May 1, 2022 UPDATE

WAR IN UKRAINE - Over 50 civilians, including children, were evacuated from the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, after the venue was sieged for weeks on end by Russian forces. The group of people was transferred to a location commonly agreed upon with the Russian side, in the hope of reaching Kyiv-controlled territory, Ukrainian soldiers trapped inside claim. Moscow faced immense international pressure to allow civilians to evacuate, although all previous attempts to do so were unsuccessful. The full occupation of the port-city is one of the Russian army's strategic objectives. Holding Mariupol would help Russia occupy the entire Ukrainian southern coast, and would link the separatist region of Donbas to the Crimean Peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014. At the same time, Russia presses on its offense in Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of seeking to wipe the entire region off the map. Meanwhile, French president Emmanuel Macron has confirmed his willingness to provide certain security guarantees to Ukraine. Macron talked to his Ukrainian counterpart over the phone on Saturday. The French president expressed his readiness to work hard to restore Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Poland too announced it would be willing to guarantee Ukraine's security as part of a possible peace treaty with Russia. Also on Sunday, president Zelensky met in Kyiv with the the US House of Representatives Speaker, Nancy Pelosi. "We believe that we are visiting you to say thank you for your fight for freedom... Our commitment is to be there for you until the fight is done," Pelosi told Zelensky, according to a video tweeted by the Ukrainian presidency.

CYBER ATTACKS - The Romanian Intelligence Service warns against possible ransomware attacks on a large scale, targeting the email addresses of institutions in Romania. The Service recommended people not to click on links or attachments that are not usually addressed to them or were sent by unknown sources. The same precautionary measures are recommended in the case of text, WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram messages. A wave of cyber-attacks started in Romania on Friday, hackers targeting the website of the National Cyber Security Directorate, as well as other public institutions and private organizations. The Romanian Service for Special Telecommunications managed to block a few thousand attacks. Claimed by the Killnet network of hackers, the operation came in response to Romania's support for Ukraine. This month Killnet hackers attacked the websites of institutions in a number of states as well as the EU and NATO.

PARLIAMENT - The Senate and the Chamber of Deputies are expected to convene on May 3 in a joint plenary sitting. The agenda of the meeting includes a letter of president Klaus Iohannis, notifying Parliament he approved NATO's request to deploy armed forces in Romania. The two chambers of Parliament will also discuss a proposal to disband friendship groups with the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus at Parliament level. Next week, Parliament is also expected to appoint new Constitutional Court judges.

CONFERENCE - The Conference for the future of Europe, a broad citizen initiative launched a year ago, resulted in over 300 proposals being tabled for the reform of the European Union. The proposals were adopted on Saturday during a plenary sitting in the European Parliament. Drafted by over 50,000 participants, the proposals were uploaded on an online platform available in 24 languages, which remains open until May 9. Despite a late start in negotiations between the three European institutions - the European Union, the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament, as well as due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Conference completed its activity before the end of France's term at the helm of the Council of the European Union. Nearly a year since the launch ceremony hosted by Strasbourg, the Conference will officially end on May 9 in an event at the European Parliament, marking Europe Day The final report, which is expected to undergo certain changes in addition to the recommendations adopted on Saturday, will be submitted to the presidents of the three European institutions, as well as to French president, Emmanuel Macron.      

EUROSTAT - The pandemic has reduced life expectancy in most EU member states, the Eurostat reports. Compared to the levels of 2019, life expectancy in 2020 dropped by at least one year in nine EU Member States - Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Spain, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovenia, and went up by a month in Denmark and Cyprus. In Romania, life expectancy dropped by 1 year and 4 months. According to Eurostat data, Romanian men live on average until the age of 70, while women until the age of 78.

TENNIS - Romanian tennis player Simona Halep has advanced to the round of 16 at the Mutua Madrid Open, totaling some $6.5 million in total prizes, after ousting Paula Badosa of Spain, world no. 2, in the round of 32. In the next round, Halep will take on Cori Gauff of the USA. A former world no. 1, Halep won the Madrid Open in 2016 and 2017 and played the final in 2014 and 2019. (VP)