September 9, 2020

A roundup of the main stories in Romania today.

Newsroom, 09.09.2020, 13:55

Coronavirus. 1,271 new daily
coronavirus cases were reported in Romania on Wednesday, with the total number
now passing 98,000. More than people 41,000 have recovered since the start of the
outbreak. 51 new deaths were also announced on Wednesday, taking the death toll
to 4.018. 459 people are currently in intensive care. Health minister Nelu
Tataru says a difficult month lies ahead because of the local elections on 27th
September and the reopening of schools. He added that if the rules and
prevention measures are respected, Romania may see a downward trend in
coronavirus cases in mid October.

Foreign service. Spain’s foreign minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya is attending
today the annual meeting of the Romanian diplomatic service held in Bucharest.
On Tuesday, in a message to participants, NATO deputy secretary general Mircea
Geoana emphasised that Romania was a vital member of NATO and plays the role of
regional pillar with respect to defence and deterrence of threats to NATO. He
said that older security threats were made worse by the pandemic, including in
the Black Sea area. Russia, Geoana also said, continues its pattern of
aggressive behaviour with disinformation campaigns, cyber attacks and military
actions. He added that China’s global rise changes the international balance
existing so far and that the allies must pay attention to this process. A guest of honour at the
meeting, the EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy
Josep Borrell said in his address that the European Union must come out
stronger from the crisis generated by the pandemic. We must continue to work
together in a more strategic and integrated way, to develop a common European
response to wider geopolitical challenges and trends, Borrell also said. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the annual meeting of Romanian diplomats has for the first time been held online, in video-conference format.

Elections. The election campaign for
the local elections on the 27th of September is well under way in
Romania, amid restrictions to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. 41
county council president seats, some 3,200 mayor posts and over 1,300 county
councillor and 40,000 local councillor seats are up for election. The ballot
was initially scheduled for June but it was postponed because of the pandemic.
In other election news, a bill submitted to the Senate stipulates that Romanian
voters residing abroad may also be able to cast their ballots at other polling
stations than the ones where they are registered if they have changed their
residence recently. The bill also stipulates that the voting hours may be
extended abroad.

Tennis. The Romanian-Dutch pair
Horia Tecau and Jean-Julien Rojer lost to the Croatian-Brazilian pair Mate
Pavic and Bruno Soares 6-4, 7-5 in the semifinals of the men’s doubles at the
US Open. In the final, Pavic and Soares will be facing Wesley Koolhof of the
Netherlands and Nikola Mektic of Croatia. Tecau and Rojer won the US Open men’s
doubles title in 2017.

Football. Romania’s under-21 side
defeated Malta 3-nil on Tuesday evening in a Group 8 qualifying match for the
European Under-21 Championship next year. Romania, who also won against Finland
last Friday 3-1, are second in their group with 16 points, three behind
Denmark. In senior football, Romania top Nations League Group 1B after
defeating Austria 3-1 away and an 1-all draw against Northern Ireland at home.
On 8th October Romania will be playing Iceland in Reykjavik in the semifinals of the
European Championship qualifying playoffs. If they qualify, Romania will next
face either Hungary or Bulgaria. (CM)