June 23, 2021

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 23.06.2021, 13:55

Covid-19. 66 new Covid cases from 32,000
tests were reported in Romania on Wednesday, as well as 16 deaths recorded in
last 24 hours and a further 150 dating from earlier this year and which are
only now being recorded by public health directorates around the country at the
request of the health ministry. The Senate passed two decisions approving the
regulations proposed by the European Parliament with respect to the framework
for the issuance, verification and acceptance of the digital green
certificates. These documents will become valid in the European Union from 1st
July. The regulations will cease to apply when the pandemic is over and can be
used again in the event of another pandemic.

No-confidence motion. The Social
Democratic Party in opposition today filed a no-confidence motion against the
centre-right coalition government led by the Liberal Florin Cîţu, which will be
voted on next week. The Social Democrats’ leader Marcel Ciolacu says the
motion, the first of its kind in the current Parliament, has every chance to
pass. His party accuses the Cîţu government, which came to power six months
ago, of inefficiency and leading the country’s economy to disaster and says the
people’s living standards have dropped. It also says the government has failed
with respect to the vaccine roll-out and Romania’s recovery and resilience
plan. Prime minister Florin Cîţu says he is confident the motion will not pass,
while the Liberals’ leader Ludovic Orban says Liberal MPs will attend the
debate of the motion but will abstain from voting.

Ombudsman. The Venice Commission
sent a letter to the speakers of the two chambers of the Romanian Parliament
requesting additional information about Renate Weber’s dismissal as Ombudsman. The Parliament in Bucharest today begun
procedures to appoint a new Ombudsman. The only candidate for the post, Fabian
Gyula from the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania and backed by
the ruling coalition, was interviewed by
the legal committees of the two chambers and received their positive opinion.
The official appointment will most likely be made by Parliament next Monday. We
recall that last week, in a joint session the two chambers of the Romanian
Parliament dismissed Renate Weber from the position of Ombudsman. She was
accused of breaking the law to serve the interests of the Social Democratic
Party, now in opposition, which appointed her. In response, the Social
Democrats accused the government of wanting an Ombudsman who doesn’t challenge its
decisions and contested Renate Weber’s dismissal in the Constitutional Court,
which will discuss the case on 29th June. The Social Democrats
believe the parliamentary majority should await the Court’s decision before
voting in a new Ombudsman, given the criticism of the Venice Commission.

EU. Romanian president Klaus
Iohannis is attending a meeting of the European Council in Brussels on Thursday
and Friday. According to a statement from the president’s office, the agenda of
the talks will again feature issues such as European coordination in the
context of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Union’s economic recovery process, the
management of migration and the EU’s relations with Russia. Iohannis will also
attend the Euro Summit in extended format which will tackle the economic
challenges of the euro zone during the pandemic and the progress made with
respect to the banking and capital market union. EU leaders will also have
talks with UN secretary general António Guterres, whose mandate has been
extended for a further five years.

Weather. An amber code alert for heat and
thermal discomfort is in place today in the eastern half of Romania, where the
highs range from 37 to 39 degrees Celsius. A yellow code alert is also in place
in the rest of the country until this evening, with the highs of the day ranging
from 33 to 37 degrees Celsius. On Thursday and Friday, the west of Romania is
under a red code alert for heat and thermal discomfort, with temperatures
forecast to hit 39 to 41 degrees Celsius and the temperature-to-humidity ratio to
pass the critical level as the dew point is expected to hit 80. Two people died
following heavy rains in recent days. The eastern half of the country is at
risk of more flooding and the authorities are advising the population not to
travel to flood-risk areas and to places where a hydrological alert is in place
and to avoid activities on river banks or near waterways. (CM)