September 7, 2021 UPDATE

Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 07.09.2021, 20:15

COVID-19 The Strategic Communication Group on Tuesday announced 2,033 new
Covid-19 infections in Romania in the past 24 hours out of 45,430 tests that had
been carried out. 48 people have died from Covid-related issues and 3,527
people are being treated in hospitals, including 101 children. According to the
same sources, 426 patients are in ICUs presently. Almost 9 thousand people have
been vaccinated in the past 24 hours and since the vaccine rollout kicked off
in Romania in late December, 5.2 million Romanians have been fully vaccinated,
which means under a third of the eligible population. According to the weekly
report by the National Institute for Public Health, the Delta variant is
becoming dominant in Romania.

MOTION The president
of the Chamber of deputies in Bucharest, Liberal leader Ludovic Orban, on
Tuesday said that under the Constitution, the timetable for the censure motion
tabled by USR PLUS and AUR, against the government led by Liberal Florin Citu,
must be observed. The statement comes after the standing bureaus of the Senate
and the Chamber of Deputies have lacked quorum for the fourth day in a row unable
to make a decision over the aforementioned motion. The opposition PSD, which
has convened in an emergency session, has announced that it will endorse the
censure motion against the incumbent Prime Minister. Also on Tuesday the head
of state Klaus Iohannis met the USR PLUS co-president Dan Barna after all the
USR ministers had resigned from the Citu government.

VISIT The president of Romania, Klaus Iohannis,
will be on an official visit to Switzerland on Thursday, at the invitation of
his counterpart Guy Parmelin. According to the presidency, the visit takes place
in the context of this year’s anniversary of 110 years of diplomatic relations
between the two states. The talks will focus on strengthening bilateral
cooperation, including economic cooperation, with an emphasis on investments.
Switzerland is the 10th-largest foreign investor in Romania.

BUDGET In spite of the resignation of
the USR PLUS ministers, PM Florin Citu convened a cabinet meeting on Tuesday
for talks over a new budget adjustment. The Prime Minister announced last night
that the budget adjustment bill would be passed whether or not USR PLUS party
pulls out of the government coalition. With Tuesday’s adjustment, most funds
will go to the health ministry, public finances, development and investments.
Budget cuts will affect the labour ministry, the Senate and the Court of
Accounts.

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