November 23, 2022 - UPDATE

JUDICIARY The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has hailed the conclusions of a European Commission report saying that the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism in Romania's judicial sector would be lifted.  A stage has ended, but further efforts must be made as reforms are vital, Iohannis said. In turn, PM Nicolae Ciuca said the European Commission's report encourages the government to stay on the path of supporting the independence of the judiciary and the fight against corruption to the benefit of the Romanian society.

VISIT The joint effort to support Ukraine and the strength of the Romanian-Latvian cooperation were highlighted in Riga by the Romanian president Klaus Iohannis, in a joint press conference with his Latvian counterpart, Egils Levits. The Romanian official's visit to Riga takes place in the context of the celebration of 100 years of diplomatic relations between the 2 countries. The two presidents also discussed Romania's Schengen accession. Klaus Iohannis emphasised that Romania has never been and will never be a country that allows uncontrolled migration through illegal border crossing. The president of Latvia highlighted the common approach of the two countries with respect to the future of the EU and welcomed Romania's participation in the NATO air policing mission in the Baltic states in 2023. On Thursday, Klaus Iohannis will be on an official visit to Lithuania, in Vilnius, while on Friday he will take part, jointly with his counterparts from Lithuania, Latvia and Poland, in a summit devoted to strengthening NATO's eastern flank and to supporting Ukraine and the R. of Moldova.

COOPERATION Romania and Spain are pleading for a more capable and responsible European Union, one which is able to provide support and play a relevant role in implementing the Strategic Compass, fully complementary to NATO and avoiding redundancies, including in the current security context, marked by Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, reads a joint statement signed on Wednesday in Castellón de la Plana, Spain, by the heads of the Romanian and Spanish governments. Bucharest and Madrid have also reiterated their commitment to a strong NATO, "focusing on the full implementation of the Strategic Concept adopted in Madrid, with special emphasis on consolidating defence and deterrence on the eastern flank." The PM of Romania, Nicolae Ciucă, was received with military honours in Castellon de la Plana by the head of Spain's government, Pedro Sanchez. According to Ciucă, bilateral relations are even stronger thanks to the nearly one-million strong, highly integrated and active Romanian community contributing to the development of Spain's economy and society.

NATO - A meeting of NATO foreign ministers will be held in Bucharest on November 29-30, 2022. The meeting will be chaired by the NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg. Attending will also be the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, as well as the foreign ministers of Finland and Sweden.

DRILL NATO troops Wednesday conducted a military exercise to test the air and missile defence in Romania, one week after a stray missile crashed in Poland and revealed weaknesses in the Alliance's air shield, Reuters reports. The French air defence system deployed to Romania repelled a simulated attack by Allied fighter jets, NATO's Allied Air Command in Ramstein, Germany said. Taking part in the exercise were Turkish F-16 fighter jets, Spanish Eurofighters, US growler aircraft designed for electronic warfare and French Rafale jets.

FOOTBALL Japan produced the second big surprise of the Qatar football World Cup, after defeating 4-times Cup winners Germany 2-1, on Wednesday in Group E. Also on Wednesday, world vice-champions Croatia drew against Morocco, 0-0, in Group F. Another former world champion, Spain, takes on Costa Rica, and Belgium plays against Canada. On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia stunned football fans with one of the biggest upsets in the history of the World Cup, defeating 2-times champions Argentina 2-1. Also on Tuesday, the defending champions, France, defeated Australia 4-1, while Denmark and Poland drew against Tunisia and Mexico, respectively, 0 - 0. (AMP)