TALKS – Romania will not ban the import of Ukrainian grains unilaterally and will wait for the European Commission to implement measures aimed at supporting farmers in Central and Eastern Europe, the country’s Minister of Agriculture, Petre Daea, said on Friday. According to him, Romania and Ukraine will consult weekly regarding the expected volumes of grain, in an attempt to limit imports. At the end of a meeting held in Bucharest with his Ukrainian counterpart, Mykola Solsky, Petre Daea said that Romania stands in solidarity with farmers from Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovakia, but the rules must be made together. In turn, Mykola Solsky thanked the minister for the „sincere and constructive dialogue” as well as the Romanian people for the „sincere support” he has felt for the past two years. „The situation we are in now requires some very quick decisions” – added the Ukrainian official. The two ministers also tackled the cereal crisis online, a couple of days ago, when Petre Daea briefed his Ukrainian counterpart on the serious situation farmers are facing in Romania and informed him about the measures taken in relation to the transit of Ukrainian cereals.
DEFENCE – The Romanian Minister of Defence Angel Tilvar is today attending the meeting of the Contact Group for Ukraine, presently underway in Ramstein, Germany. According to a communique by the Ministry of Defence, the meeting of the already established format, on the support the international community is providing to the Ukrainian partner, proves to be another opportunity to exchange ideas on the security situation created by the war the Russian Federation is presently waging on that country and to identify new ways of supporting the Ukrainian partner. According to Reuters, the German Minister of Defence, Boris Pistorius, has rejected a quick decision on Ukraine’s membership at NATO. Kyiv wants to join the North-Atlantic Alliance but the country’s entry either into NATO or the EU is not going to be discussed at the aforementioned meeting in Ramstein. NATO’s Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg has extended an invitation to president Zelensky for the NATO summit in Vilnius in July, which will have high on the agenda, the country’s NATO accession as well as solid security guarantees for Kyiv.
