Radio România Internațional

Tag: law

October 16, 2023 UPDATE

Pensions – In Bucharest, the draft law on special pensions, granted to magistrates and other public system employees, was adopted on Monday by the Chamber of Deputies, the decision-making body in this case. The document had previously been approved by the Senate plenum, as the first chamber notified, with the changes requested by the Constitutional Court – CCR. Compared to the form that passed the Senate, no substantive amendments were introduced. Thus, the taxation thresholds of up to 20% for the non-contributory part were kept, as well as the annual increase, by four months, of the retirement age up to 60 years. The law provides, among other things, that magistrates will have a pension of 80% of the average gross monthly allowances and increments collected in the last four years of activity. The plenum of the Chamber of Deputies adopted only proposals related to the legislative technique and rejected all the amendments proposed by the opposition Save Romania Union – USR and the Alliance for the Union of Romanians – AUR. The USR leader, Cătălin Drula, said that this law actually maintains special pensions, and the Liberal Party deputy, Florin Roman, stated that the adoption of the oppositions amendments would have made the law unconstitutional. The Social Democratic Party – PSD claims that the law respects both the decisions of the CCR and the requests of the European Commission, while AUR considers the new form unacceptable, and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania – UDMR condemns the non-compliance with the contribution principle.

Meeting – The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, called an extraordinary online meeting of all heads of state or government in the European Union for Tuesday, in the context of the Middle East situation. In a statement published on Monday, Charles Michel once again condemned the actions of Hamas, which he considers terrorist, and demands the immediate release of the hostages. The head of the European Council said that Israel has the right to defend itself, within the limits of international law and respecting humanitarian principles. He believes that this conflict can create tensions including on the European continent and can amplify extremism in the European Union. The extraordinary council meeting, he added, will address the issue from the point of view of ensuring assistance to the affected civilians, the impact of civilian migration to the states in the area and avoiding the escalation of the conflict by involving all regional actors. Charles Michel believes that the solution is peace based on the existence of two states: Israel and Palestine.

Repatriation — The Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu stated that the Romanian authorities are in contact with almost every Romanian citizen in the Gaza Strip. He says that, at present, there are no reasons for concern about their lives, but everyone hopes that they will arrive in Romania as soon as possible. About 350 Romanians with dual citizenship are supposed to be in the Palestinian enclave, controlled by the terrorist organization Hamas and bombed intensively by the Israeli army.

Israel – The Israeli army asked Palestinian civilians in the northern Gaza Strip again, on Monday, to move to the south of the territory. It is estimated that one million people have already left their homes in the northern area controlled by the terrorist movement Hamas. The situation of these people is very difficult, humanitarian agencies point out, and they are asking for the sending of strictly necessary aid to the Gaza Strip The Israeli army announced that the number of people abducted by Hamas and taken to the Gaza Strip is 199. The bombing continued on both sides. On the northern border of Israel, following the frequent fire exchanges with the Hezbollah organization, a measure was taken to evacuate 28 Israeli towns in the immediate vicinity of the border with Lebanon and a 2 km wide strip was established which was declared a closed military area.

Football – The Romanian national football team became the leader of the EURO 2024 Qualifying Group I after defeating Andorra, 4-0, on Sunday evening, in Bucharest. The Romanian footballers achieved their clearest victory of this qualifying campaign. In another match from Group I, Switzerland drew the match with Belarus 3-3 at home. We remind you that Israels matches have been postponed. Romania is to play its last games in the group in November, with Israel, away from home, and with Switzerland on home ground. Kosovo is also part of Group I. (LS)

16 October 2023
September 17, 2023 – UPDATE

UN President Klaus Iohannis will be leading Romania’s
delegation to the 78th session of the UN General Assembly between
September 18 and 22 in New York. In his address, Mr. Iohannis will present
Romania’s views on current global developments, highlighting Romania’s foreign
policy priorities and its contribution to reaching the goals on the UN
multilateral agenda. President Iohannis will also attend the Summit on
Sustainable Development Goals, and will be a guest of honour at the World
Leaders Forum organised by the prestigious Columbia University in New York, where
he will be discussing Romania’s outlook on the war in Ukraine and its impact on
Black Sea security.

PENSIONS A new
version of the special pension law, comprising the amendments requested by the
Constitutional Court, will be endorsed by the end of September, said the
interim Chamber of Deputies speaker, Alfred Simonis. He added the law covers
all categories of special pensions, but because the special benefits paid to
magistrates and other categories cannot be scrapped, as it happened in the case
of MPs, taxation will be introduced, which the Court has accepted. Also,
Simonis said, ceilings must be introduced for each particular profession, so as
to eliminate special pensions of EUR 8,000 or even EUR 14,000 a month. The
Constitutional Court last month sent back to Parliament the new draft pension
law, on grounds that pension benefits currently being paid cannot be readjusted
to different principles than the ones in the law under which they have been
granted.

CEREMONY A military and religious ceremony was held on
Sunday at the Heroes’ Cross on Caraiman Peak in central Romania, to celebrate
95 years since the monument was unveiled. Included in the Guinness Book of
Records, the 40m cross is the highest such monument placed on a mountain top in
the world. It was erected at an altitude of 2,291 m between 1926 and 1928, at
the initiative of and with support from Queen Marie and King Ferdinand of
Romania, as a tribute to WW1 heroes.

FLIGHTS The Romanian airline TAROM announces new flights to and from Chișinău,
in the neighbouring Republic of Moldova, as of September 24. TAROM will operate
additional flights over weekends, to reach a total of 21 weekly return flights,
with prices starting at EUR 85.

MOTORWAYS As of next week Romania will have 1,000 km of
motorway in use, with the opening of the Nuşfalău – Suplacu de Barcău segment
of the A3 Transilvania motoway. Next month the first 20 km of the Bucharest
ring motorway will also be opened, and next year the first 2 segments of the Ploieşti-Buzău
motorway are scheduled to be completed.

SCHENGEN Austria’s opposition to Romania’s Schengen
accession is not targeted against Bucharest, but against this freedom of
movement system, said the Austrian minister for the EU, Karoline Edtstadler. The
statement comes after Bucharest warned it would sue Vienna over its veto to
Romania’s accession. Karoline Edtstadler told the media she understood the
position of Romanian authorities, but added Austria cannot close its eyes to an
already flawed system. She explained the EU should ensure efficient protection of its external
borders before envisioning a Europe without internal
borders. In
an interview to Austrian mass media, Romania’s PM
Marcel Ciolacu said that in case of further opposition from Austria, Romania
will have to take the matter to court and demand compensation for the losses
incurred because of its failure to join the Schengen area.

