May 13, 2021 UPDATE

Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 13.05.2021, 20:23

PNRR Romania is going to submit to Brussels a
National Plan of Recovery and Resilience (PNRR) for the entire sum allotted of
29.2 billion Euros, Prime Minister Florin Citu said at the end of the
government meeting on Thursday. The Romanian official has presented the plan to
the European Commission and the way in which this plan is going to foster
economic growth and reforms on pensions, the fiscal system, on curbing dioxide
emissions and ensuring transition to the green energy. According to the
Romanian official, loans are another major component of the plan that Romania
must assume. Citu also says that the real challenge for ministers in the
following two weeks is to come up with detailed technical projects, which must
get a green light from Brussels. Citu believes that the Romanians’ awareness in
terms of paying their taxes and duties has increased in the past two years
thanks to the predictability of the fiscal policy. In turn Cristian Ghinea, the
Minister of Investment and European Projects has announced that all state
enterprises must be subjected to a process of audit and professionalization and
for this reason a special department is to be set up with a view to implementing
the state policy in these entities.

TENNIS The Romanian tennis player
Simona Halep, number 3 in the world, announced having suffered a torn
calf muscle which
forced her out of the Italian Open, in Wednesday’s match against Germany’s
Angelique Kerber. She says she will have an MRI investigation to determine how
serious the injury is. The defending champion in Foro Italico, the Romanian
player withdrew in the second set of the match against Kerber, after she had
won the first set. Given the preliminary diagnosis, she risks missing the
Roland Garros tournament due to start on May 30. Halep won the Paris tournament
in 2018.

ALERT On Thursday Romania extended the state of
alert for another month to limit the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. A series
of restriction measures have been lifted such as the participation in religious
services and pilgrimages but the prevention measures must still be observed.
President Iohannis had a working meeting with the country’s Prime Minister
Florin Citu and other members of the executive. A series of relaxation measures
has been announced such as lifting the obligation to wear masks in public
places except for crowded areas like markets and public transportation. The
night curfew has been lifted starting May 15th and so has the
restrictions imposed to shops and other enterprises, which had to close earlier
during the quarantine. Sporting activities are allowed but with only 25% of the
seats occupied. Wedding parties and other festive activities are allowed only with
maximum 70 participants outside and 50 inside. Over 3.7 million people have
been vaccinated in Romania and two third of these have got the booster dose.
The effects of the pandemic have clearly diminished in Romania where the
authorities have announced an infection rate of 1.42 cases per thousand. 953
new infections were reported on Thursday while 75 patients died in the past 24
hours. 829 people are in intensive care.

PLAN The government in Bucharest on
Thursday approved the National Strategy and Action Plan for the prevention and
fighting anti-Semitism, xenophobia, radicalization and hate speech. According
to Alexandru Muraru, honorary advisor for the Prime Minister, Romania now has a
plan of concrete measures, funding and clear terms, based on an international
context and domestic realities. Muraru said that works on the document took
almost 2 years and involved the participation and expertise from 20 national
institutions, including 5 ministries – Education, Foreign and Domestic Affairs,
Justice and Culture. The government’s message has zero tolerance for
anti-Semitic or xenophobic threats for radicalization, hate speech and various
forms of intolerance, discrimination, political and symbolic violence.

(bill)