April 18, 2025
A roundup of local and world news
Newsroom, 18.04.2025, 13:55
EASTER Orthodox and Catholic Christians today observe Good Friday, when they commemorate Christ’s death on the cross. According to theology experts, Good Friday is the day when Jesus Christ experienced the most tragic of human experiences: death. He was crucified between two thieves, unjustly accused of blasphemy and resistance to Roman authority. According to the Gospels, when Jesus gave up his spirit on the cross, the earth shook and the sky darkened.
EASTER BREAK Around 24,600 employees of the Romanian interior ministry will be mobilised every day to streamline traffic, ensure rapid response in emergency situations, prevent and combat illegal actions and save lives during the Easter break. “Interior ministry personnel will be monitoring 14,150 places of worship where religious services will be held, attended by approximately 2,332,000 people”, the interior ministry spokesperson Monica Dajbog said. In order to prevent fires and other emergencies, fire-fighters have recently inspected churches, accommodation units and other sites that are crowded during the holidays. In April alone, over 1,500 such inspections were carried out to check compliance with fire prevention measures, and fines totalled approximately €1 million. Over 1,600 traffic police officers will be on duty on busy roads. Patrol units will operate with approximately 400 radar devices and devices that detect alcohol or prohibited substance users who threaten road safety.
ELECTIONS The campaign for the presidential elections continues in Romania until May 3, on the eve of the first round of voting. There are 11 confirmed candidacies submitted to the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC). Four candidates run independently and 7 others are supported by parties or alliances. Under the Constitution, the president of Romania is elected by universal, equal, direct, secret and freely expressed vote. The candidate who gets a majority of the votes cast by the voters registered on electoral lists in the first round of voting, is declared elected. If none of the candidates has obtained a majority, a second round of voting is held on May 18, between the top two candidates by the number of votes carried in the first round.
EXERCISE Over May 5-23, approximately 4,000 military personnel and 913 military equipment and systems from 10 NATO states (Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Luxembourg, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal and Romania) will take part in the DACIAN SPRING 2025 (DASP 25) multinational exercise organised in Romania. The exercise is planned and led by the Multinational Division South-East Command (HQ MND-SE) and will take place simultaneously in several training centres. Dacian Spring 25 is attended by all structures of the Romanian Army – land, air, naval, and cyber forces, along with personnel from the Multinational Brigade South-East Command and Allied troops. The main goal is to test collective defence operations and strengthen the integration of participating forces into the command and control structures of the Multinational Division South-East Command. For the first time, a Belgian manoeuvre battalion will be deployed in Romania.
COMMEMORATION Romanian troops who died in the line of duty on the Western Front in World War II will be commemorated between April 22 and 28 in 4 cemeteries of honour in the country and abroad, the Romanian defence ministry announced. The events will take place at the Cemetery of Honour of Romanian World War II Heroes in Oarba de Mureş, at the Romanian Heroes Plot of Honour in Budapest, Hungary, at the Romanian Heroes Cemetery of Honour in Zvolen, Slovakia, and at the Romanian Heroes Plot of Honour in the Central Cemetery in Brno, the Czech Republic. The ceremonies will be attended, among others, by members of the Romanian Parliament, the Defence General Staff, the National Office for the Cult of Heroes, the Joint Logistics Command and 4 soldiers wounded in theatres of operations, along with 12 military students. (AMP)
