April 17, 2025

A roundup of local and world news

Newsroom, 17.04.2025, 13:55

EASTER – Romanian Orthodox clergymen are today attending the solemn Chrism Mass celebrated outdoors, on the summer altar of the Patriarchal Cathedral in Bucharest, when the celebrant will bless the oils that will be used in the Chrism Sacrament and the consecration of churches. In the Christian Orthodox tradition, the blessing of the oils can only occur in an autocephalous church, which is not canonically affiliated to another ecclesiastical structure. 2025 marks 140 years since the Romanian Orthodox Church has been autocephalous and 100 years since it has a Patriarchate. The Chrism Mass is celebrated by Patriarch Daniel, in the presence of the other members of the Holy Synod. This year all Christians celebrate the Resurrection of Christ on April 20.

MINI-HOLIDAY – Around 24,600 employees of the Romanian Interior Ministry will be mobilized every day to streamline traffic, ensure rapid response in emergency situations, prevent and combat illegal actions and save lives during the Easter mini-holiday. “Interior Ministry personnel will be monitoring 14,150 places of worship where religious services will be held, attended by approximately 2,332,000 people”, Ministry spokesperson Monica Dajbog said. In order to prevent fires and other emergencies, firefighters have recently inspected churches, accommodation units and other economic objectives that are crowded during the holidays. In April alone, over 1,500 such checks were carried out to verify compliance with fire prevention measures, fines totaling approximately €1 million. Over 1,600 traffic police officers will be on the lookout on busy roads.  Patrol units will operate with approximately 400 radar devices and devices that signal the consumption of alcohol or prohibited substances, with a view to identifying and detaining drivers who threaten road safety.

LEGISLATION – The draft law on the modification of magistrates’ pensions, currently under debate in the Chamber of Deputies, has received a negative opinion from the Superior Council of Magistracy. The Council states that the law has the potential to seriously undermine the functioning of the judicial system, mainly by affecting human resources. The ruling coalition wants to swiftly adopt this law in order to unlock the third installment of funds from the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism. The document provides, among other things, that the retirement age for magistrates should increase gradually to 65 years by 2045.

MEASURES – The budget of the National Veterinary Sanitary and Food Safety Authority (ANSVSA) in Romania has been supplemented by some €10 million to support efforts to prevent the incidence of foot-and-mouth disease. The funds will be used to purchase vaccines, finance lab tests and cover the expenses related to the activities of the veterinarians involved. The Authority management emphasizes that, at present, Romania is recognized as a country free of foot-and-mouth disease, and maintaining this status is vital for the continuation of intra-community and international trade in livestock and animal products. Ten outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease have been confirmed in Hungary and Slovakia, and additional prevention and control measures have been taken in Romania.

EXERCISE – Over May 5-23, approximately 4,000 military personnel and 913 military equipment and systems from 10 NATO states (Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Luxembourg, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal and Romania) will take part in the DACIAN SPRING 2025 (DASP 25) multinational exercise organized in Romania. The exercise is planned and led by the Multinational Division South-East Command (HQ MND-SE) and will take place simultaneously in several training centers. Dacian Spring 25 is attended by all structures of the Romanian Army – land, air, naval, and cyber forces, along with personnel from the Multinational Brigade South-East Command and allied troops. The main goal of the exercise is to test collective defense operations and strengthen the integration of participating forces into command and control structures of the Multinational Division South-East Command. For the first time, a Belgian maneuver battalion will be deployed on Romanian territory.

OECD – Last year, Romania provided official development assistance totaling $587 million, the highest level to date, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reported on Wednesday. The main beneficiary of the assistance provided by Romania last year was the Republic of Moldova, with over 50% of total bilateral official development assistance actions ($76.6 million). Romania’s constant cooperation with Ukraine, the Western Balkans, Africa and the Middle East continued in 2024, in accordance with the objectives laid out in the 2024-2027 Multiannual Strategic Program of International Cooperation for Development and Humanitarian Assistance. Romania also contributed to the effort of mitigating the effects of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, taking part in actions in close coordination with its international partners to evacuate and provide medical treatment to Palestinian civilians in hospitals in Romania.

TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Jaqueline Cristian surprisingly lost to 19-year-old Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah of France (291 WTA), 6-2, 6-3, on Wednesday, in the round of 16 of the WTA 250 tournament in Rouen (France), offering some €240 thousand in total prizes. Jaqueline Cristian (66 WTA) was awarded €3,624 and 30 WTA points and will play the doubles quarterfinals alongside Italy’s Angelica Moratelli. Also on Wednesday, Gabriela Ruse advanced to the quarterfinals, after clinching a 6-0, 6-4 win against Camilla Rosatello. Romanian-born Canadian player Bianca Andreescu has returned to court after a period of absence, but lost in three sets to Suzan Lamens of the Netherlands, 6-1, 4-6, 7-6. (VP)