December 15, 2021

Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 15.12.2021, 14:09

COVID-19 829 new
Covid-19 cases have been reported in Romania in the past 24 hours along with 88
fatalities. People’s interest in getting the vaccine is still low with only 73
hundred vaccinated with the first dose in the past 24 hours. Since the vaccine
rollout kicked off in Romania a year ago roughly 7.6 million people have been
fully vaccinated. Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca has announced the Executive is
to approve an emergency ordinance over the digital certificate needed by those
travelling to Romania. Under this law, starting December 20th, people coming to
Romania must fill in a digital Covid certificate, which has already been in use
in 18 other EU members. According to Ciuca, the new variant of SARS-CoV2
requires fresh protection measures mainly in the context of the upcoming winter
holidays.

TALKS The government in Bucharest has
convened today for talks over a series of measures to benefit children,
pensioners and disabled people. Among these measures there is an emergency
ordinance providing for higher child benefits starting January 1st.
So, benefits for children between 2 and 18 will be around 50 Euros while
children up to two years and those disabled will benefit from allowances around
110 Euros. The pension point is to increase up to 320 Euros and the lowest
pension will be around 200 Euros. The government needs the aforementioned
ordinances in its attempt to build the next year’s budget, whose draft is to be
put up for debates on Friday and get government approval on Monday. It will
further be submitted to the Legislature for debates and endorsement until
December 23rd.

SUMMIT Romania’s president Klaus
Iohannis is attending the sixth Eastern Partnership summit underway in
Brussels. The event involves the participation of heads of state and government
from the member countries as well as leaders of the five ex-soviet partner
countries – the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. The
event is expected to foster a joint statement over the strategic outlook for
the post-2020 period of the Eastern Partnership. The development of durable and
integrated economies, digitalization and building up equitable societies are some
of the long-term political objectives of the Eastern Partnership and are being
accompanied by an ambitious regional plan of economic investment up to 2.3
billion dollars. Brussels is expected to see the European Council proceedings
tomorrow. High on the agenda are the Covid-19 pandemic, energy prices,
migration issues and the EU security with emphasis on the situations at the
bloc’s borders with Ukraine and Belarus.

EVENTS Today Romania
marks 32 years since the onset of the anti-communist revolution of 1989 in
Timisoara. Among the events to be staged on this occasion there are the
launching of a blog entitled ‘The Revolution in Timisoara after more than 30
years’ as well as a rally and a concert of carols. A revolution broke out in
Timisoara, western Romania 32 years ago leading to the demise of the communist
regime in this country. On December 15 1989 scores of people gathered in the
city center to defend reformed pastor Laszlo Tokes from being evicted by
Romania’s political police, the Securitate. The protests grew in intensity on
December 16 and the communist regime fell a couple of days later. As every
year, from today until December 20, a series of events like religious services,
exhibits, concerts and shows are to be carried out all over the country in the
memory of those who paid the ultimate price for freedom.

(bill)