January 25, 2022 UPDATE
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 25.01.2022, 20:10
Holocaust — Promoting the fundamental rights and freedoms, respecting the historical truth and understanding the causes of such atrocities give us assurances that such crimes against humanity will never happen again, the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said Tuesday at the ceremony devoted to International Holocaust Remembrance Day. He underlined that the exacerbation of anti-Semitism, xenophobia, intolerance, racism and discrimination, the attempts to rehabilitate war criminals, as well as the relinquishing of the supreme values of humanity could bring back the tragic experiences of history. The Romanian president recalled that, in the streets of Bucharest, in January 1941, criminals vandalized and burned synagogues, shattered the destinies of thousands of innocent people through the most horrific tortures, all these horrors being part of a diabolical plan of mass extermination. The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified the virulence of anti-Semitic attacks and created a framework that led to the spread of conspiracy theories and misinformation, president Iohannis said. (…) In turn, the PM Nicolae Ciuca, present at the ceremony, said that the Holocaust is a dark chapter of history, pointing out that it must not be forgotten and minimized. He paid tribute to the victims of the Holocaust and presented the contribution of the Jewish community to the development of Romania.
Ukraine — Ukraine is perfecting its backup plans for any possible scenario or Russian action. In a statement for Radio Romania, Deputy PM for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, Olha Stefanishyna, mentioned the people’s strong wish for their country’s accession to NATO. It is crucial to us to see that the next steps of our country’s joining NATO materialize, on the occasion of the next summit. If the summit’s document does not include mentions of Ukraine’s future accession, this would be the equivalent Russia’s demand of stopping NATO enlargement,” the Ukrainian official said. On Monday, the situation caused by Russias aggressive actions in the vicinity of Ukraine and the Black Sea region was included on the agenda of the Foreign Affairs Council meeting held in Brussels. The Romania Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu proposed his counterparts to consider the possibility of holding a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council in Kiev, as an expression of the EUs solidarity with Ukraine. He reiterated the importance of supporting the strengthening of the resilience of Ukraine and other Eastern partners, as well as of increasing the EUs involvement in finding political solutions to the prolonged conflicts in the Black Sea region.
Measures– The Bucharest Government on Tuesday passed a set of measures to support citizens and the economy, help preserve jobs and ensure a competitive economic activity, PM Nicolae Ciuca announced. The measures will be applied in February and March. “No one will pay more than 0.16 euro/kWh electricity and 0.06 euro/kWh natural gas, irrespective of consumption. Household consumers with up to 500 kWh electricity or 300 cubic meters of natural gas will pay 0.14 euros/kWh for electricity and around 0.04 euros for natural gas, taxes included, Ciuca explained. For non-household consumers, SMEs and the food industry, prices will be capped at 1 leu/ kWh for electricity and 0.07 euro / kWh for natural gas.
Coronavirus — 114,000 vaccine doses from Pfizer BioNTech Company for the vaccination of children aged 5 to 11 arrived in Romania on Tuesday. The vaccination of this age group will begin on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Covid-19 incidence rate continues to rise in Romania. The biggest number of new infections was confirmed in the Bucharest-Ilfov area, where the demand for testing is high. In order to respond to these requests as soon as possible, the Health Ministry decided to open 28 testing centers. A total of 19,685 new cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection in 24 hours were reported on Tuesday, along with 44 deaths. 650 people are in intensive care.
Transport — The employees of the Bucharest Transport Company suspended the protest action and resumed their activity on Tuesday, after five days in which the surface public transport in the Capital was blocked. We remind you that the strike was declared illegal by the Court, but the trade unionists have ignored the ruling. They were asking for salary increases and the resignation of the company’s manager, Adrian Crit. The latter told Agerpres news agency that, after five days of illegal protest that paralyzed the capital, the employees eventually understood that they cannot ignore the law and the obligations they have towards the people of Bucharest. The general mayor of Bucharest, Nicusor Dan, said that the talks would continue in order to improve the situation at the Bucharest Transport Company, depending on the available budgets. Previously, Nicusor Dan had argued that the protest had been politicized.
Corruption — The 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index published by Transparency International shows that, despite official commitments, 131 of the 180 countries surveyed have made no significant progress in fighting corruption in the past 10 years. According to the report, Romania is no exception, and the perception of public sector corruption has been unchanged for a decade. With only 45 points out of 100, Romania remains among the most corrupt countries in the European Union, alongside Hungary (43 points) and Bulgaria (42 points). Transparency International’s analysis shows that the Covid-19 pandemic has given governments the opportunity to expand their executive power, hide public information and restrict citizens rights. In Romania, one of the most vulnerable areas was public procurement, with effects on the transparency of the public expenses during the pandemic. (EE)
