COVID-19 IN ROMANIA – The anti-COVID-19
\nvaccination campaign continues in Romania. Over 487 thousand Romanians have
\ntaken the anti-COVID shot so far, and only 1,200 minor adverse reactions have
\nbeen reported. Last week Romania received only half of the vaccine doses
\nscheduled to arrive. Therefore, of the people performing key duties, included
\nin the second phase of the campaign, people under 65 years of age without
\nchronic illnesses will be reappointed for vaccination with a 10-day delay,
\nValeriu Gheorghi\u021b\u0103, the head of the
\nNational Committee overseeing the campagin has said. The Romanian official
\nexplained there’s a shortage of some 117 thousand doses, and given that delays
\nare likely to continue, the authorities have prepared several scenarios under
\nwhich certain categories of people will receive the vaccine with certain
\ndelays. The goal for the first phase of the campaign has been met. 90% of the
\npeople included in this phase have been vaccinated or are scheduled for
\nvaccination, Valeriu Gheorghi\u021b\u0103 added. According to the latest update released
\ntoday by the Group for Strategic Communication, another 3,174 new infections
\nwith SARS-CoV-2 were reported in the last 24 hours, as well as 77 related
\nfatalities. So far 718,612 people got infected with COVID-19 since the start of
\nthe pandemic and 18,015 have died to the virus. 1,025 patients are currently in
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COVID-19 IN THE WORLD – Companies producing anti-COVID-19 vaccines, which have received
\nmassive investments from the European Union, must now make good on their
\npromises and honor their delivery obligations, European Commission President,
\nUrsula von der Leyen, has warned. The statement comes after a string of delays
\nannounced by the Pfizer-BioNTech group in the delivery of its vaccine, which
\nwas followed by a similar announcement from the AstraZeneca group. In other
\nnews, the World Health Organization has approved the use of the anti-COVID-19
\nvaccine produced by the American biotechnology company Moderna, which must be administered
\nin two doses 28 days apart. On Tuesday, the United Kingdom became the first
\ncountry in Europe to exceed the 100,000 COVID-related death toll, which deepens
\nthe crisis in this country. At global level, over 100 million infections have
\nbeen confirmed since the start of the outbreak and at least 2.1 million people
\nhave died, the latest worldometers.info update reveals. <\/p>\n
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BUDGET – President Klaus Iohannis
\nyesterday evening talked with leaders of the ruling coalition on the 2021 state
\nbudget, which is due to be submitted to Parliament for debate early next month.
\nDeputy Prime Minister Kelemen Hunor told Radio Romania the draft budget is a
\npriority right now, saying the deficit cannot exceed 7.1% of the GDP. The
\nSocial-Democrats in opposition claim the Government is working on an austerity
\nbudget. After consulting with representatives of trade unions on Tuesday on
\nthis matter, the Social-Democratic Party will release its own alternate budget
\nlater today. In Bucharest, trade unionists with the Publisind trade federation
\nstaged a protest against the low salaries in the public sector and the
\nGovernment’s plans to freeze salaries over 2021. The federation warns that,
\nunless their demands are met, protest actions will continue indefinitely. <\/p>\n
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ROMANIA-US RELATIONS – Foreign
\nAffairs Minister Bogdan Aurescu today sent a letter of congratulations to his
\nUS counterpart, Antony Blinken, who took over his mandate as US Secretary of
\nState after being confirmed in office by the US Congress. According to the
\nRomanian Foreign Affairs Ministry, Bogdan Aurescu expressed Bucharest’s
\nreadiness to continue the expansion of the Strategic Partnership with the
\nUnited States, a key pillar of Romania’s foreign affairs and security policy.
\nThe Romanian Minister said Romania remains a trusted ally and a close partner
\nof the United States, expressing confidence that, over the term in office of
\nSecretary of State Antony Blinken, the two countries will continue close
\ncoordination and ensure the security and prosperity of their citizens, as well
\nas to promote regional stability, including in the Black Sea region. Moreover,
\nMinister Aurescu argued in favor of a strengthened US military presence in
\nRomania, underlying the development of a reliable and sustainable deterrence
\ncapability in the Black Sea region, an area of strategic importance to trans-Atlantic
\nsecurity. At the same time, Bogdan Aurescu pointed out one of Romania’s
\npriorities is the continuous development of economic cooperation with the
\nUnited States. Also on this occasion, Minister Aurescu extended an invitation
\nto Secretary of State Blinken to visit Romania. <\/p>\n
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HOLOCAUST – Romania’s President, Klaus
\nIohannis, today conveyed a message marking the International Holocaust
\nRemembrance Day. President Iohannis said remembrance doesn’t just bring back
\nthe pain, but also serves to educate us to steer clear of inherent traps
\ngenerated by oblivion. Europe is currently facing waves of extremism, populism
\nand anti-Semitism, the President argues, and over the last 20 years Romania has
\ndeveloped a series of policies and instruments to combat such phenomena. In
\nthis context, the President urged the Government to swiftly adopt the national
\nstrategy on the prevention and combating of anti-Semitism, xenophobia,
\nradicalization and hate speech. A brief ceremony honoring the victims of the
\nHolocaust was observed today in Bucharest. Various events are also staged in
\nother cities across the country. <\/p>\n
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US-RUSSIA RELATIONS – The
\nnewly instated American President, Joe Biden, had his first telephone
\nconversation with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. The two leaders
\nagreed to have their teams work urgently to complete the extension of the New
\nStart nuclear arms control treaty by another five years. The Treaty signed by
\nthe United States and Russia, is due to expire on February 5. Political pundits
\nsay Biden said he would adopt a harsher tone in his relations with Vladimir
\nPutin than his predecessor, Donald Trump, who repeatedly refused to face his
\nRussian counterpart. The White House writes Joe Biden also expressed the United
\nStates’ support for the sovereignty of Ukraine, raising other issues of
\nconcern, such as Russia’s involvement in various elections, cyber-attacks and
\nthe arrest of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The American President
\nunderlined he wants to cooperate with President Putin, wherever this is
\npossible. <\/p>\n
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WEATHER – A code yellow alert against heavy snowfalls is in place until
\ntonight for eight counties in the southern half of the country and the capital
\ncity. Blizzards and strong wind are expected in the mountains. The snowfalls
\nhave disrupted road traffic, which has been shut down on certain national roads
\ndue to reduced visibility. Rail traffic has also been affected, over 25 trains
\nhave already been cancelled. Due to the strong wind all maneuvers in Romanian
\nports on the Black Sea have been suspended. (V. Palcu)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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":[36011,28963,35374,29053,36019,36017,28945,30537,36018,32305],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-104877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-2021-state-budget","tag-bogdan-aurescu","tag-covid-19","tag-european-commission","tag-heavy-snowfalls","tag-international-holocaust-remembrance-day","tag-klaus-iohannis","tag-romania-us-relations","tag-russia-us-relations","tag-vaccination-campaign"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n