NATO NATO’s secretary general
Jens Stoltenberg has warned in an interview published on Sunday, that we must
not expect a swift end to the war in Ukraine, as Kyiv carries on its
counteroffensive against Russian forces, AFP reports. The war began in February 2022, when
Russian troops invaded Ukraine. As for Ukraine’s efforts to join NATO, Jens Stoltenberg promised
that sooner or later, Ukraine will be a NATO member. In July’s NATO summit in
Vilnius, Alliance leaders agreed that Kyiv may join NATO once
certain conditions are fulfilled, with the US and Germany emphasising that
these conditions include reforms to protect democracy and the rule of law. In
mid-June the Ukrainian army launched a counteroffensive to push out the Russian
troops from the south and east of the country, but so far only a limited number
of localities have been freed.

TABLE TENNIS Romania’s women’s team was defeated by Germany,
3-0, on Sunday, in the European Table Tennis Championships final in Malmo (Sweden).
Elizabeta Samara lost to Xiaona Shan 3-0 (11-6, 11-8, 11-8), Bernadette Szocs was
defeated by Ying Han 3-1 (14-16, 11-8, 11-8, 12-10), and Nina Mittelham beat
Andreea Dragoman 3-2 (5-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-6, 12-10), after the Romanian player
lost two match points. Romania was already a European vice-champion, after
winning the silver in 2021, at home in Cluj-Napoca.

RUGBY Defending world champions, South
Africa Sunday defeated 76-0 Romania’s national rugby team in a World Cup Group
B match in Bordeaux (France). A week ago Romania lost to Ireland 82-8 (33-8). Romania’s rugby team is next to play against
Scotland on September 30 and against Tonga on October 8, in Lille. (AMP)

17 September 2023
War veterans, orphans and widows in Greater Romania

The end of World War I left Romania on the victors side, with double its previous territory and population. But the price paid for this triumph was dire, both during and after the war. Among the most challenging post-conflict realities were the veterans, orphans and widows the war had left behind. Collectively referred to under the acronym IOVR, the World War I veterans, orphans and widows accounted for around 12% of the population of Greater Romania. Public institutions worked to introduce reparations for them, and in spite of various dysfunctions, the new government managed to compensate, as much as possible, the losses these people had suffered.

Our guest today is Maria Bucur, a history and gender studies professor with Indiana University, in Bloomington, USA. She wrote about the history of eugenics, about war and memory, modernisation and citizenship. She argues that the IOVR population shaped new attitudes and radically transformed the concept of citizenship in Greater Romania:

Maria Bucur: “The Romanian state was transformed radically by the decisions made with respect to the war veterans, widows and orphans, both in terms of new institutions or new responsibilities for some institutions, of new local and national policies, and, more importantly, in terms of the citizenship rights that a major proportion of Romanias population obtained after 1919. These forces, working together, generated a new public rhetoric on citizenship, new expectations among Romanian citizens, and new responsibilities undertaken by the state. The success or failures of the new policies generated new dynamics in the political and civic field.”

Unfortunately, the exact number of war veterans, orphans and widows remains unknown to this day. Maria Bucur offers an explanation:

Maria Bucur: “Since the country had almost doubled after the war, the veterans in the territories that were now part of Romania by virtue of the peace treaties became veterans of the Romanian state. We dont have an exact number for them, because the countries to which the territories in question belonged prior to the war did not necessarily count the veterans, as Romania did, and they did not release official statistics on the veterans, widows and orphans in those territories. The figures we have today are early 1920s estimates. In the mid-1930s, when a central committee was finally set up to check these figures, its members concluded that the statistics were incomplete. My own estimate is that Romania had around 1.5 million veterans, over 200,000 of whom were war invalids according to the definition used in those times, and that adding to these were 700,000 widows and orphans.”

How did Greater Romania show its appreciation for its WWI veterans, orphans and widows? Maria Bucur says reperation policies were, overall, adequate:

Maria Bucur: “We should emphasise that Romania was in fact more generous than any other country involved in WWI. Apart from pension benefits, the law offered free public education, free healthcare, free railway transportation, free firewood and priority positions in the distribution of land following the land ownership reform. In addition, veterans were given priority access to certain government monopoly areas, such as newsstands in train stations, and priority access to certain positions in public institutions. For instance, the staff in the IOVR offices were mainly war veterans and widows. All these benefits together amounted to a lot more than the ones provided by the French government, for instance, which was always a major model for Romania.”

The law concerning the IOVR population was known as the “Gratitude Law,” and it applied without discrimination to both the old and the new citizens of the country:

Maria Bucur: “First of all, the country was grateful not only to the soldiers who had fought for Romania on the home front. Those who had fought against Romania were given exactly the same rights, provided that they explicitly embraced their Romanian citizenship and loyalty to the Romanian state. And I would like to emphasise that such policies were not applied for instance in Yugoslavia, where Croatians were not given the same rights as the Serbian veterans.”

Maria Bucur believes there are additional explanations for Romanias generosity to former enemies:

Maria Bucur: “This generosity on the part of the Romanian government may also be viewed in pragmatic and aspirational terms. On the one hand, many Romanian ethnics had fought in the Austrian-Hungarian army out of necessity. Not integrating these veterans in the IOVR policies would have created a radical division between the new territories and the Old Kingdom, which all politicians understood would be a mistake. Another pragmatic aspect had to do with the treaty on minorities, which Romania had to comply with. In aspirational terms, I see the IOVR legislation as a framework as well, one through which the Parliament of Romania sought to outlike a new type of engaged citizenship, a lot closer to public institutions through the benefits offered to the IOVR population.”

The Romanian WWI veteran reparation model was designed to compensate for losses and to secure peace. And in spite of some failures, this ambitious enterprise was successful. (AMP)

14 August 2023
The special pension reform continues

The last week of the current parliamentary
session was devoted to bills which target sensitive areas and which, precisely
for this reason, had been long postponed. On Monday, in an almost unprecedented
political effort, Romania’s Senators and Deputies scrapped the special pensions
granted to MPs. The piece of legislation under which Romanian MPs give up what
the media and the public have long regarded as an immoral right, has already
been signed into law by President Iohannis.

