April 30, 2016 UPDATE
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Valentin Țigău, 30.04.2016, 12:20
POLL – 68 % of the Romanians believe Easter should be celebrated simultaneously by the Orthodox and Catholic believers, a poll conducted by IRES shows. This option is endorsed mostly by respondents over 65, living in urban areas, as well as by Romanian nationals living in the central region of Transylvania and Banat, in the south east, regions which are home to many mixed Orthodox and Catholic families. 87% of the respondents say they will attend the Easter Mass. The poll was conducted in April, on a nation-wide representative sample of 1,240 people aged over 18, with an error margin of plus/minus 2.8%.
LUMEN INFINITUM– Orthodox and Greek Catholic believers worldwide, including Romania, a country with a majority Orthodox population, on Saturday to Sunday night celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. In Jerusalem, the Holy Fire Mass was celebrated on Saturday. In an annual unique orthodox ritual, the Greek Patriarch of Jerusalem came out of the Holy Sepulchre with candles lit and shared the light, called “lumen infinitum”. On Good Friday, the Passion of Christ was remembered by the Orthodox believers. Hundreds of people in Targu Jiu, southern Romania, symbolically retraced “Via Dolorosa” or the Way of Suffering, marching in the longest such procession in Europe.
ROYAL CELEBRATION- Romania’s Crown Princess Margareta and Prince Radu, alongside officials and members of other European Royal Houses, attended a series of events held in Stockholm to mark the 70th anniversary of King Carl Gustaf XVI of Sweden. Princess Margareta and Prince Radu who started an official visit to Sweden on Friday, will also attend a special mass on the second Easter day, at the Romanian Orthodox Bishopric and will meet with members of the Romanian community. This is the third official visit abroad by Romania’s royal family this year, after those to Turkey and the Republic of Moldova. The Royal House recalls that King Carl Gustaf XVI of Sweden and Queen Silvia paid a state visit to Romania back in 2003.
NEW UCC — The new Union Customs Code, which comes into force on May 1, across the EU, including Romania, will make life simpler for businesses that trade in Europe, such as a reduced number of customs checks. According to the head of Romania’s General Customs Directorate, Claudiu Ardeleanu, some companies will benefit from a reduction and even the elimination of warrantees, or the postponement of paying the VAT at the customs points. Also on May 1, an electronic system will be implemented to facilitate exchanges of information between the customs authorities, as well as between entrepreneurs and customs officers. Thus, the European Commission hopes to reduce tax evasion in the field of cross-border trade, which currently stands at 50 billion Euros a year.
ROAMING CHARGES CUT– Mobile phone roaming charges were cut within the European Union on Saturday, in a last stage preceding their complete elimination in mid 2017. The maximum overcharge will be of five cents per minute for calls, two cents for texting, and five cents per MB for people downloading data – such as emails, pictures or social media.
FLYOVER CLARIFICATIONS — The Romanian Foreign Ministry has announced that it is in permanent and direct contact with the Government in Chishinau, on the presence of a Romanian aircraft over Transdniester, a pro-Russian separatist region in the Republic of Moldova. The Romanian Foreign Ministry’s announcement comes shortly after the authorities in the separatist region claimed their airspace has been violated and activated their anti-aircraft warfare. The ministry makes clear the aircraft belongs to a private company based in Romania, which won a tender to conduct mapping and do a digital model of the relief of the Republic of Moldova. Complete information on this mission has been sent in due time to the authorities in Chishinau.
CAR BOMBING– Over 21 Shia pilgrims were killed in a car bombing on Saturday, on the outskirts of the Iraqi capital city, Baghdad. The so-called Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack. The Shia pilgrims, considered to be heretics by the Islamic State, were on their way to a shrine near Baghdad, the BBC reports.
MEDIA 2020 CONFERENCE AND CONCERT-The second Media 2020 Conference hosted by Beijing, China, has come to a close. Organised by Radio Romania and the Asia Broadcasting Union, the event was aimed at delivering rich content across a range of platforms. The conference ended with a special gift offered by radio Romania to the participants of the conference: a concert by the outstanding Romanian musical duo- violinist Gabriel Croitoru and pianist Horia Mihail. The performance included pieces by famous European composers such as F. Kreisler, E.Elgar and Pablo de Sarasate as well as by the prominent Romanian composer and violinist, George Enescu. The programme was named after the great composer, The Violin of George Enescu, since Gabriel Croitoru played Enescu’s violin. Gabriel Croitoru and Horia Mihail won over the audience with their high professionalism and style.
HANDBALL — Romania’s national women’s handball team will play Angola, Brazil, Montenegro, Spain and Norway in the Olympic Games Group A due this summer, following the drawing of lots in Rio de Janeiro, on Friday evening. Group B is made up of: Holland, Russia, Sweden, France, Argentina and South Korea. The Olympic handball tour will start on August 6, and the opening match will be played by Romania and Angola. To go past the group stage, the Romanian handball players will have to rank on one of the fourth positions. The women’s final is scheduled for August 20.
(Translated by Diana Vijeu)
