April 4, 2021 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 04.04.2021, 19:27

Visit. On Sunday, the
Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bogdan Aurescu held talks in Amman with
his counterpart, Ayman Safadi. The talks focused on boosting bilateral
relations. The Romania – Jordan treaty
on extradition and the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between the
justice ministries of the two countries were signed. An intergovernmental
agreement on cooperation in disaster prevention, limitation and elimination was
also concluded. The two diplomats highlighted the potential for developing
bilateral cooperation in sectors such as agriculture, construction, energy, defense,
IT and addressed ways to increase the volume of economic exchanges and
investments, according to an MFA statement. Bogdan Aurescu also appreciated the
close partnership between Romania and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in the
field of education, which plays an important role in strengthening the ties
between the two countries. With more than 13,000 Jordanian graduates of
Romanian universities, Minister Aurescu expressed satisfaction that many of
them currently hold leadership positions in the Jordanian public
administration. Regarding the Middle East Peace Process, Aurescu reiterated
Romania’s traditional option for a two-state solution, Israel and Palestine, to
coexist in peace and security, and stressed the need for direct dialogue
between the parties.

Covid-19RO. Over 4,150 new
cases of COVID-19 were reported on Sunday in Romania, most of them in
Bucharest. 97 deaths associated with the new coronavirus and 1,500 patients in intensive
care were also reported. So far, 974 thousand people have been infected and
24,000 have died in Romania. The Minister of Health, Vlad Voiculescu,
announced, after a meeting with hospital directors, that there were over 160
children with COVID-19 in hospitals, 16
of them in intensive care. He also said he would take steps to rethink medical
flows and focus all efforts on caring for the Covid-19 patients, and stated
that Covid-19 non-related emergencies would
be directed to hospitals that had not previously provided emergency services.
The capital and 13 counties are in the red zone, with over 3 cases per thousand
inhabitants in the last 14 days. The highest incidence is registered in Ilfov
county, 9.08. In areas where the incidence is higher than four cases per
thousand inhabitants, the movement of people on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays
is allowed only until 8 p.m., not until 10 p.m. as in the rest of the week. Also,
on these days, the shops close at 6 p.m..The measures become valid also during
the week if the incidence rate exceeds 7.5 cases per thousand inhabitants.

Vaccination. The national
vaccination campaign continues in Romania, with some 50 thousand doses
administered daily. So far, more than 2 million people have been vaccinated, and
half of them have received the second jab. Prime Minister Florin Cîţu has
announced that Romania is in the process of selection at European level for the
production of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, and one of the companies in our country will
be evaluated by the European Commission’s task force for the development of
vaccines against COVID-19. The Minister of Defense, Nicolae Ciucă, has announced
that, from April 5, 15 new anti-COVID-19 vaccination centers will be opened, for
both military and civilians. In another development, the new list of countries
with high epidemiological risk has been updated. According to the National
Committee for Emergency Situations, the list includes countries such as
Bulgaria, Italy, France, Hungary, Czech Republic, Austria, Belgium, the
Netherlands, Turkey, the Republic of Moldova and Poland, but also Brazil and
South Africa.

NATO. NATO Day is
celebrated in Romania every year, on the first Sunday of April. The North
Atlantic Alliance, together with the EU and the Strategic Partnership with the
United States, ensures the strongest protection that Romania has benefited in
its entire history, against any threat to its national security, the Minister
of National Defense, Nicolae Ciuca said on the occasion. He also mentioned that the Romanian troops were
already in Afghanistan and Kosovo when Romania was invited to join the Alliance
and, when our country became a member of NATO, in 2004, Romanian military present in Iraq, on another difficult mission. For Romania, NATO has been and
continues to be the main guarantor and the fundamental pillar of national
defense and security, Prime Minister Florin Cîtu stated in his turn. He also
said that Romania has an active and significant contribution to Allied missions
and operations, as well as a distinct and active role in shaping NATO policies
and decisions, including measures to strengthen the deterrence and defense
posture.

Weightlifting. Romanian athlete
Monica Suneta Csengeri has won three gold medals in the 49 kg category, at the
European Weightlifting Championships in Moscow. Csengeri (CSM Bistrita) won the
snatch event with 86 kg, the clean and jerk with 103 kg, and in the total she
won with 189 kg. Mihaela Valentina Cambei won silver in the jerk event and
bronze for total, with 180 kg. In the men’s events, Valentin Iancu won two
silver medals. (MI)