December 16, 2021

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 16.12.2021, 13:55

Covid-19. Romania today reported 812
new Covid infections and 84 related fatalities, including 19 from an earlier
date. The fortnightly incidence rate in Bucharest continues to drop, now
standing at 0.77 cases per 1,000 inhabitants. Three new Omicron cases were
identified, with the total number reaching 11. The European Commission said it
expects this new variant to become dominant in the European Union by
mid-January. The Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said she was,
however, confident that the Union has the strength and means to overcome the
disease. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control warned that the rapid
increase in Omicron cases is imminent and that vaccination alone will not
prevent transmission. To reduce the burden on healthcare systems, the Centre
has again called for a fast reintroduction and consolidation of the so-called
non-pharmaceutical interventions.

Summit. EU leaders meeting in Brussels are expected to
discus the pandemic, vaccination and ways to combat vaccine reticence. Amid
growing international instability, EU members decided that the Union should
take greater responsibility for its own security. Leaders will therefore also discuss
the consolidation of its cooperation with NATO, which remains the pillar of
collective defence. Other topics on the agenda include the build-up of Russian
troops near the border with Ukraine and the situation in Belarus. Romania’s
president Klaus Iohannis, who is attending the summit, said the significant
rise in energy prices should remain a priority for European institutions. He
said solutions must be found to protect vulnerable consumers and that nuclear
energy and natural gas are options for an accessible energy transition.

Magistrates. The president and deputy president of the
Superior Council of Magistracy are being elected today in Bucharest. The
Council is due to make some important appointments this year, including the new
heads of the High Court and the judicial inspections department. Running for
the president position are judge Andreea Chiş, from the reformist camp, and judge
Gabriela Baltag, who has constantly criticised what she called the abuses of
the National Anticorruption Directorate. The Superior Council of Magistracy has
19 members: nine judges and five prosecutors, two representatives of civil
society appointed by the Senate and three automatic members: the justice
minister, the president of the High Court of Cassation and Justice and the
prosecutor general. Elected members can only serve a single 6-year term.

Anniversary. The 32nd
anniversary of the start of the Romanian anti-communist revolution of 1989 is
marked today in Timişoara, the city in western Romania where the
uprising began. An open door event is held at the Revolution Memorial and
pupils from 15 schools are laying flowers at the monuments of those killed in
the revolution. Other commemorative events include the screening of a film
called Remember 89 and a rally held under the motto Heroes Never Die. The day
will end with a folk concert and a midnight church service. Tomorrow, 17th
December, will be a day of mourning in Timişoara. The anti-communist uprising that would go on to spread across
the country and lead to the fall of the communist regime began in this city on
16th December 1989, when a group of demonstrators blocked traffic and
then marched to the city centre chanting anti-regime slogans. The first arrests
were made and the following day the army opened fire on protesters. (CM)