March 25, 2022 UPDATE

Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 25.03.2022, 20:06

LOAN The Romanian government on Friday
approved a non-reimbursable 100 million euro loan for the neighboring Republic
of Moldova. Romania thus wants to support the authorities in Chisinau in their
efforts to accomplish a series of development projects and reforms. In the same
session, the Executive decided to include 50% from the net profits of two
national companies, Romgaz and Transelectrica, into the state budget.

MEETING Romania’s
President Klaus Iohannis had a bilateral meeting with the German Chancellor
Olaf Scholz on Friday on the sidelines of the European Council meeting. The two
talked about further strengthening bilateral relations, with a focus on
economic and energy cooperation, as well as on Romania’s accession to the
Schengen area. ‘We continue coordination in relation to the security situation
and the ways to help the refugees from Ukraine, Klaus Iohannis wrote on
Twitter. Romania’s President attended the European Council meeting on Thursday
and Friday. On the first day of the meeting, he met with the Prime Minister of
Bulgaria, Kiril Petkov. Talks with the Bulgarian official focused on
coordinating the security situation in the region, helping Ukrainian refugees,
deepening economic and energy cooperation and accelerating interconnectivity
between the two countries. On Thursday, Klaus Iohannis also attended the
Extraordinary NATO Summit.

REFUGEES Roughly 3.7 million people have left
Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion on February 24th,
says a UN report published on Friday, which also confirms that the exodus has
slowed down of late. Over 10 million people, more than a quarter of Ukraine’s
population have left their homes. UN estimates that around 6.5 million people have
been relocated inside the country. Close to 90% of those who fled the country
because of the conflict are women and children. According to the Romanian
border police, nearly 10 thousand Ukrainian citizens entered Romania on
Thursday. Over 537 thousand Ukrainian refugees have entered Romania since the
beginning of the crisis.

COVID-19 On Friday Romania reported 3,725 new Covid cases in 24
hours as well as 41 related fatalities. 415 people are presently being treated
in ICUs across Romania, the lowest number in the past 3 months. No anti-Covid
restrictions have been applied in Romania in the past two weeks though the
country’s Health Minister Alexandru Rafila has recommended the observance of
individual protection measures.

GROUP The United States and the European Union announced on Friday the setting up
of a working group that will aim to reduce Europe’s dependence on Russia’s
fossil energy resources due to Moscow’s war against Ukraine, AFP reports. The US
is expected to supply the European Union with an additional 15 billion cubic
meters of liquefied natural gas (LNG) this year as part of an initiative
announced by US President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula
von der Leyen. Both the NATO and G7 summits were held in the Belgian capital on
Thursday, with the participation of US President Joe Biden. NATO has decided to
provide additional assistance to Ukraine and continue to strengthen the eastern
flank by sending four new multinational combat groups to Romania, Bulgaria,
Hungary and Slovakia.

UKRAINE The Ukrainian army’s counterattacks and the difficulties of the Russian
forces in relation to their supply lines have allowed Ukraine to reoccupy
cities and defensive positions up to 35 kilometers east of the capital Kyiv,
the UK Ministry of Defense was quoted by EFE as saying on Friday. The Ukrainian
forces are likely to continue trying to push the Russian army along the
northwest axis between Kyiv and the Hostomel airfield, about 70 kilometers from
the capital, according to British intelligence services which have data from
the ground. In southern Ukraine, the Russian forces are still trying to bypass
the city of Mikolaiv (Nikolaiev) in an effort to advance westward in the
direction of Odessa, according to the British Ministry of Defense. However,
their progress is slowed by logistical problems and Ukrainian resistance. The
humanitarian situation in the besieged city of Mariupol continues to
deteriorate, while Russia is blocking the delivery of humanitarian aid, the city
mayor said. Most of the city is now in ruins. About 100,000 people remain
stranded in Mariupol, and the large-scale evacuation efforts have failed. In
another development, the peace talks between the two sides are making little
progress in the key issues, Moscow’s Chief Negotiator Vladimir Medinski said on
Friday. However he admitted that some headway was made in secondary issues,
France Press Reports. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba said on Friday
that the negotiation process is very difficult and no consensus with Moscow is
envisaged in the present stage of the negotiations.

(bill)