February 9, 2022 UPDATE
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 09.02.2022, 19:53
UKRAINE – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hailed on Wednesday the progress made in the deescalation of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis after sustained diplomatic efforts in the past few days, France Presse and Reuters report. “The task is that we ensure the security in Europe, and I believe that will be achieved,” Scholz told journalists at a joint press conference with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. Previously, French president Emmanuel Macron voiced confidence that progress would be made in the peace talks, but warned that risks still existed. In turn, Ukrainian 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.
EXPORTS – Romania is the EU’s largest exporter of corn and the second largest wheat and barley exporter in the 2021/2022 season. A report made public by the European Commission shows that the EU wheat exports are bigger than in the previous season, with Romania ranking second in this respect, after France and ahead of Germany. Most EU wheat exports went to Algeria, followed by China and Egypt. According to the report, since the start of the 2021/2022 season up to present, member states have exported 3.48 million tons of corn, double than the previous season. Romania produced most of it, 2.61 million tons, and its main destination was Iran.
MOTION – The Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest on Wednesday dismissed the simple motion tabled by the opposition party USR against the Liberal minister for energy Virgil Popescu, with 98 votes in favor and 190 against. According to the authors, Popescu is a threat to Romanias 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.
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 is taking part, as of Wednesday, in a 2-day 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 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 focuses 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.
TENNIS – The Romanian player Sorana Cirstea on Wednesday lost to seed no. 2 Anett Kontaveit of Estonia, 6-4, 7-5 in the round of 16 of the WTA 500 tournament in Sankt Petersburg (Russia). Two other Romanians, Irina Begu and Jaqueline Cristian will play on Thursday in the same round, against Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic and Aleksandra Sasnovich of Belarus, respectively. (EE)
