March 4, 2022 UPDATE

Romania to end Covid-19 state of alert from 8th March./ Romanias top diplomat calls for reconsideration of NATO posture on eastern flank.

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Newsroom, 04.03.2022, 19:10

Pandemic.
President Klaus Iohannis said Romania will not extend the state of alert over
the Covid pandemic beyond 8th March. The pandemic is on a steep
downward trend and the fifth wave is about to end, he said. Earlier, he had a
meeting on the management of the pandemic with prime minister Nicolae Ciucă and other cabinet members. First declared on 20th
May 2020 after two months of state of emergency caused by the outbreak of the
Covid pandemic, the state of alert involved a series of restrictions which have
affected Romania’s economic performance and social cohesion. Since the start of
the pandemic, Romania has reported over 2.7 million Covid cases and more than
63,000 related fatalities, while its vaccine uptake is the lowest in the 27 EU
member states, with only Bulgaria doing worse in this respect.

NATO.
Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu on Friday called for the
reconsideration of the concept of NATO’s posture on the eastern flank. He was
in Brussels for a special meeting of NATO foreign ministers that was also
attended by the foreign ministers of Sweden and Finland and by the EU foreign
policy chief Josep Borrell. According to a statement
from the Romanian foreign ministry, talks focused on Russia’s military
aggression against Ukraine, the security impact of this crisis on NATO’s
eastern neighbourhood, in particular the Black Sea area and at European and
Euro-Atlantic level, and NATO’s response, with emphasis on measures to
consolidate deterrence and defence on the eastern flank. The Romanian minister
emphasised the serious, unprecedented security implications of Russia’s
violation of the rules-based international order for the Black Sea region and
at European and Euro-Atlantic level. He reiterated the need for significant
consolidation, at least in the medium-run, of the deterrence and defence
posture on the eastern flank, especially in the Black Sea, through the
deployment of allied forces and again called for the rapid creation of a
battlegroup in Romania. Aurescu also called for continued support for
neighbouring Ukraine and presented the measures taken by Romania, including the
establishment of a regional hub for the collection and delivery of humanitarian
aid for Ukraine. He said it was important to continue to consolidate support
for NATO partners Ukraine, Republic of Moldova and Georgia to enhance their
resilience.

OSCE.
Romania has joined a group of 44 states within the Organisation for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in activating the so-called Moscow Mechanism
for assessing the impact on human rights and the humanitarian situation of
Russia’s assault on Ukraine. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry, the
mechanism facilitates sending experts on the ground to collect data to document
possible war crimes, crimes against humanity and violations of international
law, international humanitarian law and OSCE commitments in Ukraine.

Moldova. The pro-Russia separatist regime in Transnistria, in the east
of the majority Romanian-speaking Republic of Moldova, again requested a
dialogue with the central authorities over what they called the definitive
settlement of relations based on the peaceful co-existence of independent
states and the signing of a comprehensive interstate agreement. Transnistria de
facto broke away with Moldova in 1992 after an armed conflict that killed
hundreds and which ended with the intervention of the Russian troops backing
the separatists. Transnistria’s request comes the next day after the Republic
of Moldova formally applied to join the European Union.

Earthquake.
Romania commemorated on Friday 45 years since the biggest earthquake on record
to hit Romania. Measuring 7.2 degrees on the Richter scale, it killed almost
1,600 people, mostly in the capital Bucharest, and caused damage estimated at
over 2 billion dollars at the time. Some 230,000 homes and hundreds of economic
structures were destroyed or damaged. Experts are warning that in the event of
a similar tremor, hundreds of buildings could collapse today in Bucharest. More
than 100 earthquakes over 3 degrees on the Richter scale occur every year in
Romania.

Handball.
The Romanian women’s handball champions CSM Bucharest will advance straight to
the Champions League quarterfinals, following the exclusion of the Russian side
CSKA
Moscow from the competition, the European Handball Federation announced on
Friday. The Romanian side will now be facing the Danish side Team Esbjerg. In the
men’s EHF European Cup, CS Minaur Baia Mare will no longer play the Russian
side HC Victor Stavropol in the quarterfinals, but will go straight to the
semifinals. The executive committee of the European Handball Federation decided
on 28th February to ban Russian and Belarusian national and club
sides from all continental competitions.

Tennis.
Spain lead Romania 2-0 in the Davis Cup qualifiers after Spain’s 18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz defeated Marius Copil of Romania in straight sets in
Marbella. In the first singles match, world no. 15 Roberto Bautista Agut
defeated Gabi Adrian Boitan, world no. 721. Saturday will see the doubles match
between Nicolae Frunză and Horia Tecău of Romania and Alejandro Davidovich
Fokina and Pedro Martinez of Spain, followed by the last two singles matches,
between Roberto Bautista Agut and Marius Copil and between Carlos Alcaraz and
Gabi Adrian Boitan. The winner will advance to the final stage of the 2022
Davis Cup, which will feature 16 teams divided into four groups. The two
best-ranked teams in each group with then take part in a final tournament in a
city still that is still to be decided. (CM)