ROMANIA AND UKRAINE -
\nRomanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuc\u0103 has assured his fellow Romanians, in the context of the
\nUkrainian crisis, that all necessary institutional measures have been taken, in
\nkeeping with the decisions of the Supreme Defense Council. He explained that
\nthese steps were taken in coordination with the NATO allies and EU member
\nstates. Prime Minister Ciuc\u0103
\ncalled on the relevant ministers to keep monitoring the situation, coordinate and
\nremain vigilant. In another development, the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies
\nin Bucharest will convene in a joint session on March 1, to adopt a political
\ndeclaration in support of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and
\nindependence. On Tuesday, Cristian Chirte\u015f,
\nchairman of the Joint Standing Committee of the Chamber of Deputies and the
\nSenate for the exercise of parliamentary control over the activity of the
\nRomanian Intelligence Service (SRI), said that Romania’s security situation
\nfrom the perspective of the legal attributions of the Romanian Intelligence
\nService (SRI) is stable. He also said that, in the context of the Ukrainian
\ncrisis, cyber-attacks targeting critical infrastructure, Romanian ministries
\nand agencies, has increased.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
CRISIS IN UKRAINE -
\nOn Wednesday, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, signed a decree calling
\nup reservists aged 18 to 60. Kiev has also urged the West to impose additional
\nsanctions against Russia, which should target the economy and president Vladimir
\nPutin’s inner circle. The USA adopted what president Joe Biden has called a
\nfirst series of sanctions in response to Moscow recognizing the separatist
\nrepublics in Ukraine. We’ve cut off Russia’s government from Western funding,
\nthe White House leader said, adding that additional sanctions will target the
\nRussian elites and members of their families. The US president described the
\nlatest developments as the beginning of a Russian invasion, saying that an
\nAmerican battalion and several F-35 state-of-the-art jets will be deployed this
\nweek to the Baltic region and in Eastern Europe. Troops will be sent to
\nreinforce NATO’s eastern flank, not to fight Russia, president Biden also
\nargued. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
ROMANIA-GREECE RELATIONS -
\nPresident Klaus Iohannis on Wednesday met in Bucharest Greece’s Prime Minister,
\nKyriakos Mitsotakis. The two officials reiterated their strong support for the
\nterritorial integrity of Ukraine, condemning the actions of the Russian
\nFederation as violations of international law. The two also underscored the importance
\nof maintaining close cooperation at both EU and NATO levels. The meeting also
\nhighlighted the excellent relations between the two countries, boosted by a
\nseries of factors such as strong economic cooperation, an interest in expanding
\nsectorial cooperation, stepping up mutual investment and implementing energy
\nand infrastructure interconnection projects. President Iohannis hailed the
\nsigning of a Joint Declaration on strengthening bilateral cooperation, a
\ndocument signed by the prime ministers of Romania and Greece on this occasion.
\nPrime Minister Mitsotakis expressed his gratitude for the support Romania provided
\nin extinguishing last summer’s wildfires. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
COVID-19 – Romania reported on Wednesday 11,477 new
\ncases of Covid-19 and 119 related deaths, of which 9 from a previous date. Of the
\nnearly 9,000 Covid patients treated in hospital, a little over 1,000 are in
\nintensive care. In terms of vaccination, about 1,000 people had the first shot
\nin the last 24 hours. The Omicron variant becomes quasi-dominant in Romania,
\nwith over 95% of the results indicating infection with this strain of the
\nvirus, Health Minister Alexandru Rafila said. In his opinion, in about three
\nweeks the number of infections nation-wide could go down, with hundreds of new
\ndaily cases being expected instead of thousands, as is the case now. Minister Rafila
\nalso said a 6th wave of the pandemic is out of the question right
\nnow.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
INFLATION – The annual inflation rate in the EU
\nincreased in January up to 5.6%, from 5.3% in December 2021, according to data
\nmade public by the Eurostat on Wednesday. The member states with the highest
\ninflation rates are Lithuania (12.3%), Estonia (11%) and the Czech Republic
\n(8.8%). As compared to the situation in December 2021, the annual inflation
\nrate in the first month of 2022 went down in 8 member states and increased in
\n19 countries, Romania included, from 6.7% to 7.2%. Romania ranks 11th
\namong the countries with the highest annual inflation rates. The countries with
\nthe smallest annual inflation rates are France (3.3%), Portugal (3.4%) and
\nSweden (3.9%).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
FUEL – Ruling coalition parties have agreed to temporarily
\ncut the fuel excise by 50%. The measure reduces by 1 RON the retail price of
\npetrol and diesel, Finance Minister Adrian C\u00e2ciu has said. The proposal was supported by the
\nSocial Democrats, while their leader, Marcel Ciolacu, said the solution is
\naimed at preventing prices from going up. In turn, Liberal leader Florin C\u00ee\u021busaid his
\nparty agrees, in principle, with any measure that reduces the fiscal burden,
\nbut added that, if the retail price of fuel does not go down, somebody will
\nhave to take responsibility. The National Liberal Party (PNL), the Social
\nDemocratic Party (PSD) and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania
\n(UDMR) have also agreed to further subsidize electricity and natural gas bills
\nin the month of April. (EE & VP)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A roundup of domestic and international news<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":105208,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[36568,35374,36513,36569,36565,36567,36566],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-105711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-annual-inflation-rate","tag-covid-19","tag-crisis-in-ukraine","tag-fuel-excise","tag-prime-minister-nicolae-ciuca","tag-romania-greece-relations","tag-sanctions-against-russia"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n