June 22, 2022

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 22.06.2022, 13:55

Cooperation. The Romanian foreign
minister Bogdan Aurescu is on a trip to the United Arab Emirates, where he is
co-chairing with the minister of state responsible for economic and trade
affairs Ahmed bin Ali Al Sayegh the second meeting of the cooperation committee
between the governments of Romania and the United Arab Emirates. Talks are
assessing the implementation of the decisions agreed on at the first meeting,
which was hosted by Bucharest in April 2018, and are looking at new
opportunities of cooperation in areas of mutual interest, such as the economic
sector, sea and air transport, energy, IT&C, cyber security, agriculture
and food safety, the environment and airspace research. During his trip, the
Romanian minister is also scheduled to meet the minister of foreign affairs and
international cooperation, sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and the minister
of state responsible for economic and trade affairs Ahmed bin Ali Al Sayegh to
discuss recent regional and international developments, with emphasis on the
consequences of Russia’s illegal and unprovoked aggression against Ukraine and
the security developments in the Gulf region. Romanian prime minister Nicolae
Ciucă also travelled earlier to the United Arab Emirates for a two-day visit to
discuss concrete ways to diversify the supply of oil and natural gas in the
context of the tense situation in the Black Sea area and Europe’s ban on
deliveries from Russia.

NATO. The United States said NATO is
ready to defend Lithuania in the event of a Russian invasion. The US State
Department emphasised that Washington firmly supports Article 5 of the North
Atlantic Treaty stipulating that an attack on one is an attack on all. This is
in response to Russia’s threats against Lithuania after this Baltic state
banned the transit of EU sanctioned goods to Russia’s Kaliningrad enclave citing
the EU ban imposed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. According to Radio
Romania’s correspondent in Moscow, the EU ambassador in Moscow Markus Edler was
summoned by the Russian foreign ministry over the ban, with the Russian side
saying it violates EU commitments and escalates tensions in the area. Edler,
who urged Moscow to solve the issue through diplomatic means, emphasised
Lithuania was not taking unilateral measures, but imposing EU sanctions, with
the movement of people and of goods that are not subject to sanctions
continuing as usual.

Poll. Three quarters of Romanians
are worried about a possible economic crisis that may influence their financial
situation, according to the latest edition of a barometer on risk perception
and insurance culture in Romania conducted by UNSAR-IRES. 68% are most worried
about the rising inflation rate, 64% about the war, 61% about fires and car
accidents and 57% about the pandemic and sickness.

Swimming. 17-year-old Romanian swimmer David
Popovici is tonight racing in the 100m freestyle final at the World Swimming
Championships in Budapest, having qualified with the best time of the
semifinals and breaking a new world junior record in the process. On Monday
evening, Popovici won the gold in 200m
free, Romania’s first world title in men’s swimming. (CM)