COVID-19 The number of COVID
\ncases continues to rise in Romania, with more than 7,000 daily new cases
\nreported for several days in a row. Nearly 10,000 SARS-CoV-2 patients are in
\nhospitals, 264 of them children, while 1,195 patients are in intensive care. Nationwide,
\nhundreds towns and villages are on the red list of places with infection rates
\nof over 3 per thousand. The capital Bucharest is also on the list, and as of
\ntoday additional restrictions are in place in the city. The digital COVID
\ncertificate is required for participation in certain events, and even so indoor
\nweddings and similar events are to be attended by 200 people at most, while
\nrestaurants, performance halls, pools and the like operate at half their
\ncapacity and only accept COVID certificate holders. As the number of infections
\ngrows, Romanians get more open to immunisation, with over 17,000 people having
\nreceived a shot in the last 24 hours. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
LIBERALS
\nThe Liberals are today
\nelecting their president for the next 4 years, in a Congress attended among
\nothers by President Klaus Iohannis. Thousands of delegates from all party
\nbranches in the country are choosing between the incumbent party chief Ludovic
\nOrban and PM Florin C\u00ee\u0163u. Ludovic Orban argues he is a sure bet for the party,
\nand that his goal is to rebuild the image of the party and citizens’ confidence
\nin it. He says the National Liberal Party should support Romanian businesses
\nand reaffirm and promote individual rights and liberties. His challenger says
\nhe has entered the competition in order to build and unify the Liberal Party.
\nI strongly believe only a Liberal Romania can ensure the wellbeing of its
\ncitizens, Florin C\u00ee\u0163u argues, and says his priorities are to revise the
\nConstitution, to ensure the country joins the Schengen visa-free area, to boost
\ninvestments and motivate entrepreneurs. The two ran harsh campaigns, with
\nunprecedented attacks against each other. At stake is more than the party
\npresidency, and today’s battle is to also decide the governing formula, the
\nparliamentary majority and the holders of the prime minister and Chamber of
\nDeputies speaker posts. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
FRIGATE The Romanian frigate
\nQueen Marie has concluded its participation in the NATO Operation Sea
\nGuardian, in the Mediterranean, and is docking today in the Black Sea
\nport of Constan\u0163a. During the 3 weeks of commanding the NATO vessel unit, Queen
\nMarie inspected over 800 ships in the Mediterranean. The IAR Puma Naval
\nhelicopter on board of the frigate contributed to the early identification of
\nsuspicious vessels. Also taking part in Operation Sea Guardian were
\nvessels, aircraft and submarines from Romania, Croatia, Italy, Greece, Turkey,
\nSpain and Germany, and the missions contributed to strengthening security in
\nEurope’s southern flank.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
SALARY Romanians last year
\nearned gross salaries of roughly 1,030 euros, the National Statistics Institute
\nannounced, up 7.4% since the previous year. Net salaries, averaging at 650
\neuros per month, also increased by 7.7%. The best paying sectors are IT&C, finances
\nand insurance, public administration and the energy sector. At the opposite
\npole are the hospitality industry, agriculture, forestry and fishery, and the
\nreal estate market. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
ELECTION In Germany, the last
\nelectoral rallies were held ahead of Sunday’s election, in which over 60 million
\ncitizens are to elect the 20th Bundestag (the single-chamber federal
\nparliament). According to Radio Romania’s correspondent, this historic election
\nmay see the end of the 16-year leadership of Angela Merkel’s Conservatives. The
\nincumbent chancellor, who stepped down as party president, urged her supporters
\nto vote for Armin Laschet, the Christian Democratic Union candidate, to ensure
\nthe stability of the country. However, all recent polls indicate that the
\nincumbent finance minister Olaf Scholz, the candidate backed by the Social
\nDemocratic Party (SPD) is ahead of Laschet. The election marks the end of the Merkel
\nera, and press agencies note that given the tight race, the next government may
\nrequire an alliance of 3 parties. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
DIASPORA A Romanian Foreign
Click here for a roundup of local and world news<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":105194,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[36401,35392,36213,36402,35374,146048,30175,29642,29749,35659,29951,29027,35233,35154,29268,30449,32402],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-105390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-average","tag-cases","tag-certificate","tag-chancellor","tag-covid-19","tag-diaspora-en","tag-election","tag-frigate","tag-germany","tag-increase","tag-infection","tag-italy","tag-liberal","tag-mediterranean","tag-parliament","tag-salaries","tag-vaccine"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nMinistry official discussed with members of the Romanian community in Italy
\nabout improving consular services, as many diaspora members are unhappy with
\nthe difficult and often unfriendly procedures required by the Romanian
\nauthorities. The head of the ministry’s Consular Department Valentin Muntean
\npresented the reforms planned by the authorities, in a hybrid meeting attended
\nby all the general consuls in Italy and around 40 representatives of Romanian
\nassociations in that country. The participants tackled means to modernise and
\nbroaden the consular network, to simplify procedures, to upgrade and optimise
\nthe digital platforms and systems used by the Romanian authorities, and to
\nreduce red-tape. (tr. A.M. Popescu)<\/span><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"