June 3, 2021

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 03.06.2021, 13:45

Green certificate. The green
vaccination certificate will be launched on July 1 at European level, and
Romania is currently on schedule with the procedures for the document to be
available starting with this date, announced on Thursday Andrei Baciu,
Secretary of State in the Ministry of Health. The authorities will launch a
secure online platform, where the certificate can be downloaded. Authenticity
will be guaranteed by a QR code, which can be scanned at customs, and it can be
presented both on paper and on the phone. The certificate attests either the
fact that a person was vaccinated against COVID, or the fact that they had the
disease, through a not very old positive PCR test, or the absence of infection
at that time, proven by a negative PCR test. The vaccination of children aged
12 to 15 has also begun, after the European Medicines Agency authorized the
serum for this age group. As of December 27, 2020, almost eight million doses
of Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines have been
administered in Romania throughout the country. More than 4.3 million people
have been immunized, most of them with both doses. The number of new cases of
COVID-19 remains low. All Romanian counties are in the green zone, the aggregate
incidence rate in 14 days being below one case per thousand inhabitants. On Thursday,
196 new cases of SARS-CoV-2 of infection were reported in more than 31,770
tests. 365 people are in intensive care. Several measures to ease the
restrictions came into force on 1 June.

Eurobarometer. Three quarters
of Romanians (76%) believe that the COVID-19 pandemic has had or will have an
impact on their personal financial situation, while the EU average is 57%,
according to the latest Eurobarometer commissioned by the European Parliament
and presented on Thursday. The opinion poll, conducted in March-April, shows
the growing impact of the pandemic on the personal lives and financial
situation of citizens. According to the Eurobarometer, despite the financial
impact of the pandemic, most respondents (58% in the EU and 45% in Romania,
respectively) believe that the health benefits of restrictions in their country
outweigh the negative economic effects they may have caused. The opinion is
present in most EU countries and suggests a change of attitude as compared to
the second half of 2020, when a small majority of citizens considered the
economic effects to be more important. Almost half of the citizens (48% in the
EU, 41% in Romania) know about the measures taken by Brussels to fight the
pandemic, but only 48% of the EU citizens, respectively 52% in Romania, say
they are satisfied with them.

Schengen. The European
Commission supports the rapid entry of Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia into the
Schengen area, Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson said. Yesterday, in
Brussels, the strategy for reforming the European free movement area was
presented. The European Commission recalls in the strategy that Romania and
Bulgaria have received positive evaluations on Schengen integration, and
recently this has also become the case for Croatia. At present, 22 Member
States of the Union, together with Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and
Switzerland, are part of the free movement area without border controls.

Government. In today’s
meeting, the Romanian Government will adopt the roadmap for the digitalization
of Romania for the next 10 years, through which it wants citizens and companies
to communicate simply, quickly and efficiently with state institutions. Another
topic on the agenda is the draft emergency ordinance extending the granting of
the allowance of 41.5% of average gross earnings to persons who had concluded
before the state of emergency copyright and related rights contracts and who
have benefited from the allowance provided by law.

Moldova. The European
Commission approved on Wednesday an economic recovery plan for the Republic of
Moldova (ex-Soviet, mostly Romanian-speaking) worth 600 million euros for the
next three years. The package is based on five pillars: public finance
management and economic governance, competitive economics, trade and SMEs,
infrastructure, education and employment, as well as the rule of law and
justice reform. Romania has repeatedly state that it will remain the main
partner of the citizens of the Republic of Moldova and will continue to support
Chisinau’s efforts to join the European path.

Tennis. At the Roland Garros tournament Romanian
players Mihaela Buzarnescu and Patricia Tig are playing today in the doubles
against the pair made up of Lara Arruabarrena of Spain / Caroline Dolehide of
the USA. Also today, Irina Begu of Romania/Nadia Podoroska of Argentina will take on the
French pair Estelle Cascino/Jessika Ponchet. In the singles event, Romania has two players left in
the third round, Ana Bogdan and Sorana Cirstea. On Friday, Cirstea will play
against the Russian Daria Kasatkina, and Bogdan against Paula Badosa Gibert of
Spain. In the men’s doubles, the Romanian – German pair Horia Tecau/Kevin Krawietz will
play, on Friday, against Yen-Hsun Lu(Taiwan)/Yoshihito Nishioka(Japan). (MI)