April 23, 2016 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 23.04.2016, 12:30
Romania’s capital Bucharest on Saturday saw the traditional Palm Sunday pilgrimage. Palm Sunday is a religious event celebrated a week before the Orthodox Easter, which marks Jesus Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, before his crucifiction, when he was welcomed by multitudes carrying olive and palm branches. 1.4 million Romanians with flower names are celebrating their name day on Palm Sunday. On Friday night Jewish pepole the world over started Passover celebrations in order to mark their liberation from Egyptian slavery more than three thousand years ago.
Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Commissioner for the Euro and Social Dialogue on Saturday hailed the structural reforms promoted by the technocratic government in Bucharest. By the sidelines of the ECOFIN conference in Amsterdam Dombrovskis met Romanian Finance Minister Anca Dragu and voiced concern over the possible fiscal slippages that might occur in 2016, which is an election year in Romania. Mrs. Dragu exclusively told Radio Romania that during the talks with the EU official she hailed the European Commission’s decision to take Romania out of the list of countries with macroeconomic imbalances.
In the past ten days 62 foreign nationals, whose stay in Romania was illegal, have been identified by the police, the General Inspectorate for Migration on Saturday announced. Out of these, 28 are meeting the necessary conditions for having their stay prolonged, while 31 have been asked to leave the Romanian territory. At the same time, 240 warnings and fines have been issued for those who violated migration legislation. The measures taken by the Romanian police are aimed at enforcing law and order, at ensuring the safety of the citizens, by implementing a permanent control on observing migration legislation and fighting illegal migration.
Romanian tennis player Andreea Mitu and Turkish Ipek Soylu on Saturday qualified for the finals of the doubles contest in the tennis tournament underway in Istanbul. The two athletes have made it to the semis without playing after the Japanese Naomi Hibino and Kurumi Nara didn’t turn up for the game. This is Mitu’s second WTA finals after the one she lost together with her compatriot Patricia Tig in Bucharest in 2015. Mitu and Soylu will be playing against Xenia Knoll of Switzerland and Montenegrin Danka Kovinici.
Every year on April 23rd, Romania celebrates its ground troops. Events aimed at celebrating this day were staged during the week, including exhibitions, workshops, presentations of military equipment, exercises, concerts and wreath laying ceremonies; all these took place in army units the countrywide as well as among our troops deployed in Afghanistan. The patron saint of the ground forces in Romania is St. George, a general in the Roman army back in the time of emperor Diocletian who was tortured and executed for his Christian belief. Romanians on Saturday celebrated this Christian martyr as well as over one million people bearing his name.
On the World Book and Copyright Day celebrated on Saturday, Romanian president Klaus Iohannis stood for education as the only way to progress. According to him, books challenge the young minds, whetting their appetite for knowledge and are also contributing to the healthy development of the young generations. The Romanian official went on to say that all children must have access to books. The Minister of Culture Vlad Alexandrescu has also underlined the importance of books and libraries. Upon a UNESCO initiative the World Book and Copyright Day has been celebrated on April 23rd since 1996.
