April 29, 2020
A roundup of domestic and international news.
Newsroom, 29.04.2020, 13:55
DRAFT LAW – Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has harshly criticized today the tacit adoption, by the Chamber of Deputies, of a draft law regarding the autonomy of the so-called Szecklers’ land, a region in central Romania hosting the Hungarian community. Iohannis has made it clear that he will not promulgate the law. According to the draft law initiated by the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, the region should have its own administrative organization, public authorities and institutions and Hungarian should be its official language. The region should include the counties of Covasna, Harghita and a part of Mures. The Legislative Council, the Economic and Social Council and the Government have not green lighted the project. The Senate, which is the decision making body in this case, has been convened today in emergency meeting.
EU – Romanian Interior Minister Marcel Vela took part on Tuesday in a videoconference of the EU home affairs ministers to discuss the state of play and way forward on the response to Covid-19. The meeting was chaired by Davor Božinović, Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister of Croatia. The ministers discussed applications for contact tracing, given that contact tracing is one of the key measures for controlling the spread of the virus, particularly within the framework of the gradual easing of restrictions on movement. Marcel Vela said it is important to have coordination among the member states as regards the gradual easing of restrictions, depending on the evolution of the disease in each state. Interior ministers also talked about further improvements in transit corridors in order to enable continuous functioning of the single market and free movement of goods. Topics such as the current situation at the internal and external borders, asylum, returns and resettlements and the swift shift in criminal activities were also discussed.
VETERANS DAY- On the occasion of the Veterans Day celebrated today, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has conveyed a message hailing their heroic behavior, which should be an example for younger generations and urging them to protect themselves from the coronavirus, by observing the social distancing measures. Veterans Day has been celebrated in Romania since 2008 and marks the day when, in 1902, King Carol I promulgated, at the request of the survivors of the War of Independence (1877-1878), the Decree establishing the “war veteran” title, in keeping with the decisions of the Geneva Convention. Over 900 thousand dead, wounded, prisoners and missing persons were reported after the Second World War. At present there are around 7300 veterans in Romania.
CORONAVIRUS ROMANIA — Romanian President Klaus Iohannis is today holding a new meeting with the government members on the COVID-19 situation. Health Minister Nelu Tataru said Tuesday evening that Romania is still heading towards the peak of the pandemic but that in the next two weeks the number of new infections is expected to drop. He also said that during the 3-day holiday at the beginning of May the situation must be handled so as the emergence of new hotbeds should be prevented. Over 11,600 infections have been confirmed in Romania so far, 663 people have died and over 3400 have recovered. Around 2000 Romanians abroad have tested positive to COVID-19 of whom 87 have died.
PANDEMIC — A number of countries have announced they will ease the restrictions imposed due to the pandemic. In France and Greece schools will be opened gradually starting May 11, while in Spain and Italy students will only go to school in autumn. Hotels in Poland will be open to tourists during the summer while Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey plan to open the tourist season on July 1. In the US, where the number of infections exceeded 1 million, the number of victims is bigger than the number of American soldiers killed in two decades during the Vietnam War. The global number of infections exceeded 3.1 million, with over 210 thousand people dead and more than 930 thousand recoveries.
SURVEY — 70% of Romanians say that economic depression is a greater danger than the coronavirus epidemic, according to a data provided by the Romanian Public Institute for Public Opinion Survey. Most interviewees believe the epidemic will not go away which means that people will live with the fear of catching the virus. 55% of Romanians believe that the government does its job well or very well. Parliament, however, is only appreciated by one third of respondents. No significant collective tendency towards altruism has been reported, with only 27% of respondents saying they believe Romanians have become more selfless this period. The survey was conducted via telephone between April 22 and 25 on 710 people aged over 18 and has an error margin of +/- 3.7%. (Translated by Elena Enache)
