February 17, 2021

CAMPAIGN According to the head of the National Committee coordinating Romania's vaccination operations, physician Valeriu Gheorghita, only two months into the anti-Covid vaccination campaign, its beneficial results are visible. According to official data, roughly 90% of the eligible medical personnel have got the first dose and the booster, while 98% of them got the first dose. Since the campaign kicked off on December 27th, nearly 716 thousand people have been immunized. 1.2 million doses have been used mostly produced by Pfizer/BioNTech giant, but also by Moderna and AstraZeneca. In another development, since the onset of the pandemic, 766 thousand infections have been registered in Romania with a death toll over 19,500.

PROTESTS Trade unionists from the capital and other major Romanian cities are mounting fresh protests in front of the government building in Bucharest. Several trade union associations from police, public administration, social assistance and finances are taking to the streets of Bucharest to protest the austerity measures imposed by the ruling coalition, which they believe is going to prolong the economic crisis caused by the pandemic. On Tuesday, hundreds of policemen from Bucharest and other Romanian cities protested in front of the government building. Employers and employees from Romania's hospitality industry and the country's railway system have also protested the government's austerity measures.

BRANCUSI The Romanian Cultural Institute is these days staging in Bucharest, Brussels, Chisinau, Lisbon, London, Madrid and Paris online events devoted to the personality of Romania's greatest sculptor Constantin Brancusi as we celebrated his 145th birthday on 19th of February. A special concert is to be given on his birthday with illustrations from his works provided by Romania's National Art Museum. A pioneer of modern abstract sculpture with exquisite works in marble, bronze and wood often of traditional inspiration, Brancusi is considered one of the main sculptors of the 20th century.

NATO Defence Ministers from NATO countries are having online talks on Wednesday and Thursday over the future of this alliance in Afghanistan, where roughly 10 thousand of its servicemen have been deployed. NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg is expected to ask for additional funds for various joint defence and deterrence operations. According to him these funds will enable the deployment of troops to the eastern flank, air police missions as well as joint naval and military operations. Furthermore, the move is expected to balance costs among the member countries, Stoltenberg went on to say. If the proposals are rallying support from the ministers attending the event, they could be adopted by the leaders of NATO countries during the summit this year. 

MOTION Romanian MPs on Wednesday rejected the first simple motion this year in which the opposition PSD was calling for the resignation of the country's Health Minister Vlad Voiculescu whom they blame for his inability to properly handle the anti-Covid vaccination and testing campaign and take the right measures to prevent fires in some medical units. Another party in opposition, AUR, backed the motion, which was debated upon on Monday when Voiculescu pointed out that the real author of the disaster in Romania's healthcare system in the past 30 years was the Social Democratic Party. According to regulations, a simple motion against a minister even if passed, does not necessarily imply his resignation.

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