January 10, 2022 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 10.01.2022, 18:55

Vaccine. The first batch of Covid vaccines for children aged 5 to 11
will be delivered to Romania between the 21st and the 25th
January, the Romanian health ministry said. 114,000 doses will be distributed
to the vaccination centres. Around the country, the pace of vaccination is
still low, and only 42% of Romania’s population got at least one dose. Over
4,100 new infections and 16 deaths were recorded on Monday.

Russia-US. US
deputy secretary of state Wendy Sherman said she had talks on Monday with her Russian
counterpart Sergei Ryabkov about possible mutual curbs on missiles and military
manoeuvres in Europe, but reiterated the West’s warning in the event of an
invasion of Ukraine. Washington also warned Moscow that NATO’s open-door policy
will continue despite Russia’s demands. The Russian negotiator said he was
satisfied with the serious approach of the American side to Russia’s requests
for security guarantees and assured that Russia does not intend to attack
Ukraine. He also said that the US must not underestimate the risk of a clash.
Russian-US talks lasted for almost 8 hours and came amid western fears that
Russia, which built up troops on the border with Ukraine, may invade. The talks
in Geneva will be followed this week by Russia-NATO talks in Brussels and an
OSCE meeting in Vienna.

Romania-Pakistan.
The Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu held talks on Monday in Bucharest
with his Pakistani counterpart Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Hussain Qureshi. At the
end of the talks, Aurescu said a new chapter was beginning in the bilateral
relationship, one of close contact at a political level and in the economic
area, especially investments. He thanked his counterpart for the essential help
given to Romania’s efforts to repatriate some of the 49 Romanian citizens
evacuated from Afghanistan, citizens of other allied states evacuated by the
Romanian authorities in Afghanistan and 156 Afghan citizens at risk, in August
and September last year. The Pakistani official emphasised that the private
sector is and will continue to be the driving force of the economic relations
between the two countries and that bilateral trade exchanges grew in the last
fiscal year by 50%, despite the pandemic. A memorandum of understanding was
signed earlier between the Bucharest Polytechnic University and Pakistan’s
embassy in Romania.

Interest rate.
The Board of the National Bank of Romania on Monday decided to increase the monetary
policy interest rate from 1.75% to 2% per year, from 11th January. The Bank also decided to retain firm control
of liquidities on the monetary market and maintain the current levels of the
rates of the minimum obligatory reserves for liabilities in the national currency
and hard currency of lending institutions. The increase in the monetary policy
interest rate had been expected amid growing inflation at home and
internationally. The latest increase, of 0.25%, took place in November.

Prosecution.
The Prosecutor General’s Office in Romania on Monday opened a criminal
investigation in connection to statements by the Alliance for the Union of
Romanians, a parliamentary party, which minimise the Holocaust. The Alliance
issued a release on 3rd January in which, among others, it said that
a systematic attempt to undermine the quality of Romanian education was seen
in recent years by promoting to the rank of study disciplines minor themes or
which can be dealt with over a few classes, citing sexual education and the
history of the Holocaust as examples. The Prosecutor General’s Office said
publicly denying, contesting, approving, justifying or minimising the Holocaust
and its consequences are punishable with a prison sentence of up to 3 years or
a fine. The statements made by the Alliance for the Union of Romanians, an
ultranationalist party with extremist tendencies and an aggressive promoter of
anti-vaccination, have been condemned by the Elie Wiesel National Institute for
the Study of the Holocaust in Romania and Israel’s ambassador to Romania David
Saranga.

Unemployment.
The unemployment rate in the European Union dropped to 6.5% in November from
6.7% in the previous month and 7.4% in the same period in 2020, according to
data published on Monday by the EU’s statistical office, Eurostat. With a rate
of 5.2% in November, similar to that of the previous month, Romania has one of
the lowest unemployment rates in the EU. In the eurozone, the unemployment rate
dropped to 7.2% in November from 7.3% in the previous month and 8.1% in the
same period in 2020. (CM)