December 8, 2020 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 08.12.2020, 20:00

COVID-19 IN
ROMANIA – Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis on Tuesday said the first
batch of the 3 million COVID-19 ordered tests will be arriving within the week.
Days from now the authorities are also expecting the delivery of the 300
ventilators for intensive care units. The President on Tuesday met with interim
Prime Minister, Nicolae Ciucă and with Health Minister, Nelu Tătaru to discuss
the COVID-19 pandemic and the vaccination campaign. On Tuesday another 7,439
new COVID-19 infections and 213 related deaths were announced. 1,276 people are
in intensive care. The total number of infections has exceeded 524 thousand.
Nearly 80% of people infected have recovered. The National Committee for
Emergency Situations decided to extend remote teaching for all education
systems in Romania until December 23.

ELECTION
– Defense Minister Nicolae Ciucă on Tuesday took over his mandate as interim Prime Minister
of Romania, designated by President Klaus Iohannis following the resignation of
Prime Minister Ludovic Orban. Nicolae Ciucă will hold this position pending the
swearing-in of the new Cabinet. In his first press conference, Prime Minister Nicolae
Ciucă said the Government’s immediate priorities include anti-COVID-19
measures, the vaccination strategy, the end of the 2020 budget year and
preparing the 2021 budget year. Outgoing Prime Minister Ludovic Orban on Monday
decided to resign, over a year since he took over this position. Orban said he
stepped down because he wants to start negotiations over the designation of a
new Government following the result obtained by the National Liberal Party in
Sunday’s parliamentary election. After centralizing over 99% of the votes, the
Central Election Bureau announced the Social-Democratic Party grabbed 29.81% of
the vote in the Senate and 29.38% of the vote in the Chamber of Deputies. The
National Liberal Party is in second place with 25.56% of the vote in the Senate
and 25.16% in the Chamber of Deputies. The Save Romania Union – PLUS Alliance
came in third with 15.44% in the Senate and 14.96% in the Chamber of Deputies.
The Alliance for the Union of Romanians won 9.1% of the vote in the Senate and
8.69% in the Chamber of Deputies. Finally, the Democratic Union of Ethnic
Hungarians grabbed 6% of the vote in the Senate and 5.98% in the Chamber of
Deputies.

MOLDOVA – Moldovan acting
President Igor Dodon on Tuesday ratified the law whereby the Intelligence and
Security Service is transferred from the President’s control back under
Parliament’s jurisdiction, despite a Constitutional Court ruling against this
move. Moldova’s Socialist-controlled Parliament recently passed this law, along
with legislation limiting the president’s prerogatives and strengthening the
statute of the Russian language. The move is seen as an attempt by Socialist
President Dodon to preserve control over the Intelligence and Security Service
after losing the presidential race to pro-European Maia Sandu. This piece of
legislation, together with other controversial bills tabled by the Socialists,
have sparked massive street protests in the capital-city Chişinău in the last few days. Protesters are calling for early elections,
something which the opposition in Parliament, as well as the President elect,
Maia Sandu, both want.

EUROSTAT
– The number of employees went up by 1% in the Eurozone and by 0.9% at European
Union level in the third quarter of the year, compared to the previous three
months, a Eurostat report published on Tuesday reveals. The increase is the
most significant reported since the Eurostat started tracking these figures in
1995. The biggest increases in the number of employees in the European Union
were reported in Ireland, Spain and Austria, while the biggest decreases were
reported in Lithuania, Bulgaria and Romania, minus 1%.

VACCINATION
– The anti-COVID-19 vaccination campaign started in Great Britain on Tuesday.
Margaret Keenan, a 90-year-old grandmother, became the first person in the
world to be given the anti-COVID Pfizer jab outside clinical trials. British
Health Minister Matt Hancock said vulnerable categories and people over 80
years of age will be vaccinated first, along with health workers and care
staff. Britain has ordered 40 million doses of vaccine which will be
administered to 20 million people, as two courses are needed. 800,000 doses of
the Pfizer vaccine have been dispensed in the UK so far.

BREXIT -
European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič on Tuesday hailed Britain’s
decision to ditch internal market clauses going against a potential UK-EU trade
deal, as well as Britain’s promise not to introduce similar measures in its
taxation bill. The EU official said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will be trying to overcome the
deadlock in negotiations in an upcoming meeting over the coming days. Britain
and the EU have reached an agreement in principle, especially with regard to
the protocol on Northern Ireland. Prime Minister Johnson however said a trade
deal with the EU is still looking very difficult at the moment. (V. Palcu)