March 25, 2021

A roundup of domestic and international news.

Newsroom, 25.03.2021, 13:55

SCHOOL — National exams will be held at the dates set initially and the school year will end on June 25th at the latest, for all grades, Romanian Education Minister Sorin Cîmpeanu announced on Thursday, after meetings with representatives of trade unions, students’ and parents’ associations. The spring holiday was set for April 2 – May 4 for all students, except for the 8th and 12th graders. The Minister also announced he scraps his highly criticised plan to extend the school year until July. National evaluation exams for the 8th grade will be held between June 22 – 25, and the Baccalaureate exams between June 28 – July 1.

GOVERNMENT – The Romanian Government is today discussing a number of draft laws and emergency orders with a social impact. The Government wants to extend until July 1st, through emergency order, the deadline for the payment, by the insured persons, of the difference between the cost of a medical service offered by private healthcare providers and the cost of the same medical services offered by the national health insurance. The condition is for the private healthcare provider to have a signed contract with the state. Also to be discussed is a draft law setting social protection measures for vulnerable energy consumers. The social protection measures can be financial or non-financial, from the state budget, local budget or European funds. The National Recovery and Resilience Plan is also on the Government’s agenda.

EUROPEAN COUNCIL — Romanian President Klaus Iohannis is attending as of today, via video conference, the two-day European Council meeting in Brussels. Leaders will take stock of the roll-out of vaccines and the epidemiological situation and pursue the coordinated response to the pandemic crisis. They will also discuss transatlantic relations together with US President Joe Biden. The single market, digital transformation, the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean, relations with Russia and the international role of the euro are also on the agenda. On Tuesday, Klaus Iohannis took part in a video-conference with the European Council President, Charles Michel, and other European leaders, ahead of the European Council meeting.

CORONAVIRUS – The Romanian Government may today approve new restrictions to be imposed at national level, in the context of a surge in the Covid-19 infectionsthe National Committee for Emergencies will also meet today, just like the Bucharest Committee for Emergencies, with a view to implementing the measures, given that the infection rate has been on the increase in the capital city. According to the most recent data, in the last 24 hours Romania saw another 6,651 new Covid infections out of 42 thousand tests. 1,348 patients are in intensive care. Since the start of the pandemic, over 22,700 Covid-related deaths have been recorded. More than 1,830,000 people received at least the first dose of anti-Covid vaccine since the start of the immunization campaign in December 2020.

PROTESTS – Hundreds of policemen protested on Thursday in front of a number of institutions in Bucharest, unhappy with the small salaries which, according to trade unionists, have not been raised since 2009. Unionists are demanding, among other things, the update of their meal allowance, hazard pay and holiday vouchers. They also want to be equipped with the technical intervention means they need and ask for more staff to be hired, especially in the operative structures.

FOOTBALL — Romania’s national football squad is up North Macedonia this evening on home turf, in their first match of the World Cup preliminaries. Later this month Romania will play another two matches in the preliminaries, against Germany on the 28th at home and against Armenia, on the 31st away from home. Island and Lichtenstein area also part of the group. The best-ranked side in each group qualifies straight to the World Cup, while the second best-placed sides goes into play-offs. Romania last participated in a World Cup competition in 1998, in France. On Wednesday, Romania was up against Netherlands in their opening match at the European Under-21 Championship hosted by Hungary and Slovenia. The match ended in a 1-1 draw. In the same group, Germany beat Hungary 3-nil. Romania is playing on Saturday against Hungary and on Tuesday against Germany. (EE)