November 16, 2021

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 16.11.2021, 13:55

Covid-19. Romania today reported over 4,100 new Covid infections and 397
related fatalities, including 54 that had not been recorded in the system
earlier. Some 14,000 Covid patients are currently receiving hospital treatment,
including almost 1,700 in intensive care. The incidence rate is on the decrease
in Bucharest, dropping to 5.34 cases per 1,000 inhabitants today. In other
related news, non-invasive testing is due to begin in schools for children and
teachers. At the moment, almost three quarters of Romanian schools and
kindergartens are holding in-person classes , the rule being that only schools
with a vaccination rate among their staff of at least 60% can reopen for
in-person teaching, the rest holding classes on line.

Economy. Romania,
Hungary and Lithuania have the biggest annual growth rate in the European Union
in the third quarter of this year compared with the same period last year, according
to preliminary data published by the European statistical office Eurostat. GDP
grew in the EU by 3.9%, with Romania at 8%, Hungary at 6.1% and Lithuania at
6%. However, according to the latest figures published by the National
Institute for Statistics, Romania’s economic growth rate slowed down to 0.3% in
the third quarter compared with the previous quarter. In the first nine months
of the year, GDP grew by 7.1% compared with the same period last year. Economic
experts say the growth rate will slow down even more this autumn and winter,
while the inflation rate may go up to 8% in the context of the current
political crisis.

Politics. Talks are under way on the formation of a
new government between the National Liberal Party, the Social Democratic Party
and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania. After agreeing on the
measures to be supported by the new government, the three parties are now
discussing their proposals for prime minister, including the possibility of a
rotation government. According to sources close to the two parties, the Liberals
are in favour of this idea in principle, provided they go first, which the
Social Democrats agree if the Liberals choose someone other than the current
prime minister Florin Cîţu. The Liberals are meeting later today to discuss a
mandate for a rotation government. Cîţu, who is also the leader of the National
Liberal Party, said an agreement must be reached as soon as possible and warned
that the Liberals already made some concessions.

EU. Romanian
foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu attended a ministerial meeting of the Eastern
Partnership held in Brussels, where EU foreign ministers agreed to expand the
criteria for imposing new sanctions against Belarus. The new sanctions would
target those involved in weaponising the plight of migrants. The European Union
is accusing Belarus of intentionally creating a migrant crisis on the border
with Poland and the Baltic countries in retaliation to the Union’s earlier sanctions against
the regime in Belarus for its crackdown on the opposition. Minister Aurescu
presented Romania’s stand on the strategic priorities of the Eastern
Partnership post-2020 and called for a consolidation of the security dimension
in the Eastern Neighbourhood, as well as for greater involvement from the EU in
solving the frozen or protracted conflicts in this region.

Radio and TV.
Parliament approved the new leadership of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting
Corporation, which Radio Romania International also forms part of. With the
support of the Social Democratic Party, the new director general at Radio
Romania is Răzvan-Ioan Dincă, a
former National Opera director who has a court of first instance conviction for
abuse of office and false statement but who was later acquitted. The leadership
of the Romanian television was also appointed, with the journalist Dan Cristian
Turturică becoming the new director general, with the support of the National
Liberal Party. The members of the new boards are appointed for a 4-year term
and have to take an oath in Parliament.

Tennis. The Romanian-German
doubles pair Horia Tecău and Kevin
Krawietz are today facing the Croatian-Serbian pair Ivan Dodig and Filip
Polasek in their second Green Group match at the ATP Finals tennis tournament
held in Turin, in Italy. Tecău and Krawietz lost their first group match on
Sunday. This is Tecău’s 7th participation in the ATP Finals, having won the
trophy in 2015 together with Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands. Other
achievements of his career as a doubles player include three Grand Slam trophies
and 38 ATP titles. (CM)