Easter holidays begin for Orthodox and Greek Catholic Christians in Romania./Campaign for European Parliament elections kicks off in Romania on Saturday.
Good Friday. Orthodox Christians, who are the majority in Romania, as well as the Greek-Catholic, today commemorate Good Friday by re-enacting symbolically the crucifixion, burial and funeral of Jesus. A big cross is placed in the middle of churches on which an image of the crucified Christ is painted. A cloth icon called epitaphios is placed in front of the cross, depicting the burial of Christ. A long lamentation service is held in churches expressing sadness at the news of Christ's death and hope that he will be resurrected. Catholic and Protestant Christians celebrated Easter last Sunday.
Holidays. More than 22,000 police, security and border forces, firefighters and paramedics have been mobilised each day of the Easter and Labour Day holiday to oversee traffic and large gatherings of people, the interior ministry has announced. Over 900 public events will be held in this period, attracting around 1 million people. The Romanian authorities are working with their counterparts in the neighbouring Hungary and Bulgaria at the busiest border crossing points. The Romanians' favourite tourist destination for the Easter and Labour Day holidays are Bukovina, in the north, Maramures, in the north-west, in the mountain resorts in Prahova Valley, in the south, on the Romanian Black Sea coast and in the Danube Delta. Popular foreign destinations include Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey and Egypt.
European elections. The electoral campaign for the European Parliament elections scheduled on the 26th of May begins on Saturday and comes to an end on the 25th of May. If the UK leaves the European Union, Romania is entitled to 33 seats in the future parliament, one more compared with the current figure. The Romanian candidates include a former president, former prime ministers and ministers, Euro MPs and big city mayors. Leading in opinion polls are the Social Democratic Party, the senior party in the ruling coalition, and the National Liberal Party, the biggest party in opposition. They are followed by the 2020 Alliance formed by the Save Romania Union and PLUS and ProRomania, both in opposition, and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, the junior partner in the ruling coalition. The Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians and Romania and the People's Movement Party also have chances to win seats in the European Parliament. The 2019 elections come at a time when Romania is holding the presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Referendum. At the same time as the elections for the European Parliament on the 26th of May, a referendum on the subject of the judiciary will be held in Romania, initiated by president Klaus Iohannis. Voters will be asked to say if they agree to ban amnesty and pardon for corruption cases and to ban the passing of legislation in the area of the judiciary through government emergency orders. President Iohannis says Romanians have the chance to vote and say what they think about the Social Democratic Party and what he described as this party's attacks on the judiciary, referring to some controversial amendments to the criminal legislation and the laws regulating the organisation of the legal system. The president has urged people to vote, assuring them that the results will be taken into account. The parties in the ruling coalition says the referendum is not something society needs, while the opposition supports the president's initiative.
Accidents at work. Romanian jobs are among the most dangerous in the European Union. In 2016, the rate of fatal occupational injuries in Romania stood at 6.11 for 100,000 workers compared with the EU average of 2.2, according to figures published on Friday by Eurostat. Luxembourg is the only country with a higher rate than Romania, at 10.8. The lowest such rate is reported in Holland, Germany, Sweden and the UK. These data were published ahead of World Day for Safety and Health at Work, an annual international campaign promoting safe, healthy and decent work held on the 28th of April.
Frequency changes. A number of Radio Romania International's short wave frequencies have changed since April 27th. The 3.00 UTC broadcast to the West Coast of North America is broadcast analogically on 7375 kHz and on 13.630 kHz, digitally, in the DRM system, to India.
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