August 18, 2020 UPDATE
A news update
Newsroom, 18.08.2020, 20:17
Meeting — The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on Tuesday discussed with government members the National Plan for Recovery and Resilience meant to attract European funds necessary for economic recovery. Fresh from the meeting he said the Romanian government was in permanent contact with the European Commission so that all the projects proposed should become eligible eventually. The government’s efforts at the moment are focusing on infrastructure, the president underlined, especially on highways and railways. Highways are very important at this stage, and according to President Iohannis progress has been reported in this domain. He also said that following the budget adjustment substantial funds were allotted to the farmers affected by the drought. Also work is under way on European projects focusing on irrigation and the fight against desertification which should also include an environmental protection component.
Covid-19 — In Romania 1,014 new cases of Covid-19 were reported on Tuesday by the Strategic Communication Group, the total figure standing at 72,200. Since the coronavirus outbreak over 33,100 patients have recovered. Another 45 new deaths have been reported which takes the total death toll to 3.074. 479 patients are in ICUs. Most cases of infection have been reported in Bucharest, Suceava, Arges and Brasov. The authorities are concerned about the rising number of patients in need of intensive care. The PM Ludovic Orban has announced the governments intention to increase the capacity of the Intensive Care Units at the countrys main Infectious Diseases Institute Matei Bals in Bucharest as well as in other cities across the country like Brasov, Cluj-Napoca and Iasi. According to the Prime Minister, Romania can presently treat one thousand patients in its ICUs.
Online education — The Romanian Deputy Prime Minister Raluca Turcan has announced that the government is prepared for education to go online if the pandemic gets worse. To that end, the authorities purchased 250 thousand tablets and identified European funds that can be used to by the local authorities for the purchase of another 500 thousand tablets. Talks were also held for enhancing data networks coverage in certain areas and to provide Internet access to more users. Raluca Turcan also said that during the summer break teachers attended courses for online teaching.
Motion – The motion of no confidence tabled by the the opposition Social Democrats against the Liberal government led by Ludovic Orban is going to be read before Parliament in plenary session on Thursday. Debates and voting upon the aforementioned motion are yet to be set but the initiators of this motion titled The PNL government -from pandemic to generalized bribe-taking have lashed out at the way in which the minority executive has managed the coronavirus pandemic and the measures aimed at economic recovery. Prime Minister Orban believes the PSD move is irresponsible adding the PNL is considering ways of challenging it at the Constitutional Court as a motion of no confidence cannot be initiated during the Parliament break.
Elections – Tuesday was the last day for submitting candidacies for the upcoming local elections due on September 27th. The election campaign is due to commence on August 28th and will end on September 26th. Bucharests incumbent mayor Gabriela Firea from the opposition PSD is running for a second term in office. The other candidates vying for the mayoral seat in Bucharest are Nicusor Dan, backed by the right-wing National Liberals and the USR-PLUS Alliance, former Prime Minister and leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats ALDE Calin Popescu Tariceanu and the countrys former president and former mayor of Bucharest Traian Basescu.
Minsk — In Belarus as many as 200 protesters gathered on Tuesday in front of the detention center in Minsk, where the husband of the presidential challenger, opposition candidate Svetlana Tihanovskaia is kept. He was arrested on May 29 on allegations of public nuisance and the people are asking for his release. A well known blogger Sergey Tihanovski had submitted his candidacy for the presidential election and was campaigning against Aleksandr Lukashenko before being replaced by his wife when he was arrested. He is currently in temporary custody and risks many years in prisons. From Lithuania where she took refuge together with their kids, Svetlana Tihanovskaia denounced the authorities’ accusations against her husband as being totally fabricated with the purpose of preventing him from participating in the election campaign. The incumbent president Lukashenko, whose re-election has been contested, seems to continue to enjoy the support of the security agencies from the country given that in the past 26 years he has appointed his own people in various positions within these agencies. Massive protests broke out 2 days ago, immediately after the result of the election was published, showing Lukashenko as winner with 80% of the votes. The authorities retorted violently killing at least 2 and wounding several hundreds. More than 6,700 people have been arrested. Most of them have been released and confessed that they were tortured during their detention. (news translated and updated by L. Simion)
