COVID-19 – 1,470
\nnew cases of COVID infection were reported on Thursday in Romania, in addition
\nto 26 related fatalities. Some 2,600 patients are currently treated in hospital
\nfor coronavirus, of whom 322 are in intensive care. The constant increase in
\nthe number of infections has not determined Romanians to take the anti-COVID
\nvaccine. Less than 8,000 people got immunized on Wednesday. <\/p>\n
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POLITICS
\n-Romania’s president, Klaus Iohannis, earlier today signed the decree to
\ndismiss Stelian Ion from the position of Justice Minister. At the same time,
\nthe president designated Lucian Bode, the current Interior Minister, as interim
\nJustice Minister. Late last night, the USR-PLUS alliance in the ruling
\ncoalition announced it withdraws all political support for Liberal Prime
\nMinister Florin C\u00ee\u0163u. Tensions escalated after the head of government announced
\nthe dismissal of Justice Minister, Stelian Ion, who refused to greenlight a
\ncomprehensive infrastructure project dubbed Anghel Saligny. Stelian Ion said
\ntoday that he had identified a number of constitutional and illegal issues in
\nthe project. USR-PLUS has called for negotiations to appoint a new Prime
\nMinister. Should they break down, the alliance will support the no-confidence
\nvote against the Prime Minister. UDMR Deputy Prime Minister Hunor Kelemen said
\nthe Anghel Saligny project needs to be adopted before the budget adjustment,
\nexpressing confidence that ruling coalition parties will break the political
\nstalemate in this matter. From the opposition, PSD leader Marcel Ciolacu told
\nUSR-PLUS MPs they should either step down from the ruling coalition, or take
\nthe vote of no-confidence against Florin C\u00ee\u0163u.<\/p>\n
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FOREIGN AFFAIRS -
\nRomania’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Bogdan Aurescu, is taking part in an
\ninformal meeting of the EU Foreign Ministers, held in Gymnich format, hosted by
\nKranj in Slovenia today and tomorrow. High on the meeting’s agenda are the
\ncrisis in Afghanistan, the EU’s approach to the Gulf region, EU-China relations
\nand the migration deadlock at Belarus’s borders, which impacts border crossing
\ninto Lithuania, Poland and Latvia. The Romanian official will express
\nsolidarity with the aforementioned states, saying that using migration against
\nEU member states is unacceptable. European Ministers will also discuss in
\ndetail the developments in Afghanistan and their impact on the EU’s strategic
\ninterests and will analyze political options as well as possible actions in
\nterms of humanitarian aid and security. Minister Aurescu is also expected to
\nexpress support for a new EU strategy on Afghanistan and to stress the
\nimportance of a concerted EU effort. The Romanian official will also underline
\nthe importance of European and Euro-Atlantic solidarity, as well as the need
\nfor the EU to coordinate with the UN and NATO. <\/p>\n
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ENESCU FESTIVAL
\n– Today, on the sixth day of the George Enescu International Music Festival,
\nthe Radio Concert Hall will host its first concert. Under the patronage of the
\nRoyal House of Romania, the Symphonic Orchestra of the Bra\u015fov Philharmonic will give a Royal Concert in the Music of the 21st
\ncentury series. Conducting will be R\u0103zvan Apetrei. Also today, the Lausanne
\nChamber Orchestra will give a new concert at the Romanian Athenaeum, whereas
\nthe Bucharest Palace Hall will host a new concert in the Great World Orchestras
\nseries. Performing tonight will be the Filarmonica della Scalla orchestra
\nconducted by Andr\u00e9s Orozco-Estrada. Also today, the Nation-wide Festival
\nsection is set to kick off. The artistic director of the Radio Symphonic
\nOrchestra of Prague, Alexander Liebreich, will be conducting the Transilvania
\nPhilharmonic Orchestra of Cluj-Napoca. 32 orchestras from 14 countries are
\ntaking part in the 2021 edition of the George Enescu Festival. <\/p>\n
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TENNIS -
\nRomanian tennis player Sorana C\u00eerstea is today playing Shelby Rogers of the
\nUnited States in the second round at the US Open. On Wednesday, another
\nRomanian, Simona Halep, advanced to the third round after ousting Kristina
\nKucova of Slovakia. The former world no. 1 will next play Elena Rybakina of
\nKazakhstan. Sorana C\u00eerstea and Simona Halep are Romania’s only representatives
\nin the women’s singles. <\/p>\n
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FOOTBALL -
\nRomania’s national football team is today playing Iceland away from home in the
\n2022 World Cup preliminaries. On September 5, our team will play Lichtenstein
\nin Bucharest, while on September 8 it will take on North Macedonia in Skopje.
\nRomania ranks 4th in Group J, with 3 points, below Armenia with 9
\npoints, and North Macedonia and Germany, each with 6 points. The first team
\nwill advance to the World Cup, while teams in second position in each group
\nwill go to the playoffs. (VP)<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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