April 14, 2021 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 14.04.2021, 20:00

DISMISSAL – Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis
on Wednesday signed the decree designating Liberal Prime Minister Florin Cîţu
as interim Health Minister, after the latter sacked Health Minister Vlad
Voiculescu, from the Save Romania Union. Florin Cîţu motivated his decision,
saying he wanted to maintain public confidence in state institutions, to be
able to overcome the difficult period generated by the pandemic. Dan Barna, the
co-president of the USR PLUS Alliance, which is part of the ruling coalition
alongside the Liberal Party and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in
Romania, said the prime minister no longer has the Alliance’s political
support. Dacian Cioloş, the other co-president of the USR PLUS Alliance,
described as unacceptable the fact that the prime minister did not consult the
USR-PLUS leadership before sacking the health minister. In turn, deputy prime
minister Kelemen Hunor, the leader of the Democratic Union of Ethnic
Hungarians, said his party accepted the prime minister’s decision and that the
coalition must go ahead. From the opposition, Marcel Ciolacu, the leader of the
Social Democratic Party, said Vlad Voiculescu’s dismissal came too late for
many Romanians who lost their lives and ruined their health.
Following the Prime Minister’s announcement, the leader of the Social-Democrat
group in the Romanian Parliament, Alfred Simonis, said his party will withdraw
the simple motion filed against the Health Minister following the latter’s
dismissal.

COVID-19
IN ROMANIA – 4,076
new COVID-19 infections have been reported in the last 24 hours in Romania, the
group for strategic communication announced on Wednesday. Another 164 related
fatalities have also been reported during the interval, and 1,521 patients are
currently in intensive care. On the other hand, new criteria for the
implementation of quarantine have been published in the Official Journal. The
new system will keep track of infection rates based on a reference score grid.
Quarantine may be imposed when large cities reach a score of 60 and small
cities a score of 70. Some 50 towns and villages are currently in quarantine in
Romania.

COVID-19 IN THE WORLD –As many countries in Eastern Europe
are faced with the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, Bulgarian hotels and
travel agencies are worried that more and more Romanians are cancelling their
Easter bookings in the absence of clear rules for entering the country, while
Israel’s tourism and health ministries are considering opening borders for
groups of foreign tourists at the end of May, on certain conditions. In France,
the government has decided to postpone the local elections because of the
pandemic and in Austria, health minister Rudolf Anschober resigned due to
exhaustion caused by the management of the Covid crisis.

PROTESTS – Trade
unions on Wednesday staged anti-government protests outside the government
headquarters in Bucharest. They demand a rise in the minimum wage to a decent
level, fair pensions, quality public services, unblocking collective
bargaining, fair taxation and a fair application of the law. Trade unions say
they are unhappy with the measures taken by the government and its refusal to
engage in social dialogue and demand its resignation. The gendarmerie recalls
that a maximum of 100 persons are allowed to take part in public demonstrations
under the current coronavirus restrictions and have recommended protesters to
respect the hygiene and physical distancing rules in place and wear facemasks.

GYMNASTICS –Six Romanian gymnasts, three female
and three male, are taking part in the European Artistic Gymnastics
Championships hosted by Basel between 21st and 25th April, the Romanian
Gymnastics Federation has announced. Romania is pursuing two goals at these
championships: to have two more gymnasts qualified for the Olympic Games, one
in the men’s and one in the women’s events, and win medals in the individual
and team competitions. Only two Romanian gymnasts have so far booked their
tickets for the Tokyo Olympics: Marian Drăgulescu, in the men’s vault competition,
and Maria Holbură in the women’s all-around event. (C.M. & V.P.)