November 16, 2022

Newsroom, 16.11.2022, 19:41

INCIDENT – We
have no indication Russia is preparing a deliberate attack on NATO, the
Alliance’s Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, said on Wednesday at the end of
an emergency NATO summit called after a missile landed in Poland, killing two
people. According to the NATO official, Tuesday’s incident followed a massive
missile strike Russia launched on Ukraine. Since the start of the war in
Ukraine, NATO has increased its vigilance on the eastern flank, and we continue
to monitor the situation, Jens Stoltenberg added. In Bucharest, president Klaus
Iohannis wrote on social media that Romania is fully solidary with Poland, an
ally and friend, following the disturbing news related to the explosions on its
territory. The government also published a statement saying it is in contact
with its allies and is analyzing the situation generated by the landing of a
missile on Polish territory. The incident in Poland shows how difficult the
security situation is, but clarity is needed about the
circumstances in which it occurred and in this case there is no room for
speculation, foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu emphasized. The chief of defense
staff, General Daniel Petrescu had talks with his Polish counterpart, General
Rajmund Andrzejczak after the incident near Poland’s border with Ukraine.
We are in contact and are briefing each other. The Romanian Army stands
in solidarity with the Polish Army and supports the efforts of our Polish
comrades to adopt the necessary allied measures once the incident is
clarified, he posted on Facebook.

SCHENGEN – The European
Commission is urging the Council to take the necessary decisions without delay
to allow the full admission of Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia into the Schengen
area. The Commission also hails in a statement the successes of the three EU
member states in the application of the Schengen rules. The admission of the
three states is expected to be put to a vote in the EU Council at the beginning
of December, with a unanimous vote required for it to be adopted.

CONVOY – The
second convoy transporting military equipment from France, consisting of
Leclerc tanks, arrived in Brașov County on Wednesday. The convoy entered
Romania on November 14. The equipment addresses the NATO Battle Group Forward
Presence deployed in Cincu. The first convoy consisting of armored vehicles
arrived on October 23. The NATO Battle Group in Romania was set up in May by
pooling tougher several multinational elements of the NATO Response Force in
Romania. The Battle Group contributes to boosting military cooperation with
France and consolidating the Euro-Atlantic security on NATO’s Eastern Flank.

TALKS – Romania’s Foreign
Minister, Bogdan Aurescu, on Thursday will have a new round of bilateral talks
with his Luxembourgish counterpart, Jean Asselborn, the Romanian Foreign
Ministry reports. Minister Aurescu’s visit to Luxembourg will focus on
consolidating the excellent political and diplomatic dialogue between the two
states and furthering economic and sectorial relations. Talks will also address
the possibility to expand cooperation to other important fields where
Luxembourg can provide expertise and assistance, such as financial services,
IT, cyber security, green energy, research and development clusters,
agriculture and tourism.

HANDBALL – The Romanian
women’s handball team lost to Germany 28-32 in the last group fixture at the
EHF 2022 European Championship hosted by Slovenia, North Macedonia and
Montenegro. Romania thus ended the main group phase in last place. Romania had
previously lost all chances of advancing to the semi-finals after losing to
Montenegro on Tuesday, 34-35. Romania has taken part in every edition of the
European Championship except 2006. The best performance was the bronze medal
scooped in 2010. In the previous edition of 2020, Romania ranked 12. CM &
VP)