Covid-19 RO. <\/strong>The
<\/p>\n
EU Budget.<\/strong> The
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Pandemic. <\/strong>The British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has
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Negotiations.<\/strong> In Romania,
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Decision.<\/strong> The interim government in Bucharest, led by the
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Commemoration.<\/strong> It’s
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Attack.<\/strong> The Foreign
A roundup of domestic and international news<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":75903,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[35926,35374,35925,35416,35924,29645,32402],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-104794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-antony","tag-covid-19","tag-multiannual-budget","tag-pandemic","tag-pfizer-biontech","tag-timisoara","tag-vaccine"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nPresident of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, is holding today a working meeting on the
\nmanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic. Attending the meeting are the interim
\nPrime Minister Nicolae Ciuc\u0103, the Minister of Health Nelu T\u0103taru, the Head of
\nthe Department for Emergency Situations, Raed Arafat, and the coordinator of
\nthe national vaccination campaign against COVID-19, Dr. Valeriu Gheorghi\u021b\u0103. The
\nlist of the approximately 900 fixed vaccination centers, plus mobile caravans,
\nin which the immunization against the SARS-CoV-2 virus will be made, is to be
\nfinalized today, and the distribution of the freezers necessary for storing the
\ndoses will start across the country. The first symbolic tranche of 10,000 doses
\nof vaccine will arrive in Romania between Christmas and New Year and will be used
\nin the infectious disease departments, Health Minister Nelu Tataru has stated,
\nadding that the immunization of the
\ngeneral population will begin in the spring. In the first three months of the
\nvaccination campaign, priority will be given to medical staff,
\ninstitutionalized persons and those in the risk groups, but also those who
\nensure the functioning of society. Another 600,000 doses will arrive in Romania
\nin January, and the third tranche will be of almost one million doses. Almost
\n6,000 new cases of COVID-19 were reported on Wednesday in Romania. The total number
\nof infections has exceeded 570,000, and the number of those who have died has exceeded
\n13,860. In intensive care the number of patients remains high: 1,267.<\/p>\n
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\nEuropean Parliament has approved the EU’s multiannual budget, valid from 1
\nJanuary for the next seven years and the recovery plan following the crisis triggered
\nby the COVID-19 pandemic. The vote in the EU legislature was made possible
\nafter last week’s agreement in Brussels, when European leaders managed to
\npersuade Hungary and Poland not to block this massive \u20ac 1.8 trillion funding
\nplan. Romania will receive 46.3 billion Euros. Adding to this amount will be
\nanother 30.5 from the pandemic recovery plan. <\/p>\n
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\nconfirmed that laws introduced to relax Christmas-related health regulations
\nremain unchanged, despite a sharp rise in SARS-CoV-2 infections. Restrictions
\nacross the UK will be relaxed between the 23rd and 27th of December, so that
\nthree families can get together in a so-called Christmas bubble,
\nboth indoors and outdoors. The Netherlands has closed non-essential shops, gyms
\nand barbershops for five weeks, and home visits are restricted to two people
\nfrom outside the home. Germany has entered a tough lockdown, until January
\n10th, closing schools and non-essential businesses, but during Christmas there
\nwill be a slight relaxation of restrictions, and a home will be able to
\naccommodate up to four close family members. On the other hand, France is
\nopening up certain areas, which means the French can move freely to meet their
\nfamilies at Christmas. Pressured to speed up the process of evaluating vaccines
\nagainst COVID-19, the European Medicines Agency will take a decision on 21
\nDecember on the authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, eight days
\nearlier than planned. The first COVID-19 vaccine will be authorized for use in
\nthe EU within a week and will be distributed on the same day, the President of
\nthe European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen has announced. The
\nPfizer-BioNTech vaccine is already being administered in the United States, the
\nUnited Kingdom and Canada.<\/p>\n
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\nnegotiations between the National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union – PLUS
\nAlliance and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians on the formation of a
\nnew, center-right, governing coalition could be resumed today, as the three
\nparties could not reach an agreement in the past two days. The National Liberal
\nParty has two proposals for prime minister: the current finance minister Florin
\nCitu, and the former head of the Executive, the party president Ludovic Orban.
\nAccording to the Liberals, this decision might render negotiations more
\nflexible, but the Save Romania Union – PLUS Alliance has already rejected the
\nidea of Orban reentering the race for prime-minister. On the other hand, the
\nSocial Democratic Party wants professor Alexandru Rafila to head the new
\ngovernment. President Klaus Iohannis has urged the parties to reach a
\ncompromise and said he would appoint any person backed by a center-right
\ncoalition. <\/p>\n
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\nMinister of Defense, Nicolae Ciuc\u0103, wants to approve, in today’s meeting, a
\ndraft decision on the reorganization of the National Institute for Research and
\nDevelopment in Informatics. Thus, the Institute will be able to open, develop
\nand put into practice the latest technologies and discoveries in the field of
\ninformatics and cyber security. The agenda also includes a draft decision on
\nthe establishment, organization and operation of the Museum of the Horrors of
\nCommunism in Romania. At the same time, two other projects will be approved
\nregarding the payment of contributions to the Organization for Economic
\nCooperation and Development.The executive will also analyze a memorandum
\nregarding the negotiation of the financing contract between Romania and the
\nEuropean Investment Bank, worth 250 million Euros, for the support of the Ia\u015fi
\nRegional Emergency Hospital (northeast).<\/p>\n
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\na day of mourning today in Timi\u015foara (western Romania), where, on December 17,
\n1989, the dictator Nicolae Ceau\u015fescu ordered the use of lethal ammunition
\nagainst people who challenged, in the street, the communist regime he led. The
\nprotests in Timisoara, where almost 100 people died and about 350 were injured,
\nwere the spark that led, a few days later, to the fall of the dictator,
\nfollowing the bloodiest Revolution in Southeast Europe. In memory of the heroes
\nof Timisoara, religious services, wreaths, a pilgrimage to the monuments
\nerected in the city in the hottest places of the Revolution, an exhibition and
\na special meeting of the Local Council were also scheduled for this year’s
\ncommemoration. <\/p>\n
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\nMinistry in Bucharest strongly condemns any act of violence and any form of
\nxenophobia, racism and discrimination, after two Romanians were assaulted in
\nFrance. Romanian diplomacy reiterates the importance of continuing the efforts
\nmade at the level of the European Union to combat xenophobia, discrimination of
\nany kind and hate speech. Three people, including two Romanians, were attacked
\nwith a knife on December 12 in Antony, France. One of the injured Romanians was
\ndischarged, and the other continues to receive medical care in hospital. French
\nauthorities are investigating the attacker for the crime of attempted murder,
\ncommitted on racial, ethnic or religious grounds. (M. Ignatescu)<\/p>\n
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