July 13, 2021 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 13.07.2021, 20:00

Europe. A Union of the future
is, in Romania’s view, a project indissolubly linked to the idea of European
unity and solidarity in everyone’s interest, a project in which we should be
concerned about the well-being of all member states and European citizens, said
president Klaus Iohannis at the official launch of a national debate on
Europe’s future. He added that the undeniable value of these principles was
reconfirmed by the recent crisis. If European citizens today have access to
vaccines, if European economies are about to be relaunched – then these things
are possible especially thanks to our shared capacity and of the entire Union to
mobilise itself and respond efficiently to an unprecedented crisis in the
history of the European project, the Romanian president also said. The launch
of the debate was also attended by the European Commissioner for Transport
Adina Vălean. The Conference on the Future of Europe was launched in
Strasbourg on 9th May and debates on this subject will be held
throughout the year and in the first half of next year, with a view to providing
new guidelines on the future of the European Union.

Fire. One of
the two patients with severe burns flown to Germany after a fire at Petromidia
refinery in south-eastern Romania has died, although his condition had been
stable during hospitalisation, transport and treatment, Kaz Munai Gas, the
company owing the refinery, said in a statement. The other patient is now
stable and is responding to treatment, the statement also reads. Earlier this
month, after an explosion followed by a fire at Petromidia refinery, a person
died and five were wounded, two of whom were flown to Germany. Prosecutors have
started a criminal investigation into the accident.

Covid-19. A quarter of Romanians are vaccinated
against Covid-19, and the authorities are looking for ways to give a new
impetus to the mass vaccination campaign. Experts say all available vaccines
provide significant protection, including against the more transmissible Delta
variant which has already led to an increase in new infections in several
countries.

Moldova. The result of the early parliamentary elections in the Republic
of Moldova should be a starting point from which the new government should
accelerate genuine and ambitious reforms, said David McAllister, the head of
the European Parliament delegation who observed the elections. He also said
that the population of the Republic of Moldova gave a clear, strong and
impressive mandate to the Action and Solidarity Party to start implementing the
ambitious agenda of president Maia Sandu. The European Union is looking forward
to working with this new strong and stable government and with the new
parliament to solve the challenges facing the country, McAllister also
said. Romania, too, welcomed the result of the elections in Moldova as a
victory of democracy and promised to support Moldova on its path to European
integration. The Action and Solidarity Party won almost 53% of the votes in
Sunday’s elections and has a comfortable majority in Parliament.

Tennis. Romanian tennis player Ana Bogdan,
ranked 98th in the world, reached the second round of the WTA 250
tournament in Budapest, worth some 235,000 dollars in prize money, as she
defeated American player Varvara Lepchenko in two sets. Bogdan is seeded fifth
and will next face Ukraine’s Kateryna Kozlova. Also on Tuesday, Romania’s Jaqueline
Cristian, who is no. 153 in the world, lost to Serbia’s Ivana Jorovic. On
Monday in the first round, another Romanian player, Irina Bara, world no. 119,
defeated Italy’s Sarra Erani in three sets, while 4th seed Irina
Begu, world no. 71, lost to Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova. (CM)