VISIT – Germany’s Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock on Friday said that the Republic of Moldova ‘is not alone’, announcing an additional financial assistance package worth 77 million EUR for this country. Minister Baerbock is paying a state visit to Romania, attending the second ministerial conference of the Moldova Support Platform in Bucharest, alongside her Romanian counterpart, Bogdan Aurescu, and France’s Secretary of State for Development, La Francophonie and International Partnerships, Chrysoula Zacharopoulou. In turn, Minister Aurescu underscored the importance of providing Moldova with direct grants, saying that every day “the war generates shockwaves beyond the borders of Ukraine”. In turn, Moldova’s president, Maia Sandu, pointed out in her address on the sidelines of the conference that “it is important to know that we’re not alone, that we can rely on you. Moldova is a small country, and the scale of the current developments exceeds its capacity to cope with the situation”. Also today, Minister Annalena Baerbock will pay a visit to the city of Constanța (southeast), where she will meet local officials and representatives of German businesses to discuss the Ukrainian grain exports.
WAR IN UKRAINE – A national day of mourning is today observed in Vinnytsia, Western Ukraine, after a Russian missile attack killed at least 23 people on Thursday. Over 100 people were wounded and dozens are missing. Two missiles launched from a submarine in the Black Sea hit buildings in central Vinnytsia, the blast damaging scores of nearby buildings. The UN Secretary General, Antoniu Guterres, and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, have expressed their shock with Russia’s latest aggression. The attack was carried out just ahead of a new conference of the International Criminal Court designed to investigate Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine. The city of Mykolaiv in the south was also hit by missiles. Several buildings were shelled, including two schools and a hotel. Hostilities continue in the northeast as well. In the Kharkiv Oblast, Ukrainian forces are facing attacks from multiple directions, but have so far been successful in preventing the Russians from advancing. In Donbas too, attacks have been reported in the towns of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, where Russian forces are hitting rail infrastructure to cut off weapon supplies. (VP)
