March 7, 2022 UPDATE

A news update

Newsroom, 07.03.2022, 19:49

Bucharest – The Romanian Interior Ministry will be able to call back military personnel or police officers put on a reserve status, or whose employment contract was terminated, and other categories of personnel, to manage the growing flow of Ukrainian refugees at the cross-border points, according to a decision made Monday by the government. There are more than 80,000 Ukrainian citizens in Romania, of whom 30,000 are minors. The emergency ordinance approved by the Executive on Monday also includes a number of other measures to provide support and humanitarian assistance to children, adults, people with disabilities and all Ukrainians coming to Romania. According to the Border Police, since the outbreak of the war, over 260,000 Ukrainians have entered Romania.

Ukraine — Front lines in Ukraine have seen little change in the last 24 hours, on the 12th day of the Russian invasion, and despite heavy bombing, the capital Kyiv is still under the Ukrainian army control, just like Kharkov, the country’s second largest city, AFP and EFE news agencies reported on Monday. The Russian forces are continuing besieging the southern port city of Mariupol, where an attempt to evacuate about 200,000 civilians has failed, with Russians and Ukrainians blaming each other. According to Kyiv authorities, more than 11,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since the beginning of the invasion, but they did not mention the losses registered by their own troops. The latest death toll from Russia was announced by Moscow on Wednesday, with only 498 dead, way below the Ukrainian army’s toll. According to the UN civilian death toll published on Monday, 406 people have been killed since the beginning of the invasion. In the meantime, the number of refugees in neighboring countries has exceeded 1.7 million. The February 24th invasion caused the worst refugee crisis after World War II, sparked off the outrage of the international community and led to harsh sanctions against Moscow.

Canada — Canada will resume air policing in Romania, using six CF-18 aircraft, in July, the Romanian FM Bogdan Aurescu said on Monday. His Canadian counterpart Melanie Joly said the number of Canadian troops, at that moment, could reach 200. ‘We enhanced our presence on the Eastern Flank, we made a frigate available NATO and we are willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that the entire Eastern Flank and especially Romania are well protected, in the context in which we saw what Putins war did in Ukraine, your neighbors, Melanie Joly pointed out. Romania and Canada agree that strengthened alliances and partnerships are crucial to meeting current and future challenges, according to a joint statement signed Monday in Bucharest by the two ministers. According to the statement, the two countries will coordinate their efforts to strengthen the transatlantic relationship in all forms of cooperation.

Drill — The Romanian defense minister, Vasile Dîncu, had a working meeting on Monday with the defense minister of the Netherlands, Kajsa Ollongren, in the 57 Air Base from Mihail Kogălniceanu (southeast). Vasile Dîncu underlined the importance of strengthening the cooperation relations between the two parties, in the field of defense and security and welcomed the presence at Mihail Kogălniceanu of the military detachment from this country participating in the multinational exercise Rapid Falcon 22, together with Romanian and American soldiers. The objectives of this exercise are joint training, increasing interoperability and joint response capability, as well as developing functional relationships between the participating structures. The Romanian official condemned the war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, pointing out that Romania shows solidarity with the brave Ukrainian people and fully and unconditionally supports the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within the internationally recognized borders.

NATO — Elements of the Belgian detachment, part of the NATO Response Force (NRF) activated by the North Atlantic Council on February 25, arrived in Romania on Monday, the Romanian Defense Ministry informed. Last week, French soldiers and technical equipment from the 27th Mountain Hunters Battalion from Annecy arrived in Romania. The French battalion was the first ground element of the NATO Response Force deployed in Romania, following the decision of the North Atlantic Council on February 25. In total, 500 French and 300 Belgian soldiers will join the Romanian military as part of the measures to strengthen the Alliances Eastern Flank.

Covid — 19 – In Romania, the state of alert will not be extended after March 8. It was set up in May 2020, after a two-month state of emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. About 3,200 Covid-19 cases have been reported in the last 24 hours, and 32 related deaths. Nearly 3,000 people have been vaccinated against Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, of whom 485 with the first dose. Romania has the second lowest vaccination rate among the 27 EU members, after Bulgaria. (LS)