December 11, 2020

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 11.12.2020, 13:55

COVID-19 – In its session
today the Government decided to extend the state of alert by another 30 days
starting December 14. State Secretary Raed Arafat said all restrictions remain
in place, including the nighttime curfew. One new measure will be introduced,
regarding cable transport operators in ski resorts. Cable transport facilities
will remain open, although the Government intends to avoid overcrowding in
order to limit the spread of the virus. Therefore aerial trams with 20 seats
will only carry 10 people. Raed Arafat called on Romanians to limit their
visits, avoid going caroling or to New Year’s Eve parties during the winter
holidays. 545 thousand Romanians got infected with COVID-19 since the start of
the outbreak, of whom 80% have recovered. So far over 13,100 people have died
to the virus. 6,460 new infections were reported on Friday, most case being
signaled in Bucharest. Some 1,300 patients are in intensive care.

TALKS – President Klaus
Iohannis on Monday invited political parties to consultations with a view to
designating the new Prime Minister. Taking part in consultations will be the
Social-Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union -
PLUS Alliance, the Alliance for the Union of Romanians and the Democratic Union
of Ethnic Hungarians. The Social-Democrats have nominated Prof. Alexandru
Rafila, Romania’s representative at the WHO, whom they want to lead either a
Social-Democratic Cabinet, or a technocratic government. The Liberals, in turn,
have nominated Florin Cîţu, the current Finance Minister and say they will hold
official talks with a view to forming a majority in Parliament with the Save
Romania Union – PLUS Alliance and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians
starting Saturday.

INFLATION – The annual
inflation rate went down to 2.1% in November, from 2.2% in October, considering
foodstuffs, non-essential products and services registered price hikes, the
National Statistics Institute announced on Friday. In its inflation report, the
National Bank of Romania has estimated a 2.1% inflation rate for the end of
2020, down by 0.6% compared to its previous forecast.

INTERNET USAGE – Over 5.3 billion
Gigabytes of Internet were used in Romania in the first half of 2020, of which
90% in home connections. A report of the National Authority for Management and
Regulation in Communications in Romania (ANCOM) reveals that total broadband
traffic registered a major increase in the first six months of the year as an
effect of the coronacrisis, and went up by 33% compared to the previous
semester, the biggest increase since 2015. At the same, mobile data usage
reported a 12% increase, the lowest reported so far. During the state of
emergency, Internet traffic moved to broadband connections, with remote work
and online teaching becoming the norm. People staying at home also connected to
WI-FI home connections for accessing the Internet, the President of the
Authority, Eduard Lovin, explained.

EUROPEAN COUNCIL – At the European
Council meeting in Brussels, EU leaders, including Romania’s President Klaus
Iohannis, adopted the Union’s seven-year budget and the post-pandemic recovery
package, worth €1.8 trillion, after Poland and Hungary initially refused to
vote in favor due to disbursements being tied to the observance of the rule of
law. From the upcoming EU budget, Romania will receive €46.7 billion for
various sectors, such as agriculture, cohesion, rural development,
infrastructure or transports. From the recovery package, Romania will get €33.5
billion in grants and loans. Another topic on the meeting’s agenda is the
reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030. The Romanian
President called for the creation of a flexible framework allowing all Member
States, irrespective of their development, to effectively meet climate change
goals. EU leaders also agreed to sanction Turkey for its aggressions in the
Mediterranean Sea against Greece and Cyprus.

SPORTS – Romania’s women’s
handball team lost 25-20 to Croatia on Thursday in its first game in the second
main group at the European Handball Championship in Denmark. Romania is bottom
of the group tables with zero points and has lost all chances of qualifying to
the semi-finals. Romania will play two more games, against Hungary and the
defending world champions, the Netherlands. In news from football, Romania’s
champions CFR Cluj failed to qualify to the Europa League knock-out phase after
losing 2-1 away from home to Young Boys Berne of Switzerland. CFR Cluj ranked 3rd,
after AS Rome, in top position, and Young Boys in runner-up position. (V.
Palcu)