March 10, 2022 UPDATE

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Newsroom, 10.03.2022, 19:44

EU — On Thursday, the PM Nicolae Ciuca received Janez Lenarčič, European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management. His visit to Romania takes place in the context of the opening of the European logistics center for humanitarian aid hosted by Romania in Suceava, with the support of the European Commission. The head of government referred to the severe humanitarian impact of Russias unjustified, illegal and unprovoked military aggression on Ukraine. He emphasized the strategic need to maintain EU and NATO solidarity and unity in the context of the crisis. I am encouraged by the solidarity that the EU and its member states, including Romania, have shown so far with Ukraine – said the European Commissioner at the opening of the center in Suceava. The European continent is facing the biggest humanitarian crisis since World War II, Janez Lenarčič said. About 320,000 Ukrainians entered Romania in the first two weeks after the crisis broke out, and about 235,000 have already left the country.

Summit – EU leaders convene Thursday and Friday in Versailles, France, for a summit focusing on Europes energy independence, on strengthening the blocs defense and on the EU accession request signed recently by Ukraine. A new plan will be discussed, most likely to be funded through a new joint loan, in order to address the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As regards the energy crisis, the European Commission has recently presented the RePowerEU initiative, designed to reduce Europes dependence on Russian gas, which accounts for over 40% of the Unions natural gas consumption. As for Ukraine, a strengthened partnership is being considered, by tightening Kyivs ties with the European single market and connecting Ukraine with the European energy network.

Versailles – Romania is represented at the Versailles summit by President Klaus Iohannis. Before the meeting began, he said on Thursday that the main issues addressed would be the war in Ukraine and the energy situation. In preparation for the informal meeting, the Romanian head of state attended a videoconference meeting on Tuesday with the European Council President Charles Michel and the prime ministers of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Croatia, Andrej Plenkovic, and Estonia, Kaja Kallas. He presented Romanias measures in support of Ukraine, including Bucharests decision to host a logistics center to coordinate and collect international humanitarian assistance for Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, respectively. President Iohannis also pointed to Romanias support for the applications for EU membership submitted by Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia. Klaus Iohannis also recalled Bucharests decision to increase defense spending from 2% to 2.5% of the GDP in 2023.

Visit — NATO has become “stronger” and Russia “weaker” following Russian aggression in Ukraine, the US Vice President Kamala Harris said in Warsaw on Thursday. During her visit to Poland, she spoke about the “atrocities” committed by the Russian armys invasion of the former Soviet republic. Kamala Harris met with the Polish President Andrzej Duda, who also denounced the “barbarism” of Russian forces, which is similar to genocide. The US Vice President is taking a short tour of Europe to send an additional signal of support to the states on the eastern flank of the North Atlantic Alliance against Moscows aggression. After Poland, Kamala Harris will arrive in Romania on Friday, where she will be received by President Klaus Iohannis. They will discuss Allied measures to strengthen NATOs deterrence and defense posture on the East Flank, including the prospect of increasing the US and Allied military presence in Romania. They will also tackle the issue of coordination of the transatlantic community on adopting new sanctions against Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine. Vice President Kamala Harris visit to Bucharest is taking place in the context of the 25th anniversary of the launch of the bilateral Strategic Partnership.

Pandemic — More than 3,500 new cases of SARS-CoV-2 infections have been registered in the past 24 hours in Romania, the Strategic Communication Group reported on Thursday. Also 70 deaths were reported, of which 10 were from the previous reference period. About 4,000 people are hospitalized, 630 of whom are in ICUs. After almost two years of state of alert, all restrictions imposed by the pandemic have been lifted in Romania as of March 9. The Romanian authorities announce that the persons whose identity documents have expired in the last two years, during the COVID-19 epidemic, have the obligation to change their documents in the next three months.

Fuel — The Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca announced severe controls at all oil companies in Romania, after last nights population’s panic that led to the formation of queues at gas stations not seen for decades. The Prime Minister has warned that the necessary measures will be taken to stop any illegal, abusive practices that have no real economic justification whatsoever. The head of government made these statements after an emergency meeting with the ministers of energy and economy and the heads of Consumer Protection Agency, the Competition Council and the National Agency for Fiscal Administration – ANAF. The three institutions have already started actions to control and verify the situation generated by the unjustified increase in fuel prices. The Energy Minister also wrote in a social media post that the responsible institutions will be firm in the checks they have to make in connection with the increase in fuel prices and will give drastic sanctions to those who break the law. (LS)