April 5, 2022 UPDATE

A round up of local and international news.

Newsroom, 05.04.2022, 19:42

Inflation. The National Bank of Romania decided
to increase the key interest rate from Wednesday to 3% from 2.5% per year, as
well as the interest rates on loans or deposits with the National Bank made by
commercial banks. The move has been expected by most economists. The key
interest rate or the monetary policy interest rate determines the evolution of
all banking interest rates and represents the main instrument available to the
National Bank to fight inflation. The central bank forecasts that the inflation
rate will go up more than expected in February, owing to the rising cost of
fuels and processed food, the war in Ukraine and international sanctions
against Russia.

Expulsion. The Romanian authorities
have declared ten Russian diplomats in Bucharest personae non gratae, saying
their activity runs counter to the provisions of the 1961 Vienna Convention on
Diplomatic Relations. Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu summoned the
Russian ambassador to Bucharest Valery Kuzmin on Tuesday, informing him of this
decision and reiterating his firm condemnation of the crimes committed in Bucha
and other places in Ukraine and for which Russia is responsible. Following revelations
in recent days of the massacre committed by the Russian army in Bucha, many EU
and NATO states, including France, Germany and Denmark, have expelled dozens of
Russian diplomats, with Lithuania even expelling the Russian ambassador in
Vilnius.

Ukraine.
NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday that the war in Ukraine
has reached a crucial phase. He told a press conference that Russia would try
to take control of the entire Donbas, a pro-Moscow break-away region in eastern
Ukraine, and create a land bridge with Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula which
Russia occupied in 2014. Stoltenberg estimated that the regrouping and
repositioning of the Russian forces from northern Ukraine, where they abandoned
attempts to take over the capital Kyiv, will take a few weeks, before they
launch a major offensive in the east. He stressed that in that window, it is
extremely important that NATO allies provide support to the Ukrainian military.
NATO foreign ministers on Wednesday and Thursday are set to discuss with their
Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba ways to provide weapons, ammunition and
medical supplies to Ukraine, Stoltenberg also said.

Rep.
Moldova. The Republic of Moldova is Ukraine’s most vulnerable neighbour, taking
in more refugees fleeing Ukraine per head than any other country, said
Romania’s foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu in Berlin on Tuesday. He co-hosted,
together with his German and French counterparts Annalena
Baerbock and Jean-Yves Le Drian an international donor conference for Moldova. Earlier,
the country’s pro-western president Maia Sandu said Moldova fully complies with
international sanctions against Russia and that its only vulnerable aspect in
relation with Moscow is the purchase of natural gas. According to a census from
2014, the Republic of Moldova has a majority Romanian-speaking population, with
80% of its citizens identifying as Romanian or Moldovan, while 6.5% are ethnic
Ukrainians and 4% ethnic Russians.

Covid-19.
Romania on Tuesday reported over 3,000 new Covid cases, up from the previous
day. Almost 2,400 people infected with Covid are receiving hospital treatment,
including 360 in intensive care. 27 Covid related deaths were also recorded on
Tuesday.

Academy. Historian Ioan-Aurel Pop won a second 4-year term as president of the
Romanian Academy. A corresponding member since 2001, he was also the rector of Babeș-Bolyai University. His work focuses on the
research of Romanian and central and south-east European mediaeval history. The
Romanian Academy was established 156 years ago. (CM)