CERTIFICATE During the special European Council meeting last
\nnight the leaders of the 27 EU members endorsed the green certificate, which
\nshould allow for the opening of borders and ease travel inside the bloc.
\nAccording to the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the
\ninfrastructure for the implementation of the green certificate is to be ready
\nby June 1st and the member states can connect into the system in mid-June. Also
\nattending the meeting, the Romanian president Klaus Iohannis stood for the
\nrapid and unitary implementation of this certificate, which must not infringe
\nupon the citizens’ right to free movement. <\/p>\n
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COVID-19 As of today the anti-Covid vaccination centers in the
\nmedical units of Romania’s Interior Ministry are open for all people above 18
\nwithin the limit of the vaccine supplies. Those willing to get the jab can
\nvisit one of these 11 centers in Bucharest and other big cities around Romania without
\nan appointment. According to data released by the RO Vaccination platform,
\nsince the vaccine rollout kicked off in Romania in late December last year,
\nroughly 26% of Romania’s eligible population, (more than 4 million people), has
\ngot at least the first dose of the anti-Covid vaccine. According to the same
\nsources, over 3.3 million people have got the booster. Romania’s Prime Minister
\nFlorin Citu has announced that the government is going to launch a
\npro-vaccination media campaign but those who aren’t vaccinated are not going to
\nbe discriminated against. In another development, the number of new infections
\nhas maintained its downward trend with 381 infections reported on Tuesday and
\n63 fatalities. The death toll has exceeded 30 thousand. 545 patients are being
\ntreated in IC units across the country.<\/p>\n
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PLAN Prime Minister Florin Citu is today presenting before
\nParliament in Bucharest the National Plan of Recovery and Resilience (PNRR). Parliament
\ngroups are subsequently going to have their say over the document, which is to
\nbe submitted to the EU officials by the end of the month. The briefing has been
\nrequested by the opposition PSD, which conditioned it on their endorsement of a
\nEuropean treaty calling for higher contributions from the member states to the
\nEU budget and which needs the approval of two thirds of the Legislature. The
\nSocial Democrats have lashed out at the PNRR, which comprises measures to
\nfreeze pensions, salaries and other benefits as well as higher taxes and duties
\nto be levied on various enterprises. The PNRR will allegedly allow Romania to
\naccess 30 billion euros worth of EU funds for development. <\/p>\n
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TENNIS Romania’s tennis player Sorana Cirstea (61st
\nWTA) is today taking on 41st WTA Shuai Zhang of China in a match
\ncounting towards the round of 16 of the tennis tournament in Strasbourg. The only
\nmatch the two played was in 2008 in Cuneo, Italy, which the Romanian won.
\nCirstea has qualified for the round of 16 after a victory against US challenger
\nVenus Williams, 6-1, 2-6, 6-1, the first obtained by Cirstea against Venus. <\/p>\n
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PROTEST The ‘Farmers’ Force’ association is staging a
\nprotest in Bucharest today in an attempt to denounce Romania’s underfunded agriculture.
\nThe farmers are expected to drive their tractors to Parliament, the world’s
\nsecond largest administrative building, in a move, which will seriously disrupt
\nroad traffic in Romania’s capital city Bucharest. One of the farmers’ claims is
\nthat Romania’s agriculture must be included among the strategic priorities this
\nyear. The farmers have suggestively entitled their protest ‘Political leaders,
\nhow did the farmers wrong you this time?’ We recall that in February this year,
\nRomanian farmers picketed the Ministry of Agriculture to protest a government’s
\ndecision not to include drought compensations in the state budget law. <\/p>\n
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(bill)<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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