March 28, 2022 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 28.03.2022, 20:00
NATO The war that Russia started against
Ukraine severely affects the security environment at the Black Sea and in the
south-east of Europe, the Romanian PM Nicolae Ciuca said at the end of a meeting
of NATO heads of government from south-east Europe, hosted by Sofia,
Bulgaria. Europe is now experiencing the most complicated period since WW2, and
we need stronger defence and more efficient deterrence, Mr. Ciucǎ added. On
the sidelines of the meeting, the Romanian PM discussed with his Bulgarian
counterpart Kiril
Petkov, about the Bulgaria-Greece interconnector. Another topic was the road
and railway infrastructure, in which context the Bulgarian side proposed the
construction of 5 bridges over Danube river. In Sofia, the
attending heads of government discussed cooperation in the field of security,
taking into account NATO’s latest decisions. Another major topic was related to
reducing reliance on Russian gas and identifying means to connect the region to
natural gas pipelines from Western Europe, particularly via Greece.
UKRAINE
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky says his country is ready to discuss
neutrality as part of a peace agreement with Russia, as a new round of
negotiations is due to begin in Istanbul, Turkey on Tuesday. A meeting between
presidents Zelensky and Putin would be counterproductive at this point,
Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said in his turn.
Meanwhile, the losses reported by Ukraine because of the war are in excess of
USD 564 billion, the country’s economy minister Yulia Svyrydenko said, according to Reuters. In the
field, Russian forces are regrouping but have difficulty advancing into
Ukrainian territory. Several Russian units were forced to return to Belarus
after experiencing significant losses. The situation remains dramatic in
Mariupol, the Sea of Azov port that sees the most violent
fighting since the start of the war. The Red Cross announced it was unable to
send aid to the city, and requested Russia and Ukraine to secure a humanitarian
corridor. According to local authorities, nearly 160,000 civilians are stranded
in the city without water, food, medicines and electricity. Russia continues to
deny targeting civilians, and blames Ukraine for the repeated failure to secure
safe corridors for the locals to leave the region.
SCHOOLS
The number of Ukrainian children enrolled in Romanian schools stands at 1,140,
out of a total of nearly 34,000 minors who arrived in Romania fleeing the
Russian invasion, the education minister Sorin Cîmpeanu has announced. The
Romanian Minister said the majority of Ukrainian school children wish to
continue their studies observing the standard curricula taught in Ukrainian
schools.
VISIT There are currently no risks to food safety in Europe. What we do have
is inflation, said EU Commissioner for Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, at the end of
his meeting in Bucharest with Finance Minister Adrian Câciu. According to the
EU official, the war in Ukraine will impact Romania’s estimated 4% economic
growth rate this year. Talks between Gentiloni and Câciu also tackled economic
measures to address the shocks reported in the supply chain. At the same time,
the two officials also discussed the fallout of the war in Ukraine and response
measures required to deal with the wave of refugees. Also
on Monday, Paolo Gentiloni was received by president Klaus Iohannis. The talks focused
primarily on the situation generated by Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, including the economic impact on the EU and its
member states, the
challenges in handling the refugee waves and the situation in the Republic of Moldova.EU Commissioner for Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, is
in Bucharest on Tuesday as well, when he is scheduled to meet other Romanian
officials. (AMP)
