January 6, 2024 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 06.01.2024, 20:00

MEDICAL SYSTEM – Next week the
Finance Ministry is expected to green-light vacancy-filling contests in the
healthcare system. In this week’s government session, Prime Minister Marcel
Ciolacu called for a quick solution to the 4,500 physicians who took their
specialty exam and are currently unemployed. The College of Physicians in
Bucharest warns against the critical shortage of medical personnel and calls on
the authorities to lift the freeze on vacancies in the medical system. At
present, the system faces a severe shortage of healthcare professionals,
particularly in Bucharest, where some 900 vacancies are unfilled. Health
Minister Alexandru Rafila recently said the Health Ministry submitted three
memos for green-lighting vacancy-filling contests, and some 2,000 such
vacancies are now open to public contest. The Finance Ministry has not approved
the 2023 memorandum for launching similar proceedings in hospitals controlled
by local authorities, Minister Rafila added.

WAR IN GAZA – Hezbollah has
launched dozens of missiles against a military base in northern Israel,
describing the attack as retaliation to the killing of the 2nd-highest
ranking leader of Hamas in a surgical strike on the southern outskirts of
Beirut. Israel however did not claim responsibility for the attack. On the
other hand, the UN coordinator for Gaza warned the territory has become uninhabitable.
Three months since the horrific 7 October attacks, Gaza has become a place of
death and despair. […]Its people are witnessing daily threats to their very
existence – while the world watches on, the UN Under-Secretary-General for
Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths has said. In turn, UNICEF said that
after three months of war, malnutrition and disease in the Gaza Strip creates
a deadly cycle that threatens over 1.1 million children.

CELEBRATION – On January 6,
Orthodox Christians celebrate the Baptism of Jesus, seen as his manifestation
to the world as the Son of God. In the Roman-Catholic Church this day is known
as the Epiphany, which also commemorates the visit of the Magi, and the wedding
at Cana. Christians attending mass on this day receive holy water, a symbol of
the baptism of Jesus in the waters of Jordan.

STATISTICS – Romanians have
become the most numerous national minority in Germany, according to official
statistics published by local authorities. Over 2015-2022, the number of
Romanians now living in this country doubled, to reach nearly 900,000.
Romanians thus outrank Poles, who are almost quite as numerous, and the Italian
national minority, totaling some 650,000 people. The latest official data
published last year by the Romanian Foreign Ministry indicates that some 5,7
million Romanians are currently living abroad.

VISIT – Spain’s Prime
Minister Pedro Sánchez is expected to visit Romania for talks on the double
citizenship. Sources within the Spanish Government says a new agreement will
set the terms for obtaining the Romanian-Spanish citizenship, while the Spanish
official is expected to visit Romania to sign the document. An invitation was
allegedly extended by Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu on the sidelines of last
year’s visit to Malaga. Some 629,000 Romanians are currently living in Spain,
and will be targeted by this measure. The initiative was discussed on the joint
government session hosted by Castellón
de la Plana in November 2023, which also laid out a timetable and set up
bilateral committees working on this project. Spain currently provides double
citizenship only to citizens of France and Portugal.

HANDBALL – The Romanian men’s
handball team defeated Argentina 30-23 in its second match in the Yellow Cup,
hosted by Winterthur. In the other match played that day, Switzerland trounced
Bosnia Herzegovina 39-21. On Thursday, Romania lost to Switzerland 37-31.
Yellow Cup is the final test before the European Championship hosted by Germany
over January 10-28. The first two teams in each group advance to the main group
phase. Romania had last played in the European Championship in 1996. (VP)