December 10, 2020 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 10.12.2020, 20:00

COVID-19 IN ROMANIA – Over 7,000 new Covid infections were
reported in Romania on Thursday, most of them in capital Bucharest, followed by
Constanta, in the south-east, which also registered the highest infection rate
of 7 cases per thousand. 1,288 people are being treated in IC units. 80% out of
the total 540 thousand cases reported since the beginning of the pandemic, have
been cured, while roughly 13 thousand people have died. Romania so far boasts
roughly 1,000 vaccination centers and this number could be increased to ease
the access of all those interested. Most likely Romania will get the Pfizer
vaccine and 13 million people could get immunized in the first six months of
the year. In another development, interim Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă said the
Government will extend the state of alert after December 14, without
introducing additional restrictions. The state of alert was introduced in
mid-May to limit the spread of the coronavirus. Previously a state of emergency
had been declared in Romania for two months.

COVID-19 IN THE WORLD – The total number of Covid-19
infections has exceeded 69 million worldwide. 1.5 million people died and 48
million have recovered, worldometers.info says. The USA remains the world’s
most affected country with 15.8 million infections and some 300 thousand
fatalities. The USA has constantly exceeded the daily threshold of 2,000
fatalities for two weeks now and Americans are waiting for a nationwide vaccine
distribution. A vaccine produced by Pfizer/BioNTech could be authorized in the
following days while the Moderna vaccine next week. Severe side effects in
allergic persons have been reported in the case of the Pfizer vaccine. Britain
is the first country in the world to have distributed a completely
clinically-tested vaccine.

TALKS – President Klaus Iohannis on Monday invited political
parties to consultations with a view to designating the new Prime Minister.
Leaders of the National Liberal Party, Save Romania Union – PLUS Alliance and
the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians on Thursday had an informal round of
talks with the president. The Liberals have nominated Florin Cîţu, the current
Finance Minister, for the position of Prime Minister. The Liberals announced
they would hold official talks with a view to forming a majority in Parliament
starting Saturday. The Social-Democratic Party on the other hand wants
President Iohannis to designate a Social-Democrat Prime Minister, considering
the party grabbed the largest number of votes in the December 6 parliamentary
election. The Social-Democrats have nominated Prof. Alexandru Rafila, Romania’s
representative at the WHO, whom they claim is the best suited to manage the
current health crisis.

EUROPEAN COUNCIL – Romania is part of the European and global
effort of combating climate change. We have an increasing capacity of
influencing European policies in this sector, President Klaus Iohannis said on
Thursday ahead of the European Council meeting. In the upcoming Council
meeting, Romania is expected to advocate the reduction of greenhouse gases by
at least 55% by 2030. President Iohannis will be pleading for the creation of a
flexible framework to allow all member states, irrespective of their
development, to effectively meet the objectives in the field of climate change.
EU leaders have convened in Brussels for two days to discuss the Covid-19
pandemic and the coordinated efforts to fight it. Also high on the agenda are
climate change, security and foreign relations. The heads of state and
government of the EU countries are expected to assess the situation and hold
talks about the measures to fight the disease, including vaccines and tests but
also the gradual lifting of restrictions.

ECONOMY – Romania’s trade balance deficit rose by €827
million in the first ten months of the year as compared to the same period last
year, up to €15 billion, according to data the National Institute for
statistics released on Thursday. Over January 1 and October 31, exports stood
at €51 billion while imports accounted for €66 billion. According to the same
sources, exports went down by 12% and imports by 8.7% compared to the same
period last year.

CENTER – The Foreign Ministry has hailed the decision of EU
Member States to pick Bucharest as the future host of the European
Cybersecurity Competence Center, following Wednesday’s vote in Brussels. For
Romania, the decision is unprecedented, considering the Center will be the
first EU structure it will host since it became an EU Member State. According
to the Foreign Ministry, the decision recognizes Romania’s firm commitment to
the consolidation of the European project and its expertise in the digital and
cybersecurity fields. The Center will serve as a hub to distribute EU and
national funding for cyber security research projects across the community
bloc. Bucharest was selected from a list of other cities vying to host the
center, including Munich, Warsaw, Vilnius or Luxembourg. In other news the
European Medicines Agency on Thursday was the target of a cyber-attack. Hackers
wanted to access the files related to the authorization of the anti-COVD-19
vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, but they were unsuccessful. A
decision on the vaccine, which has already been approved in the UK, Bahrain and
Canada, is expected by December 29. (D. Bilt & V. Palcu)