May 14, 2022 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 14.05.2022, 19:21

EMBASSY – Romania’s Embassy in Kyiv has resumed activity, the Romanian Foreign Ministry announced on Saturday. “Romania is fully supporting its Ukrainian partner in its courageous fight for freedom,” Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu wrote on Facebook. We remind you that Romania took the decision to suspend the activity of its embassy in Kyiv at the end of February, in the first two days of Russian invasion of Ukraine.

TALKS – Finnish President Sauli Niisto on Saturday called his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to inform him on his country’s NATO candidacy. The phone call, initiated by Finland, was “direct and straightforward and was conducted without aggravations,” according to a statement by the Finnish presidency. Vladimir Putin said that the end of the traditional policy of military neutrality would be a mistake since there is no threat to Finlands security, the statement also read. Finland is expected to officially announce its NATO membership bid on Sunday.

G7 – Foreign Ministers from the Group of Seven leading economies on Saturday vowed to reinforce Russia’s economic and political isolation, continue supplying weapons and work to ease global food shortages stemming from the war in Ukraine, a joint statement said. They also reiterated the fact that the territories seized by Russian forces need to be returned to Ukraine. “We will never recognize borders Russia has attempted to change by military aggression,” they said. The G-7 foreign ministers called on China not to support Russia by undermining international sanctions. Moreover, they called on Belarus to stop facilitating Russia’s intervention and respect their international commitments.

DIPLOMACY — The Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu is attending an informal meeting of the North Atlantic Council (NAC) at the level of Ministers of Foreign Affairs held in Berlin, Germany, on 14-15 May 2022. The meeting is chaired by the NATO Deputy Secretary General, Mircea Geoana. Following discussions in previous months, the ministers are expected to address the situation in Ukraine, as well as the military blocs reaction to the changing security environment. Also, the meeting prepares the NATO summit to be held in Madrid in June. Bogdan Aurescu will reiterate, in Berlin, Romania’s support for NATO’s Open Door policy and hail Finland’s and Sweden’s intention to join the alliance. Moreover, Aurescu will highlight the importance of continuing the consolidation of NATO’s defence and deterrence posture on the Eastern Flank, especially at the Black Sea.

COMMEMORATION — Romanian PM Nicolae Ciuca, in a message conveyed on Saturday, on the National Day of honouring the martyrs from the communist prisons, said that the sacrifice of tens of thousands of opponents of the communist regime arrested and convicted 74 years ago, “is at the foundation of our free and democratic path, of European and Euro-Atlantic state”. According to the PM, Romanians have the duty to consolidate this path for the next generations. He reminded of the wave of political arrests on the night of May 14 — May 15, 1948, orchestrated by the oppressive communist regime of that time. Ciuca also mentioned the decades of communist dictatorship that followed, when millions of Romanians were oppressed. Thousands of young people, intellectuals, representatives of the Church and many other Romanians who dared to oppose a regime hostile to freedom and democracy were imprisoned and subjected to serious violations of fundamental freedoms. Many of them died in prisons and forced labour camps.

PROTESTS — Trade unionists with the Romanian Post national company on Saturday protested in front of the government offices to signal the problems they are facing. According to a release, the main issue is the high poverty of the Romanian Post employees, most of them having a monthly net salary of less than 340 euros. Protesters are also denouncing the fact that the company’s general director refuses any negotiation regarding salaries and fear redundancies. (EE)