June 15, 2021 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 15.06.2021, 19:45
Motion. The Romanian Chamber of Deputies has rejected the simple motion filed by the opposition Social Democratic Party against the Minister of Investments and European Projects, Cristian Ghinea, from the center-right coalition government. There were 143 votes in favor, 171 against and one abstention. The motion, entitled Cristian Ghinea – from zero to the abyss, reads that the urgent dismissal of the minister is necessary because he has demonstrated nothing but “managerial dilettantism” and the National Recovery and Resilience Plan is “a disaster and will destroy Romania in the next five years”. Cristian Ghinea has replied saying that the text is a blatant lie, full of disinformation and contradictions and that Romania now has an absorption rate of European funds of 55%, within the EU margin of 58%.
Visit. On Wednesday and Thursday, the president of Romania Klaus Iohannis will pay a formal visit to Estonia, the Presidential Administration has announced. Iohannis will have talks with his Estonian counterpart, Kersti Kaljulaid, with PM Kaja Kallas, and with the Parliament speaker, Jüri Ratas. The agenda of talks focuses on strengthening the bilateral relations, including economic and sectoral cooperation, with an emphasis on the digital sector, on fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and on EU-related topics, such as the EU Recovery Plan, the green transition and the digital transition, the EU enlargement process, and developments in the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus. The officials will also discuss the Romanian-Estonian cooperation within NATO, including in terms of security at the Black Sea and Baltic Sea and against the background of the June 14 NATO summit, as well as cooperation as part of the Bucharest 9 format and the Three Seas Initiative.
Covid-19RO. Romanian authorities reported on Tuesday 103 new cases of Sars-Cov-2 infection and 96 deaths caused by the disease, but most of them dating back to previous months. About 200 patients are currently in intensive care. Meanwhile, the authorities have stepped up efforts to persuade the population to get vaccinated. Since December 27, 2020, more than 4.5 million people have been vaccinated. Of these, more than 4.2 million have received both doses. Because of the drop in peoples interest in getting the jab, several vaccination centers have been closed and others had their operating hours reduced. The available staff will form mobile teams that will continue the campaign in small towns and villages. At the same time, Romania has requested the suspension of the delivery of two thirds of the 7.1 million doses it should have received this month.
Corruption. The coronavirus pandemic has fuelled corruption among EU citizens, less than half of whom believe the crisis has been transparently managed by the authorities, a survey made public on Tuesday by Transparency International and quoted by AFP says. According to the organization, healthcare services are particularly affected by corruption. Although only 6% of the interviewees said they offered bribe in exchange for access to healthcare, 29% of them said they used personal connections to gain privileged access. The frequency of bribe in the healthcare sector, as reported by interviewees, is higher in Romania (22%) and Bulgaria (19%), whereas the use of personal connections is higher in the Czech Republic (54%) and Portugal (46%). The authors of the report call on EU governments to step up efforts to guarantee that the on-going pandemic is overcome in a fair and equitable manner. Over 40,000 of the citizens of the 27 EU member states took part in this European corruption barometer conducted in October – December 2020.
Ombudsman. In a joint session on Tuesday, Romanian senators and deputies rejected the Ombudsmans activity reports for the last three years. The Liberal Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Ludovic Orban has stated that, following this decision, the governing coalition will request the dismissal of Renate Weber from this office. Appointed two years ago, when the Social Democratic Party was governing, Weber has often been accused by representatives of the current center-right of serving the interests of the Social Democrats and, in 2020, of sabotaging the governments efforts to combat the pandemic. Deputy Gabriel Zetea announced that the Social Democrats will notify the Constitutional Court.
Collective. The Bucharest Court of Appeal is trying these days the case against the owners of the Collective nightclub in Bucharest and the technicians who organized the fireworks that caused the fire that killed 64 people on the night of October 30, 2015. On Monday, the Court decided to split the Collective case into two, with the former mayor, city hall employees and fire-fighters to be tried this autumn, separately from the club owners. In December 2019, all the defendants received prison sentences and were ordered to pay damages of nearly 50 million euro to the victims of the fire.
Football. Romanias football champions CFR Cluj will play against the Bosnian team Borac Banja Luka in the Champions League first preliminary round, according to the draw held in Switzerland on Tuesday. CFR will play the first match on home turf, on July 6th or 7th, and the second leg will be hosted by Bosnia, on July 13th or 14th. CFR Cluj is the only Romanian team in this competition. (MI)
