September 19, 2021

A roundup of domestic and international news.

Newsroom, 19.09.2021, 14:00

MOBILITY — Romania’s capital Bucharest is one of the 2,900 localities in over 50 countries taking part in the European Mobility Week, with the initiative “The Open Door Day at the Dudesti Depot”. The public can visit the Dudesti Depot today, to see, among other things, old trams from different development stages of the Bucharest public transport system. European Mobility Week is the European Commission’s flagship awareness-raising campaign on sustainable urban mobility. It promotes behavioral change in favor of active mobility, public transport, and other clean, intelligent transport solutions. The main event takes place from 16 to 22 September each year, culminating in the popular Car-Free Day. Local authorities are encouraged to use the main week to try out innovative planning measures, promote new infrastructure and technologies, measure air quality, and get feedback from the public. With more towns and cities joining every year, and with its huge media appeal, the campaign is widely recognized as a driving force towards sustainable urban mobility in Europe and beyond.

CORONAVIRUS — The Bucharest authorities on Sunday announced 3,817 new cases of COVID-19 infection, from over 35,000 tests. 58 related fatalities were also reported and 849 patients treated in intensive care. The National Public Health Institute has warned that the fourth wave of the pandemic, currently under way, will be much more serious than the previous one, given the quick spread of the virus. In villages, mobile medical teams are prepared to vaccinate all people who request immunization. Over 100 localities in the country exceeded three infection threshold of three per thousand inhabitants, which entails new restrictions. As of Monday, the green certificate, attesting vaccination, negative testing or recovery from COVID-19 is compulsory in Romania upon entering restaurants, gyms, or attending public and private events in areas where the infection rate is over 3 per thousand. This is the same digital certificate required this summer for travel within the EU.

NEW MEDIA – The largest new media art event in Romania was held on Saturday in Bucharest. iMapp Bucharest — Winners league is also among the top three international video mapping competitions. The works of teams from the US, Germany, Ukraine, Japan and Hungary were presented on the world’s biggest screening area, namely, the façade of the Parliament Palace in Bucharest, of 23,000 sqm. The theme of this year’s edition was “The Show Must Go On” and celebrated through works that blend light, technology and music, the way in which people have been returning to normal life.

ENESCU FESTIVAL — In Romania, the George Enescu International Festival, currently at its 25th edition, continues. The Bucharest Symphonic Orchestra will perform this evening at the Radio Hall, with John Axelrod at helm. Also today, at the Palace Hall, the Tonhalle Orchestra of Zurich performs works by Enescu, Beethoven and Schuman. 3,500 Romanian and foreign musicians are performing on stages in Bucharest, Sibiu, Iasi, Timisoara and Constanta as part of the George Enescu Festival.

DELEGATION – Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu will attend as of Monday, until September 24, as part of a delegation headed by President Klaus Iohannis, the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, on the sidelines of which he will participate in a number of multilateral meetings. Special attention will be paid to bilateral meetings with counterparts from countries in the Caucasus and Central, South and East Asia, the Middle East, Africa and countries in the Pacific. Also, Bogdan Aurescu will meet with representatives of the Jewish organizations in the US.

VISIT – The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, will be in Bucharest on September 27, the EC deputy spokesperson Dana Spinant announced on Friday. She added that in the coming days the Commission will complete its assessment of Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan. Under the Plan, Bucharest is set to receive over 29 billion euro, half of it in grants and half in loans. Romania plans reforms and investments in transports, environment, agriculture, healthcare, education, business environment, research, innovation, digitisation as well as resilience in crisis situations. According to the Commission, 18 states have already seen their national recovery plans approved, and 12 of them have already received the first installments of the funds for investment projects.

TENNIS – The tie level is one-all in Cluj Napoca (north-west), where Romania and Portugal had the opening two singles matches in the Davis Cup on Saturday. Joao Sousa beat the Romanian Filip Cristian Jianu 6-3, 7-5 in the first match, while Marius Copil managed to defeat the Portuguese Gastao Elias, 6-4, 6-3. The doubles match and the two reverse single matches are held later today, when Marius Copil and Horia Tecau will play against the Portuguese Joao Sousa and Gastao Elias. The second and third match of the day will see in the singles Romanian Marius Copil against Joao Sousa and Filip Jianu against Gastao Elias. The Romanian and Portuguese teams met twice in the Davis Cup so far. Portugal won in 1988 and Romania in 1995. (EE)