June 11, 2022

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 11.06.2022, 13:50

Summit. Romanian president Klaus Iohannis on Friday met his Latvian
counterpart Egils Levits on the sidelines of the
Bucharest Nine summit hosted by the Romanian capital. Talks looked at ways to
consolidate bilateral cooperation, coordinating actions within the EU and
various formats of regional cooperation, such as the upcoming meeting of the
Three Seas Initiative hosted by Latvia on 20th June. Iohannis
reiterated the importance of this organisation for Romania, with many strategic
implications, from security to the economy, with emphasis on the transport and
energy infrastructure. He recalled Romania’s decision to resume from 2023 its
participation in the NATO air policing mission in the Baltic area, a move
described by the Latvian president as a contribution to ensuring allied
security on the NATO eastern flank. Speaking at the Bucharest Nine summit,
president Iohannis said that NATO’s future strategic concept must reflect the
new security parameters as accurately and realistically as possible, give
priority to collective defence, define Russia as a threat and consolidate the Alliance
at all levels. He also spoke about a strengthened NATO presence on the eastern
flank, especially the Black Sea, which is most exposed to Russia’s threats.

Extradition. Former Romanian tourism minister Elena Udrea will be
extradited from Bulgaria following a ruling by a Sofia court saying there is no
evidence that her human rights and liberties would be violated on her return to
Romania as she had claimed. The Bulgarian court ruling also showed there is no
question mark over the way in which Romanian prosecutors investigated her case,
which Udrea said was politically motivated. She left the country on 7th
April before the Supreme Court was about to issue a final sentence convicting
her to 6 years in prison for bribe taking and abuse of office. She is on trial
in two other cases.

Benefits. The Romanian Postal Service has begun the distribution of
cards for the payment of social vouchers worth around 50 euros, with payment to
be made after all cards have been distributed, from 20th June, said
prime minister Nicolae Ciucă on the government’s Facebook page. Three million
people, including pensioners, persons with disabilities, families with low
incomes and homeless people will benefit from these vouchers once every two
months, which they can use to buy food. The total value is some 626 million
euros and will be granted in four tranches until the end of the year.

Ukraine. The European Commission president
Ursula von der Leyen arrived in Kyiv to meet president Volodymyr
Zelensky and discuss Ukraine’s request to join the European Union and the
country’s rebuilding after the war. On the ground,
the situation has become dramatic in the Azov Sea port of Mariupol, where over
20,000 inhabitants were killed and the lack of hygienic conditions and food has
increased the risk of epidemics, especially dysentery and cholera. The city’s
mayor called on the United Nations and the Red Cross to create a humanitarian corridor
to evacuate the civilians. The German health minister, who visited Ukraine on
Friday, also warned of the risk of a cholera epidemic in the Ukrainian
territories occupied by Russia. He said Germany would boost medical aid for the
wounded. The fighting continues in the east, with Ukrainian officials requesting
more help from the West, including faster deliveries of weapons to halt the
advance of the better equipped Russian forces.

Visit.
French president Emmanuel Macron is travelling to Bucharest on Tuesday to
express France’s solidarity with its European allies most exposed to the war in
Ukraine, said the French president’s office. He is expected to visit the French
troops stationed in Cincu, in the centre. The NATO Battle
Group Forward Presence was created in May in Romania. The group is led by
France, which also has an air defence component in Romania. This is the third
visit to Romania by the French president, and the first since winning his
second term on 24th April. On Wednesday, he will travel to the
neighbouring Republic of Moldova to reiterate support for this country affected
by the war in Ukraine. Macron has tried to maintain a dialogue with Vladimir
Putin since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, but his position has come
under repeated criticism from some European partners, who see his engagement
with Putin as undermining efforts to bring the Russian president to the negotiation
table.

Schengen. It’s very important to have a realistic prospect of a
timetable for Romania’s joining the Schengen area, said the country’s interior
minister Lucian Bode, who attended on Friday the EU’s Justice and Home Affairs
Council in Luxembourg. He said Romania made considerable efforts and
significant investments to this end. Referring to Ukraine, he highlighted the
progress made by the European Commission in the implementation of its 10-point
plan to ensure stronger European coordination of its response to displacement
from Ukraine. The Romanian official said it was essential for the Republic of
Moldova to continue to receive support to be able to cope with the challenges
it is facing. (CM)