August 12, 2020 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 12.08.2020, 19:42
CORONAVIRUS – President Klaus Iohannis on Wednesday called on Romanians to wear face masks and keep the safety distance. There is no approved vaccine against the coronavirus in Europe yet, but a number of research projects are under way. Romania is part of this effort and placed an order for 10 million vials when a vaccine is available, the Romanian president has said. Also on Wednesday, the Liberal PM Ludovic Orban has presented Parliament with a report on the measures taken by the government to handle the coronavirus crisis, to open the new school year and stage local elections. Later on Wednesday the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, the Social Democrat Marcel Ciolacu, announced that the party he leads as interim president will table a censure motion against the minority government in Bucharest, for the latter’s mismanagement of the coronavirus crisis. A report of the Court of Accounts related to the public purchases the government made during the pandemic identified financial and accounting irregularities. The PM Ludovic Orban said the state of alert would most probably be extended but the decision depended on the evolution of the pandemic. The Strategic Communication Group has announced another 1,415 new cases of Covid-19, which takes the total number of infections to 65,177, and the number of dead to 2,807.
PANDEMIC — More than 20.5 million cases of coronavirus infection have been confirmed around the world, with 745 thousand deaths reported. The US continues to be the most affected country, with more than 5.3 million cases, being followed by Brazil and India. The Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the authorization of the first vaccine against the new coronavirus, saying that the vaccine is efficient and has passed all necessary tests. Russia claims that more than 20 countries have ordered almost one billion vials. The vaccine will be called Sputnik V on the external markets. The WHO has received Russia’s announcement with caution and showed that the vaccine needs to go through the pre-acknowledgement stages. The German health minister in turn expressed doubt as to the quality, efficiency and safety of the Russian vaccine and an expert with the College University in London labeled the Russian initiative as irresponsible and imprudent.
ELECTION— Sunday’s presidential election in Belarus was neither free nor fair, said the 27 EU countries in a joint declaration adopted on Tuesday. The EU has announced sanctions against those responsible for the violence against the protesters in the wake of the election. The US called for the cessation of repression and the immediate and unconditional release of the people arrested. The presidential challenger Svetlana Tihanovskaia contested the victory of the acting president Aleksandr Lukashenko and took refuge in Lithuania. The situation in Belarus is on the agenda of the informal meeting of the EU foreign ministers to be held in Berlin on August 27 and 28.
BUDGET — The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on Wednesday held a meeting on the budget adjustment with the PM Ludovic Orban and the finance minister Florin Citu, the presidential administration announced. The budget adjustment will be adopted this week, as the PM had previously announced. He said that budget constraints are very high at the moment and each request for increasing the budget will be seriously considered.
INFLATION – The annual inflation rate went up to 2.8% in July this year, from 2.6% in June, in the context of more expensive food products and services, the national Statistics Institute reports. The annual inflation rate for this year and the next has been forecast at 2.7% and 2.5% respectively, according to a report on inflation drawn up by the National Bank of Romania. (Translated by Elena Enache)
