February 20, 2020 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 20.02.2020, 19:47

COUNCIL
MEETING – Romania wants consistent financing for cohesion and agriculture
policies, Romanian president Klaus Iohannis said on Thursday in Brussels on the
sidelines of a special session of the European Council, which has high on its
agenda the EU Multiannual Financial Framework for the period between 2021 and
2027. Other topics the President mentioned were digitization, artificial
intelligence, research and student mobility. Klaus Iohannis also wants the EU
budget to be bigger than the previous one. Statements by several European
leaders on Wednesday suggest that negotiations over the EU’s multiannual
budget, the first after Brexit, are going to be tough and complicated. The
purpose of the meeting is to reach consensus on the proposals elaborated on
February 14 by European Council president, Charles Michel.

MEETING
– Foreign Minister designate Bogdan Aurescu on Thursday met in Berlin with his
German counterpart, Heiko Mass, in the context of celebrating 140 years of
bilateral diplomatic relations. Aurescu recalled Romania’s legitimate goal of
joining the Schengen Area, highlighting our country’s fulfillment of all
technical criteria and the important contribution to EU security. The Romanian
official said the functioning of the Schengen Area will not be complete without
Romania’s accession. The two officials expressed convergent views regarding the
strategic importance of the EU’s enlargement policy, the Romanian Minister
reiterating Romania’s support for opening EU accession negotiations with
Albania and North Macedonia. The two also discussed the Three Seas Initiative,
with the Romanian official expressing Romania’s support for Germany becoming a
full member. Heiko Mass expressed his gratitude for Romania’s full observance
of the rights of ethnic Germans living in Romania. Bogdan Aurescu also met with
the head of the Presidential Administration in Berlin, Stephan Steinlein.

ATTACKS
– Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis has firmly condemned the violent attacks
against innocent people in the German city of Hanau. Iohannis has expressed
condolences to those who lost relatives and friends adding that Romania stands
in solidarity with Germany, Iohannis wrote on Twitter on Thursday. Nine people
were killed in a shooting in Hanau, close to Frankfurt, on Wednesday. The
culprit who was found dead in his house, allegedly expressed far-right views in
a letter of confession.

FLU VIRUS
– The number of people who’ve died to the flu virus this flu season in Romania
has reached 44. The last 4 victims are women aged 41-79, none of whom had taken
the anti-flu shot. Some 7,600 new cases have been reported in Romania, a number
above experts’ estimates. Medical professionals say the number of acute
respiratory disease and flu virus infections will continue to rise over the
coming period. Dozens of schools and kindergartens are partially or fully
closed down due to the flu.

CORONAVIRUS
– China on Thursday reported the most significant drop in the number of
infections with the new coronavirus in the Hubei province, the centre of the
epidemic. This is the lowest rate in the past month although at national level,
China has reported 114 new deaths, which bring the death toll up to 2,118 and
the total number of infections to 74,500. In another development, two elderly
people from the cruise liner Diamond Princess, where 600 people have been
infected with the new virus, have also died, authorities in Japan have
announced. The ship was quarantined in the port of Yokohama in early February.
Those infected, including two Romanian nationals, are being treated in
hospitals in Japan. The other 15 Romanians on board, who are healthy, will be
repatriated under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. So far 6 of them, two
passengers and 4 crew members, have expressed their willingness to return to
Romania, the Foreign Ministry reports. The ship was quarantined until
Wednesday, when disembarking procedures commenced.

TRAVEL FAIR
– The spring edition of Romania’s Travel Fair is underway in Bucharest from Thursday
until Sunday. The event has brought together over 300 travel agencies offering
holiday packages in Romania and abroad including for the upcoming Easter
holidays. Operators are pledging significant price cuts, even down to 50%. The
most sought-after destinations are Turkey, Greece, Spain, Tunisia and Egypt but
there are also exotic destinations like Bali or Thailand.

WEIGHTLIFTING
– Romania will host the Under-20 World Weightlifting Championships in Bucharest
over March 14-21. The competition is rated Gold in the run-up to the Olympic
Games in Tokyo. Some 350 athletes from up to 70 countries have enrolled, the
president of the Romanian Weightlifting Federation, Nicu Vlad, has said. Representing
Romania will be 15 athletes.

(translated by V. Palcu)