VISIT – Chamber of Deputies Speaker, Marcel
\nCiolacu, will visit Kyiv on April 27, official sources say. The visit comes in
\nresponse to an invitation extended by the Speaker of the Supreme Rada, Ruslan
\nStefanchuk. Ciolacu will visit various areas affected by the war, including
\nareas where the Russian army committed atrocities. Marcel Ciolacu might also
\naddress the Supreme Rada. Senate Speaker Florin C\u00ee\u021bu also received an invitation to Kyiv,
\nand the details of his visit are yet to be made public. <\/p>\n
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UKRAINE – The presidents of Poland, Lithuania,
\nLatvia and Estonia are in Kyiv for talks with president Volodymyr Zelensky.
\nLithuania’s president, Gitanas Nauseda, said the delegation is delivering a
\nstrong message of political support and military assistance. Meanwhile, Ukraine
\nand Russia are consolidating their forces in Donbas, which is now Moscow’s
\nprimary target. In the south, the Ukrainian army announced a counter-offensive,
\nseeking to liberate several towns and villages. Close to Odessa, Ukrainian
\nforces have pushed out Russian troops far from the northern borders of the
\nKherson Oblast, putting an end to the siege on this city. According to our
\ncorrespondent, the Ukrainian General Staff announced the threat of a missile
\nattack from the Black Sea remains real. Russian naval forces have isolated the
\nconflict areas in the Black and Azov seas and are carrying out reconnaissance
\nmissions. <\/p>\n
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NATO – We will continue our efforts to
\nensure the prompt, determined and robust response of the North Atlantic
\nAlliance to any possible challenge or threat, Romanian President Klaus
\nIohannis said on Wednesday, also thanking all NATO allies for their presence in
\nRomania. The head of state visited the Mihail Kog\u0103lniceanu Air Base 57,
\ntogether with the Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuc\u0103 and the Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo. NATO is
\nthe strongest and most concrete security guarantee for member states, Nicolae
\nCiuc\u0103 said. The Romanian Prime Minister also said that an effective deterrence
\nand defense posture must be developed on the eastern flank of the Alliance. In
\nturn, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said NATO is a defensive alliance, and
\nits member states are ready to defend their territory in case of an attack,
\nadding that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine represents a brutal assault on basic
\nEU and NATO values – freedom, democracy and human rights. A Belgian military
\nunit is currently deployed to Romania as part of NATO’s Response Force. <\/p>\n
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WORLD BANK – World Bank Group
\npresident, David Malpass, is paying an official visit to Romania on Wednesday
\nand Thursday. According to a World Bank release, the visit is meant to reassert
\nthe World Bank’s support for Romania’s efforts to ensure sustainable and
\ninclusive economic growth. David Malpass will meet representatives of the
\npublic sector and partners of the World Bank. Furthermore, David Malpass will
\nalso visit a project implemented with support from the World Bank in the field
\nof education, with a focus on the Roma community. The World Bank’s active
\nportfolio in Romania includes nine investment projects with a total value of
\n$1.8 billion and technical and analytical assistance services worth $124
\nbillion. <\/p>\n
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REPORT – Impunity for perpetrators of
\nsome human rights abuses was a continuing problem in Romania, whereas the
\njudiciary took steps to prosecute and punish officials who committed abuses,
\nreads the 2021 Report on Human Rights Practices for Romania, released by the US
\nDepartment of State. Still, authorities did not have effective mechanisms to
\nprosecute officials and delayed proceedings involving alleged police abuse and
\ncorruption, with the result that many of the cases ended in acquittals, the
\nreport further shows. According to the document, civilian authorities
\nmaintained effective control over the intelligence service and the security
\nagencies that reported to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The report also
\naddresses the harsh conditions of Romanian penitentiaries, which are
\novercrowded and fail to meet international standards. Corrupt practices
\nremained widespread in 2021 despite several high-profile prosecutions, the
\nreport also reads. <\/p>\n
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COVID-19 – 1,600 new cases of COVID-19
\ninfection and 36 related deaths were reported on Wednesday in Romania. Most new
\ninfections were signaled in Bucharest. Right now, some 1,900 patients are being
\ntreated for COVID-19 in hospitals, of whom 253 in intensive care units. (MI
\n& 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":[35374,36661,28945,36660,36514,36662,36572,29022],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-105847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-covid-19","tag-david-malpass","tag-klaus-iohannis","tag-marcel-ciolacu","tag-nato-support","tag-report-on-human-rights-practices","tag-war-in-ukraine","tag-world-bank"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n