April 13, 2022 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 13.04.2022, 20:00

VISIT – Chamber of Deputies Speaker, Marcel
Ciolacu, will visit Kyiv on April 27, official sources say. The visit comes in
response to an invitation extended by the Speaker of the Supreme Rada, Ruslan
Stefanchuk. Ciolacu will visit various areas affected by the war, including
areas where the Russian army committed atrocities. Marcel Ciolacu might also
address the Supreme Rada. Senate Speaker Florin Cîțu also received an invitation to Kyiv,
and the details of his visit are yet to be made public.

UKRAINE – The presidents of Poland, Lithuania,
Latvia and Estonia are in Kyiv for talks with president Volodymyr Zelensky.
Lithuania’s president, Gitanas Nauseda, said the delegation is delivering a
strong message of political support and military assistance. Meanwhile, Ukraine
and Russia are consolidating their forces in Donbas, which is now Moscow’s
primary target. In the south, the Ukrainian army announced a counter-offensive,
seeking to liberate several towns and villages. Close to Odessa, Ukrainian
forces have pushed out Russian troops far from the northern borders of the
Kherson Oblast, putting an end to the siege on this city. According to our
correspondent, the Ukrainian General Staff announced the threat of a missile
attack from the Black Sea remains real. Russian naval forces have isolated the
conflict areas in the Black and Azov seas and are carrying out reconnaissance
missions.

NATO – We will continue our efforts to
ensure the prompt, determined and robust response of the North Atlantic
Alliance to any possible challenge or threat, Romanian President Klaus
Iohannis said on Wednesday, also thanking all NATO allies for their presence in
Romania. The head of state visited the Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base 57,
together with the Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă and the Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo. NATO is
the strongest and most concrete security guarantee for member states, Nicolae
Ciucă said. The Romanian Prime Minister also said that an effective deterrence
and defense posture must be developed on the eastern flank of the Alliance. In
turn, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said NATO is a defensive alliance, and
its member states are ready to defend their territory in case of an attack,
adding that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine represents a brutal assault on basic
EU and NATO values – freedom, democracy and human rights. A Belgian military
unit is currently deployed to Romania as part of NATO’s Response Force.

WORLD BANK – World Bank Group
president, David Malpass, is paying an official visit to Romania on Wednesday
and Thursday. According to a World Bank release, the visit is meant to reassert
the World Bank’s support for Romania’s efforts to ensure sustainable and
inclusive economic growth. David Malpass will meet representatives of the
public sector and partners of the World Bank. Furthermore, David Malpass will
also visit a project implemented with support from the World Bank in the field
of education, with a focus on the Roma community. The World Bank’s active
portfolio in Romania includes nine investment projects with a total value of
$1.8 billion and technical and analytical assistance services worth $124
billion.

REPORT – Impunity for perpetrators of
some human rights abuses was a continuing problem in Romania, whereas the
judiciary took steps to prosecute and punish officials who committed abuses,
reads the 2021 Report on Human Rights Practices for Romania, released by the US
Department of State. Still, authorities did not have effective mechanisms to
prosecute officials and delayed proceedings involving alleged police abuse and
corruption, with the result that many of the cases ended in acquittals, the
report further shows. According to the document, civilian authorities
maintained effective control over the intelligence service and the security
agencies that reported to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The report also
addresses the harsh conditions of Romanian penitentiaries, which are
overcrowded and fail to meet international standards. Corrupt practices
remained widespread in 2021 despite several high-profile prosecutions, the
report also reads.

COVID-19 – 1,600 new cases of COVID-19
infection and 36 related deaths were reported on Wednesday in Romania. Most new
infections were signaled in Bucharest. Right now, some 1,900 patients are being
treated for COVID-19 in hospitals, of whom 253 in intensive care units. (MI
& VP)