On Wednesday, 2 other overdue bills were
endorsed. One of them no longer allows individuals to receive both public
sector salaries and retirement benefits, and the other is aimed at reforming
the special pension system, which relies only in part on contributions during
the employment period, and which benefits magistrates, military personnel,
diplomats, parliamentary and court staff as well as aeronautical personnel.

In the first case, exemptions from the
restriction concerning public sector salaries and pension benefits paid to the
same individual at the same time triggered fiery criticism, primarily because
these exemptions cover local elected officials and MPs, alongside other
categories, such as teaching staff, healthcare professionals, specialist carers
and employees of the Romanian Academy, the National Bank of Romania, the
National Energy Regulatory Authority and the Communications Regulatory
Authority.

A final favourable vote was also cast on the special
pension reform bill, but the draft submitted by the Government was
significantly amended. In this final version, the implementation of the reform
is basically postponed 5 years and extended until 2043. Until 2028, prosecutors,
judges and military personnel may retire under the same conditions as before. The
retirement age will be increased in several stages from 60 to 65, and minimum
25-year relevant seniority will be a requirement for retiring magistrates.

Pension benefits in excess of the national
average net salary will be subject to taxation, but the rate will be 15%
instead of the 30% originally suggested. All these provisions have been
discussed with EU experts, the PM Marcel Ciolacu said.

The reform of the special pension system is a
milestone in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. USR party in Opposition,
which would have liked special pensions to be scrapped altogether, voted
against the bill, arguing that it still leaves Romania with the same number of 210,000
special pension beneficiaries as before.

The Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in
Romania, no longer a partner in the ruling coalition since the government
rotation, said a long time would pass until the system may rely exclusively on
lifetime contributions to pension funds. Even this version of the law, which according
to analysts saw its most radical provisions amputated, annoyed the Higher
Council of Magistrates. They disapprove of the amendments and claim Parliament
overlooked constitutional principles and endorsed measures that cause irreparable
damages to the independence of the judiciary and of magistrates. (AMP)

29 June 2023
June 9, 2023

STRIKE Disgruntled by the government’s failure to meet their
claims, trade unions in Romania’s education system have today kicked off another
protest in Bucharest. Protests are also taking place in other major cities
across the country. Also today, the Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca will
be having a new round of talks with trade union representatives. The government
on Thursday endorsed a memorandum on pay rises granted to the personnel in the
country’s education system under the future salary law – through which the
government guarantees this domain as a priority. Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca
has given assurances the salary of the beginner teachers will be based on the
average gross salary as trade unions have requested. The memorandum also mentions
a holiday bonus for the employees according to their salaries as well as other
bonuses. The protesters say though the political statement on Thursday doesn’t
have any legal value, which prompted them to carry on the protests they started
on May 22. They say they don’t trust Romania’s political class as there have
been numerous cases since 2010, when politicians have chosen not to implement
the laws they issued. Field minister
Ligia Deca has announced that applications for the Baccalaureate and the
national assessment exams for 8th graders will be extended until
June 13 and the competency tests from the Baccalaureate exam will take place
over 14 – 23 June.

DIPLOMACY The Russian
Foreign Ministry has deemed a decision by the Romanian authorities to reduce Russia’s
diplomatic presence in Romania as a hostile act, which will not remain
unanswered. Specific measures will be announced in due time, Maria Zakharova,
the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry has said. The Romanian Foreign
Ministry has announced the ambasador of the Russian Federation in Bucharest was
briefed on Thursday upon the decision of the Romanian authorities to reduce the
diplomatic and technical-administrative personnel of the Russian Federation in
Romania by limiting their number to a level close to Romania’s diplomatical
representation in the Russian Federation. Within 30 days, the number of
diplomats must be reduced by 21 and the auxiliary personnel by 30. The measure
has been endorsed according to the 1961 Vienna convention on diplomatic
relations and reflects the present level of the bilateral relations sharply
reduced by Romania after the beginning of Russia’s war in Ukraine, the Romanian
Foreign Ministry has specified.

TIFF As of today, the city of Cluj in
northwestern Romania, will be the capital of the international cinematography
for the next ten days. The Transylvania Film Festival, known as TIFF, has
kicked off with roughly 200 films to be screened and 12 vying in the official
contest. Famous actors and directors from Romania and abroad, including US
director Oliver Stone, have announced their participation. At TIFF, film goers
will be able to meet Oscar winners or actors who starred in the famous series
‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ or ‘Harry Potter’. Inspired from real events, which
took place in Sibiu, central Romania, back in 1989, ‘Freedom’, the latest film
of Romanian director Tudor Giurgiu will be premiered at TIFF. Romanian actor
Horatiu Malaele, who is going to give a performance at the aforementioned film
festival, will be awarded the excellence award.

WEATHER And now a look at the weather
which is generally unstable in the country’s west, north-west, central regions
as well as in the mountains. The sky is overcast with thunderstorms and heavy
downpours reported in some areas. In the other Romanian regions, the weather is
predominantly warm and even hot with temperatures ranging from 21 to 30 degrees
Celsius and a noon reading in Bucharest of 30 degrees.

(bill)

9 June 2023
Deputies review special pensions bill

The Chamber of Deputies is currently working on a draft law to reform the pension system used primarily for the magistrate corps and for army and interior ministry personnel, and which is not based on contributions to pension funds during the employment, but on other, special criteria.

This reform is a benchmark in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. As long as the issue was not linked to financial considerations, Romanian politicians were reluctant to tackling this delicate topic, with the exception of Save Romania Union, in opposition, which has repeatedly lobbied for scrapping the special pensions.

Before reaching the Chamber, the bill on the special pensions saw amendments from the ruling coalition parties-the Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania.

According to their authors, these amendments were designed to eliminate abuse and inequity, and the pension contribution principle will be, from now on, the primary factor in the entire public pension system. According to the new amendments, exemptions will be eliminated with respect to the standard retirement age, so that from now on diplomats and auxiliary staff in courts will also retire at the age of 65. The same principle will be applied gradually, until 2035, for military personnel as well.

Also, until January 2034, the minimum relevant length of service requirement will be increased to 25 years for several categories of employees, including diplomats, Parliament clerks, and Court of Accounts staff.

