COVID-19 IN ROMANIA – Prime Minister
\nFlorin C\u00ee\u0163u gave assurances that a new series of anti-COVID restrictions will
\nbe lifted starting next month. The Romanian official said this will clearly
\ndepend on meeting the target of 5 million people who’ve taken the anti-COVID
\nvaccine by June 1. The coordinator of Romania’s immunization campaign, Valeriu
\nGheorghi\u0163\u0103, said it is highly unlikely the target will be met by the end of
\nMay, but rather by mid-June. 618 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in the
\nlast 24 hours in Romania, following some 31 thousand tests. 61 related
\nfatalities were reported during the interval and 663 patients are still in
\nintensive care. Over 4 million Romanians have taken the anti-COVID jab. Romania
\nranks 7th at European level and 19th globally in terms of
\nthe number of people who’ve completed the COVID vaccination scheme. Right now,
\nvaccination is available without prior appointment. People can get vaccinated
\nin any center upon presenting their ID. Tens of thousands of people have been vaccinated
\nthese days in drive-through centers and as part of vaccination marathons across
\nthe country. <\/p>\n
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PNRR – Romania’s Prime
\nMinister, Florin C\u00ee\u0163u, is today scheduled to attend an online meeting with
\nEuropean Commission vice-president, Margaret Vestager, as well as to meet with
\nthe leader of the Social-Democratic Party in opposition, Marcel Ciolacu, to
\ndiscuss the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR). The meeting follows
\nthe Social-Democrats’ repeated requests to be consulted over the document, which
\nthey want the Prime Minister to present before Parliament. Social-Democrat
\npresident Marcel Ciolacu said he would be accompanied by a number of
\nSocial-Democrat experts, as well as representatives of SMEs and trade unions.
\nThe Social-Democrats want to implement a number of changes and have warned they
\ncould vote against the ratification of the European Treaty based on which the
\nrecovery plans of member states are due to be enacted. PNRR was thoroughly
\nanalyzed in yesterday’s Government meeting. The Government has promised to
\nsubmit Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan to Brussels by the end
\nof the month. <\/p>\n
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EUROSTAT – The population of
\nurban areas will increase in 15 EU Member States over 2019-2050, and will drop
\nin nine member states, including Romania, the latest demographic survey
\npublished by Eurostat shows. Malta, Ireland and Sweden will report the highest
\nincreases in urban populations until 2050. Romania, Latvia, Greece and Poland
\nare at the opposite pole. During the same interval, the Eurostat estimates that
\nrural population will increase in Ireland, Sweden, Denmark and Belgium.
\nConversely, Romania is one of the 20 EU member states whose rural populations
\nare expected to shrink. National Statistics Institute data shows that Romania
\nhad a population of 22 million people on January 1, 2021, of which 12.5 million
\nin urban areas.<\/p>\n
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GAZA – Israeli air raids
\ncontinued in Gaza last night as well, despite preliminary information that both
\nparties were close to signing a ceasefire agreement. A Hamas official said he
\nexpects Israel and Gaza militants to reach a ceasefire agreement in a couple
\nof days, although Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed
\ndetermination that air strikes should continue for as long as it takes to
\nrestore calm for all Israeli citizens, the BBC reports. On Wednesday, US
\npresident Joe Biden had a new round of talks with Benjamin Netanyahu,
\nexpressing hope for a de-escalation of the conflict. Over 200 Palestinians,
\nhalf of whom were women and children, were killed in Gaza, according to the
\nlocal Health Ministry. Israeli authorities have announced that 12 people,
\nincluding two children, have been killed in Israel since the conflict started.<\/p>\n
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USA-RUSSIA RELATIONS – Russia’s Foreign
\nMinister Sergey Lavrov said the talks he attended on the sidelines of the Artic
\nCouncil in Reykjavik, Iceland, jointly with US Secretary of State, Antony
\nBlinken, were constructive. According to the Russian official, the two parties
\nagree on the need to overcome the unhealthy situation that developed between
\nMoscow and Washington in previous years. The Russian official said the two
\nsides will ready proposals for developing dialogue on strategic stability head
\nof the US-Russia top-level summit. Sergey Lavrov added this is a major objective,
\nwhich raises concerns amidst the international community. On the other hand,
\naccording to a press release of the US State Department, Secretary of State
\nBlinken expressed deep concern with the Russian military build-up on the
\nUkrainian border. Antony Blinken also expressed the US’s concern with the
\nhealth of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and the repression of
\nopposition organizations. <\/p>\n
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WEATHER – Meteorologists
\nhave issued a code orange alert against heavy rain and strong wind in counties
\nin the west, center and east of Romania, in place until Friday morning, and a
\ncode-yellow alert against heavy rain for most counties in the west and
\nnorthwest. Hydrologists expect flash floods in several river basins in the west
\nand east. (VP)<\/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":[36202,35878,29594,29710,36201,31055,32305,35592],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-105098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-conflict-in-gaza","tag-covid-19-in-romania","tag-eurostat","tag-restrictions","tag-urban-population","tag-us-russia-relations","tag-vaccination-campaign","tag-weather-alert"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n