April 22, 2025 UPDATE

A roundup of local and world news

Newsroom, 22.04.2025, 20:00

CELEBRATION The Romanian Land Forces Day is celebrated on Wednesday, April 23, concurrently with the Christian holiday of the Holy Great Martyr George, the patron saint and protector of this category of armed forces. Military ceremonies will take place at the monuments dedicated to heroes, while sports and military competitions, cultural and educational activities, and military band concerts will be organized around the country. The defence ministry announced that the main events in Bucharest will take place in Carol Park, where an exhibition of weapons, equipment and military technology will be set up, as well as stands presenting military educational offers and promoting the military career. A wreath-laying ceremony will also take place at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

IMF The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lowered its estimates for the growth of the Romanian economy this year, from 3.3% as forecast in October, to 1.6%, according to the latest “World Economic Outlook” report made public on Tuesday. According to the IMF’s new forecasts, after a 0.9% growth rate last year, Romania’s GDP growth will stand at 1.6% this year, and will increase to 2.8% in 2026. The financial institution also expects Romania’s current account deficit to go from 8.3% in 2024 to 7.6% of GDP in 2025 and 7.4% of GDP in 2026.

POPE The funeral of Pope Francis, who died on Monday, aged 88, will take place on Saturday at St Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican announced. Many heads of state and government are expected to attend the funerals, including the presidents of France, Ukraine, the US and Argentina, the Pope’s birth country, as well as the head of the European Commission. Romania’s interim president Ilie Bolojan will also attend. The conclave who will elect the successor to Pope Francis, who for the last 12 years led the Catholic community numbering 1.4 billion people around the world, will be held between the 5th and the 10th of May, said Radio Romania’s correspondent to Italy. The Pope last met believers on Easter Sunday. His testament was made public yesterday evening, in which he made a final plea for peace and left instructions regarding his burial. The Pope’s death sparked a wave of emotion across the world, with political and religious leaders of all faiths paying tribute and believers attending vigils in hundreds of churches around the globe. In Romania, politicians and religious leaders also paid tribute to the pontiff.

CEREMONIES A ceremony in memory of Pope Francis will take place on Saturday at the “Saint Joseph” Roman Catholic Cathedral in Bucharest. A similar service will take place on the same day at the Roman Catholic Church in Târgu Mureş. In Iasi, all Roman Catholic churches are organising masses in memory of Pope Francis during this period. On Tuesday, in Bucharest, several MPs paid tribute to Pope Francis in the Chamber of Deputies’ plenary session.

GERMANY The Romania – Germany Friendship Day marks a moment of excellence in the relationship between Bucharest and Berlin and highlights the dynamic political and diplomatic contacts, as well as the vibrant cooperation at bilateral level and within the EU and NATO. The statement was made on Tuesday by the head of the Romanian diplomacy, Emil Hurezeanu, who hosted an event to mark the Friendship Day between the two countries. The event was also attended by the German ambassador to Bucharest, Peer Gebauer, the Deputy for the German minority in the Romanian Parliament, Ovidiu Ganţ, the president of the Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania, Paul Jurgen Porr, as well as other officals involved in promoting Romanian-German relations, including within the Romanian-German governmental Commission for the issues of ethnic Germans in Romania. The framework of bilateral relations is the Treaty between Romania and Germany on Friendly Cooperation and Partnership in Europe, signed in Bucharest on April 21, 1992.

UKRAINE Ukraine is ready to attend talks leading to a halt in strikes against civilian targets, said Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky, who added that his country is waiting for a clear answer from Russia in this regard. Zelensky’s response came after the Russian president Vladimir Putin, under pressure from Washington, Monday proposed bilateral talks with Kyiv for the first time in recent years and said he was open to a number of ceasefire agreements after the one-day Easter truce. The United States is currently trying to broker peace between Moscow and Kyiv, but both president Donald Trump and secretary of state Marco Rubio warned on Friday that Washington may give up the mediation unless progress is made soon. President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that Ukraine would send a delegation to London on Wednesday to meet officials from the US and other western states. The talks in London are a follow-up to the Paris meeting last week, when the US and European states discussed ways to put an end to the war that broke out more than 3 years ago. In another development, Reuters quoted local officials as saying that the Russian troops on Monday night launched a massive drone attack on residential areas in the Black Sea port of Odessa, causing fires and damaging apartment buildings.

EARTH DAY Romania’s interim president Ilie Bolojan issued a statement on Earth Day saying Romania has significant natural resources and efficient plans must be prepared for them to be used wisely, while seeking to cut pollution levels. He added that a clean environment is an essential condition for the quality of life, health and sustainable development of society. “A safe and sustainable energy system can no longer be merely an optional objective, but must become a global priority”, the interim president also said in his statement. He recalled that Romania has in the past year adopted a new forestry code that strengthens the protection of forests, has expanded and improved the guarantee-return system for the recycling of packaging and has made progress in consolidating environmental education by means of dedicated policies and funding instruments. At the same time, Romania has continued the transition to green energy. (AMP)