13 November 2020

We will have a military parade on Romania's National Day

Florin Jipa

The National Committee for Emergency Situations has approved the decision to extend the state of alert for 30 days, announcing also how the official ceremonies dedicated to the National Day of Romania will be held.

Image source: MApN

Thus, in the Arch of Triumph, in Bucharest, the authorities can hold ceremonies dedicated to the National Day, but only 400 people will be allowed to participate and no audience is allowed.

At the same time, in the city capitals of Romanian counties, at most 100 people can participate at official ceremonies, but, again, no audience is allowed.

The authorities asked for the following measures to be followed: wear a protection mask, disinfect the hands, keep a physical distance of at least 1 meter between the participants and provide a surface of minimum 4 square meters/individual, where possible, as well define the perimeter visibly.

The participants at these events will go through a triage, and the ceremony cannot last more than one hour.

On November 1st, prime-minister Ludovic Orban was stating that the National Day will be celebrated following the sanitary protection rules, but no military parade will be held, as in the past years.

“Of course we will celebrate the National Day, but we will follow all the sanitary protection rules (…). Of course, we will not see a parade. Indeed, as we will not have a parade anymore, there is no reason for people to come and see it. It will be a celebration that follows stricter rules, to take into consideration the maximum number of people allowed in an open space, which is 50 people. There are rules that will be strictly followed”, said Orban.

However, when a journalist asked if an “online” parade can be organized, with no audience, Orban said that a decision to that end will be taken on November 14th.

At the 2019 parade, at the Arch of Triumph, there were around 4000 military and specialists present, with more than 200 vehicles from the Defense Ministry, Home Affairs Ministry, the Romanian Intelligence Service and the National Administration of Penitentiaries. Out of these 4000 military, 500 came from 21 allied and partner countries. Also, there were other smaller celebrations developed in most of the city capitals of counties around Romania.