May 23, 2020 UPDATE

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Newsroom, 23.05.2020, 19:20

COUNTER-PROPOSAL Austria, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands have
submitted a counter-proposal to the French-German initiative for a European
Union recovery plan against the coronavirus, DPA reports quoted by Romanian
news agency Agerpress. The four countries support the idea of a unique
emergency fund to strengthen the EU economy and have made it clear they will not
agree to consolidate the debt and increase the Community budget. German
Chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Emmanuel Macron have recently
proposed a 500-billion-euro recovery plan for the countries affected by the
crisis. The German Chancellor said that the countries most affected by the
crisis should be the first to benefit the plan. The French president and the
German Chancellor agreed the funds should be provided as grants.

PROTESTS Spain will be opening its borders to
tourists starting July this year, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has announced.
According to Sanchez, the first league of the Spanish football championship is
due to resume on June 8th, when all the provinces in this country
are going to be in the last stage of the restrictions imposed by the
coronavirus pandemic. Saturday saw a series of protests in several Spanish
cities staged by the far-right party VOX against Socialist premier Pedro
Sanchez whom they blame for having inappropriately handled the corona crisis and
are calling for his resignation. Spain has been one of the most affected
European countries by the pandemic with over 235 thousand infections and over
28 thousand fatalities.

COVID 19 Another 4 people have been killed by the new coronavirus in Romania
raising the total number of fatalities to 1170. The number of deaths caused by
the new coronavirus has constantly dropped this week and the number of people
cured is higher than the number of infections. Nearly 11200 people have been
cured out of the 17850 infected, which accounts for 63 percent. The number of
quarantined has gradually diminished by one third since the beginning of the
week. However, the number of those in home isolation has significantly grown
against the relaxation measures for the Romanian nationals who lived abroad and
now are coming back to Romania. The national test rate stood at 10 thousand
tests a day. Bucharest city hall has recently launched an online platform part
of a free campaign aimed at testing people for the new coronavirus. A first
group of 11 thousand Bucharesters will be tested as part of this campaign and
the municipality is to commence a medical survey during which another 10,500
Bucharesters will be invited to take the test.

REACTION The Romanian authorities have described as completely unacceptable the
latest statements by Ion Chicu, the Prime Minister of the Romanian-speaking
Republic of Moldova against Romania. In a Facebook post in which he rejects
criticism of the way in which he is handling the medical crisis and delayed
reforms, Chicu describes Romania as ‘having the biggest corruption in Europe’.
In turn, Romania’s Foreign Ministry says such statements are all the more so
inadequate as Romania has recently sent substantial medical aid to the Republic
of Moldova to help the latter deal with the pandemic. According to the same
sources, the statements are denoting a profound lack of respect for Romania,
for the privileged bilateral relations of strategic partnership for the
country’s European integration. Romania has pointed out that the implementation
of the reforms assumed through the Association Agreement with the European Union
is not only an obligation for the Republic of Moldova but also a guarantee of
prosperity for its citizens, which can be ensured only through sustained
efforts of implementing the rule of law and through democratic institutions.

INQUIRY The National Anti-Corruption Directorate in Bucharest has this week
announced it has been working on 33 files on the organization, distribution and
execution of public procurement contracts in the medical field during the
coronavirus pandemic. Prosecutors have observed ex officio in 25 cases.
According to chief prosecutor Crin Bologa, the cases involve decision-makers in
the institutions playing a major role in the procurement of medical equipment
and materials. An inquiry has been launched against some private companies and
state institutions.

(translated by bill)