August 19, 2021 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 19.08.2021, 21:36

Laws.
On Thursday, the Romanian Government
discussed a number of normative acts on education. The documents aim, among
other things, to supplement the posts in education by 3500, to include nurseries into the education system, and to continue
the pilot program Hot meal in schools. A new way in which students
with chronic diseases or who need long-term hospitalization can learn by means
of the School in Hospital project was also discussed. The relevant minister,
Sorin Campeanu, also announced that students who scored 10 in the baccalaureate
or in the national evaluation will be rewarded. Also, the government adopted an
Emergency Ordinance on waste management, a normative act that increases the targets for
municipal waste recycling to 55% by 2025. By adopting this ordinance we have completed
the new legislative package on waste management and fulfilled our obligations
as a member of the European Union, Environment Minister Barna Tanczos said. He
explained that, in this way, a case of infringement against Romania will be
closed. The new GEO will introduce new obligations for the stakeholders in the
chain and will regulate much more clearly separate waste collection activities
and the transition to circular economy.

Covid-19.
The number of daily new cases of
coronavirus infection has increased again in Romania, approaching the threshold
of 600, according to authorities’ latest report. On Thursday, 595 new cases
were reported, in some 32,000 tests performed, as well as 14 Covid-19 related deaths.
Most cases were registered in Bucharest, in Ilfov (near Bucharest) and Galati
(southeast). All counties and the capital remain in the green scenario in terms
of infections. The pressure on the intensive care units however, where 153
patients are hospitalized, is increasing. The authorities maintain their
forecast according to which Romania will register 1,000 new cases of COVID-19
per day at the end of August, and 1,500 daily new cases in mid-September. The epidemic
in Romania maintained its upward trend last week, according to data released on
Thursday by the National Institute of Public Health. The number of related
deaths was also on the rise, almost all of them among unimmunized people. More
than 2,400 new cases of COVID-19 were
registered between August 9-15, 48% more than the previous week. The number of
those who died rose by more than 20%, reaching 34 last week.

WHO. The World Health
Organization has criticized the rush of
some states to administer the third dose of vaccine against COVID-19, stressing
that the data have not yet shown the need for a booster, while people in poor
countries remain unprotected. Giving booster jabs to people who are already fully vaccinated
against coronavirus is like handing out extra life jackets to some while
leaving others to drown. The statement describes the position of WHO officials towards the policy already
underway in Israel and which is set to be implemented as of next month in the
US, by means of which a booster will be administered to those already fully
vaccinated. According to the WHO, there is no data confirming that those
additional doses are needed. However, the number of cases of COVID-19 is
increasing worldwide, especially among unvaccinated people who are more
vulnerable to the highly infectious Delta variant of the coronavirus. According
to worldometers.info, more than 210 million people have been infected worldwide
so far, and about 4.4 million have lost their lives due to Covid-19.

Evacuation.
A Romanian citizen, working for a NATO
agency, was evacuated last night from Kabul by a plane of the Romanian Armed
Forces, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced. Other Romanian citizens
who had requested assistance for evacuation could not be picked up because they
weren’t able to reach the airport. According to the MFA, at the time of the
operation by the Romanian military aircraft, 33 Romanian citizens were
registered as being in Afghanistan. Of these, 16 requested assistance for evacuation.
They are employees of a NATO agency, of a UN program, and of a security company
operating in Afghanistan respectively. The MFA has also announced that,
considering the fact that most of the Romanian citizens who opted for
evacuation are in locations outside the international airport, the Romanian
authorities from the Inter-institutional Crisis Cell have taken steps to ensure
their transfer to the airport. The group stays in permanent contact with
Romanian citizens in various locations in Kabul, the Romanian line ministry has
also stated. We recall that Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis convened for
next Wednesday a meeting of the Supreme Council of National Defense on the
security situation in Afghanistan and its implications for Romania.

Afghanistan.
The Taliban’s takeover of power in
Afghanistan is the most important geopolitical event since the Crimean
Peninsula crisis in 2014 and a new opportunity for China, Russia and Turkey
to expand their influence in Central Asia, the EU security chief Josep Borrell said
on Thursday, France Presse reports. Speaking in the European Parliament,
Borrell reaffirmed the need for Europe to talk with the Taliban, in order to stop
the humanitarian crisis, but stressed that this didn’t mean an official
diplomatic recognition of the Taliban regime. For his part, European Parliament
President David Sassoli said that all EU states must receive Afghan refugees
threatened by Taliban and that they should be distributed equally among the member
states. In another move, the British Defense Secretary, Ben Wallace, has stated
that Afghanistan’s situation encourages the
perception that the West is weak, and the Islamists see the withdrawal of the
allies as a victory that will inspire new terrorists. The situation in
Afghanistan was also discussed in the British Parliament. Meanwhile, efforts
continue to evacuate Western citizens and Afghan allies, most of them
civilians, but access to Kabul airport is difficult. At the White House, president Joe Biden said the US troops could
remain in Afghanistan beyond the deadline set for the end of August, if more
time was needed to get all Americans out of that country. (MI)