August 15, 2015 UPDATE

For a roundup of domestic and international events, click here.

Newsroom, 15.08.2015, 12:15

FEAST DAY – Orthodox, Greek-Catholic and Roman-Catholic Christians in Romania on Saturday celebrated the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, one of the biggest celebrations in the Christian calendar marking the taking of the Virgin Mary into heaven. Hundreds of thousand of Christians went on pilgrimage to monasteries in the country having Virgin Mary as their patron saint. Also on Saturday, 2.2 million Romanians named Maria, Marian or other derivatives celebrated their name day.

NAVY DAY – Some 10,000 people on Saturday in Constanta, eastern Romania, celebrated Navy Day. Attending the event were Deputy Prime Minister Gabriel Oprea, Defence Minister Mircea Dusa, Chief of General Command Lieutenant-General Nicolae Ciuca. A military exercise was held following an initial parade, involving ships and Naval Forces subunits, but also Air Forces aircraft. All ports in the country played host to military and religious festivities, demonstrative exercises, contests and military technique exhibitions. Some 2,000 navymen, military and civilians, over 35 ships and 9 aircraft took part in the event. This year Navy Day coincides with 155 years since the foundation of the Romanian Modern Navy.

ROMANIANS ABROAD – Participants in the Summer University Izvorul Muresului on Saturday adopted a resolution whereby calling for the creation of a Ministry for Romanians Worldwide, charged with overseeing relations with Romanians abroad, as well as for drafting and urgently implementing a strategy allowing Romanian communities in the Balkans and the West to keep their national identity. The participants also called for smoothing the process of obtaining Romanian citizenship for ethnic Romanians living on the borders with Romania, as well as for the introduction of postal voting. The resolution will be forwarded to the Presidential Administration, Parliament, the Government and political parties. Held between August 10-15, the Summer University Izvorul Muresului was focused on Romanians on the EU and NATO borders.

AGRICULTURE – The Romanian Government will compensate farmers whose crops have been seriously affected by the drought, the Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta said on Friday during a televised show. Ponta said he had a talk on this issue with the Agriculture Minister, adding that corn and wheat crops have been affected the most. The Prime Minister believes the effects of the drought will become transparent towards the end of the year, and that additional measures must be taken in other fields so as to uphold the growing trend of the Romanian economy.

REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT – EU Commissioner for Regional Development Romanian Corina Cretu on Saturday recommended local authorities in Suceava, northern Romania, to submit important projects to absorb additional funds over the 2014-2020 period, which should trigger an increase in Romanians living standards. Cretu added that the level of absorption for this financial framework stands at 63%, thus there is a risk that some of the funds are lost. On example of efficient fund absorption is the rehabilitation of Putna Monastery, a religious and cultural centre Corina Cretu has visited. Worth 3.3 million euros, of which 2.5 paid with EU funds, the project is due to be completed by October.

GREECE – Eurozone Finance Ministers on Friday adopted the bailout package for Greece, agreed earlier this week by Greece and its international lenders. This country will over the course of the next three years receive three loans worth 86 billion euros. This is the third bailout programme for Greece in the last five years. The Bundestag on Wednesday is to decided on the bailout package, the vote being seen as a test for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, after last month 65 Conservative MPs refused to back negotiations with Athens. Greeces debt amounts to over 320 billion euros, of which 65% to Eurozone and the IMF. On July 1 Greece defaulted on its payments.

IMMIGRANTS – At least 40 immigrants onboard a ship in the Mediterranean were found dead on Saturday, reads an Italian Navy release. The immigrants suffocated in the hold of the ship which was carrying some 300 immigrants when it was found drifting off the Libyan coast. According to several of the survivors testimonies, their guides have the habit of closing immigrants who paid less in the cargo hold while crossing the Mediterranean. In this enclosed space, they risk dying asphyxiated or suffocated on fumes, or even drowned if the boat capsizes and sinks before they can get out.

POLLUTION – Chinese authorities on Saturday started evacuating the inhabitants close to the port of Tianjin, where several days ago a chemical storehouse exploded. According to he BBC, the measure was taken after the local police confirmed the highly toxic chemical sodium cyanide was found near the site. The explosion killed 100 people and wounded another 700. The inhabitants of Tianjin and the family of the victims have accused the authorities for trying to keep the scope of the catastrophe under wraps.