1st March 2020, UPDATE

A roundup of the main stories in Romania today.

Newsroom, 01.03.2020, 20:08

Government. Prime minister designate Florin Cîţu on Monday begins talks
with parliamentary parties to form a new majority, having earlier submitted a
list of his cabinet and programme to Parliament. The only change in the makeup
of the new government is the position of finance minister, previously held by Cîţu
himself and for which Lucian Heiuş has now been nominated. The prime minister
designate has called on the Social Democrats, in opposition, not to delay the
investiture of the new cabinet. The latter say however that presenting a list
of ministers without talks with the parliamentary parties clearly shows the
National Liberal Party wants early elections. Similar views have been voiced by
representatives of the Save Romania Union, the Alliance of Liberals and
Democrats, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania and Pro
Romania. The People’s Movement Party has agreed to hold talks with the
Liberals. Florin Cîţu’s nomination by president Klaus Iohannis came after the
Constitutional Court ruled as unconstitutional the president’s first choice,
the interim prime minister and leader of the National Liberal Party Ludovic
Orban. The latter’s government had been dismissed through a vote of
no-confidence at the beginning of February.

Arrest.
The Bucharest Tribunal on Saturday evening ruled in favour of the temporary
arrest of the former Social Democrat health minister Sorina Pintea, who is
currently the manager of the emergency hospital in Baia Mare, in the
north-west. She is accused of taking bribe. According to the anti-corruption
prosecutors, Pintea received 10,000 euros and the equivalent in lei of around 25,000
euros between December 2019 and February 2020 from a company, via an
intermediary, accounting for 7% of the value of a contract signed with that
company to carry out rehabilitation works at a medical unit. Pintea was caught
in the act of receiving the money on Friday, at her office in the hospital in
Baia Mare. Sorina Pintea served as health minister in Viorica Dancila’s Social
Democrat cabinet that was dismissed last October.

Coronavirus. Romania’s first confirmed coronavirus patient, a 25-year-old man from Gorj county, in the south-west, was declared officially cured on Sunday and will be released from hospital. The man’s family are still in isolation at home until the expiry of the 14-day incubation period. Two other coronavirus cases were confirmed in Romania, the state of both patients being good according to the authorities. Health authorities in Timis county, in the west, and in Maramures, in the north-west, are carrying out epidemiological investigations to establish who the two persons came into contact with. Both the woman and the man who tested positive for coronavirus on Friday had recently travelled to Italy. In Europe, Italy remains the most affected country.

Handball. The Romanian men’s handball champions Dinamo Bucharest on Sunday
defeated the Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon at home, 26-24, in the return leg
of the Champions League play-offs, thus reaching the last 16. Dinamo also won
the first leg, 26-25. In their next match, Dinamo will face the powerful French
side Paris Saint-Germain. Also on Sunday,
the Romanian women’s handball vice-champions CSM Bucharest lost 26-28 to the
French side Metz away in Group 1 of the Champions League Main Round. On Saturday
in Group 2, the Romanian champions CSM Ramnicu Valcea defeated the Swedish side
Savehof at home 28-20. Both Romanian sides are fourth in their respective
groups and are sure to advance to the quarterfinals.

Award.
Romanian film-maker Cristi Puiu won the best director award in the Encounters
section of the Berlin International Film Festival for his production Malmkrog. The film is based on a book by
the 18th century Russian philosopher Vladimir Solovyov. It was shot on location at the
Apafi manor house in the village of Mălâncrav, in Sibiu county. This is Puiu’s
second award in Berlin after a Golden Bear in the short film section in 2004.
Encounters is the festival’s brand new competitive section. Two other Romanian
productions were shown in Berlin this year, by Radu Jude and Adrian Cioflâncă.
The Golden Bear award went to the Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof and his
film There Is No Evil. The film-maker
could not pick up his prize as he was not allowed to leave Iran, where has a
one-year prison sentence. (CM)