A roundup of domestic and international news
NATO. The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, is participating today, in The Hague, in a preparatory meeting ahead of the NATO Summit, the Presidential Administration has informed. The meeting was organized at the initiative of the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen, and will also be attended by the Prime Ministers of Belgium, Latvia, Poland and Portugal, as well as the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg. The meeting aims to coordinate the common positions and messages of the allied states in the run-up to the NATO Summit to be held in Madrid in late June. The agenda focuses on assessing the security situation in Ukraine following Russia's aggression, continuing assistance to Ukraine, preparing for the Madrid Summit decisions on strengthening NATO's deterrence and defense posture on the Eastern Flank of the Alliance, the negotiation process on NATO's New Strategic Concept and the prospects of Sweden and Finland joining the Alliance.
Visit. The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, is coming to Romania today to salute the 500 French soldiers deployed to a NATO military base since the invasion of Ukraine. France is leading the NATO Battle Group following a decision by the NATO defense ministers to strengthen the Alliance's eastern flank. Paris has also set up a state-of-the-art ground-to-air defense system in Romania in the face of Russian threats. According to a statement from the Elysée Palace, from Romania President Macron will send a very clear message that France remains fully engaged with its NATO allies and other European partners. On Wednesday, in the neighboring Republic of Moldova, he will reaffirm Paris' determination to help the country, one of the poorest in Europe and one of the most affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This is Emmanuel Macron's third visit to Romania since he became president of France and the first since winning a second term at the end of April.
Protest. Romanian carriers are urging the government to urgently cap gasoline and diesel prices at maximum rates, following the model of neighboring states, and point out that new price rises are possible next month. The Federation of Romanian Transport Operators has announced that there will be protests at the entrance to gas stations all over the country. On the other hand, FORT welcomes in a statement the parliamentary legislative initiative to reduce the VAT on public road passenger transport services to 5%, but calls on the executive to do this in the form of an emergency ordinance, in order to have immediate effects.
Commemoration. The Romanian Prime Minister, the Liberal Nicolae Ciuca, has conveyed a message on the 32nd commemoration of the so-called Miners' Raid of June 13-15, 1990, stating that 'the marathon demonstration of civil society against neo-communism was suppressed by instigating some Romanians against other Romanians" and Romanian society 'should never again fall victim to diversions and false propaganda'. He has also said that Romania now relies on the stability and security given by its membership in the European Union and the North Atlantic Alliance. "We owe it to ourselves to continue consolidating democratic values and integrating Romania into the institutional architecture generated together with our Western partners, which offers, especially in such periods, the guarantee of security and well-being", the prime minister said, 32 years after the violent repression of anti-communist rallies in Bucharest by miners from the Jiu Valley (center-west), instigated by the left-wing power of the time.
Football. The Romanian national football team takes on the Montenegrin squad tonight, in Bucharest, in the fourth or match of the current edition of the Nations League. The Romanian squad has been defeated twice so far, by Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina, and has scored a victory on home turf, against Finland. The Romanian national team ranks last in the group led by Bosnians, who are also playing today, with Finland. (MM)
Useful Links
Copyright © . All rights reserved