The Romanian Ombudsman asked President Iohannis to declare a state of emergency in Romania and for Parliament to approve it.
“The Ombudsman, in its capacity as constitutional guarantor of fundamental rights and freedoms, having considered the administrative measures adopted in the past days in an effort to combat the spread of the coronavirus, requests the President of Romania to declare a state of emergency and the Parliament of Romania to approve it in accordance with Article 53 of the Constitution of Romania,” says the institution’s communiqué sent to the Agerpres news agency on Thursday.
The Ombudsman emphasized:
“They do not question the timeliness of the measures taken so far, or the need to restrict certain rights, but this is
the mandatory thing to do, as
provided by the fundamental law in exceptional cases.”
“These are the requirements of the rule of law, where rights and freedoms can only be restricted under the terms of Article 53 of the Constitution of Romania. Romania has relevant legislation, specifically OUG No. 1/1999, and the provisions of this regulation must be duly observed,” says the communiqué. (Agerpres)
Hungary already declared a state of emergency
On Wednesday, the Hungarian government officially declared a state of emergency due to the coronavirus outbreak.
According to the government directive, foreigners coming from Italy, China, South Korea and Iran will not be allowed to enter Hungary’s territory. Consequently, Hungary will not welcome trains, buses or flights from these four countries. Hungarian citizens will be permitted to return home, but they will be placed in quarantine.
In addition, all indoor events with over 100 people and outdoor events with more than 500 people are also banned. All universities in Hungary will be temporarily closed, but education will continue via online courses.
Additional measures include a ban on foreign school excursions, and, according to the directive, official government documents such as identification cards, drivers’ licenses and other official documents will be considered valid until the end of the state of the emergency. The measure is designed to keep people from venturing into government offices and potentially coming into contact with the virus.
The above directives in Hungary are valid until revoked.
Title image: Entry of the Romanian Ombudsman Office in Bucharest (Photo: Sorin Lupsa/Agerpres)
