November 14, 2021

A roundup of domestic and international news.

Newsroom, 14.11.2021, 14:00

NATO – The Unites States will continue to stand with friends and allies at the Black Sea to enhance deterrence and make sure that actions such as those Russia conducted over recent years in the region do not go any further, US Embassy Charge d’Affaires and interim US Ambassador to Bucharest, David Muniz said in an interview with Agerpres on Saturday. The American official on Friday was on board the United States Sixth Fleets flagship USS Mount Whitney in the Black Sea port of Constanta, for a military exercise alongside NATO allies. Seven military ships of the Romanian, American, Turkish and Ukrainian armies held joint military drills on Friday in the Black Sea waters. In reaction to this, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview on Saturday that the NATO drills were unplanned and were a provocation to Russia.

NEGOTIATIONS — Representatives of the National Liberal Party (PNL), in power, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) in opposition and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania (UDMR), a partner of the party in power, continue negotiations today to complete the joint governing programme. They still have to harmonize views on domains like justice, finance and labor. It is a difficult stage of the negotiations, as the Liberals and Social Democrats have different views on taxation and the dismantling of the Section for the Investigation of Crimes in the Justice System. Liberal leader, Florin Citu, said on Saturday that there is no reason to modify the Fiscal Code, which the Social Democrats proposed, in order to introduce a so-called tax on luxury. On the other hand, the Social Democrats oppose the idea of dismantling the Section for the Investigation of Crimes in the Justice System. Their leader, Marcel Ciolacu, said that other solutions must be found to have the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism lifted. The parties also have to decide on the government makeup and the prime minister.

NATURAL GAS — Romania imported in the first nine months of the year some 2.057 million tons oil equivalent (toe) of natural gas, by almost 60% more than in the same period of 2020, according to data centralized by the National Statistics Institute. The domestic output in the same period was 5.402 million toe, by 1.2% more than in January-September 2020. A domestic production of 7.4 million toe of natural gas and imports of 2.32 million toe, up by 1.5% and 38% respectively against 2020 have been forecast for this year.

CLIMATE – The UN conference on climate change, COP 26, held in Glasgow, Scotland, ended after two weeks of intense negotiations, with an agreement that aims to cap global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius, and thus maintain a realistic chance of saving the world from catastrophic climate change, Reuters reports. The European Commission Vice-President, Frans Timmermans, said that the agreement represents a historic commitment. In order to deliver on these promises, COP26 also agreed for the first time to accelerate efforts towards the phase-down of unabated coal power and inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, and recognized the need for support towards a just transition.

CORONAVIRUS — The number of new Covid infections is on the decrease in Romania. Little over 3,000 new infections in 24 hours were reported on Sunday as well as 233 related deaths, of which 10 previous to the above-mentioned interval. The infection rate at national level has dropped to 5.95. The number of Covid cases in 14 days exceeds 6 per one thousand inhabitants only in 11 counties and in Bucharest, standing at 6.26 in the capital city on Sunday. Children and students in almost 72% of the kindergartens and schools in Romania will attend classes in person as of Monday, after at least 60% of the staff in these education units has been vaccinated. All other schools will continue to hold classes online.

FOOTBALL – Romania’s national football squad is today ending the World Cup preliminaries with an away match against Lichtenstein. Playing in Group J, the Romanians were previously up against Iceland, at home, but the match ended in a goalless draw. Also today in the same group, Armenia plays Germany and North Macedonia will take on Iceland. The Romanians, who have not participated in a World Cup since 1998, need a victory against Liechtenstein and that Iceland does not lose, in order to come out second in the group and qualify to the playoff. Germany, which already qualified at the 2022 World Cup, ranks first in group J, followed by North Macedonia, Romania, Armenia, Iceland and Lichtenstein. (EE)