December 4, 2020

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 04.12.2020, 13:55

Elections. The election campaign for
Sunday’s parliamentary elections is coming to an end today. All campaign events
have been subject to strict rules as part of the measures to contain the spread
of the coronavirus pandemic. A number of localities are in lockdown, but prime
minister Ludovic Orban said voters can travel freely to the polling
stations within these localities. 136 senator and 329 deputy seats are up for election,
including 4 deputies and 2 senators representing the Romanian community
abroad. The foreign ministry has set up
748 polling stations abroad with an interactive map of all of them and a
hotline for Romanian voters living abroad being also available. Voting is held
over the course of two days abroad, on Saturday and Sunday. More than 39,000
Romanians living abroad have registered for postal voting, with most
applications coming from the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain and France.

Covid-19 Romania. Romania today saw 8,062
new coronavirus cases, taking the total number of infections to more than500,000. 176 new deaths were also recorded, with the death toll now
passing 12,000. 1,275 people are receiving hospital treatment in intensive
care, the highest such figure so far. The Covid-19 national vaccination
strategy of Romania is being unveiled today in Bucharest after being approved
yesterday by the Country’s Supreme Defence Council. During a visit to a
vaccination centre in Bucharest, president Klaus Iohannis said the first to be
vaccinated will be the healthcare staff and the at-risk groups. He said
vaccination is voluntary, safe and efficient.

Covid-19 world. Global coronavirus
cases pass 65.5 million, with more than 1.5 million deaths. 45 million people
have recovered. The United States, which is the worst hit country in the world,
has more than 14.5 million cases and at least 282,000 fatalities. In Europe,
Italy on Thursday saw the highest daily death toll at 993, the total number now
passing 58,000. The UK, which has seen over 60,000 coronavirus-related deaths,
said it would start vaccination for at-risk groups next week. In France, prime
minister Jean Castex said it’s a matter of weeks before his country also starts
widespread vaccination. The European Union may approve a vaccine by the end of
the year, with the European Medicines Agency saying its longer approval process
is safer and based on more evidence and more checks. Interpol, the
International Criminal Police Organisation has warned that organised crime
networks may target Covid-19 vaccines and try to sell fake vaccines.

Asylum. Asylum applications for Romania have grown significantly,
even during the pandemic, according to a report from the General Inspectorate for
Immigration. More than 5,000 applications have been registered from the start
of the year until November, more than double compared with the same period last
year. 470 people received refugee or protection
status. Almost 1,200 applications were rejected, while the rest are being
processed. Most asylum applicants come from Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq.

Protest. Thousands of people took
the streets in the capital of the Republic of Moldova on Thursday to protest
against a number of bills, especially one that relocates the Intelligence and
Security Service from under the subordination of the president to that of
Parliament. The bill was proposed by the Socialist Party, which backs outgoing
pro-Russian president Igor Dodon. The pro-western president elect Maia Sandu
also took part in the protest, accusing the coalition between the Party of
Socialists in the Republic of Moldova (PSRM) and the Şor Party of trying to reduce the powers of the
president while the country is in crisis because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Maia Sandu, who will officially be instated on 24th December, urged
people to mobilise for a new protest on Sunday. After Parliament approved
making the Intelligence and Security Service subordinate to Parliament rather
than the president, as has been the case so far, the opposition said it would
challenge the bill in the Constitutional Court.

Handball. Romania lost to Germany
22:19 in the opening match of the European Women’s Handball Championship which
got under in Denmark on Thursday. Romania are in Group D, where Norway defeated
Poland 35:22 in another match. Romania will next be playing Poland on Saturday.

Football. The Romanian football champions CFR Cluj
drew nil-all against the Bulgarian side TSKA Sofia on Thursday at home, in a
Europa League Group A match. In another group match, AS Rome defeated the Swiss
champions Young Boys Bern 3-1. CFR can still advance to the round of last 32 if
they win in Bern on 10th December. AS Rome top the group with 13
points, followed by Young Boys Bern with 7, CFR with 5 and TSKA with 2. CFR are
last Romanian team still in action in this year’s European football
competitions. (CM)