TOUR The first lady of the United States, Jill Biden, has arrived in Romania, the first leg of a European tour, which will also take her to Slovakia. The plane carrying her landed at the Mihail Kogalniceanu airbase in south-eastern Romania, where Jill Biden will be meeting the US troops stationed there. On Saturday, when America celebrates Mother’s Day, Jill Biden will be visiting Ukrainian mothers and children who had to flee their country because of the war as well as aid workers and teachers who are helping these children to get integrated into a stable and safe school environment. Jill Biden will be meeting members of the Romanian government in Bucharest, too.
REFUGEES Over 860 thousand Ukrainian nationals have entered Romania since the Russian invasion of their country, which began on February 24. According to data released by the Border Police Inspectorate, since the onset of the invasion until Thursday at 24 hours, 866,916 Ukrainian citizens entered Romania. Since February 10th, before the beginning of the conflict, 901,445 Ukrainians have entered Romania.
VISIT The situation in Ukraine was high on the agenda of the formal talks the presidents of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, and Lithuania, Gitanas Nauseda held on Friday. Iohannis said that Romania supports the consolidation of the set of actions against Russia adding the only acceptable alternative must have as a result the restauration of the territorial integrity of the neighboring Ukraine. On the other hand, Iohannis announced that Romania would be hosting in Bucharest jointly with Germany and France the second edition of the support platform for the ex-soviet Romanian-speaking Republic of Moldova and invited Lithuania to get involved. In turn, the Lithuanian president underlined the importance of the Romanian-Lithuanian cooperation for strengthening NATO’s eastern flank. Lithuania would continue to offer support to Ukraine and its refugees, Nauseda said adding that on Saturday he would be visiting the Republic of Moldova, the country who received the largest number of refugees in relation to its population. During a phone call with the president of Moldova, Maia Sandu on Friday, Iohannis reiterated Romania’s full solidarity with the Republic of Moldova. The two officials revised new assistance options, which Bucharest can continue to offer in all aspects of this crisis.
