VISIT The Israeli foreign minister Yair Lapid thanked Romania, during a
\nvisit to Bucharest on Sunday, for the assistance given to Ukrainian refugees,
\nespecially Israelis, and praised the long-lasting Israeli-Romanian friendship.
\nHe called on the Russian Federation to resolve the conflict with Ukraine
\nthrough negotiations. We will do everything in our power to reach a solution
\nfor peace. We are working together with our allies-the US and European
\npartners-to try to end this tragedy as soon as possible, the Israeli foreign
\nminister said. In turn, the Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu reiterated
\nRomania’s commitment to providing continuing assistance for the evacuation of
\nIsraeli citizens and Jewish people from Ukraine. The severe multidimensional
\ncrisis caused by Russia’s illegal military aggression against Ukraine is not
\njust a regional problem, not only a European problem, but has effects on a
\nglobal scale, Bogdan Aurescu said. During his meeting with the Israeli
\nofficial, the Romanian PM Nicolae Ciuc\u01ce firmly condemned Russia’s unprovoked,
\nunjustified and illegal aggression in Ukraine, and praised the EU’s and NATO’s
\nstrong and unified response to consolidate the eastern flank and to guarantee
\nsecurity.<\/p>\n
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CONSULTATIONS The Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu is having political
\nconsultations in Bucharest on Monday with his Italian counterpart Luigi Di
\nMaio. The visit takes place in the context of Russia’s illegal military
\naggression in Ukraine and of Italy’s interest in supporting the management of
\nthe Ukrainian refugee crisis. Bogdan Aurescu and Luigi Di Maio will discuss
\nmeans to manage the multiple effects of the Russian invasion, on efforts to
\nstop the conflict, on sanctions against Russia and on consolidating NATO’s
\neastern flank. On the other hand, the 2 foreign ministers will discuss means to
\ndevelop and deepen the Romanian-Italian consolidated strategic partnership and
\nthe bilateral and sectoral economic cooperation.<\/p>\n
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FOODSTUFF The agriculture minister Adrian Chesnoiu once again promised on
\nSunday that Romania does not run the risk of a foodstuff crisis. In a meeting with
\nrepresentatives of retail chains and Romanian sunflower oil producers, he said
\nRomania produces enough food to cover the national demand. He also recommended
\nthat people refrain from buying more than they need, so that everybody may have
\naccess to basic food stuffs. The statements come after substantial amounts of
\nsunflower oil were purchased in recent days for fear that shops would run out
\nof this product. Speculations on the topic are fuelled by the fact that
\nwar-affected Ukraine is the world’s biggest sunflower seed exporter. Romanian
\nauthorities promised that Romania has sufficient foodstuff stocks, including
\nsunflower oil. Just days before, for fear of skyrocketing fuel prices,
\nunprecedented queuing was reported in petrol stations. The previous weekend,
\nforeign currency was heavily purchased in Romania, amid rumours that the
\nnational currency would plummet. Romanian authorities warned once again that
\nsuch fake news is designed to create panic among people.<\/p>\n
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CENSUS Beginning on March 14, for 4 months, data will be collected for a
\npopulation and household census in Romania. The operation is conducted every 10
\nyears and is necessary for the production of official national and European
\nstatistics. The census was originally scheduled to take place last year, but
\nwas postponed over the COVID-19 pandemic. This year brings a novelty, in that
\nself-census options are available. Self-census is done online, based on a
\nsimple procedure, according to the authorities. Citizens are to fill in an
\nonline pre-registration form at www.recensamantromania.ro, followed by the
\nquestionnaires for each member of the household. Those who do not want or
\ncannot fill in those forms will be assisted by census operators in door-to-door
\nvisits. <\/p>\n
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REFUGEES The Romanian transport ministry launched an app for the Ukrainian
\nrefugees. The app includes information in Ukrainian, English and Romanian on
\nthe green transport corridors in Romania, covering areas like the road, railway
\nand air network, customs, train stations, petrol stations and airports. Ukrainian
\nrefugees may travel free of charge in Romania, based on a government resolution
\nin this respect. Moreover, the emergency number 112 and the special children
\nemergency number, 119, are available for calls in Ukrainian as well. Additional
\nmeasures were taken in border checkpoints to prevent human trafficking. As of
\nFriday, another online platform has also been available, centralising
\nassistance offers for displaced Ukrainians. On Saturday, several cities in
\nRomania saw various solidarity actions with Ukraine. In Bucharest, the National
\nArena hosted a charity concert for refugees, with over 35 Romanian and foreign
\nartists taking part, which raised some EUR 800,000. Solidarity events were also
\norganised in Constan\u0163a, Ia\u015fi, Cluj-Napoca, Piatra Neam\u0163 and Roman. Around 400,000
\nUkrainian nationals have entered Romania since the start of the Russian
\ninvasion. Many of them have already left for Western Europe.<\/p>\n
\n
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UKRAINE Russian shelling continued in Ukraine on Sunday. NATO expects the
\nfighting and the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine to get worse in the coming days.
\nThe Alliance’s secretary general Jens Stoltenberg has once again called on
\nVladimir Putin to stop the war, to pull out all troops and accept
\ndiplomacy. In Vatican, Pope Francis voiced on Sunday his harshest
\ncondemnation yet of the war in Ukraine, saying that the unacceptable
\narmed aggression must end. Pope Francis added that bombing hospitals and
\nother civilian targets is barbaric and has no valid strategic reason.<\/p>\n
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\n
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COVID-19 1,626 new SARS-CoV-2 infection cases were reported in Romania for
\nthe past 24 hours. According to the health ministry, 26 related deaths were
\nalso registered on Sunday, 5 of them from a previous date. Over 3,700 patients
\nare hospitalised, 580 of whom are in intensive care. On March 9th Romania
\nlifted all Covid-related restrictions, and no more rules are in place to
\nprevent the spread of the coronavirus. (A.M.P.)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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