June 10, 2022 UPDATE

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Newsroom, 10.06.2022, 20:26

NATO
Romanian president Klaus Iohannis said that the leaders participating in the B9
Summit held in Bucharest on Friday had a substantial exchange of opinions on
the latest developments in terms of security, underlining the necessity that the alliance be able to defend each centimeter of its territory. The Romanian
official underlined that the NATO’s future strategic concept must reflect as
adequately and realistically possible the new security parameters, make the
collective defence a top priority, define Russia as a threat and strengthen the
alliance on all levels. Iohannis has also spoken about a boosted NATO presence
on the Eastern Flank, mainly at the Black Sea, ‘the most exposed region to the
Russian threats’. In turn, Polish president Andrzej Duda said the participant
countries wish a ‘more advanced and stronger NATO presence in the region. In a
twitter post, US president Joe Biden pledges to defend NATO’s eastern flank
strengthening the region’s energy security and work together to support
Ukraine. The summit in Bucharest was attended by the presidents of Poland,
Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia and Bulgaria. The Czech and Slovak
presidents had online interventions as well as NATO Secretary General, Jens
Stoltenberg.

VISIT French president Emmanuel Macron will be
visiting Romania on Tuesday to meet with the French troops deployed here. This
regional tour will be taking him to the Republic of Moldova, where he is
expected to voice support for this country affected by the war in Ukraine, the
Elysee Palace announced on Friday. According to sources in Paris, Macron will
be visiting Ukraine in the future, but the date of this visit hasn’t been set yet.

IMF The
International Monetary Fund has improved Romania’s economic growth forecast to
3.5%-4.5% for 2022 and 2023, said the head of the mission for Romania Jan Kees
Martijn. He said the uncertainty associated with this forecast is high, with
risks of the war escalating and Russian gas deliveries being cut leading to a
further rise in energy costs and reducing trade exchanges between European
partners. The IMF official also said GDP reached the level before the crisis in
the first quarter of the year after last autumn’s Covid wave. According to
provisional data published on 7th June by the National Institute of Statistics,
Romania’s GDP rose by 6.5% in the first quarter of the year compared with the
same period last year.

FOOTBALL Romania’s
national football side are preparing for their Saturday match against Finland
in Bucharest, in Group 3 of League B of the UEFA Nations League. Romania has
lost their first two group matches, nil-2 to Montenegro and nil-1 to Bosnia and
Herzegovina. Romania will next face Montenegro in Bucharest next week and will
play their final two matches in September, against Finland away and against
Bosnia and Herzegovina at home.

(bill)