COVID-19 – On Friday, Romania reported a growing number of
\nCOVID-19 cases for the 4th consecutive day. The latest reporting shows 1,668
\nnew cases of infection, the highest number reported since since December 3. 38
\ndeaths were reported in the same period. The number of confirmed Omicron cases
\nstands at 43. Health experts say that the 5th pandemic wave will reach Romania
\nin the first weeks of 2022 and estimate that a threshold of 25,000 infections
\nper day might be reached. Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuc\u0103said that the
\nlaw on the introduction of the so-called COVID green certificate could be
\nadopted either in a special session of Parliament or by a government decree.
\nSince the onset of the pandemic, over 1.8 million cases of COVID-19 have been
\nregistered in Romania, and almost 60,000 people diagnosed with coronavirus have
\ndied. The country has the second lowest immunization rate among the 27 EU
\nmembers, after Bulgaria. Less than 7.9 million Romanians have been fully
\nvaccinated, that is a little over 40% of the eligible population. About two
\nmillion of them have had the so-called booster dose.<\/p>\n
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PNNR – Romania has fulfilled 18 of the 21 milestones that it had to reach
\nby the end of the year, according to the targets set by the National Recovery
\nand Resilience Plan (PNRR) – says the Minister of European Investments and
\nProjects, Dan V\u00eelceanu. He explained that the last seven milestones that
\ndepended on the government have been completed, and three more are under
\ndiscussion between the European Investment Fund and the European Bank for
\nReconstruction and Development. Among the laws approved on Thursday by the
\nBucharest government for fulfilling the commitments assumed under the National
\nRecovery and Resilience Plan we can mention: a national dropout reduction
\nprogram, an action plan aimed at increasing railway traffic by at least 25% in
\nthe next four years, a plan aimed at connecting several localities to water
\nsupply and sewerage, building two sections of highway and several plans on a
\nnumber of energy renovation projects. In early 2022, the European Commission
\nwill disburse another 1.9 billion Euro, tantamount to the pre-financing stage.
\nFor the first quarter, the Minister for Investments and European Projects has
\nset the following priorities: signing the funding contracts with line
\nministries, so as to launch investment; finalizing negotiations with the
\nEuropean Commission for operational commitments, which are key to the process
\nof monitoring and adopting future payment requests; drafting and submitting the
\nfirst payment request. <\/p>\n
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NEW YEAR – Over 25,000 Romanian policemen, gendarmes,
\nfirefighters and border policemen will ensure the protection and safety of
\ncitizens during the New Year’s celebrations. 280 speed cameras will be located
\non the roads, and road traffic will be monitored by the General Aviation
\nInspectorate aircraft. The Interior Ministry announces that 60 public events
\nwill be held on the New Year’s Eve, with more than 120,000 people expected to
\nattend. Authorities are urging all those attending the events not to drink
\nalcohol in the public space, to pay special attention to children, to refrain
\nfrom any conflict situation or violence, and to ask for the support of the
\ngendarmes, if they notice violations of the law. Part of the restrictions will
\nbe suspended on the New Year’s Eve. However, those in home quarantine or
\nisolation must remain in their homes, and the protective mask should continue
\nto be worn in crowded public spaces. The police and gendarmes will also be
\npresent in the mountain resorts, to ensure the safety of tourists.<\/p>\n
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NOMINATION -Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuc\u0103 (PNL) has announced that a nomination for the position
\nof Minister of Research, Innovation and Digitization, which has become vacant
\nfollowing the resignation of his party colleague, Florin Roman, will be made
\nwithin two weeks at the most. Roman resigned on December 15, after the
\nBucharest press published information that he had falsified his CV. He is said
\nto have completed short-term university studies at a university college and
\ntook the graduation exam at the prestigious Babe\u015f-Bolyai University in
\nCluj-Napoca (northwest). Thus, Roman obtained a graduation diploma, not a
\nbachelor’s degree from Babe\u015f-Bolyai University, as it was written in his CV.
\nPrior to his resignation, Prime Minister Ciuc\u0103 asked Roman to also clarify the
\naccusations of plagiarism brought against him. On December 17, President Klaus
\nIohannis signed the decree by which the Energy Minister, Virgil Popescu, was
\nappointed as interim minister at the helm of the Research, Innovation and
\nDigitization Ministry. Roman’s resignation is the first in the coalition
\ngovernment installed on November 25, which is made up of the PSD-PNL-UDMR. (LS
\n& VP)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A roundup of domestic and international news<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":105208,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-105603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n