April 5, 2022
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 05.04.2022, 13:51
ADDRESS – Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday evening addressed, by video call, the plenary sitting of Romanias Parliament. He called for full embargo on Russia, saying that the European Union must deprive Russia of any economic and financial resource, to make it seek peace with Kyiv and the whole Europe. President Zelensky thanked Romanians for the way in which they welcomed Ukrainian refugees and voiced confidence that Romania would take part in Ukraine’s reconstruction programme, after the war.
UKRAINE – Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky is today addressing the UN Security Council after saying it is in Kyiv’s best interest to have the most transparent investigation into the massacre of civilians in his country. Zelensky said on Monday night that at least 300 civilians were killed in Bucha, where mass graves and civilian corpses on the streets were found after Ukraine had regained control of the city. The Ukrainian president said he expected the number of victims to be even larger in Borodyanka and other towns seized by the Russians. Zelensky has accused Russia of genocide and has promised to bring to justice all Russian soldiers who committed these atrocities. US President Joe Biden has called for Vladimir Putin to be tried for war crimes, while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU has set up a Joint Investigation Team with Ukraine to collect evidence and investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity. In turn, the head of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola has accused Russia of committing war crimes in Ukraine. The Russian Ambassador to the UN, Vasyly Nebenzya, has denied any involvement of his country in the massacre in Bucha, calling the reports “a provocation.” The EU, the United States and their allies have announced new economic sanctions against Russia. Moreover, the United States and the UK called on Monday for Russia’s suspension from the UN Human Rights Council.
REFUGEES — A large number of refugees have entered Romania after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. Solidarity with those over 650,000 neighbors and friends who came to Romania has been shown not only at the level of public institutions, but also at the level of NGOs and most importantly, at the level of Romanians, of simple citizens, PM Nicolae Ciuca has said. The situation of the Ukrainian refugees was on Monday on the agenda of talks between the Romanian PM and the US Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield. Millions of Ukrainians have fled the devastating war in their country.
MOTION – The Save Romania Union (URS), in opposition, has today tabled a simple motion in the Chamber of Deputies, against environment minister Tanczos Barna. USR accuse him of destroying the environment, including by promoting the interests of the so called ‘timber mafia’. The motion’s initiators say Tanczos Barna has to resign for ignoring court rulings and for wasting large amounts that should be spent on truly useful projects.
MEASURES – The ruling coalition in Romania is convening today to discuss social measures in support of vulnerable categories and economic measures such as increasing the value of meal vouchers and of hospital meals. According to the Social Democratic leader Marcel Ciolacu, vouchers worth 50 euros could be granted every two months to underprivileged families. Also, vouchers worth 30 euros could be granted to poor students for food, clothing and school kits. Coalition leaders also plan to increase the value of food vouchers to up to 6 euros and to double the amount for hospital meals to around 4 euros. In turn, the former Liberal leader, Florin Citu, said all measures that are to be taken must be carefully assessed, because, although they look good on paper, can destabilize economy. PM Nicolae Ciuca said these measures will have a budgetary impact of more than 3% of the GDP and that the authorities plan to use as many European funds as possible so as not to increase budget deficit. (EE)