Under another amendment, certain categories of employees who previously had the same rights and obligations as magistrates or diplomatic staff will no longer benefit from special pensions.

The calculation basis for special pensions is also being adjusted to the one used in the public system. Whereas so far special pension benefits were calculated based on the revenues during the last 12 months in office, from now on this period will be gradually raised to 300 months. No special pension will be higher than the salary received while in office.

Also, a 30% tax rate will be levied on the special pension amount in excess of the current national gross average salary and in excess of the contribution principle.

Another amendment cancels a mechanism used so far, under which magistrate pensions were raised proportionately with the increase of gross monthly allowances paid to active judges and prosecutors.

“The retirement benefits paid to each citizen must reflect the importance of their lifes work and their contribution to the public system,” PM Nicolae Ciucă said. He also added that with the Pension Law and the Salary Law, Romania will have completed the reform package stipulated for this year in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, thus ensuring sustainability and equity in the public salary and pension sector.

Quite predictably, the Higher Council of Magistrates has criticised the draft law on special pensions, warning that a sudden increase of the retirement age for judges and prosecutors might force over 1,500 magistrates out of the system. (AMP)

30 May 2023
Increased penalties for drug trafficking

The Romanian legislators have tightened the penalties for drug trafficking. According to a draft law adopted on Wednesday by the Romanian Chamber of Deputies, cultivating, producing, manufacturing, offering, selling, distributing, transporting, procuring, buying, possessing or other operations regarding the circulation of dangerous drugs, without having the right to, are punished with imprisonment from 3 to 10 years and the prohibition of certain rights. If the respective acts involve high-risk drugs, the penalty is 5 to 15 years in prison, and if the victim dies, the penalty would be 15 to 25 years in prison.

Also, introducing or taking out of the country, as well as importing or exporting dangerous drugs, are acts punished by imprisonment from 5 to 15 years and the prohibition of certain rights. The law mentions that the goods and means used in the illicit manufacturing of drugs can be used for educational purposes, by making them available to training units of the law enforcement staff or by using them in campaigns for raising awareness of the risks associated with drug use.

The draft law also provides that the act of the person who intentionally carries out illegal operations with products likely to have psychoactive effects, claiming that they are authorized according to the law, or whose sale is permitted by law, is a crime and is punishable by imprisonment from 2 to 7 years, if the act does not represent a more serious crime. At the same time, the advertising of any products, credibly claiming that through consumption they produce psychoactive effects, represents a crime and is punishable by one to 5 years in prison.

The draft law was also adopted by the Senate, and the Chamber of Deputies is the decision-making body in this case. It had been re-examined at the request of President Klaus Iohannis, who had requested a clearer regulation regarding the substances newly mentioned in the law, such as ethnobotanical substances.

The state has the greatest responsibility in combating drug trafficking, believes Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania – UDMR deputy Szabó Ödön: Indeed, children are among the victims, and we should have centers for the recovery of these children and provide support for families. The competent state institutions must fight this crime throughout Romania .

The age at which young people in Romania are tempted to use drugs is decreasing, and this is one of the major concerns of specialists in the field. According to them, the consumption of narcotic substances at young ages is influenced by their entourage and curiosity. They propose, among other things, adapting the institutional response to the new trends of the drug consumption phenomenon and co-opting the civil society in the specific activities. (LS)

16 February 2023
November 4, 2022 UPDATE

LAW Romania’s
president Klaus Iohannis Friday signed into law a bill banning convicted offenders
from running for public offices such as senators, deputies, mayors, chairs or
members of county councils and others. Under the said law, the ban does not
apply in cases involving rehabilitation, amnesty or decriminalisation.

AIRCRAFT Romania has signed an agreement to purchase 32 F-16
fighters from Norway. According to the Defence Ministry, the first aircraft
will be delivered towards the end of next year, and total costs amount to EUR 388
mln. The ministry also explains that the aircraft will be operational and fit
for use for another at least 10 years. The agreement is supported by the US
Government and is a capability transfer between 2 NATO member states, aimed at
enhancing Romania’s defence capacity and at ensuring the country’s contribution
to the collective defence as part of the Alliance. At present the Romanian Air
Forces operate 17 F-16 fighters.

TRADE The volume
of trade exchanges between Romania and Germany in the first 9 months of the
year exceeded EUR 28 bln, 18% higher than in the same period last year, says
the Federal Statistics Office quoted by the Romanian-German Chamber of Commerce.
According to the same sources, German exports to Romania stood at roughly EUR 15
bln, while imports exceeded EUR 13 bln, placing Romania on the 19th position in
a ranking by exports and on the 21st position in terms of imports. Federal
authorities have voiced hope that Romania will join the Schengen zone as soon
as possible in what is seen as a strong political signal acknowledging the
country’s positive achievements in terms of European integration.

EXTREMISM The Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation condemns the
xenophobic statements made by a Hungarian politician on a visit to Sfântu
Gheorghe (central Romania). Barna Bartha, a Deputy affiliated with the
extremist party Mi Hazánk (Our Motherland) made racist statements concerning
Roma and Jewish people, and threatened Boróka Parászka, a Hungarian ethnic
employed as a journalist with Radio România Tîrgu Mureş. The management of the
Radio Broadcasting Corporation sees these statements as unacceptable and a
serious attack against basic rules of democracy and against the rule of law. PM
Nicolae Ciuca also described the threats against journalist Paraszka Boroka as
a serious attack on democratic values and urged the relevant authorities to
use their legal powers to protect the members of mass media. Mi Hazánk is a
far-right party in Hungary, set up 4 years ago by dissidents from Jobbik party
after its leaders moved away from the organisation’s radical roots.

UKRAINE Some 4.5
million Ukrainians, accounting for one-tenth of the country’s population, were
left without electricity on Thursday night, after Russian attacks on the
country’s energy network. Power went out both in the capital Kyiv and in 10
other regions. The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Russians
cannot beat Ukraine on the battlefield, so they try to break our people by
resorting to energy terrorism. Meanwhile, Ukraine firmly condemned the
massive displacement of civilians in Russian-controlled Kherson region (south)
for fear of a massive Ukrainian counteroffensive. Civilians were reportedly
also moved in the neighbouring region of Zaporizhzhia and in Crimea, the
peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014, as well as in the eastern provinces of Luhansk
and Donetsk, partly controlled by pro-Moscow secessionists. (AMP)

4 November 2022
Top priorities of the new Parliament session

The
Senate and the Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest on Thursday kicked off a new
Parliament session, the second this year. The package of the Education Law and
amendments to the justice laws, the Criminal Code and the Penal Procedure Code
are high on the talks agenda of the MPs in the PNL-PSD-UDMR ruling
coalition.

