April 1, 2022 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 01.04.2022, 20:00

WAR IN UKRAINE
– Russia is withdrawing part of its forces around Kyiv and Chernihiv, located
some 130 kilometers from the capital city, Ukrainian authorities say. A
presidential adviser claims Ukrainian forces are pushing back Russian troops
towards the northwest and the northeast, Reuters reports. We can notice
columns of Russian military vehicles of various sizes moving, some headed
towards Belarus, Oleksandr Pavlyuk, the governor of the Kyiv Oblast said. The
Russian Minister of Defense issued a statement saying his troops are regrouping
near Kyiv and Chernihiv in order to focus on key areas and fully liberate
Donbas. NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, previously said NATO doubts
Russia is negotiating in good faith, since Moscow’s military objective has not
changed since the start of the invasion. Secretary Stoltenberg gave assurances
that NATO states will continue to supply weapons to Ukraine for as long as
necessary. On the other hand, European Parliament president, Roberta Metsola,
on Friday arrived in Kyiv to convey a message of hope to the Ukrainian people
and prove the European Union stands with Ukraine after Russia’s invasion. Soon
we will help you rebuild your cities and your towns when this illegal,
unprovoked and unnecessary war is over. We have already provided financial,
military and humanitarian assistance, this will continue and it will increase.
Roberta Metsola also said the EU will take care of Ukrainian refugees until
they can safely return to their homes.

REFUGEES – Over 8,200 Ukrainian nationals entered Romania on
Thursday, 4% less than the previous day – the Border Police Inspectorate has
announced. Since the beginning of the crisis, roughly 600 thousand Ukrainians
have arrived in Romania. The border checkpoints at Romania’s border with
Ukraine are functioning at full capacity with additional personnel and
equipment in accordance with the international legislation. Border police units
are operating jointly with other structures in the field for a proper handling
of the situation.

COMMISSIONER – Romania has seen a massive inflow of refugees from
Ukraine and the way it handled the situation is remarkable, the EU Commissioner
for Jobs and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit, said during a press conference in
Bucharest. The EU official has also given assurances that Romania and the
countries dealing with the Ukrainian refugees’ crisis are going to get
assistance from the European Commission.

COVID-19 – The Romanian Health Ministry on Friday announced
roughly 3,000 new Covid-19 infections in the past 24 hours as well as 27
related fatalities. Since the beginning of the pandemic in Romania two years
ago, over 2.85 million infections have been reported and 65 thousand patients
have died. Over 8 million people have been fully vaccinated in this country,
whose Health Minister, Alexandru Rafila said the activity in the hospitals
treating Covid-infected patients would gradually normalize and the number of
infections decrease. No prevention rules have been applied in Romania since
March 9.

PNL – The political
bureau of PNL met on Friday in a videoconference and agreed to call a National
Council meeting on Sunday. The agenda includes the organization of an
extraordinary congress. Several Liberal leaders have called for a new congress
to replace Florin Cîțu as party president, accusing him of inflaming relations
with PSD at the level of the ruling coalition, refusing to communicate with the
party and being unpopular, thus affecting PNL’s standing in surveys. On his
part, Florin Cîțu did not recognize the decision and has called a meeting of
executive leaders on Saturday. Openly supported by president Klaus Iohannis, Cîțu
was elected leader of the National Liberal Party in September 2021, replacing
Ludovic Orban. (VP)