October 4, 2020 UPDATE

Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 04.10.2020, 19:19

MAE Romania’s Foreign Ministry fully
supports the EU decisions regarding the situation in Belarus, reads a post on
the Institution’s Twitter page. According to the Ministry, the pressure put by
the authorities in Minsk on some EU members like Poland and Lithuania to
withdraw their ambassadors does not help to settle the present crisis, neither
will it affect solidarity among EU countries. Belarus has recalled its ambassadors
from Poland and Lithuania and has called on both countries to substantially
reduce their embassy personnel in Minsk. Brussels has officially adopted sanctions
against 40 people in Belarus for ‘brutal reprisals against peaceful protesters’
and election rigging. The list, which provides for asset freezing and travel
interdictions in the member states, does not include president Alexander
Lukashenko. Meanwhile, police in Belarus have announced they have operated
arrests and used water cannons against tens of thousands protesters who took to
the streets of Minsk on Sunday denounced the rigged election in August.

PANDEMIC Over 35 million people have been confirmed infected with the
novel coronavirus worldwide and the death toll stands at more than one million
people, according to worldometers.
The US continues to be the most affected with 7.6 million infections and a
death toll over 214 thousand. The novel coronavirus has killed more than 100
thousand people in India, which has reported over 6.5 million infections.
Brazil has a death toll of 146 thousand and 5 million infections. Europe has
also been affected; Russia, Poland and the Czech Republic have reported a
growing number of infections, which is also on the rise in Italy, where
authorities are considering an extended state of emergency until February next
year.

COVID-19 1,835 people have tested
positive for the novel coronavirus in Romania on Sunday; the local authorities
have also announced 56 fatalities. 598 patients are in intensive care units
while the death toll since the beginning of the pandemic stands at 5,003.
Romania has so far reported a total number of 135,900 infections. In spite of
the growing number of infections, the authorities believe they don’t need to
impose another state of emergency. They insist on prevention though by
observing the safety measures already known such as social distancing,
disinfection and the wearing of masks in public places. According to Raed
Arafat, head of the Department for Emergency Situations, tougher restriction
measures could be imposed in certain areas, if the situation worsened.

ELECTION An election campaign has
kicked off in the Romanian-speaking Republic of Moldova for the presidential
election on November 1st against a recrudescence of the Covid-19
epidemic. 8 candidates are vying for the presidential seat but only two stand
chances, the incumbent president, the pro-Russia Socialist Igor Dodon and the
leader of the Action and Solidarity Party and former Prime Minister Maia Sandu,
who is seen as pro-Europe. Dodon won the 2016 election by getting a little over
52% of the votes and experts believe the two candidates are going to be neck
and neck in the upcoming election.

RECOUNT The Election Bureau of the city
of Bucharest (BEM) on Sunday turned down a request for an election recount in
the city’s District 1. The BEM has deemed the ruling PSD’s decision to contest
the allegedly rigged local election on September 27th as ungrounded.
Agerpres news agency recalls the Social Democrats called for an election
recount after a TV channel had aired footage with people entering a room where ballot
bags were deposited. Police and the prosecutor’s office have launched
investigations in two files. The aforementioned institution on Sunday rejected
a similar request for the city’s District 5, coming from several political
parties.

(bill)