September 6, 2020

A roundup of the main stories in Romania today.

Newsroom, 06.09.2020, 14:00

Coronavirus. 1,150 new daily
coronavirus cases were reported on Sunday in Romania, with infections now
passing 95,000. 43 new deaths were also reported, which raises the death toll
to 3,893. 474 people are in intensive care. The largest number of new cases
were in Bucharest and Bacau county.

Forum. The European Union must be
prepared in the future to give more convincing answers about its role in the
Balkans and the Black Sea region, said the Romanian foreign minister Bogdan
Aurescu at the end of a security forum held in Bucharest. He added that the
Union should pay more attention to its neighbourhood, citing as an example the
Black Sea area, where there are a number of sources of insecurity, from the open
conflict in eastern Ukraine and the illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia to
the growing militarisation of the Black Sea. The Romanian minister also warned about
what he called infodemic, an epidemic of disinformation and fake news. He
said everything has become geo-politicised, including vaccines, treatments,
science and expertise, even citizens’ private lives and convictions. The Black
Sea and Balkans Security Forum held on Friday and Saturday in Bucharest and
organised by the New Strategy Center with the support of the Romanian foreign
affairs and defence ministries looked at all types of security
risks and threats in the Black Sea region and the Balkans, including those
arising in the context of the coronavirus pandemic.

EU. The European Commission has
requested its members to coordinate their responses to the coronavirus pandemic and to communicate them
clearly within the Union. The commission president Ursula von der Leyen emphasised
the need for predictability, especially with respect to decisions that restrict
the freedom of movement, a reference to the border restrictions imposed
recently by Hungary. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control is
to publish a weekly updated map based on information from member states. The
map will show countries in colours, green, orange or red, depending on their
epidemiological situation. The European Commission has also proposed testing
travellers after they cross the border to improve freedom of movement and setting a common
infection rate level at which EU member states could start imposing
restrictions.

Vaccine. India has shown an interest
in the Romanian Covid-19 vaccine under development at the OncoGen centre in
Timisoara, in the west. Radio Romania Timisoara has cited OncoGen head Virgil
Paunescu as saying that the centre was visited by India’s ambassador in
Bucharest Rahul Shrivastava who said the results of research point to one of
the most efficient vaccines, with the information about to be presented to a
special coronavirus commission in India. The Timisoara centre may collaborate
with India to mass produce the vaccine that Romanian researchers are working
on. India is the world’s biggest vaccine producers, supplying 60% of world
vaccines.

Festival. The first stage of the
violin section of the George Enescu International Competition is under way
between the 5th and the 9th of September and features 60
recitals by young violinists from around world which can be watched online on
the festival’s website, at www.festivalenescu.ro.
The results will be made public on 10th September. Only 12 out of 60
participants will go to the next stage. In the cello section, 13 participants
reached the second stage, which comes to an end on Monday. This year’s edition
of the George Enescu International Competition, which was due to take place
between 29th August and 20th September, has been
reorganised because of the pandemic into two separate events: the first two
stages are held online this month, as initially scheduled, while the semifinals
and the finals in each category will be held in May next year. The competition
has brought together 205 musicians from 39 different countries. 184 are competing
in the three instrument sections, violin, cello and piano, while 21 are competing
in the composition section.

Tennis. Romania’s Simona Halep was chosen August tennis
Player of the Month based on fan vote on the WTA website. Halep, who is no. 2
in the world, last month won the Prague tournament, her second title this year,
after a six-month break because of the coronavirus outbreak. Halep now has 21
titles, including two Grand Slams. In other tennis news, Sorana Cirstea lost
on Saturday to Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic in the third round at the
US Open. Cirstea was the last Romanian player still in competition in the
singles draw. In the men’s doubles, the Romanian-Dutch pair Horia Tecau and Jean-Julien
Rojer reached the competition’s quarterfinals after defeating the first seeds
Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah of Colombia.

Football. Romania will be facing
Austria on Monday in a League B Group 1 match as part of the Nations League
competition. On Friday, Romania drew against Northern Ireland 1-all at home.
The group also includes Norway, which Romania will be playing next month. On 8th
October, Romania will also be playing Iceland in the semifinals of the
qualifying playoffs for the European Championship. If they win, Romania will
face the winner of the other playoff semifinal, Hungary or Bulgaria. On
Tuesday, Romania’s under-21 side are facing Malta in a qualifying match for the
European Under-21 Championship next year. Last Friday, they won against Finland
3-1 away. (CM)