November 28, 2022 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 28.11.2022, 19:48

NATO. Romanian
President Klaus Iohannis has stated that, in the context of the war in Ukraine,
the North Atlantic Alliance needs to be strong and united more than ever
before. After a meeting with the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, he
said that he expected the meeting of the NATO foreign ministers, due on Tuesday and Wednesday in Bucharest, to
reconfirm this goal. In turn, Stoltenberg has stated that NATO will do
everything necessary to protect and defend all allies. He also said that the
foreign ministers will look for ways to further support Ukraine and to face the
Russian pressure in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Moldova and Georgia. As a neighbor to Ukraine, you have proven a generous host to over
1.5 million refugees. You assist with the export of millions of tons of
Ukrainian grain to help ease the global food crisis. And you provide
significant military assistance to Ukraine. We cannot let Putin win, the
NATO Secretary General said.

Serbia. The Prime Minister
of Romania, Nicolae Ciuca, had a meeting in Bucharest on Monday with his Serbian counterpart, Ana Brnabic,
with whom he discussed the need to revive bilateral dialogue and sectoral
cooperation. The Head of the Romanian Government emphasized the importance of
implementing projects in the field of energy connectivity and transport, through
the development of the Romania-Serbia gas interconnector and the commissioning
of the connection between the Timisoara – Moravita motorway and the Belgrade -
Vatin high-speed road. Regarding the issues related to the Romanian
community in Serbia, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca reiterated his special
appreciation for the Serbian authorities’ decision to unconditionally cede the
Luceafărul complex in Varset to the Romanian state. PM Ciuca
emphasized that this approach will contribute to the advancement of bilateral
relations and sectoral collaboration, reiterating the interest of the Romanian
side in the opening of Cultural Institutes between the two countries.

Schengen. Romania and
Croatia are ready for accession to the Schengen Area, is the conclusion of the
meeting between the Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bogdan Aurescu, and
his Croatian counterpart, Gordan Radman, who is visiting Bucharest. Minister
Aurescu said that both states are part of the solution that the European Union
needs at this moment to strengthen its external borders and manage migration. The
two officials also discussed the strengthening of bilateral political and
economic relations, the promotion of joint projects, but also the security in
the region in the context of the war started by Russia in Ukraine. The visit of
the foreign minister of the Republic of Croatia to Romania marks 30 years since
the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

National Day. A solemn meeting of the
Bucharest parliament was held on Monday to mark 104 years since the Great Union.
Romania’s National Day will be celebrated on December 1st with a
military parade, in which over 1,500 troops and staff of the defense ministry,
the interior ministry, the Romanian Intelligence Service, the Special
Telecommunications Service and the National Penitentiary Administration, as
well as 120 pieces of military equipment, including 40 aircraft, will
participate. Also on December 1, more than 850 troops will parade in Alba
Iulia, including a French unit part of the NATO battlegroup deployed in Cincu,
Braşov County.

MLM. The transatlantic
unity in the context of the war in Ukraine was ‘a strategic surprise to
Russia’, said, on Monday, in Bucharest, the President of Romania, Klaus
Iohannis, in his address at the Munich Leaders’ Meeting. We are more united, more determined to protect
our core values: democracy, human rights, rule of law and the right of every
nation to choose its friends and allies. Unity means also solidarity. Our
solidarity with Ukraine must carry on in a coordinated manner. All partners
should continue to provide Ukraine with what it needs to defend its sovereignty
and democracy for as long as it takes, the head of state pointed out, in the
speech he delivered at the Munich Leaders Meeting.

Center. The Save the
Children organization has inaugurated, in Bucharest, the Counseling and
Integrated Services Center for Refugees from Ukraine, which provides assistance
to more than 7,100 beneficiaries, approximately half of whom are children. They
receive information and advice in the legal, financial, educational or social
fields, as well as other types of services. The center has a mother and child unit,
spaces for children and places for teenagers. There are specialists who can
offer counseling and individual or group therapy, and non-food products are
distributed to those who need them. They can also benefit from financial
support, mostly vouchers, but also cash. International studies show that 50% of
the children who fled Ukraine for fear of war suffer from anxiety, and the figure
is even higher, close to 75 percent, in the case of teenagers above 16. Although
attending school reduces the risk of feeling alone, the rate of participation
in classes is worryingly low, Save the Children specialists say. Official data provided
by the Ministry of Educations show that, in Romania, approximately 3,000
applications for enrollment of refugee children from Ukraine in the national
education system have been registered so far. (MI)