April 13, 2015
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Corina Cristea, 13.04.2015, 12:00
Orthodox and Greek Catholic believers, including those in Romania, a country with an Orthodox majority, have today entered Shrovetide, which is the week that comes right after the Ressurection of Christ. It’s the first week in a period of festivities when religious services are held in churches with altar doors wide open to illustrate Christ’s open tomb. This period ends 50 days after Easter at the Pentecost.
The Foreign Ministry in Bucharest carries on the evacuation and repatriation of the Romanian citizens from war-torn Yemen. According to Foreign Ministry sources, another 10 Romanian citizens and a family member have been evacuated from Yemen. A first group of seven people has been evacuated with a plane belonging to the International Organisation for Migration while three other Romanians and a family member with Yemenite citizenship have been evacuated from Taiz to Saudi Arabia. 35 Romanian citizens and four family members have been evacuated from Yemen since the beginning of the crisis. Romanian diplomacy is cooperating with international organizations involved in evacuation procedures and with countries that are trying to evacuate their citizens from Yemen.
Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu is participating in a ministerial conference in Barcelona with the partner countries in the EU’s southern vicinity. The event takes place against the background of reviewing the European policy in relation with these countries. According to a Foreign Ministry communiqué, Bucharest will on this occasion be reiterating its position and objectives in the policy on the eastern and southern vicinity. The conference will be attended by the head of the European diplomacy Federica Mogherini, the European commissioner for Regional Policy, Johannes Hahn, EU foreign ministers and their counterparts from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine and Tunisia.
Romanian president Klaus Iohannis is expected to resume talks with Parliament parties after Easter, due to end on April 13th. Iohannis said in early April that he wanted an assessment of the activity timetable set at the beginning of the legislative session in January. The latest president-Parliament consultations took place on January 28th, when talks mainly focused on improving the election process abroad, funding election campaigns and political parties and stepping up procedures on lifting Parliamentary immunity.
According to a Forbes ranking, which includes 50 Romanian women, whose influence goes beyond the institutions or the companies they are heading, the chief of the National Anticorruption Directorate, Laura Codruta Kovesi is the most influential woman in Romania. Next came the crown princess of Romania, Margareta, and Ana Maria Mihaescu, head of the International Finance Corporation, the World Bank Investment Division. According to Forbes, the ranking include a selection of 400 candidates from various domains and has been done on the basis of three criteria: financial power, influence and media coverage.
Romanian tennis player Simona Halep remains on the third position in WTA ranking published on Monday with 7571 points. First comes Serena Williams with 9981 points followed by Maria Sharapova with 7890. Another two Romanian tennis players advanced in WTA ranking; Irina Begu goes up from the 36th position to the 33rd position, while Monica Niculescu from the 62nd to the 61st position.
