TALKS – NATO’s eastern flank must be consolidated in the Baltic Sea
\narea in the context of the war in Ukraine in order to prevent any conflict in
\nthis area, Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis said on Tuesday at the end of
\ntalks held in Bucharest with his Bulgarian counterpart, Rumen Radev. President
\nIohannis also underlined that security and stability in the Black Sea region
\nare extremely important, and each riparian state has a responsibility to ensure
\nit. On the other hand, the two presidents also discussed about diversifying
\nenergy sources and transport routes, in the context of curbing energy
\ndependency on the Russian Federation. I have also underscored the importance
\nof rendering the Bulgaria-Greece pipeline operational as soon as possible,
\nKlaus Iohannis also said. Once finalized, the pipeline can be connected to the
\nBRUA pipeline, which is already operational, the president argued. In turn,
\nBulgaria’s president, Rumen Radev, pointed out the need for interconnectivity
\nbetween Bulgaria and Romania in terms of transport, energy, digitization and
\nnew natural gas connections. <\/p>\n
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MEETING – Romania’s Defense Minister, Vasile D\u00eencu, on Tuesday met his
\nBelgian counterpart, Ludivine Dedonder, at Base 57 in Mihail Kog\u0103lniceanu.
\nAccording to a Ministry release, the Romanian official referred to the
\nseriousness of the situation generated by the invasion of the Russian
\nFederation in Ukraine, which has fundamentally changed the European and
\nEuro-Atlantic security paradigm. Vasile D\u00eencu thanked his Belgian counterpart
\nfor the deployment to Romania of 300 military and equipment as part of NATO’s
\nRapid Response Force, a measure adopted at NATO level to consolidate the
\neastern flank. Another topic tackled during the meeting focused on Romania’s
\nactions to support Ukraine. Minister Vasile D\u00eencu spoke about the opening of the
\nlogistics hub in Suceava which helps send humanitarian aid from abroad to
\nUkraine, and also referred to the management of the flow of refugees. The
\nRomanian official hailed the good cooperation between Romania and Belgium and referred
\nto the excellent partnership with the Military Hospital in Brussels, which
\nhelped treat Romanian patients with serious burns. <\/p>\n
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WAR IN URKAINE – Almost all of Russia’s advance has been halted for
\nseveral days, despite sustained bombing, the US State Department said.
\nAccording to this assessment, the Russians have neither air superiority nor
\ncontrol over some of Ukraine’s major cities. On Tuesday morning, the center of
\nKyiv was shaken by several powerful explosions, but it is not clear if it was a
\nRussian attack or the noise from the Ukrainian air defense systems, BBC
\nreports. City residents are preparing for a possible siege. Ukraine accuses
\nRussia of bombing civilians. The head of the Organization for Security and
\nCo-operation in Europe (OSCE), Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau, has
\ndescribed Russia’s attacks on Ukrainian civilians as state terrorism. He
\nbelieves that Russian troops have begun to attack the civilian population and
\ninfrastructure to demoralize the Ukrainians. The diplomat called on Russia to
\nengage in dialogue in order to find a peaceful solution. On Tuesday,
\nnegotiations resumed, with Kyiv calling for a ceasefire and the withdrawal of
\nRussian troops from Ukraine. Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, mainly
\ndemanded that Ukraine remain neutral and demilitarized, the recognition of
\nRussia’s sovereignty in Crimea and self-determination for the separatist
\nrepublics in Donbas. <\/p>\n
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PIRANHA – The Bucharest Mechanical
\nPlant will be manufacturing Piranha 5 armored vehicles in partnership with
\nGeneral Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS). Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuc\u0103
\nand Economy Minister, Florin Sp\u0103taru, on Tuesday attended the ceremony that
\nmarked the signing of the association agreement. According to Minister Sp\u0103taru,
\nthis could signal a strategic and sustainable partnership between Romania and
\nthe United States. Romania has the necessary human resources, potential and
\nwill to reach the same standards as all other members of the North Atlantic
\nTreaty Alliance and the European Union, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuc\u0103 said. In
\nturn, Alfonso Ramonet, the president of GDELS, said this is just the beginning,
\nand that the company he represents would like to manufacture more products in
\nRomania. <\/p>\n
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REFUGEES – EU Health Ministers on
\nTuesday met in videoconference format to coordinate their actions in order to receive
\npeople wounded in the war in Ukraine, chronic patients and refugees from this
\ncountry. Health Minister Alexandru Rafila invoked the sanitary resources
\nRomania has already provided to the victims of the war in neighboring Ukraine,
\nand reiterated Romania’s decision to provide medical care to all refugees
\ncoming in from Ukraine. The Romanian official said special vaccination centers
\nwill soon be opened in the border area, where refugees can get vaccinated, a
\nmeasure aimed at preventing the appearance of new hotbeds. (VP)<\/p>\n
\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":[28945,36618,36619,32253,36617],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-105788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-klaus-iohannis","tag-piranha-vehicles","tag-refugees-from-ukraine","tag-rumen-radev","tag-vasile-dincu"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n