April 24, 2025 UPDATE
Click here for the latest news from RRI
Newsroom, 24.04.2025, 20:00
Pope Francis – The Romanian government declared Saturday, April 26, a day of national mourning for the funeral of Pope Francis, who died on Monday after 12 years in office. All public institutions, central and local authorities, the head offices of political parties, educational and cultural institutions, as well as Romania’s diplomatic missions abroad will fly the Romanian flag at half-mast. The flag will be lowered at half-mast at border crossings and on ships flying the national flag. Radio and television stations, as well as cultural institutions, must adjust their programs accordingly. Romanian public officials and religious leaders in Bucharest expressed their sadness at the news of the death of Pope Francis, who paid a 3-day visit to Romania in May 2019, the most extensive visit made by the former Catholic Church leader to a mostly Orthodox country. Many believers gathered at the Vatican to pay their respects to Pope Francis, who lies in state at St. Peter’s Basilica.
Meeting – The interim President of Romania, Ilie Bolojan, met on Thursday with the European Commissioner for Budget, Anti-Fraud and Public Administration, Piotr Serafin, who is visiting Romania. Bolojan has highlighted the importance of maintaining the allocations for Cohesion Policy and the Common Agricultural Policy in the future EU budget and finding solutions to current challenges in the areas of competitiveness, defense and security. According to the European Commission Representation in Bucharest, Serafin’s visit is focused on improving social inclusion, creating jobs and strengthening local communities with the help of EU funds. The European Commissioner also met with the PM Marcel Ciolacu and the interior minister, Cătălin Predoiu. The latter has highlighted the importance of a flexible, lean, efficient budget that is responsive to threats, crises and shocks and the need to allocate additional funds to current programs in the field of home affairs. On Friday, the European Commissioner will travel to Oradea (northwest), where he will visit important infrastructure projects carried out with European funds.
Pensions – Judges and prosecutors in Romania would retire at 65 as of January 1, 2026, like most other employees, under a bill passed on Wednesday by the Chamber of Deputies. In addition, magistrates’ pension benefits will be at most equal to the net salary for the last month of work. The bill, pending for a vote in the Senate as well, has been criticized by the Superior Council of Magistracy. However, Brussels has made the disbursement of a third installment under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan conditional on the endorsement of the bill.
Kyiv – The US President Donald Trump has expressed his discontent, on Thursday, with the Russian strikes on Kyiv overnight, asking his Russian counterpart to stop the assault. Twelve people were killed and about 90 were injured in one of the worst Russian missile attacks on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, AFP reports. Kharkov was also targeted. AFP notes that these Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukraine took place after US President Donald Trump criticized the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, accusing him of making ‘inflammatory’ statements regarding the annexed Crimea, at a time when an agreement with Russia was ‘very close’, according to Trump. Kyiv’s refusal to accept the American terms to end the war triggered by Russia in February 2022 ‘will only prolong the massacres,’ warned the head of the White House, who, according to the French agency, has never acknowledged Russia’s responsibility for starting the conflict. (LS)
