COVID-19 IN ROMANIA<\/b> – The anti-COVID-19
\nvaccination campaign continues in Romania. According to the National Committee
\nfor Coordinating Vaccination Activities, some 820 thousand people have been
\nimmunized, the total number of dozes administered so far exceeding 1.4 million.
\nMost people have received the Pfizer \/ BioNTech vaccine. Other vaccines being
\nadministered in Romania right now are those developed by Moderna and
\nAstraZeneca. A new batch of 200,000 Pfizer shots reached Romania on Monday. On
\nTuesday, the Group for Strategic Communication announced another 3,382 COVID
\ninfections reported in the last 24 hours and 119 related fatalities. The total
\nnumber of infections has exceeded 784 thousand since the start of the pandemic.
\nOver 20,000 people have died to the virus in Romania. <\/p>\n
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COVID-19 IN THE WORLD<\/b> – The total number
\nof COVID-related deaths has exceed 500 thousand in the United States. President
\nJoe Biden ordered flags be flown at half-mast on federal buildings for five
\ndays as a tribute paid to all the people who’ve died since the start of the
\npandemic a year ago. According to the latest worldometers.info update, over 112
\nmillion infections have been confirmed so far in the world, and 2.5 million
\npeople have died. Over 87 million people have recovered. Meanwhile, European
\nstates are stepping up efforts to prevent the new COVID strains from spreading.
\nGermany currently fears a third wave of the pandemic amidst plans to ease some
\nof the restrictions recently introduced. Italy has announced an extension of
\nrestrictions on travel between regions until March 27 due to an increase in the
\ninfection rate. In turn, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a
\ntimetable for lifting the hard lockdown in this country in an effort to restart
\nthe British economy. <\/p>\n
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VIDEOCONFERENCE <\/b>– Romania’s
\nPresident, Klaus Iohannis, is today attending a videoconference with European
\nCouncil President, Charles Michel, and other EU leaders, ahead of the European
\nCouncil meeting of February 25-26. In two days, European Council members will
\nmeet online to discuss the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a common
\nresponse to health, security and defense threats. EU leaders will review
\nepidemiological developments. As regards security and defense, they will hold a
\nstrategic debate on European policies in these fields. High on the agenda are
\nalso actions to boost EU resilience, especially against cyber-attacks and
\nhybrid threats. Participants will also approach EU relations with states in the
\nsouthern vicinity. In December, 2020, EU leaders underlined that a democratic,
\nmore stable, greener and more prosperous southern vicinity is a strategic
\npriority for the EU. <\/p>\n
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BUDGET <\/b>– The draft state
\nand social security budgets for 2021 are due to arrive later today in
\nParliament, after the Government operated several last-minute changes on Monday.
\nThe timetable for debating and voting the laws will be accelerated, as the
\nruling coalition want the budgets to be adopted by early next week at the
\nlatest. Coalition leaders agreed not to table any amendments. The
\nSocial-Democratic Party in opposition, on the other hand, has accused the
\nGovernment of proposing an austerity budget amidst an economic crisis generated
\nby the pandemic and said it is preparing thousands of amendments. <\/p>\n
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PROTESTS <\/b>– Representatives of
\nthe Sanitas Federation of trade unions are today staging a protest before the
\nParliament in Bucharest, calling on Romanian MPs to modify the 2021 budget law
\nso that both the beneficiaries of healthcare services, as well as health
\nworkers should have access to quality healthcare services of European
\nstandards. The Sanitas Federation announced it would continue its series of protest
\nactions until its demands are met. Also today other protests are organized in
\nBucharest by representatives of the National Federation of Trade Unions in Law
\nEnforcement, who are in turn criticizing the Government’s salary policies. <\/p>\n
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SANCTIONS <\/b>– The Russian
\nForeign Ministry believes the new sanctions the EU is considering to introduce
\nagainst Russia are illegal and a source of disappointment. EU Foreign Ministers
\non Monday agreed to introduce sanctions against four high-ranking Russian
\nofficials close to president Vladimir Putin. The measure is tied to the arrest
\nand investigation of opposition leader Alexei Navalny and follows Brussels’
\nrepeated pleas for the observance of human rights in Russia. <\/p>\n
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FOOTBALL <\/b>– Atletico Madrid is
\ntaking on Chelsea London tonight on National Arena stadium in Bucharest in the
\nfirst leg of the Champions League round of 16. The match will be played in
\nfront of empty stands. With over 54,000 seating capacity, the stadium will be
\nhosting matches counting towards EURO 2020, due to kick off in four months.
\nNational Arena will also be hosting matches in the U21 European Championship in
\n2023. The stadium hosted the Europa League final in 2012, which Atletico Madrid
\nwon against Athletic Bilbao. (V.P.)<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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