Press briefing by Prime Minister Florin Cîțu and members of the Cabinet at the end of the Cabinet meeting of July 21

Florin Cîțu: Good afternoon. A decision was approved in today's government meeting granting 148.7 million lei from the intervention fund to 17 counties hit by floods and landslides. Minister Cseke Attila will detail the decision. The money is intended for the repair of the county and communal roads, bridges, footbridges and dams. The respective counties are Alba, Arad, Arges, Bacau, Bihor, Bistrita Nasaud, Botosani, Caras-Severin, Cluj, Covasna, Gorj, Harghita, Hunedoara, Maramures, Satu Mare, Valcea, Vrancea, with 1,085 objectives and 243 territorial administrative units as recipients.

In today’s Cabinet meeting, an emergency ordinance was approved regarding the approval of the immediate intervention methods for the brown bear species. Secretary of State Róbert Szép is here today to give you all the details. We conveyed, in the Cabinet meeting, beyond this normative act, the need for a strategy to control the bear population. This ordinance is a measure that comes to solve a short-term problem, but it is the responsibility of the Ministry of Environment to come up with this long-term bear population control strategy; I understand from the Secretary of State that we already have a project - I want, Mr Secretary of State, to ask you to give more details - and we could have this strategy implemented and with measures in no more than a year.

Also in today's Cabinet meeting, we approved the granting of the amount of 2.7 million lei for the financing of the International Theater Festival in Sibiu and 200,000 lei for the financing of the Astra Film Festival. Last but not least, if you remember, I asked for a report from the Ministry of Health regarding the capacity of the Romanian state to take care of the big burn. In today's government meeting, this report was presented by the Ministry of Health and the Secretary of State at the Ministry of Health, Mrs Althamer will present the report in full detail. A good sign from the report is that three large burn centres will be built in Bucharest, Timisoara and Targu Mures. Funding will be provided through a program with the World Bank. These were the things I wanted to mention in the Cabinet meeting. If there are questions on these or other topics, related to the activity of the Government, one question from each one, because we have several things to explain.

Reporter: Today we got an exclusive document, according to which 19 schools were hit by the recent floods. When these school units are to be rebuilt, given that the school year will begin in a month and a half? Will the Government allocate money for their timely restoration until the start of the new school year?

Florin Cîţu: We will definitely allocate money. We also have a preliminary evaluation, but I am waiting for the final evaluation. It is true, it is about 17 schools, nine in Cluj-Napoca, one school in Botosani, three kindergartens in Brasov, a sports group in Satu Mare and three schools in Alba. It's about water infiltrations, damaged roofs, in some cases, there are flooded basements. As we have granted, you have seen, the amount of over 148 million lei - 148.7 million lei - to repair everything that has been destroyed recently due to the floods, we will timely grant the resources to repair these schools. Thank you very much.

Reporter: Will they be repaired by the beginning of the school year? That is the question.

Florin Cîţu: Of course, we will provide the resources as soon as we receive the evaluation report, so I hope it will be ready by then.

Reporter: Prime Minister, public debt has reached 49.7% of GDP. At 50%, wages should be frozen as the law provides. How will you proceed?

Florin Cîţu: Let's get to 50% first ...

Reporter: We've probably already reached that. If we take into account the estimates, we could say that we are very close. What can state employees expect? We are talking about millions of employees.

Florin Cîţu: These are estimates, for now. Let's see, debt, as a percentage of GDP, has two elements. One is public debt, the other is nominal GDP. Nominal GDP grew much faster than we expected. I don't know if we reach 50%, we will see when we reach 50%. At the same time, it is a recommendation, not a law; we'll see what happens then, but I remind you that we froze wages in the public sector, at the beginning of the year. So this is not the problem. Thank you.

Reporter: I wanted to ask you, Mr. Prime Minister, in view of the scandal that appeared in the press yesterday, related to that document leaked from your Chancellery, if you have clarified it and if the document is real and, if it is real, will measure be taken?

Florin Cîţu: I said yesterday, I repeat it today, I can only comment on the basis of official documents. From my point of view, an official document means a registered document, signed document and so on.

Reporter: The document had the Government header, and was signed.

Florin Cîţu: I repeat what I said earlier: official documents, from my point of view, mean registered documents, documents that have gone through a certain procedure. These are official documents. I can't comment on documents.

Reporter: But did you at least check if it's real or not?

Florin Cîţu: I repeat my answer...

Reporter: The latest Avangarde opinion barometer shows that the number of people who do not consider the need for vaccination has increased by 5% in the last month, reaching 36 percent. How does this issue of vaccination evolve, given that certain categories of the population do not listen to the Government's call to get vaccinated and in the conditions in which the Minister of Health announced yesterday that at the peak of a possible wave 4, there will be around 4,000 infected people a day?

Florin Cîţu: As we have done so far, we will continue to make every effort to persuade the citizens that the solution to get rid of the pandemic is vaccination. The Minister of Health presented, we had a discussion at the Government and then in the coalition, several solutions, some are on the restriction side, others on the motivation side, we will see which of the solutions will be accepted in the coalition, I have expressed my opinion on some of them, but, I repeat, we are looking for solutions to continue a vaccination campaign. After all, I say that it is also the responsibility of every person in Romania, every citizen, to protect their family, to protect their loved ones and their own health, to get vaccinated.

