April 17, 2023
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 17.04.2023, 13:55
Easter – The majority Orthodox Christians and the Greek Catholics in Romania are today celebrating the second Easter day, which marks the beginning of the Bright Week. The celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the biggest celebration of the Christian world, is the only one to which three days are dedicated. This week everything is under the sign of light, the symbol of Christs Resurrection. The usual greeting has been replaced since Sunday with a greeting-confession “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!” which expresses faith in the Resurrection.
Budget – The Romanian government will analyze during this weeks meeting the ministries’ proposals to reduce expenses from the state budget. Cuts in goods and services, trips and purchases are expected. The measures were requested by the Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă, as the budget deficit in the first months of the year is higher than anticipated. The PM emphasized, however, that there will be no reductions in salaries and investments. In his turn, President Klaus Iohannis has given assurances that there is no hole in the budget and that salaries will not be cut.
Refugees – More than four million Ukrainians have entered Romania since the beginning of the war, according to data from the General Border Police Inspectorate. The vast majority of Ukrainian citizens left Romania for other destinations. Around 4,400 Ukrainians applied for asylum in Romania. They benefit from all the rights provided by the national legislation.
Weightlifting — The Romanian athlete Andreea Cotruţa won three gold medals in the 55 kg category on Sunday at the European Weightlifting Championships in Yerevan. Cotruţa won gold in the snatch event with 91 kg, also won the gold in the clean and jerk with 110 kg, and in the overall she won gold with 201 kg. Romania thus won 11 medals after two days of competition, six gold, of which three obtained by Mihaela Cambei (49 kg category) and three by Andreea Cotruţa (55 kg category), three silver and two bronze. Romanias target is to win four medals and six rankings on places 4-6.
Ukraine – Kyiv will seek to obtain the reopening of transit for its food products and grains via Poland during the discussions taking place today in Warsaw, the Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Mikola Solski announced after Poland and Hungary announced bans on some imports from Ukraine, Reuters reports. The Polish farmers have denounced the fact that a large part of Ukrainian grain and other products is not distributed to the rest of the European Union, but remains in the country, causing a reduction in grain prices. The president of Polands ruling Law and Justice party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, announced on Saturday, at a government meeting, that he had made the decision to stop imports of Ukrainian products to avoid a crisis on the domestic agricultural market. Minister Solski said that the transit of food products through Hungary and Slovakia was not affected. He also stated that he would have additional discussions in Romania on Wednesday and in Slovakia on Thursday.
Rescue — The Romanian border policemen participating, on the Coast Guard ships, in a mission within the Joint Maritime Operation THEMIS 2023 under the auspices of the Frontex Agency, have rescued, together with their colleagues from the Coast Guard in Italy, in several missions carried out in the Mediterranean Sea, 181 foreign citizens in danger. On March 23, the Romanian border police took 150 migrants, all men, on board the Coast Guards maritime patrol boat, from a ship belonging to their colleagues from the Italian Coast Guard. The men were given medical assistance and were later taken over by the authorities of the Italian Republic. On April 8, the Romanian border policemen rescued 31 people in danger, including minors, and provided them with medical assistance. (LS)
