February 21, 2021 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 21.02.2021, 19:28
HIMARS The main elements of the first multiple rocket launcher HIMARS to equip the Romanian Armed Forces have arrived in Romania. According to the Defence Ministry in Bucharest they will equip the 81st Missile Battalion in Focsani eastern Romania the first military unit in Romania to benefit the new weapon. Romania purchased three HIMARS systems for 1.5 billion dollars from US company Lockheed Martin two years ago and the first system is to become operational this year. According to the same sources, the move is proof of Romania’s commitment to consolidating its strategic partnership with the USA and NATO.
VACCINE Another 2,419 Covid-19 infections were reported in Romania on Sunday after 16,645 tests had been carried out, bringing the infection rate around 14.5%, the Strategic Communication Group announced. 52 have died from Covid-related issues in the past 24 hours bringing the death toll to 19,800. On the other hand, Romania’s immunization campaign is in full swing and according to the National Committee for Vaccination Coordination, the total number of doses administered, since its beginning in late December has exceeded 1.3 million with eight hundred thousand people immunized so far. Most of the vaccines used in this campaign have been developed mainly by Pfizer and Moderna. The vaccine produced by AstraZeneca started being used in Romania last week. Over 777 thousand people have been infected by the novel Coronavirus in Romania since the outbreak and 90% of them have been cured.
MEETING The head of Romanian diplomacy Bogdan Aurescu is expected to attend the meeting of the EU Foreign Ministers in Brussels. According to a communiqué issued by the Foreign Ministry in Bucharest, the event includes talks on the EU’s relations with Russia, the EU’s Strategic Compass as well as a video-conference with the new US secretary of state, Antony Blinken. The European ministers and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, are also expected to tackle other issues such as the situation in Myanmar, Belarus, the Iranian nuclear file, the European Commission’s communiqués over southern neighbourhood and multilateralism. Before the aforementioned event, Minister Aurescu and some of his colleagues are to participate in an informal meeting with representatives of the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The already tense relations between Moscow and the EU soured even more after the arrest of Navalny upon his coming back from Germany, where he was being treated for nerve gas poisoning.
BUDGET Romania’s Liberal Prime Minister Florin Citu has voiced hope that Parliament will be adopting the country’s yearly budget as soon as possible. He reiterated that the possible amendments the MPs are going to table must not exceed the proposed deficit and they must be accompanied by funding resources. The government in Bucharest on Friday adopted the state budget and that of social securities for this year as well as the fiscal-budgetary strategy for the period 2021-2023. The budget has been designed for a deficit of 7.16% of the GDP. The annual inflation rate must be kept at 2.4% and the average monthly pay around 680 Euros. In another development, the country’s Higher Defence Council, CSAT has endorsed the budgets for the institutions involved in national security and defence.
SUPPORT Romania provides assistance to the Slovakian authorities in their efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. A team of five physicians and nine nurses is ready to help the medical authorities in Bratislava. According to a government communiqué, the team is accompanied by two representatives of the General Inspectorate of Emergency Situations. The team is waiting for the green light from the Health Ministry in Slovakia for the 21-day mission to begin. The operation has been funded by the European Commission through its ESI programme aimed at providing emergency assistance on the EU territory.
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