VISIT Romanian people were extraordinary in the generosity and the
courage they have shown in the context of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the US
VP Kamala Harris said in Bucharest on Friday, in a joint press conference with
the Romanian president Klaus Iohannis. In turn, the Romanian president pointed
out that NATO will act without hesitation to defend each Allied state,
including Romania, and during the dialogue with Kamala Harris he was assured of
the US commitment to Article 5 of the NATO Treaty. Mr. Iohannis also stated that
the US and NATO military presence in Romania must be further enhanced, in the
long run, as an additional measure to ensure the security of the country and
the region. Klaus Iohannis and Kamala Harris also discussed the need to step up
defence and deterrence measures in the Alliance’s eastern flank, with a focus
on the Black Sea area in the south. Meanwhile, according to president Iohannis,
the current energy crisis may be a historic opportunity for Europe to become
truly independent of Russian natural gas, through investments in renewable
sources, in the civilian nuclear sector, imports of liquefied natural gas and stronger
interconnection. The US vice president visited Romania for the first time,
coming from Poland as part of a diplomatic tour prompted by the Ukraine war.
UKRAINE Russia will pay a severe price if it uses chemical
weapons in Ukraine, the US president Joe Biden warned on Friday, and announced
new sanctions against Russia. Joe Biden also undertook to avoid direct conflict
between NATO and Russia, as this would lead to a third world war. In Moscow, the
Russian presidency spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the hostilities in Ukraine will
end when the West has taken measures with respect to Russia’s concerns
regarding the killing of civilians in eastern Ukraine and NATO’s eastwards
enlargement. Meanwhile, as the Russian troops that entered Ukraine on February
24th are attempting to surround Kyiv, Turkey announced relocating its
embassy to Chernivtsi, some 40 km from the Romanian border. Turkey was among
the last countries keeping their embassies in Kyiv.
SUMMIT The war in Ukraine and its impact on Europeans’ lives
and economies was in the focus of the EU summit in Versailles on Friday as well.
The EU continues to provide humanitarian, medical and financial aid to the
Ukrainian refugees and to the host countries, the EU leaders said in a
statement, also calling on Russia to ensure safe passage to the civilians
trying to leave the country and to allow humanitarian relief to reach the
victims. The 27 EU leaders also discussed the European Commission’s plan to
reduce by 2-thirds Russian gas imports this year and to make sure that no EU
member state purchases hydrocarbons from Russia by 2030. Russia’s natural gas
covers over 40% of the EU demand, and 4 alternatives are currently under
analysis: imports from other countries, diversifying sources, putting together
substantial stocks ahead of each winter season and developing renewable energy
sources.
COVID-19 Almost 3,000 new
cases of Covid-19 in 24 hours were announced on Friday in Romania. 50 deaths
were also reported, of which 3 from a previous date. Less than 4,000 people are
hospitalized, 608 being in intensive care. After almost two years of alert, all
the restrictions imposed by the pandemic have been lifted in Romania since
March 9. On the other hand, the authorities announce that the vaccination
against COVID-19 is moving to the family doctors’ offices. The vaccination rate
is still low, with just over 8.1 million people fully vaccinated. (A.M.P.)