October 13, 2021

A roundup of domestic and international news.

Newsroom, 13.10.2021, 13:55

CORONAVIRUS — Romanian authorities announced on Tuesday 16,743 new infections with Covid-19 in 24 hours and 442 related deaths. 1,667 patients are in intensive care. These are the highest figures registered in Romania since the start of the pandemic. The capital Bucharest and the neighbouring county of Ilfov have reported the highest infection rate — around 15 per thousand inhabitants. Doctor Adrian Marinescu with the Matei Bals Institute of Infectious Diseases in Bucharest said that October is expected to be a tough month from a medical perspective but that the situation will improve by the winter holidays. He warned that the anti-Covid vaccination is vital and that it is never too late to get immunised, as even a single dose of the vaccine can make the difference. In his turn, the head of the mass vaccination campaign, Valeriu Gheorghita, said that authorities are preparing a new vaccination marathon in the capital Bucharest.

PARLIAMENT – The former Liberal leader, Ludovic Orban, will resign the position of speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, less than a year since taking office. Two weeks ago, after having lost elections for the leadership of the National Liberal Party (PNL), Orban submitted his resignation to the new Liberal leader, Florin Citu. Orban gave Citu 15 days to come up with a solution so that the Liberals do not lose this post. PNL, however, have not made public any strategy to retain the leadership of the Chamber of Deputies. Citu only said the Liberals would make a proposal in this respect after Orban’s resignation takes effect. It is not clear how a majority can be built in the Bucharest Parliament, but the Liberals say they also consider having an interim Chamber of Deputies speaker.

GOVERNMENT – Romanian PM designate, Dacian Ciolos, the head of the Save Romania Union (USR), is today having his first meeting with representatives of the National Liberal Party (PNL), the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) and of other national minorities, with a view to forming the government. Talks will focus on rebuilding the initial coalition government makeup — PNL, USR, UDMR — dismantled after USR left the government following irreconcilable differences with the cabinet leader Florin Citu, who is now interim PM and leader of the National Liberal Party. According to information after the Liberal leaders met on Tuesday evening, PNL may again recommend the PM designate, Dacian Ciolos, to negotiate with the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) to form a majority, since the latter are the parties alongside which USR ousted the Citu cabinet through a no confidence motion. UDMR, just like PSD and AUR, may not support a government headed by Dacian Ciolos. The latter, however, does not rule out the idea of a minority government, made up only by members of USR, the party he leads.

COMMEMORATION – Romanian President Klaus Iohannis is attending today, at the invitation of the Swedish PM, Stefan Lofven, an international forum dedicated to the commemoration of the Holocaust and the fight against anti-Semitism, held in Malmo, Sweden. According to the Presidential Administration in Bucharest, the participation of Klaus Iohannis in the forum is part of a series of steps taken by the Romanian state to consolidate education on the Holocaust, preserve its memory and fight anti-Semitism, racism and xenophobia and also to promote European values, tolerance and respect for the basic rights and liberties. On Saturday, Iohannis signed a number of decoration decrees on the occasion of the Holocaust Remembrance Day.

ENERGY – The European Commission is today making public a so-called “energy price toolbox”, a comprehensive guide of steps that member countries can take to lower energy bills without violating EU law. Vice president of the Romanian Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE), Zoltan Nagy-Bege, said the Commission is expected to recommend mitigation of the impact of higher prices on household consumers by slashing taxes and reducing or eliminating the VAT for a limited period of time. Matthew Boyse, a Charge d’Affairs with the US Embassy in Bucharest, has criticized Russia’s contribution to the energy price hike in Europe and has accused the Kremlin of blackmailing the EU. He has also said that Romania’s prosperity and security are closely linked to energy and that the US is ready to provide assistance. (EE)