May 20, 2021

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 20.05.2021, 13:55

COVID-19 IN ROMANIA – Prime Minister
Florin Cîţu gave assurances that a new series of anti-COVID restrictions will
be lifted starting next month. The Romanian official said this will clearly
depend on meeting the target of 5 million people who’ve taken the anti-COVID
vaccine by June 1. The coordinator of Romania’s immunization campaign, Valeriu
Gheorghiţă, said it is highly unlikely the target will be met by the end of
May, but rather by mid-June. 618 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in the
last 24 hours in Romania, following some 31 thousand tests. 61 related
fatalities were reported during the interval and 663 patients are still in
intensive care. Over 4 million Romanians have taken the anti-COVID jab. Romania
ranks 7th at European level and 19th globally in terms of
the number of people who’ve completed the COVID vaccination scheme. Right now,
vaccination is available without prior appointment. People can get vaccinated
in any center upon presenting their ID. Tens of thousands of people have been vaccinated
these days in drive-through centers and as part of vaccination marathons across
the country.

PNRR – Romania’s Prime
Minister, Florin Cîţu, is today scheduled to attend an online meeting with
European Commission vice-president, Margaret Vestager, as well as to meet with
the leader of the Social-Democratic Party in opposition, Marcel Ciolacu, to
discuss the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR). The meeting follows
the Social-Democrats’ repeated requests to be consulted over the document, which
they want the Prime Minister to present before Parliament. Social-Democrat
president Marcel Ciolacu said he would be accompanied by a number of
Social-Democrat experts, as well as representatives of SMEs and trade unions.
The Social-Democrats want to implement a number of changes and have warned they
could vote against the ratification of the European Treaty based on which the
recovery plans of member states are due to be enacted. PNRR was thoroughly
analyzed in yesterday’s Government meeting. The Government has promised to
submit Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan to Brussels by the end
of the month.

EUROSTAT – The population of
urban areas will increase in 15 EU Member States over 2019-2050, and will drop
in nine member states, including Romania, the latest demographic survey
published by Eurostat shows. Malta, Ireland and Sweden will report the highest
increases in urban populations until 2050. Romania, Latvia, Greece and Poland
are at the opposite pole. During the same interval, the Eurostat estimates that
rural population will increase in Ireland, Sweden, Denmark and Belgium.
Conversely, Romania is one of the 20 EU member states whose rural populations
are expected to shrink. National Statistics Institute data shows that Romania
had a population of 22 million people on January 1, 2021, of which 12.5 million
in urban areas.

GAZA – Israeli air raids
continued in Gaza last night as well, despite preliminary information that both
parties were close to signing a ceasefire agreement. A Hamas official said he
expects Israel and Gaza militants to reach a ceasefire agreement in a couple
of days, although Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed
determination that air strikes should continue for as long as it takes to
restore calm for all Israeli citizens, the BBC reports. On Wednesday, US
president Joe Biden had a new round of talks with Benjamin Netanyahu,
expressing hope for a de-escalation of the conflict. Over 200 Palestinians,
half of whom were women and children, were killed in Gaza, according to the
local Health Ministry. Israeli authorities have announced that 12 people,
including two children, have been killed in Israel since the conflict started.

USA-RUSSIA RELATIONS – Russia’s Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov said the talks he attended on the sidelines of the Artic
Council in Reykjavik, Iceland, jointly with US Secretary of State, Antony
Blinken, were constructive. According to the Russian official, the two parties
agree on the need to overcome the unhealthy situation that developed between
Moscow and Washington in previous years. The Russian official said the two
sides will ready proposals for developing dialogue on strategic stability head
of the US-Russia top-level summit. Sergey Lavrov added this is a major objective,
which raises concerns amidst the international community. On the other hand,
according to a press release of the US State Department, Secretary of State
Blinken expressed deep concern with the Russian military build-up on the
Ukrainian border. Antony Blinken also expressed the US’s concern with the
health of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and the repression of
opposition organizations.

WEATHER – Meteorologists
have issued a code orange alert against heavy rain and strong wind in counties
in the west, center and east of Romania, in place until Friday morning, and a
code-yellow alert against heavy rain for most counties in the west and
northwest. Hydrologists expect flash floods in several river basins in the west
and east. (VP)