31 May, 2019

Pope Francis continues his 3-day visit to Romania. After Bucharest, he travels to Sumuleu Ciuc in Transylvania, and to Iasi.

Newsroom, 31.05.2019, 19:44

Pope visit. On the first day of his
visit to Romania, a majority Orthodox country, Pope Francis met state
officials, civil society and the diplomatic corps on Friday in Bucharest. He
said that despite numerous difficulties and shortages, in the last thirty years
Romania has made many steps forward in the democratic process it has embarked
on. During a meeting with president Klaus Iohannis, the pope paid tribute to
the sacrifice of Romania’s sons and daughters who, through their culture, the
heritage of their values and labour, enrich the countries where they have
emigrated. The Romanian president said pontifical diplomacy continues to be a
factor of peace and equilibrium in the tackling of global issues. Also on
Friday, the pontiff had a private meeting with the patriarch of the Romanian
Orthodox Church and with the Synod, saying that the 1999 meeting between Pope
John Paul II and Patriarch Teoctist was an event that not only gave a new
impetus to the ties between Orthodox and Catholic Romanians but also the
dialogue between the Catholic and the Orthodox in general. The pontiff’s agenda
on Friday’s also included the celebration of mass at St. Joseph’s Catholic
Cathedral in Bucharest. He was cheered by thousands of people lining the
streets. The pope is on a state, pastoral and ecumenical visit to Romania until
Sunday. The trip is held under the motto Let’s walk together and comes twenty
years after the historic visit of Pope John Paul II, the first by a pontiff to
a majority Orthodox country. On Saturday, Pope Francis travels to Şumuleu Ciuc, in a part of Transylvania mostly
inhabited by ethnic Hungarian Roman Catholics, and to Iasi, in the north-east,
a city home to a sizeable ethnic Romanian Catholic community. On Sunday, His
Holiness will be travelling to Blaj, in central Transylvania, the spiritual
capital of ethnic Romanian Greek Catholics, where he will beatify seven Greek
Catholic bishops who died for their faith during the communist regime.

NATO. The most important multinational NATO exercise in Romania, Saber
Guardian 2019, will be taking place between the 3rd and the 24th
of June, the Romanian defence ministry announced on Friday. The main
goal of the exercise is to emphasise the cohesion, unity and solidarity of
allied and partner states with a view to defending themselves against any form
of aggression, in particular through rapid mobilisation and deployment of
troops anywhere in Europe. Around 13,500 troops from 14 allied and partner
states are taking part, including 7,600 from the Romanian army.

EU. European
Union member states spent in 2016 more than 350 billion euros (2.4% of the Union’s
GDP) on families and children, accounting for 9% of the total social protection
spending, according to data made public on Friday by the European Statistics
Office (Eurostat). The lowest annual expenditure for family and child
protection, below 200 euros/capita, were reported in Romania and Bulgaria (120
euros each), Lithuania (150 euros) and Greece (170 euros), and the highest were
in Luxemburg (3,000 euros), Denmark (1,700 euros), Sweden (1,400 euros), and Germany
and Finland (1,200 euros). The Eurostat data were made public ahead of the
International Children’s Day, celebrated around the world on June 1.

Film festival. Cluj-Napoca in
north-western Romania is hosting, starting on Friday until June 8, the 18th
edition of the Transylvania International Film Festival. Running in the TIFF
official competition are 12 productions, but more than 200 films will be
screened as part of the Festival. This year’s edition celebrates 3 major film
industries: the French, Chinese and Albanian. Romanian filmmakers are also well
represented, with over 40 productions. Actor Nicolas Cage will receive an
award for his contribution to the development of the world film industry. We
have more on this after the news.

Tennis. The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, the
defending Roland Garros champion and the no. 3 seed, on Saturday will be facing
Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko, world no. 27, in the third round at Roland Garros,
the second Grand Slam tournament of the year. On Thursday, Halep defeated Magda
Linette of Poland, while Tsurenko defeated Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia, whose
match had been suspended on Thursday for light. Irina Begu is the only other
Romanian singles player to reach the Roland Garros 3rd round. She
will take on Amanda Anisimova of the US on Saturday. In the men’s doubles, also
on Saturday, two Romanian players will play, in different pairs, in the
tournament’s quarterfinals. Marius Copil and his doubles pair, India’s Rohan
Bopanna, will face the Serbian pair Dusan Lajovic and Janko Tipsarevic, while
Horia Tecau and Jean-Julien Rojer of The Netherlands will face the American
brothers Bob and Mike Bryan.