May 12, 2022 UPDATE

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Newsroom, 12.05.2022, 20:00

NATO The
president of Romania Klaus Iohannis hailed Finland’s announcement regarding its
intention to join NATO, and says Bucharest supported the decision. Romania is
a firm supporter of NATO’s open door policy and stands ready to support Finland
in the process of NATO accession. Together we are stronger! Iohannis posted on
Twitter on Thursday. The president of Finland Sauli Niinistö and PM Sanna Marin Thursday spoke in favour of the
country’s joining NATO without delay, with the candidacy to be announced on
Sunday, AFP reports. As a member of NATO, Finland would strengthen the Alliance
as a whole, the two officials said in a joint press release. Finland’s
accession will be a threat to Russia, the Kremlin said in response. Three in
four Finnish citizens support the accession. A neutral state during the Cold
War, Finland joined the EU and NATO’s Partnership for Peace programme, but
remained outside the alliance. The decision to join NATO comes against the
background of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Finland shares a 1,300-km border
with Russia.

RULING The Bucharest Court of Appeals Thursday passed
its final ruling on the Colectiv case, after several successive
postponements. The former Bucharest District 4 Mayor Cristian Popescu-Piedone, currently
the mayor of District 5 of the capital city, was sentenced to 4 years in prison
for abuse of office. The club owners also received prison sentences ranging
between 6 and 11 years, while the 2 firefighters with the Bucharest
Inspectorate for Emergency Situations who inspected the Colectiv nightclub and
disregarded the workplace security legislation were sentenced to 8 years and 8
months in prison, and 2 pyrotechnics workers will also serve 6 years and 10 months
each. The manager of the fireworks company received a suspended sentence. The
October 2015 fire in Colectiv killed 64 people and injured many others. It
was the most serious accident in Romania since 1989. The tragedy forced the
government at the time to step down.

INFLATION The Romanian Central Bank has updated its
inflation forecast to 12.5% for end-2022 and 6.7% for end-2023, governor Mugur
Isarescu announced on Thursday. In February, the Central Bank estimated
inflation would stand at 9.6% at the end of 2022 and at 3.2% at the end of
2023. Inflationist pressure triggered by production costs is expected to go
down gradually. However, its effects will continue to be felt for around 12
months. Romania sees the highest annual inflation rate in the last 18 years,
nearly 14%, with the steepest price rises reported for natural gas (85%).

POLL One in two Romanians has considered moving to
another country after the start of the war in Ukraine, and the first options
would be Germany, France and Britain, according to data made public by a
recruitment platform. 12% of respondents are waiting to see how things unfold
and 11% believe the war will not affect us. Another 26% say they will not leave
the country irrespective of what happens next. The main reasons for moving
abroad are the wish to change the scenery and the country where they work
(38%), personal and family safety (24%), better incomes (21%), more
opportunities for professional development (14%) and the wish to work in a
safer environment, unaffected by war (4%).

UKRAINE A first Russian soldier will be on trial in
Ukraine for killing a civilian in the Sumy region. International teams of
prosecutors and investigators continue to probe into war crimes committed by
the Russian army, with more than 10,000 such cases pending. According to Radio
Romania’s special correspondent, investigators say the 21-year old Russian
soldier killed a Ukrainian civilian who was walking his bike along the sidewalk.
The soldier and other Russian troops were in a stolen car, after their unit had
been destroyed by the Ukrainian forces. The prosecutor general of Ukraine, Iryna
Venediktova, said there was enough evidence of his involvement in violation of
the laws and customs of war, including premeditated murder, and that he was
facing 10 to 15 years or life in prison. Experts from Poland, Lithuania and
France help the teams of investigators, and the cases documented so far point
to people being killed with no reason. Clashes continued on Thursday in the
north-east and south-east of Ukraine, with both sides announcing local-scale
advances.

NATURAL GAS The Romanian Senate passed amendments to the Offshore
Act, which green lights gas exploitation in the Black Sea. The ruling
coalition, which tabled the bill, says this is a much more balanced version of
the one endorsed four years ago. Tax changes have now been introduced in favour
of the companies concerned, and dependence on Russian gas would be
significantly reduced in a few years’ time. According to estimates, around 80
billion cubic metres of gas are in the Neptune Deep perimeter alone. The
national state-owned company Romgaz-the largest gas producer in Romania-and the
Austrian company OMV will extract gas from the Black Sea in the coming years. (A.M.P.)