September 6, 2020 UPDATE

A roundup of the main stories in Romania today.

Newsroom, 06.09.2020, 19:23

Coronavirus. 1,150 new daily
coronavirus cases were reported on Sunday in Romania, with infections now
passing 95,000. 43 new deaths were also reported, which raises the death toll
to 3,893. 474 people are in intensive care. The largest number of new cases
were in Bucharest and Bacau county.

Diplomats. The annual
meeting of the Romanian diplomatic service organised by the foreign ministry is
taking place in Bucharest from Monday to Wednesday. This year’s edition, which
is held by video-conference, is looking at the impact of the pandemic on
international trends and the response of the Romanian foreign office. The event
brings together heads of Romania’s diplomatic missions, consular offices and
cultural institutes as well as foreign officials, foreign ministers of partner
states, leaders of international organisations and leading members of the
international academic community. Guests include the EU high representative for
foreign affairs and security policy Josep Borrell, Jordanian foreign minister Ayman
Safadi, Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, Spanish foreign minister Arancha
González Laya and South-Korean foreign minister Kang Kyung-wha.

Forum. The European Union must be
prepared in the future to give more convincing answers about its role in the
Balkans and the Black Sea region, said the Romanian foreign minister Bogdan
Aurescu at the end of a security forum held in Bucharest. He added that the
Union should pay more attention to its neighbourhood, citing as an example the
Black Sea area, where there are a number of sources of insecurity, from the open
conflict in eastern Ukraine and the illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia to
the growing militarisation of the Black Sea. The Romanian minister also warned about
what he called infodemic, an epidemic of disinformation and fake news. He
said everything has become geo-politicised, including vaccines, treatments,
science and expertise, even citizens’ private lives and convictions. The Black
Sea and Balkans Security Forum held on Friday and Saturday in Bucharest and
organised by the New Strategy Center with the support of the Romanian foreign
affairs and defence ministries looked at all types of security
risks and threats in the Black Sea region and the Balkans, including those
arising in the context of the coronavirus pandemic.

Elections. The
pre-election period ahead of the parliamentary elections of 6th December
begins in Romania on Monday, the Permanent Election Authority has announced.
The Central Election Bureau will be set up next Friday and 21st
September is the deadline by which Romanian voters abroad can register with the
Election Registry and state whether they wish to vote in person or by mail. The
election campaign for the local elections of 27th September is
currently in full swing in Romania.

Exercise. More than 200 military
from the engineer corps are taking part in a multinational exercise called Blonde
Avalanche 20 which got under way today in Braila, in south-eastern Romania. The
defence ministry said in a statement that the purpose of the exercise is joint
training of the Multinational Engineer Battalion which includes military from
Romania, Slovakia, Ukraine and Hungary for missions to limit and eliminate the
consequences of natural disasters. The military from Slovakia and Hungary are
taking part in the exercise online.

Festival. The first stage of the
violin section of the George Enescu International Competition is under way
between the 5th and the 9th of September and features 60
recitals by young violinists from around world which can be watched online on
the festival’s website, at www.festivalenescu.ro.
The results will be made public on 10th September. Only 12 out of 60
participants will go to the next stage. In the cello section, 13 participants
reached the second stage, which comes to an end on Monday. This year’s edition
of the George Enescu International Competition, which was due to take place
between 29th August and 20th September, has been
reorganised because of the pandemic into two separate events: the first two
stages are held online this month, as initially scheduled, while the semifinals
and the finals in each category will be held in May next year. The competition
has brought together 205 musicians from 39 different countries. 184 are competing
in the three instrument sections, violin, cello and piano, while 21 are competing
in the composition section.

Tennis. Romania’s Simona Halep was chosen August tennis
Player of the Month based on fan vote on the WTA website. In other tennis news,
Sorana Cirstea lost on Saturday to Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic in
the third round at the US Open. In the men’s doubles, the Romanian-Dutch pair
Horia Tecau and Jean-Julien Rojer reached the competition’s quarterfinals after
defeating the first seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah of Colombia. On
Sunday, the Romanian-Belorussian pair Andreea Mitu and Lidziya Marozova won the women’s double title of the Prague Open.

Football. Romania will be facing
Austria on Monday in a League B Group 1 match as part of the Nations League
competition. The group also includes Norway, which Romania will be playing next
month. On 8th October, Romania will also be playing Iceland in the
semifinals of the qualifying playoffs for the European Championship. If they
win, Romania will face the winner of the other playoff semifinal, Hungary or
Bulgaria. On Tuesday, Romania’s under-21 side are facing Malta in a qualifying
match for the European Under-21 Championship next year. (CM)