February 24, 2020

A roundup of domestic and international news

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Newsroom, 24.02.2020, 13:55

Vote – The Romanian PM designate Ludovic Orban is going today in the plenum of Parliament to obtain the investiture vote for his cabinet, which has the same structure and membership as the previous government. The 16 ministers of the second Orban government, the same from the first Orban government that was dismissed through a no confidence motion, were interviewed by Parliament’s special committees in Bucharest. The Liberals’ plan is to get the rejection of two consecutive governments in order for the Parliament to be dissolved and early elections to be called. Early elections might take place, according to Ludovic Orban, between June 15-30, at the same time with the local elections. The main opposition party, the Social Democratic Party, announced they would not take part in the investiture vote. If they don’t have a quorum, the investiture vote for the second Orban government might be postponed. Also today the Constitutional Court is debating the notification submitted by the speakers of Parliament’s two chambers, who claim that the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis violated Parliament’s will when designating the outgoing PM Ludovic Orban as the new PM.

Coronavirus — All the people coming to Romania from northern Italy, a region affected by the new coronovirus, will be quarantined for 14 days. The decision was made by the Health Ministry and applies to all those who traveled to the regions of Veneto and Lombardy in the past two weeks. The passengers arriving at the Henri Coanda airport in Bucharest from Milan, Bergamo, Treviso and Turin will enter the country on the route destined for charter flights. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry, given the emergence of new cases of coronavirus infection in Italy and the numerous community of Romanian citizens from the affected regions, an emergency cell was set up at the Romanian Embassy in Rome, which is in permanent contact with the Italian authorities. We recall that two Romanian citizens infected with the coronavirus on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, docked at the Yokohama port in Japan, have been hospitalized in Japan.

Emergency — With 5 deaths and more than 200 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection, Italy is the European country most affected by the new virus. The Romanian Foreign Ministry informs the Romanian citizens who are in Italy, are transiting that country or intend to travel there that the Italian government has decreed a state of emergency given the risk posed to health by the emergence of new cases of infection especially in the regions of Lombardy and Veneto. 11 cities from these regions have been quarantined. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent to Rome, nobody is going to work, to school or university, and citizens can shop in food stores only if this is strictly necessary. A cordon sanitaire will be set up today by the army. In Milan, the second most important city of Italy after Rome, the local authorities decided to close down all theatres, museums, movie theaters, discotheques as well as the famous Milan Cathedral. In Venice the carnival closed two days earlier. France, Switzerland and Austria, Italy’s neighbors, announced they were closely monitoring the situation in the peninsula.

Weather — The mountainous areas from 14 counties of Romania are under a code red alert for strong winds until Monday evening, with speeds expected to reach 140-180 kms per hour and to cause snow storms. Also, more than half of Romania’s territory is under a code orange alert for strong winds until Monday evening, wind speed being expected to reach 90-100 kms per hour. According to meteorologists another 22 counties in the south, the capital Bucharest included, in the center and northwest are under a code yellow alert for gusts with speeds expected to reach 55-70 kms per hour. Temperatures are higher than normal for this period of the year with highs ranging from 7 up to 18 degrees C. The noon reading in Bucharest was 18 degrees C.

Brussels — The European Commission on Monday approved, in accordance with the EU norms on state aid, Romania’s plan to grant a temporary loan worth around 36.7 million Euros to the TAROM state-owned airline, shows a press release of the EC. According to the EC, this measure will ensure the continuity of air transport services, especially on the many routes on which TAROM is the only service provider. Therefore passengers will not be affected by air traffic disturbances and competition on the single market will not be distorted in an unjustified manner. (translation by L. Simion)