November 11, 2021

A roundup of domestic and international news

România Internațional, 11.11.2021, 13:55

Covid-19RO. The number of new cases of Covid-19 keeps dropping. 5,416 new cases of infection and 318 related deaths – of which 15 from the previous reference timeframe – have been reported today. The rate of infection in the capital has also been dropping, getting below 8 per one thousand inhabitants. On the other hand, the interest in vaccination has also been dropping. Some 72,000 people got the jab on Wednesday. So far, a little over 6.6 million people have been immunized against Covid-19 in Romania. The head of the National Committee for Vaccination, the army doctor Valeriu Gheorghita, says that at the current pace, some 50% of the countrys population will have been vaccinated by the end of the year, but even so its far from enough. With hospitals still under a lot of pressure, a fire broke out this morning at a Covid support unit in Ploiesti, in the south. Authorities have activated the red intervention plan and the patients have been transferred to another unit.

Government. The National Liberal Party (PNL) and the Social Democratic Party (PSD), fierce political opponents until recently, carry on negotiations over the formation of a new Government and parliamentary majority. The talks are attended by representatives of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians (UDMR) and of the other national minorities, who will part of the alliance. Negotiations are now being carried out by chapters. So far, common stands have been found in relation to several fields, but there are also big divergences, such as over the wealth tax, proposed by the Social Democrats and fiercely rejected by the Liberals. We recall that after the Save Romania Union left the Government, the minority PNL – UDMR cabinet was sacked by means of a non-confidence motion filed by the Social Democratic Party and endorsed by the Save Romania Union. So far, two attempts to form a new Government have failed.

Veterans Day. Military and religious ceremonies in a small format take place today, on Veterans Day, in Bucharest and in the garrisons across the country where there are military units that have carried missions in theaters of operations. Also on the occasion of the Veterans Day, an internet page was launched dedicated to the foreign missions in which the soldiers of the Romanian Army have taken part. Ongoing missions and operations are presented in sections, such as those in Poland, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina or the Mediterranean Sea, as well as completed ones, in Afghanistan and Iraq. Veterans Day was established by law in 2014 and aims to recognize the merits of Army personnel participating in military actions and to grant them and their families the rights of the deceased. According to the Romanian Ministry of Defense, November 11 was chosen as Veterans Day for its symbolism: the enforcement, on November 11, 1918, at 11.00, of the Armistice between the Entente Powers and Germany, which put an end to the First World War and made possible the Great Union of all Romanians on December 1, the same year. For the Romanian Army, the date is also related to the fact that, on November 11, 2003, the post-mortem lieutenant Iosif Silviu Fogoraşi, the first Romanian soldier who died in the theater of operations in Afghanistan, fell in the line of duty. In the period 1996-2019, Romania lost 30 soldiers in missions performed in theaters of operations, and another 200 were injured.

Strategic Dialogue. Security, investment and energy are among the areas considered of strategic importance to the United States and Romania, the joint statement, adopted at the end of the Seventh Round of the Strategic Dialogue between the United States and Romania, reads. According to the Bucharest Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the two sides will continue to capitalize on important achievements, such as the anti-missile shield in Deveselu (south), and will continue to strengthen joint actions within NATO, with focus on the Black Sea region. The strategic importance of infrastructure development was also recognized, in order to facilitate ties between the countries in Central and Eastern Europe, including through the support and potential investments provided by the United States. Romania and the United States are determined to work together to move forward in meeting Romanias admission criteria for the Visa Waiver program, the document also points out. Earlier this week, the Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu paid a visit to Washington, where he had consultations with the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Revolution. The High Court of Cassation and Justice of Romania gave a final ruling on Wednesday, to return to the Military Prosecutors Office the so-called File of the Revolution, in which the former president of Romania, Ion Iliescu and the former deputy prime minister Gelu Voican Voiculescu are accused of committing crimes against humanity. The file reached court in 2019, over 5,000 civil parties being summoned to testify. The trial stalled for more than a year, to discuss requests and exceptions raised by the parties to the case. Ion Iliescu has never testified. Military prosecutors claim that the terrorist psychosis during the Revolution was intentionally induced through diversions and disinformation and caused, after December 22, 1989, more than 860 deaths, 2150 injuries, the severe deprivation of liberty of hundreds of people. The anti-Communist Revolution in Romania was the only one in the eastern bloc where the fall of the totalitarian regime was accompanied by bloodshed.

Football. Romanias national football team faces, today, in Bucharest, the Icelandic team, in Group J of the 2022 World Cup preliminaries. Romanias last match in the group will take place, away, on November 14, against Liechtenstein. The team needs two wins to be sure of finishing second in the group and qualifying for next years final tournament in Qatar. The Armenia-North Macedonia match is also being played in Yerevan today. Germany, the leader of group J with 21 points, has already secured its qualification for the 2022 World Cup. Romania ranks second, with 13 points, followed by North Macedonia with 12 points, Armenia with 12 points , Iceland with 8 points, and Liechtenstein with one point.