The
package comprising the statute of judges and prosecutors, the legal
organization and the Higher Council of the Magistrates has been recently
approved by the Executive and is part of a series of amendments assumed before
the European partners with a view to streamlining the entire legal system. In
fact, amending the justice laws is the objective Romania has assumed both in the National Plan of Recovery and Resilience and the Cooperation and
Verification Mechanism, as the country’s accession to Europe’s border-free area
Schengen depends on the latter. As for the new education laws, they are up to
public debates and have so far attracted a lot of heat from civil society, the
leaders of the main universities and even some of the local political leaders.

The
draft laws comprise major amendments regarding the students’ evaluation exams, as
well as their high-school and university accession. Another priority of the new
Parliament session is the package of laws regarding security. A series of
measures on subsidized energy prices through a new emergency ordinance by the
government is also to be tackled during the new Parliament session.

Several
projects on social issues are also to be discussed and the UDMR has proposed a
project on state subsidies for those using wood as fuel. In turn, the Social
Democratic Party has proposed pension and salary rises so that the minimum
salary may be brought up to 600 Euros.

The
opposition USR has already called into attention the activity of Energy
Minister Virgil Popescu and has announced a simple motion against him. We
recall that during the last Parliament session, the opposition tabled five
simple motions against some ministers in the government headed by Liberal
Nicolae Ciuca but all of them failed to muster the right number of votes.

The
previous Parliament session brought the endorsement of a bill allowing for the
exploitation of gas deposits in the Black Sea. The ‘offshore’ law, initiated by
leaders of the ruling coalition has been endorsed by the two Parliament
Chambers and gas exploitation in the Neptune Deep perimeter in the Black Sea is
to ensure Romania’s energy independence against the background of the conflict
in Ukraine. Under the law, Romania has priority at buying the gas extracted in
this perimeter and the surplus will be exported.

Another
law, which sparked off heated debates in Parliament until its endorsement, was
that on dismantling the department investigating justice crimes.

We
have also witnessed a first: Parliaments of Romania and the Romanian-speaking
Republic of Moldova went on a joint session in Chisinau to convey a common
message of backing the latter’s efforts to join the European Union.

(bill)

1 September 2022
July 28, 2022 UPDATE

UKRAINE The Romanian foreign ministry firmly criticised the move of
the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, who posted
on social media a map assigning current Ukrainian territories to Romania and
other neighbouring countries. The foreign ministry regards such attitudes as
part of the Russian Federation’s propaganda and disinformation campaign, which
has intensified since the start of the illegal and illegitimate war against
Ukraine. Such ‘proposals’ and ‘analyses’ concerning the random resetting of
national borders and promoting violations of international laws are just failed
attempts to justify Russia’s breaches of the international order based on
rules. The institution reiterates Romania’s full support for the independence,
sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally
recognised borders, and once again condemns Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked
military aggression against that country. Romania is and will remain a partner
of Ukraine and reconfirms its full support and deep compassion for the
Ukrainian people, the victim of a brutal aggression, the institution’s news release
also reads.

FUNDS The prime minister Nicolae Ciucă has said Romania’s absorption
rate of European funds as part of the 2014-2020 financial exercise stands at
64.5%, a level similar to that of Germany and only slightly lower than France,
but ahead of older member states like Belgium (59%) and Italy, Spain and The
Netherlands (each with a little over 56%). According to Ciucă, Romania absorbed
22 billion Euros out of the 35 billion it is allocated in the 2014-2020 period.

DROUGHT Drought has so far affected 150,000 hectares of farmland in
20 different counties across Romania, said the agriculture ministry, based on
daily reports on the state of the crops. The irrigation systems are struggling
to cope, owing to the drop in the level of the water used to feed the
irrigation stations. The biggest such station, in Brăila county, in the
south-east, was shut down because of the low Danube water flow. The station was
providing water for 250,000 hectares of land in the region. The water flow of
the river Prut, in the east, is also dropping, having already reached a record
low level. Agriculture minister Petre Daea said the animal breeding sector is
also affected by drought.

WHISTLE-BLOWERS The president of Romania Klaus Iohannis Thursday sent
back to Parliament for reconsideration the Law on the protection of whistle-blowers,
stating that some of the legislative solutions must be revised. Previously, a coalition
of 20 NGOs, civil associations and trade unions, as well as whistle-blowers,
had sent an open letter to the president, urging him not to sign the bill into law.
Civil society organisations argue that in the form passed in Parliament, the
act reduces the protection mechanisms for whistle-blowers, and Romania risks
infringement procedures for the selective transposition of the relevant EU
Directive. Save Romania Union, in opposition, also called on Iohannis to send
the law back for urgent reconsideration, stating that the current text
dissuades corruption reporting and poses a major risk of Romania being left
without the funding under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. In
mid-July the Constitutional Court had dismissed USR party’s complaint
concerning the law, as unconstitutional.

DRILL Over 20 aircraft from 7 NATO member states Thursday took part
in a joint drill as part of the enhanced Vigilance Activities – eVA headed by
NATO AIRCOM based in Germany. According to the defence ministry, the goal of
the exercise is to prove NATO’s capacity to plan, coordinate and execute a
complex air space security mission in the event of any type of attack or threat
on Allied territory. In response to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, NATO significantly
enhanced its defence and deterrence capability, including by means of
strengthening its presence on its eastern flank. (AMP)

28 July 2022
The education law under review

During the 32 years since Romania’s
anti-communist revolution, no other sector has been subject to so many, and
often so confusing, changes as public education. The country’s chronic
political instability brought at the top of the education ministry a long line
of characters eager to introduce innovations that would make them famous. They
were quickly replaced, so all they managed to do was to cancel the reforms
promoted by their predecessors.

Three decades of constant innovation
later, the results are evident. Both students and parents complain about the
sense of confusion caused by rules changing midgame. Romanians who can afford
it send their children to school abroad, and in turn the country’s brightest
graduates chose to leave the country.

