April 1, 2018 UPDATE
eCall system, operational across EU as of April 1st
Newsroom, 01.04.2018, 18:37
NATO — 14 years after Romania joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the alliance continues to be the most important guarantee of the country’s defense and security and a permanent connection to a 28 states’ community sharing the same values and a firm commitment to freedom and democracy, reads a release of the Foreign Ministry in Bucharest on the occasion of the NATO Day celebrated on April 1st. On the same occasion Romanian President Klaus Iohannis conveyed a message in which he said that Romania sees in NATO its strongest security guarantee. PM Viorica Dancila also said that the authorities want to further prove that Romania is a credible and stabile ally in the Black Sea region. Dancila pointed out that Bucharest sticks to its commitment to allot 2% of the GDP to army equipping. To mark NATO Day a military ceremony was held at the Romanian Defence Ministry headquarters. Romania joined NATO in March 29, 2004. NATO Day in Romania is celebrated every year in the first Sunday of April.
Religious celebrations — Roman Catholic and Protestant believers from Romania and the world over celebrated Easter on Sunday, April 1st. Pope Francis held the Easter service at the Vatican’s St. Peters Basilica and urged Catholics not to remain paralysed in the face of injustices around them. This year Orthodox and Greek Catholic believers celebrate Easter one week later, so on April 1st they marked Palm Sunday, the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem. This religious celebration was marked in Bucharest and other cities across Romania though religious services and processions. Also on Sunday Holy Week began. The most solemn week of the Christian year, Holy Week is the week leading up to Easter and is the week during which Christians particularly remember the last days of Jesus’s life.
eCall — The eCall system is operational across the EU as of Sunday, April 1st. eCall is activated automatically as soon as in-vehicle sensors and/or processors detect a serious crash. Once set off, the system dials the European emergency number 112, establishes a telephone link to the appropriate emergency call centre and sends details of the accident to the rescue services, including the time of incident, the accurate position of the crashed vehicle and the direction of travel. 112 eCall is not a black box. It does not record constantly the position of the vehicle, it records only a few data to determine the position and direction of the vehicle just before the crash and these data are only transmitted to emergency call centres if there is a serious crash. Also, eCall cannot be used to monitor motorists moves.
Immunoglobulin — The first immunoglobulin vials requested through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism have reached Romania and will be distributed to patients, the Health Ministry officials announced. Actually 16 thousand vials from Austria will be sent to Romania by the end of May. The Health Ministry’s medicine distributor bought the immunoglobulin vials from foreign producers. Discontinuities in immunoglobulin supply were caused by the withdrawal from the Romanian market of the producers that ensured more than 80% of the needed amount.
Weightlifting— Romanian athlete Nicolae Onica won two gold medals in the mens 94 kg category (clean and jerk, total) at the European Weightlifting Championships that ended on Sunday in Izvorani, Romania. Onica also won the silver medal in the snatch event. Romania hosted two other editions, in 1972 in Constanta and in 2009 in Bucharest. (Translated by Elena Enache)
