EUROPEAN COUNCIL – European Council president Charles
\nMichel has expressed the EU’s firm support for Ukraine for as long as it is
\nnecessary. On the sidelines of the European Council summit in Brussels,
\nUkraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has called on EU leaders to deliver
\nadditional support for his country, including fighter jets. Romania’s
\npresident, Klaus Iohannis, in turn met with president Zelensky as part of a
\nbroader meeting with EU leaders. The president highlighted the importance of
\nmaintaining EU support for Ukraine at all levels, underscoring the need to also
\nmaintain pressure on the Russian Federation. On the other hand, the Romanian
\npresident called for flexible rules and procedures for the swift implementation
\nof the Recovery and Resilience Plans and REPowerEU, which will ensure the
\nsustainable modernization and competitiveness of European economy. Klaus
\nIohannis said the USA remains the EU’s top partner.<\/p>\n
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WAR IN UKRAINE – Russian forces on Friday targeted
\nkey infrastructure objectives in several regions of Ukraine by means of air
\nraids. Missiles hit the city of Zaporizhzhia in the early morning hours on
\nFriday. Air raids blared across the country, and local officials have urged the
\npopulation to take shelter as the possibility of new attacks remains high. The
\nair strike on Zaporizhzhia was the strongest reported since February last year,
\nlocal officials claim. Key infrastructure buildings were also targeted in the
\ncity of Kharkiv, in northern Ukraine, as well as in Dnipropetrovsk in the
\ncenter. <\/p>\n
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MOLDOVA – Moldova’s president, Maia
\nSandu, has designated Dorin Recean, presidential security adviser, to form a
\nnew Cabinet after Prime Minister Natalia Gavrili\u021ba resigned on Friday. Maia
\nSandu said the top priorities include defense and security, energy supplies
\nover the cold season as well as the fight against corruption. Recean currently
\nserves as secretary of the Supreme Security Council of the Republic of Moldova.
\nHe served as Interior Minister over 2012-2016. Outgoing Prime Minister Natalia
\nGavrili\u021ba was sworn in a year and a half ago and had to cope
\nwith multiple crises generated by the Russian aggression against Ukraine, including
\nenergy security, rampant inflation, losing access to eastern markets and the
\nUkrainian refugee crisis. Prime Minister Gavrili\u021ba said that Moldova obtaining
\nEU candidate status is the greatest achievement of her Cabinet. Also on Friday,
\nthe Russian ambassador to Chi\u0219in\u0103u, Oleg Vasnetsov, was summoned at the
\nMoldovan Foreign Ministry after a Russian missile targeted against Ukraine
\ntransited Moldovan air space. <\/p>\n
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EARTHQUAKE -
\nChances of finding survivors in Turkey and Syria have now diminished. 22,000
\ndead is the provisional death toll of one of the most devastating quakes in the
\nregion in the last century. The toll already exceeds the devastating 1999
\nearthquake in \u0130zmit, northwestern Turkey and experts expect it to rise. Romania
\nwill send disaster relief products to Turkey from the EU reserve on national
\nterritory, including tents with electric heaters, beds, mattreses and bedheets.
\nThe decision was taken by the National Emergency Situations Committee summoned
\non Friday by Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuc\u0103. At the same time, the Romanian
\nDefense Ministry will send experts to Turkey to train the locals how to use the
\nsaid materials. <\/p>\n
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AWARDS -
\nRadio Romania’s radio drama production The Sixties by Ema Stere and adapted
\nand directed by Mihnea Chelaru is one of the three to be shortlisted for the
\nBBC Radio Drama Awards in the Best European Drama category. The winners will be
\nannounced on Sunday in London. The Sixties explores the drama of the first
\ngeneration of young people separated from the free world at a time when the communist
\nregime was tightening its grip on power in Romania. The other two shortlisted
\nproductions for Best European Drama are Czech Radio’s Burning by Sudabeh
\nMohafez and Polskie Radio’s Let Me Tell You by Marta Rebzda. (CM & 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":[37372,37371,29654,28945,35301,37370,29442,36968,37373,36572],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-106470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-bbc-radio-drama-awards","tag-earthquake-in-turkey-and-syria","tag-european-council-meeting","tag-klaus-iohannis","tag-missile-attacks","tag-moldovan-pm-natalia-gavrilita","tag-resignation","tag-support-for-ukraine","tag-the-sixties","tag-war-in-ukraine"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n