NATO – NATO will relocate some of its planes to Romania, from the air base near Aachen, in Germany, to be closer to the war started by Russia in Ukraine. The three surveillance aircraft are due to arrive in Bucharest on Tuesday to support the enhanced presence of the Alliance in the region and to monitor Russian military activity. Also, at the Otopeni base, near Bucharest, 180 soldiers will be deployed to operate the planes. The spokeswoman for the Alliance, the Romanian Oana Lungescu, stressed that the planes can detect aircraft from a distance of hundreds of kilometers, being a key instrument for NATO’s deterrence and defense posture.
Ukraine – Ukraine and the European Union have signed a memorandum on the allocation of macro-financial assistance worth 18 billion euros in 2023 – announced the Ukrainian Prime Minister, Denis Shmyhal, has announced. According to him, Ukraine expects to receive a first installment of three billion euros this week. On the ground, the fighting continues. Russia launched an attack on the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia overnight, injuring civilians and destroying residential infrastructure, according to regional official reports. At the same time, dozens of civilians are still missing after a Russian missile hit, on Saturday, a high-rise apartment block in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro (center). More than 35 people lost their lives. The city of Kherson in southern Ukraine is still under Russian attack, local authorities said. On Sunday, the headquarters of a local Red Cross unit, a rehabilitation center for disabled children, an area around a student dormitory, as well as a critical infrastructure facility were targeted.
Refugees – So far, 565 million euros have been allocated in Romania for the management of the refugee crisis triggered by the war in neighboring Ukraine, of which 200 million euros came from international partners, reads the Bucharest government’s report on efforts in the field humanitarian assistance. Of the over three million Ukrainian citizens who crossed the border into Romania, 100,000 have settled here temporarily, and 4,000 have requested asylum.
