February 21, 2023 UPDATE

UKRAINE The US president Joe Biden Tuesday praised the Ukrainians' resilience in the face of the Russian invasion launched nearly a year ago. Speaking at a rally in Warsaw, he emphasized that the US support for Ukraine remained unwavering and that the free world condemned Russia's aggression. Biden added that he also wanted the people of the Republic of Moldova to be truly free, and called on participants to applaud Moldova's president Maia Sandu, attending the assembly. Previously, in Moscow, president Vladimir Putin announced Russia would suspend its participation in the New START treaty with the US on the reduction of strategic nuclear weapons. The statement was made at the end of his state-of-the-nation address, ahead of the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on 24th February, and after the US president Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Kyiv. On Wednesday, Biden is due to meet the leaders of Bucharest Nine, a group of NATO countries from central and eastern Europe formed after Russia's annexation of Crimea at the proposal of the presidents of Romania and Poland, Klaus Iohannis and Andrej Duda, respectively. The NATO secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said that with Russia's decision on the latest START Treaty "full arms control architecture has been dismantled." Speaking at a press conference in Brussels with the participation of Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine's minister of foreign affairs, and Josep Borrell, the EU high representative for foreign affairs, Stoltenberg added that Moscow was the aggressor in Ukraine, after Vladimir Putin had claimed that the West was trying to destroy Russia.

PENSIONS In Bucharest, USR and the Force of the Right parties in opposition Tuesday tabled a simple motion against the labour minister Marius Budăi, whom they accuse of incompetence and carelessness. They argue that Budăi is protecting special pensions (which are not based on contributions to pension funds) thus jeopardising the EU funding Romania should receive under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. Meanwhile, the Senate has once again postponed the bill reforming special pensions, for 2 weeks, until relevant ministries have submitted estimates of its impact on the budget and stated whether the bill complies with Resilience Plan benchmarks. The World Bank is also expected to state its view on the matter.

TURKEY Rescuers in Turkey are carrying out new searches for people trapped under the rubble as a new quake hit the south-east of the country on Monday night, in the same region as the devastating earthquakes that took place two weeks ago. According to official reports, six persons were killed and 200 wounded in the latest tremor. Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is running for a new term in May if elections are held on schedule, says his country would start building tens of thousands of new homes next month, a move estimated to cost at least 25 billion dollars. Erdogan's rapid reconstruction plans worry architects and engineers, who are concerned that the lack of urban planning and careful assessment of building safety may lead to a new disaster.      

CULTURE Two books about Constantin Brâncuşi were launched in Timişoara, which this year is holding the title of European Capital of Culture. The books, which recently appeared in France, are written by Doina Lemny, art historian and researcher at the National Museum of Modern Art and the Pompidou Centre in Paris. The launch previews an extensive exhibition dedicated to the great Romanian sculptor next autumn at Timişoara's Museum of Art. According to the city's mayor Dominic Fritz, around 60,000 people attended the over 130 different events held in Timişoara this weekend during the official opening of the European Capital of Culture programme. The city will be playing host to around 1,000 different cultural events all year long. (AMP, CM)