January 6, 2025 UPDATE
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 06.01.2025, 18:43
Epiphany. Christians celebrated on Monday the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord or Epiphany. Priests blessed the water, in commemoration of Christ’s baptism in the river Jordan. After 30 years of living in anonymity, Jesus Christ, son of God, began his mission on the banks of the Jordan River, where the prophet John was baptizing those who repented of their sins. According to the Gospel, at the time of the baptism of Jesus, a supernatural phenomenon occurred, whereby a voice from heaven was heard, saying: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” The heavens opened and the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in the form of a dove. Christian theology interprets this as the manifestation of the Holy Trinity, confirming the identity of Jesus as the Son of God. The faithful who went to church on Monday received holy water blessed during a special service officiated after the Liturgy in front of churches or on the banks of watercourses. The blessed water is reminiscent of the consecration of the river Jordan when Jesus descended into the river to receive baptism.
Border. The Romanian border police have conducted over 32,000 checks in the eDAC application since the beginning of this year, when Romania fully entered the Schengen area. Although travel documents are no longer checked at the borders with Hungary and Bulgaria, mobile border police units carry out checks near the crossing points, within 30 km of the borders. Cars can be stopped to identify people and their legal status and to prevent and combat migration and other illegal actions. The eDAC application is a tool that allows checks to be carried out in a short time in the relevant databases of the Romanian authorities, as well as those of the Schengen area. On Monday morning, in Giurgiu (south), a bus traveling on the Bulgaria-Germany route was stopped for inspection. Its 12 passengers, Syrian nationals, who wanted to reach Germany, did not have all the necessary papers, but only the right to stay temporarily in Bulgaria. They were taken over by the authorities from the neighboring country.
Budget. The government wants to finalize the state budget by the end of this month, so that the new Parliament can debate it and vote on it, most likely, in an extraordinary session. The new budget will be based on a deficit of no more than 7% of GDP, as agreed with the European Commission, with no other fiscal measures envisaged. However, major spending cuts in the public sector and the reforms laid down in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan are needed. These include freezing public sector wages as well as state child benefits. The subsidy allocated to political parties will also be reduced by 25% compared to the level granted last year. New hirings in the public sector will also be frozen and certain public institutions will be reorganized and merged. The tax on dividends is also expected to go up from 8% to 10% and a new tax will be introduced, targeting special buildings. Pensions will not go up this year, either. The Government aims to reduce budget waste by 1% of GDP, that is by some 3.8 billion euros, and to increase budget revenues.
Bridge. The Bulgarian authorities will resume, from Wednesday, the major repair works on the Giurgiu-Ruse bridge (south), with traffic to take place on a single lane, the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Repairs to the Friendship Bridge began in July 2024 and were temporarily stopped during the winter holidays. Romanian citizens travelling to Bulgaria still have to stop to pay for the bridge toll, despite border checks being lifted as a result of the two countries’ full Schengen entry on 1st January. The Road Company is trying to find a solution for the toll to be paid online.
Golden Globes. The Romanian-American actor Sebastian Stan won the Golden Globe award for the best leading role in the film “A Different Man”, where he plays a man struggling with a genetic condition that causes skin and bone tumors. The role also earned Stan the Silver Bear trophy at the Berlin International Film Festival last year. At the Golden Globes, Sebastian Stan was also nominated for his role in “The Apprentice”, in which he plays the billionaire Donald Trump. Stan was born in Romania, but left the country when he was only 12 years old.
Tennis. Romanian tennis players Anca Todoni, Gabriela Ruse and Miriam Bulgaru on Monday won their first qualification matches for the main draw in the singles competition at the Australian Open, which will go under way on January 12 in Melbourne. Anca Todoni defeated Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva from Andorra and will face the Spanish player Leyre Romero Gormaz. Elena-Gabriela Ruse took 50 minutes to defeat the Swiss player Leonie Kung and will next be playing Germany’s Anna-Lena Friedsam. Miriam Bulgaru defeated Italy’s Giorgia Pedone and will next play the winner between Croatia’s Lea Boskovic and Argentina’s Julia Riera. Ana Bogdan, however, lost to Australia’s Destanee Aiava. Three Romanian players will play straight into the main singles draw at the Australian Open, namely Sorana Cîrstea, Jaqueline Cristian and Irina Begu. In the men’s singles, Romania’s Filip Cristian Jianu lost in the qualifiers to Mitchell Krueger of the US.
