October 21, 2021

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Newsroom, 21.10.2021, 13:55

COVID-19 The Romanian authorities Thursday announced
over 16,000 new Covid-19 cases and 448 related deaths
in 24 hours. Some 1,800 patients are in intensive care. Bucharest
has requested the European Commission to help supply Romanian hospitals with tocilizumab,
which is used in treating severe forms of the disease. Romanian authorities
have also asked for teams of experts to support front-line staff for specific periods.
Meanwhile, as of Monday all school children will be on a 2-week holiday, access
to most activities will be conditional on presenting a digital COVID
certificate, face covering will be compulsory in all indoor and outdoor areas
and night curfews will be in place for the unvaccinated. These are just some of
the restrictions introduced in an attempt to curb the pandemic. After having
analysed the situation jointly with government officials, president Klaus
Iohannis said the only solution to put an end to the epidemic is vaccination. However,
until a significant proportion of people get vaccinated, restrictions are
necessary.

GOVERNMENT President Klaus Iohannis is having talks today with parliamentary
parties, to designate a new prime minister after the proposed one-party cabinet
headed by the president of Save Romania Union Dacian Cioloş Wednesday failed to
get a confidence vote from Parliament. The minority government made up of the
National Liberal Party and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania
was dismissed following a no-confidence motion, and negotiations failed to
rebuild the ruling coalition, broken up in September over disagreements between
the Liberal PM Florin Citu and Save Romania Union. The Liberals said they were
willing to discuss with all parliamentary parties, except for the nationalist
party AUR, supporters of anti-vaccine theories. The Liberals’ National
Political Bureau Thursday decided to nominate Nicolae
Ciucă as prime minister with a minority government comprising the National
Liberal Party and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians. Save Romania Union
would like to restore the coalition with the 2 parties, but without Florin Citu
as prime minister. In turn, the Ethnic Hungarians would like to see the
coalition rebuilt. The largest party in Parliament, the Social Democratic
Party, wants a government of experts, to help overcome the healthcare crisis,
whereas AUR party asks President Klaus Iohannis to designate a prime minister
backed by a sound parliamentary majority.

SUMMIT EU heads of state and government convene on Thursday and Friday in
Brussels to discuss EU-wide cooperation in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Union’s digital agenda, the
rise in energy prices, migration, the EU trade policy and foreign relations. On
Monday, the
president of Romania Klaus Iohannis took part in a videoconference with the
president of the European Parliament Charles Michel and other EU leaders, in
preparation of this summit. The Romanian president highlighted the need to
quickly identify efficient short-term solutions to the current energy crisis,
which will have a notable social and economic impact on all EU member states.
Klaus Iohannis also emphasised the importance of diversifying energy sources,
of reducing the Union’s reliance on third-country suppliers, and of ensuring
energy supply security.

ECONOMY All EU member states concluded year 2020 with governmental
deficits, Eurostat announced today. The highest levels were reported in Spain
(11% of GDP), Greece (10.1% of GDP), Malta (9.7% of GDP), Italy (9.6% of GDP) and
Romania (9.4% of GDP). According to Eurostat, Denmark and Sweden were the only
EU countries with government deficits below the 3% of GDP ceiling stipulated in
the Stability and Growth Pact. Across the EU, the government deficit
skyrocketed from 0.5% of GDP in 2019 to 6.9% of GDP last year.

FOOTBALL
Romanian football champions CFR
Cluj are playing today at home against the Dutch side AZ Alkmaar, in Group D of
the Europa Conference League. The Romanians are ranking last in the group, with
1 point out of 2 matches, whereas their opponents are the group leaders, with 4
points. In the previous leg, CFR drew at home against Danish side Randers FC,
and AZ Alkmaar won on home turf against the Czech club Jablonec. CFR is the
only Romanian team playing in continental competitions this season. (tr. A.M. Popescu)