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August 17, 2021 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 17.08.2021, 19:59

Covid-19. Over 1.9 million EU Digital Covid Certificates were issued in Romania until August 17, Andrei Baciu, Secretary of State in the Ministry of Health, announced on Tuesday. He said that most of these certificates – almost 96% – are proof of vaccination against COVID-19. The issuance of the European digital certificates started in Romania on July 1. Also on Tuesday, the coordinator of the National Vaccination Campaign against COVID-19, doctor Valeriu Gheorghiţă, presented the results of the first study on vaccine effectiveness in Romania, carried out during the third wave of infections in the spring. According to the study, people vaccinated against COVID-19 are faced with a 14 times lower risk of death than the unvaccinated, 12 times lower risk of hospitalization and hospitalization in ICUs and a 10 times lower risk of infection. Doctor Valeriu Gheorghiţă stressed again the importance of vaccination, especially in the context of the negative evolution of the pandemic lately. A new record high for this summer was reached on Tuesday: 544 new cases of COVID-19 were reported out of nearly 39,000 tests performed in 24 hours. Six related deaths were also recorded. In hospitals, the number of coronavirus patients has exceeded 1,000, of which 126 are in intensive care. On the other hand, interest in vaccination remains low, despite repeated calls from authorities to boost the vaccination campaign. Just over 5 million Romanians have been fully vaccinated.

Afghanistan. The EUs priority is the safe evacuation of European citizens in Afghanistan and Afghan citizens who have worked with us for more than 20 years if they want to leave the country, the EU Security Chief Josep Borrell said on Tuesday, at the end of a video conference with the Unions foreign ministers. According to Borell, Western intervention has failed to build an Afghan state, the Taliban have “won the war” and so the EU will have to engage in dialogue as soon as possible to avoid a humanitarian and migration catastrophe in Afghanistan. Also on Tuesday, the NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg criticized the failure of the Afghan authorities to stand up to the Taliban and prevent them from seizing power in Kabul. Stoltenberg told a news conference that international terrorism is once again a threat as the Taliban return to power in Afghanistan and “NATO needs to stay vigilant, to stay at the forefront of the fight” against it. The speed of the collapse of the Afghan army in the face of the Taliban advance was a surprise and there are lessons that NATO can learn from it, but the main priority today is to get vulnerable people out of the country, Jens Stoltenberg also said. On Monday, US President Joe Biden stressed that the responsibility for the current situation lies with the Afghan political leaders, who fled the country, as well as the security forces who refused to fight. The US President defended his decision to withdraw US forces from Afghanistan. The situation in Kabul was relatively calm after the Taliban took over the city, but chaotic scenes were reported at the airport, with thousands of civilians trying to find a place on the planes that were taking off. The airports activity was suspended for several hours, but flights were resumed during the night.

Repatriation. Bucharest – The President of Romania Klaus Iohannis convened, on August 25, the Supreme Council of National Defense, to discuss the security situation in Afghanistan and its implications for Romania, the Presidential Administration announced on Tuesday. On Monday, the head of state ordered the emergency involvement of the Romanian Air Force for the evacuation of Romanian citizens from Afghanistan. Prime Minister Florin Cîţu informed that 27 Romanian citizens currently at the international airport in Kabul are to be evacuated with the Romanian Air Force aircraft sent to Afghanistan on Tuesday and, at the same time, steps are being taken to recover other Romanian citizens from a former US military base. Earlier, the Ministry of Defense in Bucharest had announced that a team of soldiers from the Special Operations Forces was on board the aircraft for protection. The mission is being carried out at the request of the Foreign Ministry, as a result of the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan. Also, a C-27 J Spartan plane is ready to take off to repatriate Romanian citizens who have already been evacuated from Afghanistan by aircraft of other NATO member countries. The MFA in Bucharest informed on Tuesday that 16 other Romanian citizens managed to leave Kabul during the night of August 16/17. The Foreign Ministry strongly recommends that Romanians in Afghanistan urgently contact the Romanian Embassy in Islamabad and inform them of their current location, so that they can be contacted if necessary.

GDP. Romanias gross domestic product increased by 6.5% in the first half of this year, compared to the same period in 2020, according to data published on Tuesday by the National Institute of Statistics. In the second quarter of this year, the GDP grew by 1.8% compared to the previous quarter, and compared to the same quarter of 2020 the economy registered a growth of 13%. Also on Tuesday, Eurostat reported that, with 13.6%, Romania is among the European Union countries with the highest annual economic growth in the second quarter, compared to the same period last year. According to the president of the Fiscal Council in Bucharest, Daniel Dăianu, however, “one cannot compare, without clarifications, a quarter in which the economy is recovering with a quarter in which the economy was partially closed”. Daianu also said that Romania has a structural budget deficit and big external deficits. The opposition Social Democratic Party says that, compared to the level before the pandemic, the economy grew by only 1.9%, and for 99% of the citizens the living standard deteriorated significantly due to the galloping inflation.

Senate. The Senate in Bucharest was convened, on Tuesday, in an extraordinary session for an information on the adoption by the Government, on August 11, during the parliamentary break, of three emergency ordinances. They concern the transfer of pension rights of EU officials, the equivalence of the position of social inspector and the hiring by contest of the personnel necessary for the implementation of projects financed from external loans contracted or guaranteed by the state. The convening of the Senate for the fifth time in an extraordinary session for emergency ordinances without justification is a defiance against Parliament, the Social Democratic senator Robert Cazanciuc said. According to the opposition representative, extraordinary sessions should be used only in special situations. (MI)