May 7 2020, UPDATE

A look at the main stories in Romania today.

Newsroom, 07.05.2020, 20:00

Toll. The death toll goes up to 886 in Romania. One of the victims is a
Bulgarian truck driver, the first foreign citizen to die from Covid-19 on Romanian territory. The total number of confirmed cases is nearing 14,500, of whom over
6,100 have recovered. Another 2,419 Romanian citizens living abroad have
tested positive for the virus, most of them in Italy and Spain. Since the start
of the pandemic, 96 Romanians living abroad have died, many of them in the UK.
Meanwhile, the Romanian interior minister Marcel Vela announced, in a video
posted on social media, that after May 15, when the state of emergency ends,
people will be allowed to leave their towns or counties. Prosecutor General
Gabriela Scutea said the Romanian justice system will be facing a huge wave of
complaints filed by the people who received fines for breaching the military
orders issued in the context of the pandemic. On Wednesday the Constitutional
Court ruled that the fines were unconstitutional. As many as 300,000 people
received fines totalling around 120 million euros.

Criticism. Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis on Thursday harshly
criticised the Social Democrats in opposition, saying that, together with their
acolytes are doing their best to cause the efforts towards the
reconstruction of the entire nation to fail. He referred among others to two
laws adopted recently by Parliament. Today, the Social Democratic Party wants
to defend criminals, those who defy the rules and break the laws, with help
from their usual satellites, the president also said. In response, the interim
president of the Social Democratic Pary Marcel Ciolacu said Klaus Iohannis is a
politician with dictatorial tendencies who constantly attacks fundamental state
institutions, such as the Parliament and the Constitutional Court. He also said
the Liberal government is no longer credible and that the money for pensions
and salaries will soon run out. Also on Thursday, Iohannis criticised the
satisfaction with which some politicians welcomed the Constitutional Court’s
ruling to declare unconstitutional the fines levied for breaking lockdown
during the state of emergency, saying it showed carelessness, recklessness and
lack of understanding of their mission. He described as surprising the
position of authorities, who, by their mission and legal nature, have the
constitutional obligation not to lose sight in their decision-making process,
of the general interest of society. Iohannis emphasised that without the
penalties imposed during the state of emergency more people would have died.

Aid. A convoy of 20 trucks full of medical
equipment as part of aid provided by Romania to the neighbouring Republic of
Moldova to help it fight the Covid-19 outbreak reached its destination. The
convoy is accompanied by an official delegation including the Romanian health
minister Nelu Tătaru, the head of the Emergency Situations
Department Raed Arafat and the secretary of state for relations with the
Republic of Moldova Ana Guţu. Last week, the government in Bucharest
decided to grant Moldova humanitarian aid worth 16.5 million lei in the form of
medical equipment and medicines. Romania has also sent a team of 52 doctors and
nurses who will be working in hospitals in Moldova treating patients infected
with the novel coronavirus.

EU-Western Balkans. The EU is
experiencing a crisis, but it will not forsake its strategic goals and its
closest partners, said the president of Romania Klaus Iohannis at a video conference
of EU and Western Balkan leaders. According to the president’s office, Iohannis
welcomed the strategic decisions taken by the EU in March 2020 with respect to
furthering the enlargement process, by initiating accession negotiations with
Albania and the Republic of North Macedonia. The Romanian president also called
for a strengthened partnership with the Western Balkans as the best response to
the ongoing crisis and as a means of consolidating fundamental values and democratic
principles. The participants in the summit adopted the Zagreb Declaration,
concerning, among others, an economic aid package granted by the EU to help the
states in the Western
Balkans fight the Covid-19 pandemic and recover economically after the crisis.
This includes immediate aid in the healthcare sector, particularly through
delivering medical equipment, as well as a 750 million euro package of
Macro-Financial Assistance and a 1.7 billion euro package of assistance from
the European Investment Bank.

Economy. The most important objective of the Romanian government is
to support the economy once the peak of the epidemic has passed to help it
return to its previous levels as soon as possible, said prime minister Ludovic
Orban on Thursday. He visited the Ford and Dacia-Renault factories, both in
southern Romania, which have resumed work gradually. The president of Ford
Romania Ian Pearson said the priority was ensuring workers’ health safety, with
a comprehensive set of additional measures being implemented in order to
maintain social distancing. Enhanced protection measures were also taken at the
Dacia factory, with first resumed work on a volunteer basis on 21st
April. The car industry accounts for over 10% of Romania’s GDP and for more
than 14% of its exports. The prime minister called on the population to
purchase especially cars made locally.

Sports. Romanian football celebrated on Thursday 34 years since Steaua Bucharest
won the European Cup final. On May 7, 1986, in Seville, Spain, the Bucharest
side defeated the famous FC Barcelona in the final after a penalty shoot-out in
which Steaua’s goalkeeper Helmuth Duckadam saved all 4 penalty kicks. In
February 1987, in Monte Carlo, Steaua also won the European Super Cup, defeating
the Soviet side Dinamo Kiev 1-0. (CM)