Prime minister Nicolae Ciucă – Brussels talks
From Brussels, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă has asked health minister Alexandru Rafila to find ways to convince those vaccine reluctant to vaccinate in the face of the new coronavirus infection wave. The vaccination rate in Romania is much under the European rate, and the topic has been discussed yesterday with those responsible in the Union. Reforms and European money absorption, tensions on the Eastern side of NATO and Romania’s old wish to adhere Schengen have also been main issues that the Romanian Prime Minister talked about in his meetings at the European Commission and NATO.
In the joint NATO declaration, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă has confessed Romania’s concern regarding the complicated situation in Ukraine, insisting on the need to strengthen actions of deterrence of threats on the Eastern side of the Alliance and the Black Sea. At the same time, he offered insurance that Romania will continue to respect its commitments to allocate 2% of the Gross National Product for defense.
The trial in the Colectiv file has come to an end
The trial in the Colectiv file has finally come to an end, more than 6 years since the tragedy that killed more than 60 young people. The judges at the Appeal Court in Bucharest will take a decision after the last court meeting, that took place yesterday. The decision should be pronounced next year.
The defendants spoke at the end of the closing arguments. Humble or angry, they expressed regret for the death of young innocent people. For all of them, prosecutors have asked for the maximum sentence, while the defense teams have asked for acquittals. The lawyers of the civil parts have reminded those present that all of those who have lost relatives in the fire on October 30th 2015 or who have remained mutilated for life have not given up, and their suffering will be permanent.
The green pass could become compulsory at the beginning of next year, even at work
The green pass could become compulsory at the beginning of next year, including at work. Leaders of the coalition would want that adopted as soon as possible, although they don’t agree on a final form of the draft law, and the health minister repeatedly said there is no more time to waste before the fifth wave of the pandemic, brought by Omicron variant. There are discussions about the Government assuming responsibility for a new shape of the project un veiled last night by minister Alexandru Rafila. It States that the ablativity to present the green pass should be introduce only if the evolution of the pandemic indicates a constant rise, and that the state should pay for 15 tests at most, for un vaccinated people who haven’t had COVID.
Alexandru Rafila: I have suggested these 15 electronical voucher packages – we are trying to make them electronical so that they can be easily used, at any testing point. We will introduce a mechanism of using the green pass when we see a rising trend for three consecutive weeks, with an index of 1,5, and stopping using it when we have a descending trend and an incidence of 1 per 1,000.
Alexandru Rafila estimates that the fifth coronavirus infection wave would last for at least two months and indicates February and March as the months with the highest risk.
Alexandra Ioniță, RADOR
