November 2-6, 2020

A review of the headline-grabbing events of the week

România Internațional, 07.11.2020, 13:33

New measures taken in Romania to limit the expansion of the pandemic

In Romania, the cases of new COVID infections, virus deaths, and emergency beds occupied, is rising from day to day. Reason enough for a lot of concern for the authorities in Bucharest, which find themselves in the situation of imposing expanded protection measures. In Thursday’s government session, President Klaus Iohannis said that measures taken so far have by no means been sufficient. He said ‘Schools have to move online. Employees in public and private jobs have to shift to working from home wherever possible, shops have to close down by 21:00, traffic during nighttime, public and private parties have to be banned, markets have to close down, wearing a mask has to be compulsory everywhere in the country, both in public and at work, where indoors or outdoors.’ Speaking of economic activity, the head of state said that ‘companies have to have their work shifts out of sync, in order to allow for social distancing. We want to give physicians a chance to treat the serious cases in hospitals. We want to have economic activity, we don’t want to shut it down, but take measures by which people are protected while the economy goes on’, the president pointed out. The measures are to be in place for 30 days.

Official visits by PM Ludovic Orban to Israel and Palestine

Romanian PM Ludovic Orban went on Tuesday and Wednesday on official visits to Israel and Palestine. In Jerusalem, prime ministers Orban and Netanyahu have reaffirmed the special relationship that their Romania and Israel have in politics, the economy, defense and security, and pleaded for expanding said cooperation. As part of the visit, the two signed a protocol amending the bilateral convention, in order to avoid double taxation and tax evasion in terms of income tax. This is meant to encourage direct foreign investment, and to stimulate trade. The head of the Bucharest government was also received by the president of Israel, Reuven Rivlin, who lauded the efforts made by Romania in coming to terms with the past, promoting the memory of the Holocaust and fighting anti-Semitism. The Romanian premier also held talks with the head of diplomacy in Jerusalem on the issue of the future peace process in the Middle East. In Ramallah, Ludovic Orban, speaking with this Palestinian counterpart, said that the visit marks an important stage in developing bilateral relationship, able to be an opportunity to develop cooperation between Romania and Palestine in areas such as education, internal affairs, and agriculture. He underlined the special significance of the Romanian community in the Middle East, and gave thanks for the support offered to the community by the Palestinian authorities. Orban said that Romania offers its support for any action that could lead to a durable solution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in direct negotiations, in order to advance the solution for the two states based in international law and relevant UN resolutions. The Romanian premier also met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The election campaign kicks off in Romania for parliament seats

Romania has kicked off the election campaign for the parliamentary elections of December 6th, starting on Friday, and wrapping up on December 5th at 19:00 hours. The Romanians in the diaspora will be able to vote for two days , on December 5th and 6th. Of the 329 deputy seats and 136 senatorial seats, six parties and alliances have registered, PNL, PSD, PMP, PRO Romania, UDMR, and the USR-PLUS alliance. Some national minorities and independent parties have also signed up for the race. We recall that national minorities other than the Hungarian one, have one seat each in the lower chamber. As for the diaspora, it will be represented by 4 deputies and two senators. Abroad, over 39,000 Romanians have registered to vote by mail in the parliamentaries. The pandemic imposed major restrictions in terms of running campaigns, as happened in the local elections in September. For indoor events, the limit for participation is 20 people, and 50 for outdoor events. For events outdoors, organizers have to provide a distancing surface of at least 4 sqm per person. In terms of street events, groups can have 6 people at the most, with a maximum of two persons campaigning door to door.

Autumn economic forecasts for Romania from the EC

The Romanian economy will shrink by 5.2% by the end of the year, less than initially estimated, thanks to investments and work in construction, according to autumn economic forecasts issued by the EC. Estimates are more optimistic than in the spring. At that time, the executive said that the economy would shrink by 6%. For the next two years, the EC expects a gradual recovery, expecting a growth of 3.3% in 2021, and 3.8% in 2022. at the same time, real growth is not expected to go to levels from before the crisis in those two years, even though investments are expected to make a comeback. At the same time, forecasts regarding government deficit are not as optimistic. The EC expects that it will have a significant growth, up to 10.3% of the GDP in 2020, as compared to 9.2% as they said in spring, and will continue to go up in the next two years, reaching 11.3% of the GDP in 2021, and 12.5% in 2022. They expect unemployment to grow in 2020, reaching 5.9%, as compared to 3.9% in 2019, and 6.2% in 2021.