June 7, 2022 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 07.06.2022, 19:50

NRRP – By the end of the year Romania is to receive 10 billion Euros through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, the Romanian minister of European investments and projects, Marcel Boloş announced after the meeting of the Monitoring Committee of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP). The first request for payment was submitted to the European Commission on May 31, and the Romanian authorities are preparing to submit the second request for payment worth three billion Euros in the month of October, the minister said. “The capitalization of the 30 billion Euros from the Recovery and Resilience Plan is a coordinated and coherent effort, with well-established landmarks, deadlines and responsibilities for each field. We have proven that we have succeeded to make this European financing mechanism operational in a short and not at all simple period for Romania and to make the first payment request. The pre-financing received, accounting for 3.7 billion Euros, added to the first payment request already sent to the European Commission and clearly shows that we are on schedule to achieve what we have set out to do” PM Nicolae Ciuca said. The first seven contracts, financed under the NRRP were signed on Tuesday in Romania.

NATO — NATO Secretary General, Jenst Stoltenberg will attend on Friday, June 10, the “Bucharest Nine” Format of the countries on the Alliance’s eastern flank, to be held in Bucharest. The meeting is co-organised by Romanian President Klaus Iohannis and Polish President Andrej Duda. Stoltenberg will hold talks with the Romanian and Polish heads of state and with the Hungarian President Katalin Novak. The B9 Format is held two weeks ahead of the NATO Summit in Madrid, during which the new strategic concept of the Alliance will be adopted. The Romanian Defense Minister, Vasile Dîncu, participated, on Monday evening, in a videoconference of the defense ministers of the B9 countries. Talks focused mainly on efforts to strengthen NATOs deterrence and defense posture on the eastern flank, the adoption of the Alliances new strategic concept and the evolution of the regional security situation.

MOLDOVA — Romania and the Republic of Moldova (an ex-Soviet country with a majority Romanian-speaking population) will organize a joint session of their parliaments for the first time, the Moldovan Parliament Speaker Igor Grosu said after a meeting in Chisinau with Marcel Ciolacu, the Speaker of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies. Igor Grosu said he was pleased that the first joint meeting of the two countries parliaments would take place in Chisinau, which is a clear sign of support for the current government. Marcel Ciolacu said in turn that Romania has always supported the Republic of Moldova and reiterated Bucharests commitment to supporting the country’s EU accession.

LONDON — The British PM Boris Johnson survived the no confidence motion tabled by his own party, the Conservative Party, in the British Parliament. Boris Johnsons victory was not a resounding one, with 211 MPs voting in his favor and 148 against. According to Reuters, Johnson performed worse than his predecessor, Theresa May, who also survived a no-confidence vote. Even though Boris Johnson is still in office, his position is much more fragile now, according commentators. The current crisis at the top of the British government erupted when the public found out that a number of illegal parties had been organized during the pandemic at the prime ministers residence. In fact, Boris Johnson was fined for these parties, becoming the first head of government in London to receive such sanction.

UKRAINE — Russian troops continue to intensely attack the Donbas front line, while Russia is becoming increasingly concerned about the prospect of Ukraines receiving long-range missiles from the West. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has demanded that the Western weapons promised to his country should be delivered as soon as possible, saying that the situation will become very difficult for Ukraine if the Russian forces break the front line in the Donbas region. Zelenski says that the Russian troops outnumber the Ukrainian troops, but that the Ukrainian fighters have so far managed to fight back. Heavy fighting is taking place on the streets of Severodonetsk, the last major city in the Lugansk province where the Ukrainians are still in charge. The Russian forces are also intensely attacking the city of Sloviansk in the Donetsk province, and Kharkov in the north. Radio Romania’s correspondent in Ukraine reports that the Russian army uses its favorite war tactic: intense bombing aimed at destroying the opponents positions, followed by massive assaults. Both the Russians and the Ukrainians claim to have caused huge losses to their opponents.

REFUGEES — Around 82,000 people entered Romania on Monday, of whom 7,500 Ukrainian citizens, up by 8.3% as compared with the previous day, the Romanian Border Police announced on Tuesday. Some 4,000 Ukrainians entered Romania through the checkpoint with Ukraine and some 881 through the checkpoint with Moldova. More than 1.1 million Ukrainian citizens entered Romania from February 24 up to present. (EE)