October 3, 2020 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 03.11.2020, 20:11

Covid19 RO. According to the
Strategic Communication Group, new Covid-19 records were reported in Romania on
Tuesday: 7733 cases, out of 30,336
tests, and 120 infected people who died in
24 hours, the total number of deaths in Romania reaching 7,273. Since the end
of February, 258,437 cases of people infected with the new coronavirus have
been confirmed in Romania. 181,175 of them have been declared cured. Currently,
11,897 people with COVID-19 are hospitalized in specialized health units, of
whom 974, the largest number so far, are in intensive care. In a press
conference, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has stated that Romania expects
to receive the first tranche of COVID vaccine in the first quarter of next
year, stressing that the first to benefit from vaccination will be those in the
medical system and people at risk, with the vaccination of the entire
population starting in the spring at the earliest.

Pandemic. The total number
of new coronavirus infections has exceeded 47.3 million worldwide, the death
toll has exceeded 1.2 million, and the number of people cured is over 34
million, according to Worldometers.info. The worst affected are the United
States, Brazil and India. Against the background of the resurgence of
coronavirus cases in Europe, several states are introducing new restrictions to
curb the spread. Austria is in partial quarantine for at least four weeks in an
attempt to avoid overloading the health system during a second wave of
coronavirus infections. As of Tuesday, the Thessaloniki and Serres regions of
northern Greece are quarantined for two weeks. Flights to and from Thessaloniki
are suspended and travelling at night is banned, except for well-justified
reasons. Schools remain open. Germany and the United Kingdom have announced
strict isolation measures for at least a month, similar to those in March and
April, with economic activity suspended. Portugal has also imposed a partial
quarantine, with authorities warning that this is just the beginning. France,
Spain and Italy are tightening the restrictions that have already been in place
for several weeks.

Terrorism. The level of
terrorist alert remains ‘blue-cautious’ in Romania, the Romanian Intelligence Service informed on
Tuesday. The October attacks in France (in Paris, Nice and Avignon), as well as
in Austria (in Vienna) on November 2, confirm that the threat to Europe is
current and on an upward trend, even if the continent is faced with a deep
health crisis, reads the service’s Facebook page. The model in recent years has
been maintained: small-scale attacks, with weapons that can be easily procured
(white or firearm), organized by individuals, difficult to identify, who have a
jihadist ideological affiliation, but no proven links with terrorist
organizations. The Romanian Intelligence Service also says that sensitive
issues, such as the caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, have once again proved
to be the trigger for a series of attacks, but their real motivation is
jihadist-terrorist, based on the ideology of global jihad, in which the West and Christianity are
considered enemies of the Muslim world. The Vienna attack, committed in a
Central European country free from significant terrorist attacks in recent
history, is a warning that any state in Europe can be a target for terrorists,
the Romanian Intelligence Service also warns.

Cooperation. The mutual
interest of Romania and Israel is to expand and deepen the dialogue in various fields,
said on Tuesday in Tel Aviv, Prime Minister Ludovic Orban, in joint statements
with his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu. Ludovic Orban expressed his gratitude
for the excellent cooperation with the Israeli authorities in the management of
the Covid-19 pandemic and said that, in addition to the health sector, ways to
strengthen the already consistent political dialogue will be explored, with a
view to developing economic relations and strengthening cooperation in the
field of defense and security. A Romanian-Israeli Economic Working Group,
launched a month ago, is already active in sectors such as agriculture, water management
or new technologies, Prime Minister Orban added, also announcing that the
Romanian and Israeli governments will hold
a joint meeting in the first half of next year. Ludovic Orban and Benjamin
Netanyahu signed a Protocol to avoid double taxation and prevent tax evasion with
regard to income taxes. On Wednesday, the Romanian Prime Minister will be in
Ramallah, where he will discuss with his Palestinian counterpart Mohammad
Shtayyeh means of strengthening
bilateral cooperation.

Moldova. The current Socialist
president of the Republic of Moldova, Igor Dodon, announced on Tuesday that he
decided to withdraw the citizenship of the former Romanian Social-Democratic
deputy Cristian Rizea, convicted for corruption. He stated that Rizea should be
deported to Romania, where he received a final sentence of 4 years and 8 months
in prison, in a case in which he was found guilty of influence peddling and
money laundering. The Bucharest press had long stated that Rizea was hiding in
Chisinau, where he had obtained Moldovan citizenship. (M. Ignatescu)