April 28, 2025 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 28.04.2025, 20:00

POPE – The Vatican has announced that the process of electing a new Pope will begin next Wednesday, May 7, the day the Conclave of Cardinals was convened. They met on Monday for the first time since the funeral of Pope Francis, who died on Easter Monday at the age of 88. The Sistine Chapel, where the election for a new Pontiff will take place, was closed to tourists to allow preparations for the vote. To become Pope, a cardinal must receive two-thirds of the votes cast during the conclave. There is a single round of voting on the first day, followed by four on each successive day. Once a new pope is elected, white smoke rises from a chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel. More than 400,000 people paid tribute to Pope Francis on Saturday, both at the Mass in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican – which was also attended by dozens of heads of state and government and crowned heads – and as the funeral procession crossed the streets of Rome and, later, at the tomb at the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica in Rome.

VETERANS’ DAY – The Ministry of Defense in Bucharest is organizing, on Tuesday, on the occasion of the Veterans’ Day, military and religious ceremonies in Bucharest and in the garrisons across the country, to pay tribute to the sacrifice of war veterans. In the capital, the ceremony will take place at the Monument to the Heroes of the Fatherland. In recognition of the heroism of the Romanians who fought in World War II, the Romanian Government established, in 2007, War Veterans Day. It is celebrated annually, on April 29, in memory of the day on which King Carol I signed the decree establishing the title of “war veteran” for former fighters in the War of Independence (1877-1878).

MOTION – The Senate in Bucharest adopted, on Monday, a simple motion tabled by AUR (in opposition) to the Minister of Labor, Simona Bucura-Oprescu. During the debates, the opposition representatives criticized the pension system and said that it deepens social inequalities. Simona Bucura-Oprescu said in turn that the 2025 pension budget is 21 billion lei higher than last year and accused the initiators of the initiative of disinformation. On the other hand, the draft law that radically changes the retirement rules in the justice system will be debated by the Senate on Monday. The permanent bureau decided on an accelerated calendar for the analysis and vote on this normative act initiated by the leaders of the ruling coalition. The document, which stipulates that the retirement age of magistrates will increase to 65 years, starting with January 1 next year, and the amount of the pension cannot exceed that of the last salary, has already received the green light from the deputies. The release by the European Commission of the third tranche of financing from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan depends on the approval of the law.

SUMMIT – The interim President of Romania, Ilie Bolojan, is participating, on Monday and Tuesday, in Warsaw, in the 10th summit of the Three Seas Initiative. Created in 2015 at the proposal of Poland and Croatia, the Three Seas Initiative now brings together 13 EU member states located between the Adriatic, Baltic and Black Seas, two associated participating states (Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova) and has three strategic partners (the US, the European Commission and Germany). According to the Presidential Administration in Bucharest, on Tuesday, the interim head of state will be present at the segment dedicated to heads of state and government within the Three Seas Initiative Business Forum and at the Three Seas Initiative Summit. An official dinner hosted by Polish President Andrzej Duda was scheduled for Monday evening at the Presidential Palace.

DEFENSE – The Romanian Minister of Defense, Angel Tîlvăr, met, on Monday, in Brussels, with Andrius Kubilius, the European Commissioner for Defense and Space. The discussions aimed at strengthening Romania’s defense readiness and intensifying European industrial cooperation, in the context of the new legislative package adopted by the European Commission, with strategic relevance for the security of the Union. The two officials analyzed the means to achieve the objectives set in the White Paper on European Defense Preparedness and discussed the use of the financial support available through the ‘Readiness 2030’ Package of Initiatives. In this context, Minister Angel Tîlvăr emphasized the need to make European instruments more flexible in order to facilitate defense investments and mentioned Romania’s intention to activate the derogatory clause provided for in the Stability and Growth Pact.

UNEMPLOYMENT – The unemployment rate registered at national level in Romania at the end of March was 3.33%, down 0.04% compared to the previous month, the National Employment Agency (ANOFM) reported on Monday. According to the institution, the total number of unemployed people at the end of February was 265,869. Most of them were between 40 and 49 years old (67,955), followed by those over 55 years old (61,773), while at the opposite end were people between 25 and 29 years old (15,463). Unemployed people with a secondary education level represent 34.26% of the total registered unemployed, and those with university degrees 4.45%. (EE)