June 7, 2022

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Newsroom, 07.06.2022, 13:55

PNRR – By the end of the year Romania is to receive 10 billion Euros through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, the Romanian minister of European investments and projects, Marcel Boloş announced after the meeting of the Monitoring Committee of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. The first request for payment was submitted to the European Commission on May 31, and the Romanian authorities are preparing to submit the second request for payment worth three billion Euros in the month of October, the minister said. “The capitalization of the 30 billion Euros from the Recovery and Resilience Plan is a coordinated and coherent effort, with well-established landmarks, deadlines and responsibilities for each field. We have proved that we have managed to make this European financing mechanism operational in a short and not at all simple period for Romania and to send the first payment request. The pre-financing received, amounting to 3.7 billion Euros, added to the first payment request already sent to the European Commission, clearly shows that we are on schedule to achieve what we have set out to do” said the PM Nicolae Ciuca.

NATO — The Romanian Defense Minister, Vasile Dîncu, participated, on Monday evening, in the videoconference meeting of the defense ministers from the member states of the “Bucharest Nine — B9” Format, co-organized by Romania and Poland. The talks focused mainly on efforts to strengthen NATOs deterrence and defense posture on the eastern flank, on the adoption of the Alliances new strategic concept, and the evolution of the regional security situation. The meeting was an opportunity to harmonize the stands of B9 defense ministers on issues of common interest, in the run up to the June 16 NATO meeting in Brussels and also to the Alliance summit in Madrid to be held later this month. The Romanian Defense Minister has underlined the relevance of the future B9 Summit, which will be hosted by Romania on June 10, for the coagulation of the positions of the B9 member states, ahead of the future NATO Summit.

Moldova — Romania and the Republic of Moldova (an ex-Soviet country with a majority Romanian-speaking population) will organize a joint session of their parliaments for the first time, the Moldovan Parliament Speaker Igor Grosu said after a meeting in Chisinau with Marcel Ciolacu, the Speaker of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies. Igor Grosu said he was pleased that the first joint meeting of the two countries parliaments would take place in Chisinau, which is a clear sign of support for the current government. Marcel Ciolacu has stated that Romania has always supported the Republic of Moldova and reiterated Bucharests commitment to supporting its integration into the European Union.

London — The British PM Boris Johnson survived the no confidence motion tabled by his own party, the Conservative Party in the British Parliament. Boris Johnsons victory was not a resounding one, with 211 MPs voting for him and 148 against. Reuters notes that Johnson performed worse than his predecessor, Theresa May, who, in turn, survived a no-confidence vote. Even though Boris Johnson has won for the time being, his position is now much more fragile, according to numerous commentators. The current crisis at the top of the British government erupted when the public found out that a number of illegal parties had been organized during the pandemic at the prime ministers residence. In fact, Boris Johnson was fined for these parties, becoming the first head of government in London sanctioned in this way.

Ukraine – The Russian troops continue to intensely attack the Donbas front line, while Russia is becoming increasingly concerned about the prospect of Ukraines receiving long-range missiles from the West. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has demanded that the Western weapons promised to his country should be delivered as soon as possible, saying that the situation will become very difficult for Ukraine if the Russian forces break the front line in the Donbas region. Zelenski says that the Russian troops outnumber the Ukrainian troops, but that the Ukrainian fighters have so far managed to reject their attacks. Heavy fighting is taking place on the streets of Severodonetsk, the last major city in Lugansk province where the Ukrainians still have control. The Russian forces are also intensely attacking the city of Sloviansk in the Donetsk province, and Kharkov in the north. Radio Romania’s correspondent in Ukraine reports that the Russian army uses its favorite tactic which it has previously used both in Ukraine and in other wars it has waged: intense bombing aimed at destroying the opponents positions followed by massive assaults. Both the Russians and the Ukrainians claim to have caused huge losses to their opponents. (LS)