March 18, 2022 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 18.03.2022, 19:56

Covid-19.
In the last 24 hours, almost 3,750 new
cases of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) were registered in Romania,
most of them in Bucharest, the Ministry of Health has announced. 44 related deaths
were also reported, of which 8 were prior to the reference period. The number
of hospitalized Covid-19 patients is 3,120, and 465 are in Intensive Care. As
of March 9, in Romania, there are no Covid restrictions and no mandatory rules
to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Cases have been reported in other
European countries, including France, the United Kingdom, Italy and Austria,
after restrictions were lifted, but this has not lead to an increase in the
number of serious cases or deaths associated with COVID. The WHO has expressed
concern about a further increase in the number of coronavirus cases worldwide,
amid declining testing, easing restrictions and spreading misconception that
the increasingly widespread BA2 Omicron sub-variant would be harmless.

Energy.
The government in Bucharest on Friday
approved a new support scheme for energy consumers, which provides for capped
electricity and natural gas tariffs for one year. However, invoice compensation
will no longer be applied. The measure will provide citizens and the business
environment with price stability, while respecting the free market, Prime
Minister Nicolae Ciuca said. Thus, individuals who consume electricity up to
one hundred kilowatt hours per month will pay 68 bani per kilowatt hour, and
for a monthly consumption between 100 and 300 kilowatt hours will pay 80 bani per
kilowatt hour. The price for natural gas will be 31 bani per kilowatt hour.
Non-household customers would pay one leu per kilowatt hour for electricity and
37 bani per kilowatt hour for natural gas. Businesses that do not comply with
these tariffs will be fined. The impact of the support measures for domestic
and non-household consumers is estimated at 14.5 billion lei (about 2.9 billion
euros) by the end of this year. The Romanian Prime Minister has also said that
measures are being taken to identify new sources of energy and gas supply.

Refugees. The number of Ukrainian refugees crossing
Romania’s borders in the past three weeks since the beginning of the conflict
has reached half a million. Almost 80 thousand have chosen to remain in
Romania. According to official data, 32 thousand of them are minors and 70% of
the accommodation facilities provided for them have been occupied. Authorities
and civil society are making efforts secure proper accommodation conditions,
food, medical assistance and education for children. A lot of companies have
come up with job offers for the refugees. The European Commission has decided
to earmark special funds for Romania in order to help it cope with the large
number of refugees.

Ukraine.
Ukraine still has control over the key
areas of the country that Russian forces are trying to conquer, Ukrainian
President Volodymyr Zelensky has announced. Russian missiles have hit an area near Lviv’s
airport in western Ukraine, where an aeronautical plant was destroyed. Local
authorities say the airport itself has not been attacked, Reuters and AFP
report. At least 30 people have been killed. Representatives of the US
Department of Defense have warned that the Russian troops are intensifying their
attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine. In another move, the Deputy Secretary
General of NATO, the Romanian Mircea Geoana, has stated that Russia has 75% of
its total military forces blocked in Ukraine and no risks to the security of
allied countries are anticipated, including from this point of view. He has also
said that despite the beginning of a diplomatic dialogue, the signals are that
Russia will continue the assault on three strategic directions around Kyiv, and
the conflict will continue, claiming more victims. In fact, President Vladimir
Putin justified the invasion of Ukraine on Friday, promising the tens of
thousands of his supporters gathered at Moscow’s Lujniki Stadium, and waving
the national flag, that his goals would be achieved.

Corruption.
European Chief Prosecutor Laura Codruţa
Kövesi paid a visit to Ukraine on Friday, where she met with the country’s
Attorney General, Irina Venediktova, and conveyed EPPO’s support for the
Ukrainian colleagues. The whole world is witnessing the suffering, despair and
destruction that the war launched by the Russian Federation against Ukraine is
causing to your millions of compatriots. We are overwhelmed by the example you
set, by the decision of the Ukrainian Prosecutor’s Office to continue working
under siege. Kovesi stressed that the investigations of Ukrainian prosecutors
into war crimes and crimes against humanity will be essential in moving the
wheels of international justice. During the visit, a mechanism was signed
setting the foundation of a tight cooperation for the protection of the EU’s
and Ukraine’s financial interests. At
the same time, under this document Kiev recognizes the EPPO as the competent
authority. Ukraine’s Attorney General Irina Venediktova said that Laura Kövesi
is the first European official visiting the country during this difficult
period. Our legal fron its expanding, and this means that the victory of
justice is inevitable, Venediktova wrote on Facebook.

Sport. Romania’s national handball side lost
to Macedonia 22-30 in Skopje on Thursday night in the second round of the
preliminaries for World Championships 2023. The second fixture of this play-off
is due in Bucharest on Saturday and the winner will be up against the Czech
Republic in the next stage of the preliminaries. Also on Saturday, Romania’s
national fifteen takes on the Netherlands in their last game in Rugby Europe
Championship 2022, the second most prestigious competition after the famous Six
Nations. Romania must win in order to come third in World Cup preliminaries and
secure a place in November’s qualifiers.(MI)