March 12, 2022
A roundup of news from Romania and the world
Newsroom, 12.03.2022, 13:43
Ukraine — Romania continues to help the Ukrainian refugees. The emergency number 112 and the special hot line for children, 119, are also available for calls in Ukrainian. Moreover, additional measures have been taken to prevent human trafficking at cross-border points. On Friday, an online platform was created which centralizes aid offers made to support the civilians taking refuge in Romania. The new platform was developed in record time with the support of over 600 volunteers. On the other hand, the Romanian government is discussing today a draft decision on granting free transport and other facilities to foreign citizens or stateless persons in special situations, coming from the armed conflict area in Ukraine. The Border Police informs that since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, over 380 thousand Ukrainian citizens have entered Romania, of whom over 304 thousand have left the country.
Chisinau — The German government will take directly to Germany 2,500 Ukrainian refugees out of the more than 100,000 Ukrainians currently in the Republic of Moldova, said Saturday, in Chisinau, the German foreign minister Ms. Annalena Baerbock, against the backdrop of the escalating humanitarian crisis. The German official has pointed out that the Moldovan government will receive assistance worth 5 million Euros from the EU and 3 million Euros from the German government, besides the 37 million Euros promised for this year. In turn, the Moldovan vice prime minister and FM Nicu Popescu underlined that the Moldovan authorities would continue to help the refugees from Ukraine, but called for the help of the EU, since Chisinau is hardly coping with the inflow of refugees. AFP reported on Friday that France will also receive 2,500 Ukrainian refugees from Moldova. An ex-Soviet state with a majority Romanian–speaking population, of 2.6 million inhabitants, the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine’s neighbor, is one of the poorest countries in Europe.
Talks — The Romanian Foreign Minister, Bogdan Aurescu, will discuss, on Sunday, in Bucharest, with his Israeli counterpart, Yair Lapid, about how to manage the effects of the Russian aggression on Ukraine. According to a communiqué of the Romanian Foreign Ministry – MAE, the visit of the Israeli official takes place at the invitation of the Romanian FM, against the background of the worsening of the crisis caused by Moscow, but also of the very good Romanian-Israeli cooperation. Talks focus on the ways to evacuate Israeli citizens from Ukraine through Romania. Israel is one of Romanias main partners from the Middle East area, the bilateral relations of a strategic nature, constantly developing in recent years — MAE shows. In fact, Bogdan Aurescu and Yair Lapid will also discuss the development of bilateral relations, with focus on the political, economic and security fields. At the same time, they will assess the stage of preparations for the third Romania-Israel Joint Government Meeting scheduled to take place this year.
Tennis — The American tennis player Cori Gauff will play against the Romanian Simona Halep in the third round of the Indian Wells WTA 1,000 tennis tournament, which has prizes up for grabs worth over 8.5 million dollars. Also in the third round, the Russian Ana Kalinskaia will meet the Romanian Sorana Cirstea. Simona Halep (26 WTA) defeated the Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 on Friday, while Sorana Cirstea (27 WTA) defeated Australian Ajla Tomljanovic 6-4, 7- 5. Also at Indian Wells, the Romanian pair Irina Begu/Monica Niculescu qualified to the round of 16, after beating the Ukrainian pair Daiana/Ivana Iastremska 6-1, 6-1. The Romanians will play the next match against the Japanese pair Eri Hozumi/Makoto Ninomiya.
Concert – We Are One, a charity concert organized in support of Ukrainian refugees, brings together big names in the music industry, today, on the National Arena in Bucharest. Among them: Armin Van Buuren, an internationally known DJ, Tom Odell – the artist who authored the song Another Love, the anthem of the peaceful protesters, Jamala, the Ukrainian singer who won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2016, as well as many Romanian artists. According to the organizers, We Are One, which will last eight hours, is the largest humanitarian event ever organized in Romania. (LS)
