COVID-19 IN ROMANIA – Over 7,000 new Covid infections were
\nreported in Romania on Thursday, most of them in capital Bucharest, followed by
\nConstanta, in the south-east, which also registered the highest infection rate
\nof 7 cases per thousand. 1,288 people are being treated in IC units. 80% out of
\nthe total 540 thousand cases reported since the beginning of the pandemic, have
\nbeen cured, while roughly 13 thousand people have died. Romania so far boasts
\nroughly 1,000 vaccination centers and this number could be increased to ease
\nthe access of all those interested. Most likely Romania will get the Pfizer
\nvaccine and 13 million people could get immunized in the first six months of
\nthe year. In another development, interim Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuc\u0103 said the
\nGovernment will extend the state of alert after December 14, without
\nintroducing additional restrictions. The state of alert was introduced in
\nmid-May to limit the spread of the coronavirus. Previously a state of emergency
\nhad been declared in Romania for two months. <\/p>\n
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COVID-19 IN THE WORLD – The total number of Covid-19
\ninfections has exceeded 69 million worldwide. 1.5 million people died and 48
\nmillion have recovered, worldometers.info says. The USA remains the world’s
\nmost affected country with 15.8 million infections and some 300 thousand
\nfatalities. The USA has constantly exceeded the daily threshold of 2,000
\nfatalities for two weeks now and Americans are waiting for a nationwide vaccine
\ndistribution. A vaccine produced by Pfizer\/BioNTech could be authorized in the
\nfollowing days while the Moderna vaccine next week. Severe side effects in
\nallergic persons have been reported in the case of the Pfizer vaccine. Britain
\nis the first country in the world to have distributed a completely
\nclinically-tested vaccine.<\/p>\n
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TALKS – President Klaus Iohannis on Monday invited political
\nparties to consultations with a view to designating the new Prime Minister.
\nLeaders of the National Liberal Party, Save Romania Union – PLUS Alliance and
\nthe Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians on Thursday had an informal round of
\ntalks with the president. The Liberals have nominated Florin C\u00ee\u0163u, the current
\nFinance Minister, for the position of Prime Minister. The Liberals announced
\nthey would hold official talks with a view to forming a majority in Parliament
\nstarting Saturday. The Social-Democratic Party on the other hand wants
\nPresident Iohannis to designate a Social-Democrat Prime Minister, considering
\nthe party grabbed the largest number of votes in the December 6 parliamentary
\nelection. The Social-Democrats have nominated Prof. Alexandru Rafila, Romania’s
\nrepresentative at the WHO, whom they claim is the best suited to manage the
\ncurrent health crisis. <\/p>\n
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EUROPEAN COUNCIL – Romania is part of the European and global
\neffort of combating climate change. We have an increasing capacity of
\ninfluencing European policies in this sector, President Klaus Iohannis said on
\nThursday ahead of the European Council meeting. In the upcoming Council
\nmeeting, Romania is expected to advocate the reduction of greenhouse gases by
\nat least 55% by 2030. President Iohannis will be pleading for the creation of a
\nflexible framework to allow all member states, irrespective of their
\ndevelopment, to effectively meet the objectives in the field of climate change.
\nEU leaders have convened in Brussels for two days to discuss the Covid-19
\npandemic and the coordinated efforts to fight it. Also high on the agenda are
\nclimate change, security and foreign relations. The heads of state and
\ngovernment of the EU countries are expected to assess the situation and hold
\ntalks about the measures to fight the disease, including vaccines and tests but
\nalso the gradual lifting of restrictions.<\/p>\n
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ECONOMY – Romania’s trade balance deficit rose by \u20ac827
\nmillion in the first ten months of the year as compared to the same period last
\nyear, up to \u20ac15 billion, according to data the National Institute for
\nstatistics released on Thursday. Over January 1 and October 31, exports stood
\nat \u20ac51 billion while imports accounted for \u20ac66 billion. According to the same
\nsources, exports went down by 12% and imports by 8.7% compared to the same
\nperiod last year.<\/p>\n
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CENTER – The Foreign Ministry has hailed the decision of EU
\nMember States to pick Bucharest as the future host of the European
\nCybersecurity Competence Center, following Wednesday’s vote in Brussels. For
\nRomania, the decision is unprecedented, considering the Center will be the
\nfirst EU structure it will host since it became an EU Member State. According
\nto the Foreign Ministry, the decision recognizes Romania’s firm commitment to
\nthe consolidation of the European project and its expertise in the digital and
\ncybersecurity fields. The Center will serve as a hub to distribute EU and
\nnational funding for cyber security research projects across the community
\nbloc. Bucharest was selected from a list of other cities vying to host the
\ncenter, including Munich, Warsaw, Vilnius or Luxembourg. In other news the
\nEuropean Medicines Agency on Thursday was the target of a cyber-attack. Hackers
\nwanted to access the files related to the authorization of the anti-COVD-19
\nvaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, but they were unsuccessful. A
\ndecision on the vaccine, which has already been approved in the UK, Bahrain and
\nCanada, is expected by December 29. (D. Bilt & V. Palcu)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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