March 26, 2022 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 26.03.2022, 18:57

NATO. US President Joe Biden said in Warsaw on Saturday that article 5 of the NATO treaty, which stipulates that an attack against one Ally is an attack against all Allies, was a sacred commitment for the US. Biden made the statement during a meeting he had with his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda, whose country is worried about Russias aggressiveness. Previously, Joe Biden, accompanied by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had a brief meeting with the Ukrainian foreign and defense ministers, Dmitro Kuleba and Oleksii Reznikov respectively. After the talks, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister said that Ukraine got new security assurances from the US. Before heading for Poland, President Biden attended in Brussels the G7, European Council and NATO summits. In another move, the US says the Russian army has now set as a priority the Donbas area in the pro-separatist east of the country, in a possible attempt to increase its bargaining power in the negotiations with Kiev and encircle the Ukrainian troops on the Eastern Front.

Energy. EU leaders decided on Friday to give the European Commission the mandate to make joint purchases of gas, following the model of COVID-19 vaccine orders, in the context in which the war in Ukraine leads to rising energy prices, FP reports. The 27 members and the Commission will work together urgently on voluntary purchases of gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and hydrogen, taking advantage of the EUs economic share to benefit from better prices, according to the conclusions drawn at the Brussels summit. The European Commission has begun negotiations with major producing countries (Norway, Qatar, Algeria) and on Friday announced an agreement with the United States to increase its supply of liquefied natural gas to the EU. The EUs procurement platform will also be open to the Western Balkan countries, as well as to the three countries linked with the EU through association agreements (Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia). At the meeting, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis stressed the need for reducing energy dependence on Russia, diversifying the energy sources and routes, and finalizing the energy interconnections at EU level. The Bucharest leader also said that European optimization solutions should aim at separating electricity prices from gas prices, in order to avoid the contagion effect.

Refugees. The Romanian Minister of Health, Alexandru Rafila, has said that the number of requests for medical assistance from people coming from Ukraine is low. 80 refugees are currently hospitalized in Romania, Rafila said after the meeting convened by Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca on the measures that Romania is managing following the Russian military aggression in Ukraine. The Minister of Education, Sorin Cimpeanu, has announced that the number of Ukrainian students attending Romanian schools will be 1,140 at the beginning of next week, out of a total of almost 34,000 minors who have arrived in the country since the start of the conflict. He added that the second category, which is the most numerous, is that of Ukrainian students who want to continue schooling according to the Ukrainian curriculum, and for this they need logistical support, first of all, from the Romanian schools. More than 8,600 Ukrainian citizens entered Romania on Friday, according to the Border Police General Inspectorate. Their number is down 13% from the previous day. Since the outbreak of the war, almost 550,000 Ukrainian citizens have crossed Romanias borders.

Visit. Energy, international finance, growth and security developments in the Black Sea region are among the topics on the agenda of the meetings of the Romanian Senate delegation, led by Florin Citu, who is on a working visit to the United States. On Saturday, the talks in Washington with Derek Chollet, a State Department political adviser, focused on identifying new areas and opportunities for cooperation with the United States. Florin Citu reiterated the need to strengthen NATOs Eastern Flank, including by strengthening the presence of US military forces, and conveyed Romanias commitment to increase defense spending to 2.5% of GDP and intensify cooperation with the US to develop the capabilities of the Romanian armed forces. Other topics of discussion were related to ensuring European energy security and Romanias role in this process, namely the inclusion of Romania in the Visa Waiver Program as soon as possible. The visit, which will end on March 30, includes meetings with representatives of the US Legislature, the business environment, as well as with the Romanian community in the area.

Covid-19. 3,100 new cases of Sars-CoV-2 infections have been registered in Romania in the past 24 hours, 625 less than the day before. Also, 28 related deaths were reported, of which 6 from the previous reporting period. 400 Covid-19 patients are currently in intensive care.

EarthHour. Institutions and companies in more than 190 countries decided to turn off power for one hour part of the annual Earth Hour event. Earth Hour is a global event organized by WWF International on the last Saturday in March each year. This action aims to raise consumer awareness of the problem of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere when producing electricity. In Bucharest, the Presidential Administration, the Palace of Parliament and the City Hall are among the institutions that decided to mark Earth Hour by turning off power.

DST. On Sunday morning, Romania switches to the daylight saving time. So, 3:00 a.m. becomes 4:00 p.m., and Sunday, March 27th will be the shortest day of the year. The introduction of daylight saving time was aimed at increasing the number of hours in which people enjoy natural sunlight. The national railway company, CFR Calatori has informed that this does not change the regular timetable. The difference between Romanias official time and GMT universal time will be three hours compared to two hours during winter time. (MI)