February 27, 2020

Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 27.02.2020, 13:55

VIRUS On
Wednesday Romania confirmed its first case of infection with the new
coronavirus. According to Health Minister Victor Costache, the infected person
is a man from southern Romania who got in contact with an Italian citizen from
Rimini. The Romanian, whose condition is good and is not presenting symptoms,
has been quarantined in a hospital in Bucharest. Quarantine measures have also
been imposed in the area where the first infected person has been discovered.
Almost 70 people have been quarantined in special centers in Romania and 48
hundred others are kept in home isolation. And since 300 thousand Romanians are
living in northern Italy, the European country with the largest number of
infections, all the Romanian nationals coming from that area will be kept in
quarantine or home isolation for 14 days.

GOVERNMENT Romania’s Prime Minister designate, Florin Cîţu
has made public his intention to muster Parliament majority so that it may shore
up the cabinet he is going to propose. Incumbent Prime Minister, Liberal leader
Ludovic Orban, on Friday announced the party leaders would convene in a session
to validate the list of ministers and the ruling programme. The main opposition
PSD has made public its intention to not endorse a cabinet led by Cîţu. Dan
Barna, leader of USR, the third political force in Romania said his party could
join an executive led by Cîţu, if its conditions were accepted including that
of two-round local election. Pro-Romania leader and the country’s former Prime
Minister, Victor Ponta said he would not vote for a PNL cabinet lacking Parliament
support, as that could prevent it from ruling the country properly.

COVID-19 The
new cornavirus continues to spread all over the world. Denmark and Estonia have
today announced their first cases. According to the World Health Organisation
the number of infections reported outside China, the country where the epidemic
started, has for the first time exceeded those at home. The virus has been
reported in roughly 50 countries and territories outside mainland China, with
over 35 hundred infections confirmed and at least 57 deaths, CNN reports. The
disease has so far killed more than 27 hundred, while the total number of confirmed
infections stays around 79 thousand. WHO warned countries on Tuesday to be
prepared for the coronavirus to be literally knocking at the door adding that
some nations were simply not ready to contain the outbreak.

FOOTBALL Romania’s football champion CFR
Cluj tonight takes on Spanish side Seville FC in the return match of Europa
League’s round of 32. The first game ended one-all in Cluj, western Romania.
Coached by former international Dan Petrescu, CFR ended second with 12 points
out of 18 possible in a group which also included Italian side Lazio Rome,
Celtic Glasgow of Scotland and Rennes of France. Seville, which won the
competition’s trophy five times, is being coached by the former manager of Real
Madrid, Julien Lopetegui.

FILM The feature film ‘Ivana the Terrible’, directed by Ivana Mladenovic, has been selected into the official competition in 3 more prestigious festivals – FEST Belgrade Serbia, CPH:DOX Denmark, and Vilnius International Film Festival, Lithuania. ‘Ivana the Terrible’ is an unconventional story about people and places, about longing and belonging, told with humour and tenderness. Ivana Mladenovic herself plays the lead part, and the cast includes her parents, brother and grandmother. Ivana Mladenovic also wrote the script, together with Adrian Schiop. This second feature directed by actress and script writer Ivana Mladenovic will reach Romanian theatres on March 13. After winning the special prize of the jury in the Cineasti del Presente section of the 2019 Locarno Festival, the film also received the Golden Pram trophy for best feature in the Zagreb Film Festival. Her debut feature, Soldiers. A Ferentari Story, set in a sketchy neighbourhood in Bucharest, has also won many awards.

ECONOMY According to the European
Commission, Romania runs the risk of not being able to sustain its budget
deficit as well as pension and pay rises. The European Commission’s report on Romania,
which is one of the 27 describing the main economic and social challenges
facing every member state, shows that Romania is facing a major risk of not
being able to support the higher public fiscal deficit corroborated with higher
pension expenses. The report also mentions a decreasing birth-rate, which means
a significantly reduced labour force and a dropping number of skilled workers, phenomena,
which could further impact the country’s growth potential. Furthermore,
training and education policies have proved inefficient and failed to meet
labour market requirements. The report has also referred to the wage-productivity
gap, with salaries increasing way faster than productivity. In spite of an
average growth of 5% in the past three years, income inequality remains high
and so does the poverty rate, while the gap between developed and less
developed regions continues to deepen.

(translated by bill)