Pandemic.
\nPresident Klaus Iohannis said Romania will not extend the state of alert over
\nthe Covid pandemic beyond 8th March. The pandemic is on a steep
\ndownward trend and the fifth wave is about to end, he said. Earlier, he had a
\nmeeting on the management of the pandemic with prime minister Nicolae Ciuc\u0103 and other cabinet members. First declared on 20th
\nMay 2020 after two months of state of emergency caused by the outbreak of the
\nCovid pandemic, the state of alert involved a series of restrictions which have
\naffected Romania’s economic performance and social cohesion. Since the start of
\nthe pandemic, Romania has reported over 2.7 million Covid cases and more than
\n63,000 related fatalities, while its vaccine uptake is the lowest in the 27 EU
\nmember states, with only Bulgaria doing worse in this respect. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
NATO.
OSCE.
<\/p>\n
Moldova. The pro-Russia separatist regime in Transnistria, in the east
<\/p>\n
Earthquake.
<\/p>\n
Handball.
<\/p>\n
Tennis.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Romania to end Covid-19 state of alert from 8th March.\/ Romanias top diplomat calls for reconsideration of NATO posture on eastern flank.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":105194,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[29572,13794,35416,28939,28905],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-105763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-handball","tag-nato","tag-pandemic","tag-tennis","tag-ukraine"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nRomanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu on Friday called for the
\nreconsideration of the concept of NATO’s posture on the eastern flank. He was
\nin Brussels for a special meeting of NATO foreign ministers that was also
\nattended by the foreign ministers of Sweden and Finland and by the EU foreign
\npolicy chief <\/strong>Josep Borrell. According to a statement
\nfrom the Romanian foreign ministry, talks focused on Russia’s military
\naggression against Ukraine, the security impact of this crisis on NATO’s
\neastern neighbourhood, in particular the Black Sea area and at European and
\nEuro-Atlantic level, and NATO’s response, with emphasis on measures to
\nconsolidate deterrence and defence on the eastern flank. The Romanian minister
\nemphasised the serious, unprecedented security implications of Russia’s
\nviolation of the rules-based international order for the Black Sea region and
\nat European and Euro-Atlantic level. He reiterated the need for significant
\nconsolidation, at least in the medium-run, of the deterrence and defence
\nposture on the eastern flank, especially in the Black Sea, through the
\ndeployment of allied forces and again called for the rapid creation of a
\nbattlegroup in Romania. Aurescu also called for continued support for
\nneighbouring Ukraine and presented the measures taken by Romania, including the
\nestablishment of a regional hub for the collection and delivery of humanitarian
\naid for Ukraine. He said it was important to continue to consolidate support
\nfor NATO partners Ukraine, Republic of Moldova and Georgia to enhance their
\nresilience. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nRomania has joined a group of 44 states within the Organisation for Security
\nand Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in activating the so-called Moscow Mechanism
\nfor assessing the impact on human rights and the humanitarian situation of
\nRussia’s assault on Ukraine. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry, the
\nmechanism facilitates sending experts on the ground to collect data to document
\npossible war crimes, crimes against humanity and violations of international
\nlaw, international humanitarian law and OSCE commitments in Ukraine.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nof the majority Romanian-speaking Republic of Moldova, again requested a
\ndialogue with the central authorities over what they called the definitive
\nsettlement of relations based on the peaceful co-existence of independent
\nstates and the signing of a comprehensive interstate agreement. Transnistria de
\nfacto broke away with Moldova in 1992 after an armed conflict that killed
\nhundreds and which ended with the intervention of the Russian troops backing
\nthe separatists. Transnistria’s request comes the next day after the Republic
\nof Moldova formally applied to join the European Union.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nRomania commemorated on Friday 45 years since the biggest earthquake on record
\nto hit Romania. Measuring 7.2 degrees on the Richter scale, it killed almost
\n1,600 people, mostly in the capital Bucharest, and caused damage estimated at
\nover 2 billion dollars at the time. Some 230,000 homes and hundreds of economic
\nstructures were destroyed or damaged. Experts are warning that in the event of
\na similar tremor, hundreds of buildings could collapse today in Bucharest. More
\nthan 100 earthquakes over 3 degrees on the Richter scale occur every year in
\nRomania. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nThe Romanian women’s handball champions CSM Bucharest will advance straight to
\nthe Champions League quarterfinals, following the exclusion of the Russian side
\nCSKA
\nMoscow from the competition, the European Handball Federation announced on
\nFriday. The Romanian side will now be facing the Danish side Team Esbjerg. In the
\nmen’s EHF European Cup, CS Minaur Baia Mare will no longer play the Russian
\nside HC Victor Stavropol in the quarterfinals, but will go straight to the
\nsemifinals. The executive committee of the European Handball Federation decided
\non 28th February to ban Russian and Belarusian national and club
\nsides from all continental competitions. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nSpain lead Romania 2-0 in the Davis Cup qualifiers after Spain’s 18-year-old <\/strong>Carlos Alcaraz defeated Marius Copil of Romania in straight sets in
\nMarbella. In the first singles match, world no. 15 Roberto Bautista Agut
\ndefeated Gabi Adrian Boitan, world no. 721. Saturday will see the doubles match
\nbetween Nicolae Frunz\u0103 and Horia Tec\u0103u of Romania and Alejandro Davidovich
\nFokina and Pedro Martinez of Spain, followed by the last two singles matches,
\nbetween Roberto Bautista Agut and Marius Copil and between Carlos Alcaraz and
\nGabi Adrian Boitan. The winner will advance to the final stage of the 2022
\nDavis Cup, which will feature 16 teams divided into four groups. The two
\nbest-ranked teams in each group with then take part in a final tournament in a
\ncity still that is still to be decided. (CM)<\/p>\n