February 9, 2022
Click here for a roundup of local and world news
Newsroom, 09.02.2022, 13:55
COVID-19 In
Romania 27,346 new SARS-CoV-2 infections were reported on Wednesday, fewer than
on the previous day, and 176 related deaths, 5 of them from a previous date.
According to experts, who have identified the Omicron variant of the coronavirus
in all sequenced samples, Romania may have achieved herd immunity and the fifth pandemic wave is quite likely to end in spring. The vaccination rate
remains very low, and the number of fully vaccinated citizens is little over 8
million.
CONFERENCE The Romanian health minister Alexandru Rafila takes part today and
tomorrow in a joint conference of EU foreign and health ministers on global
health and in an informal meeting of EU health ministers, due in Lyon and Grenoble (France). The 2 events are organised by the French
presidency of the EU Council. The participants will discuss the EU measures to
support developing countries in accessing medicines in the context of the COVID-19
pandemic, and to strengthen national healthcare systems. The informal meeting
of health ministers will focus on the intervention and resilience of public
health systems in case of crises, and on the joint development of policies to
create a ‘Union of health.’
MOTION The Chamber of Deputies in
Bucharest Wednesday dismissed the simple motion tabled by the opposition party USR
against the Liberal minister for energy Virgil Popescu, with 98 votes in favour
and 190 against. According to the authors, Popescu is a threat to Romania’s
energy security and must be dismissed immediately. The motion was scheduled for
debates on Monday, but the meeting was suspended after the co-president of the
nationalist party AUR, George Simion, assaulted the energy minister during his
address. The meeting was subsequently resumed, but with only the opposition MPs from AUR and USR in attendance. Virgil
Popescu and the MPs from the ruling coalition left the hall in protest. Prosecutors
have opened a criminal case with respect to the incident.
ECONOMY Romania’s trade balance deficit in 2021 amounted to EUR 23.69
billion, over EUR 5.3 billion higher than in 2020, according to data released
on Wednesday by the National Statistics Institute. Last year exports totalled
EUR 74.7 billion and imports over EUR 98 billion.
Official data also reveal that in 2021, vehicle and transport equipment
accounted for 44.9% of Romania’s exports and 35.2% of imports, with other
manufactured products also accounting for large shares of the country’s foreign
trade.
UKRAINE International diplomatic efforts continue with a view to deescalate
the Russia-Ukraine standoff. The president of France Emmanuel Macron called for
a dynamic dialogue with Russia, which he sees as the only way to make peace in
Ukraine possible. Macron discussed with the Russian leader Vladimir Putin in
Moscow and with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, and
voiced confidence that progress will be made in the peace talks, but
warned that risks still exist and that months of negotiations will be needed. In
turn, president Volodymyr Zelensky said he was looking forward to resuming
Normandy Format negotiations with Russia, brokered by France and Germany. He
also insisted that president Putin complied with the Minsk agreements, whose
main clause concerns the sovereignty of Ukraine. The Russian-Ukrainian tensions
were also discussed on Tuesday in Berlin by the German chancellor Olaf Scholz with
the presidents of France Emmanuel Macron and of Poland, Andrzej Duda. Germany,
France and Poland are united in their goal of preserving peace in Europe,
said the German chancellor, who is to travel to Moscow next week.
TENNIS The Romanian player Sorana
Cirstea today takes on seed no. 2 Anett Kontaveit of Estonia in the round of 16
of the WTA 500 tournament in Sankt Petersburg (Russia). Two other Romanians, Irina
Begu and Jaqueline Cristian will play tomorrow in the same round, against Petra
Kvitova of the Czech Republic and Aleksandra Sasnovich of Belarus, respectively. (A.M.P.)
