Romanian President at a NATO summit in Brussels
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis is expected to join US President Joe Biden and fellow NATO leaders for a summit in Brussels on Monday to talk Russia, China, cybersecurity and many other issues. Romania’s ambassador to the EU, Luminița Odobescu, has called for more co-operation between the EU and NATO. “We wish our NATO colleagues a successful summit! The complexity of the regional and international challenges calls for more strategic EU-NATO unity, to defend our common interests and values,” she tweeted. According to reports, a communique will be ‘a first time the alliance will have asserted it needs to respond to China’s growing power’. Founded in 1949 at the start of the Cold War, NATO was established to respond to the Soviet Union and more recently, Russia while China rarely posed a serious security concern for its members. President Iohannis is also expected to express his support for a stroger NATO on its eastern front, especially in the Black Sea area.
Start of Romania’s parliamentary week
A parliamentary week in Romania on Monday starts with a debate of a simple motion put forward by the opposition Social Democrat Party (PSD) against Cristian Ghinea, the Romanian minister for investements and European projects. Social Democrats slam Mr Ghinea for his approach to the country’s Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) with support of the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). The RRF is the key instrument at the heart of NextGenerationEU, the EU’s plan for emerging stronger from the COVID-19 pandemic. It will provide up to €672.5 billion to support investments and reforms (in 2018 prices). At the same time, commisoners of the Senate’s Legal Committee resume talks concerning a draft law designed to disband the Special Section for Investigation of Crimes Committed by Magistrates, a highly contentious body that exists outside Romania’s normal legal structures. Participants in the session will also include representatives of the National Association of the Romanian Bar (NARB) and NGOs.
Bad weather in Romania
Like other towns and cities in the countries of South-Eastern Europe, Romania has a temperate continental climate, with hot summers and snowy winters. However, many regions were affected by heavy rains and storms in recent hours. A special warning was issuend in the south-eastern county of Constantza, which remains under an orange code of bad weather. Support teams were called to Medgidia, and such Black Sea towns as Costinești and Agigea where water flooded houses and households, but also in Jupiter, a Black Sea resort. An underground parking in the Romanian Black Sea port of Constantza came under water while in the south-eastern county of Dîmbovitza, several households in the villages of Românești and Iazu came under floods. In the northern county of Suceava, rains have hugely affected communities in Izvorul Alb and Câmpulung Moldovenesc.
Alexandru Danga – RADOR
