June 28, 2022 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 28.06.2022, 19:53

NATO. Romania’s President,
Klaus Iohannis, is attending the NATO summit in Madrid until Thursday. The war
in Ukraine and the security crisis in the Black Sea region are the main topics
on the agenda of the summit. According to the Romanian Presidential
Administration, during the summit, the Romanian president will welcome the fact
that the current security situation was reflected in the Alliance’s new
strategic concept, starting from the recognition of Russia as the main threat
to NATO, and the fact that the strategic importance of the Black Sea region for
Euro-Atlantic security was mentioned for the first time. Klaus Iohannis will
emphasize Romania’s significant contribution to supporting Ukraine at
humanitarian level, as well as the most vulnerable partners, especially those
in the eastern neighborhood, mainly the Republic of Moldova (an ex-Soviet
country with a predominantly Romanian-speaking population) and Georgia. Klaus
Iohannis will reiterate Romania’s firm support for NATO’s open doors policy,
including the accession of Finland and Sweden to the North Atlantic Alliance.

Partnership. The two Chambers of
Romania’s Parliament adopted on Tuesday, in a joint session, a Declaration on
the 25th anniversary of the Strategic Partnership between Romania and the US.
The two countries, the document states, share common values ​​and interests, a
deep commitment to democracy and a lasting strategic relationship. We
particularly welcome the important progress made in the cooperation between the
two countries in the field of security, in order to strengthen NATO’s eastern
flank, including in the Black Sea region, reads the document adopted with a
majority of votes by the Romanian senators and deputies. They welcome the
intensification of the dialogue to meet the conditions for Romania’s inclusion
in the Visa Waiver program, a program that would allow Romanian citizens to
travel to the US for tourism or business purposes for up to 90 days, without needing
a travel visa. During the speeches, both the ruling coalition and the
opposition representatives underlined the importance of the Strategic
Partnership between the two countries.

Gas. The Romanian Prime Minister, Nicolae Ciuca, stated on Tuesday that the country’s gas storage facilities are currently at a fill rate of 41%, and the capacity is expected to reach 80% by November 1st. A decision has been made at EU level and each member country has to start winter at 80% of its storage capacity, he explained. Romania can become energy independent and an energy security provider in the region, as well as a transport corridor for gas and green energy in the Caspian Sea – said, in turn, the Minister of Energy, Virgil Popescu. The two officials participated in the ceremony organized in Vadu, Constanţa County (southeast), to mark the starting of the exploitation of natural gas in the Black Sea, part of the Midia project, operated by the Black Sea Oil & Gas Company. Popescu voiced hope that the investment in the Neptun Deep perimeter of Romgaz and OMV Petrom will be completed, which will lead to Romania’s total energy independence from resources in other countries.

Moldova. The Republic of
Moldova on Tuesday marked 82 years since the occupation of Bessarabia by the
Soviet Union on June 28, 1940. Back then, the Soviet troops annexed Bessarabia,
northern Bukovina and Hertsa land, regions with a predominantly
Romanian-speaking population, following an ultimatum to Bucharest. Radio Chisinau
recalls that the annexation led to the establishment of a totalitarian
communist regime, which meant forced collectivization, the replacement of the
Latin alphabet with the Cyrillic one and Russification, political oppression
and deportations. Tens of thousands of people were deported to Kazakhstan and
Siberia, many of them dying on the way to or in the USSR camps. Historian Ion
Varta said that under the Soviet regime forcefully established on the left bank
of the Prut River, ‘about 400,000 people were victims of organized famine’,
‘626,000 people were subject to forced labor’, and between 120,000 and 130,000
people were deported. It was a true genocide, the historian
concluded. The territories annexed in 1940 now belong to the former Soviet
republics of Moldova and Ukraine, which gained their independence from Moscow
in August 1991, after the failure of the neo-Bolshevik coup against the last Soviet
leader, the reformer Mikhail Gorbachev.

Immunity. The Romanian
Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday lifted the parliamentary immunity of the former
Social-Democratic minister of agriculture, Adrian Chesnoiu, accused by the
anti-corruption prosecutors of abuse of office. There were 251 votes ‘for’ and
25 ‘against’, and 2 were annulled. On Monday, the Chamber’s Legal Commission
gave a favorable reply to DNA’s request in this regard. The interim office
of agriculture minister was taken over
by the Minister of Transport, Sorin Grindeanu.

Tennis. Six Romanian tennis player have qualified for the second round of the Grand Slam tournament at Wimbledon. Mihaela Buzarnescu defeated Nastasja Schunk of Germany on Tuesday, Ana Bogdan won the match against the Ukrainian Daiana Iastremska, Simona Halep defeated the Czech Karolina Muchova and Irina Bara (the French Chloé Paquet. Irina Begu and Sorana Cirstea had qualified on Monday. (MI)