Reporter: If you allow, please, how do you interpret the fact that 73% of the citizens could not mention a trusted minister of your Cabinet, apart from the Prime Minister?

Florin Cîţu: I did not see the study, I will look, to see how the study was conducted. Thank you!

Reporter: DNA and DIICOT are facing a staffing crisis, and the recent decision of the CCR risks exacerbating this crisis, not only the two prosecutor's offices themselves would be affected, but what they represent, the fight against corruption, the fight against organized crime and, respectively, the DIICOT international partnerships, because human trafficking, drug trafficking are cross-border phenomena. I would like to ask you, Mr Prime Minister, if, in these circumstances, we can expect to see an attempt to resolve it quickly, through an emergency ordinance or a normative act, because there would be solutions, Mr Bologa said, for example, that he could reduce the seniority required for prosecutors to join the General Prosecutor's Office, which would automatically lead to a reduction of seniority for those who will be employed at DNA and DIICOT. Is it being discussed in the coalition? Will we see a normative act soon?

Florin Cîţu: This solution with the emergency ordinance was not presented in the coalition. The other was declared unconstitutional. If other solutions come to solve the staffing crisis, of course, we will look at them and see what normative acts are needed. You only look there, you look at DIICOT and DNA, I look at the economy, there is a staffing crisis in several sectors, and the solutions, you know, that in no sector in the economy are short-term solutions, usually, when we find solutions that try to speed up or "cut" corners, are not the best solutions. Here, we need to have a strategy for all sectors in the economy in the long run, how to bring qualified staff in all sectors of the economy, and, in the short term, we will have to find solutions in the areas with burning issues. For now, we have no other solutions in the coalition at the moment. What the coalition passed, was rejected, you know very well, by the Constitutional Court.

Reporter: But as the chief prosecutor of DNA said, he has already advanced a solution. But do you think that there will be political will, I mean in the context in which the UDMR already shows a great aversion to the return of cases aimed at magistrates’ corruption, to DNA?

Florin Cîţu: No, we do not enter any speculations now. I can only say, that it is a second question, but I am telling you that this solution has not been adopted in the coalition right now.

Reporter: Thanks.

Florin Cîţu: Thank you.

Reporter: Today, we have seen that the number of infection cases exceeding 100. Do you think the Government should think of protective measures and if you consider the idea advanced by the Health Minister that to restrict unvaccinated persons from attending events indoors, is a good idea?

Florin Cîţu: Presently, we have certain thresholds: 0.5 per thousand, 1.5 per thousand, 2, 3 per thousand. So, when we reach those thresholds, certain rules we have never given up, become effective. Therefore, we should not reinvent something new. Last year, we had those thresholds, they worked, and we further use them.

Reporter: So to what extent are these measures sufficient? At what infection rate, should we change something, though?

Florin Cîţu: Well, I repeat, as they have worked so far, they will continue to work. I used these thresholds and they come with a set of measures in addition to them.

Reporter: I understand. So, you consider them sufficient.

Florin Cîţu: Yes.

Reporter: Thank you.

Reporter: The mobile phone of President Emmanuel Macron was allegedly targeted through the Pegasus program of Morocco's intelligence services. In this context, I wanted to ask you, is Pegasus a program that has arrived or will ever arrive in Romania as well? What do you know about such surveillance in our country and if an investigation is carried out to see if we are vulnerable?

Florin Cîţu: I don't know anything about this program and I am very careful with phone applications. Thank you.

Reporter: Regarding that emergency ordinance, if it was discussed in the coalition or in the government regarding doctors who are not vaccinated and could be tested from …

Florin Cîţu: It is one of the proposals discussed in the coalition, when we reach a decision, we will see. There are several options, it is one of them. I don't know if the minister is still here, if not ...

Reporter: Do you endorse it, could there be changes, and does it remain so?

Florin Cîţu: I have already said that I endorse it. I have already said publicly that I endorse such a measure.

Reporter: And if you allow me another question regarding Ludovic Orban's statements. He claimed, about the reshuffle you did, of the Minister of Finance, that he was not consulted and everything was done against his will, and that not even the party was consulted. Is that true or not? Thank you.

Florin Cîţu: I have said it many times: the decision to reshuffle a minister is the constitutional attribute of the prime minister, a statement that Mr. Orban also made many times, I don't understand why he has changed his statements now.

Reporter:/…/

Florin Cîţu: I, as prime minister, can only comment on official documents. What I understand to be an official document is a document that has been registered, or presented. The aforementioned document has never been registered or presented to me at any time. About documents that appear in the press, I don't know if they are documents...

Reporter: But did you talk to your advisors?

Florin Cîţu: One second, let me answer: documents that appear in the press, leaflets or editable documents that appear in the press, I can't comment on them. I can only comment on official documents. Thank you.

Reporter: Have you talked to your advisors about this? You will take action...

Florin Cîţu: Thank you, a question. Thank you.

Reporter: I would continue, however, because it is an electronic signature that certifies the veracity of the document. We understand that it was not registered at the Chancellery, we understand that it was not registered at the Government, you explained to us yesterday, but it is drafted by a state councillor from the Government for political purposes.

Florin Cîţu: I think we understand the electronic signature differently. We don't have an electronic signature in the Government at the moment, so this is a different thing from what is happening...

Reporter: The author of the document, that's what I meant.

Florin Cîţu: Thank you very much.

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