Nearly 10% of Ukraine’s total population fled the war-torn ex-Soviet republic in the wake of Russia’s invasion on February 24. Some 4 million people have sought refuge in neighboring countries. Poland received most refugees, some 2.4 million. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians headed to other European countries, including Romania, the Republic of Moldova and Hungary, according to the UN. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi described the mass exodus as “the fastest-growing refugee crisis in Europe since the end of WWII”. “The war in Ukraine is so devastating that 10 million have fled either displaced inside the country, or as refugees abroad”, the UNHCR also said. In Bucharest, Prime Minister Nicolae-Ionel Ciucă on Monday met US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield. The agenda for talks included the situation of refugees in Romania, in the context of the ongoing Russian military aggression in Ukraine. The Prime Minister provided an overview of the security context and the prospects of a prolonged war in Ukraine, which puts constant pressure and requires a continuous effort to manage the refugee crisis, for which Romania is ready and is cooperating with the relevant humanitarian organizations, including the UNHCR. Prime Minister Ciucă hailed the exemplary mobilization of civil society and citizens who contributed to the relief effort. At the same time, talks also tackled Romania’s support to neighboring Moldova in its efforts to deal with waves of refugees and reduce the impact on the Moldovan state budget. The US Ambassador in turn commended the exemplary mobilization of Romanian authorities and the kind, hospitable, open and caring support provided to Ukrainian refugees. Linda Thomas-Greenfield pointed out that Russia remains “isolated” in the UN Security Council, whereas its participation in the Human Rights Council is a “farce”. The US official added that “the time is now for the UN General Assembly” to suspend this country. In turn, US president Joe Biden has called for a war crime trial that must bring to court his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, whom he called a “war criminal”. In other news, in an attempt to further help Ukraine, the European Commission recommends European banks to allow the conversion of hryvnia (UAH) banknotes into the national currency of Member States hosting Ukrainian refugees. The resolution was necessary since the National Bank of Ukraine had to suspend the exchange of hryvnia banknotes into foreign cash in order to protect Ukraine’s limited foreign exchange reserves. (Mihai Pelin, Radio Romania International)
