May 16, 2022

Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 16.05.2022, 14:25

CENSUS Romania has extended its online
self-census for another two weeks, until 27 May. Authorities have made this
decision after the finalized forms rose by 450 thousand a day. Over 8.4 million
Romanians have so far filled in the online forms and those who do not want or
cannot do the self-review online are to be reviewed at home between 31 May and 17
July.

NATO Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson is
today seeking Parliament support for an application to join NATO, after the
ruling Social Democratic Party dropped its long-standing opposition to
membership, Reuters and AFP say. Last week, Finnish president Sauli Niisto and
Prime Minister Sanna Marin announced that Helsinki would apply for NATO
membership without delay. Andersson said that NATO entry was the best thing
for the security of Sweden and the Swedish people.

COVID-19 The fourth dose of the anti-Covid vaccine has become available in
Romania as of Monday. The inoculation is on request and can be done at
vaccination centers across the country and by family physicians. The vaccine,
produced by Pfizer-BioNTech, is recommended to people over 60 years old, but is
also available to any major individual at least four months after the end of
the three-doses vaccination scheme with a messenger RNA vaccine. The number of
newly-vaccinated people is still very low against the background of the diminishing
medical crisis. Since the onset of the pandemic in Romania, more than two years
ago, the virus has killed over 65 thousand people.

REFUGEES About 78
hundred Ukrainians entered Romania on Sunday, 11 percent less than in the
previous day, authorities have informed. Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine
on 24 February roughly 950 thousand Ukrainians have entered Romania.

WAR Russian forces
have carried on their attacks in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, their main objective
after the failure they experienced in the Kyiv area. Russia has been trying to
entirely occupy the Ukrainian regions of Lugansk and Donetsk, partially
controlled by the breakaway republics with the same names. The Ukrainian army
has recently won the battle for Kharkiv, the country’s second largest city,
repelling the Russian troops to such a distance so that their artillery may pose
no real threat. According to the BBC, more than a half of those killed during
the Russian occupation of the Bucha region had been shot, in what a policeman
described, execution style. The bodies of more than one thousand civilians were
discovered in April after the pullout of the Russian troops. Moscow denies any war
crime allegations, but Ukrainian prosecutors say they have evidence
incriminating the Russian army.

LAW The offshore law
regulating the operations of oil exploitation in the Black Sea will be debated
upon in the Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest tomorrow, after having been
adopted by the senators in the form agreed upon by the ruling coalition. Under the
document, Romania will have priority in gas exploitation and the profit will be
divided between the Romanian state – 60% and investors – 40%. According to
Energy Minister Virgil Popescu, the law will contribute to curbing gas prices
for household consumers. The legislative council has called into attention the
project’s constitutionality issues through the inclusion of retroactive
provisions, while the Competition Council says that some provisions could be
discriminatory for some trade partners.

MEETING Romania’s
Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu is in Brussels to attend the meeting of the EU
Foreign Ministers. According to the Foreign Ministry in Bucharest, the EU
ministers will be having a thorough exchange of opinions on Russia’s illegal
aggression against Ukraine and will be having informal talks with Ukraine’s
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. Before the meeting, the Romanian minister will
join his European counterparts for the joint Ministerial Committee EU-Canada,
which will be presided by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and
Security Josep Borell and by the Foreign Minister of Canada Melanie Joly. Minister
Aurescu is expected to reiterate Romania’s support for the adoption of the
sixth sanction package against Russia and for the EU accession of the Republic
of Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia.He will be presenting the Romanian assessment
of the latest security developments in the region, including the recent
provocations in the breakaway region of Transdniester in the Republic of
Moldova.

(bill)