June 1, 2025
A roundup of local and world news
Newsroom, 01.06.2025, 13:59
DAY Usually marked on June 1, the International Children’s Day is also being celebrated in Romania today. On this special day, children can visit various institutions and participate in a series of cultural and recreational activities. The Chamber of Deputies has opened its gates to children and their adult companions, while in front of the Senate, children are invited to get involved in various workshops involving creativity, games, dances, sporting and artistic activities. Also in Bucharest, they can take rides in vintage or modern trams. The Metropolitan Circus in Bucharest has prepared a show especially for children from disadvantaged areas and for those with handicaps. For those in the Diaspora, the Romanian Cultural Institute has staged a contest entitled “I and Romania”, which has been attended by 70 children from 13 countries. The project was aimed at keeping the Romanian language alive and strengthening the feeling of belonging to the Romanian cultural identity.
SUMMIT Romanian president, Nicusor Dan, will be flying to Lithuania on Monday to attend the Vilnius Summit with B9 and Nordic countries. This will be Dan’s first participation as president of Romania and he is expected to reiterate Romania’s commitment to strengthening NATO in all areas. He will underline the fact that Bucharest remains a responsible and active ally in the Eastern Flank and the strategic region of the Black Sea and will be pleading for the allies’ multidimensional support for Ukraine. The Romanian President is also expected to highlight the need for supporting the Republic of Moldova, which is presently facing a series of complex risks and threats. The Vilnius summit’s main aim is to prepare the NATO Summit in the Hague in late June.
SAINT A Byzantine liturgical service in Romanian is being held in St Peter’s Basilica in Rome to pay homage to Greek-Catholic cardinal Iuliu Hossu (1885-1970). Hossu was one of the protagonists of the Greater Union of the Romanian Principalities in 1918 and Christian apologist while serving a prison sentence during the communist dictatorship. Cardinal Hossu was beatified together with six other Greek-Catholic martyr-bishops killed by the communist regime between 1950 and 1970. The event at the Vatican comes against the background of the Cardinal Iuliu Hossu National Year instated by the Romanian Parliament.
VISIT Romania’s interim Prime Minister, Catalin Predoiu, is today visiting the regions affected by the latest heavy rainfalls. He earlier decided the setting up of an inter-ministerial working group to assess the damage at the Praid salt mine in central Romania, which is to come up with a series of urgent measures aimed at salvaging it. Romania’s new president, Nicusor Dan also visited the site on Saturday when he held talks with the local authorities and people disgruntled with the authorities’ failure to prevent the disaster. According to the Minister of the Economy, Bogdan Ivan, the works aimed at deviating the course of the rivulet that flooded the salt mine and consolidating the mine’s walls will be around 26 million Euros. Another 70 million RON would be needed to reintegrate the mine into the travel circuit.
THEFT The Dutch government has set up a 5.7 million Euro fund for possible compensations in the case of the January heist at the Drents Museum in Assen involving several Romanian ancient artefacts. The Dutch authorities have explained the state is offering partial guarantees to museums with valuable artefacts on display. Although two suspects have been sent to court, the stolen artefacts haven’t been recovered yet. The Dutch police are offering 100 thousand Euro in reward for any piece of information that might help with the investigation.
WEATHER Meteorologists have issued another code yellow alert for unstable weather for 16 counties, in the country’s western, northern, central and eastern regions where heavy downpours, thunderstorms and even hail are expected. However, the weather is getting warmer with highs ranging between 22 and 29 degrees centigrade. The noon reading in Bucharest stood at 25 degrees.
(bill)