There is no vocational education to speak
of, so it is increasingly difficult to find a good plumber or mechanic. Because
of the stress and low pay, the teaching profession is no longer attractive, so
the number of substitute teachers is growing, especially in the countryside and
in smaller towns. And relevant surveys converge with respect to the high rate
of functional illiteracy among Romanian school graduates.

In this rather dismal context, the
incumbent education minister Sorin Cîmpeanu, a Liberal Party member, announces
notable changes in the field, which, he claims, are likely to improve the situation.

National colleges, i.e. the best high
schools in the country, will be able to select 90% of their students by
organising their own admission exams. The remaining 10% of the students will be
selected based on candidates’ results in the national evaluation, a test that
middle school graduates must take at present.

Moreover, starting in 2024, the middle school grade average will no longer be taken into account in the high school
admission process, because, minister Cîmpeanu says, it has lost its relevance.

Changes are planned for the baccalaureate
exam as well, which will no longer be conditional on passing the optional
written test in a candidate’s major specialisation.

Access to a teaching career will also be
different, the education minister announced. Under the new law, a one-year
traineeship under a tutor’s guidance will be introduced, and tenure exams and
organisation will be changed.

The new education bill will be subject to public
review for a month, until August 17. And according to commentators, just like
many draft legislative acts put together by the Cabinet, this too will very
likely be amended substantially. (AMP)

15 July 2022
July 13, 2022 UPDATE

NATO The
government of Romania approved Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO accession protocols,
signed in Brussels on July 5. The accession of the 2 countries, which are firm
supporters of the values of the Euro-Atlantic community and have substantial capacity
to strengthen the Alliance, will be a valuable strategic benefit for NATO and
implicitly for Romania, thanks to the security guarantees that it provides, reads
a news release. The Chamber of Deputies Speaker Marcel Ciolacu announced a week
ago that Parliament will complete the ratification process speedily, with a
special Parliament sitting to be organised to this end. Ciolacu added that the illegal
and unjustified war started by the Russian Federation against Ukraine has fundamentally
altered security parameters.

REPORT The European Commission recommends that Romania take measures
to address the remaining concerns regarding the investigation and prosecution
of offences in the judiciary and to make sure that the amendments to the
justice laws consolidate the guarantees of judicial independence, including by
means of reforms in the disciplinary rules for magistrates. These are some of
the conclusions of a report on Romania’s compliance with the rule of law, made
public on Wednesday. Brussels also calls on Bucharest to regulate lobby
activities in Parliament and to address the operational challenges faced by the
National Anti-Corruption Directorate, including in terms of recruiting new
prosecutors. Another recommendation has to do with efficient public
consultation before endorsing bills, enhanced transparency with respect to the
funding of political parties, and the improvement of the norms and mechanisms
to consolidate the editorial independence of public media. As far as the mass
media are concerned, the European Commission warns that there is not enough
transparency with respect to the broadcasting of content paid by political
parties, with the exception of election campaigns, and journalists’ access to
information remains difficult.

COVID-19 Over 3,000 new SARS-CoV-2 infections were reported over
the past 24 hours in Romania, 267 fewer than in the previous day, the health
ministry announced on Wednesday. Overall, since the start of the pandemic,
nearly 3 million coronavirus infections have been reported in Romania.

REFUGEES According to the Romanian Border Police Inspectorate, 9,808 Ukrainian nationals
crossed into Romania on Tuesday, a 10% drop compared to the previous day.
Starting February 10, 2022, some 1.5 million Ukrainian citizens have entered
Romania.

WHISTLEBLOWERS The Constitutional Court of Romania Wednesday ruled against a notification
submitted by USR party in opposition regarding the law on the protection of
whistleblowers. USR claims the bill passed by the government considerably reduces
the protection offered to people who report irregularities in public
institutions and raises major obstacles in securing Recovery and Resilience
(PNRR) funds. The notification mentions elements that come against the
Constitution of Romania, including the violation of certain commitments Romania
pledged to observe upon joining the EU and the lack of clarity and
predictability of some provisions.

JUDICIARY A cooperation agreement between the European Public
Prosecutor’s Office and the General Prosecutor’s Office of the R. of Moldova
was signed in Chişinăuon
Wednesday by the heads of the 2 institutions, Laura Codruţa Kövesi and Dumitru Robu.
The document is designed to facilitate the exchange of information and judicial
cooperation in criminal matters. Dumitru Robu pointed out that a priority is to
carry on investigations in corruption cases and financial offences against state
assets. In turn, Laura Codruţa Kövesi said that the European Public Prosecutor’s
Office would support the work of Moldova’s General
Prosecutor’s Office as much as its powers would allow it. (AMP

13 July 2022
The Week in Review 21 – 27 May 2022

The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, talked on the phone with the president of the European Council, Charles Michel

Romanian president Klaus Iohannis, on Thursday spoke on the phone with the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, before the special proceedings of the aforementioned council in Brussels at the end of the month, which has high on the agenda the humanitarian and financial aid for Ukraine. Food safety, energy, security and defence were the main topics of the discussion between the head of the Romanian state and president of the European Council. In the meantime, the Russian troops are continuing their onslaught on the neighbouring Ukraine where the situation is difficult. According to the General Border Police Inspectorate, since the beginning of the conflict on February 24th, over one million Ukrainian citizens have entered Romania.

An offshore law regulating Black Sea gas exploitation has come into effect

The offshore law regulating gas exploitation in the Black Sea was enacted on Wednesday by Romanias president Klaus Iohannis. In its new form, the law is more investor-friendly and is supposed to benefit both the state and companies, government representatives say. After the endorsement of the draft law in the Chamber of Deputies, Energy Minister, the Liberal Virgil Popescu, has said the new regulations ensure stability, predictability as well as lower gas prices for household consumers. The law stipulates a series of measures on the stability of the fiscal regime and oil royalties as well as the elimination of additional income taxation for selling prices at which investors do not make surplus profits. During the duration of the agreements concerning the deep-sea offshore and onshore perimeters, the holders of the agreements have the right to freely trade the hydrocarbons produced from the respective oil perimeters at the prices and in the quantities determined by them under the provisions of the national and European legislation in force. Under the document, Romania will have priority in exploiting the gas deposits and the profit will be divided between the Romanian state, which is to receive 60% and investors who are to get 40%. The first gas extraction has been scheduled for June, part of a project carried out by the company Black Sea Oil&Gas. According to estimates, over one billion cubic meters would be delivered annually throughout this exploitation thus covering 10% of Romanias needs.

