July 6, 2021 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 06.07.2021, 20:00

COVID-19 ROMANIA – The vaccination rate at national level
amongst teenagers over 12 years of age accounts for some 28%, the head of the
vaccination campaign in Romania, Valeriu Gheorghiţă has said. Since the start
of the vaccination campaign in December last year, nearly 4.8 million people
have taken the COVID-19 jab, of whom 4.6 million have completed the full
vaccination scheme. 61 people are still in intensive care. On the other hand,
51 new cases of COVID infection were reported on Tuesday in addition to 4
related fatalities. Most cases were reported in Cluj and Bucharest, while 20
counties reported no cases of infection.

COVID-19 WORLD – Concern is growing in several European
countries over the spread of the new Indian ‘Delta’ strain of the SARS-COV-2
virus. Consequently appeals for immunization have intensified, immunization
being mandatory for certain categories of employees. France is again reporting
increasing numbers of infection and is considering the option of making
vaccination mandatory for health workers, where the immunization level remains
below expectations. In Italy, the number of infections and deaths has
stabilized after dropping continuously since April, the president of the Higher
Institute for Health, Silvio Brusaferro has said. Also on Tuesday, Catalonia
decided to impose new restrictions to stop the exponential growth of COVID-19
infections in recent days, especially among the younger population. Worldwide,
nearly 185 million cases of coronavirus infection have been reported and more
than 4 million people have died, according to wordlometers.info. Most infections
and deaths have been reported in the United States, India and Brazil.

SPECIAL
SECTION – Romanian
politicians in power and opposition have reacted to the Venice Commission’s
opinion according to which it is appropriate to disband the Special Section for
investigating Crime in Justice (SIIJ). The opinion of the Venice Commission is
not surprising, as the setting up of a section to investigate the criminal
offenses committed by magistrates had been criticized from the very beginning
by all the European institutions. Dealing with corruption cases should be the
responsibility of the National Anticorruption Directorate, and the amendments
brought to the law should be eliminated – the USR-PLUS Alliance (in the ruling
coalition) says. They hope that the draft law initiated by the Justice
Minister, Stelian Ion, will be adopted by Parliament as soon as possible. The
opinion of the Venice Commission confirms that the Liberals’ move regarding the
elimination of super-immunity for magistrates was right, the president of the
Senate’s legal committee, the Liberal Iulia Scântei, also said. The opposition
Social Democratic Party PSD continues to oppose any change in the justice laws,
in the absence of a large consensus among magistrates over the protection of
judges against pressure and abuse of any kind. The Social Democrats want the
magistrates’ position to be respected.

CONSULTATIONS – President Klaus Iohannis continues consultations
with political parties and social partners over the project Educated Romania,
currently under public debate. On Tuesday, the head of state discussed with the
Parliament leadership and members of the two chambers’ education committees.
Also on Tuesday, presidential adviser Ligia Deca tabled new proposals under the
project, including a standardized Baccalaureate exam focusing on minimal
skills, irrespective of class or specialization, and allowing high schools
receiving a surplus of applications to hold admission exams ahead of the
National Tests. Ligia Deca explained the project is a proposal and that the
Government next week is due to adopt a memorandum providing concrete terms. On
Wednesday, the president will meet with social dialogue partners in the field
of education and with representatives of NGOs involved in the project.
Educated Romania was launched by president Iohannis in 2016 and has undergone
several stages of public debate, without producing any modification in the
education system so far.

CRASH – All the 28 passengers onboard the plane that crashed in the
Kamchatka Peninsula are dead, the emergency services have announced. The plane
crashed 4 kilometers from the destination airport off the coast of the
Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East. According to standard procedure,
the investigation will look into three possible causes behind the crash: the
weather, the plane’s technical status and a possible piloting error. (LS &
VP)