April 9, 2017

Christian believers the world over are celebrating Palm Sunday/ Bishop Macarie Dragoi, the representative of the Orthodox Diocese of Northern Europe has visited the Romanian woman who got injured in the Stockholm attack in Sweden

Corina Cristea, 09.04.2017, 13:54

PALM SUNDAY – Christian believers the world over are celebrating Palm Sunday, marking Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, before He was crucified. This religious feast also marks the beginning of the last week of Lent. On Saturday, thousands of believers in Romania, a country with a majority Orthodox population, attended the traditional Palm Sunday Procession, carrying icons, willow tree branches and flowers. The icons and flowers symbolise “virtues gathered in the soul as flowers of light, during Lent.

STOCKHOLM ATTACK VICTIM – Bishop Macarie Dragoi, the representative of the Orthodox Diocese of Northern Europe has visited the Romanian woman who got injured in the Stockholm attack in Sweden, a couple of days ago. The woman, 83, was hit by fragments of concrete projected by the truck which rammed into a group of people. She suffered a double leg fracture. The Orthodox Diocese of Northern Europe writes in a communiqué that bishop Macarie has encouraged the woman and assured her of his entire support. 4 people got killed and 15 others were wounded in the Stockholm attack. The Romanian Foreign Ministry firmly condemned the attack and reiterated Romanias commitment to the effort of combating all forms of terrorism.

ROAD TAXES – The National Road Company of Romania intends to notify the European Commission relative to the new system of cashing in road taxes instated by Bulgaria. Sofia eliminated the possibility of purchasing the road vignette from petrol stations, a move which results in long queues of trucks at the Giurgiu-Ruse border checkpoint between Romania and Bulgaria. According to the company, the Bulgarian side has so far rejected all proposals made by Romania in an effort to ease traffic. Giurgiu-Ruse is the main border checkpoint between Romania and Bulgaria, and is transited by over 1,000 trucks a day.

ROAMING CHARGES – As of June 15, roaming charges will no longer be applied to European citizens travelling to another EU member state. Thus, the Europeans will be able to call, text and go online in another EU country without paying extra-charges. European mobile users will thus be charged the same price for using their phone while abroad as they pay in their country of residence. The European Commission has taken action for 10 years to reduce and finally eliminate extra-charges imposed by telecommunication operators, and last week, the European MPs eliminated the last obstacle in the effort to completely eliminate roaming charges.

SYRIA WAR– Russian foreign minister, Serghei Lavrov, and US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, have had a phone conversation on the situation in Syria. The talk is to continue in Moscow next week. On Friday, Washington carried out a cruise missile strike against a Syrian air base, in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack in northwestern Syria. The White House blames the chemical attack on the forces loyal to the Syrian president. According to a communiqué issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry, Lavrov underlined that “an attack on a state whose Government fights against terrorism unfolds according to the extremists expectations, creating additional threats to regional and global stability. Also, Moscow dispels accusations levelled against the Syrian army which reportedly used chemical weapons against civilians in the Idlib province, on April 4, saying these accusations do not match reality. Washington made public its intention to launch further attacks if need be, but it expressed hope this will not be necessary. Romania, which supports all efforts meant to put an end to the conflict, considers the American intervention in Syria is a firm reaction to the atrocities committed by the regime of Bashar al-Assad. As of March 2011, Syria has been ravaged by revolts, which have been stifled violently and by a military conflict between the security services subordinated to the regime of Bashar al-Assad, the opposition forces and terrorist groups, among which the Islamic State. The death toll of the conflict stands at over 270,000.