February 19, 2022 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 19.02.2022, 18:49

NATO. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis stressed the
importance of continuing consultations and maintaining a close collaboration
and the unity of the Alliance against the background of the current critical
moments, a communiqué issued by the Presidential Administration reads.
According to the same release, on Friday, the head of state participated, at
the invitation of the US president Joe Biden, in a new round of consultations
on the recent security developments, triggered by Russia’s actions, doubled by
an active campaign of disinformation and intimidation. At the meeting,
President Iohannis highlighted the need for a complete package of sanctions
that should be used in case the situation deteriorates further. He also
stressed the need for strengthening NATO’s deterrence and defense posture, in a
unitary and coherent manner, along the entire Eastern Flank, from the Baltic
Sea to the Black Sea, as this is the only means to maintain regional stability
and defend the security of the Alliance as a whole. Iohannis also reiterated
Romania’s support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and for
its right to freely decide upon its own foreign policy. Also, the Romanian
president said, Romania is ready to manage all the implications of the current
crisis.

Ukraine. The US President Joe Biden has voiced his conviction
that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, has made the decision to invade
Ukraine, France Presse reports. We believe they will target Ukraine’s capital
Kyiv, a city of 2.8 million innocent people, the head of the US administration
said. He added, though, that since the invasion has not started yet, there is
still time for diplomacy, recalling that the Secretary of State Antony Blinken
is to meet in Europe with his Russian counterpart Serghey Lavrov.

Security.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called on Russia on
Saturday at the Munich Security Conference to stop the preparations for an
attack on Ukraine, otherwise it would have to suffer severe consequences. It is
never too late for Russia to back down, stop preparations for war and start
engaging in diplomatic negotiations with NATO and for the NATO allies to find a
political solution, Stoltenberg said. In
turn, the US Vice President Kamala Harris warned that North Atlantic Alliance
forces in Eastern Europe would be further strengthened if Russia attacked
Ukraine. Kamala Harris recalled that the United States had already deployed
about 6,000 additional troops in Romania, Poland and Germany. (…) Romania is
represented at the conference by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bogdan
Aurescu, and by the Minister of Defense, Vasile Dincu. In his speech, Minister
Aurescu reiterated Romania’s position, stating that the current Black Sea security crisis is
not just a regional crisis, but one that affects Euro-Atlantic security as a
whole. He referred both to the acts of aggression and destabilization that the
region has faced in recent years, of a conventional or hybrid nature, and to
repeated violations of fundamental principles of international law, such as
sovereignty, territorial integrity and freedom of navigation, with negative
impact on the development opportunities of the region. The Romanian Foreign
Minister stressed the importance of the states in the region acting
proactively, constructively and in full cooperation, in order to overcome the challenges.

Covid.19Ro. 12,319 new cases of coronavirus infection were
reported in the last 24 hours in Romania, as well as 148 related fatalities, of
which 2 from a previous reporting period. The largest number of infections
since the start of the pandemic – 40,018 – was registered on February 1st. There
are 1,117 patients in intensive care, most of them unvaccinated. The vaccination pace has been slowing down
considerably, though specialists recommend it in order to avoid severe
manifestations of the disease.

Brancusi. On Saturday, Romania
celebrated the Constantin Brancusi National Day, 146 years since the birth of
the great sculptor. Events have been organized by the Romanian Cultural
Institutes around the world. According to the Romanian PM Nicolae Ciuca, the
Constantin Brancusi National Day is a tribute to the exceptional talent of a
Romanian who, through the mastery of his chisel, radically influenced world
sculpture. Though a genius, Brancusi lived simply and modestly, which are
characteristics of the Romanian peasant. Romanian nature, spiritually and
folklore were his inspiration and turned his workshop in Paris into a little
corner of Rural Romania, the PM’s message also reads.

Invictus. The Invictus team, made up of Romanian soldiers
wounded in theaters of operations, will represent the country at this year’s
Invictus Games, hosted by the Hague in April, according to a statement from the
Ministry of National Defense. It will be the Romanian Army’s third
participation in this international sports competition, which support the
physical and psychological recovery of the military wounded in war zones. 20
injured soldiers will participate in seven sports. (MI)