November 23, 2022 – UPDATE

Click here for a roundup of local and world news

Newsroom, 23.11.2022, 20:00

JUDICIARY The Romanian
President Klaus Iohannis has hailed the conclusions of a European Commission report saying that the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism in Romania’s judicial
sector would be lifted. A stage has
ended, but further efforts must be made as reforms are vital, Iohannis said. In
turn, PM Nicolae Ciuca said the European Commission’s report encourages the government
to stay on the path of supporting the independence of the judiciary and the
fight against corruption to the benefit of the Romanian society.

VISIT The joint
effort to support Ukraine and the strength of the Romanian-Latvian cooperation
were highlighted in Riga by the Romanian president Klaus Iohannis, in a joint
press conference with his Latvian counterpart, Egils Levits. The Romanian
official’s visit to Riga takes place in the context of the celebration of 100
years of diplomatic relations between the 2 countries. The two presidents also
discussed Romania’s Schengen accession. Klaus Iohannis emphasised that Romania
has never been and will never be a country that allows uncontrolled migration
through illegal border crossing. The president of Latvia highlighted the common
approach of the two countries with respect to the future of the EU and welcomed
Romania’s participation in the NATO air policing mission in the Baltic states
in 2023. On Thursday, Klaus Iohannis will be on an official visit to Lithuania,
in Vilnius, while on Friday he will take part, jointly with his counterparts
from Lithuania, Latvia and Poland, in a summit devoted to strengthening NATO’s
eastern flank and to supporting Ukraine and the R. of Moldova.

COOPERATION Romania and Spain are pleading for a more capable and
responsible European Union, one which is able to provide support and play a
relevant role in implementing the Strategic Compass, fully complementary to
NATO and avoiding redundancies, including in the current security context,
marked by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, reads a joint statement
signed on Wednesday in Castellón de
la Plana, Spain, by the heads of the Romanian and Spanish governments. Bucharest and
Madrid have also reiterated their commitment to a strong NATO, focusing on the
full implementation of the Strategic Concept adopted in Madrid, with special
emphasis on consolidating defence and deterrence on the eastern flank. The PM
of Romania, Nicolae Ciucă, was received with military honours in Castellon de
la Plana by the head of Spain’s government, Pedro Sanchez. According to Ciucă, bilateral relations are even stronger
thanks to the nearly one-million strong, highly integrated and active Romanian
community contributing to the development of Spain’s economy and society.

NATO – A meeting of NATO
foreign ministers will be held in Bucharest on November 29-30, 2022. The
meeting will be chaired by the NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg.
Attending will also be the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and
Bosnia-Herzegovina, as well as the foreign ministers of Finland and Sweden.

DRILL NATO troops
Wednesday conducted a military exercise to test the air and missile defence in
Romania, one week after a stray missile crashed in Poland and revealed
weaknesses in the Alliance’s air shield, Reuters reports. The French air defence
system deployed to Romania repelled a simulated attack by Allied fighter jets,
NATO’s Allied Air Command in Ramstein, Germany said. Taking part in the
exercise were Turkish F-16 fighter jets, Spanish Eurofighters, US growler
aircraft designed for electronic warfare and French Rafale jets.

FOOTBALL Japan produced the second big surprise of the Qatar football World
Cup, after defeating 4-times Cup winners Germany 2-1, on Wednesday in Group
E. Also on Wednesday, world vice-champions Croatia drew against Morocco,
0-0, in Group F. Another former world champion, Spain, takes on Costa Rica, and
Belgium plays against Canada. On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia stunned football fans
with one of the biggest upsets in the history of the World Cup, defeating
2-times champions Argentina 2-1. Also on Tuesday, the defending champions, France,
defeated Australia 4-1, while Denmark and Poland drew against Tunisia and
Mexico, respectively, 0 – 0. (AMP)