Covid-19RO.<\/strong> The number of cases of
<\/p>\n
Chancellor. <\/strong>Romanian
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Visit.<\/strong> The Romanian
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Budget.<\/strong> The leaders of
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<\/p>\n Fencing.<\/strong> Romanian fencer
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A roundup of domestic and international news<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":105194,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-105556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nCovid-19 has dropped in Romania as compared to last week. 1,279 new cases and
\n100 related deaths were reported on Wednesday. The number of people hospitalized has also
\ndropped to almost 5000, of whom approximately 800 are in intensive care. In
\nanother development, the Bucharest Government has extended by another 30 days the
\nstate of alert in Romania but has also eased some of the restrictions for the winter
\nholidays. The Health Minister Alexandru Rafila has announced that an
\ninformation campaign will be run over the coming period, to make sure people
\nadopt a preventive behavior and keep observing the protective measures. On
\nTuesday, the national Committee for Emergencies proposed, among other things,
\nthe lifting of restrictions during the night. Also, wearing masks outdoors may
\nno longer be mandatory except for crowded areas and theatres and cinemas could
\noperate at 50% capacity. The proposal of easing restrictions comes in the
\ncontext of an infection rate below 1.2% per one thousand at national level.<\/p>\n
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\nPresident Klaus Iohannis has congratulated Olaf Scholz on his election as
\nGermany’s federal Chancellor. I look forward to our future co-operation in the
\nEuropean Council and bilaterally, the head of state wrote on Twitter on
\nWednesday. The president of the Social Democratic Party and Speaker of the
\nChamber of Deputies, Marcel Ciolacu, has too wished success to the new German Chancellor.
\nHe can count on our friendship to build a fruitful and constructive
\ndialogue between Romania and Germany in the years to come, Marcel Ciolacu
\nwrote on Twitter. The Social Democrat Olaf Scholz became Germany’s new Chancellor
\non Wednesday after 16 years of Christian Democratic rule with Angela Merkel at
\nthe helm. The three partners that form the current coalition in Berlin – the
\nSocial Democrats, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens – signed an agreement on
\nTuesday that allows the inauguration of the new, firmly pro-European Cabinet. The
\nfederal executive, made up of eight women and eight men, will have to deal with
\nimportant issues such as overcoming the pandemic, accelerating the transition
\nto a green economy or the tensions with Russia over Ukraine. Olaf Scholz, whose
\nparty won the September 26th legislative election, will make his first trip
\nabroad as head of the German government to Paris.<\/p>\n
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\nPrime Minister Nicolae Ciuca will hold, on Thursday, a meeting with the Prime
\nMinister of the Republic of Moldova, (ex-Soviet state, predominantly Romanian-speaking)
\nNatalia Gavrili\u0163a, who will pay an official visit to Bucharest. According to
\nRadio Chisinau, the Moldovan PM’s agenda also includes meetings with Romanian
\nPresident Klaus Iohannis and the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Marcel
\nCiolacu. The Moldovan official has stated that the discussions will focus on
\nthe priority topics of collaboration between Romania and the Republic of
\nMoldova. Natalia Gavrili\u021b\u0103 has also announced that next week the Moldovan
\nMinister of Infrastructure and Regional Development, Andrei Sp\u00e2nu, will also
\ncome to Bucharest to address issues related to energy security.<\/p>\n
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\nthe governing coalition in Bucharest on Wednesday discussed again the draft
\nbudget for next year. The leaders of PNL, PSD and UDMR have different opinions
\non the construction of the budget and the sources for increasing the budget
\nrevenues, given that, starting January 1, pensions, child allowances and
\nallowances for people with disabilities will be higher. PSD and UDMR are
\nconsidering a 1% solidarity fee for companies with a turnover of more than 100
\nmillion euros a year, while the Liberals oppose the measure. Prime Minister
\nNicolae Ciuca announced that a first version of the budget for 2022 will be
\npresented on Monday before the governing coalition by the Minister of Finance,
\nAdrian C\u00e2ciu, and confirmed that the date set for the adoption of the budget in
\nParliament is December 23.<\/p>\n
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\nDiplomacy.<\/strong> The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, had a meeting on Wednesday with the ambassadors of the EU member states accredited to Bucharest, on the occasion of the conclusion of the Slovenian Presidency of the EU Council. During the meeting, the participants addressed the main topics that will be on the agenda of the future European Council on December 16, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, energy prices, the tense situation on the EU border. President Klaus Iohannis also presented Romania’s priorities and expectations from the Eastern Partnership Summit to be held in Brussels on 15 December.<\/p>\n
\nAna-Maria Popescu, an Olympic vice-champion in Tokyo, has announced her
\nretirement from sports after a career of 20 years. Aged 37, Popescu’s last
\nparticipation in a sports competition has been this year in the World Cup in
\nDubai, where she won silver. The athlete’s record includes, among other things,
\n3 Olympic, 6 world and 11 European medals, with 9 gold medals in total. Ana
\nMaria Popescu was named the best swordswoman in the world in the seasons
\n2007-2008, 2008-2009, 2012-2013, 2019-2020, 2020-2021. (MI)<\/p>\n