Prince Charles, heir to the British Crown, is back in Romania

Currently on a visit to Romania, after a break caused by the pandemic, Prince Charles, heir to the British Crown, on Wednesday met in Bucharest the countrys president Klaus Iohannis, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca and the custodian of the Romanian crown, Princess Margareta. Talks focused on the Ukrainian refugee crisis and the support granted by Romania to its neighboring country in the context of the Russian invasion. President Iohannis informed Prince Charles on the humanitarian hub in Suceava, north-eastern Romania, and on the coordination of support efforts by a number of states, to Ukraines benefit. Also discussed were the Romanian-British strategic partnership, solutions to limit the impact of climate change and to preserve biodiversity and the need for educational projects on climate change. During the meeting he had with Romanias Prime Minister, Prince Charles was interested in Romanias policies in the field of green and renewable energies. Prime Minister Ciuca voiced support for investment in green energy, the offshore wind power in particular, in which British companies are invited to invest in the upcoming period.

Together with Princess Margareta, Custodian of the Romanian Crown, prince Charles visited a refugee centre in Bucharest, and talked to the refugees and volunteers there. The centre has more than 1 thousand Ukrainian visitors per day, who receive food, hygiene products and clothing, and also benefit social services and counseling during their stay in Romania.

Prince Charles first visited Romania in 1998 and has returned to the country almost every year ever since. He has been supporting foundations and programs focused on the protection of Transylvanias heritage and biodiversity and, through Prince Charles of Wales Romania Foundation, he supported small farmers and ran a special program for the Romanian military injured in Afghanistan.

The executive in Bucharest has approved a new package of social and economic measures

The Bucharest Government on Monday announced a new package of social and economic measures agreed on by the ruling coalition, against the background of unprecedented price hikes affecting the population. The package, worth 1.1 billion euros, takes effect starting July 1st. Among these measures are the postponement, by nine months, of interest rates on loans for citizens and companies facing difficulties triggered by the multiple crises that have emerged lately. Also decided was the granting of a quarter of the salary difference, in keeping with the unitary payment law for public sector employees, and of a single financial aid of 140 euros to all pensioners with pensions smaller than 400 euros.

At the same time, the Government will take measures for fiscal consolidation and for observing its commitments as regards the public deficit. This means cutting public expenditure by at least 10%, except for expenses with salaries, pensions and social assistance, freezing jobs in the public sector as of July 1st and increasing the collection of revenues to the consolidated general budget by 2 billion euro.

Also on Monday, the Minister of Investment and European Projects, Marcel Bolos, announced that most vouchers for vulnerable persons will be distributed to the beneficiaries starting in June and the rest of them in the first half of July. He mentioned that the vouchers to be distributed by June 10 will be funded in 2 or 3 days, in keeping with the public payment mechanism.

We recall that on May 9 the Government adopted the measure regarding social vouchers to be granted to a number of categories of people who are at risk of material deprivation and extreme poverty. Thus, more than 3 million Romanians will receive every two months, social vouchers worth 50 euros each.

(bill)

28 May 2022
Special education for the people with special needs

30,000 hearing-impaired people live in Romania, or
thereabouts. They have a fully-fledged right to integrate themselves in the educational
life with dignity, as well as in the professional or the social life. However,
they are low-profile, more often than not, for the simple reason that they do
not make noise. Nor can they voice their needs or complaints, either.

A lecturer with the University of Bucharest’s Faculty
of Journalism and Communication Sciences, Dr Florica Iuhas is one of those
people who have adamantly provided a staunch support for the hearing-impaired people.
Here is Dr Florica Iuhas herself, explaining why, for instance, a mere 1% of the
hearing-impaired people pass the baccalaureate exam for the Romanian Language and
literature exam subject.

Dr Florica Iuhas:

One of the big problems is that the
education system has not been tailored to suit their needs, since they think
and dream in the sign language, yet they have no choice other than take their
baccalaureate exam in the Romanian language. A hearing-impaired
person does not have prepositions in their vocabulary, nor conjunctions, they
will never be able to understand the difference between the present tense and
the past perfect, for example, because they have a visual culture, their own
culture. But at ministerial level, officials cannot
understand that, for the time being, at least. A hearing-impaired
person will never be able to have a full command of the
grammatical standards, because, for a hearing-impaired person, the syntax and the word
order in a complex sentence are very different from the word order in Romanian. So,
in effect, the sign language in Romanian will have to come first, for the
baccalaureate exam. Rote learning works perfectly well for the hearing-impaired people,
they can manage for Geography, for History, they can pass the baccalaureate exam
for the theoretical disciplines quite all right, they’re doing fine in
Mathematics, some of them are even successful IT specialists, but when it comes
to Romanian language and literature, they have serious problems, as their mind
and language are not structured according to the grammar of the Romanian
language we, the people with no hearing problems, can speak .

In other words, the present education law does not make
a clear-cut distinction between the people who can hear and the
hearing-impaired people. Both categories need to meet the same examination
standards. According to Dr Florica Iuhas, for the hearing-impaired people, the Romanian
language and literature exam should be replaced by an exam in the mother tongue,
which, in their case, is the language of the signs. As for the Romanian
language and literature exam, it should have a much lower level of difficulty.
By the same token, a self-sufficient department is needed, capable of training
teachers in the sign language, for the special-needs schools. Not just anybody
can have a command of that particular language, let alone teach it! That also
works for any other language!

There is another situation we need to take into
account: if the hearing-impaired people go to a front desk, they are unable to
communicate with the hospital employees, or, when in court, they cannot utter what
their complaint is or what exactly the wrongdoing is, that may have affected
them. To that effect, in the spring of 2020, in Romania, the so-called Saftoiu law
was promulgated, it bears the name of the former deputy Adriana Saftoiu, she
was the one who wrote it and promoted it among her colleagues in Parliament. Here
is Dr Florica Iuhas once again, this time summarizing what that particular law
stipulated.

