Macedonia. „Romania strongly supports Macedonia’s accession to the European Union”, Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu said in Skopje on Thursday, where he held political consultations with his counterpart, North Bujar Osmani. Aurescu has stated that North Macedonia „is completely ready” for negotiations, accession, and, against the background of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it has a strategic importance for the entire EU. Aurescu has also said that the negotiations for EU accession also mean reforms, and Romania is ready to provide North Macedonia with all the necessary support. At the same time, the Romanian official has criticized the crimes against humanity committed by Russian forces in Ukraine saying these acts must be investigated as soon as possible by international courts. Also, the Romanian minister congratulated the Skopje executive for aligning with the European measures against Moscow, which proves that „North Macedonia’s commitment to the European path is a real one”. In this context, Aurescu invited North Macedonia to join the NATO battle group that will be deployed in Romania, as well as the Euro-Atlantic Center for Resilience and the EU Cyber Center in Bucharest. Also on Thursday, Bogdan Aurescu was received by President Stevo Pendarovski and had talks with the head of the Parliamentary Assembly, Talat Xhaferi.
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Ukraine. Ukraine and Russia continue to prepare for the great battle expected in Donbas, the main objective of the Russian forces after they had to withdraw from around Kyiv. Ukraine continues to call for deliveries of heavy weapons from the West, which it sees as vital in this stage of the conflict. The United States for the first time decided to deliver such weapons as part of a military support package announced by president Joe Biden worth 800 million dollars. The European Union also announced plans to provide further 500 million euros in humanitarian aid to Ukraine, on top of the 1 billion provided earlier. In another development, the Russian defense ministry announced that its Moska guided missile cruiser was seriously damaged after a fire caused a munitions explosion, but that its crew had been evacuated. The Russian authorities did not state the location and cause of the incident, but the governor of the Odessa region said the ship was hit by two Ukrainian missiles.
