March 3, 2021 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news.

Newsroom, 03.03.2021, 20:00

PRESIDENT – Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said on Wednesday that 2020 was a year of resilience not only for the justice system, but for all state institutions, which required new ideas and innovative practices. Attending a meeting at the High Court of Cassation of Justice, where the institution’s activity report was presented, Iohannis said that the reassessment of the laws in the field can no longer be postponed. He also voiced hope that all controversial interventions on laws in the past few years, by the former Social Democratic power, would be corrected. Balancing the volume of work, modernizing the infrastructure of instances and strong collaboration within the justice system are aspects that need to be addressed by decision-makers, Iohannis also said. Also on Wednesday, civic groups and associations staged a protest outside the Bucharest Tribunal, following the latters final ruling not to reopen an inquiry into a demonstration from 10th August 2018, against the Social Democratic Government, when the gendarmerie used force against protesters. The representatives of civic associations said they would file a lawsuit against Romania in the European Court of Human Rights.

DEPRECIATION — Romania’s domestic currency reached new lows on Wednesday, when the exchange rate made public by the National Bank was 4.8768 lei per euro. The depreciation of the leu was 0.04%.The exchange rate on Tuesday had been 4.8747 lei per euro. The US dollar, however was put at 4.0341 lei, down 0.48% as against the previous day.

VACCINATION – Romania hit 1 million Covid vaccinations on Wednesday, two months after the start of its mass immunisation campaign and sooner than the authorities initial estimate. Prime minister Florin Cîţu said Romania has the third highest vaccination rate in Europe and that the vaccination of the general population may begin as early as this month. The number of new Covid infections, continues, however, to rise from one day to the next. According to the latest toll, Romania has seen more than 812,000 coronavirus infections and over 20,500 related deaths, with almost 4,300 new cases and 77 new fatalities reported today. 1,032 people are receiving intensive care treatment, a figure similar to that recorded in mid January. The list of red zone counties is also growing, exceeding 3 Covid cases per 1,000 inhabitants over the last 14 days. Ilfov, the county around Bucharest, on Tuesday joined Cluj, Maramureş and Timiş on the list of red zone counties. Dominic Fritz, the mayor of Timişoara, the biggest city in western Romania, said the city may go into lockdown, as the infection rate continues to rise and there are no more free beds in hospitals and intensive care units.

RESTRICTIONS – The Italian government has extended restrictions for another month, including over the Easter holidays. Movement between regions is still banned until 27th March and all schools in high-risk areas were closed. In France, prime minister Jean Castex and health minister Olivier Véran are discussing with the local leaders in the worst hit regions trying to reach an agreement over possible new restrictions, such as weekend lockdowns, a measure imposed last week on the French Riviera and in the north, in Dunkirk. Paris Socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo categorically rejected the idea of weekend lockdowns, describing it as inhumane. She proposed other measures to slow down the spread of the virus, asking the government to provide more tests and vaccines for the Paris region. Sweden, which initially adopted a flexible strategy against the pandemic, has been seeing a 10% growth in the number of new infections and high hospitalisation rates for the last three weeks. Health authorities believe the country is heading for the third wave of the pandemic.

BUDGET – Parliament on Tuesday passed the state budget and social security budget bills without any amendments to the version proposed by the government. The ruling coalition formed by the National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union and PLUS Alliance and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania described the 2021 budget as balanced, based on sustainability, political responsibility and economic growth. The opposition, however, have criticised it as illegal, anti-social and anti-economic. (EE)