis. World no.
3 Simona Halep of Romania defeated France’s Caroline Garcia to reach the third
round at the Miami Open. She will next be playing Latvia’s Anastasija
Sevastova. Another Romanian player, world no. 66 Sorana Cirstea is facing
Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit today. In the
women’s doubles, the Romanian-German pair Simona Halep and Angelique Kerber are
playing the Belgian-Belarussian pair Elise Mertens and Arina Sabalenka, while
the Romanian-Russian pair Monica Niculescu and Ana Blinkova are playing the
American-Polish pair Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Iga Swiatek, while Raluca Olaru
of Romania and Nadia Kichenok of Ukraine are playing the all-American pair Cori
Gauff and Catherine McNally. (CM)