January 23, 2020

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 23.01.2020, 13:55

FORUM -
President Klaus Iohannis is today attending the fifth edition of the World
Holocaust Forum, marking 75 years since the liberation of the
Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, titled Remembering the Holocaust,
Fighting Antisemitism. This is the widest public event ever hosted by the Yad
Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem. Previously, President Iohannis ensured
his Israeli counterpart, Reuven Rivlin, that Romania would continue to support
the preservation of Holocaust memory, combat anti-Semitism, prevent
discrimination and any means of violence. Romanian Crown custodian Margareta on
Thursday sent a letter to the Israeli president, reminding of the Romanian
Royal Family’s contribution to eradicating anti-Semitism, racism and
xenophobia. HM Queen Margareta and
Prince Radu were the first members of the Romanian Royal Family to visit the
State of Israel in April 2014. Representing King Mihai I, the two visited the
Yad Vashem Memorial Museum, observed a moment of silence before the engraved
tomb devoted to Queen Elena, while Queen Margareta lit the eternal flame in the
Hall of Remembrance.

JHA -
Justice Minister Catalin Predoiu is as of today attending the two-day informal
meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council hosted by Zagreb,
Croatia. This is the first ministerial meeting hosted under the Croatian
Presidency of the Council of the European Union. In the justice section, line
ministers will address progress on strategic policies in the fields of liberty,
security and justice, legal education and the importance of legal networks in
the civilian and trade sectors. According to a Romanian Justice Ministry
release, talks focus on civil and criminal law cooperation, border protection,
modernizing and digitizing judicial systems and adapting to the impact of AI.

FUNDS -
Romania has so far absorbed 11.04 billion euros from EU structural funds over
2014-2020 under the Cohesion and Common Agricultural policies. Adding to this
sum is another 7.92 billion euros in direct payments to farmers, Carmen Moraru,
State Secretary with the Romanian Ministry for European Funds, has said.
Romania’s absorption rate has thus reached 36%, 3% below the European average.
The Romanian official recalled that in the 2014-2020 period Romania was
allotted 22.4 billion euros under the Cohesion Policy. As regards the 2021-2027
financial framework, Romania will be earmarked 30.6 billion euros. Carmen
Moraru attended a series of meetings in Brussels at the European Commission and
European Parliament, and paid a visit to the Orsi Academy in Ghent, Belgium, a
pioneering research project funded under the Cohesion Policy.

FLU VIRUS -
A 78-year-old man from Arges County has died to the flu virus , raising the
death toll at 3 since the start of the winter season. Arges is one of the most
affected counties, alongside Brasov and Cluj and the capital city, where
hundreds of cases have been reported. Classes were temporarily suspended in
several schools and kindergartens. At national level, over a quarter of
patients presenting symptoms were officially diagnosed with the flu virus.
Doctors warn the only real prevention measure is vaccination. The number of
Romanians who have taken the anti-flu shot this year is higher compared to
2019, when some 200 people died to complications caused by the flu virus.

CORONAVIRUS – The World
Health Organization (WHO) is today expected to decide whether to call the
viral outbreak in Wuhan China a global emergency. The so-called coronavirus has
so far killed 17 people and sickened hundreds of people. On Wednesday, after
long hours of debate at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, the members of the special
committee set up to advise on how to deal with the outbreak were equally
divided in their vote in favor or against calling a global emergency. In the
past the WHO has called international alerts five times: before the H1N1 viral
outbreak of 2009, in 2014 for the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, in the
Democratic Republic of Congo in 2019, again for an Ebola outbreak, for
poliomyelitis in 2014 and for the Zika virus in 2016. The new coronavirus has been
reported in 13 Chinese provinces and the Hong Kong and Macao special
administrative regions. 4 infections were reported in Thailand and 1 each in
Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the United States. Wuhan is currently on
lockdown, all means of public transport having been shut down.

TENNIS -
Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, seeded fourth at the Australian Open, has
today defeated Harriet Dart of Great Britain (173 WTA), in straight sets, 6-2,
6-4 in the competition’s second round. A finalist in 2018 in Melbourne, Halep
is the only Romanian left in the competition, after Sorana Cirstea (74 WTA) was
ousted on Wednesday by Cori Gauff of the United States. Romania is also
represented in the women’s doubles.

(Translated by V.
Palcu)