August 20, 2020 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 20.08.2020, 20:00
Motion. The motion of no confidence tabled by the opposition Social Democratic Party against the Liberal government in Bucharest was read Thursday in Parliament, in the joint extraordinary session of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies. The Social Democrats criticize the executive for the way in which it managed the crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, for the public purchases made during the state of emergency and claim that the populations living standards have collapsed. Debates on the motion are to take place within 3 days since its reading. As to the vote on the motion, the Social Democratic Party wants it to take place as soon as possible, with the date being established by the permanent bureaus of the Parliaments two chambers. Prime Minister Ludovic Orban has stated that the motion is manipulative and a mere collection of lies. He has announced that the Liberals will start a legal conflict of a constitutional nature between the Government and Parliament, arguing that a no-confidence motion cannot be field during the parliamentary break.
Pandemic. Over 22.5 million cases of COVID-19 have been reported around the world so far, with almost 800 thousand people having been killed by the virus, shows worldometers.info. More than half of the cases were reported in the US and Latin America. The worst situation in Asia is reported in India with almost 2.8 million cases of contamination. New coronavirus outbreaks have been reported in South Korea, one of the countries that have best managed the pandemic. In Europe, France reported the biggest number of new cases after the period of quarantine – 3,776 and Norway decided to impose 10-day quarantine for those who arrive to the country from Great Britain, Austria, Greece and Ireland.
MFA. The Romanian Foreign Ministry recommends the Romanian citizens to consider carefully whether they should travel abroad in the context of the new coronavirus pandemic and to travel outside the country only if strictly necessary. The ministry recalls that one of the measures taken by the Romanian authorities is the setting up and periodical updating of a list of countries with a high epidemiological risk. People coming from those countries have to self-isolate for 14 days. Also the ministry recommends the Romanian citizens who are abroad to stay in touch with the airlines and tour operators in order to identify alternatives to return home, if necessary.
Minsk. After an extraordinary summit held on Wednesday by videoconference, the EU decided not to recognize the result of the presidential elections in Belarus on August 9, after which the current president Aleksandr Lukashenko was proclaimed the winner. Belarusians must find their own way, said Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country is holding the six-month presidency of the Council of the EU. Romania has called, through the voice of President Klaus Iohannis, for the EU to take additional measures, including sanctions against those guilty of violence against peaceful citizens and election fraud. Protests started in Belarus immediately after the end of the election in which Alexander Lukashenko was declared the winner with 80% of the vote. Authorities responded violently. At least two people were killed, several hundred injured and several thousand arrested. Most of the latter were released, but many said they were tortured while in detention. Aleksandr Lukashenko, who has been in power for 26 years, has faced protests before, but this time it is the strongest wave of protest against the authoritarian way in which he leads the country.
Football – Romanias football champions CFR Cluj (northwest) have qualified for the second preliminary round of the Champions League after defeating Floriana FC 2-0 on Wednesday evening in Malta in the first preliminary round of the competition. CFR Cluj will take on Croatias champions Dinamo Zagreb next week as part of the second preliminary round. Playing in the preliminaries of the Europa League are FCSB Bucharest, CSU Craiova and FC Botosani.
