February 24, 2022 UPDATE

A roundup of local and foreign news.

Newsroom, 24.02.2022, 20:59

UKRAINE — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called for a general mobilisation of the Ukrainian troops on Thursday, in the context of the Russian military aggression against his country. He previously introduced martial law and announced the suspension of diplomatic ties with Russia. According to local police, Russia launched hundreds of attacks at the beginning of the invasion, all throughout the country. According to Kyiv, there is heavy fighting all along the border with Russia. Reuters cited the Ukrainian Defence Ministry as saying that the Russian troops took prisoners during the fighting. There are also reports of human casualties. In turn, the Russian Defence Ministry announced that it stroke Ukrainian military infrastructure with high precision weapons and promised that inhabited areas will not be targeted. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that civilians in the pro-Russian separatist regions in the east of Ukraine must be protected. He again argued that the West did not met Russia’s security demands, which included guarantees that Ukraine would not join NATO. According to international news agencies, blasts were heard near the capital Kiev, in the eastern border town of Harkov, in Maryupol, in the south and in Odessa, the largest Ukrainian Black Sea port. Ukraine says it was attacked simultaneously from Belarus, Russia and the occupied Crimea, and that the enemy suffered great loss. The Western world has firmly condemned Russia’s attack. NATO has activated its defence plans and will deploy more troops in its member states in Eastern Europe. On Friday NATO leaders will discuss, during a virtual emergency summit, the alliance’s response to the “full-scale military invasion against Ukraine,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said. He also said there are over 100 military jets on high alert protecting NATO airspace, as well as 120 warships from the North Sea to the Mediterranean. “What we do is defensive,” Stoltenberg explained, adding that NATO does not plan to send NATO troops to Ukraine.

REACTIONS – Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, after a meeting on Thursday of the Higher Defence Council, firmly condemned Russia’s unjustified aggression on the neighbouring Ukraine. The head of state said that the only solution to overcome the current crisis is the diplomatic one, and that Romania will not be drawn in a military conflict in Ukraine. Iohannis gave assurances that Romanians should not be concerned over their safety, given the country’s NATO membership, which is a very solid “security umbrella”. Previously, the Romanian Government and the entire political class firmly condemned Moscow’s military action against Ukraine, while PM Nicolae Ciuca convened, at Cabinet level, the task force that monitors the situation generated by the Russian military aggression. The Government announced it also monitors the inflows and outflows of natural gas on all routes in the country, being ready to take the necessary measures depending on the evolution of things. Moreover, all relevant government structures are prepared to take over, if needed, the wave of refugees from Ukraine. Also in Bucharest, the Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu announced that he instructed the Romanian Permanent Delegation to NATO to ask for the activation of Article 4 of the Washington Treaty, which puts in place a consultation mechanism among allies, in the context of the conflict in Ukraine.

ENERGY — A new support scheme for subsidizing electricity and natural gas bills was made public on Thursday by the Romanian PM Nicolae Ciuca. The new scheme will apply as of April 1st when the current support scheme expires, and consists in a set of mechanisms aimed at protecting the population and the economy. The PM said that household consumers will have fixed tariffs, depending on the monthly consumption, just like the SMEs, public institutions, hospitals, schools, kindergartens, churches and NGOs. There will be different schemes for large consumers. All these measures will cost the Government around 3 billion euros until the end of the year.

JUDICIARY – In Bucharest, the Senate’s legal committee passed, with a majority of votes, the report of acceptance, with amendments, of the draft law on the dismantling of the Special Section for the Investigation of Offenses in the Judiciary. The document had been initiated by the Government and was green lighted last week by the Chamber of Deputies. The dismantling of the Special Section is an objective assumed under the governing programme and the Mechanism of Cooperation and Verification. The draft law will most likely be debated on Monday, in the Senate’s plenary sitting. (EE)