Gov't to meet to extend state of alert, consider allowing public rallies

The government will meet on Monday to approve a decision on extending the state of alert in Romania by another 30 days.

Prime Minister Ludovic Orban on Sunday announced that a meeting of the National Emergency Management Committee will take place on Monday, while an extension to the current state of alert will be approved in a government meeting.

"We will have a meeting of the National Emergency Management Committee on Monday, at 11:00-12:00hrs; the government is called to convene in a meeting at 12:00hrs to make decisions. For the time being, we have agreed - because we have had several requests - to allow the resumption of public assemblies, rallies. Of course, I was in favour of the idea of allowing public assemblies, rallies but health safety rules applying to other events will have to be followed in this case as well. (...) Most likely, the assemblies will be capped at as much as is currently allowed for electoral assemblies: 100 people in the open air, physically distanced, wearing a face covering. I don't want to censor or have anyone comment that we are censoring the right of people to protest, the right of people to demonstrate in public assemblies, but we will make sure that the health protection rules are followed,"Orban said on Sunday in Calarasi.

The decision to extend the state of alert could not be introduced on the agenda of Thursday's government meeting due to the lack of approval from the Legislative Council.

"If we do not have the approval of the Legislative Council, we will not be able to adopt today [Thursday]. That means that on Monday we will have to convene the National Emergency Management Committee, so that we can adopt the extension of the alert state," Orban told the ministers at the beginning of the government meeting on Thursday.

Senior official with the Interior Ministry Gheorghe Sorescu showed that the bill regarding the extension of the state of alert was drawn up and submitted to the secretariat, with all the approvals, in order to be submitted to the Legislative Council.

"It contains all the measures established in the current regulation. (...) It also contains the health protection measures necessary on September 27, the election day," Sorescu added.

The government approved on August 14 under a decision an extension of the state of alert by 30 days in all Romania from August 16.

After leaving the state of emergency, Romania entered the state of alert for the first time on May 15. This is the fourth time the measure has been extended amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.