March 23, 2022 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news.

Newsroom, 23.03.2022, 19:56

NATO — Romanian President, Klaus Iohannis on Thursday will attend the extraordinary NATO summit in Brussels, the Presidential Administration has announced. The meeting is held in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine which has increased risks to regional, European and Euro-Atlantic security. The heads of state and government will address the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and decide on the next steps to strengthen NATO’s deterrence and defence. Speaking at a press conference ahead of the extraordinary NATO Summit, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg previewed the decisions that he expects leaders to take, such as declaring four new NATO battle groups in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia, strengthening NATO’s posture across all domains, providing additional support to Ukraine and stepping up support for other partners at risk from Russian pressure.

RULING – The Romanian High Court of Cassation and Justice on Wednesday ruled that former president Traian Basescu collaborated with the political police during the communist period. The ruling is final. The Court dismissed Basescu’s appeal as ungrounded, and maintained the initial decision taken by the Bucharest Court of Appeal in September 2019. The former president denies having collaborated with the communist political police and has announced he will address the European Court of Human Rights.

RECOVERY PLAN – The Romanian Minister of Investment and European Projects, Dan Vilceanu, said Wednesday that Romania will ask Brussels for another 6 billion euros under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. The total amount earmarked by the EU for Romania under the Plan is 29.9 billion euros, which will go mostly to reforms and investment.

UKRAINE – The humanitarian crisis in Ukraines besieged cities is deepening. According to the Ukrainian authorities, a significant part of Mariupol has been destroyed by shelling and some estimates speak of thousands of civilians killed in this city. Those still trapped have no access to food, water, electricity and heating and around 100,000 want to leave the area, Kyiv announced. A number of attempts to open humanitarian corridors have failed, because the ceasefire agreements were broken. The authorities are also speaking about a humanitarian disaster in Kherson, a city conquered by the Russian forces. News agencies note that the Russian forces seem to stall on all fronts and even to be pushed back in some places, including near Kyiv. According to Reuters, the Russian army has made some advances in the south and east. On Wednesday, Ukrainian president Volodymy Zelensky addressed the French Parliament asking its members to help put an end to the war and calling on French companies to leave Russia. Also on Wednesday, in an address to the Japanese Parliament, Zelensky asked Japan to increase the pressure of sanctions on Russia by imposing a commercial embargo on Russian products.

REFUGEES – The UN High Commissioner for Refugees is planning to open an office in Iaşi, in the north-east of Romania, to provide assistance to the Ukrainians fleeing war in their country. Physical individuals and companies who want to help Ukrainian refugees entering Romania can make money transfers directly to the General Inspectorate for Emergencies, in a special account opened for this purpose, the Bucharest Government has announced. Since the start of the war on 24th February, more than half a million Ukrainian refugees have crossed the border into Romania, over 2 million have fled to Poland and almost 370,000 to the Republic of Moldova. The World Health Organisation warned that around 500,000 refugees need medical assistance because they suffer from various conditions, including mental ones.

GAS – The European Union will propose member states to fill their gas storage to at least 90% of capacity before winter and is considering a cap on gas and electricity prices. According to France Presse news agency, the European Commission thus seeks to reduce purchases of Russian gas by two thirds. The International Energy Agency is also preparing a series of measures to reduce Europes dependence on Russian gas, said the US secretary of energy Jennifer Granholm. In Bucharest, energy minister Virgil Popescu said Romania will also secure its supply of natural gas for next winter from other sources, including the Black Sea, through the off-shore exploitation of a perimeter by the company Black Sea Oil & Gas. The project began two years ago, is about to be finalised and is estimated to provide 10% of the countrys gas supply by the end of the year.

CORONAVIRUS — Some 4,521 new cases of infection with Covid-19 have been reported in 24 hours in Romania, 619 less than the previous day, the Health Ministry announced. Since the start of the pandemic in Romania, some 2,8 million cases of infection have been reported, along with 65 thousand related deaths. After all restrictions were lifted in Romania on March 9, Health Minister Alexandru Rafila has recommended Romanians to further wear masks in crowded places and on public transport. Representatives of the World Health Organisation have announced that many of the European countries that lifted restrictions are now faced with a significant increase in infections. (EE)