The Omicron variant is spreading in Romania
The Omicron variant of the coronavirus is spreading in Romania. As of today, 38 cases have been confirmed, by laboratory testing. The newest 13 of them have been reported in people who live in Bucharest, Ilfov and Galaţi. The people infected are aged 14 to 89, and seven of them have not been vaccinated against the coronavirus. Authorities and public health specialists estimate that the next wave of the pandemic will begin in January, while the variant is spreading in the whole world, people who work abroad are coming home for holidays and others will be coming back from holidays. Medical institutions prepare for another rough time, with a peak of the pandemic estimated for February and March. Beatrice Mahler is the manager of the Pneumophtisiology Institute Marius Nasta, in Bucharest.
Beatrice Mahler: We are getting ready and we are trying to do that the best we can, but we mustn’t forget that we do all that on an old infrastructure, one that has already been through several waves and with the same personnel who is not only tired but also insufficient. We are expecting a rough time for the health system, not only because we have a very low vaccination rate, but also because there are many people with chronical illnesses who, unfortunately, have rarely seen the doctors in these last two years and some of them have abandoned their treatment. And I would say that this category is much more vulnerable to an infection with a virus that is airborne.
Access to finances and the evolution of construction prices are the main causes that will influence the real estate market in 2022
Access to finance and the evolution of construction prices are the main causes that will influence the real estate market in 2022. The Romanian National Bank lately made a series of decisions to support access to housing.
One of the tendencies in Romanians’ behavior, determined by the pandemic evolution and restrictions associated to it, is that people who had to stay isolated in their block apartments started to prefer houses, so there might be a higher demand for houses than for block apartments in the next period. Nevertheless, the situation of the real estate market in Romania is pretty complicated at this time, for several reasons, some of them related to finances, others to construction prices evolution, that, under the impact of energy prices rise, could go even higher, says Radu Zilişteanu, who is a doctor in economy and market analysis.
He says that, despite information published lately, apartments have not become significatively more expensive and added that reporting the price to the number of rooms is not objective, the price on square meter being more relevant on the real estate market.
ECHR decided that the refusal to register in Romania a political formation that has not dissociated itself from the Romanian Communist Party was justified
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decided unanimously that the refusal to register in Romania a political formation that has not dissociated itself from the Romanian Communist Party was justified. ECHR responded to the complaint put forward by the Organizing and Registering Committee of PCR, who accused the refusal of Romanian instances to register the formation on the list of political parties.
Romanian courts considered that the program and status of the Romanian Communist Party contained unclear and general terms, ignored democratic values and the socio-political evolution of the country since 1989. Also, they permitted totalitarian and extremist actions that could have undermined the national security, endangered democratic values and that the formation had not dissociated itself from the old PCR.
In the decision pronounced recently, ECHR concluded that Romanian instances wanted to prevent a political group that has seriously abused its position for a very long time by installing a totalitarian regime from abusing its rights in the future, therefore avoiding attacks on the security of the state or the fundament of a democratic society.
Behind this refusal stands the will to prevent a serios abuse, even a potential one, that would have meant breaking the principles of the state of law and the principles of democracy.
In conclusion, ECHR thinks that the intervention of the Romanian courts has not been disproportionate with regard to the objectives: protection of the national security and of the rights and liberties. The refusal has been declared necessary in a democratic society.
Alexandra Ioniță
