December 10, 2021 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 10.12.2021, 19:55

COVID-19. Romania on Friday reported 931 daily Covid infections and 97 related
fatalities, of which 25 from an earlier date. In the capital Bucharest, the
incidence rate dropped to 1.1 cases per 1,000 inhabitants, after peaking at
over 16 a month and a half ago. Three cases of Omicron infection have so far
been recorded in Romania. The state of alert was extended on Thursday by
another 30 days, although the government lifted a number of restrictions, amid
decreasing Covid infection numbers.

Travel. From
Friday, all arrivals in Romania from non-EU countries must present a negative
PCR test for COVID-19 taken within the last 48 hours. People who haven’t taken
the vaccine and who haven’t had the disease, but have a negative test result,
will be asked to isolate for 10 days. If they don’t present a negative test
result, they will have to isolate for 14 days. Rules differ in the case of travellers
arriving from other EU countries, who need to present the green certificate
attesting vaccination, recovery from the infection in the last 180 days or a
negative test result taken within the previous 72 hours. The rules apply to
Romanian and foreign citizens alike.

NATO.
President Klaus Iohannis called for an increased military presence on NATO’s
eastern flank in order to respond to Russia’s provocations. The Romanian
president and other European leaders consulted with US President, Joe Biden, in
the Bucharest Nine format. The White House leader briefed European presidents on
his recent talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. He promised NATO
members in Europe additional military capabilities and reiterated the US’s firm
commitment to Article 5 of the NATO Treaty.

Forum. NATO
Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană on Friday said that the Black Sea region
is seeing intense geopolitical competition and that NATO and its partners are
taking measures to boost deterrence, defence and resilience. He made these
statements on day two of the Bucharest Forum 2021 an event organised by Aspen
Institute Romania. Mircea Geoană also congratulated Romania for having been
selected to host the European Center for Cybersecurity, which in addition to
hosting the Euro-Atlantic Resilience Center will help promote Romania as a
competitive and innovative economy and society.

Government. The Romanian government
on Friday adopted an emergency order regulating the institutional framework,
the financial flows and the verification of the use of the funds allocated to
Romania under the Recovery and Resilience Plan. Romania will soon receive the
rest of 1.95 billion euros of the loan granted under the plan, said the
minister for investments and European projects Dan Vîlceanu. Last week,
the European Commission transferred to Romania a first tranche of 1.8 billion
euros worth of grants. Romania is entitled to over 29 billion euros under its
plan, of which 14.2 billion worth of grants and 14.9 billion euros worth of
loans.

Exhibition. A photographic exhibition
bringing together photographers from Romania and Japan opened in Oradea, in
north-western Romania, as part of the 100th anniversary of diplomatic
relations between the two countries. The opening was attended by the Japanese
ambassador to Romania Hiroshi Ueda, as well as prominent local figures and
representatives of Japanese businesses in Romania. The event is a unique
opportunity to promote the economic life, culture and tourism in Oradea and the
Bihor region, said Stefan Toth, the president of Euro, Foto, Art Association,
which organised the exhibition together with Japan Danube Photoclub Yokohama and
under the patronage of the Japanese Embassy. The Romanian-Japanese exhibition will
also travel to Japan next year. (CM)