Antonia Nita

Although the European Union is going through a time of crisis, it will not abandon its strategic objectives and closest partners, President Kalus Iohannis said on Wednesday at the summit of leaders of EU member states with representatives of the Western Balkans, which took place in video conferencing system, informs a press release of the Presidential Administration.

The Government will "certainly" increase pensions, the decision to be made depending on the report regarding the state of the economy and the state of the budget after the first six months of the year and the prognoses that will be conducted, said, on Monday night in a press conference at the Victoria governmental Palace, Prime Minister Ludovic Orban.

Interior Minister Marcel Vela admitted on Wednesday that the state of emergency could be replaced after 15 May with a state of alert at national level. He told a broadcast on Realitatea Plus private television station that the purpose of this demarche is to protect public health. "Yes, a state of alert might follow next.

The Senate on Tuesday passed a bill designed to supplement the Law on electronic signatures by a new provision that makes the Special Telecommunications Service (STS) a provider of e-signature services for public administrations in Romania. The bill was adopted by a unanimous vote.

Health Minister Nelu Tataru said on Tuesday that Romania is still headed for the peak of the coronavirus pandemic and expects the number of new cases to decrease "from one day to the next" for the next two weeks. "We were expecting at the end of April, after the Easter holiday, a peak, with the peak predicted to be steeper or smoother.

Prime Minister Ludovic Orban said on Monday that, as of 16 May, "it is certain" that the restrictions regarding the movement within localities will be eliminated, however, he mentioned that the movement between localities will be made only with certain restrictions, which are to be established. "In terms of the interior of the locality, it will be a movement without restrictions.

Prime Minister Ludovic Orban on Monday stated that wearing masks will be compulsory in the enclosed public areas as long as needed, depending on the evolution of the spreading of the novel coronavirus in Romania. "The masks will only be compulsory in the enclosed spaces: when we enter a store, when we board a public transportation means, at the workplace, if it's an enclosed area.

Another 11 persons infected with the novel coronavirus have died, the COVID-19 death toll thus reaching 619, the Strategic Communications group (GCS) announced on Sunday. It is about nine men and two women aged between 37 and 89. AGERPRES (RO - author: Catalin Alexandru, editor: Antonia Nita; EN - editor: Adina Panaitescu)

The government has passed an emergency ordinance regarding the revision of the 2020 national budget and the state insurance budget that takes into account the new economic data following the crisis triggered by the ongoing coronavirus epidemic, head of the Prime Minister's Chancellery Ionel Danca announced on Wednesday.

The Justice Ministry announced on Monday that a fourth employee had been confirmed with the novel coronavirus. "The Justice Ministry reports the confirmation of the fourth COVID-19 case in the evening, in an employee of the ministry.