July 11, 2023 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 11.07.2023, 19:43

Summit. NATO will
extend an invitation to Ukraine to join this military alliance when members agree and conditions are met, NATO
secretary general Jens Stoltenberg told a press conference at the NATO
summit under way in Vilnius. He said the decision was taken to give up a
roadmap for Ukraine’s accession, with this process to take place instead in one
step. The NATO summit in Vilnius is very important for Romania’s priority
objectives, said Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis ahead of the meeting. He
said he would support additional measures to consolidate the eastern flank on
all operational components. Our objectives, he explained, have to do, first
of all, with the Alliance’s new deterrence and defence posture and which is
based on the concept of forward defence. This concept was announced in Madrid
and implies a NATO presence that is consolidated in all respects. He also said
the adoption of regional defence plans are a central element, allowing for an
effective NATO response to two major threats: Russia and terrorism. Speaking
about the situation of the Republic of Moldova, he said he would send a clear
message in support of consolidating the defence capacity and resilience of
this majority-Romanian speaking state. He also hailed Ankara’s decision to
support Sweden’s entry into NATO and voiced hope that this process would be
finalised as soon as possible.

Missiles. France will
supply long-range SCALP missiles to Ukraine to support the latter’s
counteroffensive against the Russian army and help it defend its territory,
said France’s president Emmanuel Macron on arriving in Vilnius for the NATO
summit. Kyiv has for some time asked its allies to provide long-range missiles
and combat aircraft to aid its troops in their efforts to free Russian-occupied
territory. Recently, the US promised to deliver cluster bombs, despite this
type of ammunition being widely banned for humanitarian reasons.

Demographics. Population ageing
is a growing phenomenon in Romania, according to the National Institute for Statistics.
In a press release on World Population Day, the Institute expects the young
population of Romania, consisting of pre-school and school children, to
continue to drop, reaching 3.12 million people by 2030 and only 2.15 million by
2060. Romania’s pre-school and school population currently totals 3.47 million
people. On January 1, 2022, Romania’s permanent resident population stood at
approximately 19 million inhabitants. According to Eurostat, Romania ranks 6th
at EU level in terms of the size of its resident population. With its over 83
million inhabitants, Germany has the largest population, while Malta has the
smallest, with some 520 thousand people.

Care homes. The Save Romania
Union in opposition has notified the European Commission about the scandal of
nursing homes near Bucharest where elderly residents were seriously maltreated.
The party has called for the activation of EU mechanisms to impose compliance
with human rights and the rights of persons with disabilities. Also on Tuesday,
president Klaus Iohannis described the situation as a national embarrassment
and called for the identification of all those responsible, whether because of their position or whether
they bear the political or moral responsibility. In the meantime, checks are
being conducted at all homes for vulnerable people in Romania.

Children.
Romania is yet to make significant progress to reduce road accidents involving children,
NGOs are warning. They say the biggest problem is failing to make sure children
are wearing seatbelts and use special car seats, both of which are mandatory
under Romanian law. Dr Alice Dona Mitu from an association promoting safety for
children in cars says Romania still lacks a clear strategy with respect to
transporting children in cars and that the situation is even worse than in
previous years because traffic has grown. (CM)