January 24, 2023 UPDATE

UNION Romanians on Tuesday celebrated the union of the historical provinces of Moldavia and Wallachia, a political event, which took place 164 years ago, in 1859, under the leadership of ruler Alexandru Ioan Cuza. The move was the first step in the process of creating the Romanian modern state, process completed back in 1918. Military and religious services were staged by the Ministry of National Defence jointly with central and local authorities at the monuments devoted to the union of the Romanian principalities. Wreath laying ceremonies were held at the monument of the Unknown Soldier. Present at the event, Romanian president Klaus Iohannis said that the successes achieved back in 1859 are a lesson of responsibility for all those who are building the European, modern and democratic Romania. He reiterated the appeal to use all the instruments available to complete all the reforms Romania needs and to eradicate the malfunctions, which are still affecting this process. Thousands of people took to the streets of Iasi, in eastern Romania, to participate in a series of events on this occasion. The country's Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca and the president of the Chamber of Deputies Marcel Ciolacu also participated in these events. In his public address on this special occasion, Prime Minister Ciuca said the roots of the European Romania can be found in the union completed 164 years ago - an authentic example of the unity of the Romanians, which paved the way for the emancipation and modernization of the state. In his opinion, the responsibility of the political class and the state institutions is to honour this act of uniting the Romanian nation. Religious services were held in Orthodox churches around the country on this occasion.

UKRAINE Several high officials in Ukraine on Tuesday announced their resignations amid high-level corruption allegations during the war with Russia, France Press reports. Deputy Defence Minister, Viacheslav Shapovalov, and the deputy head of Ukraine's presidential office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko are among the high officials to have stepped down. Deputy prosecutor General Oleksiy Symonenko also resigned amid allegations about a holiday he spent with his family in Spain after Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council had banned state officials from leaving the country during martial law. Amid all these allegations, which threaten to dampen the West's enthusiasm to help the government in Kyiv, president Zelensky has pledged to launch a staff shake-up in the central and local administrations including at top level. Ukraine's endemic corruption has been overlooked since the beginning of the Russian invasion, but fighting the scourge is one of the key conditions for the country to join the European Union.

EU Security, prosperity, the democratic values and the rule of law are the priorities of the Swedish presidency of the European Union presented by the country's Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom before the European Parliament on Tuesday. Billstrom has condemned the unprovoked, brutal and unjustified aggression of Russia against Ukraine and has mentioned the EU's Swedish presidency will have as one of the objectives to carry on the political, military, economic and humanitarian support for Kyiv in spite of the Moscow's attempts to cause division among the Europeans. Billstrom believes that sanctions are an extremely effective instrument through which the bloc can help Ukraine win the war. The programme of the EU's Swedish presidency includes roughly two thousand formal meetings in Brussels and Luxembourg as well as 150 informal meetings hosted by Sweden.

G7+ Romania's Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu on Tuesday participated in the G7+ videoconference where he stood for an increased assistance for Ukraine in the context of the present winter challenges. Aurescu said that Romania would continue to support Ukraine jointly with the partners sharing the same visions and objectives. The G7+ conference was co-chaired by the US secretary of state Antony Blinken and the Foreign Minister of Japan Hayashi Yoshimasa. High on the agenda was the situation of Ukraine's energy infrastructure, which suffered massive and repeated attacks from the Russian Federation as well as the stage and prospects of the support granted to Ukraine by the international community to handle the results of these attacks and increase its resilience at society level. According to Foreign Ministry sources, the head of the Romanian diplomacy mentioned the success of this format launched in Bucharest in November 2022 on the sidelines of the NATO Foreign Ministers meeting. Aurescu says that the repeated large-scale attacks against the Ukrainian civilian infrastructure is a blatant violation of the international humanitarian law and their aim is to break the resilience of the Ukrainian society, something the international democratic community cannot allow to happen.

HOLIDAY Students are going back to school on Wednesday after the mini-holiday celebrating the union of the Romanian principalities. State employees also had a four-day holiday, which most of them decided to spend on the mountain resorts of the Prahova Valley. Brasov and Sibiu in central Romania as well as Oradea in the north-west were the cities, which reported most of the reservations.

(bill)