COVID-19 In
\nRomania 27,346 new SARS-CoV-2 infections were reported on Wednesday, fewer than
\non the previous day, and 176 related deaths, 5 of them from a previous date.
\nAccording to experts, who have identified the Omicron variant of the coronavirus
\nin all sequenced samples, Romania may have achieved herd immunity and the fifth pandemic wave is quite likely to end in spring. The vaccination rate
\nremains very low, and the number of fully vaccinated citizens is little over 8
\nmillion. <\/p>\n
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CONFERENCE The Romanian health minister Alexandru Rafila takes part today and
\ntomorrow in a joint conference of EU foreign and health ministers on global
\nhealth and in an informal meeting of EU health ministers, due in Lyon and Grenoble (France). 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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MOTION The Chamber of Deputies in
\nBucharest Wednesday dismissed the simple motion tabled by the opposition party USR
\nagainst the Liberal minister for energy Virgil Popescu, with 98 votes in favour
\nand 190 against. According to the authors, Popescu is a threat to Romania’s
\nenergy security and must be dismissed immediately. The motion was scheduled for
\ndebates on Monday, but the meeting was suspended after the co-president of the
\nnationalist party AUR, George Simion, assaulted the energy minister during his
\naddress. The meeting was subsequently resumed, but with only the opposition MPs from AUR and USR in attendance. Virgil
\nPopescu and the MPs from the ruling coalition left the hall in protest. Prosecutors
\nhave opened a criminal case with respect to the incident. <\/p>\n
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ECONOMY Romania’s trade balance deficit in 2021 amounted to EUR 23.69
\nbillion, over EUR 5.3 billion higher than in 2020, according to data released
\non Wednesday by the National Statistics Institute. Last year exports totalled
\nEUR 74.7 billion and imports over EUR 98 billion.
\nOfficial data also reveal that in 2021, vehicle and transport equipment
\naccounted for 44.9% of Romania’s exports and 35.2% of imports, with other
\nmanufactured products also accounting for large shares of the country’s foreign
\ntrade.<\/p>\n
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UKRAINE International diplomatic efforts continue with a view to deescalate
\nthe Russia-Ukraine standoff. The president of France Emmanuel Macron called for
\na dynamic dialogue with Russia, which he sees as the only way to make peace in
\nUkraine possible. Macron discussed with the Russian leader Vladimir Putin in
\nMoscow and with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, and
\nvoiced confidence that progress will be made in the peace talks, but
\nwarned that risks still exist and that months of negotiations will be needed. In
\nturn, president Volodymyr Zelensky said he was looking forward to resuming
\nNormandy Format negotiations with Russia, brokered by France and Germany. He
\nalso insisted that president Putin complied with the Minsk agreements, whose
\nmain clause concerns the sovereignty of Ukraine. The Russian-Ukrainian tensions
\nwere also discussed on Tuesday in Berlin by the German chancellor Olaf Scholz with
\nthe presidents of France Emmanuel Macron and of Poland, Andrzej Duda. Germany,
\nFrance and Poland are united in their goal of preserving peace in Europe,
\nsaid the German chancellor, who is to travel to Moscow next week.<\/p>\n
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TENNIS The Romanian player Sorana
\nCirstea today takes on seed no. 2 Anett Kontaveit of Estonia in the round of 16
\nof the WTA 500 tournament in Sankt Petersburg (Russia). Two other Romanians, Irina
\nBegu and Jaqueline Cristian will play tomorrow in the same round, against Petra
\nKvitova of the Czech Republic and Aleksandra Sasnovich of Belarus, respectively. (A.M.P.)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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