September 23, 2022

Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 23.09.2022, 13:46

VISIT Romanian president Klaus Iohannis is today meeting Romanian
entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, USA. Iohannis earlier met members of the
Romanian community on the West Coast and told them that Romania is in a
complicated situation created by the war in neighboring Ukraine, but the
country is doing well and the economy is growing. According to Iohannis,
Romania has received nearly 2 million and a half refugees from that country and
has eased Ukraine’s grain exports. 60% of Ukraine’s grain exports have so far
been done via Romania and we are making efforts to increase this quantity -
Iohannis said. He said the almost 450 thousand Romanians who are living in the
USA are making an extraordinarily important bridge between the two countries.
The community of Romanians in the USA is the fifth largest after those from Italy,
Britain and Germany. We recall that on Tuesday and Wednesday Iohannis headed
the Romanian delegation attending the UN General Assembly.

MANDATE Romania’s Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu has handed over the
mandate of the presidency of Community of Democracies to the Foreign Minister of
Canada, Melanie Joly during a ceremony held in New York on the sidelines of the
UN General Assembly. Aurescu reviewed the highlights of the three-year mandate
of the Romanian presidency adding that during these three years, democracies,
human and international rights faced a lot of challenges, such as the Covid-19
pandemic and the unjustified military aggression against Ukraine. According to
him, under the Romanian presidency and with his support, a group of member
states on February 24th endorsed a declaration voicing their support
for the democracy, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its
internationally-recognized borders. At the same time the signatory countries
have firmly condemned the ongoing Russian aggression against Ukraine and have
unequivocally voiced their support for the Ukrainian people in its democratic
aspirations.

WAR
Ukrainian president
Volodymyr Zelensky has called on Russians to resist the partial military mobilisation
announced by president Putin. According to Zelensky, 55 thousand Russian troops
have been killed in this war. Want more? No? Then protest, fight back, run
away or surrender to the Ukrainian army, Zelensky says in a video message in
Russian language. He has accused the Russian citizens they are accomplices to
the crimes their troops are committing against the Ukrainians. Clashes between
the two armies have carried on both in the south and eastern Ukraine. In another
development, four regions in southern and eastern Ukraine, under Moscow’s total
and partial control, are to vote in a referendum to join Russia until Tuesday.
The polls, hastily organised after being announced this week have been widely
condemned in the west as illegitimate.

FOOTBALL Romania’s national eleven is tonight playing Finland in an away
game counting towards Group 3 in the Nations’ B League. On Monday, the
Romanians will be up against Bosnia in Bucharest, their last match in the group.
Some newspapers in Bucharest say this could be our national side’s last match
with selector Edward Iordanescu at the helm due to their poor performances in
the league, where Romania ranks last with only one win and three defeats, after
Finland, Montenegro and Bosnia.

REFUGEES Sources with the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Border
Police have announced that 82,152 persons entered Romania on Thursday, of whom
10,594 are Ukrainian nationals, 5.4% as compared to the previous day. According
to the same sources since February 10 this year, two weeks before the Russian
invasion, 2,388,009 Ukrainians have entered Romania.

(bill)