NATO – The Government in Bucharest is
\ntoday expected to adopt and submit to Parliament a draft law on the
\nratification of the NATO accession of Finland and Sweden. The NATO accession
\nprotocols were signed in Brussels on July 5, and now they must be ratified by
\nall Member States. Last week, Chamber of Deputies speaker, Marcel Ciolacu, said
\nParliament will make short work of the ratification process, and that a special
\nParliament session will be called in this respect. Ciolacu went on to say that
\nthe illegal and unwarranted war launched by the Russian Federation against Ukraine
\nhas fundamentally changed the security context. The status of NATO candidate
\ncountries allows Finland and Sweden to attend NATO meetings, also providing
\nthem with access to confidential information. Until the ratification process is
\ncompleted at the level of all NATO member states, the two countries cannot
\nbenefit from collective defense under Article 5. The ratification process could
\nlast a year, some experts say. <\/p>\n
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WHISTLEBLOWERS – The Constitutional Court of Romania
\ntoday ruled against a notification submitted by USR in opposition regarding the
\nlaw on the protection of whistleblowers. USR claims the law adopted by the
\nPSD-PNL-UDMR Cabinet is considerably reducing the protection offered to people
\nwho signal irregularities in public institutions and raises major obstacles in
\nsecuring Recovery and Resilience (PNRR) funds. The notification invokes elements
\nof unconstitutionality, including the violation of certain commitments Romania
\npledged to observe upon joining the EU and the lack of clarity and
\npredictability of some provisions. <\/p>\n
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\n
\n
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COVID – The number of COVID cases is on the
\nrise. Over 4,000 new infections were signaled on Tuesday within the space of 24
\nhours. Of these, most were reported in Bucharest. Some 1,500 COVID patients are
\ncurrently hospitalized, 90 in intensive care. The authorities also reported 9
\nrelated deaths. We recall the authorities have reverted to daily
\nepidemiological updates amidst a resurge in the number of COVID cases. <\/p>\n
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\n
\n
\n
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REFUGEES – According to the Romanian
\nBorder Police Inspectorate, 9,808 Ukrainian citizens entered Romania on
\nTuesday, a 10% drop compared to the previous day. Starting February 10, 2022,
\nsome 1.5 million Ukrainian citizens have entered Romania. <\/p>\n
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\n
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TOUR – US president Joe Biden has started a
\ntour of the Middle East. The president is today expected to arrive in Israel,
\nwhere he will stay for two days. On Friday, Joe Biden will meet the president
\nof the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank. Next he will
\ntravel to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, which will mark the first visit ever paid by an
\nAmerican president to this country. Here he will hold talks with Saudi
\nofficials and attend a summit of Gulf allies. Today, president Biden,
\naccompanied by the Israeli Defense Minister, Benny Gantz, will visit an
\nexhibition of the country’s air defense network. The USA and Israel are
\nexpected to sign a Strategic Partnership agreement, including a joint stance
\nagainst Iran’s nuclear program and regional aggression to ensure Iran never
\nattains a nuclear weapon. <\/p>\n
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\n
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FOOTBALL – Romania’s football champions, CFR Cluj,
\nare today playing Piunik Yerevan of Armenia at home in the return leg of the
\nChampions League first preliminary round. A week ago in Yerevan, CFR had drawn
\n0-0 in the first leg. Should it win, CFR Cluj will next play F91 Dudelange of
\nLuxembourg in the second preliminary round. The team from Luxembourg knocked
\nout the Albanian champions KF Tirana in the first round. The three Romanian
\nteams qualified to European Conference League will go up against less
\nformidable clubs in the second preliminary round. Therefore, Romanian
\nvice-champions, FCSB will take on the winner of the match pitting FC Saburtalo
\nof Georgia against Partizani Tirana of Albania. Sepsi OSK will play the winner
\nof the match pitting Olimpja Ljubljana of Slovenia against Differdange 03 of
\nLuxembourg, whereas finally, Universitatea Craiova will play KF Vllaznia
\nShkoder of Albania, the winner of the Albanian Cup. The return legs are
\nscheduled this month. (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":[35374,36886,29302,36882,36883,36885,36583,36884],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-106029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-covid-19","tag-european-inter-club-competitions","tag-joe-biden","tag-nato-accession-of-finland-and-sweden","tag-ratification-process","tag-tour-of-the-middle-east","tag-ukrainian-refugees","tag-whistleblower-law"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n