March 1, 2022 UPDATE

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Newsroom, 01.03.2022, 20:27

UKRAINE The European Parliament, which convened
on Tuesday in a special session devoted to the situation in Ukraine, endorsed a
resolution ‘inviting the EU institutions to take action in order to grant
Ukraine the status of candidate to joining the EU. The resolution firmly
condemns the illegal invasion of Ukraine and calls on Moscow to cease all its
military actions in Ukraine. The MEPs have reminded Russia its international
obligations and caution against the danger of nuclear escalation. Ukrainian
president Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday called on the European Union to prove
that it is on Ukraine’s side in this war against Russia, a day after the
country had officially applied for joining the bloc. According to Zelensky,
Ukraine fights to be a fully-fledged member in Europe. The president of the
European Council, Charles Michel says the Union will have to seriously analyze
Ukraine’s application. ‘It is not only Ukraine that is under attack.
International law, rules-based international order, democracy and human dignity
are also under attack. This is geopolitical terrorism, pure and simple’, the EU
official went on to say. NATO’s
Chief Jens Stoltenberg called on Russia on Tuesday to end the war in Ukraine
and withdraw all its forces. The NATO official has also said that the alliance
will not send troops or jet fighters to support Ukraine, as it doesn’t want to
become part of the conflict. The G7 finance ministers on Tuesday tackled fresh
sanctions against Russia, which is already under a series of measures seriously
affecting its economy. According to the Russian Defence Ministry, Russia isn’t
occupying Ukraine, but the West is using the Ukrainian people against Moscow. The
Russian army on Tuesday carried on its actions against Ukraine’s main cities,
Kiev, Kharkiv and Mariupol.

COVID-19
Romania on Tuesday reported almost 8,500 new Covid infections and 164 related
fatalities, including four from an earlier date. The incidence rate in Bucharest dropped to 22
cases per 1,000 inhabitants, while fewer than 1,000 Covid patients are in
intensive care around the country. The vaccine uptake is still low, with only
4,500 people receiving the vaccine in the last 24 hours. The health ministry
has proposed lifting a series of restrictions, following a constant drop in all
relevant indicators, health minister Alexandru Rafila said on Tuesday.

DRILL Almost 900 Romanian and American soldiers and over 70 pieces
of military hardware will be training together between 2nd and 10th
March at the Secondary Combat Training Centre for Romanian Land Forces in
Smârdan, in the south-east of Romania, as part of the Justice Eagle 22.1
exercise. The drill is based on an imaginary scenario adjusted for possible
operational threats and it involves T-55 tanks, the TAB-77 wheeled amphibious
armoured personnel carriers, Bradley armoured fighting vehicles and Stryker
infantry carrier vehicles, the Romanian defence ministry said in a statement.
The Justice Eagle multinational exercise is held annually in Romania and is
designed to increase interoperability among NATO forces and maintain the
ability to deploy and train together. The US military participating in the
exercise form part of the detachments deployed in Romania as part of measures
to strengthen tallies posture on the entire NATO eastern flank.

CSAT Speaking before the country’s Higher Defence
Council on Tuesday, Romanian president Klaus Iohannis again condemned Russia’s
brutal attack against Ukraine, a sovereign and independent state. Iohannis said
the we cannot accept for the map of Europe to be redrawn through violence.
According to the Romanian official, Russia’s aggression has caused an
unprecedented reaction of solidarity and Romania’s EU and NATO membership, as
well as its strategic partnership with the USA have been the country’s main
achievements in the past 30 years. Iohannis says that Romania needs to increase
its defence capabilities and for this reason 2.5 % of the country’s GDP will be
earmarked to defence.

(bill)