October 16, 2020 UPDATE

Romania sees record new daily coronavirus cases./President Klaus Iohannis calls for enhanced coordination among EU member states to tackle coronavirus crisis.

Newsroom, 16.10.2020, 20:00

Coronavirus Romania. On Friday, Romania reported the highest number of
new daily cases so far, namely 4,026. More than 172,500 people have been
infected and 5,749 have died. A record 726 people are in intensive care. All
county and city hospitals in Romania which are not treating coronavirus
patients will have to have spare beds available if cases continue to rise and
it becomes necessary to increase the number of beds. According to the health
minister Nelu
Tătaru, each unit will have to allocate 10% of its intensive care units and 15%
of all the other beds to coronavirus patients. On Thursday, the government has
extended the state of alert for a further 30 days.

EU summit. The president of the
European Council Charles Michel said EU leaders would strengthen cooperation in
the fight against the novel coronavirus and described the situation as serious
and unprecedented. The pandemic was one of the main topics on the agenda of EU
heads of state and government who met on Thursday and Friday in Brussels. Romania’s
president Klaus Iohannis emphasised the need to find a solution to distribute
vaccines to member states as soon they become available. Other topics included
the relationship between the European Union and Great Britain, climate change,
the EU’s relations with Africa, the developments in the Union’s eastern
neighbourhood with emphasis on Belarus and the Navalny case, as well as the
situation in the Eastern Mediterranean. President Iohannis said Romania wished
to see progress made towards reaching an agreement with Great Britain, which he
said should remain the Union’s objective. He also reiterated how important it
was for the EU to finance action in the field of climate change, especially in
view of the new instruments for economic recovery, and depending on the
priorities of each member state.

Cooperation. Romanian prime minister
Ludovic Orban on Friday had a telephone conversation with his Polish
counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki. The two officials hailed the excellent level of
bilateral cooperation as part of the strategic partnership between Romania and
Poland. Special attention will be given to interaction and close coordination
within EU and NATO. They also spoke about the upcoming Romanian-Polish joint government
meeting to be hosted by Poland as soon as epidemiological conditions allow it.
On that occasion, the two prime ministers are expected to approve the action
plan for the 2021-2025 period. In another development, prime minister Ludovic
Orban said he would make an official trip to France at the end of the month
together with some of his ministers. The main point on the agenda of the trip
is signing the roadmap for a strategic partnership between the two states.
Ludovic Orban said he would also travel to Israel in the first part of
November.

UN mission. Romania’s commitment as part of the UN Multidimensional Integrated
Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) ended officially on
15th October, the defence ministry in Bucharest said in a statement.
During its two rotations that began last October, the Romanian detachment
consisting of some 120 military and four helicopters per rotation carried out
medical evacuation missions, transport of troops, materials and civilians, and
air patrol and surveillance missions. The defence ministry also said that
Romania supported the UN in providing assistance to the government of Mali to continue
putting into application the peace agreement, civilian protection and preventing
the return of armed forces hostile to the agreement in populated areas.

Film.
Astra Film Festival has got under way online in Romania, with 41 documentaries
to be available as of Friday until October 25. Ten of these are competing in a
section entitled Emerging documentary voices, and another 10 in the Central
and Eastern Europe competition. Moreover, Romanian documentary fans may see 10
of the most popular films shown in the festival’s open air section and another
11 films from the festival’s archive. (CM)