Dr Florica Iuhas:

The Saftoiu law stipulates that all state
institutions in Romania must provide, for a hearing-impaired person, an
interpreter specializing in the gesture and mimicry language or in the Romanian
sign language, as in effect, that law certified the existence of that
particular language as the hearing-impaired persons’ mother tongue. If a Hungarian goes to
an institution and can communicate with a Hungarian-speaking person, for
example, in the counties of Covasna and Harghita, it is, however, impossible
for someone with a hearing impairment to communicate with the state authorities,
as there is no dedicated interpreter employed by the state institutions.

And, for such institutions, there was a two-year
period of grace, after the law had come into effect, for them to take all the required
measures so that as of April 2022, any deaf person entering a state institution
can have a dedicated interpreter. Notwithstanding, as we speak, there are still
very few interpreters of the sign language. Dr Florica Iuhas explains why that happens.

ʺBecause they are disheartened
by the institutions’ inability to pay them or to conclude collaboration contracts
with them, or hire them. So no step forward has been taken, actually, you can even
see that for yourselves on TV: the president who signed that law, whenever he
makes a speech in public, is not accompanied by an interpreter, which is not
okay. In any civilized country, joining the president, whenever they make a speech
to the nation, there is an interpreter, and that, because the president of a
country is everybody’s president. So what should a hearing-impaired person do? Do
the lip-reading as they watch the president speak? According to the law, not only
the television, but the institution must have an interpreter as well.

The TV stations are also faced with the same problem,
the limited number of dedicated interpreters. Dr Florica Iuhas is a sign
language interpreter herself. At the Journalism Faculty, she opted for teaching
a sign language course to those interested. However, it is the only such course
across the country.

Dr Florica Iuhas:

ʺ I have been asked, for instance,
by people working for the Mobile Emergency Service for Resuscitation and
Extrication, they asked me ‘could you also teach us, since we’re faced with
the situation of having to help families with those particular special needs
and we cannot communicate with them!’ And then the idea crossed my mind, to do
such a course with is open to everybody and not only to the University of
Bucharest students, because of the impending necessity for the people who can
hear to make themselves understood by the hearing-impaired persons, as you do
not know who you may interact with.

In Romania, that is a revolting iniquity, and that iniquity
has been lasting for a good number of years, given that for decades, 48
countries have officially recognized the sign language as the mother tongue of
their hearing-impaired citizens, the former deputy Adriana Saftoiu stated. A
language in continuous progress, the Romanian sign language has only 8 thousand
signs, as compared to the 38 thousand signs of the French sign language or to
the 50 thousand signs of the German sign language. Unfortunately, in Romania, there hasn’t even been such
a concern to develop this special language, to enrich it. There is no institute
or department where the Romanian sign language is studied.

Florica Iuhas:

ʺYet the hearing-impaired people are among
us and they also need to communicate, they need to develop that language. I hope
Romania will understand that it is important for such persons to be integrated
in the vast majority of Romanians, and that it should make an effort to develop
that language as well and to integrate the hearing-impaired persons.

It was
the conclusion drawn by Dr Florica Iuhas, a lecturer with the University of
Bucharest’s Faculty of Journalism and Communication Sciences, herself a voice
of Romania’s hearing-impaired people.

(EN)

11 May 2022
April 26, 2022

LAW In Bucharest, the Offshore Bill is to be
discussed this week by the specialised committee of the Senate, the first
parliamentary chamber to vote on the act. The bill regulates the development of
the natural gas reserves in the Black Sea, and stipulates that the Romanian
state has pre-emptive rights to purchase these resources. The Senate is still
waiting for the official opinion of the Economic and Social Council before
discussing the bill, for which the leaders of the ruling coalition have taken
responsibility. The Senate’s vote is expected to take place in May.

REFUGEES The Romanian Border Police announced that
the number of Ukrainian nationals that entered the country on Monday was 38.3%
higher than on the previous day. According to a news release, 4,412 Ukrainian
citizens entered Romania in 24 hours. Since the start of the crisis, over
786,000

Ukrainian citizens have crossed the border into Romania. According to the
Border Police, measures have been taken to reinforce border security.

HEALTH According to the latest official data, 321
COVID-19 cases and 1 related fatality were reported in Romania in the past 24
hours. More than 1,200 patients are currently in hospitals, 221 of them in
intensive care. In other news, one case of acute severe hepatitis was reported
in Romania, in a 5 year old. On April 21, the WHO announced 169 cases of acute
hepatitis of unknown origin among young children worldwide. At least one child
died and 17 needed liver transplants, the institution said.

MOLDOVA The president of
the ex-Soviet Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, has called for a meeting of the Supreme
Security Council concerning the recent incidents in the pro-Russian separatist
region of Transnistria, in the east of that country. Two blasts were reported today in Maiak, where
two communication towers in the radio and television centre were blown up. No
victims have been reported. On Monday, the headquarters of the Security Service
in Tiraspol had been attacked with rocket launchers, and a shell was found near
the building. The doors and windows of the office were broken, and so were the
windows of nearby buildings. According to
Moldova’s Reintegration Policy Bureau, the goal
was to create tension in the region, which has been out of the Moldovan
authorities’ control since 1992, when an armed conflict that had killed
hundreds of locals was ended by the intervention of Russian troops supporting the secessionist rebels, less than a year after Chișinău had
proclaimed its independence. The ex-president of Russia Boris Yeltsin promised
to pull out the troops from Transnistria at the 1999 OSCE summit, but some 1,500
military and substantial amounts of Russian weapons appear to still be there.

UKRAINE In its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has
increased attacks on civilian targets, particularly railways, to prevent
Ukrainian forces from receiving weapons from the West. At least 5 civilians
were killed. Russian troops also destroyed 6 electricity generating units of
the Ukrainian railways, and a weapons storage facility in Slovyansk. The
Ukrainian forces withstood the attacks and said victims were reported, but did
not provide any details.

AID NATO and EU foreign
ministers convene today at the Ramstein US military base in Germany, to discuss
additional military assistance for Ukraine. At the beginning of the conflict,
the West hesitated to provide weapons to Ukraine for fear that the violence
would spiral into a larger-scale war. This reluctance subsided, however, and
today’s talks will focus on how Kyiv could be supplied with the necessary
weapons not just to withstand the Russian attack in Donbas (east), but also to
counter-attack. Previously, the Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov accused NATO
of involvement in a proxy war, and said the weapons delivered by the West to
Ukraine will be legitimate targets. (AMP)

26 April 2022