March 19, 2023 UPDATE

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Newsroom, 19.03.2023, 20:00

VISIT The president of Romania Klaus Iohannis, currently
on an official visit to the United Arab Emirates, Sunday travelled to Masdar
City, a model of sustainable urban development with solutions centered around
energy efficiency and environment protection. The Romanian official was presented
solutions for transport and urban cooling and ventilation, building energy
generation and optimum usage of natural light in schools and research
institutions. The solutions tested in Masdar City may be an inspiration for
other cities increasingly interested in sustainability, including in Romania. Contributions
to these solutions come, among others, from Romanian researchers as well,
affiliated to research institutes in Masdar City, the Romanian presidency said
in a news release. President Iohannis will be in the UAE until Tuesday, at the
invitation of his counterpart, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The main
goals of the visit include strengthening the political and diplomatic dialogue
on topics of mutual interest, encouraging bilateral economic relations, which
are already on a significant positive trend, and attracting investments in the
Romanian economy through projects in fields like infrastructure, energy,
climate change, cybersecurity and food security.

REFUGEES The Romanian Border Police Inspectorate General
announced that on Saturday as many as 86,342 people entered Romania using
border checkpoints around the country. Of them, 8,510 were Ukrainian nationals.
Since February 10, 2022, two weeks before the Russian invasion of their
country, nearly 3.8 million Ukrainian citizens have entered Romania. Most of them have
travelled further on to western European countries, but around 100,000 of them
have chosen to stay in Romania, according to the authorities in Bucharest.

DIPLOMACY The Romanian diplomacy chief Bogdan Aurescu takes part on
Monday in the Foreign Affairs Council, a meeting of EU foreign ministers in
Brussels. He will also attend the joint meeting of EU foreign and defence
ministers, as well as in a conference of international donors for Turkey and
Syria, in the aftermath of the February earthquakes. The Foreign Affairs
Council will focus on Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, the dialogue between
Belgrade and Pristina, the situation in Tunisia and the latest developments in
Iran. Bogdan Aurescu will plead for continuing multidimensional support for Ukraine,
both at EU level and from the member states, with a focus on the quick
provision of military equipment and training for the Ukrainian army. According
to the Romanian foreign ministry, Mr. Aurescu will also support a consolidation
of the sanctions against Russia and a more efficient implementation of current
restrictions.

MILITARY Over 3,000 troops from Romania and 12 Allied and partner
states will take part in the Sea Shield 2023 multinational exercise, the most
complex event planned and spearheaded by the Romanian Navy this year. Taking
part in the event between March 20 and April 2 are forces from Albania,
Bulgaria, France, Georgia, Greece, Poland, Portugal, UK, the Netherlands, the Republic
of Moldova, Romania, the US and Turkey. The exercise contributes to promoting
Romania’s interests and initiatives at regional and international level, as
well as to enhancing inter-operability among the participating countries. Sea
Shield, a complex concept designed for the training of NATO forces, was
proposed by Romania at NATO’s summit in Warsaw in 2016, to boost security on
the Eastern flank.

HANDBALL Romania’s women’s handball champions, Rapid Bucharest, were
defeated on Sunday by Slovenia’s Krim Ljubljana, 29-24, in the first leg of the
playoffs for the Champions’ League quarter-finals. The second leg takes place
in Bucharest. This is Rapid’s first presence in the Champions’ League, and the
match against the Slovenian champions is also the team’s first march in European
competitions with the Danish manager Kim Rasmussen, who replaced Carlos Viver (Spain).
If they qualify into the quarter-finals, Rapid will be facing Kristiansand (Norway).
Romania’s vice-champions, CSM Bucharest, have already qualified into the
quarter-finals, where they will take on the winner of the playoff between the
French side Brest and the Danish team Esbjerg. (AMP)