PLAN The Romanian government is working on a national plan aimed at offering assistance to the Ukrainian refugees who have made it to Romania. Authorities plan to provide support to the refugees who decided to stay in Romania offering them jobs, medical assistance and education for their children. Six working groups have been set up to deal with the issue. The European Commission is to send to Bucharest a team who will assess the expenses the government had with the Ukrainian refugees and how to settle them with EU funds. Roughly 80 thousand Ukrainian refugees have decided to stay in Romania and four thousand of them have applied for asylum. Over three thousand Ukrainians have managed to get legal employment in Romania since the beginning of the war on February 24th. Over half a million Ukrainian refugees have so far arrived in Romania and roughly 30 thousand are children. The total number of refugees has been estimated at 3.3 million.
UKRAINE Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has today said he held talks with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on cooperation and ways of finding a peaceful solution to the conflict, liberating the Ukrainian territories and saving people’s lives. At least 260 civilians have been killed in the fights for the city of Kharkiv in the north-east of the country since the Russian troops commenced their onslaught on Ukraine almost a month ago. The city has constantly been under mortar fire and several residential buildings have been hit. The port-city of Mariupol has been destroyed almost 98%, the local authorities have announced accusing Russia of having transferred thousand of locals to isolated areas in Russia by force. In turn, Moscow has accused Kiev of planning an attack against certain facilities housing Western diplomats in Lviv. ‘Kiev is planning chemical attacks against civilians in the regions of Sumy and Mikolayv’ says Russia but hasn’t provided any evidence in this respect. Many Western countries had moved their diplomats from Kiev to Lviv even before the Russian invasion on February 24th. On Saturday, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi called for the immediate cessation of violence in Ukraine. The USA has confirmed the use by Russia of the hypersonic Kinzhal missiles in its attacks against Ukraine. At least 847 civilians have been killed and 1399 wounded in Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict, says the Office of the UN Commissioner for Human Rights.
FRANCOPHONY More than ever the big family of Francophony must prove solidarity to face the severe challenges in the Francophone space, such as Russia’s horrible aggression against Ukraine, the tragic humanitarian situation it created, the security gap and the threat of terrorism in some regions of Africa, Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said today in a message conveyed on the occasion of Day of Francophony. The Francophony is a community of values but due to the war in Ukraine, these common values are threatened by the war Russia is waging in Ukraine, Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu has also said. Romania became a member of the International Organisation of Francophony in 1993. The Romanian Peasant Museum is today screening French film productions and the National Opera in Bucharest is staging the show Giselle by Adolphe Charles Adam under the baton of Ciprian Teodorescu. ‘Farewell Mr. Haffman’ by Jean-Phillipe Daguerre is being played at the National Theatre in Bucharest. Music lovers can enjoy a concert of French baroque music and old Romanian music at the Art Museum of Romania.
