Monday, March 28 2022

EU Commisioner Gentiloni on a visit to Romania

EU Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni starts a two-day visit to Romania on Monday. Mr. Getiloni will meet Romanian President Klaus Iohannis at Cotroceni Presidential Palace in capital Bucharest before meeting several Romanian ofiicials such as Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă, Romanian Parliament’s lower house speaker Marcel Ciolacu, Finance Minister Adrian Câciu  and Mugur Isărescu, Governor of Romania’s National Bank (BNR). Talks will focus on Romania’s economic outlook one month after Russia’s war against neighbourng Ukraine. Some ten million people fled their homes in Ukraine following the Russian invasion, according to UNHCR, with over 3.6 million in neighbouring countries such as Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary.

NATO regional high level meetings

Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov will host a meeting of leaders of NATO member states in South-Eastern Europe on Monday. Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă is expected to attend the meeting at the Boiana residence in capital Sofia along with Mr. Petkov as well as Dimitar Kovačevski, Prime Minister of North Macedonia, and Montenegro s PM Zdravko Krivokapić. In another development, Romania’s Defence Minister Vasile Dîncu will meet his Italian counterpart Lorenzo Guerini at the 57th NATO Air Base in Mihail Kogălniceanu near the Black Sea port of Constantza. NATO said it was putting forces on standby and reinforcing Eastern Europe with more ships and fighter jets while also sending additional troops to its south-eastern flank, in what Russia denounced as an escalation of tensions over Ukraine.

Romania coronavirus updates

Romania reported 1,951 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, which is 12 cases more than previous day, with 8 deaths (5 men, 3 women), and two people under intensive care, which is 2 less than cases reported a day before. In the capital Bucharest, the number of cases hit 659, according to data issues by the country’s Strategic Communication Group (GSC). With its 659 cases reported, Bucharest still leads among other regions in the country, followed by the western county of Hunedoara (122 cases), southern county of Ilfov (113 cases), and western county of Timiș (112 cases).

Alexandru Danga, RADOR