November 21, 2021 UPDATE

Newsroom, 21.11.2021, 21:44

GOVERNMENT The Social
Democrats and the Liberals, which have the largest
number of seats in Parliament and are seeking to form a new cabinet jointly
with the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania (UDMR), announced
they would present president Klaus Iohannis on Monday with a joint nomination
for the PM post. The structure of the new government was agreed on in Sunday’s
negotiations, the Social Democratic leader Marcel Ciolacu announced, and added
that Romania will have an operational government on Thursday. According to the
chief of the Liberal negotiation team, the interim defence minister Nicolae Ciucă,
the ministries of transport and finances will be headed, in principle, by the
other party than the one nominating the PM. In turn, the leader of the UDMR, Kelemen
Hunor, says 2 new ministries will be created, one for tourism and
entrepreneurship and one for family and youth. Political sources say the
new PM designate will be Nicolae Ciucă (Liberal). A retired general, Ciucă was
designated by president Iohannis to form a new government, but he stepped down
following indications that his minority government would not be endorsed in
Parliament. A previous minority cabinet headed by the president of USR, Dacian
Cioloş, also failed to get a confidence vote in Parliament. If endorsed, Ciucă will
be the first senior military officer to head a post-communist Romanian government.
He will replace the Liberal leader Florin Cîţu, dismissed last month following a no-confidence vote
initiated by the Social Democrats.

COVID-19 The number of new coronavirus infections in Romania dropped
below 2,000 on Sunday, for the first time in 9 weeks. 1,936 new COVID-19 cases were reported out of
nearly 23,000 tests, along with 121 related fatalities, 16 of them from an
earlier date. As many as 1,573 patients are in intensive care, but the number
of patients is on the decrease. The National Committee on Emergency Situations agreed that in places with infection rates below 3 per
thousand schools may resume on-site teaching regardless of the vaccination rate
among teaching staff. Several activities subject
to restrictions in recent weeks may now be resumed, but a final decision is to
be made by the government. Such activities include sports events, concerts,
performances and outdoor festivals, conferences and training sessions. Only
holders of the digital Covid certificate will be permitted to take part.

MOLDOVA The president of the Republic of Moldova Maia Sandu
will be on an official visit to Romania on Tuesday, at the invitation of her
Romanian counterpart Klaus Iohannis. This is Sandu’s first visit to Romania
since July’s early election won by her party Action and Solidarity (PAS), and
it takes place in the context of the celebration of 30 years of diplomatic
relations, after in 1991, the ex-Soviet republic proclaimed its independence
from Moscow. According to the Romanian presidency, this is an opportunity to
reconfirm the special, privileged Strategic Partnership between the 2 countries,
based on common linguistic, cultural and historical elements. The talks between
Iohannis and Sandu will encourage the development of joint projects in the
fields of energy, transport, healthcare, education and information society, with
a focus on projects designed to help connect the Republic of Moldova with the
EU to the benefit of all its citizens.

SPORTS Romania’s national rugby team defeated Tonga 32-20,
in a test match in Bucharest. According to the media, the game was quite useful
to both teams, which are trying to qualify for the 2023 World Championships in
France. Won the other 2 matches played this month, 29-14 against Uruguay, in a
test match in Verona, Italy, on November 7, and 56-15 against the Netherlands
in Bucharest, in Rugby Europe Championship 2021, on November 13. Romania is
currently placed 15th in the World Rugby standings. (tr. A.M. Popescu)