COVID-19<\/b> 36,269 new SARS-CoV-2 infections were
\nreported for the past 24 hours in Romania, along with 193 related fatalities,
\nthe Strategic Communication Group announced on Tuesday. Since the start of the
\npandemic 2 years ago, more than 2 million Romanians have had the disease and
\nover 60,000 died. Meanwhile, since the start of the vaccine roll-out in
\nDecember 2020, over 8 million people have received a full vaccination cycle,
\nand 2.4 million have also got the booster dose.<\/p>\n
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\n
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HEALTHCARE <\/b>The Romanian health minister Alexandru Rafila will take
\npart on February 9-10 in a joint conference of EU foreign and health ministers
\non global health and in an informal meeting of health ministers, due in Lyon and
\nGrenoble. According to the ministry, the 2 events are organised by the French
\npresidency of the EU Council. The participants will discuss the EU measures to
\nsupport developing countries in accessing medicines in the context of the COVID-19
\npandemic, and to strengthen national healthcare systems. The informal meeting
\nof health ministers will focus on the intervention and resilience of public
\nhealth systems in case of crises, and on the joint development of policies to
\ncreate a ‘Union of health.’<\/p>\n
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\n
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TROOPS <\/b>A first unit of US troops, deployed in order to strengthen
\nthe security of Eastern European Allies amid the Ukraine standoff has reached
\nRomania, the defence minister Vasile D\u00eencu announced. He explained that around
\n100 experts have arrived in order to prepare the deployment of a larger
\ncontingent. Early this month, the US announced it would send an additional
\n3,000 troops to NATO’s eastern flank, 1,000 of them due to be stationed in Romania.
\nFrance also voiced willingness to send troops to Romania.We will get involved in new missions and take all
\nresponsibility, with enhanced presence especially in Romania, should this
\ndecision be made. I reaffirm our solidarity with our European friends in NATO,
\npresident Emmanuel Macron said. A NATO member since 2004, Romania is already
\nhosting 900 troops from the US, 140 from
\nItaly and 250 from Poland.<\/p>\n
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\n
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POLITICS <\/b>The Prosecutor General’s Office announced on Tuesday that a
\ncriminal investigation was initiated with respect to Monday’s incident in
\nParliament, where the Romanian energy minister Virgil Popescu was assaulted by
\nthe co-president of the nationalist opposition party AUR, Deputy George Simion.
\nPopescu had previously filed a criminal complaint against Simion. While
\nattending a Chamber of Deputies meeting on Monday, the Liberal minister Virgil
\nPopescu was insulted and assaulted by Simion. The meeting was suspended, and
\nsubsequently resumed with only the opposition MPs from AUR and USR in attendance.
\nProsecutors are also investigating C\u0103lin Georgescu, rumoured to become the
\nhonorary president of AUR party. A criminal case was opened against him for
\npromoting fascist views and individuals convicted for genocide and war crimes,
\nfollowing televised statements Georgescu had made concerning the fascist leader
\nCorneliu Zelea Codreanu and the former head of state Ion Antonescu.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
MOLDOVA
\n<\/b>The number of supporters of
\nthe R. of Moldova’s union with Romania is growing, according to an opinion poll
\nquoted by Radio Chi\u015fin\u0103u on Tuesday. Over 34%
\nof the respondents in Moldova would vote in favour of the union, says the poll
\ncommissioned by IDIS Viitorul in Chi\u0219in\u0103u and the Institute of Political
\nSciences and International Relations with the Romanian Academy. This is a
\nrecord-high number of union supporters, over 10 times higher than in 2010. According
\nto the same poll, which focused on citizens’ perception of the relations
\nbetween Moldova and Romania, over 62% of the people with dual citizenship would
\nvote for the union. However, in the case of new tensions similar to the one in
\nUkraine, more people would back a military alliance with Russia (22.5%) than
\nwith Romania (12.5%). (A.M.P.<\/i>)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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