The Romanian government extends the state of alert
The Romanian government will extend the state of alert beyond the 14th of December, with no new restrictions in place, said the interim prime minister Nicolae Ciucă. The extension will be decided in the next meeting of the executive and, on Thursday afternoon, a meeting of the national Committee for Emergency Situations will take place. The interim prime minister said, on Thursday, that the situation generated by the high number of coronavirus infections in Bucharest is very serios and that measures will be taken.
Nicolae Ciucă: There are measures that need to be discussed by the local authorities together with the Public Health Directorate of the Municipality of Bucharest. Therefore, in the context of measures taken on a national level, we hope that, based on the procedures already established, in Bucharest measures will be taken accordingly.
Romania, last in the European classifications when it comes to implementing digital education
Almost one third of Romanian students didn’t have access to education after schools closed because of the coronavirus pandemic. In contrast, in developed states, 90% of the children had at their disposal an online learning instrument, according to a report of the European Parliament concerning elaborating a European policy for online learning. According to data presented on Thursday, Romania is affected by social inequalities and all children should benefit from modern learning instruments. Our country finds itself on an unwanted last place in the European classification concerning implementation of digital education. One in five Romanians have never used the internet and less than a third of them have elementary digital competences, said Victor Negrescu, vice-president of the European Parliament Committee for Education and Culture.
Future parliamentary party leaders met Klaus Iohannis
Leaders of the parliamentary parties that will form a governing coalition, together with the proposed prime minister Florin Cîţu had a meeting on Thursday morning with president Klaus Iohannis. Talks with the chief of state have taken place before the official negotiations to form a government began.
PNL, USR-PLUS and UDMR leaders had an informal discussion with the chief of state, while Florin Cîţu, the incumbent finance minister, has been proposed by the PNL for the prime minister position. The UDMR leader, Kelemen Hunor, announced that official discussions with PNL and USR-PLUS, to form a majority in Parliament and of a new government, will start on Saturday. In a first reaction to the nomination of Florin Cîţu, the president of UDMR said that that was one of the pleasant surprises in the government and that he would have voted for Florin Cîţu in March, had he not withdrawn. For that matter, UDMR said that he preferred a political prime minister to technocrat or a military one. USR-PLUS also seems to agree to this proposal. The copresident of the Alliance, Dan Barna, announced a little while ago that the minister positions were not discussed at Cotroceni but calendar options only, for the days to come. PSD expressed its opposition towards the nomination of Florin Cîţu. The social democrat president, Marcel Ciolacu, accused PNL of understanding nothing of the Romanians’ vote. PSD thinks that Florin Cîţu should not have any public function, not to mention that of a prime minister, because Romania had one of its worst economic falls while he led the finances. According to some political sources, the three parties that will form a center-right coalition will be a slim government, with few ministers but, for now, the precise number hasn’t been decided yet.
RADOR – Alexandra Ionita
