COVID-19 Romania reported
\n8,600 new Covid cases and 44 related deaths on Wednesday. The incidence rate is
\non the rise around the country, including the capital Bucharest, where it
\npassed 3 cases per 1,000 inhabitants, the city now being in the red tier. This
\nmeans that restaurants, cinemas, gyms and other venues can open at 30%
\ncapacity. Also, schools where the vaccine uptake among staff is under 60% will
\nswitch to online teaching. The National Public Health Institute confirmed the
\nsustained community transmission of the Omicron variant, saying almost half of
\nthe cases did not have contact with someone infected. In the meantime,
\npreparations are being made for opening outpatient Covid evaluation centres
\naround the country.<\/p>\n
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\n
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CORRUPTION The Interior Ministry’s Anti-Corruption Directorate
\nWednesday conducted 25 home searches in the counties of Neam\u0163 and Ia\u015fi (north-east),
\nas part of investigations concerning forgery and fraud offences involved in the
\nobtaining of COVID vaccination certificates. Physicians and nurses received
\nbribes in exchange for fictitious vaccination certificates. Late last year the Anti-Corruption
\nDirectorate announced that since the start of the pandemic 168 criminal cases
\nwere initiated with respect to fictitious vaccination and other offences. According
\nto the institution, Romania saw the largest-scale frauds in the EU in this
\nrespect, with over 3,000 fake COVID certificates issued at Petea border
\ncheckpoint. Some 1.8 million COVID-19 cases have been reported in Romania
\nsince the start of the pandemic, and around 60,000 COVID patients died. Amid
\nanti-vaccine feelings fuelled by certain media outlets, politicians and opinion
\nleaders, Romania has the second-lowest vaccination rate in the EU.<\/p>\n
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\n
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EU FUNDING Over 1.9 billion euros will be transferred to Romanian
\ngovernment accounts on Thursday, as part of the loans given to Romania under
\nthe National Recovery and Resilience Plan, after the targets for Q4 2021 were
\nreached, the Ministry for EU Projects and Investments announced. The funds will
\nadd to the 1.85 billion euros in grants paid by the European Commission on
\nDecember 2, 2021. Bucharest is to receive over 29 billion euros under the
\nNational Recovery and Resilience Plan. The loans in the programme will be used
\nfor the funding of large-scale projects, including motorways, water supply and
\nsewage networks, the digitisation of SMEs and reforestation, the Ministry
\nexplained.<\/p>\n
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\n
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GROWTH The
\nNational Institute of Statistics confirmed its 0.4% estimate with regard to the
\ngrowth of the Romanian economy in the third quarter of last year compared with
\nthe previous quarter, but changes were made to the share of investments and
\nconsumption in GDP growth. Also, in the third quarter, the net added value saw
\nimportant changes in the sectors of information and communications,
\nconstructions, financial mediation and insurances and real estate transactions.<\/p>\n
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\n
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ECONOMY The Romanian economy is expected to grow by 4.3% this year,
\nas against a 4.5% growth rate forecast in June 2021, reads the World Bank’s report
\non Global Economic Prospects, released on Wednesday. For 2023, the World Bank
\nforecasts a 3.8% GDP growth for Romania, while for last year the institution
\nestimates the country’s economic growth rate stood at 6.3%. The institution
\nexpects the global economy to grow by 4.1% in 2022 and by 3.2% in 2023. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
FOREIGN POLICY
\nRomania will continue to develop as an active, trusted, involved and
\nrespected member of the EU and NATO. Romania’s approach is focused on
\ncontinuity, based on the three essential pillars of its foreign policy:
\nconsolidating the country’s role and influence in the EU and NATO and
\ndeveloping and deepening the strategic partnership with the US, said
\npresident Klaus Iohannis at his annual meeting with foreign diplomats in
\nBucharest. He also said strengthening the US military presence in Romania is a
\nmajor goal. Given the recent security challenges, it is obvious that we need
\nstronger action in terms of defence and deterrence, the Romanian president
\nadded. Iohannis also said Romania is worried about the security situation in
\nUkraine and its implications for Euro-Atlantic security and added that Romania
\nwill continue to support the efforts of the Republic of Moldova to join the
\nEuropean Union. (tr. A.M. Popescu)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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