September 18, 2021
A roundup of domestic and international news.
Newsroom, 18.09.2021, 14:00
CORONAVIRUS – The government passed a resolution making the green certificate, attesting vaccination, negative testing or recovery from COVID-19, compulsory entering restaurants, gyms, or attending public and private events in areas where the infection rate is over 3 per thousand. This is the same digital certificate required this summer for travel within the EU. On Friday, authorities announced almost 4,500 new cases of COVID-19 infection in 24 hours, from over 46,000 tests. In the same interval, 73 related fatalities were also reported and 762 patients treated in intensive care. Meanwhile, the National Committee on Emergencies approved a new list of high-risk countries, valid as of September 19. Bulgaria and France are now back in the yellow zone, and Spain is listed as a green-zone country.
NEW MEDIA ART – The biggest new media art event in Romania starts today in Bucharest. iMapp Bucharest — Winners league is also among the top three international video mapping competitions. The works of teams from the US, Germany, Ukraine, Japan and Hungary will be presented on the world’s biggest screening area, namely, the façade of the Parliament Palace in Bucharest, of 23,000 sqm. The theme of this year’s edition is “The Show Must Go On” and celebrates through works that blend light, technology and music, the way in which people have been returning to normal life.
ELECTIONS — Russia’s three-day parliamentary elections have started on Friday, when around 20 million people, that is 17% of the eligible voters, cast their ballot. According to the Radio Romania correspondent in Moscow, from those 450 deputies, half are elected by party lists from among the representatives of 14 political parties. The other half of the seats are chosen in individual constituencies, where 2,300 candidates are running. People affiliated to organizations banned by the law, including that of the opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, seen as extremists. Polls indicate that the presidential party, United Russia, will get over 40% of the votes, followed by the Communist Party.
SUMMIT – Southern EU leaders, convened in Athens, have pledged their adherence to the climate targets of the Paris 2015 agreement and have agreed to collaborate more closely to address illegal migration. Greek PM, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who chaired the summit, reminded of the devastating fires this summer in the Mediterranean countries and the flooding in northern Europe. Greece, France, Italy, Spain, Cyprus, Malta, Slovenia, Croatia and Portugal have signed a declaration in favor of an ambition result at the conference on climate change due in November, in Scotland. The nine countries have also pledged to strengthen cooperation to combat extremism and terrorism.
AMBASSADORS – France announced on Friday it would recall its ambassadors to the US and Australia for consultations, in response to the cancellation, by the Australian government, of a 56 billion –euro contract with France, for 12 military submarines, in favor of a nuclear submarine deal with the United States. Both Australia and the US voiced their regret at France’s decision to recall its ambassadors.
VISIT – The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, will be in Bucharest on September 27, the EC deputy spokesperson Dana Spinant announced on Friday. She added that in the coming days the Commission will complete its assessment of Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan. Under the Plan, Bucharest is set to receive over 29 billion euro, half of it in grants and half in loans. Romania plans reforms and investments in transports, environment, agriculture, healthcare, education, business environment, research, innovation, digitisation as well as resilience in crisis situations. According to the Commission, 18 states have already seen their national recovery plans approved, and 12 of them have already received the first instalments of the funds for investment projects.
COURT – Romania’s Constitutional Court will discuss on September 28 the notification filed by the Liberal Prime Minister Florin Cîţu’s Cabinet, in connection with an alleged constitutional conflict with Parliament concerning the no-confidence motion filed by the USR-PLUS alliance, a former junior coalition partner, and AUR, a nationalist party, in the opposition. The Government denounced Parliament’s alleged unconstitutional, disloyal and abusive behaviour towards the Government, as the no-confidence motion tabled by the latter had allegedly been initiated, tabled and communicated in terms that are against the Constitution. Pending the Court’s ruling, the debate and vote on the motion are in standby, Parliament decided. (EE)
