February 18, 2023 UPDATE

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Newsroom, 18.02.2023, 20:00

TIMIŞOARA The
city of Timişoara in western Romania is officially, as of Friday, a European
Capital of Culture for a year. Over 15,000 people are expected to attend the
opening weekend events. On Saturday, locals and visitors were invited
to a digital culture festival, scientific experiments, exhibitions, dance and
theatre performances, concerts, workshops and giant puppet parades around the
city. On Friday, the first day of the weekend, tens of thousands of people
enjoyed the over 120 events prepared by the organisers as a journey into the
city’s multi-cultural tradition, its open, brave and innovating spirit. Performances,
concerts, exhibitions, roundtables, tourist tours were organised, as well as a
gala show attended by hundreds of guests, including scores of ambassadors and
Romanian and foreign officials. The European Commissioner Adina Vălean awarded the
Melina Mercouri prize to the city of Timişoara, for meeting the commitments in its
cultural programme. She also emphasised that the cities having received the
European Capital of Culture title have seen significant long-term benefits in
terms of urban regeneration, of improving their public image and capitalising
on their potential for innovation.

SECURITY The
Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu, attending the Munich Security
Conference, highlighted the serious security threats at the Black Sea entailed
by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, as well as the pressure on
neighbouring countries, particularly the Republic of Moldova, by various means,
including hybrid threats. Aurescu was a special guest on Friday at an event
devoted to multi-dimensional security challenges at the Black Sea and on NATO’s
eastern flank, organised on the sidelines of the conference. The Romanian
official pointed out that Russia’s war against Ukraine is a war against the
values of the democratic Western community and against the core parameters of
the Euro-Atlantic security architecture, as well as an attempt at recreating
the Russian sphere of influence. Efficiently deterring Russia relies on strong
defence, the Romanian foreign minister also said, and added that the
trans-Atlantic partnership must be consolidated and the US Strategy on security
at the Black Sea must be finalised. Bogdan Aurescu also emphasised the
importance of carrying on support for Ukraine, and suggested stepping up
European and NATO support for Moldova and Georgia.

VISIT The new PM of the Republic of Moldova, Dorin Recean, will be
in Bucharest next week, for his first visit abroad since taking over the
office, Radio Chişinău announced. In an interview on Moldova’s public
television, Dorin Recean insisted on the privileged relationship between the 2
countries and emphasised that Romania helped Moldova considerably in handling
the energy crisis and in its EU accession efforts. Dorin Recean’s Cabinet was
sworn in on Thursday, and on the same day the PM of Romania Nicolae Ciucă
congratulated him and invited him to Bucharest.

MOLDOVA The
president of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, had a meeting with the US
State Secretary Antony Blinken at the Munich Security Conference, Chişinău announced. According to Reuters, the
latter said the US was deeply concerned with some of Russia’s plans to
destabilise the government of Moldova. Maia
Sandu had previously accused Russia of planning to change the legitimate power
in Chişinău, using men trained in Belarus, Serbia and Montenegro, who are
apparently instructed to conduct violent actions under the guise of protests. President
Sandu also attended a roundtable focusing on the experience of various
countries and international organisations in fighting corruption, and she spoke
about Moldova’s commitment to fight corruption and to punish all those who
embezzled public money.

TURKEY Three
survivors were found under the rubble on Saturday, 13 days after the
devastating earthquake in Turkey, which killed more than 45,000 people in that
country and in Syria, France Presse reports, quoting Turkish media. One of the
3 people rescued in southern Turkey is a child. Nearly 264,000 flats in Turkey
were destroyed and many people are still missing after the most severe disaster
in the country’s modern history. Romania has sent rescue teams to Turkey and
humanitarian aid to Syria.

RUGBY Romania’s
rugby team Sunday plays against Portugal, away from home, in the last match in Group
B of Rugby Europe Championship 2023 (REC). Both teams have 2 wins and are
already qualified into the competition’s semi-finals. Romania played in Group
B, alongside Portugal, Belgium and Poland, while Group A included Georgia, the
Netherlands, Spain and Germany. (AMP)