Welfare. The package of social and economic measures ‘Support for Romania’, worth 17.3 billion lei (about 3.5 billion euros), will be presented on Monday by the coalition leaders, the president of the Social Democratic Party, Marcel Ciolacu, has announced. He says the package is a first because it’s for the first time that a government has come up with such a plan to prevent the effects of the energy crisis. In turn, the Minister of Labor and Social Solidarity, Marius Budai, has explained that the beneficiaries of the social measures included in the ‘Support for Romania’ program are approximately 12 million people. The measures agreed by the PSD-PNL-UDMR governing coalition include: an increase in the minimum wage of 200 lei (about 40 euros), 50 euro vouchers for vulnerable families, a higher value of meal vouchers, from 20 (4 euro) to 30 lei (6 euro), double food quotas for hospitalized patients, as well as aid for the payment of fuel. The executive has also decided that the employees affected by the war in Ukraine will benefit from an indemnity paid from the unemployment fund.
Ukraine. Ukraine is preparing for heavy fighting in the east, where Russia is concentrating its forces, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday when Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson were in Kyiv to show their support. In the most recent recording, Zelensky says his country must be helped by tighter sanctions on Russia and deliveries of weapons. Kyiv has already received about three billion euros in military aid from the European Union and the United States. The United Kingdom has also provided equipment to Ukraine, in particular individual anti-tank and anti-aircraft systems. London has also promised, through the voice of its prime minister, armored vehicles and anti-ship missiles, as Russia also threatens the Ukrainian Black Sea coast and there are fears of an assault on it, with Odessa as the main target. Russia is preparing for a massive assault in eastern Ukraine after withdrawing its forces from the north and failing to capture any major cities. Eastern authorities have urged the population to leave the region urgently before Russia can block their withdrawal. Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said today that Ukraine has agreed on nine humanitarian corridors to help civilians escape the heavy fighting in the east.
Refugees. More than 10 thousand Ukrainians entered Romania on Saturday, by 16% more than on Friday. According to the Romanian Border Police, some 669 thousand people fleeing the war in Ukraine have crossed Romania’s borders so far. Most of them have been heading for Western Europe, and only several thousands have requested asylum in our country.
