March 24, 2022 UPDATE

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Newsroom, 24.03.2022, 19:48

NATO – Attending the extraordinary NATO
summit on Thursday, in Brussels, the heads of state and government of the 30
member states approved 4 new combat groups in Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia and
Hungary. These will supplement the already existing 4 groups in the Baltic
countries and Poland. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said that
defense at sea and in the air will be strengthened, cyber security will be
strengthened, and the Ukrainian army will be equipped with anti-tank and
anti-missile systems, as well as with equipment for the detection and protection
against nuclear and chemical weapons. He said no troops would be sent to the
former Soviet republic. The allies are doing what they can to support Ukraine
with weapons so that the Ukrainians can defend themselves, but ‘we have a
responsibility to prevent it from becoming a war in Europe’, Jens Stoltenberg
said. On the other hand, NATO has urged China not to support Moscow
economically or militarily. At the same time, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was
condemned in the strongest possible terms, the Alliance calling on the Russian
President Vladimir Putin to end the war immediately, and requesting Belarus to
end its complicity. Present in Brussels, together with Prime Minister Nicolae
Ciuca, President Klaus Iohannis underlined that boosting NATO’s presence in Romania,
the Black Sea and the entire Eastern Flank is a strategic objective of Romania,
in response to the implications of the Russian aggression on the European and
Euro-Atlantic security, and this consolidated presence must be unified,
balanced and coherent, from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. US President Joe
Biden was also present at the summit, the second extraordinary summit of the
North Atlantic Alliance this year, after the one on February 25.

European Council – Romania’s president
Klaus Iohannis is attending, on Thursday and Friday, the European Council meeting
in Brussels. The US President Joe Biden has also been invited at the meeting as
a confirmation of the tight Transatlantic coordination against the security
background created by the Russian aggression in Ukraine. High on the agenda are
the latest security developments in Ukraine with emphasis on the EU political,
financial, material and humanitarian assistance to this country. Participants
will also tackle ways of providing assistance to the Ukrainian refugees, as
well as the Strategic Compass, an instrument aimed at providing a roadmap in
terms of security and defense at EU level. The European Council will also approach
the energy prices situation and the measures to support the most vulnerable
categories and the business environment, on short term.

Ukraine – The United States announced further
financial sanctions against Russia on Thursday, targeting the political world,
the oligarchs and the defense industry in response to the invasion of Ukraine,
and is strengthening coordination with Western allies to prevent Moscow from
using its gold reserves, AFP reports. These measures, which mainly involve a
freeze of their assets in the United States, involve more than 300 members of
the State Duma and the institution itself, as well as dozens of ‘large public
companies’ in the defense sector. Also on Thursday, the Russians and Ukrainians
exchanged prisoners, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereşciuk announced
on Facebook. On the ground, almost a month after the start of the Russian
invasion of Ukraine, fighting continues, and the damage is growing, as are the
casualties. Kharkov (northeast), the country’s second most important city, was
bombarded again. In Kherson (south), Makariv and Irpin (near Kyiv), the
Ukrainians regained key positions. Russian bombs continue to fall on Kyiv,
Nikolaev (south) and Chernihiv (center). In Odessa (Black Sea port) barricades
are being erected and aid is being distributed. However, the most dramatic
situation remains in Mariupol (port at the Sea of ​​Azov), a city bombed
incessantly for days on end and 90% destroyed. On the other hand, Ukraine
allegedly managed to hit with a ballistic missile a large landing ship of
Russian forces in the coastal city of Berdyansk (Sea of ​​Azov). Near the
landing ship, two other large Russian ships were allegedly hit and left the
port immediately.

G 7
– The leaders of the world’s most industrialized countries (G7) – US, UK,
Germany, France, Italy, Japan and Canada – meeting in Brussels on Thursday, warned
Russia not to use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons in its war against
Ukraine, according to a statement released at the end of the meeting. All
countries are ready to receive refugees from Ukraine, the statement read. As
regards energy, leaders are urging oil and gas-producing countries to act
responsibly and increase deliveries to international markets, adding that the
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) should get involved.
They also promised that G7 member countries would avoid bans on food exports.

Corruption – The former Romanian
Finance Minister Sebastian Vladescu was sentenced, on Thursday, by the High
Court of Cassation and Justice to 8 years and 6 months in prison for bribe
taking and influence peddling, in a case related to the assignment of a
contract for the rehabilitation of some railway sections. In the same case, the
former MP Cristian Boureanu received a sentence of 4 years and 3 months (previously
he had been given a suspended sentence). The decision of the magistrates is not
final. According to anti-corruption prosecutors, in the period 2005-2017, a
foreign company paid approximately 20 million Euros, as commissions, to
Romanian officials or persons with influence over them, in connection with the
conclusion and execution of contracts for railway rehabilitation. According to the
National Anti-Corruption Directorate, Sebastian Vladescu received the amount of
2.2 million Euros, and Cristian Boureanu obtained 2.1 million Euros. (LS)